Unacceptable Sacrifices (Lev. 22:17-33)

10/23/2008 8:57 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                        Focus:  Unacceptable sacrifices

Bible Reading & Meditation                        Reference:  Lev. 22:17-33

            Message of the verses:  “17 ¶  Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 18  "Speak to Aaron and to his sons and to all the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘Any man of the house of Israel or of the aliens in Israel who presents his offering, whether it is any of their votive or any of their freewill offerings, which they present to the LORD for a burnt offering—

19  for you to be accepted— it must be a male without defect from the cattle, the sheep, or the goats.  20  ‘Whatever has a defect, you shall not offer, for it will not be accepted for you.  21  ‘When a man offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to the LORD to fulfill a special vow or for a freewill offering, of the herd or of the flock, it must be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no defect in it.  22  ‘Those that are blind or fractured or maimed or having a running sore or eczema or scabs, you shall not offer to the LORD, nor make of them an offering by fire on the altar to the LORD.  23  ‘In respect to an ox or a lamb which has an overgrown or stunted member, you may present it for a freewill offering, but for a vow it will not be accepted.  24  ‘Also anything with its testicles bruised or crushed or torn or cut, you shall not offer to the LORD, or sacrifice in your land, 25  nor shall you accept any such from the hand of a foreigner for offering as the food of your God; for their corruption is in them, they have a defect, they shall not be accepted for you.’"  26  Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 27  "When an ox or a sheep or a goat is born, it shall remain seven days with its mother, and from the eighth day on it shall be accepted as a sacrifice of an offering by fire to the LORD.  28  "But, whether it is an ox or a sheep, you shall not kill both it and its young in one day.  29  "When you sacrifice a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the LORD, you shall sacrifice it so that you may be accepted.

30  "It shall be eaten on the same day, you shall leave none of it until morning; I am the LORD.  31  "So you shall keep My commandments, and do them; I am the LORD.  32  "You shall not profane My holy name, but I will be sanctified among the sons of Israel; I am the LORD who sanctifies you, 33  who brought you out from the land of Egypt, to be your God; I am the LORD.’”

            This section is the remaining verses in chapter twenty-two and they go over the qualifications for any sacrifice that will be offered to the Lord by the priests.  The standards for these sacrifices are the highest because they are to be offered to the Highest One.  There are also laws that govern about the age of the sacrifice and that a mother of a young should not be offered on the same day. 

            There came a time in Israel’s history that God was very upset with the sacrifices that were being offered and Malachi wrote about it in his book.  “When you bring blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice crippled or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?" says the LORD Almighty.”

            During the time when Jesus was on planet earth He went into the Temple two times to rid it of the animals and money changers that were there because they were making the Temple into a place of doing business, thus they were missing the whole point as to why the sacrifices were being offered in the first place.  It was only a ritual to them, something they would do to think they were right with God, but their hearts were in the wrong place.  I wonder if all of those sacrifices were something that would live up to the standard that is written in these verses in Leviticus.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  There are sacrifices to be offered by me as a NT believer in Jesus Christ.  A sacrifice of praise and a living sacrifice are two of these that I can offer to the Lord.  I think that the problem with a living sacrifice is that it can get up off of the altar. 

            In the OT the attitude was an important thing when offering a sacrifice to the Lord, knowing that it was just a picture of the One who would come one day to offer Himself as a permanent payment for sins.  It was more than just a ritual to be done.  Also the sacrifice had to be just as it was described in the verses in Leviticus and that meant it had to be the best.  When I offer myself to the Lord as a living sacrifice my attitude has to be right knowing that He can use me to do His work and will in my life to advance the cause of Christ on earth just where He has put me to do it.

           

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1. Remind myself that I have already offered myself as a living sacrifice to the Lord as Romans 12:1 says that I should.  Recommit to it.
2. Trust the Lord to teach me and for me to learn contentment.
3. Trust the Lord to guide my path today.
4. Trust the Lord because He is in control of everything, including who will be our next President.

Memory verses for the week:                                  Exodus 20:13-17

13.    You shall not murder.

14.    You shall not commit adultery.

15.    You shall not steal.

16.    You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

17.    You shall not covet your neighbor’s house, you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

10/23/2008 9:44 AM