The Priestly Atonement

There is a common refrain found time and time again in Leviticus chapters 4-6, “And the priest shall make atonement for them, and they shall be forgiven.”  Atonement is the central motif in the book of Leviticus, the commands of our Lord to the priests prior to entering the Promised Land. Imagine being a part of the people of God during this time. In His grace God gave the people a number of commands to obey to remain faithful to Him and the covenant. The numerous civil and ceremonial laws, along with the moral code, the Ten Commandments, are found in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. There were many laws, and I imagine that the sins were numerous. Given the count of males was around 625,000 at this time, the priests stayed busy!

May we rejoice in the truth that Christ fulfilled the law for us (Matthew 5:17)! Further, not only did Christ fulfill the law in keeping every jot and tittle of it perfectly in glorifying the Father, but He became the once for all sacrifice for sin, and He took the position of High Priest as well.

Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. [Hebrews 2:17]

[11] But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) [12] he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. [13] For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, [14] how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
[15] Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. [Hebrews 9:11-15]

May we worship Him who knew no sin and took our sin for us! (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Beware of Distractions

One of my favorite pericopes in the Gospels found in Luke 10:38-42 — Mary and Martha. We find this story in Luke’s account alone. In it we find the following, “But Martha was distracted with much serving” (Luke 10:40 ESV). There are many things and/or movements that come along in the life of an individual and/or the church that on the surface seem to be necessary for living out the gospel life. These things are often needed, even commanded, as a part of gospel life and never the whole. The danger is that the service itself becomes a distraction to living the gospel, so much so that we miss Christ,.

In his classic Knowing God, J.I. Packer warned of such distractions:

We have been brought to the point where we both can and must get our life’s priorities straight. From current Christian publications you might think that the most vital issue for any real or would-be Christian in the world today is church union, or social witness, or dialogue with other Christians and other faiths, or refuting this or that -ism, or developing a Christian philosophy and culture, or what have you. But our line of study makes the present day concentration on these things look like a gigantic conspiracy of misdirection. Of course, it is not that; the issues themselves are real and must be dealt with in their place. But it is tragic that, in paying attention to them, so many in our day seem to have been distracted from what was, and is, and always will be, the true priority for every human being. That is, learning to know God in Christ.

May we take care that we are not well-meaning Martha’s who missed Christ, but may we be Mary’s who seek to worship Christ with our whole being.

A Stiff-necked People

As I read through the Exodus account this morning, I was once again struck by the depths of human depravity. In Exodus 32, at the very time that Moses was up on the mountain receiving the law from God to give to His people (a law, by the way, that was given by God’s grace), His chosen people were fashioning the god of their imagination. They were impatient and insubordinate and sought to find satisfaction in the moment and in themselves rather than in God.

However, what stood out to me this morning is how precise God was in giving the law along with the plans for the tabernacle and the priestly garbs. God pays attention to detail! However, notice how flippant and imprecise the people were, “So I (Aaron) said to them, ‘Let any who have gold take it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf” (v. 24). Out came this calf! Are you kidding me? We know Aaron lied because we are told that he fashioned it with a graving tool. This shows how Aaron and the people of God chose to compete with God rather than obey Him. Consider this alongside God’s opening words to Moses on the mount:

1 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel, that they take for me a contribution. From every man whose heart moves him you shall receive the contribution for me. 3 And this is the contribution that you shall receive from them: gold, silver, and bronze, 4 blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, goats’ hair, 5 tanned rams’ skins, goatskins, acacia wood, 6 oil for the lamps, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, 7 onyx stones, and stones for setting, for the ephod and for the breastpiece. 8 And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst. 9 Exactly as I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle, and of all its furniture, so you shall make it. [Exodus 25:1-9]

What was the first item Moses was to request for contribution: gold. And what were they doing with their gold as their hearts were moved at that very moment?

3 So all the people took off the rings of gold that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. 4 And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf. And they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt! [Exodus 32:3-4]

Of course, you might recall God’s assessment of their sinfulness:

7 And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. 8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them. They have made for themselves a golden calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’” 9 And the Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people. [Exodus 32:7-9, emphasis mine]

As you examine your own heart today, how does it “move” you? Are you moved to honor and glorify God as He has described in great detail in His Word? Do you worship Him as He has prescribed, or do you offer “unauthorized incense” at the altar? May we remember Jeremiah’s words,

9 The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately sick;
who can understand it?
10 “I the Lord search the heart
and test the mind,
to give every man according to his ways,
according to the fruit of his deeds.” [Jeremiah 17:9-10]

Are you stiff-necked today? Are you satisfied with the things of this earth or are you living for that which is above? May we live our lives as if Christ is sufficient today!

How to Interpret Scripture

D.A. Carson has given an excellent article on the importance of biblical interpretation in Modern Reformation. Here’s the outline of his introductory principles on the topic:

1. As conscientiously as possible, seek the balance of Scripture, and avoid succumbing to historical and theological disjunctions.
2. Recognize that the antithetical nature of certain parts of the Bible, not least some of Jesus’ preaching, is a rhetorical device, not an absolute. The context must decide where this is the case.
3. Be cautious about absolutizing what is said or commanded only once.
4. Carefully examine the biblical rationale for any saying or command.
5. Carefully observe that the formal universality of proverbs and of proverbial sayings is only rarely an absolute universality. If proverbs are treated as statutes or case law, major interpretive and pastoral errors will inevitably ensue.
6. The application of some themes and subjects must be handled with special care, not only because of their intrinsic complexity, but also because of essential shifts in social structures between Biblical times and our own day.

Read Carson’s explanation of each point here.

HT: Justin Taylor and Thabiti Anyabwile