Finding the Messiah in Leviticus, December 24

December 24

Leviticus: 25:8-22

In Leviticus 25:3-4  He (God) told Moses they couldn’t sow during that year.  “The land is to have a rest.” (Vrs 5) Have you ever heard of a company that would take a year off every six years?  No way!  That’s crazy! We have to make money!  We have to produce!  We can’t miss all those opportunities!  Many business owners (and customers) think it’s weird enough when a Christian company like Chik fill a-closes on Sundays.  Yet, they remain one of the most profitable fast food corporations, as well as one of the most respected, in the world.

Their corporate leaders understand this basic principle that God first gave to the Israelites.  By  letting the land lie fallow, they allowed the depleted nutrients to restore themselves.  This even seemed weird to the Israelites, since they didn’t have county extension agents to perform agricultural soil testing.  God revealed the right thing for them to do, asking them to trust him on faith.  (Today farmers usually rotate crops that draw out different nutrients-and utilize chemical restoration-so they never have to let the land sit fallow. Groeschel C. (2011) THE REST IS UP TO YOU. In WEIRD.  (2011 Ed). Grand Rapids, MI : Zondervan

Today, the eve of Christ Child’s birth is celebrated.  In Christ, like the land, man must rest.  In Christ, we are made righteous, perfect and holy.  All striving, work and effort must stop and faith in Christ begins!  

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesian 2:8-10

Finding the Messiah in Leviticus December 23
Leviticus 24:17-25:7


As you enter the tabernacle, on your right is a small, rectangular, low wooden table covered in gold, about the size of a coffee table. On it are a couple of golden plates, each of which holds a stack of round unleavened loaves of bread. There are also one or more pitchers for wine on the
table, but the main feature is the bread.


The priests are responsible for keeping the light burning and the table supplied with bread. The bread is changed every week on the Sabbath, but the lamp stand has to be seen to more often – at least daily. Only pure olive oil can be used in the lamp, and it is carefully prepared according to custom from beaten olives. The loaves of bread are each made from two measures of flour and each stack is sprinkled with frankincense.


The drink offerings and the bread displayed on the table belonged to the priests. When the bread was changed each week, it was distributed for the priests and their families to eat in approved places.”


“The sanctuary is a place of priestly fellowship in front of the curtain that conceals the ark. The incense altar shows it is a place of prayer. The meal and drink offerings on the table are reminiscent of the bread and wine of the last supper that Jesus shared with his disciples, and that he commanded us to eat in remembrance of him. The twelve loaves speak of the twelve tribes showing that God fellowships with all Israel at this table, not just the “priests. The two stacks foretell the Jewish and Gentile parts of the church that are united in one fellowship through Christ. The lamp burning olive oil from beaten olives speaks of the light he gives to us through the presence of his Holy Spirit. As the oil comes from beaten olives, so the Holy Spirit enlightens our spirits because of what Jesus suffered on our behalf.”
Excerpt From: John Turner. “Lessons from Leviticus.” iBooks. https://itun.es/us/9oBi1.l

Advent is a reminder mankind redemption was well planned and provided for ahead of time.


Thank God today, for the many lights that point to Jesus!

Finding the Messiah In Leviticus. December 22

Finding the Messiah In Leviticus. December 22
Leviticus 24:1-16

“Inside the tabernacle were three articles of furniture. 

Directly ahead of you as you enter, and near to the veil at the far end, stood the altar of incense. It was a small, enclosed, flat topped stand about waist high, like a kitchen counter, and about 18 inches, or 500cm square, with four projections called “horns” sticking up on the corners. As you might imagine from its name, it was used to burn incense. Viewed from the position of God on the mercy seat above the ark on the other side of the veil, it was the nearest article of furniture.

On your left is the golden lamp stand hammered from a solid one talent lump of gold. A talent was a measure of weight that was about 60kg. The lamp stand has seven branches extending from its single base. Each branch is decorated with flower shapes and supports a golden oil lamp to help light the sanctuary. A talent of gold, depending on purity and the system you use for weights and measures, would be about the size of two or two and a half house bricks. Gold is very ductile but this item must have had a thin tubular construction or been quite small. All the images we have of it that offer a sense of scale are from the much later second temple period, so we really haven't got a good idea of its original size or construction.”

“All of the equipment and furniture of the tabernacle and its use are prophetic in various ways of the life and ministry of Christ. They were intended to teach Israel important spiritual principles and to prepare them for the coming of their Messiah. We can look back on these things and see how marvelously and prophetically instructive they were.”

One of my favorite Christmas Carols is; Come thou long expected Jesus. The lyrics are the story of the tabernacle. Come, Thou long expected Jesus Born to set Thy people free; From our fears and sins release us, Let us find our rest in Thee. Israel's strength and consolation. . .

Excerpt From: John Turner. “Lessons from Leviticus.” iBooks. https://itun.es/us/9oBi1.l

This Advent and Christmas what fears and sins do you need to be set free from?

Finding the Messiah December 21

Finding the Messiah December 21
Leviticus 23:33-44

The Festival of Tabernacles, also known as the Festival of Ingathering, was a special celebration involving the whole family (see 23:34; Exodus 23:16; Deuteronomy 16:13-14). Like
Passover, this festival taught family members of all ages about God’s nature and what he had done for them and was a time of renewed commitment to God. Our families also need rituals of celebration to renew our faith and to pass it on to our children. In addition to Christmas, we should select other special days to celebrate God’s good provision.

Ask yourself prayerfully, how this Christmas season, you can involve the whole family in celebrating Christ’s Birth?

Finding the Messiah In Leviticus. December 20

Finding the Messiah In Leviticus. December 20
Leviticus 23:15-32

Amazingly; God timed the most important events in Jesus saving work to coincide with the Jewish festivals of Leviticus 23. God gave these feasts about 1500 year earlier, as road signs of the coming Messiah.

If God can arrange all of history to the second, from thousands of years in the past, from an ancient book called Leviticus, don’t you think He is capable of helping us with all the obstacles of our lives? He Is able to help us walk in victory over the challenges of Christmas!

Today will you bend your knee to the Messiah, as the Master of all of your Life ? May we submit to his Lordship over the days and hours of our lives. Let us make him the center of a
celebrations, not just Christmas! In every task, pleasing or unpleasant, may we spend our time praising Christ and loving His children!

Finding the Messiah in Leviticus. December 19

Leviticus 23:1-14

The feasts of Israel were not mere holidays to be observed on the nearest Monday in order to provide a long weekend. Each was a symbolic occasion or season designed to teach a truth which God wants to impart to his people, to drive home a basic truth which is fundamental to human happiness. That is why they were spaced and timed and regulated, their observance specially appointed and carefully predicted. As we go through them you will be able to see where we are in history right now, where the nation of Israel is in God's program for it, what has been fulfilled in the past, and what lies yet unfulfilled in the future. And, as we have seen all through this book, things which were literally and historically true of the nation of Israel are also pictures of God's spiritual program with each one of us today. Every believer in Jesus Christ proceeds through this same order of spiritual development. That is what makes this a most fascinating chapter.

Sermon God's Calendar Series: Basic Human Behavior Author: Ray C. Stedman

Is the holiday of Christmas being man or God focused in your house and heart?

Finding the Messiah in Leviticus December 18

Finding the Messiah in Leviticus December 18
Leviticus 22:17-33


Romans 6:23 tells us that the price that must be paid for sin has always been death. Beginning with the coat of skin that God made for Adam and Eve in the garden, some animal had to die so that their nakedness (sin) could be covered.


In Leviticus God gives Moses the specific instructions for:
The Passover Lamb
The Lamb of Atonement
The Sin Offering
The Oblation of Vows
The Thanksgiving Offering
The Freewill Offering
The Peace Offering
The Trespass Offering
The Cleansing of Lepers
The Wave Offering
The Purification of the Unclean
The First Fruits Offering
The Offerings of Appointed Feasts
All Burnt Offerings
...all of the following had one common denominator. Regardless of which animal was to be sacrificed it was to be spotless, without blemish.


Webster describes a blemish as:
1. A mark that mars the appearance, as a stain, spot, scar, etc.
2. Any flaw, defect, or shortcoming
Without a doubt all of humanity is blemished. We have our scars, our flaws, our defects, our shortcomings.


Only one could take away the sin of Mankind; God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21 This day of advent be a day of confessing your sins, leaving them behind and thanking the Messiah for His sacrifice.