Sword & Trowel 2018: Issue 2
TRUE REPENTANCE FOR BELIEVERS
– by the Editor –
Surprising topics for believers in the first chapters of Leviticus.
I
N THE Book of Leviticus, the Lord speaks authoritatively to Moses, prescribing very precisely
the order and manner of worship. They were not to devise services for themselves, and even in our day of greater liberty we are not to create expressions of worship not seen in the New Testament. Moses is told: ‘If any man of you [note the individual is in view] bring an offering unto the Lord, ye shall bring your offering of the cattle, even of the herd, and of the flock’ (Leviticus 1.2). An individual is moved in his heart
to repent before God, and to show his trust in God’s mercy by the symbolic sacrifice of an animal. Hopefully, he will have in his mind the great expec- tation of the Israelites, that the seed of Abraham, a great Descendant, the Messiah, will one day come and bring about the purchase of salvation for all who look to him. Messiah is always in the picture in the Book of Leviticus, and we see him constantly. What are the sacrifices about? Are they similar to the cultic practices of the pagans? No, they are not. They speak volumes, being performed in the light of a coming Saviour. That, at least, is how it should have been for sincere and thoughtful Israelites. Back in the Garden of Eden, im-
page 16 True Repentance for Believers
mediately after the Fall of man, the seed of the woman had been prom- ised, who would bruise or crush the serpent’s head. As time went by successive promises made it clearer still that the promised One would be divine. This same great Descendant was then promised to Abraham, once then twice, then a third time, then a fourth time, the One through whom all families of the earth would be blessed. Then the promises were re- peated to successive patriarchs, Jacob speaking of the longed-for coming of ‘Shiloh’ – meaning, the One who will be sent, or the Reconciler. Every rite and ceremony of the old era is symbolic, relating (in the mind of the faithful) to this expected Redeemer, who would deal with the problem of sin and guilt.
In the light of this, how do all the sacrifices contribute to our spiritual lives today? They are but symbols. They could not actually take away sin. The people would have realised that (as Hebrews 10.1-3 points out), because the same sacrifices were per- formed over and over again. The sin was still there, not yet being taken away. That waited for the great De- scendant. But in the meantime, by trusting in the mercy of God and the principle of atonement, they could
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