I have sat through many sermons in modern seeker-driven churches. And I would say that almost without fail the main speaker (I refuse to call them pastors because for them it is beneath them to shepherd the flock as the Bible commands them) mention the book of Leviticus and then mimic a yawn.

It always bothered me that someone who is supposed to hold a high regard and reverence for the Word of God would make a joke about reading a book found within the Bible. These are leaders, entrusted with ministering a flock by expounding on the whole Word of God. As Paul said to Timothy:

All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be equipped, having been thoroughly equipped for every good work.

This includes Leviticus.

I have usually lamented that, in the book of Hebrews, the writer stops expounding and explaining the symbolism found in the God’s instructions of how the Tabernacle and Temple was to be constructed, precisely as commanded by God. Because it all pointed to the future accomplishments of Christ’s perfect life and sacrificial death outside the “camp” of Jerusalem.

I did something about it recently. I bought a book by Andrew Bonar, an exposition on Leviticus. It is has been an immense blessing to my understanding of the importance and relevance of all the sacrifices as they relate to what Jesus Christ did on my behalf. It has corrected my point of view on the nature and necessity of the sacrificing of animals.

There was a time I didn’t understand all the animal sacrifices required by the Law given to Moses (Mosaic Law). I thought that it could be considered excessive because sacrifices were being made daily, all day, on behalf of the people of Israel. The number of animals brought before the altar to be slaughtered and their blood sprinkled and poured out, on the altar and beside the altar and below the altar.

The book has helped me change my perspective. The necessity of the sacrifices, the brutality of the sacrifices are a foreshadowing of what Christ did on my behalf. The depth of the depravity of my sins have caused such profound offense and violence against the Holiness of God is fully exposed to me in the verses of Leviticus. I no longer see the system of sacrifices demanded by God in the Old Testament as being cruel and unnecessary but as a profound merciful open door into the grace offered by God, a grace I do not deserve nor does He have to offer it.

Jesus Christ is the Door into that depthless wealth of grace abounding from God. He was the final all-sufficient sacrifice that the Levitical sacrificial system pointed to. Christ was the brutal sacrifice for man, for God the Father, to satisfy the wrath of the Father the His Holiness demanded.

I also had a better understanding of some of the passages in other books. One is the seductive adulterous woman in Proverbs 7. Previously, I understood her flagrant seduction for a night of sexual adulterous behavior. What I didn’t understand was her saying she made her vows and sacrifices. She presented an offering for her sins and then went back her sinful ways immediately upon leaving the Temple. The sacrifice she made meant nothing to her, thus God had rejected her offering. He still does that today.

I encourage any Christian reading this to embrace the book of Leviticus and fine a good commentary to understand the deeper meaning of the sacrifices listed in the book.