Leviticus 3 Bible Study | Episode 658

April 17, 2024

Hope Alive: Applying God’s Word to Your Daily Life

Leviticus 3   Bible Study | Episode #658

I am Chad Harrison, and I am the teaching pastor of Lake Community Church and had been serving as a pastor for 25 years. I'm also a practicing attorney. This podcast is designed to help you study God's word and find God's will for your life. The purpose of studying scripture is that you might know the character of Jesus Christ, and that you might see the world from the Father's perspective. That you gain wisdom that changes your life. I pray in the name of Jesus right now that God would open His word to you and allow you to see Him and to know Him. To know His will, that you might glorify Him and that you might walk in faith and power each day, especially today. In Jesus name.

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Transcript

This is Chad Harrison, and you're listening to Hope Alive, Applying God's Word to Your Daily Life.

Hi, this is Chad Harrison, and I am the teaching pastor of Lake Community Church and have been serving as a pastor for 25 years. I'm also a practicing attorney. This podcast is designed to help you study God's word and find God's will for your life. I pray in the name of Jesus right now that God would open up his word to you and allow you to see him and to know him and to know his will, that you might glorify him and that you might walk in faith and power each and every day, especially today in Jesus name.

Well, good morning. Welcome to Lake Community Church's morning Bible study. We're at Exodus. I mean, Leviticus chapter three, unless I'll get past Exodus by the time we get through the book of Exodus. I mean, through the book of Leviticus. In fact, uh, probably just need to cut that out for the podcast that, uh, we didn't and put out, we're about a year ahead on that.

And so if you're listening on Facebook, uh, those who listen on podcast are hearing about a year from now, uh, we're in, uh, Leviticus chapter, uh, three and. The chapter itself in Leviticus is very mechanical. And, uh, that's, I really, I want to address that up front. It's damn mechanical. I'm really mean by that because God's going to give specific instructions about each animal that is killed.

But, uh, If you just ruled this chapter, this is one of those chapters in Leviticus that you struggle with because you really feel like you get a whole lot out of it in the sense of you don't understand and you have to tie it off to, uh, the greater, uh, that I have, especially. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

And then you, there are several other places in Scripture that deal with this offering, which is a peace offering. And, um, it is, it is the offering that is, uh, probably most, uh, most understood and most used, uh, in Scripture, uh, as far as, um, uh, the offerings that were made by the Patriarchs. And when I mean by the Patriarchs, I'm talking about, I'm talking about, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, uh, these are all these offerings, uh, are a picture of having peace with God.

Now, what do you mean by peace with God? Well, there's a difference between fellowship and that's, that's communion. That's the iPhone that we talked about in chapter two, where, uh, I recognize the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross, and, uh, now I am able to come and actually have a relationship with God.

I'm now able to actually be in the presence of God. I have, I have fellowship with God. But the reason that is the case is because I'm no longer, as the New Testament says, I'm no longer at enmity with God, we're enemies. And what do you mean by enemies? Why does the New Testament call us enemies? Well, the New Testament calls us enemies is because God is holy and God is God.

And when we are in sin, when we are controlled by sin, That is definition, I guess, philosophically, the best way for me to describe it to you is it's not that it's, it's, it's what God is clearly not. And you go, well, why is there not God? Why is there sin? Well, because, because the only way for you to know God and the whole purpose of God creating the universe, the only way for you to know everything is to know it.

That thinks quantities and, and the only way to understand quantities is to know those quantities in opposition or indifference to somatic quality. So if I said to you, uh, that somebody had brown eyes, but you were color blind and you, you did not, you could not see the difference between brown, blue, green, and you, you would not know what it was taken about.

Uh, if you were, if you, you'd never been tech cutters, you were doing, and you just lived a color band. And you listened to a color band society, a society where nobody saw cutters. And then I started describing colors to you, where you have mental context for which to understand, uh, what I'm talking about as far as colors are concerned.

Well, uh, in the same way, when God created the universe, by definition, there has to be things in the universe that are not him, uh, that are not. That are, that are in opposition to him or separated from him. Uh, and that's why he says I create calamity. I, I, I am after evil. He's not saying that he, he, he wants evil.

What he's saying is, is when he made the universe, there's going to be evil. In the universe because there has to be something that we compare his holiness to and say he's holy and that he's good. He's God. And these things are unholy. They're not good. I mean, God, and, um, and when Adam and Eve chose to do not God in the garden.

They pass that on to us. And so we're, we're enemies to God. We're at, we're at enmity with him. We're his enemy. And so, uh, when God made it possible that we would not be under the yoke or subjugation of sin anymore, we now could commune with him. We now could have a relationship with him and we could have.

Peace with God. We're not, we're not in the museum, but we are part of the same kingdom, the same family we're at peace with God and peace and things and. Uh, one of the things that was really, uh, mentioned the most in scripture, because there's a couple of aspects to it. Uh, first of all, it says in book chapter three, when it's offered as a sacrifice of a peace offering.

If he offers it of the herd, whether male or female, he shall offer it without banishment And he shall lay his hands on the head of offering and kill it at the door of a tabernacle meeting. And Aaron's son, the priest shall spring them blood I the altar. Then he shall offer from the sacrifice, a peace offering, an offering made by fire to the Lud, the fat that covers the little tris and all the fat that is on the ENT intros, the two kidneys and the fat that is on with them by the flanks and the fatty liver.

Attach the litter above the kidneys. He shall remove. And Aaron's son shall burn it on the altar upon the burnt sacrifice, which is old and ruined, then examine the fire as an offering made by fire, a sweet anointment to the Lord. Okay. And you go, well, that's the pet that I don't know what it's talking about.

And I, I've never been to the animal. I don't know what that's meaning. Well, there's, there's some very unique aspects to this offering. First of all, then there can be male and female. And what does that tell us? Well, that tells us we're not talking about a specific figure. When it says it must be a male without banish, that's specifically speaking to Christ.

When we're talking about male and female, uh, that's probably us. God's patently saying, this is kind of a picture of our own act. And so when you go, okay, well, it's male and female. So they must be talking about our sacrifice to God. What, how do we present ourselves to God? Right. Exactly. And then it says that, uh, whoever's offering it puts their hand on the head.

That means they're the term of their, the person who's bringing this offering is the actor in the, in the, uh, in the act. And they threw it. They kill the animal. And it's a bird orphan. The guy gets a portion. They place this fat, the fat and the liver and the kidneys and it's built up. So that's God's portion.

What happens to the rest? Well, you know, they skin the animal first and then they also have all kinds of, uh, all kinds of rare meat. They go with it. And this is the first offering where Everybody gets to eat. We all get to bring you to the offering. We all get to uh, eat together. The poos get a portion. Uh, they get a portion of the breast.

They get a portion of the uh, hind, hind pets, the leg. I think it's the right leg, maybe the left. Uh, anyway, they get, they get a portion of it and I'm You're going, I don't see that in this passage. I know because you got to find it in other places. And because we're a quick model study in the morning, I take, just take you to have those places because then I would just, we would, we would give them a morass of information that you just won't get.

And I'm trying to give you the understanding of this. So that you can see that this is about us having peace with God. This is about us sitting down at a family table and everybody participating in it, male and female, um, God, the priest. Every one of us, this, and this is the primary offering that it was talked about most of the time throughout scripture, unless there's offering that's pointing directly to Christ.

This is the offering of the litho bib. This is when they went in, this is why they celebrated because they take a really fine animal and they would sacrifice that animal. And they would, it'd be a piece of food to God. And it's, it's, it's a barbecue. It's a, it's a, a bigger banquet. It's, it's fun. It's, it would be, it would be for the children.

It would be one of those, those things that they always remember and look forward to in life. It's a, it's the 3rd of July. I mean, you know, it's, it's, it's that kind of often. And that's what it, and, and you were, well, it's not really the 4th of July. No, I'm just trying to give me some context. We're just trying to get some context here.

Okay. Uh, it is. It, you know, I remember when I was a kid, we always went to granny claims, uh, house in, uh, down south of Greenville and Bowen, Alabama. And, and they would have these giant, uh, barrel, uh, you know, these barrels that they cut in half and put weights on, they were, you know, that's where they cooked on and it would be two or three of them and they would have chicken on there just like crazy.

And they'd be putting on the barbecue sauce. And I can remember that. Taste of, you know, different pets and a little bit bar and you'd have that barbecue sass and that get, I just remember it being so, and so many people there, so, so many people there out there in the yard. And, you know, I was a little child.

I'm talking about six, seven years old, five, six, seven years old. And I remember it. And I remember it being, uh, one of those, you know, just big fellowship times because all these people knew me and I didn't know them really because I was a kid, but I know that they knew me and they treated me really good and we got to eat all kinds of desserts and run around all in the yard.

I mean, it was just, um, it was a great time playing with cousins that I didn't even know were cousins or people that I didn't even know who they were. And it was a great time of fellowship. It was a great time of fellowship. Uh, and this is what this is about. That's, that's what this offering is about. And by the way, not only could they, could they, not only could they offer male and female, uh, but they could offer different types of sacrifices.

They could offer a sacrifice of the herd in verse six of the offering. This is peace offering of the faith. They could bring a, you know, a goat or, uh, a lamb and they could do that. And it's the same type of sacrifice. Uh, he lays his hands on it and, uh, they spoke in the blood around the altar and then they cooked it.

Uh, they cooked the person that they got, they burned the person that's for God. Uh, then you got, then if he shall offer sacrifice, peace, offering in verse nine, and all food made by fire to the Lord is fat, and it talks about, um, uh. The air of the fat that goes as the fat that goes to God, uh, and, and it deals with all the rows.

They take it apart and, uh, lay it only offering so that guides invalid in it. This is not just a barbecue where we forget about God. Oftentimes I will have these big celebrations. Uh, And nowadays we've left God out. We don't leave God out. This is, this is an offering where we realize God gets a portion.

This is a, this is a holy time, but it's also a celebrative time. It's the first offering that's really kind of a celebration. And, uh, well, it's not kind of, it is. To have peace with God is something that's something to celebrate. To not be at enmity with him is something to be excited about. Um, Even in the midst of our sin, even in the midst of His atonement, even in the midst of, of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and us dealing with all this on the altar, we have room to celebrate because I'm not an in, I'm not an enemy of God.

Even when I choose to sin, I'm not an enemy of God. Uh, I am, I am. Roadward. I'm not wrecking by the path and the life that God has given me, but I'm not an enemy of God. And so many people who, who, who wander away from God, uh, feel like that they're, they can never come back and that they're last. And, and they knew God when they were a kid or they knew God, they wrote with God.

A couple of years ago, we'll play those, but now they got left for real, get sneaky in and get, and get involved in, in how they made the decisions of their lives. And they feel like I can just never get back, back to that place. And that is just not true. It's absolutely not true. You can get back to God.

The same means the same way you got to him in the first, in the first place. And how did that happen? Well, God paid for your, your ticket to his kingdom. So you don't have to pay for it. Uh, And, and second of all, the Holy Spirit drew you in. And if you realize that you need to move closer to God, well, the Holy Spirit's the one who's making you realize that you're not realizing it in your flesh.

You're not realizing it in your sinfulness. Uh, you're realizing it because God's drawing you, he's, he's calling you back. And so you, you have, you have a seat at the 3rd of July. Chicken and barbecue in granny, granny claims house. You do, you got to see that, except it's way better than that. Even though I thought it was fabulous, it's way better than that.

You haven't seen at the table. You've always had one. You always will, uh, revenue get to come and where you choose to come and eat at that table. Well, that's your, that's your choice. But, but the truth is, is that, uh, re re. We have a place in the kingdom of God. And when we don't function in that place, the one who loses is us.

The one who misses out is us. The one who is hurting is us. And so, uh, God wants you to come to 4th of July. He does. He wants you to come to, he wants you to come to Thanksgiving lunch. He does. Even if you don't feel like you're a part of the family anymore. Even if you don't feel that way, you feel it was lied to you.

You do know that, right? You feel it was lied to you. Uh, how you feel and the way God has made things may be in opposition to each other. Uh, we don't, we don't. Operate based off of our feelings. As far as God's concerned, we operate based off of his truth. Now, I think things can be exciting and great and wonderful, especially when we're working with God and seeing God at work in our lives.

But I feel like it also can lead us astray. And in your feelings about where you stand with God, oftentimes they're just not true and they're not accurate. You are not separated from God. You're in his kingdom. You're one of his children. And, uh. When you decide to come back to the table and have fellowship with him, when you decide to come back to the table and make peace with him and allow him to place his peace in your heart, well, you, you get to, uh, be a part of what he's doing.

And, uh, that's really what this offering is about. It's verse 17 says that it, this shall be a perpetual statute through your generations, all your dwellings, you shall eat neither fat nor blood. And what is that about? Well, what he's saying is, is. It as, as a remembrance that you have a seat at his table and that you're a part of his kingdom, uh, they didn't eat the fat and they didn't eat the blood.

They never had ate the blood and they never ate the fat because that was God's, but anything else was theirs. And, uh, you know, when we give God what he should and, and, and absolutely has earned to have, um, We get his very, very best. I pray that that would be the case for you. I, if you've landed away or you feel separated from God, um, his kingdom is available to you.

Um, and just because you feel separated from him does not mean that you don't have a seat at the table. You should get up and go to his table, sit down and eat with him and know him again as God. And know him as you go today. I pray that the Lord will bless you and keep you that he'll make his face to shine upon you and that he will give you hope and peace today in Jesus name.