From Exodus to Leviticus, and this is the title of today's message as we begin this new series of messages, the beginning of the Hebrew nation part two. We are going to talk about the Book of Leviticus. The Book of Leviticus picks up the thread of Israel's journey to nationhood just when the Book of Exodus dropped. The time of this transition from Exodus to Leviticus is recorded in Exodus chapter 40, verse 17, and Numbers chapter 1, verse 1, the book after Leviticus. Exodus 40, 17. You recall, we saw it the last time we met, and it came to pass in the first month, in the second year, on the first day of the month, that the tabernacle was reeled up. And Numbers 1 verse 1 says, and the Lord speak unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai in the tabernacle of the congregation on the first day of the second month. in the second year after they come out of the land of Egypt. So you see, from Exodus to Leviticus to Numbers, there is a continuing story that the Lord wants to bring to us, and it's interesting that the Lord penned through Moses this book of 27 chapters. The law was given within that one month period when they were in the mount. Why is it so significant? Well, the conjunction begins the book of Leviticus telling us that it is a continuation of where we left off in the book of Exodus. And the book of Numbers also begins with the conjunction end. So the number of, the Book of Numbers begin on the first day of the second month, the month of Ziv, in the second year after Israel came out of Egypt. Whereas Leviticus is a continuing record from that time when the glory of God descended upon the tabernacle in the first month. Abbot on Nissan, of the second year after the Exodus. You remember Exodus 40, 33, and 34. And he, which is Moses, reeled up the cot round about the tabernacle and the altar and set up the hangings of the cot gate. So Moses finished the work. Then the cloud covered the tent of the congregation and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. For the cloud of the Lord was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was on it by night in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all the journeys." Now you notice that when Israel built the tabernacle, it was in the second half of the Book of Exodus, the first half we speak about him, God delivering them out of Egypt, then after God delivered them, God brought them to the foot of Mount Sinai, and God gave them the law. What they are to do as a nation, it will be the constitution of the nation. But, Then the Lord told them that they are to institute worship. So in order to worship, they need to set up the entire system for worship. And it involves the building of the tabernacle. And so in the next half of the Book of Exodus, we saw how each one of the furniture, the instruments, needs to be set up. Remember, we studied piece by piece, step by step. And when everything was done, They set everything up, then what happened? Then the glory of God descended upon the people. And if you were to look at the diagram that is there in your notes, in page two, you would see there the picture of the cloud, right? Descending upon the tabernacle. And then you see all the tribes of Israel that is encamped around the tabernacle. And you notice that the presence of God was with them. But what is it that God wanted them to do? How can they draw near to God? God's presence was there, and the book of Leviticus will teach us how we can draw near to God. That means how the people of God is to be able to fellowship and approach God. What is worship? And here in the book of Leviticus, it's taught to us the principles of worship. So for the first time in the history of mankind, God is going to instruct us how we can approach Him. And you would notice that the book of Leviticus is a book that is like reading, studying the dictionary. You have law after law, law after law, definition after definition, definition after definition. What is the purpose of all this definition? Well, it was to help the people, show the people what it means how to approach God, how God is to be worshipped. And that is so important because it is the first time in the history of mankind God is going to stipulate and show to them how he's going to be approached. And so the location of the book is in the Mount Sinai, where the tabernacle was railed up, and the glory of God descended upon it, visibly as the cloud of the Lord by day, and the fire of the Lord by night. So what does it mean? Tell us about this nation of Israel. Well, we want to say that Israel was a theocracy. God rules. God is the one that is superintending over this nation. And the theocratic character of the law stipulates the belief in God. So the nation itself, the life of the nation is centered upon their relationship with their God. God not only as their creator, but God as the sustainer. And not only that, but God as the God who had made a covenant with them to be their God, And they are his people. So God is their king. So when they go into battle, what went before them? The ark went before them. God went before them. God was the one who will lead Israel. And this is the plan of our relationship with God. God leading us all the time. And this will be God's plan in eternity when we worship him in heaven. And so God wants us to learn and wants us to see the continuing unfolding drama. We have studied the book of Genesis. At length, we have covered all of it. Then we have studied the book of Exodus, we have covered all of it. Now we are into Leviticus. The Bible teacher, H.T. Spence, he chose well three words to describe the first three books of the Bible. Beginnings, redemption, and holiness. The book of Leviticus, speaks about the holiness of God. after redemption. God has made us holy, then he wants us to live this life with him in holiness. And so if you try to look at the book and study it, you'll find that the word holy is repeated many, many times, as many as 90 times in the book. And this is the purpose of the law, that was given to Moses and recorded in the Book of Leviticus. It sets forth how the people can be sanctified by these laws, these Levitical institutions that is being set up. So, you see, you need the hardware. In our own terms, we say you need hardware, you need software. in order for a program to work. Not just you need the computer, but someone has to write the codes so as to be able to let it function. And so here, The nation itself needs to know how God can be approached. Instructions must be given. And so if you read the book, you would see that this theme of holiness that is permeating throughout all the chapters. Leviticus 11 verse 44 says, For I am the Lord your God, and ye shall sanctify yourselves. And ye shall be holy, for I am holy, neither shall ye defile yourself with any manner of creeping things that creepeth upon the earth. The word sanctify means to be set apart, to be holy. And the Lord wants us to know, this was the basis in which He, the principle by which He interact with His people. Leviticus 19 verse 2 says, speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel and say unto them, ye shall be holy for I, the Lord, your God. am holy, Leviticus 20 verse 26. And ye shall be holy unto me, for I, the Lord, am holy, and have severed you from other people, and ye should be mine. So here in the book of Leviticus, it's given to us how we ought to live. We ought to live holy lives. as God is holy, and we are a nation. Well, Israel was a nation created under God. You don't want to go back to sin. You don't want to go back to idolatry. You don't want to depart from God. Because there's no life there. Leviticus 22, 32. Neither shall ye profane my holy name, but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel. I am the Lord which hallowed thee. A logical pattern in the believer's life. So if you look at, study the book of Leviticus, you'll be able to see the principles by which God wants his people to live. A logical pattern in the believer's life. Salvation, or justification, followed by sanctification. You are saved in order to serve before you would meet the Lord. Glorification. We are saved to serve. Saved to a life of holiness, which is our reasonable service. That's why you see how in the New Testament, the apostles put it also the same way, how we can approach God. Romans 12, verse one and two. Paul says, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service, and be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Peter also articulated it very well. He says, elect, we are elect, chosen according to the full knowledge of God the Father through sanctification of the Spirit. That means we have been set apart, the Spirit of God's coming to dwell in us when we confess our sins, when we repent of our sins, God has set us apart unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. So believers are set apart by the Spirit of God to be God's very own children. And as children of a loving, caring Father in heaven, we are exhorted to be Obedient children living a life of holiness and what this entails. What is this life that God wants us to live? How He wants us to live after He has set us apart for Him? is taught to us here in the Book of Leviticus. The principles will be documented in the Book of Leviticus. And that is how the apostles, having the foundation of the Old Testament, is able to give us these words. Peter says in 1 Peter 1, 13 to 18, he says, Wherefore, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. You have begun this journey. Salvation, and now you're going through life. There will come a time when Christ, you will see Christ again, and He's coming at your glorification. But now, how should you live? As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance, but as He which has called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation. And you would see that in the book of Leviticus, it will be taught to the people of Israel how they can be holy in all manner of conversation, all manner, all aspects of their life. Throughout the year, there will be stipulated time where they would be asked to stop all the things that they are doing to come together to worship God. Because it is written, be ye holy, for I am holy. And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judges according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear. For as much as ye know that ye are not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold, but from the vain conversations received by the tradition from your fathers. So the book of Leviticus will tell us You know, how we are redeemed. The first half of the book you'll find speaks about the way by which we can approach God. How can we... come to God by way of the sacrifice, by way of the sacrifice, this ordinance of outward purification, Smith's Bible dictionary said well, signified the true inner cleansing and the heart and conscience from dead works. to serve the living God. As the believer put on holiness of life, he becomes an instrument of righteousness and witness for God. You know, so our life after we are saved is not, you know, any old how, going back to the way that we think that is the best for us. No, everything is very ordered. There is no, nothing is left to our own imagination. God is very clear how he is to be approached, how he is going to be worshipped. Our life is to be ordered in that way. So Paul says to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2, 19 to 21, Nevertheless, the foundation of God standeth sure. Having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are his, and let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. But in the great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and of earth. some to honor and some to dishonor. If a man, therefore, purge himself from this, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified and meat for the master's use, and prepared for every good work." So how can we be useful for God? How can we be prepared for every good work? The Lord says to us is that we are to purge ourselves, prepare ourselves to be sanctified vessels prepared unto every good work meet for the master's use. So in the book of Exodus, God said, to Israel. They are to be a kingdom of priest and a holy nation. This is their emblem. This is who they are. They are to reflect the attributes and quality of God. Leviticus, Exodus 19, verse 6 says, and ye shall be as unto me a kingdom of priest and a holy nation. And these are the words which thou speak unto the children of Israel. So the believer is similarly called to a royal priesthood, a holy nation. How so? Well, we are caught out of darkness into His marvelous light. So Peter wrote, 1 Peter 2, 9 and 10, you remember we just studied this not so long ago. a peculiar people, that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath caught you out of darkness into his marvellous light, which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God, which have not obtained mercy, but now obtain mercy." So, you see, God's people needed instruction. And the book of Leviticus is a book of instruction. The book of Exodus is the book of instruction. Well, a lot of, some would say, we want discussion. Well, let us first know God's stipulations so that we may know what to do, how to approach God. Not our own concoction, not our own ideas. Let us be very careful. And so we want to take time to study God's word so that we may know. Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood and holy nation, a peculiar people that ye should show forth the praises of him which has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light, which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God. which had not obtained mercy, but now obtain mercy. You see the privilege that we have as God's people? What God had done for us to choose us and to save us, and then now he teaches us how we can be made pure for him. How we can be made pure for his use. And God wants us to be made pure so that we can be useful for him, you see, as a nation of God's people. The word Leviticus means pertaining to the Levites. The book contains the laws and institutions administered by the Levitical priesthood under which Israel lived. And Leviticus is the historical institution of the priestly system in connection with all things that pertain to the tabernacle and the feasts of the Jewish year. And so you see, after they set up the tabernacle, now how does it function? How does the tabernacle function? What is the priest supposed to do? What is the people supposed to do? How can God be approached? So there is a lot of dynamics, there's a lot that the Lord that is going there, that the Lord wants us to learn. The Lord wants us to see and know, so that we may be able to understand what is His will, and that we may be able to do His will for our lives. This is the express purpose of God for us, and He's instructing us that we may be able by a systematic study of His Word that we may learn to know His will. And what a privilege it is for His people that we may know Him that we may understand what He wants us to do, how we are to live our lives. And so here is given to us the rulebook by which it will cover all aspects of worship, all aspects of life of the people. And it's interesting that the Book of Leviticus is a set of instructions to the Levites. The Levites, a special tribe of God's people. Levi was the son of Jacob. But you will notice that in Levi's life, he was not able to live. Well, there was some blemish in his life. I remember he took up sword and killed Shechem because of what they did to the sister, Dana. But his descendants, well, they were different. They were different. They were those who stood with Moses. 3,000 of them perished. 3,000 when they rebelled. But the Levites know the law of God. They stood with God. They stood with Moses. Genesis 49, five to seven says, Simeon and Levi are brethren, instruments of cruelty in their habitation. "'O my soul, come not thou into their secret, "'unto their assembly, my honour. "'Be not thou united, for in their anger they slew a man, "'and in their self-will they dig down a wall. "'Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce, "'and in their wrath it was cruel. "'I divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel.'" That's why the Levites are scattered all over. But God used them. God used them, Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy, the book of Deuteronomy describes for us how God would use them in Deuteronomy 33. Deuteronomy 33, H to 11. 8 to 11, it says here, of Levi he said, and thy Urim be with thy Holy One, whom thou didst prove at Massa, and with whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah, who said unto his father and to his children, I have not seen him, neither did acknowledge his brethren, nor knew his own children, for they have observed thy word and kept thy covenant. They shall teach Jacob their judgment, and Israel thy law, and Israel thy law, and he shall put incense before thee, and whole burnt of sacrifice upon thy altar. Bless, Lord, his substance, and accept the work of his hands. Smite through the loins of them that rise against him, and of them that hate him, that they rise not against him. again, Deuteronomy 33, 8 to 11. And I've put here for us a very simplified outline, taken from a very detailed outline out of Hannah's outline of the Bible. And here is divided into just two thoughts for the whole book. The way of access to God, chapter 1 verse 1 to chapter 16 verse 34, and what is the way of access to God? By sacrifice, by the priestly ministry, by the ceremonial purity, by the annual atonement. The annual atonement speaks about the day of atonement, where the high priest will enter into the holy of holies. So you see that there is a climax to the whole process of them purifying themselves and approaching God. And then, from chapter 17 to 27, the second half of the book, the way of fellowship with God. That means, how can they be a people of God? How does the people of God behave? How do we live in the beauty of holiness? Now that we have taken ourselves out of the field of sin, the pleasures of sin, the destruction that comes with sin. What is it that God has for us? Well, here is taught to us how we can worship Him, how we can be acceptable to God, and how we can walk in fellowship with him. And so here is given to us also the basic principle that underlines all the teachings of the New Testament. how God is to be approached. So you see, in the New Testament, we have many letters, the epistles, whereby the apostles will teach us how we can live, how we are to live this holy life. In the book of Leviticus lays the foundation by which you see the Old New Testament apostles built upon. So these are the principles. And so it's important that we go back to the principles. Learn the principles well. So to help us to grasp, so that we be able to grasp the concept of worship, man's approach to God, and man's fellowship with God. Spence, he said, well, he make this outline, and we make this comparison with the one that Hannah has made. It says here, the offerings, chapter one to seven, reveals the very first principles of holiness, which we are going to study. The priesthood, chapter 8 to 10, sets forth the great beautifies of holiness, and contrast is given in the false priests, which exemplify the strange fire of the unholy. You see, they did what was not right in the sight of God, offer strange fire to God. They were all destroyed. Holy things are presented to acknowledge the commands of holiness, chapter 11 to 15, and then the high priest a picture of our Lord Jesus Christ as the holiest of all, how he would enter into the Holy of Holies once a year to make atonement for the whole nation. Then the blood, how is the blood to be understood, chapter 17, as the element for holiness in the individual. And then also is presented practically the daily life of the believer. How can we live that life of practical holiness in our daily life? And this is what the Lord is saying to us. Even the food that they eat, the things that they do, God's stupilators, and there are principles for us to learn from all this. The feasts gives the unique times and situations of holiness, and the blessings and the cursings shown along the conditions of holiness, and the vows reveal the different values of holiness. Well, very well said here, and the book forms the basis for worship and life with God in Israel. And you will notice that that our Lord Jesus Christ, when he was on earth on numerous occasions, he would quote the Levitical laws. There was one time when he healed the leper. He told the leper to go to the priest. to be examined so that he can be purified and that he can be brought back to the community. Jesus also was accused in Matthew chapter 12, verse 4, of You know, he was, together with disciples, he was taking some corn from the field to eat, because it was a Sabbath day, they had been out serving, they were hungry, and the Pharisees were there saying, hey, you are doing work on a Sabbath day, cannot eat. And Jesus refilled them. And he says that did not David also enter into the temple and he took the showbread. When he was hungry, the priest gave him the showbread to eat. Well, this was also recorded in Leviticus 24 verse 9. And then you would also see how Jesus said, points out the true sense of the fifth commandment, honor thy father and thy mother. Everyone that curses his father or his mother shall be surely put to death. Leviticus 20 verse 9. He that curses his father or his mother, his blood shall be upon him. How the Lord puts it so well, and He tells the people in Matthew 15, verse 3 to 6, and He answered and said to them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? For God say, Honor thy father and thy mother, and he that curses father and mother, let him die the death. But he say, Whosoever say unto his father or his mother, It is a gift by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me, and Honour not his father and his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition." So he says that, hey, I reserve this money for God, so I cannot give to father and mother. This is for God. So they have not understood that the parents are the representative of God. And so, is a distortion of the law, of the understanding of. how they ought to be living their life, how they ought to honor their father and their mother. And so, here, our Lord Jesus Christ brought them back again to the Old Testament Scriptures. And for us, you know, we want to go back to the first principle, go back to know what God's law is. Augustine wrote, he said, the New Testament is the Old Testament concealed, the Old Testament is the New Testament revealed. So we shall endeavor to study this book in the full context of the Bible so that we may lay strong foundations for our faith, for our faith in our salvation in Christ and our obedience to his precepts. Amen.