We live in the year 2011 A.D. While clearly not a mystery (or surprise) to anyone reading this post, it bears some significance to our generation, and those to come.
You see, A.D. stands for Anno Domini, which is Latin for "year of our Lord". Jesus' birth was the very juxtaposition between the old and current methods of tracking the passing of each year- a reference point. From that foundational event, we're able to track historical events which have transpired since our Savior's birth (or those that occurred beforehand). For example, we know that Jesus was crucified in 33 A.D.
The significance of "A.D." is that through Christ's ultimate sacrificial gift, the "gap" of separation between God and man was effectively closed. The debt was paid. Wrongs were made right. The sins which had kept humankind from having full and meaningful relationships with the Father were absorbed by the blood of Jesus. What was lost in the Garden of Eden, was restored on the Cross.
Prior to this epic event, animal sacrifices were necessary in order to allow God and His people to have any form of ongoing relationship. It may sound outdated, brutal and messy in the context of our culture, but the sacrifices outlined in the book of Leviticus reflect the reality that there is a price to pay for sin.
You and I can freely operate under grace, which was given after Jesus' work on the Cross. When we commit a sin, we can simply repent and know that we're going to be alright; the offense is covered by the blood of Jesus and we're forgiven. This redemption never wears out; it's non-exhaustible.
The generations that walked the Earth before Jesus' arrival didn't have it so easy.
As instructed by God through Moses, the Israelites had to account for their sins through the sacrificial gifts of rams, bulls, goats, birds and grain. These sacrifices were temporary coverings for the various sins of man. They were frequent, and they came at a great price.
Steal something from your neighbor in those days, and it would cost you the disgrace and embarrassment of returning the item, plus a fine of 20 percent of the value of the item. In addition, a ram from your own flock (or the price for purchasing one for sacrificial purposes) had to lose its life. And, this was only the beginning of the absolutely strict and Holy standards the Lord was defining for His people.
I can't even begin to imagine living in a world where I had to personally atone for everything I've ever said or done wrong. If you're like me, you would have to spend your entire life making things right, offering a constant stream of sacrifices each and every day. It doesn't take long to realize the importance of Jesus, and what His gift of Salvation does for us. When we accept Him as our Lord and Savior, it truly sets us free from the bonds of sin. What's more, the impossible rules and regulations that must be upheld without His covering are nullified. Think about that for a minute.
Leviticus 6-7:27 (Contemporary English Version)
Other Sins That Need Sacrifices or Payments
1-3The LORD told Moses what the people must do when they commit other sins against the LORD: You have sinned if you rob or cheat someone, if you keep back money or valuables left in your care, or if you find something and claim not to have it.
4When this happens, you must return what doesn't belong to you 5and pay the owner a fine of twenty percent. 6-7In addition, you must either bring to the priest a ram that has nothing wrong with it or else pay him for one. The priest will then offer it as a sacrifice to make things right, and you will be forgiven for what you did wrong.
Daily Sacrifices
8-9The LORD told Moses to tell Aaron and his sons how to offer the daily sacrifices that are sent up in smoke to please the LORD: You must put the animal for the sacrifice on the altar in the evening and let it stay there all night. But make sure the fire keeps burning. 10The next morning you will dress in your priestly clothes, including your linen underwear. Then clean away the ashes left by the sacrifices and pile them beside the altar. 11Change into your everyday clothes, take the ashes outside the camp, and pile them in the special place. 12The fire must never go out, so put wood on it each morning. After this, you are to lay an animal on the altar next to the fat that you sacrifice to ask my blessing. Then send it all up in smoke to me. 13The altar fire must always be kept burning--it must never go out.
Sacrifices To Give Thanks to the LORD
14When someone offers a sacrifice to give thanks to me, the priests from Aaron's family must bring it to the front of the bronze altar, 15where one of them will scoop up a handful of the flour and oil, together with all the incense on it. Then, to show that the whole offering belongs to me, he will lay all of this on the altar and send it up in smoke with a smell that pleases me. 16-17The rest of it is to be baked without yeast and eaten by the priests in the sacred courtyard of the sacred tent. This bread is very holy, just like the sacrifices for sin or for making things right, and I have given this part to the priests from what is offered to me on the altar. 18Only the men in Aaron's family are allowed to eat this bread, and they must go through a ceremony to be made holy before touching it. This law will never change.
When Priests Are Ordained
19The LORD spoke to Moses 20and told him what sacrifices the priests must offer on the morning and evening of the day they are ordained: It is the same as the regular morning and evening sacrifices--a pound of flour 21mixed with olive oil and cooked in a shallow pan. The bread must then be crumbled into small pieces and sent up in smoke with a smell that pleases me. 22-23Each of Aaron's descendants who is ordained as a priest must perform this ceremony and make sure that the bread is completely burned on the altar. None of it may be eaten!
Sacrifices for Sin
24The LORD told Moses 25how the priests from Aaron's family were to offer the sacrifice for sin: This sacrifice is very sacred, and the animal must be killed in my presence at the north side of the bronze altar. 26The priest who offers this sacrifice must eat it in the sacred courtyard of the sacred tent, 27and anyone or anything that touches the meat will be holy. If any of the animal's blood is splattered on the clothes of the priest, they must be washed in a holy place. 28If the meat was cooked in a clay pot, the pot must be destroyed, but if it was cooked in a bronze pot, the pot must be scrubbed and rinsed with water. 29This sacrifice is very holy, and only the priests may have any part of it. 30None of the meat may be eaten from the sacrifices for sin that require blood to be brought into the sacred tent. These sacrifices must be completely burned.
Leviticus 7
Sacrifices To Make Things Right
1The sacrifice to make things right is very sacred. 2The animal must be killed in the same place where the sacrifice to please me is killed, and the animal's blood must be splattered against the four sides of the bronze altar. 3Offer all of the animal's fat, including the fat on its tail and on its insides, 4as well as the lower part of the liver and the two kidneys with their fat. 5One of the priests will lay these pieces on the altar and send them up in smoke to me. 6This sacrifice for making things right is very holy. Only the priests may eat it, and they must eat it in a holy place. 7The ceremony for this sacrifice and the one for sin are just alike, and the meat may be eaten only by the priest who performs this ceremony of forgiveness.
8In fact, the priest who offers a sacrifice to please me may keep the skin of the animal, 9just as he may eat the bread from a sacrifice to give thanks to me. 10All other grain sacrifices--with or without olive oil in them--are to be divided equally among the priests of Aaron's family.
Sacrifices To Ask the LORD's Blessing
11Here are the instructions for offering a sacrifice to ask my blessing: 12If you offer it to give thanks, you must offer some bread together with it. Use the finest flour to make three kinds of bread without yeast--two in the form of loaves mixed with olive oil and one in the form of thin wafers brushed with oil. 13You must also make some bread with yeast. 14Give me one loaf or wafer from each of these four kinds of bread, after which they will belong to the priest who splattered the blood against the bronze altar. 15When you offer an animal to ask a blessing from me or to thank me, the meat belongs to you, but it must be eaten the same day. 16It is different with the sacrifices you offer when you make me a promise or voluntarily give me something. The meat from those sacrifices may be kept and eaten the next day, 17-18but any that is left must be destroyed. If you eat any after the second day, your sacrifice will be useless and unacceptable, and you will be both disgusting and guilty.
19Don't eat any of the meat that touches something unclean. Instead, burn it. The rest of the meat may be eaten by anyone who is clean and acceptable to me. 20-21But don't eat any of this meat if you have become unclean by touching something unclean from a human or an animal or from any other creature. If you do, you will no longer belong to the community of Israel.
22The LORD told Moses 23to say to the people: Don't eat the fat of cattle, sheep, or goats. 24If one of your animals dies or is killed by some wild animal, you may do anything with its fat except eat it. 25If you eat the fat of an animal that can be used as a sacrifice to me, you will no longer belong to the community of Israel. 26And no matter where you live, you must not eat the blood of any bird or animal, 27or you will no longer belong to the community of Israel.
Good Night
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