Adam

1 Chronicles 1:1 – Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah.

Genesis 5:3,22 – When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image; and he named him Seth… After he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked faithfully with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters.

Genesis 4:23-24 – Lamech said to his wives, “Adah and Zillah, listen to me; wives of Lamech, hear my words. I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for injuring me. If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven times.”

Application:

• ·         As God created man in His own perfect image, sinful Adam had a son in his own imperfect image.
• ·         There is a difference between walking with God and merely living.
• ·         Lamech proudly claimed to be master of his own destiny, thinking that he and his sons, by their own achievements, would redeem themselves from the curse on the line of Cain. This titanic claim climaxes the catalog of sins that began with Cain’s prideful selfishness.
• ·         Lamech’s vicious announcement of personal revenge found its counterpoint in Jesus’ response to Peter’s question about forgiveness.

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

Commands The Lord Gave Moses

Leviticus 27:31-34 – Whoever would redeem any of their tithe must add a fifth of the value to it. Every tithe of the herd and flock—every tenth animal that passes under the shepherd’s rod—will be holy to the Lord. No one may pick out the good from the bad or make any substitution. If anyone does make a substitution, both the animal and its substitute become holy and cannot be redeemed.’” These are the commands the Lord gave Moses at Mount Sinai for the Israelites.

Application:

• ·         This is strong testimony for the Mosaic authorship and divine origin of the book of Leviticus.

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

Tithe

Leviticus 27:22-30 – “‘If anyone dedicates to the Lord a field they have bought, which is not part of their family land, the priest will determine its value up to the Year of Jubilee, and the owner must pay its value on that day as something holy to the Lord. In the Year of Jubilee the field will revert to the person from whom it was bought, the one whose land it was. Every value is to be set according to the sanctuary shekel, twenty gerahs to the shekel. “‘No one, however, may dedicate the firstborn of an animal, since the firstborn already belongs to the Lord; whether an ox or a sheep, it is the Lord’s. If it is one of the unclean animals, it may be bought back at its set value, adding a fifth of the value to it. If it is not redeemed, it is to be sold at its set value. “‘But nothing that a person owns and devotes to the Lord—whether a human being or an animal or family land—may be sold or redeemed; everything so devoted is most holy to the Lord. “‘No person devoted to destruction may be ransomed; they are to be put to death. “‘A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord.

Deuteronomy 7:6 – For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.

Ezra 9:2 – They have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, and have mingled the holy race with the peoples around them. And the leaders and officials have led the way in this unfaithfulness.”

Deuteronomy 12:12 – And there rejoice before the Lord your God—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites from your towns who have no allotment or inheritance of their own.

Application:

• ·         Devoting something was far more serious than dedicating it to sacred use. The devoted thing became totally the Lord’s.
• ·         Holy means separated from all corrupting people or things and consecrated totally to the Lord.
• ·         The Hebrew for “holy race” is translated holy seed.
• ·         Joy, based on the Lord’s blessings, was to be a major feature of Hebrew life and worship in the promised land.

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

Devoted To The Lord

Leviticus 27:10-21,28 – They must not exchange it or substitute a good one for a bad one, or a bad one for a good one; if they should substitute one animal for another, both it and the substitute become holy. If what they vowed is a ceremonially unclean animal—one that is not acceptable as an offering to the Lord—the animal must be presented to the priest, who will judge its quality as good or bad. Whatever value the priest then sets, that is what it will be. If the owner wishes to redeem the animal, a fifth must be added to its value. “‘If anyone dedicates their house as something holy to the Lord, the priest will judge its quality as good or bad. Whatever value the priest then sets, so it will remain. If the one who dedicates their house wishes to redeem it, they must add a fifth to its value, and the house will again become theirs. “‘If anyone dedicates to the Lord part of their family land, its value is to be set according to the amount of seed required for it—fifty shekels of silver to a homer of barley seed. If they dedicate a field during the Year of Jubilee, the value that has been set remains. But if they dedicate a field after the Jubilee, the priest will determine the value according to the number of years that remain until the next Year of Jubilee, and its set value will be reduced. If the one who dedicates the field wishes to redeem it, they must add a fifth to its value, and the field will again become theirs. If, however, they do not redeem the field, or if they have sold it to someone else, it can never be redeemed. When the field is released in the Jubilee, it will become holy, like a field devoted to the Lord; it will become priestly property…“‘But nothing that a person owns and devotes to the Lord—whether a human being or an animal or family land—may be sold or redeemed; everything so devoted is most holy to the Lord.

Application:

• ·         The devoted thing became totally the Lord’s. Achan’s sin in the book of Joshua was the greater because he stole what had been devoted to the Lord.

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

Becomes Holy

Leviticus 26:45-27:9,28 – But for their sake I will remember the covenant with their ancestors whom I brought out of Egypt in the sight of the nations to be their God. I am the Lord.’” These are the decrees, the laws and the regulations that the Lord established at Mount Sinai between himself and the Israelites through Moses. The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘If anyone makes a special vow to dedicate a person to the Lord by giving the equivalent value, set the value of a male between the ages of twenty and sixty at fifty shekels of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel; for a female, set her value at thirty shekels; for a person between the ages of five and twenty, set the value of a male at twenty shekels and of a female at ten shekels; for a person between one month and five years, set the value of a male at five shekels of silver and that of a female at three shekels of silver; for a person sixty years old or more, set the value of a male at fifteen shekels and of a female at ten shekels. If anyone making the vow is too poor to pay the specified amount, the person being dedicated is to be presented to the priest, who will set the value according to what the one making the vow can afford. “‘If what they vowed is an animal that is acceptable as an offering to the Lord, such an animal given to the Lord becomes holy.

Application:

• ·         Devoting something was far more serious than dedicating it to sacred use. The devoted thing became totally the Lord’s.

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

Not Reject Them

Leviticus 26:44 – Yet in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them or abhor them so as to destroy them completely, breaking my covenant with them. I am the Lord their God.

Jeremiah 30:11 – I am with you and will save you,’ declares the Lord. ‘Though I completely destroy all the nations among which I scatter you, I will not completely destroy you. I will discipline you but only in due measure; I will not let you go entirely unpunished.’

Romans 11:22-23,25-29 – Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again…I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, and in this way all Israel will be saved. As it is written: “The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.” As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies for your sake; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.

Application:

• ·         “I am with you and will save you” were words spoken originally to Jeremiah alone but are were eventually spoken to all God’s people.
• ·         Any adequate doctrine of God must include kindness and sternness.
• ·         Paul holds out hope for the Jews—God is able.
• ·         Mystery is used of the plan of God by which both Jew and Gentile, after a period of disobedience by both, will by His mercy be included in His kingdom.
• ·         The salvation of the Jews will be on the same basis as anyone’s salvation: personal faith in Jesus Christ, crucified and risen from the dead.
• ·         Just as salvation for Gentiles involves forgiveness of sins, so the Jews, when they are saved, are forgiven by the mercy of God—His forgiveness based only on their repentance and faith.
• ·         God does not change His mind with reference to His call.

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

Remember My Covenant With Jacob

Leviticus 26:42-43 – I will remember my covenant with Jacob and my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land. For the land will be deserted by them and will enjoy its sabbaths while it lies desolate without them. They will pay for their sins because they rejected my laws and abhorred my decrees.

Genesis 28:15 – I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

Numbers 11:19-20 – You will not eat it for just one day, or two days, or five, ten or twenty days, but for a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and you loathe it—because you have rejected the Lord, who is among you, and have wailed before him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?”’”

1 Samuel 8:7 – And the Lord told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.

Application:

• ·         Unlike the gods of pagan religions, in which the gods were merely local deities who gave protection only within their own territories, the one true God assured Jacob that He would always be with him wherever he went.
• ·         The principle issue with Israel after the exodus was not meat at all, but a failure to demonstrate proper gratitude to the Lord, who was in their midst and who was their constant source of good.
• ·         In requesting a king like all the other nations, Israel broke the covenant, rejected the Lord who was their King and forgot His constant provision for their protection in the past.

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

Uncircumcised Hearts

Leviticus 26:40-42 – “‘But if they will confess their sins and the sins of their ancestors—their unfaithfulness and their hostility toward me, which made me hostile toward them so that I sent them into the land of their enemies—then when their uncircumcised hearts are humbled and they pay for their sin, I will remember my covenant with Jacob and my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.

Acts 7:51 – “You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit!

Isaiah 53:6,11 – We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all…After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.

Application:

• ·         The members of the Sanhedrin were not truly consecrated to the Lord.
• ·         The Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all, just as the priest laid his hands on the scapegoat and symbolically put Israel’s sins on it.
• ·         The one sacrifice of Christ brings perfect satisfaction.

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

You Will Perish

Leviticus 26:38-42 – You will perish among the nations; the land of your enemies will devour you. Those of you who are left will waste away in the lands of their enemies because of their sins; also because of their ancestors’ sins they will waste away. “‘But if they will confess their sins and the sins of their ancestors—their unfaithfulness and their hostility toward me, which made me hostile toward them so that I sent them into the land of their enemies—then when their uncircumcised hearts are humbled and they pay for their sin, I will remember my covenant with Jacob and my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.

Psalm 1:6 – For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

Exodus 20:5-6 – You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Leviticus 5:2-5 – “‘If anyone becomes aware that they are guilty—if they unwittingly touch anything ceremonially unclean (whether the carcass of an unclean animal, wild or domestic, or of any unclean creature that moves along the ground) and they are unaware that they have become unclean, but then they come to realize their guilt; or if they touch human uncleanness (anything that would make them unclean) even though they are unaware of it, but then they learn of it and realize their guilt; or if anyone thoughtlessly takes an oath to do anything, whether good or evil (in any matter one might carelessly swear about) even though they are unaware of it, but then they learn of it and realize their guilt—when anyone becomes aware that they are guilty in any of these matters, they must confess in what way they have sinned.

Hosea 5:15 – Then I will return to my lair until they have borne their guilt and seek my face—in their misery they will earnestly seek me.”

1 John 1:9 – If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Application:

• ·         Implicit in the destinies of righteousness and wickedness are also the destinies of those who choose them.
• ·         God will not put up with rivalry or unfaithfulness.
• ·         The offerer had to acknowledge his sin to God in order to receive forgiveness.
• ·         God threatened to withdraw from Israel until, out of desperation, she truly repented.
• ·         “Faithful and Just”  indicates that God’s response toward those who confess their sins will be in accordance with His nature and His gracious commitment to His people. He is faithful to His promise to forgive.

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

Scatter You Among The Nations

Leviticus 26:33-37 – I will scatter you among the nations and will draw out my sword and pursue you. Your land will be laid waste, and your cities will lie in ruins. Then the land will enjoy its sabbath years all the time that it lies desolate and you are in the country of your enemies; then the land will rest and enjoy its sabbaths. All the time that it lies desolate, the land will have the rest it did not have during the sabbaths you lived in it. “‘As for those of you who are left, I will make their hearts so fearful in the lands of their enemies that the sound of a windblown leaf will put them to flight. They will run as though fleeing from the sword, and they will fall, even though no one is pursuing them. They will stumble over one another as though fleeing from the sword, even though no one is pursuing them. So you will not be able to stand before your enemies.

Nehemiah 1:8-9 – “Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.’

1 Samuel 15:22 – But Samuel replied: “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.

Jeremiah 13:16 – Give glory to the Lord your God before he brings the darkness, before your feet stumble on the darkening hills. You hope for light, but he will turn it to utter darkness and change it to deep gloom.

Application:

• ·         Dispersion was the inescapable consequence of Israel’s unfaithfulness.
• ·         Samuel does not suggest that sacrifice is unimportant but that it is acceptable only when brought with an attitude of obedience and devotion to the Lord.
• ·         Part of giving glory to God is confessing your sins.

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

You Still Do Not Listen To Me

Leviticus 26:14-16,27-32 – “‘But if you will not listen to me and carry out all these commands, and if you reject my decrees and abhor my laws and fail to carry out all my commands and so violate my covenant, then I will do this to you: I will bring on you sudden terror, wasting diseases and fever that will destroy your sight and sap your strength. You will plant seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it. ..“‘If in spite of this you still do not listen to me but continue to be hostile toward me, then in my anger I will be hostile toward you, and I myself will punish you for your sins seven times over. You will eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters. I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars and pile your dead bodies on the lifeless forms of your idols, and I will abhor you. I will turn your cities into ruins and lay waste your sanctuaries, and I will take no delight in the pleasing aroma of your offerings. I myself will lay waste the land, so that your enemies who live there will be appalled.

Psalm 78:59 – When God heard them, he was furious; he rejected Israel completely.

Isaiah 52:14-15 – Just as there were many who were appalled at him—his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being and his form marred beyond human likeness—so he will sprinkle many nations, and kings will shut their mouths because of him. For what they were not told, they will see, and what they have not heard, they will understand.

Application:

• ·         The list of curses for covenant disobedience is usually much longer than that of blessings for obedience.
• ·         When Israel was “rejected completely”, that meant she was abandoned to her enemies.
• ·         They were appalled when they saw Christ’s suffering on the cross.

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

Spent In Vain

Leviticus 26:19-26 – I will break down your stubborn pride and make the sky above you like iron and the ground beneath you like bronze. Your strength will be spent in vain, because your soil will not yield its crops, nor will the trees of your land yield their fruit. “‘If you remain hostile toward me and refuse to listen to me, I will multiply your afflictions seven times over, as your sins deserve. I will send wild animals against you, and they will rob you of your children, destroy your cattle and make you so few in number that your roads will be deserted. “‘If in spite of these things you do not accept my correction but continue to be hostile toward me, I myself will be hostile toward you and will afflict you for your sins seven times over. And I will bring the sword on you to avenge the breaking of the covenant. When you withdraw into your cities, I will send a plague among you, and you will be given into enemy hands. When I cut off your supply of bread, ten women will be able to bake your bread in one oven, and they will dole out the bread by weight. You will eat, but you will not be satisfied.

Isaiah 49:4 – But I said, “I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing at all. Yet what is due me is in the Lord’s hand, and my reward is with my God.”

Haggai 1:6 – You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.”

Hosea 4:10-11 – “They will eat but not have enough; they will engage in prostitution but not flourish, because they have deserted the Lord to give themselves to prostitution; old wine and new wine take away their understanding.

Application:

• ·         Just as the nation Israel had toiled in vain, so Christ would encounter strong opposition during His ministry and would temporarily suffer apparent failure.
• ·         A land judged by God is unfruitful.
• ·         The punishment of eating but not having enough fit the sin.

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

Violate My Covenant

Leviticus 26:14-18 – “‘But if you will not listen to me and carry out all these commands, and if you reject my decrees and abhor my laws and fail to carry out all my commands and so violate my covenant, then I will do this to you: I will bring on you sudden terror, wasting diseases and fever that will destroy your sight and sap your strength. You will plant seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it. I will set my face against you so that you will be defeated by your enemies; those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee even when no one is pursuing you. “‘If after all this you will not listen to me, I will punish you for your sins seven times over.

Genesis 17:7 – I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.

Ezekiel 33:10 – “Son of man, say to the Israelites, ‘This is what you are saying: “Our offenses and sins weigh us down, and we are wasting away because of them. How then can we live?”’

Application:

• ·         To be your God is the heart of God’s covenant promise, repeated over and over in the Old Testament.
• ·         The exiles eventually expressed consciousness of sin. Previously they had blamed their fathers and even God.
• ·         The list of curses for covenant disobedience is usually much longer than that of blessings for obedience.

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

If You Will Not Listen

Leviticus 26:3-4,13-16 – “‘If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands, I will send you rain in its season, and the ground will yield its crops and the trees their fruit…I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians; I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high. “‘But if you will not listen to me and carry out all these commands, and if you reject my decrees and abhor my laws and fail to carry out all my commands and so violate my covenant, then I will do this to you: I will bring on you sudden terror, wasting diseases and fever that will destroy your sight and sap your strength. You will plant seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it.

Leviticus 11:44 – I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. Do not make yourselves unclean by any creature that moves along the ground.

Exodus 6:6 – “Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.

Deuteronomy 28:58-59 – If you do not carefully follow all the words of this law, which are written in this book, and do not revere this glorious and awesome name—the Lord your God—the Lord will send fearful plagues on you and your descendants, harsh and prolonged disasters, and severe and lingering illnesses.

Application:

• ·         Israel was to be totally consecrated to God. Because of who God is and what He has done, His people must dedicate themselves fully to Him.
• ·         The Lord’s acts include redemption and judgment.
• ·         The list of curses for covenant disobedience is usually much longer than that of blessings for obedience.
• ·         One of the oddities of history and revelation is the loss of the proper pronunciation of the Hebrew word YHWH, the most intimate and personal name of God in the Old Testament. The name eventually ceased to be pronounced because later Jews thought it too holy to be uttered.
• ·         Obedience is the key to blessing. 

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

Your God...My People

Leviticus 26:7-12 – You will pursue your enemies, and they will fall by the sword before you. Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you. “‘I will look on you with favor and make you fruitful and increase your numbers, and I will keep my covenant with you. You will still be eating last year’s harvest when you will have to move it out to make room for the new. I will put my dwelling place among you, and I will not abhor you. I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people.

Genesis 17:7 – I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.

Deuteronomy 31:6 – Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Jeremiah 7:22-23 – For when I brought your ancestors out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices, but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in obedience to all I command you, that it may go well with you.

Jeremiah 24:7 – I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.

Zechariah 13:9 – This third I will put into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, ‘They are my people,’ and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’”

2 Corinthians 6:16 – What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.”

Hosea 2:23 – I will plant her for myself in the land; I will show my love to the one I called ‘Not my loved one.’ I will say to those called ‘Not my people,’ ‘You are my people’; and they will say, ‘You are my God.’”

Jeremiah 31:33 – “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

Ezekiel 36:28 – Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God.

Application:

• ·         Everlasting covenant is from God’s standpoint, but the covenant is capable of being broken from man’s standpoint. “To be your God” is the heart of God’s covenant promise, repeated over and over in the Old Testament. This is God’s pledge to be the protector of His people and the One who provides for their well-being and guarantees their future blessing.
• ·         By trusting in the Lord and obeying Him, His followers would be victorious in spite of great obstacles.
• ·         “I will be your God and you will be my people” was the most basic summary of the relationship between God and Israel implied in the covenant at Sinai.
• ·         “They will be my people, and I will be their God” is the classic statement of covenant relationship.
• ·         They (a remnant of Israel) will be restored to proper covenant relationship the Lord.
• ·         The temple of the living God is built of living stones, namely, Christian believers; therefore it is all the more important that they form no defiling and unholy alliances.
• ·         “Those called Not my people, You are my people” is applied to Gentiles coming into the church
• ·         The new covenant does not abolish the old but supersedes it in the sense that through the new covenant the old is fulfilled and its purpose achieved.
• ·         The law is written on people’s hearts, so that it effectively governs their lives, in contrast to the ineffectiveness of merely presenting it in writing.

All Scripture verses taken from ESV