Friday 12 July 2013

Background

Leviticus is a book of rules and regulations relating to worshipand religious ceremonies in ancient Israel. And many can seemrather strange to the modern reader.

Sacrifice was a major part of religion and worship in the MiddleEast at that time and grain or animals were made for sin offerings,thanksgiving, fellowship offering, and guilt offering. Taking placeat the Jewish New Year, the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) was (andstill is) the holiest day of the year for Jewish people.

Today's passage is the first part of the instructions for theDay of Atonement, and the second part is tomorrow's reading.

The Day of Atonement has two themes - atonement and repentance.It is about acknowledging the things that you have done wrong, andrestoring your relationship with God. It wipes the slate clean, andmeans that you can go forward into the new year with confidencebecause things have been sorted out with God.

Possibly the easiest way to put into words what "atonement"means is to split the word - 'at-one-ment', so that you are put atone with God.

The sacrifice has two parts - and two goats. The first isslaughtered as a sin offering by the priest before God. Theoffering to God is for "uncleannesses of the people of Israel, andbecause of their transgressions". And it is through the goat'sblood that forgiveness and atonement comes.

Jesus death is described as a sacrifice to end all sacrifices.His death restores once and for all our relationship with God.

To Ponder

• In worship when we makes our prayers of confession, the focuscan tend to be on personal sin. What easy is it to acknowledge andconfess the sins of a community or a nation, like therebelliousness of the ancient Israelites?

• The word "sacrifice" is used in different ways in modern life,and can be reduced to a sense of putting yourself out for the sakeof something else - eg "look at the sacrifices I have made". Howmight we reclaim the word "sacrifice" and its power?

• In Paul letter to the Romans, he invites people to "presentyour bodies as a living sacrifice" (Romans12:1). What does being a 'living sacrifice" mean to you?