Proper Place and Content for Worship

Rev. Joshua Haller, pastor at Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church in Fairgrove, MI, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Leviticus 17:1-16.

The LORD instructs His people concerning the proper place for worship. Their sacrifices are not to be made wherever they want, but in the place that He has directed. In this way, they will not bear the guilt of their sins, but their guilt will be taken away. Similarly, the LORD instructs His people concerning the proper content of their worship, especially regarding blood. Unlike pagan practices that sought to gain spiritual power by consuming the blood of animals, the LORD forbid His people to drink the blood of their sacrifices or of any animals, for God had placed their life within the blood. This prepared the way for Christ’s own words in His new testament. God’s people were not to seek life by consuming any blood in the old covenant because He gives life in His Divine Blood in the Sacrament in the new covenant.

“The Holiness of God” is a series on Sharper Iron that goes through the book of Leviticus. Because God desired to dwell among His sinful people for their blessing rather than their destruction, He gave them the sacrifices and regulations of Leviticus to bestow His holiness upon them. In this way, the book of Leviticus points us to Christ who is our great High Priest who offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice to make us holy before God.