Leviticus 22:14-16—“‘14 And if a man eats the holy offering unintentionally, then he shall restore a holy offering to the priest, and add one-fifth to it. 15 They shall not profane the holy offerings of the children of Israel, which they offer to the LORD, 16 or allow them to bear the guilt of trespass when they eat their holy offerings; for I the LORD sanctify them.’” Again, even in this list of commands and prohibitions, we see the grace and patience of God. Are their times when we mess up and we don’t realize it at the time? And when we do, God, in His mercy, gives us a chance for that sin to be atoned for. Under the old covenant, how were sins atoned for? By the people bringing a sacrifice. Under the new covenant, how are sins atoned for? By the sacrifice Christ has already made. Under the old covenant, if you trespassed against the holy things of God you bring a new thing to replace what you took, and you add 20% to the value of the thing, and you offer it as a Trespass Offering. Today, if we trespass against the holy things of God, we confess our sin, we repent of that sin, we ask for God to look to Christ as having paid the penalty of that sin—and it is remembered no more; it is not imputed to us. And as Paul wrote in echoing the words of the Psalmist, Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; 8 blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin (Psalm 32:1-2, quoted in Romans 4:7-8).
Christ would offer us a glimpse into the heart of God, and His grace and mercy, in that He would allow His holy things—those things which were dedicated to the service of God, and not meant for everyday use—to be used for a common use. He tells the story of David, when he and his men were in Nob, and he asked of Abimelech the high priest the showbread, “which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat” (Luke 6:4, retelling the events of 1st Samuel 21:1-6). And in this discourse on the Sabbath, god the Son proves to the Pharisees that God can do what He wants with those things that are His. He can let a hungry army eat the showbread of the holy place, and He can allow His disciples to pick some grain on the Sabbath.
Now that we have had a look at the man who is offering the sacrifice, let’s look at what kinds of sacrifices are not approved of by God. Leviticus 22:17-33—17 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “18 Speak to Aaron and his sons, and to all the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘Whatever man of the house of Israel, or of the strangers in Israel, who offers his sacrifice for any of his vows or for any of his freewill offerings, which they offer to the LORD as a Burnt Offering—19 you shall offer of your own free will a male without blemish from the cattle, from the sheep, or from the goats. 20 Whatever has a defect, you shall not offer, for it shall not be acceptable on your behalf. 21 And whoever offers a sacrifice of a peace offering to the LORD, to fulfill his vow, or a freewill offering from the cattle or the sheep, it must be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no defect in it. 22 Those that are blind or broken or maimed, or have an ulcer or eczema or scabs, you shall not offer to the LORD, nor make an offering by fire of them on the altar to the LORD. 23 Either a bull or a lamb that has any limb too long or too short you may offer as a freewill offering, but for a vow it shall not be accepted. 24 'You shall not offer to the LORD what is bruised or crushed, or torn or cut; nor shall you make any offering of them in your land. 25 Nor from a foreigner's hand shall you offer any of these as the bread of your God, because their corruption is in them, and defects are in them. They shall not be accepted on your behalf.’” 26 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: “27 When a bull or a sheep or a goat is born, it shall be seven days with its mother; and from the eighth day and thereafter it shall be accepted as an offering made by fire to the LORD. 28 Whether it is a cow or ewe, do not kill both her and her young on the same day. 29 And when you offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the LORD, offer it of your own free will. 30 On the same day it shall be eaten; you shall leave none of it until morning: I am the LORD. 31 Therefore you shall keep My commandments, and perform them: I am the LORD. 32 You shall not profane My holy name, but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel. I am the LORD who sanctifies you, 33 who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the LORD.”
If you are a parent, who sets down the rules in your house? Who is in charge of meting out punishment when your children disobey? If there are indeed penalties for your children when they disobey. And if there are not such rules, then you will be sorry one day when your children rebel against authority greater than you. Now, with that being said, is God…God? Is God the one we all—every single person who has ever been born to a father from earth—sin against? Is God the One we offend with our rebellion? Is God the One to whom we owe a debt of ten thousand talents? Then is not God perfectly right and just in telling us what He will and will not accept as payment for our childish rebellion? And this He does here, telling the people that he will not accept when they bring Him their sick goats, their lame oxen, their scabbed and bruised sheep, their torn-up wheat and their broken barley stalks.
But, humans being humans, the people would eventually forget this. And one of the last old covenant prophets would bring them a word from God, the last one they would hear for over 400 years. In this burden, God would remind the people why He was shutting the doors to the temple and putting out the fire that He had started on the altar. That he would give all these things over to the birds and the beasts to dwell within them—but that He would no longer be present in any of these things. Malachi 1:6-14—“6 A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am the Father, where is My honor? And if I am a Master, where is My reverence? Says the LORD of hosts to you priests who despise My name. Yet you say, 'In what way have we despised Your name?' 7 You offer defiled food on My altar, But say, 'In what way have we defiled You?' By saying, 'The table of the LORD is contemptible.' 8 And when you offer the blind as a sacrifice, is it not evil? And when you offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? Offer it then to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you favorably?" Says the LORD of hosts. “9 But now entreat God's favor, that He may be gracious to us. While this is being done by your hands, will He accept you favorably?” Says the LORD of hosts. “10 Who is there even among you who would shut the doors, so that you would not kindle fire on My altar in vain? I have no pleasure in you,” Says the LORD of hosts, "Nor will I accept an offering from your hands. 11 For from the rising of the sun, even to its going down, My name shall be great among the Gentiles; In every place incense shall be offered to My name, And a pure offering; For My name shall be great among the nations," Says the LORD of hosts. “12 But you profane it, in that you say, ' The table of the LORD is defiled; And its fruit, its food, is contemptible.' 13 You also say, 'Oh, what a weariness!' And you sneer at it,” Says the LORD of hosts. "And you bring the stolen, the lame, and the sick; thus you bring an offering! Should I accept this from your hand?" Says the LORD. “14 But cursed be the deceiver who has in his flock a male, and takes a vow, but sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished—For I am a great King," Says the LORD of hosts, “And My name is to be feared among the nations.”
The people had been bringing to God those things that they would not even offer to the kings who had subjected them to their tyrannical rule. They would not dare offer a blind lamb to Nebuchadnezzar, nor would they offer Artaxerxes oxen that were lame or had scabs. And yet here they were, offering to the King of all creation those very same sickly beasts. And offering them with the thought that he would accept those sacrifices and be happy with them! The thing about this indifference toward the reverence of God that is so tragic is they had no clue! They had no idea that what they were doing was offensive to God. He reminds them of their mindset, in that they would ask, “In what way?” As in, “In what way have we despised Your name?...In what way have we defiled You?” What way indeed! The things they would not offer to pagan Gentile rulers—these were the things they would offer to the One who delivered them from Egypt.
Is not God our Father? Does He not provide for us all day, every day? Has He not delivered us from the kingdom of darkness, and put us into the kingdom of the Son of His love (Colossians 1:13)? And yet, how many times have we awoke on a Sunday morning and said, “You know, it’s such a pretty day. Why don’t we go to the lake instead of church?” How many times do we stay up late on Saturday night watching football—so late, in fact, that we think ourselves unable to wake up enough to fill a church pew Sunday morning?
Bring an acceptable
sacrifice to God. Bring your weak and feeble body; your tired and broken
spirit; your soul which has not known love. Bring them to Christ, that they may
be buried with Him in His death. Then, having been buried with Christ, immersed
in His death, arise and walk in life—the only true life, that which comes from
Christ Himself. For we were not meant to live half-heartedly, neither were we
meant to walk self-righteously, in Christ. But we are meant to walk humbly,
rendering to God every day our body, our soul, our spirit. Consider the weaknesses
of others, since we ourselves are weak. Care for one another, submitting and
yielding to one another, knowing that Christ submitted to His Father, submitted
to the cross, and bowed His head in death.
God, grant us repentance for those times when we stumble. Grant us humility and strength, patience and grace. When we see another's need, may we help fill that need. May we always submit to the Cross of Christ, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Help us to do the first works, care for the widows indeed, receive the brother who has stumbled, and not think of ourselves—or any man—more highly than we should. Help us to live our life in Christ, as much as we can. You know that we will fail from time to time. But help us to remember the goodness of God, and it is that goodness which leads one to repentance.
Jesus Christ is lord.
Amen.
