There is a lot of attention given within Christianity about walking in your calling. Many of us have sat through teachings aimed at getting us to know our calling and becoming all we can be within it. Interesting that Jesus told the parable of the wedding feast ending with “Many are called, few are chosen.” Those who are called answer the invitation of the Lord. Those who are chosen both accept the invitation and comply with its conditions. We find that the book of Leviticus in Hebrew is actually Vayikra, meaning “And He called.” Leviticus 19:1 is the calling of all Israel, “Speak to the entire community of Israel; and tell them, ‘You people are to be holy because I ADONAI, am holy.’” There is the calling and the choosing.
The LORD begins Leviticus by calling out to Moses—“vayikra,” and explaining the way to draw near to Him through sacrificial atonement. All references to the LORD in Leviticus 1-5 are the sacred Name, YHVH, not Elohim, suggesting that the offerings were given to bring us closer to God’s mercy and love, not for the appeasement of His anger, as the pagans did. Everything offered the false gods was for appeasement of the deity. God established a completely different relationship with His set-apart people. The Hebrew word korban, translated as “sacrifice,” comes from the root word karov, meaning to “draw close,” or “come near.” The person offering the sacrifice drew near, trusting that the Lord’s mercy would bring atonement through the shedding of blood. The picture of this sacrifice is fulfilled in Jesus’ shed blood on our behalf.
Jesus’ shed blood was presented on the heavenly Kapporet—Throne of God–for our atonement, as stated in Romans 3:25, “God put Jesus forward as the kapporah for sin through his faithfulness in respect to his bloody sacrificial death…” The sprinkling of blood on the Kapporah in the sacrificial system, is represented by the shedding of Jesus’ blood on the cross that He presented as our great High Priest before God, providing everlasting forgiveness for sins. Just as Hebrews 9:11-12 tells us, “But Christ being come a high priest of good things to come, but a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, but is to say not of this building, neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.”
The very message of the gospel is that the Word became flesh and dwelled among us (John 1:14). It is Jesus’ sacrificial death that draws us eternally to God, and because of Him, we all can boldly approach the Throne of God that we may find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16). In Revelation 5:9 we see that the Lamb that was slaughtered was found worthy to open the scroll, and God’s people sang the new song, “You are worthy to take the scroll and break its seals; because you were slaughtered; at the cost of your blood you ransomed for God persons from every tribe, language, people, and nation.” We are called to accept salvation through the blood of Jesus, then we choose to repent and turn to live as a living sacrifice unto Him who called us to eternal life.
