In this message we shall consider two matters in Leviticus 17 that are difficult to comprehend-taking care of the sacrifices and taking care of the blood. If we would understand chapter seventeen, we need to see that it is a continuation of chapter sixteen.
In order to see the connection between Leviticus 16 and 17, we need a view of the arrangement of this book. Leviticus is a book on God’s serving ones, the priests. In the preceding book, Exodus, the tabernacle was built up, the priesthood was set up, and, to some extent, the offerings were arranged. At the end of Exodus, the service to God from His people began. Following Exodus, there is the need of a book to tell us about the serving ones in God’s service, the priests, about the details concerning all the offerings, and about the kind of life and living the priests should have. The priests’ life should correspond to what God is. God is holy, so the living of the priests as God’s serving ones should also be holy. The priests should be holy even as God is holy. This is indicated by the sequence of the books of Exodus and Leviticus.
The first ten chapters of Leviticus show us the offerings with the priesthood. The next five chapters show us who and what the serving ones are, what their origin, condition, and situation are, and what comes out of them. All these things are negative. Nevertheless, the negative portrait in chapters eleven through fifteen is a background for presenting to us Christ as the One we need.
In chapter sixteen we have a type, a shadow, of God’s redemption, which, at the time this book was written, was still to come. According to God’s concept and in His divine economy, there is the need of redemption. Because the Old Testament time was not the time for redemption to take place, a type, shadow, of the coming redemption was needed. This shadow is the propitiation in Leviticus 16. In this propitiation four of the five basic offerings presented in chapters one through seven are involved: the burnt offering, the meal offering, the sin offering, and the trespass offering. The one offering not involved yet is the peace offering. Later, particularly in chapter nineteen, we shall see that the propitiated people enjoyed the peace offering. Therefore, in chapter sixteen, the propitiation is fully applied, but the result of the four offerings-the peace offering-is not yet applied.
At the end of chapter sixteen, everything is wonderful. In type, this chapter signifies that we have been propitiated and that we may now enjoy Christ as the burnt offering and live on Him as the meal offering. Furthermore, we have come out of the camp to follow Him, the suffering One, bearing His reproach. What else do we need? It seems that we are not in need of anything. Using New Testament terms, we have been redeemed and, to some extent, replaced. We are living Christ as the life that is absolute for God, we are enjoying Him as our daily life supply, and we are following Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach and living a godly life. With us, everything is fine, but the situation around us is still very complicated. For this reason, there is the need of chapter seventeen.
Leviticus 17 is a reminder and a warning regarding the abuse of the sacrifices. To abuse the sacrifices is to apply them wrongly, improperly. It is to apply the sacrifices not according to God’s economy but according to man’s choice, not according to God’s desire but according to our preference. There should be a limitation with respect to the application of the sacrifices. They should not be applied everywhere or anywhere or in the place of our choice. The application of the sacrifices is not a matter of our choice, desire, intention, and enjoyment; it is a matter of God’s intention, desire, and choice. God has a unique choice regarding the use, the application, of the sacrifices prepared for Him. This is why the subject of this message is concerned with two things-taking care of the sacrifices and taking care of the blood.
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