The Vital Purpose of Leviticus

“If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer a male without blemish. He shall bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting, that he may be accepted before the Lord.” – Leviticus 1:3

Most Christians are inclined to skip or skim Leviticus. It’s natural…. This book is meticulously detailed, long, repetitious, and bloody. Resist that temptation, at least from time to time. There’s a holy purpose to this divinely inspired book. Through it, we see the terrible price of sin. All sin. Any sin. Your sin. Sin always brings death and the removal of sin always requires that something innocent die.

That’s the fundamental principle laid out in this third verse of the entire book. Those sacrifices must be without blemish. In the context of animal sacrifices, this has to do with physical condition and appearance. The animal has to genuinely represent a sacrifice, something healthy and valuable that the person making the sacrifices regrets to part with. Infinitely more important is what this tells us about the sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf. He had to be without blemish. He had to be perfect and without any sin. He had to live a life that perfectly fulfilled God’s Law in order to be able to offer Himself an acceptable sacrifice for our sin.

Jesus resisted every temptation in order to be without blemish. He kept every law so he would be without blemish. He spoke, thought, and acted righteously in every situation, no matter how trying, to be without blemish. Because He did, His sacrifice on the cross paid the penalty for your sins. Because Jesus was the Lamb of God without blemish, all who believe in Him are washed clean, forgiven, and reconciled to God. Guilt is gone and shame is no more because Jesus was the sacrifice without blemish. Jesus is the fulfillment of everything the book of Leviticus points toward and illustrates. Remember that as you choose NOT to skim or skip over this God-breathed book! #FollowJesus