[0:00] In the UK, lawmaking is a pretty lengthy process. So a green paper is issued for discussion! And then a white paper, which publishes the government's intentions. And the resulting! bill then has to pass three times before the House of Commons with the committee staging between a small group of entities, look at the fine detail of the law, and then the bill becomes an act which goes to the Queen for Royal Assent, and only then does it become, does it get on the statute book. We're often told, aren't we, there isn't time, enough time in Parliament for a whole set of new legislation to begin. And even when the law is passed, it can be challenged in the courts as to whether it's just law or whether it's workable. And if we don't like it, well there's a general election every four years, isn't there? We can vote them out, and we can vote another lot in who will try and repeal it. So it's a green relief
[1:03] I think for Moses. But that process wasn't adopted for Israel. And on her statute book, what a contrast! If you've read the book of Leviticus, you will know that the law was given to Moses on the top of Mount Sinai. And as we've seen, it is a book of law or rules. But with God's law, no debate is allowed. No amendments are tabled. No votes are taken. The Lord God speaks. And all Moses is going to do is listen and write it down and pass it on. God gives the law. Israel is not a democracy. She doesn't have a right to rule herself. It's interesting, isn't it, that we tend to think that democracy is a Christian ideal. But actually, Israel was a theocracy. It was ruled by God. And this morning we come to the longest section of law in the whole of the Bible. After the Day of Atonement, we see that there are 11 chapters of laws, of rules. And here is the law of God that he passes to his people. Obviously we're going to take a bird's eye view. Two areas that I want to look at and then a postscript.
[2:22] The first area is this. These chapters provide a call to holiness. We've seen four sections in the book. Well, four sections already. If you get the yellow sheet, you can see that.
[2:33] Laws about sacrifice. Laws about priesthood. Laws about cleanliness. Laws about the day of atonement. And when you read through the headings of these chapters, it's not immediately obvious that they're grouped together. And in fact, if you look at the commentators, they don't actually see a coherent structure. There's some shape to them, isn't there? The ESV headings are not bad. Chapter 17, the place of sacrifice. Eating blood, which is forbidden. Chapter 18 is about people that you are allowed to have sex with and people you are not allowed to have sex with. Or marry. And then in chapter 19, they give up a little bit.
[3:14] And because it's not so easy to see the shape or the groupings. But I want to say to you, there is a thread that runs right the way through these chapters. The Deuteronomy chapter 19, verse 2. Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, you shall be holy for I, the Lord your God, am holy. Chapter 20 and verse 7. Consecrate yourself, therefore, and be holy for I am the Lord your God. Verse 26.
[3:46] You shall be holy to me for I, the Lord God, am holy. And then I think it's the wrong reference on your seat. Chapter 21 and verse 8. You shall sanctify him for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you for I, the Lord your God, who sanctify you, am holy.
[4:02] Chapter 21 and verse 15. For I am the Lord who sanctifies him. Chapter 22 and verse 2.
[4:12] Sorry, chapter 21 and verse 15. Chapter 22 and verse 2. Speak to Aaron and his sons so that they abstain from the holy things of the people which they dedicate to me so that they do not profane my holy name. I am the Lord. You can go right the way through the book and see it. Particularly this section. On the last 11 chapters, the Lord is concerned that because he is the holy God, let his people be holy. In fact, the word holy comes out 28 times in the last 11 chapters. And there are a number of related ideas, true in particular, about holiness in this section. First of all, holiness is determined by God. It's determined by God. Let's look just at chapter 20 and verse 26. You shall be holy to me for I, the Lord, am holy and have separated you from the peoples that you shall be mine. I have separated you.
[5:13] It's the same word as holy. Now we use the word holy as an adjective and we do not use the word holy as a verb. We don't say I holy, he holy, we holy, they holy, you holy. We remember a verb like that. It is an adjective. But in the Hebrew, the original language, it serves both as an adjective and as a noun. So a literal translation of verse 26 is you are to be holy to me because I, the Lord, I'm holy and I have holied you from the nations to be my own. Does that make sense? I have holied you. It's a new word. I have made you holy from the nations. In other words, it is God who sets Israelite apart. It is God who's chosen her. It is God who's brought her into being. And from Exodus 19, we know that. At this point in Israel's history, as he's brought them out of slavery in Egypt and he's bringing them to the promised land, to the rest we read of in Hebrews 3 and 4, as they get halfway to Mount Sinai, it is where he declares, you are a holy nation. God has chosen Israel and made her holy. They are already a holiness site. They are already the distinct people of God. They have been holied. He's already made the decision. So we look back at chapter 24 of verse 20. But I have said to you, you shall inherit their land and I will give it to you to possess a land flowing with milk and honey. I am the Lord your God who has separated you, who has holied you from the people. So being holy in the book of Leviticus is an objective declaration by God. This is your status. This is what I say about you. You see the point?
[7:09] He has declared them to be holy. Now that is entirely of grace, isn't it? It is entirely undeserved. They have not merited that declaration by him. In fact, if you've got time and you read the story, when you read how they've come out of Egypt, you will find out that they are a bunch of moaning men. That when they come out of Egypt, the first thing when they are confronted by the Red Sea, what they do, they say, Moses, you have brought us into the desert to die.
[7:43] And of course, the Lord brilliantly pulls back the water, isn't it? They walk past, they walk across dry land to get the other side. And the Egyptians, who are pursuing them, get halfway across, and the Lord draws the water back. And drowns them. It's a glorious story.
[8:03] And Moses and Miriam, they sing a great song of great deliverance. But what do the people do? They moan because they've got no food. And the Lord provides for them quail and manna to eat. And as they've seen God's provision, what do they do next? They moan, they say, we've got no water. And you come to Mount Sinai, where the Ten Commandments are given, and Moses is up the mountain for six weeks. It's a little bit too long. What do the people do? Well, they make the golden calf. And the history of the people of God, from slavery in Egypt to this point, is not strong. They've not proved a promising bunch. The Lord has not declared his chosen people as holy, as set apart because they've earned it. No. But he is conveying upon them, he has given to them an objective status of holiness. Not because they've proved themselves an impressive group of people. Not because the Lord told them, here are the elite nation of the world. Here are the A-star group. I will make them holy. They've got real potential.
[9:12] No, he hasn't done it because of that. He has done it because, why has God chosen his people? Because he's done it. He has given Israel this objective declaration that they are a holy people. And he's done that because he's done it. Having said that, holiness is to be lived by the people. It's an objective state, but it's to be lived among the people.
[9:37] God calls Israel, and that is what you are. And he calls for them to live that way. So again, chapter 20 and verse 26 is a great summary of the book. You shall be holy to me, for I, the Lord, am holy, and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.
[9:52] In other words, Israel are to live as holy people for two reasons. First, because that is what God is like, God is holy. And as the holy needs him, they are to reflect what God is like to the world. They are to be mirrors of what God is like to the world. And secondly, because that is what God has objectively declared them to be. They are to be holy because that is what they are. She is present tense to live as God's set-apart people. Because she is already, past tense, God's set-apart people. They are to live in line with the declaration that God has made about them. Israel is familiar with both the God they are serving and the people that they are. And these laws from Leviticus 17 to 27 are expressions of how Israel would do that. They are to be different. They are to be distinct. They are to be set-apart.
[10:48] And if Israel will keep these laws, she will certainly stand out from the nations among them. She will be a light to the nations. She will be the priesthood. It's a collective to her nation. Collective to her. What I mean by that is they will be priests to the nations.
[11:07] They will show that God is holy. And so what I want to do this morning is I want to echo that call to holiness. I want to call you and I to it. The New Testament takes up this call to Israel and directly transposes it to the church. There is a deprecation, isn't there?
[11:29] We know between the Old Testament and the New Testament at this point that we know in the Old Testament it was mainly the geographical, physical, national Israel. The holy nation.
[11:43] In the New Testament it doesn't call a physical, geographical location the holy nation anymore. He calls it to the people of God. And just look around you. Look around you. It seems we are from a variety of nations, physical in the world. I tried to count how many nations there were this morning. One of the hymns is not a good thing. I shouldn't be the same. But we're about 38, 39 nations this morning. That's what the church is. It's made up from all the nations. Turn to what, well, I think you've got a letter, she's 1 Peter chapter 1. And notice what Peter is writing to. Look at what he says. He says, first one, Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who are elect exiles of the dispersion. That means they're scattering.
[12:37] They are scattered. They are scattered. In Pontus, Galatia, Papadotia, Aether, Aether and Bithynia. It's a massive region. It's pretty much the whole area of the first century world. And then look at chapter 2 in verse 9. For you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation.
[12:57] And so it's a very important thing for us to remember as a church, that as Christians, our national identity fundamentally changes when we become believers. We become identified firstly as part of the holy nation. Do you get that? Which is the church of God, which is international. And we are part of every tribe and town and nation. And that takes prior loyalty. Prior loyalty than where you're from. Yes, you're still, well I'm Welsh, you're English, you're wherever you're from. And before you think of yourself as Welsh or American or English or Canadian or Nigerian or Ugandan or wherever you're from, we need to think of ourselves primarily, primarily, firstly, I am part of the holy nation. And do you notice that is an objective declaration that God makes about you? Can you see that? You are a chosen race. You are a royal priesthood. You are a holy nation. 1 Peter chapter 1 in verse 2, it says this, it says, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father in the sanctification of the Spirit.
[14:20] The word holy and the word sanctification, they are the same words. Through the holy fire work of the Spirit. You are already holy. Indeed, the New Testament, the most common way to describe the Christian is as a saint. So 78 times in the epistles along the word saint count. 78 times.
[14:42] Which literally means holy one. In the Roman Catholic Church, you've got to do two miracles, haven't you, to be considered to be a saint. But not in the biblical church. So this morning there is Saint Janet. And there is Saint Costin. And there is Saint Jared. And there is Saint Nicky. That is the New Testament language. That God has already made that declarative, objective declaration. You are holy. You are set apart. And you are now part of the holy nation.
[15:16] I was in a waiting room this week. I picked up a magazine. And there was a story of Greg Norman, you know, the golfer. He's called The Great White Shark. He's the world number one golfer in the 1980s. He won the Masters. I think he won three of the majors, golf majors.
[15:31] He's one of the richest men in Australia. And he was chosen in 2000 to run the last but one leg, I think, last but two leg, of holding the Olympic flame across the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
[15:46] And he said, of all the things that I had ever won, nothing compared with the privilege of being chosen to represent my country to do that. And the rest of the article was on that. That's nothing. To be chosen by your country to carry a flame across a bridge, that's nothing compared to the privilege of being declared holy by God. Of being part of a chosen, set apart nation. And Greg Norman was chosen. Why? Why was he chosen? Because he's famous, because he's wealthy, because he won golf tournaments. But you and I are chosen to carry God's torch to the world. Why? Because we're great. No, we're no better than Israel, are we? Can I say to you respectfully, you are as much of a bunch of boning minis as Israel were? You're a bunch of discontents as much as Israel were and so am I. I just mean to make the point that you don't deserve God to declare you holy any more than Israel did. And when the Lord declared
[16:53] Israel to be holy, the Lord makes the point that it's not because of what they've done, or what they will do, it's because of grace and mercy, you have been declared holy. And that is very humbling, isn't it? Because it's nothing to do with what you've done. But can I say that if the Lord God had not made that declaration, there is no way you would have got that. There is no way that you would have been able to get to the point where you could be declared holy. It has got to be God's objective declaration. We are holy. We've been set apart, but notice 1 Peter chapter 1 verses 15 to 16. Can you see Peter makes exactly the same point? Just as his Israel were holy and are called to live as holy people, so we've got exactly the same objective declared status of being holy. But as he who called you as holy, you also be holy in all your conduct. Since it is written, you shall be holy for I holy. Let me illustrate it. On August the 24th, 2000, I married my wife Claire. The minister stood before us and pronounced, I now declare you husband and wife. At the end of the service, we went into a little room and signed bits of paper, and we were given a certificate with our signatures on it, and his signature on it, and the witness's signature on it, that objectively and legally and legally declared you are married. Can I say you cannot be any more married than
[18:28] I was on that day. You cannot get more married, can you, than being married. You are married or not, and I am, and I was. But just as I am married, so now I must live as if I am married.
[18:47] It would be possible, wouldn't it? It would be possible for me to live in a way that contradicted the objective legal status that I have. So I guess if Claire and I didn't live in the same house, and I started looking and going with other women and constantly having affairs, I would not be living what I was. But I am married, so I ought to live as if I am married.
[19:17] And you ought to be able to come to my home and see my relationship with Claire and be able to say, look, they are a married couple. They look married. They are married. Did you get the illustration? You are holy. You cannot be any more holy than God having objectively declared that you are holy. And on one level, you are as holy as you could ever be. Because God has made that declaration. But what he is calling you to do is to live out what you are. Be holy.
[19:58] Secondly, the call to holiness. Secondly, the comprehensive nature of holiness. The comprehensive nature of holiness. And I want you to see, I hope you have read, if you haven't read, we will read these passages. That you will see that it covers every area of life you can imagine. So first of all, they affect the individuals. If you have a Bible, just look at chapter 17. Chapter 17 and verse 3. If anyone. Verse 8. Anyone. Verse 10. If anyone. Verse 13. If anyone. Any Israelite.
[20:35] Chapter 18 and verse 6. None of you shall approach anyone of his relatives. It's anyone. Every individual individual in Israel. Every individual has responsibilities. Whether it's sacrificing and eating and meeting in chapter 17. Whether it's sexual relationships in chapter 18. Laws affect individuals. Chapter 18. Laws affect families. Chapter 18 is about really family life. Who to marry and who not to marry. Chapter 19. There are laws about how children should behave to their parents and how parents should treat their children. Then chapter 20. There are laws about community and how the nation should conduct itself. There are laws about how justice should be administered in the community. Chapter 25. There are laws for the whole nation. It's a fascinating chapter how after seven years the land should be given a rest. It's about how debt should be cancelled.
[21:30] How land should be restored to original family units after 50 years. It's a chapter about how the nation and the nation and the community of Israel as a whole will be governed. Laws about family, individuals, community, nations. Laws about religious observance and secular behavior.
[21:50] Psalm 18 is all about religious observers. How sacrifices are to be conducted. Chapters 21-22 about how the priests start to conduct themselves in worship. Chapter 22 ends with unacceptable worship.
[22:04] Chapter 23 is about religious festivals. The Sabbath, unleavened bread, a harvest festival, a feast of weeks, the feast of trumpets. More festivals that lead up to the Day of Atonement. Public holidays, bank holidays, bank holidays for Israel. Religious dates in her diary. But the laws are just about religious observance. They're about social interaction. So let me give you an example in chapter 19. How do you get on in Israel? Chapter 19 and verses 11 to 13. It's not rocket science.
[22:41] You shall not steal. You shall not do it falsely. You shall not lie to one another. You shall not swear by name falsely. And so proclaim the name of the Lord your God. You shall not oppress your neighbor and so on. It's practical stuff. It's how Israel will relate socially.
[22:58] It's personal behavior, isn't it? Look at chapter 19 and verses 27 and 28. You shall not round off the hair on your temples or mar the edges of your beard. You shall not make any cuts on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves for the Lord. Now the point I want to make for you is this. Holiness means all of life. Can you see that? The individual, the community, the religious, the secular, 24-7, 365 days a year. Holiness affected everything.
[23:36] At every point of life, God has got instruction for Israel. There's no way that Israel could compartmentalize her life. And think, well, this is what I'll do on the Sabbath and the rest of the time is mine. There's no way Israel could say, this is, in this area of life, this is me time, I'll do what I want. Holiness was about everything that he or she did. It was even down to how you shaved in the morning. Now I've said a few times from 9 to 10, we do not keep Levitical laws. And when you read these chapters, are you relieved by that?
[24:16] You should be. And we need to be clear and think about that, about why we don't. When you read these laws in Leviticus chapter 19 that we do take, so I take it you are up for, do not steal, aren't you? If you're up for 19 in verse 11, I reckon that you're all for that your employer should pay you, should not withhold your wages. But what about not cutting the hair on the side of your beard? Some of you seem to be against that. Most of us have disobeyed that this morning. What about tattoo marks? You got one? Why do we obey some laws today and not others? And the difficulty comes in deciding which, doesn't it? Now I want to say to you, I think the threefold division of the law, that the law divides into three, is still the best way of dividing it. It's not perfect, but I think it's the best way of dividing it. That there is a moral law which is permanent, which reveals the character of God, and there is the civil law which governs the nation, and the ceremonial law. I think that's the best way to divide it. You can argue about that.
[25:28] You might say, well I don't like that division. Whatever happens, you've got to divide the law up in some way, haven't you? So the ceremonial law is to do with the tabernacle and the temple. And the civil law is to do with Israel. And they were fulfilled and completed in the coming of the Lord Jesus.
[25:48] And the moral law was fulfilled in the coming of the Lord Jesus, but still remains. I would say it's echoed in the Garden of Eden, it's at Mount Sinai, and it's echoed all the way through Scripture. All of those laws, every single one of those laws, finds fulfillment in Jesus Christ. And so when we come to the law, we take the law from the hand of Jesus Christ, and not from Moses. That we see where Jesus fulfills and abrogates the law, like in the ceremonial law, the food laws, the civil laws. But the law of God, the Ten Commandments, the moral law of God remains. That's a rule of life for believers. You can talk to me about that after. Israel had moral law, didn't they?
[26:37] Israel were under the tutelage of the law. They were a physical geographical nation that meant to be seen visually as different. And I think we need to be careful here. Because we're constantly told on me, it's a trendy thing in kind of TV shows, that Christians, they'll allow someone to pick up sticks on the Sabbath. You'll play football where you kick a bladder around, which was forbidden.
[27:07] In Levitical law. But you condemn homosexuality. So how is it that you're allowed to eat prawn sandwiches, but you won't let someone live with their partner at same-sex attraction? And we're constantly told on me, you cherry-pick homosexuality. So why do you have a prawn cocktail for lunch, and yet condemn homosexual practice? And they are both condemned in Leviticus.
[27:37] Well, the reason we say homosexual practice is wrong is because of the moral unchanging law of God. Which we see in Genesis 1 and 2. And which is reaffirmed throughout Scripture.
[27:50] It's not because of the book of Leviticus. The New Testament picks up that general principle of holiness. That it affects every single thing we do. So just look back on the sheet to chapter 1 of Leviticus, and verses 15 and 16. Do you see that?
[28:10] Holiness is about everything. Holiness is not just about what you do on Sundays. Holiness is not just about church. So read the rest of 1 Peter. After he has called you and declared you to be the holy nation. Chapter 2 and verses 11 and 12. I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evil doers, that they will be the most important thing.
[28:58] They may see your good works and glorify God of the day of his visitation. It's about everything. It's about everything you do. Chapter 13, verse 13 of 1 Peter 2. Peter gives you practical health, doesn't he? Ways that you can live as holy people. What does it mean for you to live as a holy person this week?
[29:20] Well, you will be subject. Submitted to those in authority. That's hard, isn't it? Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution.
[29:33] Whether it be the emperor or supreme. It means that wives will submit to their husbands. It means that husbands will model that submission in how they submit to the authorities and the human institutions that are over them.
[29:52] It means husbands will be loving and respectful and lay down their lives for their wives. They will put up with persecution. It means that you will use your gifts to serve one another.
[30:07] It means that we will be hospitable to one another. It means that we will respect those elders who are over us in the Lord. It means that we will be humble. Or flip back to the book of Romans.
[30:19] Remember we've talked about this, haven't we? That it picks up the language of Leviticus. I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as living sacrifices.
[30:30] That's God or in the eyes of Leviticus. And what does it mean to live a holy life today? Well, Romans chapter 12 verse 15 is all about that. Verse 2 of Romans 12, holiness means not conforming to the world.
[30:45] Holiness means, verse 3, thinking about yourself in the right manner. Not being self-important. Not thinking about yourself more highly than you should. It means verse 4 to 8. Using your gifts in the service of the local church.
[30:58] Recognising that your gifts don't belong to you, but they belong to the body. Verses 9 to 13, it means how you live at church in terms of practical things like hospitality and loving and honouring one another.
[31:11] Verses 14 to 21. It's about how you don't repay evil with evil. In chapter 13, verses 1 to 7. It's about how you respect the governing authorities and submit to them.
[31:23] And that isn't just obedience, is it? It's about an attitude. And it all gets summarised in chapter 13, verses 8 to 10.
[31:34] I put it on a sheet where Paul quotes from Leviticus 19, verse 8. And he says, verse 8, Oh no one anything except to love one another. For the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
[31:49] For the commandments you shall not commit adultery, you shall not mourn, you shall not see, you shall not covet, or any other commandment are summed up in this word. You shall love your neighbour as yourself. What is the expression of how we fulfil the holiness laws of Leviticus 17, verse 27?
[32:05] We do it fundamentally, what Paul says, by loving your neighbour as yourself. And that is how we will live as a holy nation.
[32:18] Isn't that what Jesus said on the night before he died? Love one another as I have loved you. It is particularly applicable to the people of God. By this all men will know that you are my disciples.
[32:30] How will they know that you are my disciples? By the fact that you love one another. And that is expressed, you can trace that right away through all the laws of Leviticus 17, verse 27.
[32:44] The way that we love will be the demonstration that we are holy. So let me say this to you as gently as I can.
[32:54] You do not love Christ's church. You do not love the brothers and sisters. You are not holy.
[33:05] We have got to get away from the isolated Christian. You have got to stop pretending that actually you can sit loose for church and think that you are still a Christian.
[33:17] Calvin says you cannot have God as your father without the church as your mother. And that is right. The Lord has made us holy.
[33:29] And the way that we demonstrate that we are holy is that we love one another. And that we don't compartmentalise. Israel was never meant to, was it? It was Bach, is it?
[33:40] I am mangling this quote somewhat. But he says that great composer Bach, whether I compose an anthem for the cathedral or whether I compose a concerto for the concert hall, I always compose to the glory of God.
[33:53] That was right, isn't it? He didn't see what he did on Sundays and Mondays as separate. He saw the holiness of life and the worship of his whole life as being the same, whether it was on Sunday or Monday.
[34:06] The Lord God wants absolutely everything. And therefore the Lord God wants to impact every area of your life. So don't compartmentalise. Bring all of it.
[34:21] Every single bit of it under the rule of God. And if you want a good working rule, work out how you will live in that area of your life to love other people.
[34:35] Let me conclude. Leviticus 26. It's a very, very important chapter. And it's repeated. There's a cover version of it when the next generation gets the law in Deuteronomy 28.
[34:47] That's what Deuteronomy means. It means repeat, really. A parallel passage. And this is the great summary of the covenant that God is making with Israel. And it is a deal. Can you see verse 3?
[35:00] If Israel will walk in my statutes and observe my commandments that have been given in the chapters before them. And notice what will happen in Leviticus chapter 20 and 26.
[35:13] What will happen in verses 4 and 5. There will be the blessing of plenty. In verses 4 and 5. Then I will give you rains and their season.
[35:26] The land will eat its increase. Trees of the field shall eat of their fruit. The thrashing shall last the time of the grape harvest. The grape harvest shall last the time of sowing. There will be great blessing and plenty. In verse 6 there will be the blessing of peace.
[35:38] In verses 7 and 8 there will be the blessing of victory. No enemies will overtake them. There will be the blessing of prosperity. In verses 9 and 10. There will be fruitful and increase in numbers. There will be the blessing of God's presence among them.
[35:49] Verses 11 and 12. Now verses 11 and 12. Let's play the ringing bells game. What does this remind you of? I will make my dwelling among you. And my soul shall not abhor you.
[36:01] Shall not hate you. And I will walk among you. And will be your God. And you shall be my people. What's that ringing? What does that remind you of?
[36:11] Well for us it reminds us of Revelation 20 doesn't it? But for them it reminds them of Eden. Of the garden of Eden.
[36:21] Of Adam and Eve. Doesn't it? But just notice verse 14. If they disobey what will happen. But if you will not listen to me.
[36:32] And will not do all these commandments. Well here's what will happen. There will be the curse of defeat. 14 to 17. Drought. 18 to 20. Curse of beasts from the land. 21 to 22. Curse of devastation.
[36:43] 23 to 26. And ultimately the great curse. 32 to 33. Exile. They'll be kicked out of the land. And again. What happened in the garden of Eden?
[36:55] Do you remember? They rebelled in the garden. And what happened to Adam and Eve. Moses is saying. God is saying. What happened to you again? You will be cast out of the land. Here is Eden repeated.
[37:09] And Eden restored. People living in a wonderful place. Enjoying God walking amongst them. And if Israel will obey. She will enjoy that. But if she disobeyed.
[37:19] She will lose it all. And you and I know the end of the story. Don't we? We know that Israel disobeyed. And we know that Israel lost it all. And you and I disobey.
[37:32] And what Adam and Eve did. What Israel did. Is what you have done. And so the blessings of this passage. Could never be ours. Could they? We can never enjoy them.
[37:44] All we deserve. Is the curse. Not one of us. Has met the cause. The conditions of obedience. Not one of you. Not one. Not I. Can pull holiness off.
[37:58] But if you want to know the good news. If you want to know the good news. You look at the table. How is it possible for God. To ultimately give us these blessings.
[38:09] Which are ultimately the new creation. When God will dwell with man. And he will wipe away every tear. And we will walk with him. The answer comes. Doesn't it? In the one who walked in obedience.
[38:22] To God's law. Who lived in obedience. To his rule. Who will give us. His certificate of achievement. And he will say. I know you've not kept it.
[38:32] But I have. Have my certificate of achievement. And so God looks on us this morning. He looks on us as holy.
[38:43] As having completely. And obeyed perfectly. And says. Because of the Lord Jesus. You can have all these blessings.
[38:54] All of these blessings. For a child. The blessings of what? Well it's rest. Hebrews 3 and 4. It's the blessing of new creation. It's the blessing of glory itself.
[39:07] That you and I. Could never deserve. And so could never have. The blessings. That the deal in the law promised. Which we can never have.
[39:22] But now we can have. Because someone else has come. And because someone else obeyed. And someone else has said. You can have my righteousness. And so that when you come to the end of Leviticus.
[39:34] You realise you could never do. What Israel was commanded to do. And it makes you want to come to the one. Who has done it. And on your behalf. And say thank you to the Lord Jesus.
[39:47] Let's sing of him. As we come to the table. Let's sing. Of what we could never achieve. Of what we could never do. That we could never cleanse ourselves.
[40:00] But the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. So what can wash away my sin? Nothing. But the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing. But the blood of Jesus.
[40:11] It's right that we come to the table rejoicing. And we come thankful. Let's stand and sing. Thank you.