The next time you're feeling cranky, or difficult or beanheaded, 'cause we all do have our moments. Remember the Word of God. shall stand forever. The grass withers, the flowers fade, but the Word of God is a lamp unto my feet. It is sweet like honey.
This is passion in our faith. You don't have to wait to sing the song you like to express your passion in your faith. This is Cross-Reference Radio with our pastor and teacher, Rick Gaston. Rick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel, Mechanicsville. Pastor Rick is currently teaching through the book of Leviticus.
Please stay with us after today's message to hear more information about Cross-Reference Radio, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. And now, here's Pastor Rick as he begins teaching in Genesis chapter 49, he'll then go into Leviticus, on this edition of Cross-Reference Radio. In Genesis 49, here's Jacob on his proverbial deathbed. He's handing out the blessings to his sons, he gets to Judah. The fourth of his sons, fourth eldest, And he says the sceptre shall not depart from Judah.
nor a law giver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes. and to him shall be the obedience of the people. Only Christ can satisfy that, and only Christ has satisfied that. And the part about until Shiloh comes doesn't mean, okay, then it all stops. Shadow will fulfill this.
That is the application. The scepter is the ruler. The ruler writes the laws. That's what the ruler does. And then he has those who will enforce his laws.
The scepter shall not depart from Judah. nor a law g giver from between his feet But Shiloh is going to be the one to do it. That's the idea of what's being said. But that part to him shall be the obedience of the people. That matches what.
Moses prophesied. Another prophet will come, him you shall listen to, and if you don't, it's going to be trouble for you.
So the two laws. The Old Testament under Moses. And this lawgiver, the New Testament of Christ, the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. They're not opposed to each other. is one who's just developed.
Beyond the other, as a tree does. An acorn. Psalm Twice in Psalms, actually. Psalm 60, verse 7, and Psalm 108. Verse 8.
We read the psalmists say, Judah is my lawgiver.
Now that has to be prophetic. The Jew in those days knew that it was Levi. Through Levi, through Moses, the law was given. they knew this was hope on the horizon. for the Jewish people.
We know it extended beyond them. A new lawgiver was promised. He would make a new covenant. He would mature the Mosaic law, which is what Jesus meant when he said, Don't think I've come to destroy it, I've come to fulfill it. to develop it.
to put it where it was headed. And that's what Jeremiah says in Jeremiah 31. There's going to be a new covenant. Paul dials it into the New Testament in Hebrews 8, verse 8. I'm not going to read these verses because it just chews up time and you can reference them.
But I'll read this one from Hebrews 7:14, for it is. Evident that our Lord arose from Judah. Of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning the priesthood. And then of course Paul develops how Christ is our high priest. From the tribe of Judah.
So all of these Detailed rituals in the Old Testament, particularly in Exodus and in Leviticus. They served as shadows. of something greater. What was behind the shadow?
Well, Paul tells us in Colossians 2:17 that all these laws and rights of the Jews. He says, are a shadow of things to come, Colossians 2.17. but the substance is of Christ, the real thing. The very thing, it is Christ. They were pointing to him.
So the scribe shows up. At one of the Lord's teachings, They're in the book of Marks, Mark's Gospel. In the twelfth chapter. And he says to the Lord, What is the first commandment? The greatest of all.
In Christ quotes from Deuteronomy 6:4 from the Shema. Listen, O Israel, the Lord your God is one. There's no two gods, there's no other God, there's only one. And then Christ adds to that. And you shall love him.
With all your heart, soul, mind, strength. And the second law, see, you know, he asked for one, he asked one question. The Lord says, I'm going to give this guy. all that he can handle. The second one is you shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Now they press Christ on that later. Who is my neighbor? He says, You know the Samaritans that you hate?
So watch out for those who tell you that Christ didn't die for the world. He died. We are to love the world. Not the world system, but the people in the world. Or imagine if he said don't love 'em.
Then we would Pick and choose who we give the gospel to. But anyway, that's a sidetrack. Coming back to this event. In Mark's Gospel chapter 12, After Jesus quoted those Three sections of Scripture. 'Cause he condenses the answer, takes different parts of Deuteronomy.
This is what the scribe says. It's quite insightful. He understands the law. Many of the Pharisees didn't get it. Sadducees, of course, they were outside the whole thing.
But anyway, Mark's Gospel chapter 32.
So the scribes said to him, Well said, teacher. You have spoken the truth. For there is one God, and there is no other but He. You can hear the love in that, can you not? I don't know.
I w I was My heart.
wells up with joy when I think about The exclusivity of God, how He is just alone, He is God Almighty, the Godhead. He continues. He says, and to love him. With all your heart, with all your understanding, with all your soul. And with all the strength And to love one's neighbor as oneself is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.
Here's a Jew in the days of Christ when there were so many of these knowledgeable Pharisees, teachers of the law, who were rejecting him. Here's an unnamed one that says, yes, that's right. The law is about God. And the sacrifices are about him. And what happens in the life of the individual that loves him?
that knows him.
Well, that's the Law of in Leviticus. All of these Sacrifices and offerings that we're going to read about. They're pointing to something greater than the sacrifices themselves. The rituals are secondary. The meaning, the spirit of them, that's the most important part.
And that's when he says that to know the Lord and to love the neighbor is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices, all of them.
So, Leviticus deals with temporary solutions for the Jewish people regarding separation from God because of sin. But the New Testament believers are delivered from Old Testament rituals. but were not delivered from their meanings. We don't have to take a bull. We better not actually.
That's the whole letter of Hebrews. You better not take a sacrifice, a blood sacrifice. That's done by Christ. But the meaning, that part, is very much active for us. That's not gone anywhere.
It's the same idea, as I mentioned a few times before, that the Sabbath, yeah, we don't have to Saturday, I gotta wait for Saturday, we do nothing. No, the idea. Of devotion is daily for us. We don't wait for Saturday, it's a daily event.
So, in that sense, the Spirit. Of the Sabbath was downtime before the Lord is uptime for the individual. And so we have now a deeper understanding. Understanding of these things than the first Jews, those that were not far. remove from Jacob, and who were the first recipients of the law some 400 years after Jacob.
Romans chapter 3. The righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the law and the prophets. Paul is saying, we've got more to understand the law and the prophets.
So, Mosaic. Law. teaches us countless lessons. about Judah's lawgiver. The Christ.
Shiloh The one of peace. Putting these things together. And this is an important point because I've noticed over the, and I'm one too. We Christians We can connect dots or we can disconnect them. It's better to connect dots.
To disconnect them is to undo the work of God. whether it is in a church In a private setting. wherever it is. To connect the dots. was what our Bible teaches The Apostles did for us.
Connecting the Old Testament to the New. When Paul makes this statement in Romans, You have to know he understood the Levitical offerings. Therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, That you present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God. That means based on God. Which is your reasonable service?
Not asking too much. Certainly not of the Spirit.
So, all the sacrificial features of Leviticus point to their ultimate one-time fulfillment in the Lord Jesus, his substitutionary death. You know, that's a theological word. It means he died in my place. Uh he he was a substitute for Barabbas. Substitute for me.
His death. Is what all these things are pointing to as Hebrews chapter 9. Verses 11 through 22 really point out, which while we're in the New Testament, the New Testament clearly. modifies or redacts The Old Testament Ceremonial Law. Again, not not the moral code, but the ceremonial code.
Acts chapter 10. Colossians chapter 2. I just Two places where these things are clearly put in their place for us New Testament Christians. The Levitical priesthood is has been upgraded. to include Gentiles.
Now the Pharisees would consider that a downgrade. Peter talks about it in 1 Peter 2. John talks about it in Revelation 1, verse 6, and there are other places. The veil was torn in two. at the crucifixion of Christ, To open the priestly roll The Holy of Holies.
to all who would come, whomsoever wills, let him come. The law is born again into the new covenant. And that would be Matthew 26, 2022. Corinthians 3, Hebrews 7, chapter 7 through 10, where Jesus said, This is the blood of the new covenant. It's very serious.
Those guys didn't really get it at the moment. They got it later. When Jesus said They have the law and the prophets. That included Leviticus. That was that scene in Sheol, the place of the dead.
The unrighteous dead. Send Lazarus to tell my brothers how awful this place is. I don't want them to come here. Oh, that's mighty decent of you. But what did Abraham say?
They have the scripture. That's all they need. They have the law and the prophets. If they will not hear them, that we have no plan B. And it is that way too.
to this day. And so Jesus said, you search the scriptures. For in them you think you have eternal life. And these are they which testify of me. The scriptures are talking about me.
So, when I stand up here, any pastor standing up, are you witnessing to somebody that says, all of this in the book of Leviticus is all about Jesus? It's all about him. And you gotta see it to really. Get passionate about it. To understand how God Map this out for us.
And has given us the ability to benefit from it. Remember that the next time you're feeling cranky. or difficult Or bean headed. 'Cause we all do have our moments. Remember the Word of God.
shall stand forever. The grass withers, the flowers fade, but the Word of God is. Is a lamp unto my feet. It is sweet like honey. This is passion in our faith.
You don't have to wait to sing the song you like to express your passion and your faith. And many times you have to take it. And I have learned that God honors that many times.
Sometimes you might not feel like getting on your knees to pray, but you do. And you get up, thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Even if nothing happens, you may just lament before him. Luke's Gospel chapter 24, this is Christ after the resurrection, and beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded to them in all the scriptures.
Things concerning himself. You take those two statements, the one from John 5, you search the scriptures, these are those that testify of me, expounding all the scriptures, things that concerning himself. Only God the Son can say such things. This is why the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Mormons will not be blameless on Judgment Day, because they trampled the clear word of God. You don't reduce the son and say, well, you know, he's just really just the brother of Jesus.
somebody. As New Testament believers, we are not. attracted through the Old Testament ritual. We're not coming to the book of Leviticus to find out how the Jews did it. And if you try, you're gonna just pull your ha hair out.
Look just look at me. Instead of trying to figure out Jewish worship, What we are coming for Is to learn the divine and holy character of the God behind. those statutes and ordinances. In fact, That was the role of the Jew also. The Jew had to know the ritual, but he was supposed to know what stood behind the ritual.
And some got it. And the ones that got it were men like David and Samuel and Daniel, and the ones that did not get it were like Saul and Absalom and Doeg. and there were others. And so you look at these sacrifices and you say, what is he saying to us?
Well they're parables. The sacrifices are parables in blood.
Well, the blood sacrifice, because there were grain offerings, wave offerings, also bloodless offerings. offerings without fire, but not without salt. There's so many lessons in just little comments like that. There lies our deeper and closer walk with the Lord. I would recommend you either read through Leviticus in one shot.
Which most people don't have time, or the reading of power power to do that. Or mix it with a little New Testament. You know, get a chapter in the new and then go back and get a chapter in Leviticus. And you will enrich your study time and your devotional time that way. At least that's what I have learned, and I've enjoyed that.
Well, the symbolism behind Levitical ritual is readable to all generations and cultures. That's what makes it a classic lasting through all the ages. The symbolism. They paint pictures with vibrant words. We see that.
Vivid colors of illustration, blood-red colors, so we can get it. In Leviticus, dominant words. Unclean. Unclean shows up 200 and give or take 208 times in the Scripture. A hundred and sixteen of them are in Leviticus.
That's 55.7% clean. a hundred and fourteen times in the Scripture. 48 in Leviticus, 42.1%, found in just Leviticus. Holy's at 15%. Blood is at 20%.
Skin. 49%. That's a big one. And the reason why It's because It's the story of the leper. It's the story of the unclean.
And you take Leviticus 13 and 14. 13 he's unclean. And fourteen he is clean. And you have this remarkable story. of the cleansed leper.
And that's why skin shows up so much. Examine, which goes with it, 79%. Use of that word is found in Leviticus. How about? these two words, seven times.
40%. There's 35 times that phrase shows up in the Bible. Fourteen of them are in Leviticus. Then the word priest, and we'll take the plural, it's not a significant change to the word priest, four hundred sixty seven times that shows up in our Bibles. one hundred and eighty five of them are in Leviticus.
That's forty percent. The word altar. significant part of the whole thing. 322 times in Scripture, 71 in Leviticus, 22% of the time. You see the dominant words.
The words that flash out. You miss that if you just read a chapter and then read something else, and it's not a spalding, it's just a fact. But if you read through without stopping, you start picking it up. Wow, I keep reading that word. Keep showing up.
Hebrews 9 verse 9 It was symbolic. For the present time. In which both gifts and sacrifices are offered, which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience, can't free his guilt. Paul's pointing back at the Old Testament. He's saying it was symbolic.
For the present time, the time they lived in, the gifts, the sacrifices offered. But they couldn't cleanse the conscience. The conscience still knew it was sinful. Guilty. It still had impure thoughts at the very least on dimension actions.
was not guilt-free. Because those sacrifices were pointing to the Lamb of God that would take away the sin.
So the Levitical system. was a story. A visual lesson. or what was to come in Christ. God's system of cleanliness which offers just looking at the system.
Profound insight into the mind of God. Do you know how many? People have written worship songs, not even aware, maybe, that this process was taking place inside of them. God doesn't wait for us, oh, you figured it out, now I can do something with you.
Well, sometimes, yeah, that is true.
Sometimes this God just can't do certain things with you because you haven't figured it out. But there are other times when God can. And this is a testimony to his sovereignty. Or else, what would he ever get done, really?
So this. All of this surpasses the ceremonies themselves. That is the takeaway. What do you take away from the book of Leviticus once you've finished it? Aside from a woof, got that done.
You take away. The mind of God, what He thinks about sin and sinners, it's right there. Again, the New Testament makes it clear from Acts 2, the day of Pentecost when the church was born and the new covenant was unleashed. that the authority of the New Testament would be What defines the old. And that is important if you write songs, if you write poetry, if you preach sermons, if you share your faith to understand.
How these things have Emerged and evolved for us as believers. In Paul's day as the Gentiles were flooding into the church. Many were moral slobs. They were fresh out of idolatry. Not fresh out like there's no more idolatry.
They were coming fresh. From idolatry. into the church. And they still didn't figure out a lot of things they were bringing with them. Spiritual cooties.
And the apostles had to deal this, to get this stuff out. Paul offered them the same cure all. For this Spiritual misfits. That Moses offered the Jews who were fresh out of the brick yards of Egypt. Holiness.
That's the cure all. Second Corinthians chapter seven Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh, perfecting holiness in fear of God. That's our text. From Leviticus 27, I'm going to reread it again, bites into time. That's what we're talking about.
It's just that when we talk about holiness, And cleansing. The themes of Leviticus. When you get to the book of Leviticus, that flashes. That's what's flashing. It's not the applause sign that's flashing, it's holiness, cleanliness.
That's what God is saying. By the way of blood, this is the predicament we've landed in because of sin. And so, as we consider the Old Testament, Behind Paul's statements about sacrifice. They are in the first seven chapters of Leviticus. are nothing but sacrifices.
They are the sa the the the f the burnt offering. Which is the dedication, it's a free will offering. There's no Pressure to bring this to the temple. It is first covered in chapter one concerning the individual. Whether they're a priest or a person, and then later in six or seven, it's the priest and what they have to do on behalf of the nation.
Every morning they offer up a burnt offering. Every sundown, they offer a burnt offering and other offerings too. The grain offering. It's an offering of gratitude. None of this has stopped.
There's no terminus on this behavior. The dedication of a free will, the gratitude and the grain offering of a free will. The peace offering. You know, if you see a priest do a wave offering, where he takes the offering and waves it, you don't forget that. It sticks in your head, that image.
Because it's profound to you. It means something. Peace offering is fellowship with God. possible to have fellowship with God. Then there's a sin offering.
And the trespass offering. It's difficult sometimes to make the distinction, but it's there, and we'll get to it. The sin offering has to do with the principle of sin. Even an unintentional sin, even.
So Leviticus is the lockdown book for the Jews out of Egypt. And what Moses told them was essential for their spiritual growth, their identity, and that means going forward into the future, they had to know who they are. or who they were. and as survival for the people. also the quality of life in their culture.
When they followed these things, life was much better than when they did not follow these things. And thank you. Thanks for tuning in to today's edition of Cross Reference Radio. Pastor Rick Gaston is currently going through the book of Leviticus. We're glad you joined us.
We trust that you're gaining some valuable insights into God's Word as we go through this Old Testament book. Cross-Reference Radio comes to you from Calvary Chapel, Mechanicsville, in Virginia. If you'd like to subscribe to our podcast, you can do so by going to your favorite app store and downloading from there. For any additional information about this ministry, we invite you to visit our website, crossreference radio.com. Make sure to come back again for the upcoming edition in the book of Leviticus, as Pastor Rick has much more to share.
We thank you for being with us right here on Cross Reference Radio. Yeah.
