Offering a Pure & Holy Sacrifice

I have been studying through the Old Testament recently, and the Lord has opened my eyes and my heart to the reiteration of His true purpose throughout the whole Bible.

As I studied through the Books of Law, I started to notice something that I had not noticed before. For so long, I have read Leviticus 11–15 as a do and do-not list. I thought to myself over and over how I would not have survived very long with all of those rules. I always wondered why God would make such an extensive list, especially with things that could not be controlled, like a woman’s menstrual cycle. But I started to dig deeper into the rituals for being ceremonially unclean, and it changed my approach to worship and prayer.

The Israelites would be made ceremonially unclean for a number of situations. Some of those were avoidable, and others were not, but this was not a sin. Being made ceremonially unclean was not a sin, but to approach the tabernacle as unclean was a sin. The tabernacle was the place where God dwelt. The Holy Spirit came and stayed in the Holy of Holies so that the priests could intercede for the people of Israel.

Once Jesus died on the cross, the veil that separated the tabernacle sanctuaries from the holy of holies was torn. Because this was torn, we have access to God directly. On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came to dwell among the Christians. Instead of needing to go into the tabernacle, we became the place where the Spirit dwells.

So at this point, you are probably wondering how this all changed my perspective on worship and prayer.

Well, here it is. When the Israelites were ceremonially unclean, they were not sinning by being unclean, but to bring an unclean gift to the tabernacle as a sacrifice would have been to make a mockery of God. How often, though, do we worship or pray with a heart that is ceremonially unclean. We know that having a menstrual cycle is not a reason that we can not pray or come before the Lord, but how often do we come before the Lord with hearts that are distracted and focused on things that are not Christ, and we bring a gift to Him that is unclean.

We bring unclean hearts and minds and try to offer our worship to God as a pure offering, but what we are offering Him is making a mockery of God and His glory.

I need you to hear me when I say that God does not expect you to be perfect, but in our uncleanliness, we repent and bring our hearts in alignment with Him. But when we are living in perpetual sin and trying to bring an offering to God, it is unclean in His eyes.

Although the Israelites had to do many different things to make themselves ceremonially clean, we have the ability to approach the throne and repent.

As you read through the Old Testament, read it through the lens of God allowing us the opportunity to commune with Him as we offer what He requires of us—a sacrifice that is pure and holy.

More From Brianna Frejosky