The Gospel Starts with Leviticus

Summary

Podcast Summary: "The Gospel Starts with Leviticus"

Podcast: The Wake-Up Call
Host: Andrew Forrest, filling in for J.D. Walt (Seedbed)
Date: February 16, 2026
Episode Theme: A fresh look at Leviticus as the foundation for understanding the Gospel, and its continued relevance for Christian life today.

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Main Theme Overview

Andrew Forrest reframes the often misunderstood and overlooked book of Leviticus as essential for understanding how the Gospel of Jesus Christ begins. Through a reflection on the sacrificial system outlined in Leviticus 1:1–5, he argues that the book teaches us about the costs of sin, the need for atonement, and the goodness of being restored to God’s presence—all laying the groundwork for understanding Christ’s ultimate sacrifice.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Leviticus: Not Just an Ancient Oddity

• Popular Perception vs. Spiritual Relevance
  • Leviticus is often cited as a punchline or source of confusion about the Bible’s relevance due to its archaic rules (05:15).
  • Forrest turns this perception around, suggesting that “the entire point of the book is to teach people what it takes to have eternal life” (06:10).

2. Context: Why Leviticus Follows Exodus

• Transition from Exodus to Leviticus
  • Exodus ends with Moses unable to enter the Tabernacle, illustrating how “sinful humanity cannot participate in God’s eternal life, cannot even enter into God's holy presence” (06:55).
  • This sets up the need for Leviticus, which answers, “What can be done?” (07:05).

3. The Sacrificial System Explained

• Scriptural Focus: Leviticus 1:1–5
  • Forrest reads the passage about sacrifice: the laying on of hands, the unblemished animal, and the substitutionary atonement (04:05–05:00).
  • Key Insight: “Human sin brings death. God in His mercy permits an innocent animal to be sacrificed in place of the sinful human.” (07:20)

4. The Symbolism of Sacrifice

• From Animal Sacrifice to Christ’s Atonement
  • “In Leviticus, the life of a blameless animal...is offered to cover over for human sin.” (07:45)
  • Sacrifices “are just a symbol of the larger reality: sin causes death, but sacrifice covers over sin.” (08:15)
  • Gospel Connection: “The Father eventually sends the Son to be a willing sacrifice to make atonement for humanity once and for all. So, the gospel starts with Leviticus.” (08:40)

5. Modern Relevance of Leviticus

• Why Leviticus Still Matters
  • “You might not be interested in the regulations for this or that sacrifice, but you should be very interested in the larger lesson… that the only way to live in the presence and life of God is if a blameless sacrifice covers over human sin.” (09:00)
  • Leviticus teaches hope: “For every place somebody might find himself, there’s a way that one can...come back into the presence of God.” (11:10)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “The gospel starts with Leviticus.” – Andrew Forrest (08:40)
• “Human sin brings death. God in His mercy permits an innocent animal to be sacrificed in place of the sinful human.” – Andrew Forrest (07:20)
• “Leviticus...is actually a really hopeful book because for every place somebody might find himself, there's a way that one can well be covered over and come back into the presence of God. And apart from God, there is no life.” (11:10)
• “Sin causes death, but sacrifice covers over sin.” (08:15)
• On the hymn: “Mid toil and tribulation and tumult of her war she waits the consummation of peace forevermore...the great church victorious shall be the church at rest.” (12:18)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:00–02:25: Host introduction, personal context, upcoming Seedbed events
• 02:30–04:00: Lighting of the candle, opening prayer of dedication
• 04:01–05:00: Reading of Leviticus 1:1–5 (“Hear now the word of the Lord…”)
• 05:01–06:10: Leviticus as a “punchline,” common perceptions, why it matters
• 06:15–07:35: Context from Exodus, the need for atonement, explanation of sacrifice
• 07:36–09:05: The spiritual symbolism of sacrifice, connection to Christ’s atonement
• 09:05–09:40: Leviticus’ core lesson for today’s believers
• 09:40–12:18: Closing hymn (“The Church’s One Foundation”), reflection on its lyrics

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Journal Prompts (For Deeper Engagement)

1. What would be the lesson to the community of seeing a bull slaughtered in place of a sinful human?
2. Why can’t God just erase sin without a sacrifice?
3. What does it mean that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world?
   (11:00)

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Closing Reflection & Tone

Andrew Forrest encourages listeners to embrace the “good strangeness” of Leviticus. Rather than shying away from its rituals, he suggests that its lessons are the backbone of the Christian understanding of salvation and grace. “Leviticus, it’s going to be strange, it’s going to stretch you, but it’s actually really, really good. And it explains, in fact, the cross and the resurrection of Jesus.” (11:18)

He closes with an energetic hymn, marveling at its power and its message that Christ is truly the foundation of the church—another bridge from ancient ritual to present faith.

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Summary prepared for listeners seeking the deep connections between Old Testament ritual and the heart of the Gospel, with practical prompts to meditate further.

Transcript

[A]

Foreign Sower Nation. It is Monday, February 16th, in the year of our Lord 2026. I'm Andrew Forrest. This is your wake up call. Well, I'm pleased to be with you guys on another Monday morning, my third Monday with y', all, if you can believe it. I have been filling in here for the past couple of weeks for J.D. walt, the CEO Sower in Chief of Seedbed. I'm pleased to be with you. It's been fun for me because I've been getting to know a new community and kind of learning a new rhythm, working through the scripture every day, all that kind of thing. See, I'm the senior pastor at Asbury Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma and my church this year we are reading through the One Year Bible together. We're calling it the Year through the Bible. And so I've been fortunate to be able to offer like a word from the second part of Exodus each day. It's kind of helped me as a pastor prepare and work through the Scripture. Today we begin Leviticus, which is going to be not as bad as you think it is. I'm also a Seedbed author. I'm the author of Love Goes first, this new book which is about how we're going to reach the people who don't think like us, look like us, maybe even the people that hate us. And this is really fun. Seebed has asked me to do an online course, but a live online course in March. Three weeks. March 9, March 16, March 23, and then a bonus session on the 30th from 6:30 to 8:00pm Central Time. So I'll be doing it live and we'll have live questions come in and stuff. It's not like a, like a summary of the book. It's like dealing with the book's issues, kind of digging in. How are we actually going to do this? What does it look like? What are the things that people have said to me after reading the book and after I preach through it, that kind of thing. So I'd love for you to sign up and I'd love to meet you on here again. That's coming up. And you can find this. Go to the Seedbed website and just if you type in Love goes first, you'll see it right away. You'll see my book and then you'll see the online course that comes up. So that's gonna be really fun. Today is my second to last day with you. My last day will be tomorrow because in Lent, JD is beginning a new, a new series, a new theme here. So we're almost to Lent, if you can believe it. Ash Wednesday is this Coming Wednesday, and it's gonna be great. It's helped us to prepare for Easter. So with all that in mind, here's what I want to do. I want to light my little candle. I talked over the weekend about candles. I want to light my little candle here and I want to say to you now, the flame burning and the smoke wafting, I want to say, wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead and Christ will shine on you. Jesus, I belong to you. I lift up my heart to you. I set my mind on you. I fix my eyes on you. I offer my body to you as a living sacrifice. Jesus, we belong to you. Praying in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. All right, everybody, our scripture reading for the day is the beginning of Leviticus. Leviticus 1:1:5. Hear now the word of the Lord. The Lord called to Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting, saying, speak to the people of Israel and say to them, when any one of you brings an offering to the Lord, you shall bring your offering of livestock from the herd or from the flock. If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer a male without blemish. He shall bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting that he may be accepted before the Lord. And he shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him that he shall kill the bull before the Lord and Aaron's sons, the priests shall bring the blood and throw the blood against the sides of the altar that is at the entrance of the tent of meeting. The word of the Lord. The book of Leviticus is almost a punchline when people want to make fun of the Bible or tear down someone's faith, Reference the book of Leviticus. And we must admit, Leviticus is a strange book at first glance. All those specific laws and rules about sacrifices, what possible relevance do they have to us today? Well, here's why you should care about the book of Leviticus. The entire point of the book is to teach people what it takes to have eternal life. At my church, 2026 is the year through the Bible and we're reading through the Bible together using, as I said, the one year Bible. Today, we begin Leviticus and all the people groan. Exodus begins with Moses and the bulrushes and all that kind of thing. And it ends with Moses being unable to enter the Tabernacle Why? Because sinful humanity cannot participate in God's entire eternal life, cannot even enter into God's holy presence. So what can be done? If God's plan is to share his life with his human creatures, and if those human creatures are enslaved to sin, they even created a golden calf at the foot of Mount Sinai, then it is important that God deals with sin. So Leviticus begins with instruction about a sacrifice. An Israelite is to put his hands on the head of a bull from his herd and then that animal is to be sacrificed. And the idea is clear. Human sin brings death. God in his mercy permits an innocent animal to be sacrificed in place of the sinful human. But what the Israelites learn in Leviticus is that sin kills and must be dealt with. In Leviticus, the life of a blameless animal, its blood is its life and is offered to cover over for human sin. And the entire book explains the various ways that people sin or participate in death. And every time the book lays out a way for people to be forgiven and reconciled back to God. Leviticus is about how to be made right with God so you can receive his eternal life. Now the animal sacrifice is just a symbol of the larger reality. Sin causes death, but sacrifice covers over sin. So what the Bible tells us is that the Father eventually sends the Son to be a willing sacrifice to make atonement for humanity once and for all. Those who trust in the Son are joined to him, raised from the dead and live in the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. So the gospel starts with Leviticus. You might not be interested in the particular regulations for this or that sacrifice, but you should be very interested in the larger lesson that the Leviticus book teaches. That the only way to live in the presence and life of God is if a blameless sacrifice covers over human sin. Here's the good news. The sacrifice has been made. And today you can, through faith in Jesus, live in God's eternal life. Lord, thank you for opportunity that we get to be forgiven. Thank you for covering over our sin and making a way for us to receive eternal life. Help us to joyfully receive the life you give us and help us to boldly share the good news with others. All this we pray in Jesus name. Amen. So some journal prompts to get you thinking. One, what would be the lesson to the community of seeing a bull slaughtered in place of a sinful human? Number two, why can't God just erase sin without a sacrifice? Number three, what does it mean that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. All right, So I just think Leviticus actually, in all its strangeness, is a good strangeness for us. I think it's good for us to kind of think through the actual implications. What does human sin require and how we can be and brought back to the Lord. It's actually a really hopeful book because for every place somebody might find himself, there's a way that one can well be covered over and come back into the presence of God. And apart from God, there is no life. So Leviticus, it's going to be strange, it's going to stretch you, but it's actually really, really good. And it explains, in fact, the cross and the resurrection of Jesus. Well, today, for our closing hymn, we're going to sing the Church's One foundation, which is hymn 388 from the seedbed hymnal, our great redeemer's praise. 388. Now, when I was a kid, I thought it was like the church is all one foundation, like the church is one foundation. But actually what the hymn title is about is the Church has One Foundation. You follow me? Anyway, as a kid, I always was confused by that. It's a great, great, great hymn about all the different characteristics of the church in this world. We're going to sing it together. 388, the church's one foundation. And by the way, the next part of the line is the Church's one foundation is Jesus Christ our Lord. In other words, Christ is the rock on which the Church is built. Here we go.

[B]

The Church's one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord she is his new creation. By water and the Word from heaven he came and sought her to be his holy bride. With his own blood he bought her and for her life he died.

[A]

Verse 2.

[B]

Elect from every nation, yet one o' er all the earth her charter of salvation One Lord, one faith, one birth One holy name she blesses, partakes one holy food and to one hope she presses with every grace endued though with a scornful wonder we see her sore oppressed by schisms Rent asunder by heresies distress yet saints their watch are keeping Their cry goes up how long and soon the night of weeping shall be the morn of song Mid toil and tribulation and tumult of her war she waits the consummation of peace forevermore still with the vision glorious her longing eyes are blessed and the great church victorious shall be the church at rest.

[A]

Last verse, verse 5.

[B]

Yet she on earth hath union with God. The three in one and mystic sweet communion with those whose rest is one O happy ones and holy Lord, give us grace that we like them the meek and lowly on high May dwell with thee I mean, is that a.

[A]

Good hymn or what? Wow. You don't need me singing at acapella, you know. You need, like, the whole organ with all the stops pulled out. Makes your hair shake and stand up. This is so great. Look at this line. Mid toil and tribulation and tumult of her war she waits the consummation of peace forevermore Till with the vision glorious her longing eyes are blessed and the great church victorious shall be the church at rest I mean, whoa. You know, they don't write them like this anymore, do they? This hymn is from 1866, and this is a good one. That'll get you going. Well, hey, everybody, it is Monday. I hope you have a great week. I look forward to seeing you tomorrow for my last time here on this here wake up call. In the meantime, for the awakening, I'm Andrew Forrest, and I'll see you on the field.