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This is the law of the burnt offering, of the grain offering, of the sin offering, of the guilt offering, of the ordination offering, and of the peace offering, Leviticus 7:37 (ESV)

At the close of this section in Leviticus we get a summary of all 6 types of sacrifice described, all of which pointed forward to Jesus. This whole section (chapter 1-7) serves to remind us that worship in the church and our lives must be done in order and holiness.

And he killed it, and Moses took some of its blood and put it on the lobe of Aaron’s right ear and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot. Leviticus 8:23 (ESV)

We need the blood of Jesus on our ears so we always hear (listen) to the voice of God, hands to carry out (work) Gods commands and the feet to walk (act, behave) in holiness.

And Moses and Aaron went into the tent of meeting, and when they came out they blessed the people, and the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people. Leviticus 9:23 (ESV)

Gods glory was revealed as a stamp of approval for the newly built tabernacle, sacrifice system and most of all Arron as a mediator and his sons as priests. This again prefigures Jesus who is our high priest, who in entering his ministry after his sacrifice, revealed to us the glory of God’s indwelling presence on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was given.

Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the LORD has said: ‘Among those who are near me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.’ ” And Aaron held his peace. Leviticus 10:3 (ESV)

Ministry should not be undertaken or done lightly, God is holy and must be ministered to in holiness. Strange fire can represent anything we bring before The Lord which is itself not holy or just a cloak for our sinful attitude etc

You are to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean, and you are to teach the people of Israel all the statutes that the LORD has spoken to them by Moses.” Leviticus 10:10–11 (ESV)

As believers we too have been called to be priests, so we are called to be holy, this means we need to clearly distinguish between that which is holy and not, this discernment comes from Godds word and his Holy Spirit. We are also called to teach by our lifestyle and words. We are set apron to minister to God but also to be a witness.

The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this man!” John 7:46 (ESV)

Even the temple soldiers (These were not like the roman soldiers, they were actually chosen from the levites and so had religious training, which means the teaching of Jesus would have impacted them all the more) had to recognise the unparalleled wisdom of Jesus. Jesus is the Word incarnate, no one will ever compare to him in wisdom or speech. Even today many recognise the wisdom of Jesus but do not submit to him which is itself not wise. As CS Lewis said he can not just be a good teacher, the things Jesus said means he can only be a liar, a lunatic or LORD.

or anything about which he has sworn falsely, he shall restore it in full and shall add a fifth to it, and give it to him to whom it belongs on the day he realizes his guilt. Leviticus 6:5 (ESV)

This section show that God wants us to not only deal with sins with him (vertically) but to also deal with the sins in relation to those around us who we may have sinned against (horizontal)

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ” John 7:37–38 (ESV)

Jesus offers us living water for our great thirst for life. He is the only one who can satisfy our thirst. The living water is the Holy Spirit. Are you thirst? we should not temporarily quench our thirst with sin, only Jesus eternally quenches our thirst by the Holy Spirit.

“Speak to the people of Israel, saying, If anyone sins unintentionally in any of the LORD’s commandments about things not to be done, and does any one of them, Leviticus 4:2 (ESV)

This entire section is all about the purification for sin. This is not for intentional defiant sin (transgression) but for the inadvertent type of sin where we “miss the mark”. In our frailty and ignorance we fall short often but God does not ignore our sin, they are still an offence and need to be cleansed. No other section of the bible speaks about this type of sin more than this chapter. The emphasis applied to all levels of society and scenarios show the pervasiveness of sin and God’s determination to deal with it. Jesus fulfils all the sin offerings for all the people by his death on the cross. When we sin we now have an advocate with the father 1 John 2:1

when the sin which they have committed becomes known, the assembly shall offer a bull from the herd for a sin offering and bring it in front of the tent of meeting. Leviticus 4:14 (ESV)

Man is so bound in sin that we often sin without realising we have until later. We should pray for our nation that a realisation of our sins comes and with it repentance

Thus shall he do with the bull. As he did with the bull of the sin offering, so shall he do with this. And the priest shall make atonement for them, and they shall be forgiven. Leviticus 4:20 (ESV)

Jesus is our High Priest and makes atonement for us with his won blood

when he realizes his guilt in any of these and confesses the sin he has committed, Leviticus 5:5 (ESV)

We must avoid generalising sin, some specific sins are used here to illustrate the individual nature of each offence and our responsibility as much as is possible to confess our actual sin to the Lord. When we confess our sins to the Lord as our High Priest he forgives and cleanses us 1 John 1:9

It is a guilt offering; he has indeed incurred guilt before the LORD.” Leviticus 5:19 (ESV)

When we sin we are not guilty before Satan even through he is our accuser, however we are guilty before God because our sins are an offence to God. Guilt and conviction from the Holy Spirit are healthy when felt in light of God’s grace and mercy for actual sin. Jesus bore our guilt on the cross.

but its entrails and its legs he shall wash with water. And the priest shall burn all of it on the altar, as a burnt offering, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the LORD. Leviticus 1:9 (ESV)

This term “a pleasing aroma” comes up a lot in Leviticus, it shows that the sacrifices that were made brought God pleasure and were a way of averting God’s righteous anger and appealing to his grace. It also shows that if the sacrifices do not please God (like in Isaiah where God says he is sick of the heartless sacrifices) then they are are dead and without affect. Ultimately this all point to Jesus sacrifice on the cross which God was pleased with as mentioned in Ephesians 5:2

You shall season all your grain offerings with salt. You shall not let the salt of the covenant with your God be missing from your grain offering; with all your offerings you shall offer salt. Leviticus 2:13 (ESV)

The salt of the covenant represents the durability and eternal nature of God’s covenant as salt is a preservative. Leaven and honey on the other hand cause fermentation and decay and so could not be accepted as part of burnt offering.

“If his offering is a sacrifice of peace offering, if he offers an animal from the herd, male or female, he shall offer it without blemish before the LORD. Leviticus 3:1 (ESV)

The peace offering (also known as the offering of well being and the fellowship offering) was one where peace was made between the person making the sacrifice and God as both would partake of the offering in fellowship. Again this all points to Jesus, the ultimate peace offering, he removes the offence and brings peace between God and believers. See Colossians 1:20 and Ephesians 2:15

The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil. John 7:7 (ESV)

We should be like Jesus, we should hold up the standard of God’s truth to the world which is automatically a testimony that what they do is evil, this will cause us individually and as a people to be hated. We should rejoice in this as we identify with Jesus.

Thus all the work of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting was finished, and the people of Israel did according to all that the LORD had commanded Moses; so they did. Exodus 39:32 (ESV)

It is great to read that the work was finished in accordance with God’s instructions. We should avoid procrastination and have a mind to finish the mission / work.

And Moses saw all the work, and behold, they had done it; as the LORD had commanded, so had they done it. Then Moses blessed them. Exodus 39:43 (ESV)

Moses blessed the people for completing the work. God rewards us too when we complete the tasks he has for us to do. What work do you have to do?

Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. Exodus 40:34–35 (ESV)

Moses had asked God to go with him and the people and this was Gods answer. He asked them to build a temporary house so that he would dwell among them. The cloud was a physical manifestation of God’s presence which had a lot of meaning to a people traveling through a hot desert where clouds and shade were welcomed. Gods presence has moved from the great Mount Sinai, to the ten of meeting and now finally to the tabernacle. This all points forward to God dwelling in us as his house through his Holy Spirit.

As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. John 6:57 (ESV)

If we feed on Jesus, we will have eternal life, sustained by Jesus. Our appetite should be for Jesus.

Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” John 6:68–69 (ESV)

Our response should be the same, despite being ridiculed and mocked for our faith in Jesus we must stand with and for Jesus with complete resolution.