Leviticus - Part 1: Acceptable to the Lord
Pastor Scott Skones
If you were to rate your favorite books of the Bible, I’m guessing many of you would pick one of the Gospels. Or, perhaps, the Psalms. Some might pick a letter like Philippians, while others might love the Proverbs or the beautiful theology of Romans.
One thing that I’m confident of though, is that if I polled everyone in this room about what your FAVORITE book of the Bible is, nobody in here would say Leviticus.
In fact, Leviticus has single-handedly stalled out more “Read through the Bible” plans than any other book in scripture. Some of you have experienced that. You’re reading every day, things are going well. You get through the narratives of Genesis and Exodus, and you’re still captivated by the story of God’s people.
And then you get to Leviticus. You make it through a few chapters, learning about different types of offerings. But then come the long, detailed descriptions of the priests, and the clean and unclean foods, and the skin diseases and the bodily discharges, and the Jewish festivals and it’s just more than you can bear.
And I can sympathize with that experience. I, too, in the past have struggled with the details, command after command, that the book contains.
But I would argue that the problem is not actually with Leviticus – it’s that none of us have been taught how to read Leviticus. None of us have been given an understanding of what God is doing in Leviticus, that opens it up for us and transforms it from boring to beautiful.
Now, some of you may remember that in the fall of 2019, I preached through the book of Exodus. And then in the fall of 2022, I went backward and preached through Genesis. And here we are in 2025 and I’ve decided to continue this time in the Pentateuch by preaching Leviticus.
Many times in the weeks leading up to a new sermon series I’ll announce it to whet your appetite. But, with Leviticus, I wanted you to actually show up this morning, so it’s a bit of a surprise attack.
Just a brief note about how we are approaching this series: This book contains 27 chapters, and we are going to handle those 27 chapters in about 10 sermons. Over these weeks we will grow in our understanding of what God is saying and doing in this book, and what it means for us. You won’t end the series with detailed notes on every verse and chapter, but, rather, with the tools and foundational knowledge necessary to understand the book in its fullness.
You might be wondering where the name “Leviticus” comes from. If you look at the first four letters, you see the word “Levi.” And so “Leviticus” means “pertaining to the Levites.” The Levites, of course, were Israel’s priests. Those who were called and responsible for the affairs of the Tabernacle and eventually the temple. And so we might think of this title as saying that Leviticus is instructions for the priests of Israel.
Leviticus starts where Exodus ends.
If you were to look back at the end of Exodus – Exodus chapter 40, we read this:
Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 35 Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle.
36 In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out; 37 but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out—until the day it lifted. 38 So the cloud of the Lord was over the Tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the Israelites during all their travels.
Exodus ends with the Glory of the Lord filling the Tabernacle, that portable temple. God had chosen to dwell among his people.
And so Leviticus is going to lay out for us how God’s people relate with him. How they worship him. How they enter into relationship with him.
That recognition alone is really helpful. Leviticus is the story, given to us by Moses, of How God invites his people to meet him. More on that in a moment.
Well, today we are going to look at chapter 1 of Leviticus, but before we do that, I want to answer what might be the prevailing question before us today. And that question is “Why in the world are we spending 10 weeks in Leviticus?”
And that’s a fair question. I would bet that the majority of you have never been part of a church that has preached through this book. I haven’t. And so I want to share with you Six reasons that Leviticus is worth our time and attention. I’m not going to spend a lot of time unpacking these 6 reasons, as we will do that over the course of our time in this book. But here are 6 reasons that we should preach through Leviticus.
1 - Leviticus structures the religious system of Israel, which is the context in which Jesus came.
So this book sets up the religious system – the interaction between God and humans. And it’s into this religious system that God sent us the savior. And so if we want to understand the gospels and Jesus’ life, and what he accomplished, Leviticus really helps us.
2 - Leviticus deals with the holiness of God and how that impacts sinners.
Perhaps the major question that the scriptures set out to answer is how sinners can be reconciled with a Holy God. And Leviticus is focused almost entirely on that question. It sets up our understanding of purity, holiness, and sin.
Leviticus is predicated upon the idea that we are not right with God on our own. That God is holy, and we are not.
3 - Leviticus establishes the need for sin to be atoned for and is the theological and historical foundation for Christ’s atoning work.
You will see dozens and dozens of times throughout this book the idea of being impure or defiled – and then the sacrifice and offerings necessary to cover up that sin and make things right. And, of course, this is what Jesus came to do. To deal with sin. To be a sacrifice for sin. Leviticus prescribes that the answer for sin is a blood sacrifice to atone for the sin. That’s a really big deal. That’s the basis of Christian theology.
4 - Leviticus captures the direct speeches of God to his people through the mediator Moses.
I’ve heard it said, and I didn’t count words, but I think it’s accurate that Leviticus gives us more direct quotes from the mouth of God than any other book of the Bible. God speaks to Moses, and Moses records those speeches.
5 - Leviticus is quoted and alluded to by the New Testament, and Jesus himself, very often.
For example, Leviticus 19 contains one Old Testament passage that Jesus quoted more than just about anything else – the command “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus didn’t pull that out of thin air during his earthly ministry. He was quoting Leviticus. And there are many many other places that the New Testament quotes Leviticus – and countless other places where the New Testament utilizes the imagery of Leviticus.
6 - Leviticus is full of “arrows” pointing the reader forward to Jesus.
This might be the point that becomes most clear to you during our time in the book. Every page of this book contains arrow after arrow pointing us forward to Jesus. Leviticus is all about Jesus.
When we read about atonement, we see Jesus. When the animal is killed in place of the sinner, Jesus. When the impure is cleansed, Jesus. Over and over again, you will see arrows pointing you forward to the Lord Jesus Christ.
If you will give yourself to this study of Leviticus – I think you’ll come to deeply appreciate what God reveals to us through this book. I won’t promise that you’ll say that Leviticus is your FAVORITE book – but I think I can promise that it will change your understanding and deepen your appreciation of these 27 chapters at the heart of the Pentateuch.
Well with these 6 reasons for us to read and study our way through Leviticus, let’s turn our attention to chapter 1. Chapter 1 is going to introduce us to offerings and sacrifices.
I’m going to read all of Chapter 1 to get our introduction to this book.
Leviticus 1
The Lord called to Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting. He said, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When anyone among you brings an offering to the Lord, bring as your offering an animal from either the herd or the flock.
3 “‘If the offering is a burnt offering from the herd, you are to offer a male without defect. You must present it at the entrance to the tent of meeting so that it will be acceptable to the Lord. 4 You are to lay your hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted on your behalf to make atonement for you. 5 You are to slaughter the young bull before the Lord, and then Aaron’s sons the priests shall bring the blood and splash it against the sides of the altar at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 6 You are to skin the burnt offering and cut it into pieces. 7 The sons of Aaron the priest are to put fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire. 8 Then Aaron’s sons the priests shall arrange the pieces, including the head and the fat, on the wood that is burning on the altar. 9 You are to wash the internal organs and the legs with water, and the priest is to burn all of it on the altar. It is a burnt offering, a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord.
10 “‘If the offering is a burnt offering from the flock, from either the sheep or the goats, you are to offer a male without defect. 11 You are to slaughter it at the north side of the altar before the Lord, and Aaron’s sons the priests shall splash its blood against the sides of the altar. 12 You are to cut it into pieces, and the priest shall arrange them, including the head and the fat, on the wood that is burning on the altar. 13 You are to wash the internal organs and the legs with water, and the priest is to bring all of them and burn them on the altar. It is a burnt offering, a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord.
14 “‘If the offering to the Lord is a burnt offering of birds, you are to offer a dove or a young pigeon. 15 The priest shall bring it to the altar, wring off the head and burn it on the altar; its blood shall be drained out on the side of the altar. 16 He is to remove the crop and the feathers and throw them down east of the altar where the ashes are. 17 He shall tear it open by the wings, not dividing it completely, and then the priest shall burn it on the wood that is burning on the altar. It is a burnt offering, a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord.
God, this is your word – and it is true – and it is good – and it is our authority. Lord, we pray that this time in Leviticus would open it up to us. May your holy spirit give us ears to hear and hearts to believe all that you are saying. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
If you remember back in April, many parts of the United States got to experience a Total Solar Eclipse. I remember that I was driving to Minnesota that day for meetings, and I stopped in Jamestown at about the time that it was supposed to reach totality – at least as much totality as what we would be able to see here in our area. And so I got out of the car and looked up and all I could see was the bottom side of clouds – dense clouds blocking the experience.
But, many got to experience the eclipse in all of its glory.
But we all know one thing about an eclipse – and that’s the fact that you have to be careful when you’re observing an eclipse because you can cause damage to your vision if you look directly at the sun.
I think that God designed his world in that way as an illustration. Just as humans can’t look directly at the sun without some mediation, without some protection – the same is true with our Holy God.
After Adam and Eve sinned against God, we have been fundamentally incompatible with the presence of God. Human beings are sinful and impure and, just like those observers of the solar eclipse, we couldn’t bear looking directly at God.
And so what we see in scripture is that God comes through means and through mediators. God doesn’t abandon his people. He continues meeting with and speaking to his people, but through mediation, through means, through a veil.
And that’s what we find in Exodus and Leviticus. God wants to dwell among his people. God loves his people, despite their rebellion against him. And so he moves in – he dwells among them in the tabernacle. And he creates a system by which his people interact with him. And part of that is through offerings.
The first major portion of Leviticus introduces us to these five types of offerings:
Burnt offering
Grain offering
Peace offering
Sin offering
Reparation offering
Chapter 1 of Leviticus introduces to us the subject of worship through the first: burnt offerings. Remember that God, in his mercy, made the decision to dwell among the people. And his dwelling place at this stage of the journey is the tabernacle, which is a fancy word for tent or dwelling place.
And so the Tabernacle was a portable temple. Exodus contains all of the instructions for the Tabernacle, but suffice it to say that this was the place that contained all of the elements of Hebrew worship. If you’re interested in some related reading, Exodus 25 would be a good place to start.
Remember before the building of the Tabernacle, God met with Moses on the mountain. And God, in an undeserved act of grace and love, comes down from the mountain and makes his dwelling among the people.
And what we have for today is an introduction to the various ways that God instructs the Hebrew people to worship him.
This really is an introduction sermon as we wade into the waters of Leviticus, so I want to point out three major ideas that are important for us to take notice of as we begin in this book.
First, God invites sinners to come to him.
V. 1 - The Lord called to Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting. He said, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When anyone among you brings an offering to the Lord…
God, through his servant Moses, invites his sinful people to come to him. God welcoming sinners is the most significant act of love in human history. God is perfectly holy and has no obligation toward us, but in his mercy invites us to come to him.
God calls his people to worship. One thing that is interesting about this burnt offering that we see in Chapter 1 is that it is a voluntary offering. In Exodus 25 as the stage is being set for this, It says, “You are to receive the offering for me from everyone whose heart prompts them to give.”
And so this isn’t a demand from God, but an invitation. God invites sinners to come to him. He puts in place all of the steps necessary for his people to worship him.
This is really helpful for us because this remains true today. God invites sinners to come to him. God welcomes sinners to worship him.
We see this repetition in our text several times, starting in verse 9 – that the offering brought, when it is brought according to God’s instructions, is “a pleasing aroma to the Lord.”
In other words, God is pleased with our worship when we worship according to his invitation and regulation.
Our conversations about worship often revolve around our preferences, or desires, our comfort, our style, and our familiarity. But in true Biblical worship, your preferences are insignificant. My preferences are insignificant. God is the one who calls us into worship, and God’s preferences are the only thing that ultimately matter.
The question when it comes to worship is not “Do I like the style or the vibe or the music?” but “Is this pleasing to the Lord?”
Our primary driving force in the gathered worship of God’s people can never be a desire to be “cutting edge” or “relevant” or “modern.” Usually, those words are all just other ways of trying to pass entertainment for worship.
The primary question before us is “Is this a pleasing aroma to the Lord.”
You’ll notice as we work through Leviticus that God is very orderly, very specific, and very concerned about details. And so our worship must always be intentional. We are careful not to be sloppy. I’ve been to churches before that felt like literally nobody thought through the service ahead of time. Someone gets up and it’s obvious they haven’t thought about announcements. The scripture readers have obviously not looked at the text ahead of time. There are elements of the service that aren’t in any way about worshipping the Lord.
And, at the same time, we recognize that this is not entertainment. This is not a production. I’ve been in those churches as well – where there is a professional light show, and full-time staff dedicated to making sure that the production goes off seamlessly, without a hitch. The focal point of the service is really the person attending the gathering. It’s all about experience and emotion and focus and religious entertainment. The sermon or “teaching” is going to come across as extremely relevant – all about you and your experience.
And we don’t want to be either of those churches. We don’t want to be sloppy, thoughtless and irreverent. And at the same time, we don’t want to be focused on the experience of the attendees. We don’t want to take the bait of entertainment culture – seeing what we do as production. Focusing on emotion and experience.
We want to every Sunday recognize that God has invited us to worship him, to come to him. And that he is the audience. The only thing that matters is whether the aroma is pleasing to him.
If you know the basic layout of the Tabernacle, there was an altar outside in the courtyard between the entrance and the Holy Place. And twice each day these burnt offerings would be offered to the Lord. This was the place where God met with the people, upon his invitation.
Moses would meet with God inside the tent, with the Lord’s voice coming from over the top of the Ark of the Covenant. But the people weren’t allowed in there. They met with God at the altar as they brought their offerings to him. And this was all at the invitation of a Holy God, welcoming sinners to come to him.
There are a couple of other significant ideas that we see in Chapter 1 that are foundational to the rest of the book.
Second, Sin leads to death.
This is a Foundational reality of human existence.
And, this is a Foundational reality of true worship.
As human beings, we are, by nature, dead in our sins. We are spiritually dead. And if spiritually dead sinners are going to worship a holy living God, it is necessary for something to die in their place.
Or, we might examine it from another angle. God has set up his world to operate in such a way that there must be repayment made when a wrong is done. There must be an offering made to account for sin.
Sin leads to death. I’m not going to say much more about this for now – we will expand on this as we go, but I wanted it on our radar right at the beginning.
And now we go to our third significant idea:
Third, God gives us the means by which sin can be covered.
We see here that God establishes a system of ritual acts carried out in faith by which our sins can be covered.
And the system that God has put in place is a serious one. God has ordered that blood must be shed to account for sin. We will be talking about this in much greater depth as we work through Leviticus, but I wanted you to see it right away.
We see it perhaps most clearly in verses 3-4 - If the offering is a burnt offering from the herd, you are to offer a male without defect. You must present it at the entrance to the tent of meeting so that it will be acceptable to the Lord. 4 You are to lay your hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted on your behalf to make atonement for you.
God invites his people to worship him – but makes it clear that worship requires atonement. It requires something else to die in the place of the sinner. And so in this scenario – the animal, without blemish or defect, is offered and its life is taken in the place of the one making the offering. And the sin is covered, atoned for.
It’s important to note that I used the word “covered” intentionally here. We will talk more about that when we discuss the Day of Atonement, but we know that this forgiveness was, in a sense, temporary. They had to keep offering these sacrifices over and over again. And these sacrifices, while they offered access to a relationship with God, were not permanent.
Hebrews 10:4 says, “For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”
These offerings made at the Tabernacle were temporary. They COVERED sin, but they didn’t fix the problem. They made it possible for sinners to live in relationship with God, but they needed to be repeated over and over again.
And they left the worshipers wishing that there was a once-for-all sacrifice. A sacrifice that could remove sin permanently. A sacrifice that gave them assurance that lasted.
And God intended it to be that way. He was creating a hunger, a desire, for a true and better sacrifice – a true and better substitute.
Hebrews 10:12 declares, “But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins….”
Leviticus 1 is full of arrows like this. Sacrifices that must be repeated twice a day, over and over, in order that the people might receive forgiveness and have access to a relationship with God. What is the purpose of that? It’s an arrow pointing us forward to Jesus. Jesus is the sacrifice brought by the worshipers – but Jesus is a better sacrifice. Offered once and for all on the cross. So that you might be forgiven. So that you might be brought into a relationship with God.
Ok, as we conclude this morning, two major takeaways that I want to leave with you as you reflect on Leviticus 1:
The Lord gladly accepts into his presence those who enter by means of the shed blood of a substitute.
The forgiveness of sins and relationship with God has always been by God’s grace through faith.
And so I would ask you today – do you believe that Jesus is the true and better sacrifice for your sin?
There is no more important question for you to consider this morning.
I trust that this series will point us to Jesus — the lamb of God slain for the sin of the World – over and over and over again. And I pray that you believe this good news – that Jesus offered himself, once and for all so that you could be right with God.