For many months, we have been methodically working through the Bible, a chapter at a time.  The book focused on at any given point in time has been both random and intentional -- random in that I had no preconceived plan, intentional in that there have been times when I have discerned God leading us to focus on a particular book during a particular season (such as Daniel during the time of General Conference).  As a result, we only have five books left -- Leviticus, Numbers, Exodus, Jeremiah and Lamentations.  Kind of incredible and daunting at the same time as these are among the more difficult books of the Bible.  But we will persevere because God has some important truths to reveal to us in these books too.

Today, I invite you to read Leviticus 1.  The name of the book of Leviticus is taken from the first word in the book -- lev -- which is translated literally as "He (the Lord) called."  In Leviticus, God is calling His people to be different from the world around them -- to be a people set apart for Him -- a nation of priests -- who would worship and serve Him in distinctive ways.  So much of the book of Leviticus focuses on how the Hebrew people were to worship God which is why we find it so dry.  But there are important principles communicated within its dry text.  In chapter 1, God instructs Moses on the making of burnt offerings.  Notice that the animal to be sacrificed is to be a male with no defects -- God is worthy of our best.  A male animal without defects was rare and therefore exceedingly valuable. When Jesus offers Himself in sacrifice for us, He obviously offered His highest and best.  The worshiper is to lay his hands on the animal -- identifying with the animal.  The animal represents the worshiper.  The Lord accepts the death of the animal "in your place to purify you, making you right with him."  By the way, Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice -- he dies our death "in our place" to purify us and make us right with God.  The entire animal is consumed by fire -- nothing is withheld from the Lord.  He demands all of us without reserve.  The burnt offering was to satisfy God's wrath against sin, ceremonially cleansing the worshiper and restoring him or her to fellowship with God.  The burnt offering produced a "pleasing aroma to the Lord" because it was a sincere act acknowledging the seriousness of sin and the desire of the worshiper to be cleansed and transformed.  The blood of the animal splattered on the altar was designed to impress upon the worshiper the realism of the cost of his or her sin.  The blood represented life.  A life was being given so that the worshiper could have life once again.  Ultimately, God's rejection of sinful acts and attitudes is fearsome, but his meticulous care for the details of sacrifices is comforting and teaches us a picture of God who is holy and approachable.