Show Notes
In Genesis 18:13 we read, "Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ 14 Is anything too hard for the Lord?...” This is an incredible scene! 3 mysterious visitors visit Abraham and Sarah… And they remind Abraham and Sarah that God has promised them children. Sarah laughs! Not because the visitors tell a joke… No she laughs because what they tell her and Abraham seems so unbelievable! Have you ever heard something so unbelievable that it made you laugh about it? “Imagine your teacher walked into class tomorrow and said, ‘Okay everyone, I have a big announcement. School is canceled for the rest of the year…AND everyone gets straight A’s!’ Or “What if your parents came into your room one night and announced to you, ‘We’ve decided you never have to clean your room again!’” “I bet you’d laugh because there’s no way you’d believe it!” That is why Sarah laughed…She thought to herself, I know God promised us a child, but I am way too old, I just can’t bel God tells Abraham and Sarah in Genesis 18:14… “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” “Think about some of the hardest things you could imagine making. Could you make a mountain? How about an ocean? Could you make the sun? Or a Elephant? Could you make a human brain? Could you make a tiny baby grow inside its mom? Of course not!
Those things would be impossible for us. But they aren't too hard for God. The Birth of Isaac in Genesis 21 reminds us of this.
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Today's episode is a Math Teacher's dream! We enter into the book of Numbers with God instructing Moses to count the Israelite men and organize all of the families of the 12 tribes around the Tabernacle. This story in Numbers 1 and 2 shows us that every person matters to God!
In Leviticus 16, God tells Moses and Aaron to set aside a very special day called the Day of Atonement, a day when God would graciously forgive the sins of His people. On this special day, the high priest would enter the Most Holy Place in the Tabernacle, a place he could only enter once a year! God also instructed the high priest to take two goats. The first goat would be sacrificed, and its blood would be offered to make atonement for the sins of the people. But the second goat had a very different job! The high priest would place his hands on the head of this living goat and confess the sins of all the Israelites. This was a picture of the people's sins being placed on the goat. Then the goat would be led far away from the camp and released into the wilderness, symbolizing how God had taken away the sins of His people! This second goat was called the scapegoat! Now, here's the AMAZING part of this story! Both goats point us to JESUS! Just like the first goat, Jesus shed His blood on the cross as the perfect sacrifice for our sins. And just like the scapegoat was taken outside the camp, Jesus was crucified outside the city gates of Jerusalem, carrying away the sins of His people! But here's the BIG difference! The Israelites had to offer these sacrifices every single year. Jesus only had to die ONCE! (Hebrews 10:14) His sacrifice was perfect, complete, and enough to forgive our sins forever! What an AMAZING Savior we have in JESUS!
In Leviticus 8, God tells Moses to appoint priests to help lead the Israelites in worship, including the five offerings we learned about in Leviticus chapters 1–7. And guess who God chooses for this important job? Moses’ brother Aaron and Aaron’s sons! Now, this is an incredible picture of God’s grace! Remember Aaron? Back in Exodus, he was the one who helped lead the Israelites into sin by making a golden cow for the people to worship instead of God! Aaron had made a terrible mistake. But God was not finished with him! God showed Aaron grace, and now He was giving Aaron and his sons the incredible responsibility of leading the Israelites in worship! Think about that! The same man who helped lead God's people away from Him would now help lead them in worshiping Him! What an amazing picture of God's forgiveness, grace, and second chances!
The book of Leviticus begins with detailed descriptions in Chapters 1 through 7 of how the Israelites are to approach God in the Tabernacle with five unique offerings.
In Exodus, chapters 35-40, God gives Moses and the Israelites detailed instructions on what the tabernacle will look like, the place where God's presence will dwell among the people!