The Meaning Of Life

https://biblehub.com/nkjv/leviticus/1.htm

We now start to study the third book of the Bible, Leviticus. The link above is for Chapter 1, and from there, you can moved forward to the 9th Chapter.

The Levites, or the children of Levi, were selected by God to minister to the other tribes. The priests were all from the tribe of Levi, the workers in the Tabernacle were all Levites. And the word “Leviticus” is Latin, meaning “of the Levites”.

It is a sin to lie, so I’m going to be perfectly honest. The text in these chapters are a difficult read. They are important as they outline some of the ritual sins that could be committed and how atonement for the sins should be made. There is definitely a reason why this information is included, likely to be passed down and following by the children of Israel through the generations.

Is the penalty for these sins a punishment? I don’t believe so. My personal opinion is that they are a deterrent. They are there to try to discourage you from sinning, and if you did sin, you had to give up something of worth, such as the first fruits, or an unblemished animal, and you had to give it up publicly. There was no confession box where you could confess your sins in private, you literally had lead a bull, or a ram, or whatever the offering was, and publicly give it for sacrifice.

Why were these sins so important? Some are common sense, while some others have no immediately discernible purpose. But God has a purpose for everything. Just like the command to circumcise infants at 8 days old didn’t make sense, until scientists found out that the enzymes that clot blood are at their highest and the age of 8 day. Just a coincidence? Hardly not. God knew this fact, and that is why he commanded that newborns be circumcised on that day.

And while I don’t know it, or haven’t figured it out yet, there is a purpose. For example, one law says that if you witness a crime or wrongdoing, you should come forth and relate what you saw. That is merely a common sense law; you are given the opportunity to possible keep a violent person off the streets, or you have the opportunity to provide witness that may save someone.

Why do most of these offerings involve the killing of an animal. My guess is that God had to sacrifice an animal to clothe Adam and Eve when they committed the first sin done by man. So the sacrificing of an animal is simply symbolizes the sacrifice of the first animal for sin.

And if you remember correctly, Abel was offering meat offerings to the Lord as atonement for his sins, but Cain offered grain instead, and God favored Abel’s offerings.

I recommend you read these chapters so you are familiar with the types of sin, if they are still valid today in our moral law system, and decide for yourself what purpose this sin has.