Recently I have been reading in the book of Leviticus as part of my daily devotions. I’m sure many Christians agree with me when I say that Leviticus is among the most boring books of the Bible. It consists solely of laws, regulations and other instructions that the Hebrews were expected to follow in the Old Testament. Even though it is not an easy book to read, I consider it important to study all the same for the sake of understanding how the people of Israel lived and why we need a Savior.
The first part of the book deals mostly with bringing sacrifices to the LORD as far as under what circumstance it was necessary and what animal was appropriate for the sacrifice. For the most part, sacrifices were made for the sake of maintaining purity before God and for atoning for sins made by an individual or community.
As I read, I tried to imagine what the scene looked like. I can imagine people that you would consider your friends, family and neighbors all lined up in front of the tabernacle every week or so with a sheep or a ram depending on the nature of the sacrifice. I think by looking at one person and seeing what that person had to present at the altar, you can tell what kind of sins he or she committed in the past week. It would probably label that person with a reputation like, “I’m an adulterer,” or “I cheated my neighbor.”
Today we tend to keep quiet about the problems that we struggle with in our lives and we are afraid that if we let other people see us trying to handle them then they will look at us differently. They will judge us by the ram that we are carrying with us and say, “You are a sinner and don’t deserve to be a part of us,” or maybe “at least my sins are not as bad as yours.”
Just try to imagine what it would look like if you were standing in line at the tabernacle as well as members of your family, your neighborhood or even members of your church. Would you feel embarrassed to have everyone you know see you with an animal that basically defines your sins? And what would you think when you see what others people brought as their sacrifice? Would it surprise you to see the things they struggle with? I’m sure it would.
I think that when the people of Israel did this and each person saw how his or her friends and family just as messed up and realize that that person is not alone in his or her struggles. Not only that, but seeing that there were many people coming to the tabernacle told each of them that they had a desire to make things right with God.
With that in mind, maybe it benefits us more to let our friends and family know what we are struggling with as opposed to hiding our problems. That way, people can see that our problems are not as different as the next person. Not only that, but taking your problems to God serves as a testimony to people to show that God cares about each of us and that He is the one to go to in order to find healing.
On a final note, the reason for these sacrifices was so that by the blood of an animal without defect would be what it took to cover a certain sin. Now Christians can rejoice, because when we come to the tabernacle, the animal that we bring is the Lamb of God who gave His life as the ultimate sacrifice to permanently cover all sins.
Life Among Lions 