Leviticus 1:1 And the LORD called to Moses, and spoke to him out of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying,… Leviticus is replete with "the gospel of the grace of God." While it paints the blackness of sin, and the depths to which man has fallen, it paints likewise, in glowing colours, the amazing love of God, in the full, rich, and complete provision He has made to meet man's every need in Christ Jesus our Lord. I. "THE LORD... SPAKE." So they are God's words, not man's, to which we are called to listen in this deeply instructive book. Then let us give it attentive hearing (Matthew 11:15). Moses here records the very words of God, and the Holy Spirit alone can bring to our apprehension His own teaching (John 14:26; John 16:13). II. THE LORD SPAKE UNTO MOSES. God had before spoken unto him, specially on two memorable occasions. 1. From the burning bush (Exodus 3.), when He came down in grace to deliver His people Israel from bondage in Egypt — as now He delivers from the bondage of sin and Satan — revealing Himself as Jehovah, the self-existent "I AM," able to destroy their enemies, and rescue them (Exodus 6). 2. From Mount Sinai, after the deliverance from Egypt, when the people had rashly undertaken (apparently in their own strength) to do all that the Lord had spoken (Exodus 19:8), God spake the words of His "Holy Law," the "fiery law" (Hebrews 12:18-21; Exodus 19:18-20; Romans 7:12; Deuteronomy 33:2). That law showed the exceeding sinfulness of sin, but provided no way of salvation for those who disobeyed it, therefore could only condemn (Romans 7:13, 10, 11), as "all have sinned" (Romans 3:23), and "sin is the transgression of the law" (1 John 3:4), or "lawlessness" (R.V.); but in the passage before us — III. THE LORD SPAKE "OUT OF THE TABERNACLE OF THE CONGREGATION"; and this tells, not only of deliverance from bondage, but of the Lord's dwelling in the midst of His people, as their Leader and Guide (Exodus 13:21; Exodus 40:38), meeting and communing with His servant Moses from the mercy-seat (Exodus 25:22; Exodus 30:6; Numbers 7:89), and establishing a medium for worship and access. IV. "GOD HATH SPOKEN UNTO US BY HIS SON," who is the Revealer of the Father (John 1:18). But even now, as we listen to the words of God out of the Tabernacle, it is God speaking to us by His Son; for the Tabernacle is a type of Jesus. "The glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle" (Exodus 40:34); Jesus is the "Brightness," or outshining of God's glory (Hebrews 1:3). He is the true Tabernacle, "For in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily" (Colossians 2:9). "God was in Christ reconciling," &c. (2 Corinthians 5:19). Christ is the manifestation of the Father's love (1 John 4:9, 10). He brings untold glory to God in the salvation of sinners (John 17:4); and the saved ones He will take to share His glory hereafter (Luke 9:30, 31), as the blessed result of "His decease." V. THE LORD WOULD SPEAK BY THE CHURCH, also typified by the Tabernacle. It was "sprinkled... with blood" (Hebrews 9:21); "the Church of God "was "purchased with His own blood" (Acts 20:28). The Tabernacle was anointed with holy oil (Exodus 30:25, 26; Exodus 40:9); the Church has "an unction from the Holy One" (1 John 2:20). The Lord dwelt in the Tabernacle (2 Samuel 7:6); the Church is "builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit" (Ephesians 2:21, 22). The Spirit reveals "the deep things of God," the things of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:10-12; John 16:14, 15); the Church is "the fulness of Him that filleth all in all" (Ephesians 1:23); hence it is God's purpose that "unto the... might be made known through the Church the manifold wisdom of God" (Ephesians 3:10, R.V.). VI. GOD WOULD SPEAK THROUGH EACH MEMBER of the Church. First He speaks to, and then by them. He spake to Moses, that he might "speak unto the children of Israel." In like manner He acts now: Have we received blessing to our soul? If so, God would have us help others (Mark 5:19). (Lady Beaujolois Dent.) Parallel Verses KJV: And the LORD called unto Moses, and spake unto him out of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying,WEB: Yahweh called to Moses, and spoke to him out of the Tent of Meeting, saying, |
    |