115_The guilt offering Lev 5:14 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 15 “If anyone commits a breach of faith and sins unintentionally in any of the holy things of the Lord, he shall bring to the Lord as his compensation, a ram without blemish out of the flock, valued in silver shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, for a guilt offering. 16 He shall also make restitution for what he has done amiss in the holy thing and shall add a fifth to it and give it to the priest. And the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering, and he shall be forgiven. 17 “If anyone sins, doing any of the things that by the Lord's commandments ought not to be done, though he did not know it, then realizes his guilt, he shall bear his iniquity. 18 He shall bring to the priest a ram without blemish out of the flock, or its equivalent, for a guilt offering, and the priest shall make atonement for him for the mistake that he made unintentionally, and he shall be forgiven. 19 It is a guilt offering; he has indeed incurred guilt before the Lord.” Lev 6: 1-7 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “If anyone sins and commits a breach of faith against the Lord by deceiving his neighbor in a matter of deposit or security, or through robbery, or if he has oppressed his neighbor 3 or has found something lost and lied about it, swearing falsely—in any of all the things that people do and sin thereby— 4 if he has sinned and has realized his guilt and will restore what he took by robbery or what he got by oppression or the deposit that was committed to him or the lost thing that he found 5 or anything about which he has sworn falsely, he shall restore it in full and shall add a fifth to it, and give it to him to whom it belongs on the day he realizes his guilt. 6 And he shall bring to the priest as his compensation to the Lord a ram without blemish out of the flock, or its equivalent, for a guilt offering. 7 And the priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord, and he shall be forgiven for any of the things that one may do and thereby become guilty.” Many years ago, a wealthy businessman in a small town came to faith in Christ. After his conversion, a deep unease settled upon him. He realized that he had built his fortune through shrewd, and at times, dishonest dealings. His conscience kept him awake at night. Finally he realized his guilt and resolved to restore what he had defrauded others of. He wrote letters of explanation and returned money to everyone he could trace. Some were surprised, others skeptical. However, he found that he had cleared his conscience. His works were the fruit of a heart given to God. This story echoes the essence of the guilt offering described in Leviticus 5:17 to 6:7—a call to

116_The holy and the common Lev 10: 1-11 Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them. 2 And fire came out from before the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. 3 Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Among those who are near me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.’” And Aaron held his peace. 4 And Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel the uncle of Aaron, and said to them, “Come near; carry your brothers away from the front of the sanctuary and out of the camp.” 5 So they came near and carried them in their coats out of the camp, as Moses had said. 6 And Moses said to Aaron and to Eleazar and Ithamar his sons, “Do not let the hair of your heads hang loose, and do not tear your clothes, lest you die, and wrath come upon all the congregation; but let your brothers, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning that the Lord has kindled. 7 And do not go outside the entrance of the tent of meeting, lest you die, for the anointing oil of the Lord is upon you.” And they did according to the word of Moses. 8 And the Lord spoke to Aaron, saying, 9 “Drink no wine or strong drink, you or your sons with you, when you go into the tent of meeting, lest you die. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations. 10 You are to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean, 11 and you are to teach the people of Israel all the statutes that the Lord has spoken to them by Moses.” One of the most striking illustrations of presumption is the story of the Titanic. In 1912, the ship was heralded as "unsinkable," a marvel of engineering that could defy nature itself. Despite multiple warnings about icebergs in the vicinity, the ship continued at full speed, deeming as if it were invincible. Many lives were lost because of human arrogance that thought human ingenuity could overcome the forces of nature. Something of the same spirit actuated Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron. On the day they were consecrated as priests, they became overconfident and irreverent. The consequences were devastating. Leviticus 8 details how Aaron and his sons were ordained, as first laid out in Exodus 29. Leviticus 9 describes the first offering made by Aaron and his sons, first for their own sins, then for the sins of the nation. This was the preparation for the revelation of the glory of God. As Moses said in Leviticus 9:6, “This is the thing which the LORD has commanded you to do, that the glory of the LORD may appear to you.” And so the fire of God came forth and consumed the sacrifices, signifying his presence

117_The clean and the unclean Lev 13:1-3 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 2 “When a person has on the skin of his body a swelling or an eruption or a spot, and it turns into a case of leprous disease on the skin of his body, then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons the priests, 3 and the priest shall examine the diseased area on the skin of his body. And if the hair in the diseased area has turned white and the disease appears to be deeper than the skin of his body, it is a case of leprous disease. When the priest has examined him, he shall pronounce him unclean. 45-48 “The leprous person who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean.’ 46 He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease. He is unclean. He shall live alone. His dwelling shall be outside the camp. Lev 14:19-20 The priest shall offer the sin offering, to make atonement for him who is to be cleansed from his uncleanness. And afterward he shall kill the burnt offering. 20 And the priest shall offer the burnt offering and the grain offering on the altar. Thus the priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be clean. More than 2000 years ago, a man walked by himself, on the fringes of the Israelite camp. He was labeled "unclean," for he had a spreading skin disease that was possibly contagious. Everywhere he went he had to cry out, "Unclean, unclean!" to warn others lest they be contaminated by him. He longed for healing, for then he would be accepted again into his society, his world. One day, he heard about a man named Jesus. He healed the sick, restored sight to the blind, and had healed lepers. Why, then he himself had hope! Leviticus 13 and 14 lays out the laws by which the clean was distinguished from the unclean. Just before were instructions about sacrificial offerings and the ordination of priests. This emphasizes how important it is to differentiate clean and unclean, holy and common. Such outward distinctions were unimportant in themselves, but they were a way of imprinting the idea of inward defilement and cleansing on the mind of God’s people. In this way God was teaching them about holiness, through babysteps. These laws specifically address uncleanness of the flesh—whether through skin diseases, bodily discharges, or contact with unclean foods. The consequences of being unclean were severe, as the extreme case of the leper shows. Those afflicted with skin diseases had to wear torn clothes, leave their hair unkempt, live outside the camp, and cry out "unclean, unclean!" wherever they went, until they were healed. The importance of physical cleanliness among God’s people is described in Deuteronomy 23:14: "Because the Lord your God walks in the midst of your camp, to deliver you and to give up your enemies before you, therefore your camp must

118_The day of atonement Lev 16:1-9 The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they drew near before the Lord and died, 2 and the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron your brother not to come at any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat that is on the ark, so that he may not die. For I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat. 3 But in this way Aaron shall come into the Holy Place: with a bull from the herd for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. 4 He shall put on the holy linen coat and shall have the linen undergarment on his body, and he shall tie the linen sash around his waist, and wear the linen turban; these are the holy garments. He shall bathe his body in water and then put them on. 5 And he shall take from the congregation of the people of Israel two male goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering. 6 “Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering for himself and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. 7 Then he shall take the two goats and set them before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 8 And Aaron shall cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for Azazel. 9 And Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the Lord and use it as a sin offering, 10 but the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel. There is a story of a little boy who once broke his mother’s cherished vase while playing inside the house. In fear, he swept the shards under the carpet, hoping she wouldn’t notice. But the lump under the carpet was impossible to ignore. His mother eventually found out, and he stood trembling before her, expecting punishment. Instead, she knelt, embraced him, and said, “I forgive you, but we must clean this mess together.” This simple moment holds a deep spiritual truth. Just like that boy, we often try to cover up our sins, hoping they will remain unseen. But sin, like broken shards, leaves a mark—one that only true atonement can erase. The Day of Atonement, as described in Leviticus 16, is God’s way of dealing with the “lump under the carpet” of Israel’s sin, pointing to a greater fulfillment in Christ. Leviticus 16 marks a culmination of God’s instructions regarding sacrifices, priesthood, and what is holy versus unholy. It begins with a sobering reminder: the tragic death of Aaron’s two sons, who perished for offering unauthorized fire before the Lord (Leviticus 10). This warning underscores the necessity of obeying God's commands with precision. The Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur, was not about individual or family offerings but was a collective act of

119_Defining holiness Lev 19:1-8 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 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. 3 Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and you shall keep my Sabbaths: I am the Lord your God. 4 Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves any gods of cast metal: I am the Lord your God. 5 “When you offer a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord, you shall offer it so that you may be accepted. 6 It shall be eaten the same day you offer it or on the day after, and anything left over until the third day shall be burned up with fire. 7 If it is eaten at all on the third day, it is tainted; it will not be accepted, 8 and everyone who eats it shall bear his iniquity, because he has profaned what is holy to the Lord, and that person shall be cut off from his people. There’s a story about a young boy who visited a great cathedral with his grandmother. As they walked through its towering arches, he saw beautiful stained-glass windows, each depicting a saint. The sunlight streamed through the glass, painting the stone floors with radiant colors. Later, when his Sunday school teacher asked him what a saint was, he thought for a moment and then answered, “A saint is someone the light shines through.” This simple yet profound definition echoes the call of Leviticus 19:1-8, where God declares, “Be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.” When the Almighty, All-Knowing God reveals something about Himself, we can only understand it by seeing Him in action. One of the things God repeatedly affirms about Himself is His holiness. But what does holiness mean? How are we to grasp it? Holiness is not merely about moral purity or religious rituals; it is about being set apart for God's purposes. God defines His holiness not in abstract terms but through His expectations for His people’s conduct. His character is revealed in the instructions He gives regarding worship, relationships, justice, and daily life. From the very beginning, man was created in the image of God. Genesis 1 tells us that God shaped a formless and empty world, filled it with life, and exercised His dominion by assigning purpose to each created thing. Then, He commanded mankind to reflect His image by being fruitful, multiplying, and exercising dominion over creation. Humanity was meant to be a living reflection of God's holiness. This is why God strictly prohibited the making of idols—because He had already set His image in man. Any image fashioned by human hands would, at best, be a distorted reflection of man himself, and at worst, an imitation of something far less than himself. The definition of God's holiness unfolds progressively throughout Scripture. In Leviticus 19, we see a detailed expansion of God's moral and ceremonial law as the Israelites prepared to enter Canaan. They would encounter foreign customs

120_The Lord who sanctifies Leviticus 20:1-9 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Say to the people of Israel, Any one of the people of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones. 3 I myself will set my face against that man and will cut him off from among his people, because he has given one of his children to Molech, to make my sanctuary unclean and to profane my holy name. 4 And if the people of the land do at all close their eyes to that man when he gives one of his children to Molech, and do not put him to death, 5 then I will set my face against that man and against his clan and will cut them off from among their people, him and all who follow him in whoring after Molech. 6 “If a person turns to mediums and necromancers, whoring after them, I will set my face against that person and will cut him off from among his people. 7 Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God. 8 Keep my statutes and do them; I am the Lord who sanctifies you. 9 For anyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death; he has cursed his father or his mother; his blood is upon him. It was a moment that left everyone stunned. A young man stood before a judge in a crowded courtroom, convicted of a brutal crime. The evidence was overwhelming, and the sentence handed down was the maximum under the law. As the judge pronounced the words—life imprisonment without parole—there was a collective hush. Outside, news cameras rolled. Commentators debated whether the punishment was too harsh, while others said it was too lenient. The weight of justice felt tangible that day. Now imagine if the judge had smiled and said, “You seem like a decent person. Let’s forget about this. You’re free to go.” We would be outraged, wouldn’t we? Something deep within us cries out for justice, for wrongs to be acknowledged, for consequences to matter. And yet, how often do we question God's justice? How often do we read passages like Leviticus 20 and recoil at the penalties God demanded in ancient Israel, wondering if they were too extreme? This chapter in Leviticus offers us a stark window into the holiness of God. In our modern societies, the seriousness of a crime is generally understood by the penalty it carries. For instance, capital punishment is reserved for what we call “the rarest of rare” cases. Even among murderers and rapists, very few face the gallows. But in the theocratic society of Old Testament Israel, the standard was not human opinion but divine holiness. The difference between God's morality and man's becomes painfully clear. Psalm 71:19 says, “Your righteousness, O God, reaches to the heavens, You who have done great things; O God, who is like You?” God’s moral standard is