Leviticus 22:17

The Bible says in Leviticus 22:17-25, “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,[18] Speak unto Aaron, and to his sons, and unto all the children of Israel, and say unto them, Whatsoever he be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers in Israel, that will offer his oblation for all his vows, and for all his freewill offerings, which they will offer unto the LORD for a burnt offering;[19] Ye shall offer at your own will a male without blemish, of the beeves, of the sheep, or of the goats.[20] But whatsoever hath a blemish, that shall ye not offer: for it shall not be acceptable for you.[21] And whosoever offereth a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the LORD to accomplish his vow, or a freewill offering in beeves or sheep, it shall be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no blemish therein.[22] Blind, or broken, or maimed, or having a wen, or scurvy, or scabbed, ye shall not offer these unto the LORD, nor make an offering by fire of them upon the altar unto the LORD.[23] Either a bullock or a lamb that hath any thing superfluous or lacking in his parts, that mayest thou offer for a freewill offering; but for a vow it shall not be accepted.[24] Ye shall not offer unto the LORD that which is bruised, or crushed, or broken, or cut; neither shall ye make any offering thereof in your land.[25] Neither from a stranger's hand shall ye offer the bread of your God of any of these; because their corruption is in them, and blemishes be in them: they shall not be accepted for you.” In verse eighteen the LORD starts talking about “freewill offerings.” These were offerings that were not required, but were given by someone’s own free will. They could give or not give: it was their choice. God has given to everyone a free will, and He will accept the decision that you make. If you decide to not accept Christ, God does not force you to trust in Jesus. God allows you to choose. God will stand by your choice. Enjoy the freedom that God has given to you. There is just one consequence to remind you about: at the judgment the full extent of what you have chosen will be manifested: hell instead of heaven. Jesus was God’s freewill offering. Jesus was not required to come and sacrifice Himself for us. Jesus could have called ten thousand angels to destroy the world and set Him free, but He died alone for you and me.

Verse twenty-one sums up most of the verses in this passage when it says about any sacrifice to be offered, “it shall be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no blemish therein.” Of course, we know that in the plan of God and in the mind of God, He was pointing to the sacrifice of Christ. God has always had a perfect standard and human beings have always failed to rise to that level. We are all sinners. But Jesus is the perfect sacrifice that the Father required. Jesus is the lamb without spot. And wonder upon wonder, the righteousness of Christ is credited to our account when we trust in Christ.

The Bible says in Leviticus 22:26-33, “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,[27] When a bullock, or a sheep, or a goat, is brought forth, then it shall be seven days under the dam; and from the eighth day and thenceforth it shall be accepted for an offering made by fire unto the LORD.[28] And whether it be cow or ewe, ye shall not kill it and her young both in one day.[29] And when ye will offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving unto the LORD, offer it at your own will.[30] On the same day it shall be eaten up; ye shall leave none of it until the morrow: I am the LORD.[31] Therefore shall ye keep my commandments, and do them: I am the LORD.[32] Neither shall ye profane my holy name; but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel: I am the LORD which hallow you,[33] That brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the LORD.” With all the sacrifices going on constantly, many animals were being killed daily. The same thing is going on today at slaughterhouses. But animals should still be taken care of properly. A couple of the verses in this passage are about taking proper care of the animals. Verse twenty-seven says, “it shall be seven days under the dam.” In other words a calf should be allowed to suckle from its mother at least seven days. This will help the cow be relieved of the milk that it is producing. It also says in verse twenty-eight, “And whether it be cow or ewe, ye shall not kill it and her young both in one day.” This is likely referring to a proper administration of the herd. You would not want to kill in such a way that would endanger the survival of the herd. We have many hunting laws today that are in place for the same purpose.

Once again we are told in Leviticus 22V29 concerning the offerings: “offer it at your own will.” God has said this in other verses in Leviticus, and so it is obviously important to God that we give to Him because we want to give to Him freely and willingly. Giving to God should not be seen as an obligation or a requirement. The exact same message is found in the New Testament in Second Corinthians 9:7, “Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.”

Verse thirty has a dietary benefit to it. “On the same day it shall be eaten up; ye shall leave none of it until the morrow.” If this command is obeyed, there is no chance of the meat being spoiled or of getting food poisoning.

Verse thirty-one: “Therefore shall ye keep my commandments, and do them: I am the LORD.” We read the Bible in order to know God’s will. But we need to go beyond knowing God’s Word, we must also put it into practice. You do not want the Bible to become head knowledge only. Always read it and study it with the goal to put it into practice. If you do want to put God’s Word into practice, one of the first things to pay attention to is what God said in verse 32, “Neither shall ye profane my holy name; but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel.” In your heart and with your tongue honor God and His name. If you honor Him the way that you should, other things will fall into place, Jesus said to pray, “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed by thy name.” What reason do we have to honor God? That should be a foolish question. The reason given to the children of Israel in verse 33 is that God brought them “out of the land of Egypt.” Egypt symbolizes the world, and the coming out of Egypt symbolizes salvation. If you know Jesus as your Savior, then you want to always remember how much He suffered for you on the cross so that you could be forgiven of your sins. If you do always remember, then you will always honor Him.

The Bible says in Leviticus 23:1-4, “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,[2] Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts.[3] Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings.[4] These are the feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons.” God required the observance of many special days under the law of Moses. The first of these special days is the Sabbath Day. All of the other feats were other Sabbath days, but that came at different times throughout the year instead of the weekly Saturday Sabbath day. By the way, if you are going to keep the Sabbath Day, you must keep all the Sabbath Days of the Old Testament law; and that is one reason that we do not attempt to do that. We are not under law, but under grace. Make sure you know the spiritual reason that God gave the Sabbath Day. The word “Sabbath” means “peace” or “rest.” God created for six days and then He rested from His labors. There is a spiritual rest from our labors, and that rest is in Christ. Some people go about to establish their own righteousness, and therefore they have no rest. If they cease their labors and turn to Jesus, they will find the true rest. Notice that in Exodus chapter twenty when God gave the Ten Commandments, God said in verse 8, “Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy.” It is what you think about the Sabbath Day that is important. It is important that you experience the spiritual Sabbath by resting in the works that Christ did and no longer trying to establish your own righteousness. It says on this subject in Hebrews 4:4-10, “For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.[5] And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest.[6] Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief:[7] Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.[8] For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.[9] There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.[10] For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.”

The Bible says in Leviticus 23:5-8, “In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD's passover.[6] And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread.[7] In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.[8] But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD seven days: in the seventh day is an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.” Notice in verse five that the Passover is called “the LORD's Passover.” That is because the Passover is all about what the LORD did (or did not do.) The LORD passed over the children of Israel so that the judgment of God did not fall upon them and so that the firstborn of each family did not die. Of course, there was one important requirement for God to pass over: blood. God said, “When I see the blood, I will pass over you,” and thus was born the name for this Sabbath Day. The blood of the lamb symbolized the blood of Christ that would be shed on the cross of Calvary. We have the same blessing today that the children of Israel had. The Gospel of Christ has the same message. If God looks at you and sees the blood (figuratively speaking), then He will pass over you and no judgment shall fall upon you. If you believe in Jesus, you are saved by the blood of Christ. By the way, it is no accident that Jesus died on the Passover. The last supper was the Passover feast. Jesus is the Passover Lamb.

Notice in verse six what started the day after the Passover: “the feast of unleavened bread.” During the entire week, the children of Israel could eat no bread that had leaven. In the Bible leaven often symbolizes sin. Just a little bit permeates the whole. God’s standard is holiness. If you have failed the Lord, then confess and forsake your sin. After you benefit from the Passover, that is, after you are saved through faith in Christ, then a new life starts. You start following Jesus and your desire is to obey Him and do His will. That is part of your motivation when you come to Christ. The Holy Spirit puts that into your heart. One of the evidences that you did truly come to Christ is that you want to do right and start following Jesus after you trust in Him. It says in Second Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

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