You can turn in your Bibles to the book of Leviticus. Leviticus chapter 2. This is either going to be a very long study or a very brief study. We're going to do chapter 2 verse 1 to chapter 7 verse 38. So there's all the sacrifices that we have, the legislation concerning the sacrifices. Specifically what you have is the instructions for the people, the worshipper, in 1.1-6.7, and then instructions for the priests in 6.8-7.38. So that's sort of the breakdown. And then in chapter 8 we see the institution proper of the priesthood, we see sacrifice offered up legitimately in chapter 9, and then the Nadab and Abihu incident in chapter 10. So God willing we'll take up that section Next week, but tonight we're going to look at the offerings and I'm going to basically rehearse what we did last time. The burnt offering is indicated in chapter one. The rest of the offerings are very similar in nature. So as I said, a brief review. in terms of the burnt offering and then just sort of plug that into each of the subsequent offerings. A few variations and a few differences along the way, but for the most part the routine or the procedure is very similar. But I'll read beginning in chapter 2 at verse 1 to the end of chapter 2. When anyone offers a grain offering to the Lord, his offering shall be of fine flour, and he shall pour oil on it and put frankincense on it. He shall bring it to Aaron's sons, the priests, one of whom shall take from it his handful of fine flour and oil with all the frankincense. and the priest shall burn it as a memorial on the altar, an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the Lord. The rest of the grain offering shall be Aaron's and his son's. It is most holy of the offerings to the Lord made by fire. And if you bring as an offering a grain offering baked in the oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil. But if your offering is a grain offering baked in a pan, it shall be a fine flour, unleavened, mixed with oil. You shall break it in pieces and pour oil on it. It is a grain offering. If your offering is a grain offering baked in a covered pan, it shall be made of fine flour with oil. "'You shall bring the grain offering "'that is made of these things to the Lord. "'And when it is presented to the priest, "'he shall bring it to the altar. "'Then the priest shall take from the grain offering "'a memorial portion and burn it on the altar. "'It is an offering made by fire, "'a sweet aroma to the Lord. "'And what is left of the grain offering "'shall be Aaron's and his son's. "'It is most holy of the offerings "'to the Lord made by fire. No grain offering which you bring to the Lord shall be made with leaven, for you shall burn no leaven nor any honey in any offering to the Lord made by fire. As for the offering of the first fruits, you shall offer them to the Lord, but they shall not be burned on the altar for a sweet aroma. And every offering of your grain offering, you shall season with salt. You shall not allow the salt of the covenant of your God to be lacking from your grain offering. With all your offerings, you shall offer salt. If you offer a grain offering of your first fruits to the Lord, you shall offer for the grain offering of your first fruits green heads of grain roasted on the fire, grain beaten from full heads, and you shall put oil on it and lay frankincense on it. It is a grain offering. Then the priest shall burn the memorial portion, part of its beaten grain and part of its oil, with all the frankincense, as an offering made by fire to the Lord. Then if you just turn over to chapter 7, we have a summary statement in verses 37 and 38. So 737, this is the law of the burnt offering, the grain offering, the sin offering, the trespass offering, the consecrations and the sacrifice of the peace offering. which the Lord commanded Moses on Mount Sinai on the day when He commanded the children of Israel to offer their offerings to the Lord in the wilderness of Sinai. Amen. So going back to chapter 1 specifically, remember the burnt offering was the first one dealt with in this particular sachet. And it is the only offering from which the priest does not eat. In other words, each of the other offerings, it serves a twofold purpose. It not only is given up to God as a sweet-smelling aroma to the Lord, but the priests are able to live based on the sacrifices and the gifts and the offerings that were made. And so each of the offerings specified in chapters 1 to 6, the priest got to eat from except for the burnt offering. It was wholly consumed. The skin was saved, however, for the priest. Now, when we look at this, we see a general pattern. You see, first of all, the presentation of the sacrifice. Notice in chapter 1 at verse 3, the presentation of his sacrifice in verse 3. If his offering is a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish. He shall offer it of his own free will at the door of the tabernacle of meeting before the Lord. So if his offering is a burnt sacrifice of the herd, or then dropping down, it could be from the flocks, and then dropping down, it could be from birds. Depending upon the economic status of the worshipper, that would be what was involved in terms of the actual sacrifice. So persons that had a herd, persons that had a flock, they would take from those. If they were too poor to have that, then they would use birds. So they would take a particular animal out of their flock, and here we see that it's a male without blemish. So, specifically, in this sacrifice, it had to be a male without blemish. And then, as well, when we come to consider that, we think of the male promised in Genesis 3, verse 15, the Messiah, the Deliverer, the one who would, through his sufferings and death, be the one who would save his people from their sins. As I mentioned last time when we were covering chapter 1, there's not always a lot of explanation as we move through these sacrifices. This is how you do it, and this is particularly why you do it. Now, I would suggest it's because the worshippers knew more than we do. So they needed the legislation and the details in terms of the how or the procedure. But when it comes to the actual content in terms of each of these particular sacrifices, there's enough in the text to guide us, but it's not exhaustive. And so it's good for us to look at the New Testament and see what this Old Testament legislation pointed to and use the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to help us interpret some of these passages. So the male without blemish, if this is typology, we know the anti-type is the male, the Lord Jesus Christ, who of course is without blemish. In fact, Peter refers to him in that way in 1 Peter 1 and verse 19. So he's a lamb without blemish. So the sacrifice involved a male without blemish. The people were to present their best. As Gordon Winham says, sacrifice was at the heart of Old Testament worship. An essential ingredient of sacrifice was that it had to be costly. As David said, I will not offer burnt offering to the Lord my God, which cost me nothing, 2 Samuel 24, 24. The same sentiment underlies the remark that the suffering should be from the herd or from the flock, which meant in practice young bulls, sheep, and goats. The sacrifices were to be of domestic animals, not wild animals or game. According to Deuteronomy 14.5, game could be eaten if correctly slaughtered, but not offered as sacrifice, since it costs nothing. Furthermore, only perfect animals were acceptable in worship. Only the best is good enough for God. The prophet Malachi later told those who offered second-rate animals that they were despising the Lord's name and polluting his table. So it's very important that we understand. This is typology pointing forward to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. So we learn a lot in terms of what God demands, and it underscores, of course, His holiness and His righteousness. And then notice as well, specifically in verse 3, it says, "...he shall offer it of his own free will at the door of the tabernacle of meeting before the Lord." So his heart must be right. He's not just engaged in empty ritual. He's not just engaged in formalism or externalism only. It's not just about the procedure. Bring your animal, cut its throat, and hand it over to the priest. No, it had to be a free will offering. The heart of the man had to be involved. Now, of course, not everybody in Old Covenant Israel was saved. You would have those that would come, and it would be only external. It would only be formal. It would only be ritualistic. But for the remnant in Israel, this was an act of worship. The remnant in Israel, this was a time for their growth in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord God Most High. It was a time to worship and express their faith in the living and true God and in His promises concerning the coming of His Son. in order to save them from their sins. And again, Malachi deals with this empty, ritualistic approach to the sacrificial system. It was never condoned in the Old Testament. We as New Covenant believers think that that was just the way that it was. It was a ritualistic approach. You just, you know, You brought the right ingredients, you did the proper procedure, and everything was accepted by God. No. If they came without the heart, if they came in the attitude that we see typified or demonstrated in the book of Malachi, that was an outrage to God Most High. He condemned them for that. And so we see the heart of the worshipper is involved in this act of worship. And then notice he's at the door of the tabernacle of meeting before the Lord. He couldn't go all the way into either the holy place or the Holy of Holies, but rather he could go into that courtyard, and at the door of the tabernacle it was there that he would then place his hands on the sacrifice. And most likely it was a firm placement of the hands on the sacrifice. And this showed, or this was most likely joined by prayer. Again, it was an empty ritual. It was something that he was conscious of. It was something that he was about. In the Day of Atonement process, in Leviticus chapter 16, when that second goat is trotted out, the priest lays his hands upon that goat and he confesses the sins of Israel and then he drives that goat out into the wilderness. So we ought to imagine and we ought to think that they are actively involved in worship. They're praying, they're seeking the Lord, they're trying to please the Lord in terms of the system that he had put in place. As well, this placement of the hands is duplicated in the other sacrifices. So again, that's why we're not going to go through each of these chapters and go through each of the sort of details involved. And then the placement of the hands represents substitution. And I think 1621 really sheds light on that. You can turn there. Again, it's not the exact same sacrifice, but I think that's what's going on. Substitution is what the animal is about. So without the shedding of blood, there is no remission. And so God demands the payment of blood when it comes to atonement for sin or satisfaction of divine justice. If you notice in 1620, and when he has made an end of atoning for the holy place, the tabernacle of mating and the altar, he shall bring the live goat. Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man. The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land. and he shall release the goat in the wilderness." So the doctrine of substitution. You see, substitutionary atonement taught very clearly in the sacrificial system in the book of Leviticus. So that's the typical significance. When we get to the anti-type in our Lord Jesus Christ, we have to appreciate that element or aspect of his finished work. It was substitutionary atonement. He stood in our place. He took our place on that cross and satisfied by His own sufferings divine justice for us. So this doctrine of substitutionary atonement is crucial for the life of the church. It's crucial for the life of the sinner. Without a substitute, we perish and we die. without the substitute, then it's us that must pay that penalty for our sin. So the blessedness of the Christian gospel is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. The Lamb of God does that by identifying with us. The Word became flesh and He dwelt among us. He lives for us, He dies for us, and then He's raised again for us. So this doctrine of substitution, it's built into the old covenant sacrifices, it typifies the new covenant, that specific transaction where God made Christ, who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. Imagine that, 2 Corinthians 5.21, God made him who knew no sin to be sin for us. That doesn't mean that Jesus actually became a sinner. It doesn't mean that Jesus was guilty of adultery, or guilty of fornication, or guilty of idolatry, or any of those sorts of things. It's the doctrine of imputation. God takes our sin and imputes it upon the Savior. And so in the Savior our sin is punished. He is punished in our stead, He is punished in our place, and that's what this sacrificial system promised in terms of typology. And then notice, the purpose of His sacrifice unto the Lord according to 4b. Notice, then He shall put His hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted on His behalf to make atonement for Him. Now, the virtue of Christ's work availed for the people in the Old Testament. We learn that from Hebrews chapter 9 and verse 15. The work of Christ is that alone by which any sinners ever entered into heaven. But nevertheless, this typified that. So the worshiper did have peace of conscience. He did have that cleansing of the flesh. He did have that sort of restoration to covenant status with both God and with his fellows. So there was atonement made on behalf of the worshipping sinner. And then notice, as well, you have the slaughter of the sacrifice. Last time we saw that this was a little bit ambiguous. Look at verse 5. It says, he shall kill the bull before the Lord. Does that mean the worshipper or does that mean the priest? It means the worshipper. The worshipper kills the animal and then turns it over to the priest so that the priest can then do what he is supposed to do with it. Again, Wenham says, the worshipper brings the animal, kills it, skins it, or guts it, and chops it up. The priest sprinkles the blood on the altar and places the dismembered carcass on the fire. So you see, the sacrifice involved was real. I mean, you took an animal, a male out of your flock, which was probably the strong, well, it is the stronger of the animals, and it was without blemish. It was a very valuable item. Again, I think we have this idea that like we have cars and we have garages full of stuff, that Israelite society was like that as well. I seriously doubt that. The provision to bring birds is there because poverty was a real life situation. So for somebody to take an animal out of their flock and then to take it down to the tabernacle to cut its throat and then turn it over to the priest, that was sacrifice. That was something that was evidenced or demonstrable that you were partying with something. There was a pinch to you. There was an effect upon you. But the fact that you killed it, skinned it, gutted it, and chopped it up also showed a certain amount, and no pun intended, skin in the game. You were a participant in this activity. in terms of this ritual in order to have peace with God and with your fellows in the covenant nation. So the slaughter of the sacrifice and then the sprinkling of the blood of the sacrifice according to 5b, the worshiper kills the animal and then the priest sprinkles the blood of the animal. And then in the burnt offering, the entirety is burned. The entirety is given up to God Almighty, except 7, 8 tells us the priest who offers anyone's burnt offering, that priest shall have for himself the skin of the burnt offering which he has offered. So everything other than the skin is presented up by the priest to God. So the worshipper skins the animal, cuts it in pieces, the priest prepares the fire on the altar, then the pieces are placed on the altar by the priest, and then the entirety of the animal is burned. Now when we move through these other sacrifices, that's not the case. The one sacrifice where the worshipper gets to participate alongside the priest is in the peace offering. That's a fellowship offering. That's a time of joy and thanksgiving and gratitude expressed to God for all that He has done. And then the language that is used here in chapter 1, and you'll see it in chapter 2 as well, this idea, and chapter 3, this sweet aroma to the Lord. We saw that in our study in Ephesians. The Lord Jesus Christ offered Himself as an offering and a sacrifice, a sweet aroma, to the Lord. And that indicates the acceptance of God, by God, of that particular sacrifice. God doesn't have a nose like we do. He doesn't have that sort of olfactory sense where there's this pleasantness in terms of creaturely smells. The idea is that it's an efficacious sacrifice, it has the approval of God Most High, and for God Most High it's a sweet aroma unto the Lord. So that's the burnt offering in chapter 1. The second one is in chapter 2 and that's the grain offering. Now the connection with the burnt offering is that there was always a grain offering in connection with the burnt offering, but there would be grain offerings at other times as well. And it's these two offerings that were daily, morning and evening. So this tabernacle got a lot of use. The temple got a lot of use. It wasn't the case that it was only the one day, the the day of atonement where you came to the tabernacle or to the temple and did business. This was a bloody place. Atonement is bloody work and atonement kept going day in and day out because of the sin of the children of Israel and because of the holiness of God Almighty. So again with reference to the grain offering or some refer to it as a cereal offering. I think the old King James has meat offering here, but it's a grain offering. And of course, this would provide a portion for the priest. So the priest took a small portion to burn on the altar, and then the priest kept the rest. Remember, in the tribal allotments, the priests don't get their own land. The priests don't get their own pieces of property. The priests aren't out there with a tribal allotment of land so they can grow their own food. They are dependent on the kindness of God through this sacrificial system and on the obedience of the people in terms of their sustenance and in terms of their life. The next one is in chapter 3 and when you look later on, I mentioned that the legislation breaks down into instructions for the worshipper, 1.1 to 6.7, and then instructions for the priest, 6.8 to 7.38, you'll see the correspondence. When you get to the priestly part, you'll see these same sacrifices treated, and the priest directed how they're supposed to deal with this particular sacrifice. So with reference to the peace offering, some have called it a fellowship offering. With reference to this, you see it indicated in chapter 3, you'll notice the distribution of the portions. The Lord gets a portion, the priest gets a portion, and then as well the worshippers get a portion of this. So it's a time for the worshipper and for the priest to eat and enjoy the food that God has blessed them with together. And a curious statement, verse 17, chapter 3, this shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations and all your dwellings. I would suggest that we should understand that based on covenant. based on covenant. As long as there's an old covenant, and as long as there is a people in this old covenant, this is a perpetual statute. In other words, it's not perpetual in the new covenant. It's not something that we continue to duplicate or replicate now. The Lamb of God has fulfilled all that was specified here. So when you see statements like this scattered throughout the Old Testament, this shall be a perpetual statute, or a forever statute, or a forever obligation. Think of it in terms of covenant. As long as the Old Covenant is in play, then there must be this sacrificial system. But when that Old Covenant is obsolete, when Christ has come to fulfill the obligations laid upon Him by His Father, Well, then we don't go backwards in covenant history, and we don't go backwards in the sacrificial system. And then as well, notice, you shall eat neither fat nor blood. That's going to be developed later specifically with reference to the blood. Why the fat? That just seems to be God's portion. So, some of these things, like I say, people have answers and responses, but when you search the text carefully, they're not always as as clearly laid out as perhaps we would like in our situation on this side of this activity. The next is in chapter 4, so from 4.1 to 5.13. This is called the Sin Offering. The Sin Offering, and the focus is on atonement for unintentional sins. So unintentional sins, those things that you would do that would bring you into a rupture in terms of relationship with God or with the covenant community. Now that's going to be dealt with in great detail as we move out of the sacrificial legislation and on into cleanliness and holiness and the holiness code and that sort of a thing. You couldn't be defiled. There was just a whole lot of stipulation and specification. So, chapter 4, 1 to chapter 5, 13, the sin offering, the primary focus is on unintentional sins. And notice, it affects everybody in the community. So, in chapter 4, verses 3 to 12, deals with the priest. If the priest sins unintentionally, then this is the sacrifice you're supposed to bring. The next is in verses 13 to 21, the congregation of Israel. If the whole congregation of Israel sins unintentionally and the thing is hidden from the eyes of the assembly and they have done something against any of the commandments of the Lord in anything which should not be done and are guilty. So you've got the priest, you've got the congregation, and then notice thirdly the leaders of the congregation in verses 22 to 26. When a ruler has sinned, verse 22, and done something unintentionally against any of the commandments of the Lord as God in anything which should not be done, and is guilty. So you see, God builds into the sacrificial system this offering that is calculated to protect and restore the people from these unintentional sins. And then notice the layman in Israel. So drop down to verse 27. If anyone of the common people sins unintentionally by doing something against any of the commandments of the Lord in anything which ought not to be done and is guilty. So you've got the various persons or the various parties involved, and you've got the specifics of the sacrifice laid out. Now in this particular one, you could use female animals without blemish. They were authorized according to verses 28 and 32. And you'll see that the primary emphasis is on atonement and to bring forgiveness. So look at chapter 4, verse 20. He shall do with the bull as he did with the bull as a sin offering. Thus he shall do with it. So the priest shall make atonement for them, and it shall be forgiven them. Same thing in verse 26. and he shall burn all its fat on the altar, like the sacrifice of the peace offering, so the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin, and it shall be forgiven him." It's repeated in verse 31, and then again in verse 35. So this atonement, this covering, this satisfaction of divine justice, is the ground upon which that forgiveness can come. So when God's justice is satisfied, When that atonement is wrought, then forgiveness freely flows from God to the sinner. And again, as you look through this, and as you work your way through it, I know when you read it, it seems very repetitious, it really sort of emphasizes many of the same sorts of things, but it does instill in us this appreciation for the holiness of God, and for the sinfulness of man, and for the fact that God has built a mechanism into place so that we can have peace with God, so that we can have fellowship. So this old covenant setting, though it wasn't the fulfillment or the realization involved with the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, it nevertheless had a mechanism built in. so that any rupture or breach of peace between God and the sinner, there was this in place so that they could have that sort of peace with God. 514, the guilt offering. The focus here is primarily on intentional sins. So the sin offering is atonement for unintentional sins. The guilt or trespass offering is more for the intentional sins. And one of the things that you see here is that it's not just sacrifice that is demanded. We don't forget the rest of the law code that we have seen up to this point. So look at chapter 6, specifically at verse 1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, If a person sins and commits a trespass against the Lord by lying to his neighbor about what was delivered to him for safekeeping, or about a pledge, or about a robbery, or if he is extorted from his neighbor, or if he has found what was lost and lies concerning it, and swears falsely in any one of these things that a man may do in which he sins, then it shall be, because he has sinned and is guilty, that he shall restore what he has stolen. So we don't forget that. It's not just, okay, give your trespass offering or your guilt offering and the slate will be wiped clean. No, the law mandated and the law specified and stipulated that if you wronged a fellow in that covenant community, you had to make it right. So worship did not suspend, sacrifice did not supersede the obligation of sinner to sinner to make things right. In a criminal case, the criminal was always liable and was always subject to obey the law of God in terms of restoration, in terms of repayment. So back to verse four. Then it shall be, because he has sinned and is guilty, that he shall restore what he has stolen, or the thing which he has extorted, or what was delivered to him for safekeeping, or the lost thing which he found, or all that about which he has sworn falsely. And then notice, he shall restore its full value, add one fifth more to it, and give it to whomever it belongs on the day of his trespass offering. And you see the pro-victim thrust of God's law. He didn't just give this to the priests. He didn't give this to the state. He didn't give this to, you know, some special kolakshet. He gave it to the man that he wronged. He gave it to the victim of his crime. And that's where we know and we see that emphasis on pro-victim, the fact that biblical law is pro-victim. So he does this, he makes restitution, he adds one-fifth more to it, and then notice in verse 6, "...and he shall bring his trespass offering to the Lord, a ram without blemish from the flock, with your valuation as a trespass offering to the priest." So the priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord, and he shall be forgiven for any one of these things that he may have done in which he trespasses. So I think the take-home lesson here, at least at this point, is there is forgiveness with God that he may be feared. Now we know that obviously in this new covenant era, but they knew it in the old covenant era as well. In fact, Psalm 130, if you, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with you that thou mayest be feared. Now the basis and ultimate ground of that forgiveness is the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's signified and it's emblematic through this sacrificial system. So it would feed the faith, it would increase the love of the worshipper for his God. It would cause him to see the graciousness and the mercy and the kindness of God that he builds into this sort of covenant life, a particular apparatus that is intent on dealing with man's sin, whether it be an unintentional sin or whether it be an intentional sin. The fact that there is forgiveness and the fact that there is atonement even for an intentional sin. Now, that's obviously the good news of the gospel. We don't preach it, hey, go out and sin and do all this wickedness intentionally because there's full free forgiveness, but there's a sense where that is true. The things that you have done, the sins that you have committed, the violations and transgressions of God's law, God has provided an apparatus. God has provided a remedy. He's provided hope. He's provided help. And it is in the person and work of His dear Son. So there is forgiveness with God that He may be feared. It's a blessed statement that we find all throughout the Bible, both Old and New Testament. And so then 6, 8 to 7, 38, you've got specific instructions for the priests. Again, in chapter 6, verses 8 to 13, you've got the burnt offering. Chapter 6, verses 14 to 23, you've got the grain offering. Chapter 6, 24 to 30, you've got the sin offering. And then on the heels of that, in chapter 7, verses 1 to 10, the trespass offering or guilt offering. And then the peace offering according to chapter 7, verses 11 to 36. And then that summary statement, I think, encapsulates what we've touched on before, the regulative principle of worship. So notice in verse 37, this is the law of the burnt offering, the grain offering, the sin offering, the trespass offering, the consecrations, and the sacrifice of the peace offering. Notice, it's not the suggestions, it's not the recommendations, it's not, you know, I'm a holy God, you're a sinful man, if you think about it and you feel like it, you know, kill an animal and bring the blood and we'll sort of make a deal. No, this is the law. And this, I think, needs to be kept in mind when we move to chapter 10 to the Nadab and Abihu incident. In fact, look at chapter 10. We're gonna look at it in more detail, God willing, next week. But look at chapter 10 at verse 1. The Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, Each took his censer and put fire in it, put incense on it, and offered profane fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them." Now there's some question in terms of what was it that they did wrong. Look at chapter 10, verse 9. Do not drink wine or intoxicating drink, you nor your sons with you, when you go into the tabernacle of meeting, lest you die. So some suggest that Nadab and Abihu had tippled a bit before they went into the tabernacle, and as a result, God killed them. Others say, no, that's probably not what's in view here. The fact that the Day of Atonement references this has led others to conclude that what Nadab and Abihu did was they tried to go into the Holy of Holies. But whatever we might think, the specific nature of the crime involved was some form of disobedience. So we see that in verse 1. So they put incense on their censer and offered profane fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them. Okay? That's the important facet. That's the important aspect that we need to discover here. So back in chapter 7 at verse 37, this is the law of the burnt offering. So this is the apparatus, this is the structure, this is the mechanism. You're not free to change it. You're not free to modify it. You're not free to sort of supplement it. You are necessitated by God, the command of God, to obey. That's what's involved in this mechanism. It's obedience. You're not free to sort of adapt this or adapt that or do whatever it is you feel led to do. This is the law of God relative to the worship of God. So we've got this law concerning the offerings. We know, again, that it's the law given by God Most High. So it's mediated through Moses. We talk about the law of Moses, and not for bad reason. He was the spokesman for God. But he didn't originate that law. Moses didn't go up to Sinai with a pen and a paper and think, you know, what am I going to do for these people in terms of a mechanism to bring them peace of conscience with God. No, he goes up to the mount to receive from God commandment. And so notice verse 38, which the Lord commanded Moses on Mount Sinai. So we need to make sure whenever we talk about the Law of Moses, we're not talking about the Law of Moses as if it originated with him, as if he was the architect, as if he was the one that came up with the Ten Commandments, and then the Judicial Law in Exodus 21-23, and then the Ceremonial Law in Exodus 25-40. And then this detailed legislation on sacrifices. You know, Moses just, you know, had this great mind, and he had this imagination, and he was, well, no, no, no, no. He received this from God. So what you read here in terms of this legislation is legislation, and it does come from God Almighty. And then notice it is to regulate the conduct of the people of Israel. So it says, which the Lord commanded Moses on Mount Sinai on the day when he commanded the children of Israel to offer their offerings to the Lord in the wilderness of Sinai. So this law was to regulate the conduct of Israel. This law was not up for grabs. It was not debatable. It was simply received by the Israelite and then put into practice in terms of obedience. So when we jump to the New Covenant, as I mentioned, we don't have an Exodus 25 to 40 that details for us how we're supposed to worship God on Sunday morning from 11 to 1230. But we do have general instruction and instruction that we're not at liberty to to dispense with, or to modify, or to change. Very simply, we sing the Word, we pray the Word, we read the Word, we preach the Word, and we see the Word in the sacraments. Very Word-based, and this is the emphasis that you find in the New Testament in terms of worship. But the same necessity comes to us in the New Covenant as it did in the Old Covenant. If God commands in the New Testament epistles how we're supposed to worship Him, then it's just the same as if we were standing at the base of Sinai and He's telling us how to bring our sin offering and how to cut its throat and how to present it up to the priest so that he can then take it up and burn it on the altar. So when it comes to worship, God is the one who authorizes, God is the one who legislates, God is the one who gives the detailed instruction And as I said, in the absence of 25 to 30 in Exodus, you don't have an Ephesians 8 to 40 that says, okay, here's exactly what a church service should look like. But when we come to those churchly texts, and we see what churches are supposed to be doing according to those churchly texts, and then we look at the book of Acts, and we see how the church conducted themselves on the day of Pentecost, there is enough information in the New Testament to mandate for the church today how we're supposed to worship. And we have the same obligation that Israel did at the foot of Sinai to obey God and to approach Him in the manner in which He demands and in which He commands. So you probably have lots of questions. I would suggest a good commentary. John Gill would be good for any of this. Matthew Poole is a bit briefer. There's a very helpful book on biblical theology of the book of Leviticus by a fellow named Michael Morales. It's called, Who Shall Ascend the Mountain of God? And he puts the book of Leviticus in that larger sort of biblical theological context. It's all about meeting God. It's all about entering into the holy of holies. and communing with God. So he has a biblical theology on the book of Leviticus. It's very helpful, but he does not get into each of the sacrifices. He deals with the burnt offering and then theologizes for much of the rest of the book, but it's very helpful. The the modern commentator Gordon Wenham Thus far from my observation. It's a it's a stellar commentary on the book of Leviticus So so in the absence of a lot of details tonight, I refer you to those good books. We'll get more details coming next week, but when we get to the scabs and You know yellow this and hair that we're probably not going to get real detailed there either. We'll lump some of those skin diseases together I didn't mean that. Yeah, we will. We'll lump them together. So there's going to be stuff in Leviticus that you'll probably want a good commentary to sort of accompany this study. Did you have a question? Okay, it's on there? It's on the website? Okay, good. Okay. Alright, so just in conclusion, see the emphasis on atonement, see the emphasis on the holiness of God, and the emphasis on the sinfulness of man, and the provision of God for sinful man, even in a book like Leviticus. I imagine a lot of Bible readers, they start off in Genesis, Wow, this is great, they get to Exodus, they kind of get to the end, and they go, wow, that's tough sweating. And then they come to Leviticus, and they're like, what is happening here? Well, what is happening is that God has made a way of approach for guilty sinners to come into his presence. So that is good news. Well, I'll pray, and then if there's any comments, we can talk about that. Our Father in heaven, we thank you for your word. We thank you for The New Covenant, we thank you for the beauty of Christ our Lord, that Lamb of God who does take away the sin of the world. We thank you for this Old Covenant as well, and for what you taught the children of Israel back then concerning the Messiah. We thank you for the entirety of your Word, and we see that continual emphasis on your holiness and on our sinfulness, but on the way that you make provision into your presence through blood atonement. We bless you and we praise you that you have given us that saving interest in the Lord Jesus Christ, that you have indeed forgiven us of all of our sins, and God, we just pray that you would help us and conform us even more unto the image of your beloved Son. We ask that you would watch over us in the remainder of this week. Again, bless all of our brothers and sisters who have needs, and we just commend the saints to you and to the word of your grace, and we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. All right. You could ask questions. It might not be as nice. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, yeah. For me, too, especially on the Day of Atonement when the goat gets sent out into the wilderness. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Take a water.