WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.480 Alright, so let's get started briefly. 00:00:03.480 --> 00:00:05.280 I hope that there will be a little bit of discussion. 00:00:05.280 --> 00:00:07.759 I know 55 people are so kind of big for discussion, 00:00:07.759 --> 00:00:10.800 but a couple of moments maybe of discussion. 00:00:10.800 --> 00:00:13.519 First, it's really important to think about 00:00:13.519 --> 00:00:15.000 the structure of this book. 00:00:16.120 --> 00:00:19.240 And the structure is a chiasm. 00:00:19.240 --> 00:00:21.440 Now, I don't know if you've, you'll see on the handout, 00:00:21.440 --> 00:00:24.080 I don't know if you've read The Gruffalo. 00:00:24.080 --> 00:00:25.480 What a great book, The Gruffalo. 00:00:25.480 --> 00:00:28.820 And The Gruffalo is a chiasm. 00:00:28.820 --> 00:00:32.159 Almost all of Julia Donaldson's books are chiastic. 00:00:32.159 --> 00:00:33.079 What is a chiasm? 00:00:33.079 --> 00:00:36.480 So you can see it there in the handout. 00:00:36.480 --> 00:00:39.719 A chiasm is this, there's an intro. 00:00:39.719 --> 00:00:42.359 The mouse took a walk in the deep dark wood. 00:00:42.359 --> 00:00:47.359 And then you'll see an A, B, C, D, C, B, A structure. 00:00:48.719 --> 00:00:52.079 So in Julia Donaldson's book, the mouse meets the fox, 00:00:52.079 --> 00:00:55.079 the mouse meets the owl, the mouse meets the snake, 00:00:55.079 --> 00:00:57.280 the mouse meets the Gruffalo. 00:00:57.280 --> 00:00:59.520 And then the mouse and the Gruffalo meet the snake, 00:00:59.520 --> 00:01:00.840 the owl, the fox. 00:01:00.840 --> 00:01:03.760 And so you see that it works its way in a ladder 00:01:03.760 --> 00:01:05.920 to the center and then back out again. 00:01:05.920 --> 00:01:07.200 That's a chiasm. 00:01:07.200 --> 00:01:11.719 So there's an A1 and an A2, a B1 and a B2, a C1, C2, 00:01:11.719 --> 00:01:13.840 and a D at the middle. 00:01:13.840 --> 00:01:18.840 So the most classic chiastic structures are sevenfold. 00:01:18.920 --> 00:01:23.760 So you see Julia was thinking so along the lines 00:01:23.760 --> 00:01:26.439 of the biblical redemptive story and making her, 00:01:26.439 --> 00:01:30.079 Gruffalo series like many others in her works, 00:01:30.079 --> 00:01:32.359 a sevenfold chiastic structure. 00:01:32.359 --> 00:01:35.000 There are a ton of these across the Bible. 00:01:35.000 --> 00:01:36.879 They're all over the place. 00:01:36.879 --> 00:01:40.719 And Leviticus is a sevenfold chiasm. 00:01:40.719 --> 00:01:44.359 Okay, and it's broken down into seven moments 00:01:44.359 --> 00:01:48.479 where we have this phrase in the Lord spoke to Moses. 00:01:48.479 --> 00:01:50.239 So this happens in a sevenfold movement 00:01:50.239 --> 00:01:52.719 and there's the breakdown of the sevenfold movement. 00:01:52.719 --> 00:01:55.120 There's an intro, the Lord spoke to Moses 00:01:55.120 --> 00:01:56.600 from out of the tent. 00:01:56.600 --> 00:01:58.480 That's the intro line, 00:01:58.480 --> 00:02:01.600 just like the mouse took a walk in the deep dark wood. 00:02:01.600 --> 00:02:04.920 And then there's ritual sacrifices, A1. 00:02:04.920 --> 00:02:08.080 Now just cast your eyes down to A2 at the end of the book 00:02:08.080 --> 00:02:10.520 and you have ritual feasts. 00:02:10.520 --> 00:02:12.700 So those are parallels. 00:02:12.700 --> 00:02:15.640 If you see B1 priestly ordination, 00:02:15.640 --> 00:02:19.219 B2 priestly qualifications, 00:02:19.219 --> 00:02:23.719 and then C and C2 purity and moral purity. 00:02:23.719 --> 00:02:26.919 And then at the very heart is the day of atonement. 00:02:26.919 --> 00:02:29.939 And so meeting the Gruffalo and the day of atonement 00:02:29.939 --> 00:02:32.800 are the two central pieces of those two different books. 00:02:32.800 --> 00:02:34.400 It's a sevenfold chastic structure. 00:02:34.400 --> 00:02:35.840 Very important to remember. 00:02:35.840 --> 00:02:38.400 All right, part two, moving on. 00:02:38.400 --> 00:02:39.599 Now that leads us in the thinking 00:02:39.599 --> 00:02:42.240 about the context of this book. 00:02:42.240 --> 00:02:45.439 And when we talk about Genesis, Exodus, 00:02:45.439 --> 00:02:47.599 Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, 00:02:47.599 --> 00:02:52.599 that is the pentateute, the fivefold books of Moses, 00:02:52.599 --> 00:02:56.639 five books, pentateute, the Torah, we call it the law. 00:02:56.639 --> 00:03:01.639 And Leviticus is the third book of the pentateute of five. 00:03:03.519 --> 00:03:07.680 And when you have five, the third is the center, right? 00:03:07.680 --> 00:03:12.199 And when you look at the books of Moses, the Torah, 00:03:12.199 --> 00:03:14.240 one of the things that's really important to ask 00:03:14.240 --> 00:03:16.680 is in each book of the first five books is 00:03:16.680 --> 00:03:21.680 where are God's people whenever the words of Leviticus 00:03:21.680 --> 00:03:23.560 or any other book are written. 00:03:23.560 --> 00:03:27.200 So let me throw that out for discussion. 00:03:28.200 --> 00:03:31.840 Does anybody have a sense of where is Israel 00:03:31.840 --> 00:03:34.319 when the words, the book of Leviticus, 00:03:34.319 --> 00:03:39.319 the instructions from God in history are given to Moses? 00:03:39.319 --> 00:03:40.920 Where is Israel in that moment? 00:03:42.800 --> 00:03:44.080 They are in the desert. 00:03:44.080 --> 00:03:45.600 Yeah, they've been wandering through the desert. 00:03:45.600 --> 00:03:50.000 They haven't yet begun their 40 year wilderness journey. 00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:52.000 Not yet, right? 00:03:54.000 --> 00:03:55.639 They're still at Mount Sinai. 00:03:55.639 --> 00:03:58.080 So they've been wandering, they've wandered for 50 days 00:03:58.080 --> 00:04:00.919 after they crossed the Red Sea and they're at Mount Sinai. 00:04:00.919 --> 00:04:04.199 So they get to Mount Sinai in Exodus 19. 00:04:04.199 --> 00:04:07.360 They leave Mount Sinai in Numbers 10. 00:04:08.360 --> 00:04:12.719 The pentateute in English Bibles is 187 chapters 00:04:12.719 --> 00:04:16.600 and 57 of those chapters are Israel sitting 00:04:16.600 --> 00:04:17.959 at the bottom of Mount Sinai. 00:04:17.959 --> 00:04:21.479 The pentateute covers well over a thousand years, 00:04:21.479 --> 00:04:22.680 actually much more than that. 00:04:22.680 --> 00:04:23.919 We don't quite know how long. 00:04:25.199 --> 00:04:30.199 And 57 of the 180 book, 80 chapters are covering 343 days 00:04:31.199 --> 00:04:32.919 while they're at Mount Sinai. 00:04:32.919 --> 00:04:35.959 And so that means that a third of the entire Torah 00:04:35.959 --> 00:04:38.359 is about the moment they're sitting 00:04:38.359 --> 00:04:40.159 at the bottom of Mount Sinai. 00:04:40.159 --> 00:04:43.000 The third of the whole Torah covers one year 00:04:43.000 --> 00:04:46.359 in the midst of five books that cover thousands of years. 00:04:46.360 --> 00:04:48.480 Well over a thousand years at least, right? 00:04:48.480 --> 00:04:51.319 And so there's a real focus where all of a sudden 00:04:51.319 --> 00:04:53.600 you realize the heartbeat of the first five books 00:04:53.600 --> 00:04:57.480 of the Bible is what's going on at the bottom of Mount Sinai. 00:04:57.480 --> 00:05:01.680 And when you look and see, oh, God gave us five books 00:05:01.680 --> 00:05:06.160 of the Torah, the centerpiece, the third is Leviticus. 00:05:06.160 --> 00:05:08.720 And that helps you to realize that Leviticus 00:05:08.720 --> 00:05:10.759 is the heart of the Torah. 00:05:10.759 --> 00:05:12.480 It's the heartbeat of the Torah. 00:05:12.480 --> 00:05:14.360 It's the dead middle. 00:05:14.360 --> 00:05:16.720 Now let's broaden back out a bit. 00:05:16.720 --> 00:05:20.360 What is the narrative context of Leviticus? 00:05:20.360 --> 00:05:23.080 What has just happened in the life of Israel 00:05:23.080 --> 00:05:27.920 in the broadest brush strokes? 00:05:29.199 --> 00:05:33.080 There are a few things that happened, Exodus, anything. 00:05:33.080 --> 00:05:33.920 It doesn't matter. 00:05:33.920 --> 00:05:38.360 They've just been liberated from slavery. 00:05:38.360 --> 00:05:39.600 Right, exactly. 00:05:39.600 --> 00:05:40.439 Thanks, Simon. 00:05:40.439 --> 00:05:43.960 So Israel was liberated from slavery in Egypt. 00:05:43.959 --> 00:05:47.839 So they come out of Egypt, they cross the Red Sea. 00:05:47.839 --> 00:05:50.279 Yeah, what else? 00:05:50.279 --> 00:05:52.039 They come to Mount Sinai, they get the Ten Commandments. 00:05:52.039 --> 00:05:55.759 What happens while Moses is on the top of Mount Sinai? 00:05:57.279 --> 00:05:59.519 They make a golden calf. 00:05:59.519 --> 00:06:03.439 And so in the end of Exodus, about 2 thirds of the way through, 00:06:03.439 --> 00:06:06.759 we have this incident of idolatry that takes place 00:06:06.759 --> 00:06:08.879 while Moses is on top of the mountain. 00:06:08.879 --> 00:06:11.000 So they've been caught out of Egypt, caught out of slavery 00:06:11.000 --> 00:06:12.039 by God's grace. 00:06:12.039 --> 00:06:13.079 They've come to Sinai. 00:06:13.079 --> 00:06:15.879 They've heard the Ten words, the Ten Commandments. 00:06:15.879 --> 00:06:18.039 They've set up an idol to worship 00:06:18.039 --> 00:06:20.919 and they're trying to approach God in completely the wrong way. 00:06:20.919 --> 00:06:22.959 By the way, the golden calf incident 00:06:22.959 --> 00:06:26.639 is not an issue of them worshiping a false God, 00:06:26.639 --> 00:06:28.120 as it's sometimes thought. 00:06:28.120 --> 00:06:30.719 If you read carefully in the golden calf story, 00:06:30.719 --> 00:06:33.719 it's an issue of them trying to worship the Lord 00:06:33.719 --> 00:06:36.079 through the means of the golden calf. 00:06:36.079 --> 00:06:38.319 So they're trying to worship God through an image, 00:06:38.319 --> 00:06:40.680 not worshiping another God. 00:06:40.680 --> 00:06:42.360 And that's an important distinction. 00:06:42.360 --> 00:06:45.480 And so the issue is they don't know how to approach God. 00:06:45.480 --> 00:06:47.080 They don't know how to worship. 00:06:47.080 --> 00:06:51.400 And they've got this impenetrable cloud, God's presence, 00:06:51.400 --> 00:06:54.120 covering Mount Sinai, and they can't approach. 00:06:54.120 --> 00:06:56.520 And so at the dead center of the Torah, 00:06:56.520 --> 00:07:00.319 Leviticus is answering a fundamental question 00:07:00.319 --> 00:07:02.240 that's based on that incident. 00:07:03.560 --> 00:07:06.680 God comes down, he meets with them. 00:07:06.680 --> 00:07:08.680 As soon as they enter God's presence, 00:07:08.680 --> 00:07:10.800 they immediately worship God. 00:07:10.800 --> 00:07:13.680 And the most fundamentally wrong way. 00:07:13.680 --> 00:07:18.680 And so there's a natural question that comes up, right? 00:07:18.759 --> 00:07:21.520 What's the question maybe in your mind that comes up? 00:07:21.520 --> 00:07:24.560 What would Leviticus be there for 00:07:24.560 --> 00:07:27.519 if that's the incident that God is addressing? 00:07:27.519 --> 00:07:28.360 Any thoughts? 00:07:28.360 --> 00:07:29.720 How can you approach God? 00:07:29.720 --> 00:07:31.439 How can you approach God? 00:07:31.439 --> 00:07:33.160 Obviously you don't know how. 00:07:33.160 --> 00:07:36.720 And obviously you can't because Sinai is in a theophanic, 00:07:36.720 --> 00:07:39.879 an appearance of the Lord cloud of mystery 00:07:39.879 --> 00:07:44.879 and one where God says, if you touch this, you're gonna die. 00:07:45.000 --> 00:07:48.600 And every attempt you've made has been a failure. 00:07:48.600 --> 00:07:50.519 And so God has saved them by His grace, 00:07:50.519 --> 00:07:51.600 brought them to the mountain, 00:07:51.600 --> 00:07:52.800 and they don't know how to approach the Lord. 00:07:52.800 --> 00:07:54.839 And so the question, as Day put it, 00:07:54.839 --> 00:07:57.279 is exactly that, how do you approach the living God? 00:07:57.279 --> 00:08:00.120 How can a person come into the presence of the living God? 00:08:00.120 --> 00:08:04.120 Now, one more thing, and we'll move to the third section. 00:08:04.120 --> 00:08:05.560 And I've not been looking at the handout, 00:08:05.560 --> 00:08:07.560 which might be slightly different from my notes. 00:08:07.560 --> 00:08:12.560 Leviticus is also part as the center of a chaiastic structure 00:08:15.639 --> 00:08:18.399 in the whole Torah, in the whole of the five books. 00:08:18.399 --> 00:08:21.399 Right, and so I think, did I put that there? 00:08:21.399 --> 00:08:25.800 Yeah, so you can see Genesis is about God 00:08:25.800 --> 00:08:28.920 choosing a patriarch to promise, 00:08:28.920 --> 00:08:30.139 I'm gonna make you into a people, 00:08:30.139 --> 00:08:32.559 and I'm gonna give you a promised land, 00:08:32.559 --> 00:08:34.519 and there's a journey towards the land. 00:08:34.519 --> 00:08:38.319 And then Exodus is about a movement from slavery 00:08:38.319 --> 00:08:41.039 to the mountain, and then to the wilderness journey. 00:08:41.039 --> 00:08:42.399 You see in Leviticus, it's about 00:08:42.399 --> 00:08:43.840 how do you get into God's presence? 00:08:43.840 --> 00:08:46.960 And then the reciprocal happens in numbers and Deuteronomy, 00:08:46.960 --> 00:08:49.799 the back half of that, that fills out that chiasm. 00:08:49.799 --> 00:08:51.840 And so you learn there that Leviticus really 00:08:51.840 --> 00:08:54.439 is the heartbeat of the Torah. 00:08:54.439 --> 00:08:56.279 And so the question there, 00:08:56.279 --> 00:08:58.159 I think there's a little blank on your handout is, 00:08:58.159 --> 00:09:00.879 if that's the case, if you put all these chiasms together, 00:09:00.879 --> 00:09:03.480 these structures, Leviticus is the heartbeat 00:09:03.480 --> 00:09:06.480 of the Torah, what is the heartbeat of the heartbeat? 00:09:07.920 --> 00:09:10.960 So if you think about that central chiasm, 00:09:10.960 --> 00:09:14.120 where Leviticus is the center of the five books of Moses, 00:09:14.120 --> 00:09:15.720 what is the center of the center? 00:09:17.279 --> 00:09:18.800 Sorry? 00:09:18.800 --> 00:09:21.000 The tabernacle is at the center physically, 00:09:21.000 --> 00:09:24.039 but I mean in terms of the textural layout there, 00:09:24.039 --> 00:09:27.840 according to the chiasms, what's the center of the center? 00:09:27.840 --> 00:09:30.800 The day of atonement, D, right? 00:09:30.799 --> 00:09:34.439 In a seven-fold chiasm, as the Old Testament books 00:09:34.439 --> 00:09:37.359 are so often put, there is a center. 00:09:37.359 --> 00:09:38.959 And so when you're reading a book of the Bible, 00:09:38.959 --> 00:09:40.679 one of the things, like with the Stardew Bible 00:09:40.679 --> 00:09:42.519 or something like that, is you wanna find out 00:09:42.519 --> 00:09:44.359 where are these structures? 00:09:44.359 --> 00:09:47.240 Because then you can find out where the heartbeat is. 00:09:47.240 --> 00:09:49.719 And the heartbeat of Leviticus is the day of atonement. 00:09:49.719 --> 00:09:52.000 And so we've got, we're not gonna talk about it tonight, 00:09:52.000 --> 00:09:55.519 but we know now that we've got in a month or two 00:09:55.519 --> 00:09:57.240 to really understand what's going on 00:09:57.240 --> 00:09:59.719 at the day of atonement, to understand the Torah, 00:09:59.720 --> 00:10:01.000 the whole of the five books, 00:10:01.000 --> 00:10:02.879 because it's the heartbeat of the heartbeat, right? 00:10:02.879 --> 00:10:05.160 And so we'll come back around to that in a little while. 00:10:05.160 --> 00:10:07.200 Why is Leviticus the heart of the Torah? 00:10:07.200 --> 00:10:10.200 Why is the day of atonement the heartbeat of the heartbeat? 00:10:10.200 --> 00:10:12.040 And so point three, the main idea. 00:10:14.200 --> 00:10:16.399 Read, flip over with me, you've got a Bible. 00:10:16.399 --> 00:10:20.360 Let's look at, we won't get into a ton of Leviticus text 00:10:20.360 --> 00:10:22.080 tonight at all, that'll be next time, 00:10:22.080 --> 00:10:25.040 but because we're just trying to understand what's around it. 00:10:25.039 --> 00:10:30.039 But Leviticus one, one, the Lord called Moses 00:10:30.159 --> 00:10:33.559 and spoke to him from the tent of meeting. 00:10:33.559 --> 00:10:36.879 Now, one of the most important words there is the word from 00:10:36.879 --> 00:10:39.240 or out of the tent of meeting. 00:10:39.240 --> 00:10:42.159 So where is Moses? 00:10:42.159 --> 00:10:46.559 Where would you think Moses is based on Leviticus one, one? 00:10:48.079 --> 00:10:49.039 Any ideas? 00:10:49.039 --> 00:10:53.839 In the simplest way, where might Moses be? 00:10:57.120 --> 00:10:58.919 He's around the mountain certainly, 00:10:58.919 --> 00:11:01.120 but here one of the pieces of context is that 00:11:01.120 --> 00:11:04.240 the tabernacle has now been constructed. 00:11:04.240 --> 00:11:06.759 So that's a thoughtful answer. 00:11:06.759 --> 00:11:10.120 The back half of Exodus is the instructions, 00:11:10.120 --> 00:11:11.799 go and build this tabernacle. 00:11:11.799 --> 00:11:13.399 So the tabernacle has been constructed. 00:11:13.399 --> 00:11:15.360 I should have mentioned that for context. 00:11:15.360 --> 00:11:18.959 And so it says the Lord spoke from out of the tabernacle 00:11:18.960 --> 00:11:22.759 to Moses, simply meaning that Moses has to be where? 00:11:22.759 --> 00:11:24.800 Not inside the tabernacle, right? 00:11:24.800 --> 00:11:27.480 He's not in the tent, he's outside of it. 00:11:27.480 --> 00:11:30.080 Israel's committed apostasy by trying to worship God 00:11:30.080 --> 00:11:32.040 in the wrong way, even after he saved them. 00:11:32.040 --> 00:11:35.120 God said, now go build a tabernacle, go build a temple. 00:11:36.040 --> 00:11:38.879 And now that that temple has been built, the tabernacle, 00:11:38.879 --> 00:11:41.720 the very first thing we see is now the Lord spoke from 00:11:41.720 --> 00:11:46.720 inside of it to outside, Moses is not inside of it. 00:11:46.720 --> 00:11:49.279 So the question that they mentioned, 00:11:49.279 --> 00:11:54.040 how can the mediator himself, the first priest, Moses, 00:11:54.040 --> 00:11:57.279 even get inside the tabernacle into the presence of God? 00:11:57.279 --> 00:12:00.279 That's the question that immediately comes up 00:12:00.279 --> 00:12:01.440 at the beginning, right? 00:12:01.440 --> 00:12:04.399 So we're seeing the same theme of the main idea. 00:12:04.399 --> 00:12:06.000 What is the main idea of Leviticus? 00:12:06.000 --> 00:12:08.000 What is the heartbeat of the Torah? 00:12:08.000 --> 00:12:09.720 What is the heartbeat of the heartbeat 00:12:09.720 --> 00:12:11.519 in the day of Atonement all about? 00:12:11.519 --> 00:12:16.120 It is about the simple idea of how can you get 00:12:16.120 --> 00:12:17.879 what you were made for? 00:12:17.879 --> 00:12:19.279 And what were you made for? 00:12:19.279 --> 00:12:21.679 To enter into the presence of the living God. 00:12:22.720 --> 00:12:24.600 That's what Leviticus is about. 00:12:24.600 --> 00:12:26.639 That's what the Torah is about. 00:12:26.639 --> 00:12:28.080 You were made for God's presence, 00:12:28.080 --> 00:12:29.840 you were kicked out of God's presence, 00:12:29.840 --> 00:12:31.080 how do you get back into it? 00:12:31.080 --> 00:12:32.560 How do you get there again? 00:12:32.560 --> 00:12:35.240 And that's exactly what we see here in Leviticus 1-1. 00:12:35.240 --> 00:12:37.560 And so the Lord speaks to Moses from inside of the tent. 00:12:37.560 --> 00:12:41.639 Now if you just think for 30 seconds about the Psalms 00:12:41.639 --> 00:12:43.240 and about so much of the language 00:12:43.240 --> 00:12:44.840 throughout the rest of the Old Testament, 00:12:44.840 --> 00:12:49.280 we sing a hymnized version of Psalm 15 here, 00:12:49.280 --> 00:12:51.639 which is a paraphrase, but it asks, 00:12:51.639 --> 00:12:56.000 oh Lord, our Lord, who can dwell in your tent? 00:12:56.000 --> 00:12:58.519 Who can abide on your holy hill? 00:12:58.519 --> 00:12:59.360 Well, what's it talking about? 00:12:59.360 --> 00:13:02.480 It's talking about who can go up Mount Sinai? 00:13:02.480 --> 00:13:04.040 Who can go in the Tabernacle? 00:13:04.040 --> 00:13:05.639 Right, that's what Psalm 15 is about. 00:13:05.639 --> 00:13:09.080 And then it says, he who walks in blamelessness, 00:13:09.080 --> 00:13:11.879 he who is never rude to his neighbor, 00:13:11.879 --> 00:13:13.680 he who never gossips. 00:13:13.679 --> 00:13:15.319 That's the next few lines. 00:13:15.319 --> 00:13:18.159 And then you realize the point of Psalm 15 is to say, 00:13:18.159 --> 00:13:19.839 who can enter the presence of God? 00:13:19.839 --> 00:13:23.159 And the answer is, nobody. 00:13:23.159 --> 00:13:24.000 Nobody can. 00:13:25.679 --> 00:13:27.919 He who is blameless can go in. 00:13:28.839 --> 00:13:31.120 And so we start to think, what is Leviticus about? 00:13:31.120 --> 00:13:33.120 How can you enter the presence of God? 00:13:33.120 --> 00:13:35.639 And that's when it comes clear again, 00:13:35.639 --> 00:13:38.000 where only the holy, only the blameless, 00:13:38.000 --> 00:13:42.319 only the person who is as holy as God is holy can enter. 00:13:42.320 --> 00:13:44.040 So the Lord says later in Leviticus, 00:13:44.040 --> 00:13:46.400 be holy as I am holy. 00:13:46.400 --> 00:13:47.480 And you say, well, how in the world 00:13:47.480 --> 00:13:49.480 is anybody gonna get what they were made for 00:13:49.480 --> 00:13:51.400 and enter the presence of God? 00:13:51.400 --> 00:13:54.040 Let me just stop for 30 seconds here and ask, 00:13:54.040 --> 00:13:57.720 what does it mean to say God is holy, 00:13:57.720 --> 00:13:59.360 or a person is holy? 00:13:59.360 --> 00:14:02.320 Just throw out maybe some adjectives that jump out to you. 00:14:04.560 --> 00:14:07.400 Separate, unique, beyond reproach. 00:14:08.400 --> 00:14:09.920 Very, yeah. 00:14:09.919 --> 00:14:14.919 What else? Different, just, right, good, pure. 00:14:20.879 --> 00:14:22.159 That's one of the things that comes out of Leviticus. 00:14:22.159 --> 00:14:25.240 Holiness is purity, moral righteousness, 00:14:25.240 --> 00:14:27.759 all sorts of ways to talk about it. 00:14:27.759 --> 00:14:30.799 How are we gonna enter if we're none of those things? 00:14:30.799 --> 00:14:32.519 That's the question of Leviticus. 00:14:32.519 --> 00:14:34.559 Here's what's so striking about Leviticus 00:14:34.559 --> 00:14:39.159 in such a simple way, is that God makes a way 00:14:39.159 --> 00:14:40.439 for people to enter. 00:14:41.639 --> 00:14:45.600 And so as much as Leviticus is a difficult book to read, 00:14:45.600 --> 00:14:47.399 it's actually very simple. 00:14:47.399 --> 00:14:49.399 How can you get into God's presence? 00:14:49.399 --> 00:14:52.279 And the answer to Leviticus is not in any way, 00:14:52.279 --> 00:14:55.600 you must follow a thousand rules. 00:14:55.600 --> 00:14:56.839 That's not really the idea. 00:14:56.839 --> 00:14:59.759 The idea of Leviticus is when there is no way, 00:14:59.759 --> 00:15:04.240 God makes a way graciously by symbolic sacrifice. 00:15:05.399 --> 00:15:08.120 Those symbols are all pointing elsewhere, 00:15:08.120 --> 00:15:10.679 but the point of Leviticus is just to say, 00:15:10.679 --> 00:15:14.639 God is so gracious to give you a system 00:15:14.639 --> 00:15:17.320 by which you can enter into His holy presence. 00:15:17.320 --> 00:15:19.240 The very thing you were made for, that's the main idea. 00:15:19.240 --> 00:15:21.080 So I think it's written on your handout there 00:15:21.080 --> 00:15:23.200 at the bottom of point three. 00:15:23.200 --> 00:15:25.440 In Leviticus, you don't enter God's presence 00:15:25.440 --> 00:15:27.240 based on your good works, you don't enter 00:15:27.240 --> 00:15:30.120 because you're pure, no, not at all. 00:15:30.120 --> 00:15:33.240 You enter because God graciously and symbolically 00:15:33.240 --> 00:15:36.840 makes you pure through the means of a substitute. 00:15:36.840 --> 00:15:38.320 That's the point. 00:15:38.320 --> 00:15:40.280 What do you need to enter into God's presence 00:15:40.280 --> 00:15:41.120 in Leviticus? 00:15:41.120 --> 00:15:42.240 You need a ritual. 00:15:43.720 --> 00:15:48.320 And that ritual is a ritual sacrifice of substitution. 00:15:48.320 --> 00:15:52.320 You need a mediator who is holy himself. 00:15:52.320 --> 00:15:54.000 Those are the main two things. 00:15:54.000 --> 00:15:57.720 You have to have a holy priest engage 00:15:57.720 --> 00:16:01.240 in a ritual substitutionary sacrifice on your behalf. 00:16:01.240 --> 00:16:04.759 You don't do the sacrifice, the priest does it for you. 00:16:04.759 --> 00:16:08.679 And the priest enters into the holy place representing you. 00:16:08.679 --> 00:16:12.000 You need a mediator who is holy, a holy priest. 00:16:12.000 --> 00:16:14.960 And you need a ritual substitutionary sacrifice. 00:16:16.319 --> 00:16:17.519 Does it sound familiar? 00:16:18.679 --> 00:16:22.200 We see already the Christological implications 00:16:22.200 --> 00:16:24.639 of what's building here in the Levitical system 00:16:24.639 --> 00:16:25.480 and how it's raising. 00:16:25.480 --> 00:16:28.759 Now, before we move to point four, and we're moving quickly, 00:16:30.200 --> 00:16:33.840 just flip over with me to Numbers 1-1 and see this. 00:16:33.840 --> 00:16:37.160 You see how much Moses structured these books that he gave us. 00:16:43.240 --> 00:16:45.240 All right, remember Leviticus 1-1. 00:16:45.240 --> 00:16:49.560 The Lord spoke to Moses from inside the tent. 00:16:50.680 --> 00:16:51.800 Right? 00:16:51.800 --> 00:16:53.519 Moses was outside the tent. 00:16:53.519 --> 00:16:56.120 Numbers 1-1, the Lord spoke to Moses 00:16:56.120 --> 00:16:59.320 in the wilderness of Sinai where? 00:16:59.320 --> 00:17:01.000 In the tent. 00:17:01.000 --> 00:17:03.960 So did Leviticus work? 00:17:03.960 --> 00:17:07.240 You see how much this is how highly structured this is? 00:17:07.240 --> 00:17:11.640 Leviticus 1-1, God spoke inside to people who were outside. 00:17:11.640 --> 00:17:15.599 Numbers 1-1, God spoke to Moses in the tent 00:17:15.599 --> 00:17:18.160 while Moses was also in the tent, right? 00:17:18.160 --> 00:17:20.480 So you can see what Leviticus is up to 00:17:20.480 --> 00:17:24.240 and how successful God's program of redemption here 00:17:24.240 --> 00:17:26.640 is in the sacrificial system. 00:17:26.640 --> 00:17:29.680 All right, let's pull out just a little bit. 00:17:29.680 --> 00:17:32.720 The point of Leviticus and the structure of the Tabernacle. 00:17:32.720 --> 00:17:37.200 We won't do the Tabernacle at all in any detail we can't in this space. 00:17:37.200 --> 00:17:39.279 So one of the things I would really encourage you, 00:17:39.279 --> 00:17:41.880 if you really want to dive in and understand this book, 00:17:41.880 --> 00:17:47.000 I would say that understanding Leviticus will open the doors 00:17:47.000 --> 00:17:51.240 to so many passages in the Bible for you, for all of us. 00:17:51.240 --> 00:17:54.160 And one of the things that is fairly necessary in that 00:17:54.160 --> 00:17:57.360 is to get a decent grasp of the Tabernacle 00:17:57.360 --> 00:17:59.360 and its structure and all the things that are going on with it. 00:17:59.359 --> 00:18:03.119 Now, I wanted to put up a really nice graphic of the Tabernacle 00:18:03.119 --> 00:18:08.519 and today, discussing with others, we found that it is... 00:18:08.519 --> 00:18:12.039 I found nearly impossible to get a non-copyright image 00:18:12.039 --> 00:18:13.599 of the Tabernacle off the Internet. 00:18:13.599 --> 00:18:17.079 So the best one is in the ESV Study Bible. 00:18:17.079 --> 00:18:21.199 I have it here, but we can't publish it as an institution. 00:18:21.199 --> 00:18:24.759 So check it out sometime. 00:18:24.759 --> 00:18:27.479 But let me just get out of this way. 00:18:27.480 --> 00:18:32.160 The Tabernacle itself is a tent, 00:18:32.160 --> 00:18:34.200 the tent of meeting, the Tabernacle. 00:18:34.200 --> 00:18:36.920 And in it, it has two compartments, 00:18:36.920 --> 00:18:39.160 the Holy Place and the Holy Holies. 00:18:39.160 --> 00:18:42.120 You make the sacrifices outside of the Tabernacle 00:18:42.120 --> 00:18:44.319 in the broader court. 00:18:44.319 --> 00:18:46.799 So sacrifices don't happen inside of it, 00:18:46.799 --> 00:18:48.000 they happen outside of it. 00:18:48.000 --> 00:18:50.400 You can't enter the Tabernacle without the sacrifice 00:18:50.400 --> 00:18:52.319 already having happened. 00:18:52.319 --> 00:18:53.480 See that logic? 00:18:53.480 --> 00:18:54.240 Yeah. 00:18:54.240 --> 00:18:56.360 And you can see this if you pull up any diagram, 00:18:56.359 --> 00:19:00.119 you'll see the sacrificial altar outside the Tabernacle tent, 00:19:00.119 --> 00:19:02.959 outside the tent of meeting, more specifically. 00:19:02.959 --> 00:19:05.559 Sometimes the word Tabernacle refers to the whole structure, 00:19:05.559 --> 00:19:06.879 including the court. 00:19:06.879 --> 00:19:08.000 But let me do this. 00:19:08.000 --> 00:19:08.799 If somebody... 00:19:08.799 --> 00:19:10.959 Can I ask somebody to flip over? 00:19:10.959 --> 00:19:14.919 Or I've got it actually right here, to Numbers, Chapter 8. 00:19:14.919 --> 00:19:16.479 And I just want to highlight one thing 00:19:16.479 --> 00:19:20.079 to bring out the meaning of this. 00:19:20.079 --> 00:19:25.959 The depth of insight that is present in these five books 00:19:25.960 --> 00:19:28.519 that Moses has given us. 00:19:28.519 --> 00:19:29.360 It says this, 00:19:29.360 --> 00:19:30.759 Now the Lord spoke to Moses saying, 00:19:30.759 --> 00:19:32.480 Speak to Aaron and say to him, 00:19:32.480 --> 00:19:36.200 When you set up the lamps inside the Holy Place, that is, 00:19:36.200 --> 00:19:43.559 The seven lamps shall give light in the front of the lampstand. 00:19:43.559 --> 00:19:48.319 Inside the Holy Place there is a menorah, a lamp. 00:19:48.319 --> 00:19:52.160 And it's described to us in Exodus as designed according 00:19:52.160 --> 00:19:56.519 to the look of an almond tree. 00:19:56.519 --> 00:20:00.759 And here we learn that that lamp has seven branches. 00:20:00.759 --> 00:20:03.680 And here we're told that when the Tabernacle is set up, 00:20:03.680 --> 00:20:07.360 the lamp or the lights, which are referred to in a minute 00:20:07.360 --> 00:20:12.120 as blossoms, the lights are blossoms, like a tree, 00:20:12.120 --> 00:20:16.759 blossoming, are to be bent outward facing the front. 00:20:16.759 --> 00:20:18.200 That's what we learn here. 00:20:18.200 --> 00:20:19.600 It's a tiny detail. 00:20:19.599 --> 00:20:22.639 And I just want to draw out one tiny detail and move on. 00:20:22.639 --> 00:20:23.759 Why? 00:20:23.759 --> 00:20:26.199 So it's one of those things that you pass over. 00:20:26.199 --> 00:20:28.599 You never stop for something like this. 00:20:28.599 --> 00:20:31.039 But the light was to be bent. 00:20:31.039 --> 00:20:33.639 Well, if you read the order of the Tabernacle, 00:20:33.639 --> 00:20:38.399 you learn that the table of the presence is right across 00:20:38.399 --> 00:20:41.879 in the room from the lamps, the seven-fold lamp. 00:20:41.879 --> 00:20:45.879 And the table of the presence had bread always on top of it. 00:20:45.879 --> 00:20:47.399 And how many pieces of bread are there? 00:20:47.400 --> 00:20:50.320 There's 12 pieces of bread. 00:20:50.320 --> 00:20:54.360 And the idea here is that whenever the lamps are lit, 00:20:54.360 --> 00:20:57.240 the almond tree, with seven branches, 00:20:57.240 --> 00:21:02.000 they are to shine their lights on the table of presence. 00:21:02.000 --> 00:21:04.840 Now, what's the symbol there, do you think? 00:21:04.840 --> 00:21:05.680 Any ideas? 00:21:08.440 --> 00:21:09.880 We can construct it together, I think. 00:21:09.880 --> 00:21:13.320 Across the Bible, what does light represent? 00:21:14.560 --> 00:21:16.320 God's presence, exactly. 00:21:16.319 --> 00:21:18.279 The divine presence. 00:21:18.279 --> 00:21:21.759 The light of the world came into the darkness, right? 00:21:21.759 --> 00:21:25.960 And the light of life came into creation at the beginning. 00:21:25.960 --> 00:21:29.079 God is holy light, it's a divine presence. 00:21:29.079 --> 00:21:32.799 And then the table of presence, as it was literally called, 00:21:32.799 --> 00:21:34.319 and on top of that table is what? 00:21:34.319 --> 00:21:35.359 12 pieces of bread. 00:21:35.359 --> 00:21:37.000 And what do they symbolize? 00:21:38.359 --> 00:21:40.319 The 12th of Jesus, the people of God, right? 00:21:40.319 --> 00:21:42.319 And so it's saying when you set up the Tabernacle 00:21:42.319 --> 00:21:45.599 and you light the lamp, the almond tree, 00:21:45.599 --> 00:21:48.119 you need to know that that is to tell you 00:21:48.119 --> 00:21:50.359 that God's presence is with his people. 00:21:51.599 --> 00:21:53.639 So turn the lamps, the blossoms, 00:21:53.639 --> 00:21:55.759 and make them face the table of presence 00:21:55.759 --> 00:21:58.959 so that you get that sense of it, right? 00:21:58.959 --> 00:22:01.639 Leviticus, the entire Tabernacle structure, 00:22:01.639 --> 00:22:03.599 everything about it, if you do in-depth study 00:22:03.599 --> 00:22:06.039 at every level is all about one thing, 00:22:06.039 --> 00:22:09.319 and that's how can you get what you were made for 00:22:09.319 --> 00:22:12.439 to enter the presence of God, the light himself, right? 00:22:12.439 --> 00:22:14.159 That's the big point of the entire book. 00:22:14.160 --> 00:22:18.320 So just before that, we think about the Aaronic benediction. 00:22:18.320 --> 00:22:19.920 May the Lord bless you and keep you. 00:22:19.920 --> 00:22:24.920 May the Lord make his face to shine on you, right? 00:22:26.360 --> 00:22:28.720 This is Tabernacle language. 00:22:28.720 --> 00:22:30.560 We don't receive the Aaronic benediction 00:22:30.560 --> 00:22:32.240 like an Israelite would have. 00:22:32.240 --> 00:22:34.320 They would have immediately understood 00:22:34.320 --> 00:22:37.640 through the visual images all around them what that means, 00:22:37.640 --> 00:22:40.279 that when the lights are lit in the Tabernacle, 00:22:40.279 --> 00:22:42.720 we know that his face is now shining upon us, 00:22:42.720 --> 00:22:46.120 his theophanic, his divine presence has come down 00:22:46.120 --> 00:22:47.259 into this holy space. 00:22:48.960 --> 00:22:50.600 Think about Psalm 16. 00:22:50.600 --> 00:22:52.799 You make known to me the path of life. 00:22:52.799 --> 00:22:55.759 There is the fullness of joy in your presence, 00:22:55.759 --> 00:22:58.559 and there are pleasures at your right hand forevermore. 00:22:58.559 --> 00:23:00.720 Almost the entire book of Psalms. 00:23:00.720 --> 00:23:03.000 By the way, how many books are there in the Psalms? 00:23:04.640 --> 00:23:06.319 Five books. 00:23:06.319 --> 00:23:09.600 The Psalms are structured after the Torah, right? 00:23:09.599 --> 00:23:12.599 So book three of the Psalms is the centerpiece. 00:23:14.480 --> 00:23:16.519 This happens all across the Old Testament. 00:23:17.879 --> 00:23:20.839 All across David, Psalm 27, 00:23:20.839 --> 00:23:23.679 we preached on that a few weeks back. 00:23:23.679 --> 00:23:25.119 What does he pray and verse four? 00:23:25.119 --> 00:23:28.699 I long to look upon your face in the holy place. 00:23:28.699 --> 00:23:30.879 I long to see the light of your presence, right? 00:23:30.879 --> 00:23:33.480 He says, so you see this language all across the Psalms. 00:23:33.480 --> 00:23:35.639 All right, let's move things towards the conclusion. 00:23:35.640 --> 00:23:39.800 We only have about six minutes left, seven minutes. 00:23:39.800 --> 00:23:41.360 Coming up in this series, 00:23:41.360 --> 00:23:45.640 there's so much application to us as modern people. 00:23:45.640 --> 00:23:49.240 So details about lights and holy places 00:23:49.240 --> 00:23:50.960 and all this kind of stuff is so important 00:23:50.960 --> 00:23:52.640 because it's Bible. 00:23:52.640 --> 00:23:56.000 And also it really does speak to us 00:23:56.000 --> 00:23:57.220 in pretty detailed ways. 00:23:57.220 --> 00:23:59.680 We're gonna see when we talk about ritual purity 00:23:59.680 --> 00:24:01.480 of some weeks from now, 00:24:01.480 --> 00:24:06.480 that being told, do not touch a dead animal in your normal life 00:24:06.839 --> 00:24:09.240 and if you do, you can't come to the temple. 00:24:09.240 --> 00:24:11.400 That tells you something about how to be a Christian 00:24:11.400 --> 00:24:13.279 at the workplace. 00:24:13.279 --> 00:24:14.759 There's a direct connection to that 00:24:14.759 --> 00:24:17.660 in the New Testament to faith and work. 00:24:17.660 --> 00:24:20.460 When you read about moral purity at the back of Leviticus, 00:24:20.460 --> 00:24:23.599 it tells you how to relate to people who are poor. 00:24:23.599 --> 00:24:25.240 It tells you about sexual integrity. 00:24:25.240 --> 00:24:28.799 It tells you about what makes a city just or unjust 00:24:28.799 --> 00:24:31.440 and how to live in a way that promotes justice. 00:24:31.440 --> 00:24:36.440 When you read about priestly ordination, 00:24:36.440 --> 00:24:41.340 it stirs up in us a theology of why do we still ordain people? 00:24:41.340 --> 00:24:43.519 So have you thought, one of the questions would be, 00:24:43.519 --> 00:24:45.640 when we come to that, have you thought about it? 00:24:45.640 --> 00:24:48.240 What exactly do we believe is going on 00:24:48.240 --> 00:24:51.259 when we lay hands on somebody to ordain them? 00:24:51.259 --> 00:24:52.920 And how is that different in our context 00:24:52.920 --> 00:24:55.240 from other Christian traditions? 00:24:55.240 --> 00:24:57.160 Well, Leviticus has everything to say to that. 00:24:57.160 --> 00:25:00.720 We start with Leviticus to understand something like that. 00:25:00.720 --> 00:25:03.720 Leviticus teaches you about the conditions of forgiveness. 00:25:03.720 --> 00:25:05.680 We're gonna talk about that in the coming weeks. 00:25:05.680 --> 00:25:08.720 Leviticus teaches you about the meaning of the cross, 00:25:08.720 --> 00:25:10.839 the day of atonement, the very centerpiece. 00:25:10.839 --> 00:25:14.640 Leviticus tells you about the gathering of God's people, 00:25:14.640 --> 00:25:19.039 the church, and why this building is no longer 00:25:19.039 --> 00:25:20.039 called a temple. 00:25:20.960 --> 00:25:22.240 Why? 00:25:22.240 --> 00:25:24.799 In the Roman Catholic tradition, that's quite different. 00:25:24.799 --> 00:25:26.240 And why is that? 00:25:26.240 --> 00:25:27.960 What about Jesus makes that different? 00:25:27.960 --> 00:25:29.200 We've got to talk about that. 00:25:29.200 --> 00:25:31.720 That's something that's very important in this book. 00:25:31.720 --> 00:25:34.200 Leviticus tells you so much about the Lord's Supper 00:25:34.200 --> 00:25:36.559 and what's going on in the moment 00:25:36.559 --> 00:25:38.960 that the bread is broken and the Lord's Supper. 00:25:40.319 --> 00:25:41.360 Tons of ways. 00:25:41.360 --> 00:25:42.559 So that's what's coming, 00:25:42.559 --> 00:25:44.559 but let me close with a couple of things. 00:25:44.559 --> 00:25:46.680 One, I just wanna make three quick points 00:25:47.740 --> 00:25:51.299 that we'll keep coming back to that are big ideas, 00:25:51.299 --> 00:25:53.279 but I think really important 00:25:53.279 --> 00:25:55.519 that this could be fresh material, 00:25:56.700 --> 00:25:58.039 but really significant. 00:25:58.039 --> 00:26:01.079 First, point four, the Tabernacle's relationship 00:26:01.079 --> 00:26:02.279 to the cosmos and the Garden of Eden, 00:26:02.279 --> 00:26:03.359 that sounds very high, 00:26:03.359 --> 00:26:06.180 but it's in some sense just simple. 00:26:06.180 --> 00:26:07.480 Here they are. 00:26:07.480 --> 00:26:11.619 First, we will unpack this the rest of the semester. 00:26:11.619 --> 00:26:14.879 The Tabernacle, this space in Leviticus 00:26:14.879 --> 00:26:18.559 that God instructs is a symbol itself 00:26:18.559 --> 00:26:21.819 of the whole universe, the whole cosmos. 00:26:23.279 --> 00:26:25.879 And just a couple of quick reasons for that, 00:26:25.880 --> 00:26:28.080 and I'll save the rest for later. 00:26:28.080 --> 00:26:31.160 Genesis one, two, the wind of God, 00:26:31.160 --> 00:26:33.120 the spirit of God came down and hovered 00:26:33.120 --> 00:26:34.520 over the face of the waters. 00:26:35.480 --> 00:26:38.280 Exodus 31, Exodus 35, lots of places, 00:26:38.280 --> 00:26:40.760 the construction of the temple of the Tabernacle. 00:26:40.760 --> 00:26:42.560 The wind of God, the spirit of God, 00:26:42.560 --> 00:26:45.480 exact same Hebrew language came down and hovered 00:26:45.480 --> 00:26:47.120 for the instructions over the temple, 00:26:47.120 --> 00:26:48.260 over the Tabernacle. 00:26:48.259 --> 00:26:53.259 Let there be light is the same word as let there be lamps. 00:26:56.420 --> 00:26:59.420 Same language, the luminaries that God set in the heavens, 00:26:59.420 --> 00:27:01.180 the sun, moon and stars are then compared 00:27:01.180 --> 00:27:04.619 to exactly the lights that we receive in the holy place. 00:27:05.859 --> 00:27:09.339 God is a workman metaphorically in Genesis one, 00:27:09.339 --> 00:27:11.460 and he commissions in the same language 00:27:11.460 --> 00:27:15.859 the builders of the Tabernacle to be like him in that way. 00:27:15.859 --> 00:27:19.219 The cosmos is God's temple. 00:27:19.219 --> 00:27:21.059 So here's the point of creation. 00:27:21.059 --> 00:27:23.939 God made the world to make the world his temple. 00:27:25.019 --> 00:27:27.899 The whole world is supposed to be his temple. 00:27:27.899 --> 00:27:30.659 And where's the holy of holies? 00:27:30.659 --> 00:27:34.059 God makes creation, the whole creation is his holy 00:27:34.059 --> 00:27:36.339 created temple for him to enter in. 00:27:36.339 --> 00:27:37.779 Where's the holy of holies? 00:27:39.000 --> 00:27:39.839 In the beginning. 00:27:42.939 --> 00:27:44.379 The Garden of Eden. 00:27:44.380 --> 00:27:45.900 That's exactly right. 00:27:45.900 --> 00:27:47.300 In the beginning there was a temple. 00:27:47.300 --> 00:27:48.500 It was the whole cosmos. 00:27:48.500 --> 00:27:49.740 There was a holy of holies. 00:27:49.740 --> 00:27:51.060 It was the Garden of Eden. 00:27:51.060 --> 00:27:52.900 In the holy of holies at the very center, 00:27:52.900 --> 00:27:54.460 there was what, a tree. 00:27:55.260 --> 00:28:00.260 And in the Tabernacle, you have trees, 00:28:01.900 --> 00:28:03.780 you have cherubim. 00:28:03.780 --> 00:28:07.420 What's embroidered on the entry gate 00:28:07.420 --> 00:28:09.860 to the holy of holies in the Tabernacle? 00:28:09.860 --> 00:28:12.100 Two cherubs guarding the way. 00:28:12.099 --> 00:28:15.659 What do we have standing just outside the Garden of Eden? 00:28:15.659 --> 00:28:18.099 Two cherubim guarding the way. 00:28:18.099 --> 00:28:20.859 The Garden of Eden is the holy of holies 00:28:20.859 --> 00:28:22.699 within a cosmic temple. 00:28:22.699 --> 00:28:23.619 God created the world. 00:28:23.619 --> 00:28:24.459 What is a temple? 00:28:24.459 --> 00:28:28.099 All a temple is, is wherever God chooses to be. 00:28:28.099 --> 00:28:29.179 That's it. 00:28:29.179 --> 00:28:32.779 So a temple is not, doesn't have to be any fancier than that. 00:28:32.779 --> 00:28:34.019 It's just wherever God chooses to be. 00:28:34.019 --> 00:28:35.939 The cosmos is God's temple. 00:28:35.939 --> 00:28:38.059 He came to dwell with us. 00:28:38.059 --> 00:28:40.139 And the Garden of Eden is the holy of holies. 00:28:40.140 --> 00:28:43.020 The whole point of Adam and Eve was to spread 00:28:43.020 --> 00:28:44.900 to open the door of the holy of holies 00:28:44.900 --> 00:28:47.180 so that the whole world would be the holy of holies. 00:28:47.180 --> 00:28:48.860 And they failed at that. 00:28:48.860 --> 00:28:51.460 And when Jesus Christ rose from the dead, 00:28:51.460 --> 00:28:53.820 the temple of the curtain, the holy of holies, 00:28:53.820 --> 00:28:54.940 was ripped into. 00:28:56.060 --> 00:28:56.900 Why? 00:28:56.900 --> 00:28:59.700 So that the whole of the cosmos would once again 00:28:59.700 --> 00:29:02.820 be the cosmic temple of God, of the living God. 00:29:02.820 --> 00:29:05.660 And so this is a book that's all about divine presence. 00:29:07.060 --> 00:29:08.660 I'm gonna jump ahead and skip 00:29:08.660 --> 00:29:10.779 every religion in ancient Near East has all this stuff. 00:29:10.779 --> 00:29:13.060 We'll come back to that and just conclude with this. 00:29:13.060 --> 00:29:15.420 I wanna leave you with this. 00:29:15.420 --> 00:29:18.180 I love the Heidelberg Catechism question number six on this. 00:29:18.180 --> 00:29:20.700 Did God create people so wicked and perverse 00:29:20.700 --> 00:29:22.620 as Adam and Eve became and as we are? 00:29:22.620 --> 00:29:25.620 No, God created them good and in his own image. 00:29:25.620 --> 00:29:27.980 That is in true righteousness and holiness 00:29:27.980 --> 00:29:30.180 so that they might truly know God, their creator, 00:29:30.180 --> 00:29:32.140 love him with all their heart and live with him 00:29:32.140 --> 00:29:34.759 in eternal happiness for his praise and glory. 00:29:34.759 --> 00:29:35.600 So there it is. 00:29:35.600 --> 00:29:36.440 That's the heartbeat of Leviticus. 00:29:36.440 --> 00:29:38.540 We were made to live in God's presence. 00:29:38.539 --> 00:29:42.500 We were made, this world was made to be God's cosmic temple 00:29:42.500 --> 00:29:45.220 and the new creation is achieving that. 00:29:45.220 --> 00:29:47.259 That's the point of the work of Christ. 00:29:47.259 --> 00:29:49.220 And so we'll come back to this more and more. 00:29:49.220 --> 00:29:51.220 Can I challenge you to read the book of Leviticus 00:29:51.220 --> 00:29:52.819 a couple times this semester? 00:29:53.779 --> 00:29:56.740 And I'll leave you with a couple final thoughts 00:29:56.740 --> 00:29:58.059 where one minute passed. 00:29:59.139 --> 00:30:01.899 The book of Leviticus is simply a manifesto 00:30:01.899 --> 00:30:05.339 of God's divine hospitality that he wants to be with you. 00:30:05.339 --> 00:30:08.420 He wants to welcome you into his house, into his temple 00:30:08.420 --> 00:30:11.140 and he wants to eat at the table with you. 00:30:11.140 --> 00:30:12.820 It's the reason we celebrate the Lord's Supper. 00:30:12.820 --> 00:30:14.580 It's the reason we're gonna talk about hospitality 00:30:14.580 --> 00:30:17.019 and city groups which connects to Leviticus 00:30:17.019 --> 00:30:18.940 very closely all this year. 00:30:18.940 --> 00:30:19.980 And then the last thing is this. 00:30:19.980 --> 00:30:22.700 I don't wanna leave this without bringing this home 00:30:22.700 --> 00:30:24.860 to modern people in a particular way. 00:30:24.860 --> 00:30:28.680 And so again, we're gonna build, build, build all semester. 00:30:29.700 --> 00:30:32.060 But one of the problems I think for modern people 00:30:32.060 --> 00:30:34.100 that comes out of a book like Leviticus 00:30:34.100 --> 00:30:36.720 is if you were and I were made for God's 00:30:36.720 --> 00:30:41.620 holy divine presence, so many people in our city 00:30:41.620 --> 00:30:46.620 that don't know Jesus are struggling with a question like, 00:30:46.779 --> 00:30:51.779 if God would show up in holy divine smoke, 00:30:54.380 --> 00:30:57.740 like he did at the mountain of God in the Old Testament, 00:30:57.740 --> 00:30:59.039 I would bow the knee. 00:31:00.740 --> 00:31:02.700 It's the problem that's often expressed 00:31:02.700 --> 00:31:04.940 of divine hiddenness. 00:31:04.940 --> 00:31:07.660 If God would show himself to me, 00:31:07.660 --> 00:31:09.539 if I was made for his presence, 00:31:09.539 --> 00:31:12.940 why is it that God seems far away and distance 00:31:12.940 --> 00:31:14.100 and I can't see him? 00:31:15.019 --> 00:31:17.740 And I'll leave this quote from Alex O'Connor 00:31:17.740 --> 00:31:20.460 who's a very well-known atheist with you 00:31:20.460 --> 00:31:21.740 because we're out of time. 00:31:23.900 --> 00:31:25.580 But Alex just simply talks about 00:31:25.580 --> 00:31:27.779 how he's looked everywhere for God 00:31:27.779 --> 00:31:31.700 and he just wants one experience of this presence 00:31:31.700 --> 00:31:33.600 that Leviticus talks about. 00:31:33.599 --> 00:31:35.740 And he doesn't seem to be able to find it. 00:31:36.899 --> 00:31:41.219 And in Alex's case, in anybody's case, 00:31:41.219 --> 00:31:44.579 one of the things I would say is what Leviticus tries to do 00:31:44.579 --> 00:31:49.579 is simply ask have we looked for God's divine presence 00:31:50.039 --> 00:31:53.459 particularly in the cross of Jesus Christ. 00:31:54.699 --> 00:31:58.219 And in that seeing that if God is God, 00:31:58.219 --> 00:32:00.939 he might have reasons for not unveiling himself 00:32:00.939 --> 00:32:03.539 fully to me right now that I can't understand 00:32:03.539 --> 00:32:06.059 because he's bigger than me and smarter. 00:32:06.059 --> 00:32:08.420 And the one thing I can say that we can say 00:32:08.420 --> 00:32:10.460 is that Leviticus points us directly to Jesus 00:32:10.460 --> 00:32:13.680 and in Jesus, Jesus experienced ultimate, 00:32:13.680 --> 00:32:15.220 ultimate divine hiddenness. 00:32:16.139 --> 00:32:20.259 The presence of God, the Father was fully taken away from him 00:32:20.259 --> 00:32:22.659 so that we might experience the presence of God 00:32:22.659 --> 00:32:25.619 in the temple of God in the whole cosmos one day. 00:32:25.619 --> 00:32:27.259 I don't know all the reasons why God 00:32:27.259 --> 00:32:29.339 doesn't unveil that right now. 00:32:29.339 --> 00:32:32.659 I don't know, but I do know that you can look at Jesus 00:32:32.660 --> 00:32:35.019 and say that I know that he loves me 00:32:35.019 --> 00:32:38.220 and I know that Jesus lost that presence so I could have it 00:32:39.220 --> 00:32:42.220 and I'm gonna trust him until the new creation 00:32:42.220 --> 00:32:44.019 and the moment that the whole universe 00:32:44.019 --> 00:32:47.340 becomes a visible temple of the living God. 00:32:47.340 --> 00:32:49.660 And I think that's what Leviticus drives us to. 00:32:49.660 --> 00:32:50.500 Let's pray. 00:32:50.500 --> 00:32:52.540 Lord, we thank you for this great book. 00:32:52.540 --> 00:32:54.500 We just ask that you would focus our hearts on it 00:32:54.500 --> 00:32:58.500 this semester so that we would be transformed, Lord, 00:32:58.500 --> 00:33:00.060 and more and more. 00:33:00.059 --> 00:33:02.700 And I think the prayer this semester, Lord, 00:33:02.700 --> 00:33:04.980 is just that we would long for your holy presence 00:33:04.980 --> 00:33:07.679 in our lives, that we would seek it, 00:33:07.679 --> 00:33:11.099 that we would grab hold like Jacob and just wrestle for it. 00:33:12.059 --> 00:33:15.220 So give us that heart to just want to be near you 00:33:15.220 --> 00:33:16.819 more and more and more. 00:33:16.819 --> 00:33:18.299 That's the message, I think, of Leviticus. 00:33:18.299 --> 00:33:31.299 So we ask for that heart in Jesus' name, amen.