Are you wondering what these Dwelling Place episodes will be like? Here is your first window into the series!

The book of Leviticus might not seem to have a lot to do with motherhood on the surface, but we think there are powerful connections to be made. Listen to hear God's heart in the opening chapters of this book of The Bible. And all of what we learn will lead us to be immensely grateful for the sacrifice of our Savior Jesus Christ!

Find our Dwelling Place Printable Resources Here.

Passage Covered: Leviticus 1-4

Section of Scripture Read: Portions of Leviticus 4

Other Verses Mentioned:

Leviticus 17:11

Hebrews 9:22

Leviticus 3:16

Hebrews 10:22

Commentary Quoted: Moody Commentary

Find out more about Get the Word Out and Entrusted with a Child's Heart.

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Your to-do list has never been longer,

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but have you ever needed Jesus more?

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If you are a mom, longing to focus

on what matters for eternity, but

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feeling overwhelmed by the duties

and motherhood, this is for you.

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Let's look to the word to help us trust

fully, delight deeply, and love joyfully.

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This isn't to make the Bible about us.

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It's to make our homes about him.

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Welcome to the Dwelling Place

from Entrusted Ministries.

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Have you ever learned to do

something the hard way and later

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someone showed you the easy way?

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We study what used to be

required so we can fully embrace

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what Jesus bought for us.

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You might be shocked that I would

select Leviticus as one of our sample

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episodes, but as I've been preparing

for this series, the book of Leviticus

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has renewed my absolute gratitude

for the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

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Allow me a little time to

paint an analogy for you.

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And after I do, I'll read some key

verses from our reading for today,

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talk about how they point to Jesus.

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And then as always, I'll close in

prayer over you and your children.

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Did you know that our children

from the age of zero to 18,

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will need about 19,000 meals?

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And we all know there's a

lot of snacking between.

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When I think about the effort that has

been required of me over the years,

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it makes me exhausted to even look

back between the meal planning, which

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begins with my desire to find the

impossible intersection between things

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that are affordable, healthy, and

that my whole family actually likes.

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We all know that the recipes that exist

at that juncture are few and far between.

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Then after I make my meal plan,

bundling my kids up, often in our

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frigid Chicago weather, getting them in

their car seats and then stuffing those

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bundled bodies into shopping carts.

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Then walking through grocery stores,

reading every single food label

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because of food restrictions and food

allergies, purchasing the groceries

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while thanking God for providing, but

also knowing how tight the money is.

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Then coming home, unloading the kids,

unloading the groceries, and of course at

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this point, they're all hungry and need

me to cook something right away when I

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would much rather just sit down and rest.

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Then there's all of the work preparing

the food and the meals, and it seems that

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just as you finally finish clearing the

kitchen from one meal, a child will enter

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the room and say they're hungry again.

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And the process repeats day after day.

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And then as you walk

into the laundry room,

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you realize you need to stain,

treat the clothes that are soiled

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from the meals that you just made.

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It's a never ending cycle.

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And I realize that there are grocery

pickup services and things now,

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but when my kids were toddlers,

these things didn't exist.

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And often those services haven't

quite been in our budget.

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As my kids have gotten older.

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I haven't had to stuff

them into shopping carts.

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But they eat more.

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And I find that maintaining our

supply of school snacks and food

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ready to go is daunting as well.

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All of this meal prep is a huge

part of what we do as mothers.

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It though it's truly important, it

often feels mundane and unrelentless,

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but I want you to imagine that one day

someone knocked at your door with a

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fully prepared set of meals for the week.

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Everything was absolutely ready.

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It was safe for everyone's

allergies and restrictions.

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It was delicious and would be enjoyed

by all and already paid for, and

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you didn't have to lift a finger.

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And all the deliverer said was, will

you sit down and eat this with me?

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And that's what I think of when

I read the book of Leviticus.

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The entire book describes the path

for us to be restored to a holy God.

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And all over the New Testament,

we learned that Jesus's

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sacrifice was once and for all.

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So when you read through God's clear

and thorough directions of how to be

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restored to forgiveness, I pray that every

sentence would fill you with a depth of

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thankfulness for the sacrifice of Jesus

Christ and what he did on the cross.

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We might look at the list

of sacrifices and think, why

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did the animals have to die?

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Why does blood have to be shed?

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But when we look to the word, we have

clarity that this was the only way.

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Leviticus 1711 tells us for the

life of the flesh is in the blood.

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And I have given it for you on the

altar to make atonement for your souls.

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For it is the blood that

makes atonement by the life.

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And when we look forward to Hebrews 9 22,

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we learn without the shedding of blood.

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There is no forgiveness of sins.

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We might not completely understand why

this is the path of restoration with the

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Holy God, but we can trust that this is

the only way and he would not sacrifice

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his only son unless it were absolutely

necessary to restore us back to him.

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We can rejoice that we live in

the time of the New Testament.

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In which the sacrificial law was repealed

and the New Testament does away with it.

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We are no longer held to this

system because of Jesus's sacrifice.

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And at the Last Supper, Jesus told us that

he was instituting a new covenant and that

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he was now the substitute for our sins.

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Reading Leviticus helps us

grasp more deeply, God's desire

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to dwell with the holy people.

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My Moody commentary says it so

well when it tells us he's a

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redeeming God, who though unseen

by human eyes, desires interaction

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between himself and his people.

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The God who brought Israel out of

bondage of slavery still redeems.

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His chosen ones from slavery.

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Believers today hear his call to be

a Holy nation and will be brought

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to his dwelling place at the end.

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And we can see that the world is in

the state that it is in because people

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are out of fellowship with a holy God

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throughout the course of Leviticus

Holiness as mentioned 152 times.

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And that's more than any

other book of the Bible.

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We aren't just to be left with

gratitude we should be transformed

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in the way that we live.

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And over 50 times, God says,

I am the Lord and I am holy.

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In this book of the Bible, there is a

lot of focus on ritual purity, but we

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can consistently see that God cares about

the heart of those that are sacrificing.

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We will get into what the different

sacrifices mean but let me just

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point out a few patterns that appear in

these first four chapters of Leviticus.

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So you can clearly hear the

heart of God in this book.

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In Leviticus four, it begins, and

the Lord spoke to Moses saying, speak

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to the people of Israel saying if

one sins unintentionally in any of

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the Lord's commands about things not

to be done, and does one of them.

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If it is the anointed priest, two sins,

thus bringing guilt on the people, then he

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shall offer for the sin he has committed.

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Then in verse 13, if the whole

congregation of Israel's sins

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unintentionally and the thing is hidden

from the eyes of the assembly, and they

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do any one of the things by the Lord's

commandments that ought not to be done,

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and they realize their guilt when the sin

which they have committed becomes known.

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The assembly shall offer a bull

from the herd for a sin offering.

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And in verse 22, when a leader sins doing

unintentionally, any one of the things

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that by the commandments of the Lord, his

God ought not to be done and realizes his

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guilt or the sin which he has committed is

made known to him, he shall bring us his

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offering, a goat, a male without blemish.

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And in verse 4 27.

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If any one of the common people sins

unintentionally in doing any one

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of the things that by the Lord's

Commandments ought not to be done

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and realizes his guilt or the sin

which he has committed is made note

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to him, he shall bring his offering.

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And again, for it is a pleasing

aroma to the Lord and the

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priest shall make atonement for

him and he shall be forgiven.

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God provides directions about every

type of sin that we might commit and

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each section ends with, and he shall be

forgiven because God was looking ahead

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to the perfect sacrifice of his son.

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Over and over, we see the phrase,

it is a pleasing aroma to the Lord.

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Doesn't that make you grateful

that you have an opportunity to

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please the God of the universe

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And I can't help but highlight

Leviticus three 16 where it says, all

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fat is the Lord's and all the mamas

in their changing bodies from every

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season of motherhood said, amen.

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And Lord, you may have

whatever you like of it.

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Take it.

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It is yours.

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Let me pray over you and your children.

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Heavenly Father, we come before you

in awe that you gave your only son

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to pay a debt we could never satisfy.

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We thank you that the perfect

blood of Jesus Christ has

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restored us to dwell with you.

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Though we are not required to follow

this Old Testament system of sacrifices,

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I pray that we would make sacrifices

that bring a pleasing aroma to you

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when we love and serve our families,

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give our children a depth of

understanding that you are

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honored when we love and serve.

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Give us endurance and a desire to

read these detailed instructions

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because they guide us to your heart.

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You led your people to

write these on stone.

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Would you write the path

to holiness on our hearts

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as we read about committing

unintentional sin?

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I pray that you would help us to take

care to not sin, so thoughtlessly.

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As Hebrews calls us, let us purify

our consciences from Dead Works

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so we can serve the living God.

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Lord, guide us in teaching our

children not about empty systems

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rules and obligations that lead to

behaviorism, but help us to truly

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get to their hearts that we may each

desire to be holy before a holy God.

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We thank you that for our sake,

you made him to be sin who knew

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no sin, so that in him we might

become the righteousness of God.

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We believe you for that, in

the name of Jesus Christ, the

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only one who could and did.

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Pay our debt.

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Amen.