The Law and Sacrificial System

Noah Hicks

Storyline • Sermon • Submitted 4 years ago

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Storyline: The Law and Sacrificial System

Introduction

Begin with a recap of last week’s lesson.

Because Adam and Eve fell to sin and introduced sin into the world, something had to be done to pay for sin. God spoke to Abraham and established Israel as His chosen people. However, Israel fell to Egyptian slavery. But God saved them from Egyptian slavery. In tonight’s passage, God made the Law to reveal sin to humanity, and He made the sacrificial system to make forgiveness of sin.

Let’s look and read together Exodus 20:1-21.

English Standard Version Chapter 20

20 And God spoke all these words, saying,

2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

3 “You shall have no other gods before me.

4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

7 “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

13 “You shall not murder.

14 “You shall not commit adultery.

15 “You shall not steal.

16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”

18 Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off 19 and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” 20 Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” 21 The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.

Pray.

The Law is the revealer of sin.

In these verses we just read, many of you may be familiar with those commandments. We just read about the Ten Commandments. Though we may have heard of the Ten Commandments before, it is important that we still understand them. I remember as a kid in Sunday school and children’s church going and memorizing the Ten Commandments and having various lessons on the Law.

Tonight, we will approach the Ten Commandments in maybe a different light than the way you may have typically studied the Ten Commandments. Prior to God giving these commandments to Moses, God had given specific instructions to Moses concerning God’s giving of the Law. God called Moses to go up on Mount Sinai to receive the Law from God. God was seeking to provide a Law so that Israel, God’s chosen people, could seek to obey God. This would enable the people of Israel to know God’s holy standard in which they are to live. So, let us look at these commandments.

Exodus 20:3.

English Standard Version Chapter 20

3 “You shall have no other gods before me.

Our God is a jealous God. He and He, alone, is to be worshipped and glorified.

This law addresses the sin of idolatry. Whenever we allow for something in our lives to take the place of God, we are committing the sin of idolatry. Whenever we treasure money, cars, houses, sports, education, or video games more that God, we are committing the sin of idolatry and breaking the law.

Furthermore, nothing of this earth will ever satisfy like God does. One commentator wrote, “Idols will not satisfy. Only God will satisfy the human heart. We need to properly assess created things. Enjoy creation, steward creation, but worship the Creator!”

Exodus 20:4.

English Standard Version Chapter 20

God is the only One worthy of worship and praise. We cannot worship anything or anyone else without breaking God’s law. We must be sure that we are worshipping God above all else.

Exodus 20:7.

English Standard Version Chapter 20

7 “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

As I have already said, God is worthy of worship. God is not to be dishonored. Whenever we take God’s name in vain, we dishonor God.

This is not addressing just saying God’s name in vain. Notice what the verse says, “You shall not take.” The word take goes much deeper than the word say. To take something is to carry or bear something. So, I want you to think of it this way. If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, we bear or carry His name, Christian means little Christ. Now, if we are taking God’s name with us and then we live in disobedience to His Word, we are breaking His law.

Exodus 20:8.

English Standard Version Chapter 20

8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy

Do you remember in last week’s message when we looked at the Creation? God created the universe in 6 days, then, He rested on the seventh day. God now calls for the Israelites in this passage to rest on the seventh day as God rested. However, let’s look at Deuteronomy 5:15, “You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.”

The Sabbath Day is a day of rest, remembrance, and worship. We are to rest one day of the week and simple worship God for all that He has done. God had delivered the Israelites from Egyptian slavery, and now, He calls them to remember and worship Him.

So far, we have seen the 4 commands that relate to man’s relationship with God. Now, we will transition to see how man’s relationship should be with fellow man.

Exodus 20:12.

English Standard Version Chapter 20

12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

These commands will be pretty straight forward. God commands that the Israelites were to honor or respect their parents. God also gives the Israelites a promise if they do honor their parents. The promise was that if they respected their father and mother they would live long in the promised land. God is a generous God.

Exodus 20:13.

English Standard Version Chapter 20

13 “You shall not murder.

This is God’s command that we are not to take another person’s life. Last week, we remember that God has created all of humanity in His image. One commentator writes, “We should not murder because God alone gives life and all people are made in His image.”

Exodus 20:14-17.

English Standard Version Chapter 20

14 “You shall not commit adultery.

15 “You shall not steal.

16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

These are the last four commands that God gives. One is not to cheat on his or her spouse, steal anything, lie, or want something that belongs to another person. These commands seem very straight forward.

The Ten Commandments are followed in the book of Exodus by other Laws and practices regarding food, drink, washing, and regulations.

As you are hearing each of these commands given to Moses, we see that this is the law given by God to the Israelites. The Law is what reveals sin to us.

Romans 7:7-8,

English Standard Version Chapter 7

7 What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8 But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead.

The law gives us commandments. Whenever we break one of those commandments that is when we sin. Therefore, the law reveals to us the sin that we commit. The law points out the ways in which we fail and dishonor God.

If you are thinking that you have never committed one of these sins, you have. Look with me at Matthew 5:17-22

English Standard Version Chapter 5

17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Anger

21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire

Matthew 5:27–28 ESV

27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

I think we may have just seen how we have sinned yet, again. Jesus came to fulfill the Law. Jesus is the only One to ever live a perfect sinless life. You and I cannot live in full accordance with the law because of our fallen nature. Remember last week, Adam sinned and sin spread to all men. Now, we are born with a fallen nature inclined toward sin. Because of this, in the OT God gave the Jews the sacrificial system to pay for their sins.

The payment for sin in the Old Testament was the sacrifice of animals.

Leviticus 4:27-31.

English Standard Version Chapter 4

27 “If anyone of the common people sins unintentionally in doing any one of the things that by the LORD’s commandments ought not to be done, and realizes his guilt, 28 or the sin which he has committed is made known to him, he shall bring for his offering a goat, a female without blemish, for his sin which he has committed. 29 And he shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and kill the sin offering in the place of burnt offering. 30 And the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and pour out all the rest of its blood at the base of the altar. 31 And all its fat he shall remove, as the fat is removed from the peace offerings, and the priest shall burn it on the altar for a pleasing aroma to the LORD. And the priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be forgiven.

The sin offering was the means of making atonement for sin. What that means is that the goat or lamb would be brought to the priest by a person that had committed sin, and the goat or lamb would be killed because of the person’s sin in order that the person could be forgiven. Because of their disobedience to the Law, God had given this sacrificial system as the means of being forgiven of sin.

Think about having to take a goat or lamb and slaughtering it for your sins to be forgiven. We would have to do this very often because we sin so often.

Notice that in verse 27 says, “If anyone of the common people sins unintentionally in do any one of the things that by the Lord’s commandments ought not to be done,” That word unintentionally means that the person wandered into sin. This is talking about the sin of error. This is talking about someone who strays from the commands of God and falls to sin. All of us would fall into this category.

Romans 3:23 ESV

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

We have all sinned against God. Because of this, we stand guilty before God. However, why do we not have to make sacrifices for our sins anymore?

So, draw back in here with me as we come to a close. We do not make sin sacrifices anymore because of Jesus Christ.

Look with me at Exodus 20:2, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.”

The Israelites had been freed from Egyptian slavery and now had the law as a means to obey and live for God. They would offer sacrifices to pay for sin; however, overtime, the sacrifices were done basically out of ritual instead of worship and seeking to maintain relation with God. The sacrificial system lost its original intended purpose.

That is why Jesus Christ came. He is the once for all sacrifice. We are enslaved to sin apart from Jesus just as the Israelites were enslaved to the Egyptians. However, God rescued the Israelites just like He sent Jesus to rescue us.

Galatians 4:1–7 ESV

1 I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, 2 but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. 3 In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. 4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

We are free in Christ! How? Jesus became our sacrifice and died for our sins to be paid for.

Hebrews 9:1–14 ESV

1 Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly place of holiness. 2 For a tent was prepared, the first section, in which were the lampstand and the table and the bread of the Presence. It is called the Holy Place. 3 Behind the second curtain was a second section called the Most Holy Place, 4 having the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron’s staff that budded, and the tablets of the covenant. 5 Above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail. 6 These preparations having thus been made, the priests go regularly into the first section, performing their ritual duties, 7 but into the second only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people. 8 By this the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the holy places is not yet opened as long as the first section is still standing 9 (which is symbolic for the present age). According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper, 10 but deal only with food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation. 11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) 12 he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.