For the last few weeks I’ve been reading in Exodus and Leviticus following a chronological Bible reading plan. Much of the second half of Exodus is filled with laws and rules and tabernacle details. Much of Leviticus is filled with laws, rules about offerings, and lots of sacrifices. In chapter 26 of Leviticus, we hear a familiar old covenant refrain: If you obey my commands, you will be blessed. If you disobey, you will be cursed. It is very similar to Deuteronomy 28 that we study in Pathways, and every ancient Israelite was familiar with God’s covenant. It is easy to be tempted to skip quickly over these sections of Scripture feeling they are irrelevant for us today. However, I believe they are in the Bible for a reason and we must learn some important truths through them.

As I’ve been reading these chapters, admittedly I am rejoicing in my heart that I was not born in those days. Since I am a “pastor/minister” (like the priests in old covenant), I would have had to do a LOT of sacrificing of animals if I lived back then. So why don’t we still do those sacrifices? And what about the tabernacle (or temple) in the Old Testament? Is this still where we go to find God?

To answer these questions, we must understand the transition between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. Both were/are vitally important for a certain time and place. The Old Covenant was rooted in God’s promise to care for His people as they obeyed and walked with Him. “I will be your God and you will be my people” is a common refrain found throughout the Old Testament. God made clear that His people were to worship and honor Him by following certain rules, and He would be manifest among them uniquely (different than other nations) in the tabernacle which later became the temple. Other nations could come to experience YHWH by coming to that special place. However, in the New Covenant, prophesied in Jeremiah 31 and then clarified in the New Testament, God’s dwelling is by His Spirit in His people. In 1 Corinthians 6:19 we read, “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?” People don’t need to go to any location, or church, to find God. He is in our midst, in our hearts, although there is a special way that His presence is experienced when believers gather together in corporate worship of Him.

So what about all the sacrifices and rules and obedience and blessings? Hebrews 9:11-12, 14, 22, 28 and Hebrews 10:18 clearly state that Christ is our once and for all sacrifice, perfectly appeasing God’s righteous wrath against sin. Ephesians 1 and Galatians 3 make clear that all our spiritual blessings are found in Christ, and through His crucifixion, He bore the curse we deserved for our disobedience. His blood and righteousness is applied to us thereby inaugurating the New Covenant “in His blood” which we celebrate in communion. This is indeed a reason to rejoice. We still need to be aware of the Old Covenant standards that show us we cannot work to God in our own efforts, for Israel and we all fail miserably. But God does not leave us there, for He offers the New Covenant so we can be His people and He is our God THROUGH CHRIST! By grace through faith we become recipients of undeserved gifts from God: salvation, redemption, justification, adoption, forgiveness, and a host of other important biblical doctrines. Praise God for both the Old and New Covenants, and for God’s Word that gives us the whole story, God’s story and His progressive plan to redeem a sinful people to Himself through Christ by the Spirit for His glory.