No Leaven in Our Sacrifices
God's rules for sacrifices in the book of Leviticus are very specific, and they have meaning even for us today. Let me give you an example. God did not allow any leaven to be in any. offering to the Lord made by fire. (Leviticus 2:11) Leaven had a very real significance then and now.
Leaven represented sin. That is why they had the Feast of Unleavened Bread. As a part of that feast, they swept their whole house out very carefully, so that they left no leaven in their home, not even the dust on the floor. That is a picture of getting all of the sin out of our lives by confessing it and repenting of it. We need to have times of doing that today.
In this case the sacrifices of fire were not to contain any leaven. That is obviously a reference to not having sin in our hearts when we present a sacrifice to the Lord. Today, we offer the sacrifice of praise, when we come to worship on the Lord's Day. (Hebrews 13:15) We must not try to offer the sacrifice of praise with sin in our hearts, or it will not be accepted by God. In fact, that is what Jesus says in Matthew 5:23,24. If we go to offer our sacrifice and remember our sin, we are to go and make it right before we proceed to worship, so God will accept our worship from a pure heart that is obedient to Him fully.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Leviticus 3-6.
Leaven represented sin. That is why they had the Feast of Unleavened Bread. As a part of that feast, they swept their whole house out very carefully, so that they left no leaven in their home, not even the dust on the floor. That is a picture of getting all of the sin out of our lives by confessing it and repenting of it. We need to have times of doing that today.
In this case the sacrifices of fire were not to contain any leaven. That is obviously a reference to not having sin in our hearts when we present a sacrifice to the Lord. Today, we offer the sacrifice of praise, when we come to worship on the Lord's Day. (Hebrews 13:15) We must not try to offer the sacrifice of praise with sin in our hearts, or it will not be accepted by God. In fact, that is what Jesus says in Matthew 5:23,24. If we go to offer our sacrifice and remember our sin, we are to go and make it right before we proceed to worship, so God will accept our worship from a pure heart that is obedient to Him fully.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Leviticus 3-6.