I was reading in Leviticus
There were a lot of rules and commands
to the priests who offered offerings unto the Lord
The fat offerings
The sin offerings
Offerings for this
and offerings for that
The fat offerings were for peace offerings
Peace between humans and God
The priests were allowed to take certain parts
of the offering for themselves
Eating the fat and the blood was forbidden
After all the offerings had been given,
the remainder of the animal would be taken out
and burnt separately from the tabernacle
The bread offerings were also very specific
Sometimes with oil, others not, unleavened
Obedience is better than sacrifice
God was gracious, as we know,
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever
There was no way for the people to pay for their sins
Though they did these acts,
and followed the directions quite specifically,
it still was the grace of God who forgave their sins
and though they did acts of worship,
these were because God was asking for their obedience
I was a little rude to someone the other day
My feathers got ruffled from something he said to someone else
An injustice! I hate injustice!
I intervened and made things much worse
I sort of smoothed it over
after I realized I had misunderstood the person
If that had been an offering,
I would not have gotten an A+ on my remedy
I could’ve done a much better job humbling myself
and admitting my mistake
Thankfully, Jesus is still bigger than our insufficiencies
The lesson for me is to remember
to speak the truth with Love
and be careful about what I say
Jesus was our offering for sin
and that offering covers all things that separate us from God
Pride
Pride is a big separator
Pride is what caused Satan to fall
Pride is also what brought about the biggest breach on humankind
The Serpent said to Eve,
God knows that you will be like Him…
Pride is what caused Satan to fall
The specific acts of offerings and obedience to all the little sacraments,
no matter how small they seemed were born out of humility
There were priests that God considered wicked
Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial;
they knew not the Lord…
And if any man said unto him,
Let them not fail to burn the fat presently,
and then take as much as thy soul desireth;
then he would answer him,
Nay; but thou shalt give it me now:
and if not, I will take it by force.
Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord:
for men abhorred the offering of the Lord.
1 Samuel 2:12&16-17
By treating the Lord’s offering with contempt,
they also were treating the Lord with contempt
They did not understand the importance of the offering
and it goes without saying,
they should not have been priests to the Lord
The Lord God seemed to be relatively quiet
when priests were doing what they were supposed to do
And thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them,
that they may minister unto me in the priest’s office. Exodus 30:30
God gave them specific instructions
He expected priests follow them
Also, if Priests weren’t from the proper bloodline, they were removed
So many specificities
Jesus met them all
Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like
unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful
and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God,
to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. Hebrews 2:17
We are to offer up spiritual sacrifices to Jesus
This is our part
While we may not understand all of them,
we know how to hear His voice
and we know when He is asking us to do something
Cast down the pride
and remember to offer your life as a sacrifice to Him
to do your best to follow the commands He has given us:
I beseech you therefore, brethren,
by the mercies of God,
that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice,
holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Romans 12:1
Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house,
an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices,
acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 2:5
Scriptural References:
And Samuel said,
Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
as in obeying the voice of the Lord?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
and to hearken than the fat of rams. 1 Samuel 15:22
For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof,
then your eyes shall be opened,
and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. Genesis 3:5
Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. Hebrews 13:8