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²¹Aaron waved the breasts and the right thigh [of the sacrificed animals] before the LORD as a wave offering, as Moses commanded.

²²Then Aaron lifted his hands toward the people and blessed them. And having sacrificed the sin offering, the burnt offering and the fellowship offering, he stepped down.

²³Moses and Aaron then went into the Tent of Meeting. When they came out, they blessed the people; and the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people. ²⁴Fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and fell facedown.
Leviticus 9:21-24

Wave offerings – I think we charismatics sometimes think that when we are waving our arms over our heads, we’re giving the Lord a wave offering. Do we realize that what constituted a wave offering in the Old Testament was the waving of the slaughtered animal sacrifice. In this case, the wave offering was immediately followed by the Lord bringing down fire and consuming the offering. When we wave our arms, are we willing to identify with the slaughtered animals and are we ready for the Lord to consume us with His purifying fire? (In other words, are we willing to change those things that are displeasing to the Lord? The first question is much easier to answer “yes” to than the second.)

I did a quick check of all the references to wave offerings in the Bible. Looking at all the references to wave offerings, I found that they were used in the following instances:

• Wave offerings of gold and bronze that were given to the Lord was then hammered into pieces to be used in the Tabernacle
• Wave offerings of sacrificed animals were burned on the altar
• Wave offerings of pieces of the sacrificed animals were given to the Levites as food to be consumed
• Wave offerings of bread, cake and wafer were burned on the altar

It seems that if the offering was not consumed by fire that it was totally consumed – used in its entirety as food or to make elements of the Tabernacle. In no case was any of the wave offering given back to the one making the offering.

So, the next time you wave your arms in worship, think about the wave offerings in the Old Testament – how they were totally consumed by the Lord. Perhaps you might think about the one in this passage of Leviticus – how Aaron offered it to the Lord and then the fire of the Lord came down and consumed the offering. Then shout for joy and fall on your face down in worship. Hallelujah!

¹The LORD called to Moses and spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting. He said, ²“Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When any of you brings an offering to the LORD, bring as your offering an animal from either the herd or the flock.

³“‘If the offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he is to offer a male without defect. He must present it at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting so that it will be acceptable to the LORD. ⁴He is to lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him. ⁵He is to slaughter the young bull before the LORD, and then Aaron’s sons the priests shall bring the blood and sprinkle it against the altar on all sides at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. ⁶He is to skin the burnt offering and cut it into pieces. ⁷The sons of Aaron the priest are to put fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire. ⁸Then Aaron’s sons the priests shall arrange the pieces, including the head and the fat, on the burning wood that is on the altar. ⁹He is to wash the inner parts and the legs with water, and the priest is to burn all of it on the altar. It is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the LORD.
Leviticus 1:1-9

Atoning for sin was a messy business in the Old Testament. The sinner is to “lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering” – fully identifying himself with the animal, essentially transferring his sin to the animal. He must then slaughter the animal. There is no reason for the animal to be killed other than to atone for his sin. In the New Testament we read that “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22b). In the Old Testament they lived that Truth. We live in the grace of that Truth – that is, that Christ has died for us, but in the Old Testament, the Israelites lived with the death that sin caused.

I am thankful that I don’t have to actually kill an animal to atone for my sin, but I think it is oh, so easy for the seriousness of sin to lose its impact when we are removed from the reality of what it takes for sin to be forgiven. The perfect, sinless Son of God had to die a horrible death so that I could be forever forgiven – and not just me, but you and everyone else in the world, too.

I used to wonder why “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23a). At first I simply accepted that God is God and He can set the price of sin at whatever He wanted and who was I to argue? I accepted that simply because it’s what Scripture teaches and I had come to believe that Scripture was the Word of God. Yet it always felt like a weak argument to me. An acceptable one if it was the only one God was giving, but not a fully satisfying one. That’s OK because God’s ways are higher than my ways and His thoughts are higher than my thoughts (Isaiah 55:9). Faith trusts without full understanding.

In His graciousness, however, God helped me to understand this issue. In what seemed like a flash of understanding, I realized that all sin – ALL sin – involves a death – something pure and unblemished dies. Truth dies. Relationships die. Trust dies. Something inside us and/or another dies. In light of that understanding, requiring a death for the forgiveness of sin is God’s justice. That makes sense to me. I wrote earlier that it is very easy for us to forget the seriousness of sin. In that place, it is easy to overlook the death that our sin causes.

I encourage you to meditate on this statement: All sin involves death. Think about what would die the next time you are tempted to speak in anger, or lie, or gossip, or commit adultery, or cheat someone or any other sinful act you might be tempted to participate in. What death is your sin going to cause? Perhaps this new understanding of the reality of the situation will open a door for the Holy Spirit to work in your lives and bring transformation. Christ has already died for your sin and you can experience forgiveness. Why cause more death? Let’s choose life.

Old Testament
We’ll read from three Old Testament books this month: Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers. In Exodus, we’ll read one of my favorite passages:

¹⁵Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. ¹⁶How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?”
Exodus 33:15-16

If the Lord doesn’t go with me, I don’t want to go, but when He does, His presence ought to change me and the way I live such that the rest of the world notices a difference.

Leviticus is a manual for Old Testament priestly responsibilities. The New Tesatments teaches that we are a “a chosen people, a royal priesthood.” According to the Zondervan NASB Study Bible, “the key thought of Leviticus is holiness – the holiness of God and man (man must revere God in holiness). In Leviticus, spiritual holiness is symbolized by physical perfection.”

Finally, the book of Numbers – Israel is being counted, a census is being taken. I find this book easiest to read in the New Living Translation. It’s not all counting, though. The Hebrew title of the book is “In the Wilderness” and chronicles 38 of the years the Israelites spent in the wilderness. It tells of Isarel’s journey from Mt. Sinai to the border of Canaan.

New Testament
After finishing the book of Matthew, we’ll read the first sixteen chapters of Acts. Acts continues the storyline of the gospels. While it’s called the “Acts of the Apostles,” many feel it would more accurately be called the “Acts of the Holy Spirit” because it records the coming of the Holy Spirit and His working in the lives of the first century church.

Acts begins with Peter as the most prominent of the apostles but transitions to a focus on the Apostle Paul as he carries the message of the gospel to the Gentile world.

Enjoy your March reading!

The recommended reading schedule is below.

To download a PDF of March’s recommended reading plan, click here.

Leviticus 13 is probably my least favorite chapter in the Bible! Yuck. (Note to self: Don’t read Leviticus 13 while eating breakfast.) But it still has value. It proves that God is concerned with our health – personally and in community. Thank you, Lord!

Now I think I’ll go find some Psalm about the goodness of God to read.

I’ve just been reading in Leviticus about all the offerings the Israelites were to offer to God and what (finally) struck me is that in every case, they use the word “offering.” It might have been a peace offering or a guilt offering or some other kind of offering, but they were always an “offering.” They may have been required offerings, but they were still offerings. That is, the Lord required these offerings as a way for them to receive forgiveness (albeit temporary forgiveness) for their sins or show their devotion to Him. And yet, they are called “offerings.”

What began to sink in was the attitude of humility that the word “offering” carries with it. An offering is something given in hopes that it will be accepted – the husband-to-be offers his hand in marriage to the woman in hopes that she will say “yes” or an offending co-worker brings a cup of coffee or donut in hopes that relationships can be restored and peace can returned to the office. An apology is an offering – it is given in humility and in the hopes that it will be accepted. The attitude of the heart in each case is humility and hopefulness. Of course with hopefulness there is anticipation of good things to come.

When I read in Leviticus 5 that a person is to bring a lamb or a goat, but if he cannot afford that he can bring two young doves or pigeons, and if he cannot afford that he is to bring a tenth of an ephah of fine flour, I am ashamed to admit that the thought that ran across my brain was “who’s to say what he can afford?” Immediately the Lord whispered in my ear – “It’s a heart issue.” In other words, our hearts ought to be so devoted to God and so sorry for our sin that we desire to bring the very best and most we can. It’s not a “how little can we get away with to make up for our sins?” Rather, it’s how much can I offer to the Lord to show Him how sorry I am and how much I love Him?

And that brought me to the question – “How do you view your offerings?” Are they obligations, or are they opportunities to express your love to God? Do you give them as a part of your Sunday morning routine, or with an attitude of humility? When you write out your check or search for the money in your wallet, is it just something you do out of duty, or is an act of worship? Don’t get me wrong. Obedience is a good thing. Bring your tithes into the storehouse (Malachi 3:10). But obedience that is not done with the right heart is its own form of rebellion. Think of the child who spits out his apology in obedience to his parent’s command. The child was being “obedient”, but not making a sincere offering from his heart. No, in his heart there was rebellion – “I’ll say I’m sorry, but I won’t mean it. So there!”

I doubt that you make your offerings with the same blatant attitude as that child, but I know that there are times when I unthinkingly offend God by giving my offerings with a heart that isn’t fully “in the moment” (that is, I’m not even thinking about it, I’m just on autopilot) or has a hidden agenda of expectations from God instead of humble anticipation of His acceptance of my offer. When we are “in the moment” and our attitude is humble anticipation, imagine the joy we can receive when we know that our offer has been accepted!

Scripture teaches that God loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7). That doesn’t mean He loves the giver who is a cheerful person. That means he loves it when we give with a cheerful attitude – and that means we are in the moment – purposefully thinking about what we’re doing and doing it cheerfully.

Lord, forgive me for all the times I have spent the offering time on Sunday morning reading the bulletin instead of making my offering to You in humility and joy. Forgive me for the times I write out my check out of obligation instead of with joyful anticipation of bringing joy to the One I love the most.

The Offering God Gave
Notice that it was in this same attitude that God gave His offering – with His whole heart and in humble anticipation of the joy to come when His offering would be accepted by men and women. That offering, of course, was His Son Jesus, whom God gave as the sacrificial lamb – the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29). Do you see that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Testament system of sacrifices and offerings? That He is our sacrificial lamb, offered once for all?

Unlike the other high priests, [Jesus] does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.
                Hebrews 7:27 (NIV)

The question is “will you accept His offering?” It is an offering consistent with those we’ve read about in Leviticus, but of such a higher degree that it issues in a new covenant. The new covenant holds the promise of an eternal inheritance – life forever more – even for those who have not kept the old covenant.

The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!

For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance – now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.
                Hebrews 9:13-15 (NIV)

Should you have any doubt, let me be clear. God is calling you. He is calling you to serve the living God. He is calling you in love.

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
                1 John 4:9-10 (NIV)

Will you accept his offering? What will you offer back to him in response?

We’ve read through Genesis and Exodus and are now turning our attention to Leviticus. Leviticus is an instruction manual for priests. There are times when it may seem repetitive, but it reveals the holiness of God and his gracious recognition of the imperfection of man. The provisions in teh book made it possible for our perfect, holy God to live among the sinful Israelites. It points to our need for a Savior. For those who want to dig deeply, all the sacrifices and feasts point to Christ in some way.

We’ll also finish the book of Esther and read Ruth, Joel and Jonah before delving back into some of the Psalms. Jonah is one of my very favorite books – I’ve subtitled him “The Petulant Prophet.”

In the New Testament, we’re going to read the Acts of the Apostles.

I  hope you’re continuing in the journey through the Bible. Again, don’t get discouraged if you fall behind…just keep reading.

Recommended Reading Plan for March

To download a PDF of March’s reading schedule, click here.

Enjoy!

 Leviticus 2:

⁴“When you present some kind of baked bread as a grain offering, it must be made of choice flour mixed with olive oil but without any yeast. It may be presented in the form of cakes mixed with olive oil or wafers spread with olive oil. ⁵If your grain offering is cooked on a griddle, it must be made of choice flour and olive oil, and it must contain no yeast. ⁶Break it into pieces and pour oil on it; it is a kind of grain offering. ⁷If your offering is prepared in a pan, it also must be made of choice flour and olive oil…

¹³Season all your grain offerings with salt, to remind you of God’s covenant. Never forget to add salt to your grain offerings.

What impresses me as I read this passage is that the people were involved in a process of preparing their offering for the Lord. It wasn’t an act of simply writing a check and signing it while the offering baskets are being passed, hoping that you finish your check-writing before the basket gets to you. It was something that took some time and required involvement. I can imagine creating the cakes or wafers of grain and olive oil, being careful to not put in any yeast and careful to include salt. I can imagine a child watching his or her mom making the offering, a process which would have been much like making the daily bread yet very different. The child brings the yeast over because, having watched momma make bread all week, he knows the yeast is next.

“Momma, here’s the yeast. It’s next.” He says earnestly, so proud to remember, so eager to show how well he has learned.

“No, child, not today. Today we are making an offering to give to the Lord. It must have no yeast in it. You remember the story we tell on Passover. Our ancestors left the slavery of Egypt in such a hurry that they did not have time to put yeast in their bread. This special bread reminds us of God’s goodness to us by freeing us from slavery. So we make carefully it, but then we give it back to God as a way of saying ‘Thank You.’”

“Child, bring the salt instead. The salt reminds us of the Covenant we have with God. That He is our Lord, that He is first in our lives, that He has delivered us and will deliver us. That He is good to us and that He is our God. We must never forget our covenant with the Lord. The salt in our offering reminds us of all this.”

And so the process of preparing the offering is a time with God and for God. A time of reflection, not just the rushed effort of completing a task.

I am challenged, and I offer the challenge to you…the next time you are preparing your tithe or offering to the Lord, don’t rush through it. Set aside a little time before you give your offering to prepare it (and yourself). Remember God’s goodness to you. Remember His covenant with you. Make it a holy time.