What do you know about God, in particular, about His attributes? You certainly know that He is powerful and that He is able to protect you. But is that enough?
The Book of Leviticus is a collection of regulations God gave Israel that pertain to the sanctuary, to maintaining the holiness of God's house. It discusses purification rituals, dietary laws, rules of hygiene, religious festivals, and vows. Leviticus is not an easy book for us to appreciate because of the detailed way it treats ceremonial law, especially the sacrificial system, an institution that is foreign to modern readers.
I used to think that God gave Israel the sanctuary, the tabernacle and later the temple, so there would be a place for the sacrifices. Then I discovered that the opposite is true: God gave Israel the sacrificial system so there could be a place for the sanctuary.1 That is, God chose to dwell physically among His people, and the tabernacle and later the temple was the place of His dwelling. Because God is holy, the people and place of His abode must be holy as well. To that end, He instituted the sacrificial system, so the Israelites could maintain the holiness necessary for God to dwell among them.2
The absence of a temple today makes it difficult for us to understand the meaning of holiness.3 We talk about it, but often in vague and theoretical terms, because the sanctuary—a physical place of holiness—is not part of our experience. Leviticus brings us back to a time when there was a sanctuary and, therefore, a need to maintain its holiness so that God could dwell there. The instruction in this book, while not always something we can follow today, can still tell us quite a bit about what it means that God is holy and how His people must be holy as well.
Please turn to Lev 16, our text this morning, where God tells Moses how to observe Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, an annual "Fall Cleanup"4 for God's people that is essential to maintaining the unique fellowship they have with Him.5 The chapter opens with an odd mention of Aaron's sons in the first verse.
According to the first verse of chapter 16, God gives the instructions for Yom Kippur later that same day. What is the connection between the death of these priests and the Day of Atonement? ...With the Day of Atonement, the Lord is reinforcing two features about His holiness, features that Aaron's sons ignored. To begin with...
I. God's holiness is exclusive.
That is...
At Sinai, the Lord told Moses what the priests' responsibilities would be, including the burning of incense.9 When Nadab and Abihu disobeyed those directives by approaching God's presence contrary to His command, they violated His holiness. In the opening verse of chapter 16, God refers back to that incident, reminding Aaron that...
in the tabernacle, the Holy of Holies. In the second verse of Lev 16, God gives another restriction that governs admittance to that room...
As Christians, we sometimes miss the significance this aspect of holiness has. We believe that our access to God is unrestricted, that, as the writer of Hebrews says, "we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus" (Heb 10:19) at any time. That is true, but there the author is talking about the heavenly sanctuary not the earthly one and about spiritual access to God—such as we have through prayer—not physical access to God, such as what the high priest has on the Day of Atonement.
In the figurative sense, all believers, Old Testament as well as New Testament and later, have always had this same access to God. The point in Lev 16 is different, because it concerns an individual's ability to stand before the physical presence of God, an experience that few have had and that generally brings with it dismay, awe, even terror, and the acute desire to be somewhere...anywhere else.10 If we miss this distinction between physical and spiritual access, we will miss the significance of God's holiness.
You may recall the fate of Uzzah, who touched the ark as it was on its way to Jerusalem. God had commanded that no one should touch what served as His earthly throne, so the priests would normally transport the ark with poles on their shoulders. For this trip, the ark was on an ox-drawn cart, but as the terrain was uneven...
In the absence of a temple today, we may think this is an unimportant distinction. Why would Christians need to know about the holiness of God? ...The answer is that the better we understand God, the better we can obey God, the better we can please God, because He expects us, gentile believers, to be like Him in this respect. Paul in his letters stresses this repeatedly.
As we see in the opening verses of Lev 16, God's holiness means that He is separate from man; so man has limited access to God's presence. Moreover...
If entering the holy place requires certain precautions, entering the Most Holy Place must as well, even more so, and in Lev 16...
These instructions are a reminder that God is not like us. He is holy, which means that He is both separate from man and different than man. Although the absence of the temple means that we can no longer come before the physical presence of God, His character has not changed.
Because God is holy, you must not presume too familiar an attitude when you come before Him in prayer or worship.
Although the field of medicine has seen advances against all manner of disease, there continue to be drug resistant germs that require special measures to deal with them.
Last time, in Lev 16:1-14, we noted that God's holiness is inclusive, meaning that He is separate from man, so man has limited access to His presence, and that He is different than man, so man must take precautions to enter His presence. If God is so far removed from His people, why do they need to go through the rituals in this chapter? If they are here and He is way out there, what does it matter? He should do His thing and let them do theirs. ...The reason it matters is because of another feature the Day of Atonement reinforces. In addition to God's holiness being exclusive...
II. God's holiness is inclusive.
...in that it applies to His people and to what they encounter here. For example...
The Sabbath, the other enclave of holiness I mentioned, is not part of this chapter, so I will not discuss it further, except to say that it is also possible to violate the sanctity of this time. God does not require the same decontamination He demands for the sanctuary, but He does not regard lightly those who desecrate His holy day.
God's holiness also extends beyond the things with which He is involved,23 because...
One way is by avoiding contamination through contact with what is unclean, not merely what is ceremonially unclean but what is morally unclean. The apostle Paul identifies two such contaminating influences around us that we must avoid.32
In the absence of a temple, it is not possible to follow many of God's instructions in Leviticus, including those in chapter 16, but what that portion of scripture teaches about His holiness remains valid.
For the Bibliography and Endnotes, see the pdf here.
One evening during a violent thunderstorm, a mother was tucking her frightened little boy into bed. Wanting to reassure him before she turned off the light, she said, "Remember, God is always with you." "I knew God is with me," he replied. "But I would feel even better if you could stay with me, too." She smiled and gave him a reassuring hug. "I can't dear. I have to sleep with Daddy." Silence followed, broken at last by his little voice... "The big sissy."What do you know about God's attributes? You certainly know that He is powerful and that He is able to protect you. But is that enough? ...You should also know that God is holy. While that particular attribute may not calm your fears, it should focus your conduct, especially as God tells His people several times, "be holy, because I am holy" (11:44-45; 19:2; 20:26). Before that can happen, before you can be holy, you must understand The Holiness of God.
The Book of Leviticus is a collection of regulations God gave Israel that pertain to the sanctuary, to maintaining the holiness of God's house. It discusses purification rituals, dietary laws, rules of hygiene, religious festivals, and vows. Leviticus is not an easy book for us to appreciate because of the detailed way it treats ceremonial law, especially the sacrificial system, an institution that is foreign to modern readers.
I used to think that God gave Israel the sanctuary, the tabernacle and later the temple, so there would be a place for the sacrifices. Then I discovered that the opposite is true: God gave Israel the sacrificial system so there could be a place for the sanctuary.1 That is, God chose to dwell physically among His people, and the tabernacle and later the temple was the place of His dwelling. Because God is holy, the people and place of His abode must be holy as well. To that end, He instituted the sacrificial system, so the Israelites could maintain the holiness necessary for God to dwell among them.2
The absence of a temple today makes it difficult for us to understand the meaning of holiness.3 We talk about it, but often in vague and theoretical terms, because the sanctuary—a physical place of holiness—is not part of our experience. Leviticus brings us back to a time when there was a sanctuary and, therefore, a need to maintain its holiness so that God could dwell there. The instruction in this book, while not always something we can follow today, can still tell us quite a bit about what it means that God is holy and how His people must be holy as well.
Please turn to Lev 16, our text this morning, where God tells Moses how to observe Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, an annual "Fall Cleanup"4 for God's people that is essential to maintaining the unique fellowship they have with Him.5 The chapter opens with an odd mention of Aaron's sons in the first verse.
Lev 16:1 The LORD spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron who died when they approached the LORD.The story of their demise is back in chapter 10.
Lev 10:1 Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, contrary to his command. 2 So fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD. 3 Moses then said to Aaron, "This is what the LORD spoke of when he said: "Among those who approach me I will show myself holy; in the sight of all the people I will be honored."6Nadab and Abihu were priests and, as such, had instructions from God to do things a certain way...His way. They decided to do things differently, though, and "offered unauthorized fire [whatever that is] before the LORD, contrary to his command." God responded with fire of His own and killed them.7 Although this happened inside the tabernacle, it was probably visible to those outside the tabernacle (so God's intent: "I will show...in the sight of all" Lev 10:3).
According to the first verse of chapter 16, God gives the instructions for Yom Kippur later that same day. What is the connection between the death of these priests and the Day of Atonement? ...With the Day of Atonement, the Lord is reinforcing two features about His holiness, features that Aaron's sons ignored. To begin with...
I. God's holiness is exclusive.
That is...
A. Holiness means He is separate from man, so man has limited access to God's presence (Lev 16:1-2).The priesthood was not a glamorous occupation, and the duties of that office were often fairly regular, even mundane. The sacrifices took place in the courtyard, outside the sanctuary, while some other activities occurred in the holy place, the first chamber inside the sanctuary, which only priests could enter. There, those on duty that day would do three things:
- They would tend the lampstand, ensuring it had enough oil to remain lit.
- They would replace the showbread, using a pair of freshly baked loaves.
- They would burn the incense, prepared according to a prescribed formula.
At Sinai, the Lord told Moses what the priests' responsibilities would be, including the burning of incense.9 When Nadab and Abihu disobeyed those directives by approaching God's presence contrary to His command, they violated His holiness. In the opening verse of chapter 16, God refers back to that incident, reminding Aaron that...
As I said, the incense altar was in the first room of the sanctuary, which the priests entered daily. The second room contained the ark of the covenant over which God displayed the physical manifestation of His glory, the Shekinah. Because God dwelled there, that inner chamber was the Most Holy Place1. He may only come before God in a certain way.
in the tabernacle, the Holy of Holies. In the second verse of Lev 16, God gives another restriction that governs admittance to that room...
Lev 16:2 The LORD said to Moses: "Tell your brother Aaron not to come whenever he chooses into the Most Holy Place behind the curtain in front of the atonement cover on the ark, or else he will die, because I appear in the cloud over the atonement cover.No one, not even the high priest, may walk into the Holy of Holies "whenever he chooses." Here, God warns Moses that Aaron must be careful in this regard "or else he will die." This is the second limitation for the high priest...
At the end of the chapter, God states that the high priest has access to this room just "once a year" (Lev 16:34), on the Day of Atonement.2. He may only come before God at a certain time.
As Christians, we sometimes miss the significance this aspect of holiness has. We believe that our access to God is unrestricted, that, as the writer of Hebrews says, "we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus" (Heb 10:19) at any time. That is true, but there the author is talking about the heavenly sanctuary not the earthly one and about spiritual access to God—such as we have through prayer—not physical access to God, such as what the high priest has on the Day of Atonement.
In the figurative sense, all believers, Old Testament as well as New Testament and later, have always had this same access to God. The point in Lev 16 is different, because it concerns an individual's ability to stand before the physical presence of God, an experience that few have had and that generally brings with it dismay, awe, even terror, and the acute desire to be somewhere...anywhere else.10 If we miss this distinction between physical and spiritual access, we will miss the significance of God's holiness.
You may recall the fate of Uzzah, who touched the ark as it was on its way to Jerusalem. God had commanded that no one should touch what served as His earthly throne, so the priests would normally transport the ark with poles on their shoulders. For this trip, the ark was on an ox-drawn cart, but as the terrain was uneven...
2 Sam 6:6b Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen stumbled. 7 The LORD's anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down and he died there beside the ark of God.The Lord's response may seem harsh to us, but it underscores the importance of the fact that He is separate from man. It did not matter that the act of Nadab and Abihu was ill-intended and the act of Uzzah was well-intended. He still violated God's holiness. Like them, He did, and he died.11
In the absence of a temple today, we may think this is an unimportant distinction. Why would Christians need to know about the holiness of God? ...The answer is that the better we understand God, the better we can obey God, the better we can please God, because He expects us, gentile believers, to be like Him in this respect. Paul in his letters stresses this repeatedly.
Rom 12:1 ...offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God....You must appreciate God's holiness in order to emulate His holiness, a prospect the apostle regards as well within your reach. Like being blameless, holiness is not perfection.12 Being holy derives from being wholly devoted to God in what you say and do. In other words, holiness before God derives from obedience to God.
1 Cor 1:2a ...to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy...
Eph 1:4 [God] chose us...before the creation of the world to be holy....
Col 3:12 ...as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved....
1 Thess 4:7 ...God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.
2 Tim 1:9 [God] has saved us and called us to a holy life
As we see in the opening verses of Lev 16, God's holiness means that He is separate from man; so man has limited access to God's presence. Moreover...
B. Holiness means He is different than man, so man must take precautions to enter God's presence (Lev 16:3-14).The Lord appointed the priests as mediators between Him and the people, and only the priests had regular access to the sanctuary, yet even they could not do whatever they pleased, and...
The regulations about burning incense are one example. As the incident with Nadab and Abihu shows, such regulations were for the good of those who minister before God, to teach them what it means to serve someone different from them in almost every respect, and to warn them that the difference is a matter of life and death.13 Aaron's sons ignored this difference when they entered the holy place (the outer room) and made an offering "contrary to his command." They thought it did not matter how they approached Him, but it does matter. There is a direct corollary between God's instructions and His holiness.1. God gives general instructions to the priests.
If entering the holy place requires certain precautions, entering the Most Holy Place must as well, even more so, and in Lev 16...
We think these instructions are about how the high priest can make atonement for Israel's sin. More precisely, though, they are about how the high priest can make atonement without dying in the process. In recognition of God's purity, the priest washes himself and puts on clean clothes immediately before entering the sanctuary.14 Yet, according to v. 13, before he actually applies the blood of the purification offering...2. God gives special instructions to the high priest.
Lev 16:13 He is to put the incense on the fire before the LORD, and the smoke of the incense will conceal the atonement cover above the Testimony, so that he will not die.The exact purpose of the incense is unclear, whether to prevent the high priest from gazing upon God's presence (so Ibn Ezra 1986:79) or to avert God's wrath (Wenham 1979:23 1).15 In either case, for the Israelites, and especially for the high priest, God's holiness is a deadly serious matter.
These instructions are a reminder that God is not like us. He is holy, which means that He is both separate from man and different than man. Although the absence of the temple means that we can no longer come before the physical presence of God, His character has not changed.
Because God is holy, you must not presume too familiar an attitude when you come before Him in prayer or worship.
- You must be careful how you approach Him.
- God does befriend us and is "a friend who sticks closer than a brother (Prov 18:24), but He is not like us.
Isa 40:25a "To whom will you compare me?" ...says the Holy One.
So, you should not think of Him as your pal or good buddy.16 You must be careful how you approach Him.
- You must be careful how you address Him.
- God does care for us as a father does his children ,17 and we call Him "our Father" (Matt 6:9), because He has adopted us into His family.18
Ps 89:26 He will call out to me, 'You are my Father, [and] my God....'
God is still the Holy One, and the Day of Atonement reinforces that, in these ways, God's holiness is exclusive, and there is no one else like Him. "There is no other" (in Deut 4:35, 39; 1 Kgs 8:60; Joel 2:27).But He is not your "Dad" or "Pops."19 You must be careful how you address Him.
*********
Although the field of medicine has seen advances against all manner of disease, there continue to be drug resistant germs that require special measures to deal with them.
A man returns from vacation feeling very ill. He goes to see his doctor, who sends him to the hospital for a series of tests. The man wakes up after the tests in a private room, and the phone by his bedside is ringing. "This is your doctor," says the voice at the other end. "We reviewed the results of your tests and have found that you have a very nasty virus, one that is extremely contagious." "Oh my!" the man exclaims. "What are you going to do, doctor?" "We're going to isolate you and put you on a diet of pizza, pancakes and pita bread." ..."Will that cure me?" the man asks. "No" his doctor replies... "but it's the only food we can slide under the door."Some diseases require special measures to deal with them. The Bible does not say much about the medical problems that disease poses, but it does address the ritual problems that defilement poses. Like the contagion of infection, which is often unseen and may require special measures to contain and combat, so the contamination of impurity, which is also unseen and may require special measures to contain and combat. That was what the Day of Atonement accomplished. It was a national decontamination of Israel's ritual defilement, a renewal of the ceremonial purity necessary for God to dwell among His people as they recognized and reflected The Holiness of God.
Last time, in Lev 16:1-14, we noted that God's holiness is inclusive, meaning that He is separate from man, so man has limited access to His presence, and that He is different than man, so man must take precautions to enter His presence. If God is so far removed from His people, why do they need to go through the rituals in this chapter? If they are here and He is way out there, what does it matter? He should do His thing and let them do theirs. ...The reason it matters is because of another feature the Day of Atonement reinforces. In addition to God's holiness being exclusive...
II. God's holiness is inclusive.
...in that it applies to His people and to what they encounter here. For example...
A. It extends to the things with which He is involved (Lev 16:15-19)....things with which we are also involved. God has not confined His holiness to Himself. He has imparted it to the sanctuary where He dwells. Yet, because that place has had contact with an unholy people, like an infectious disease, it has contracted their impurity, rendering it unfit for God's presence and in need of decontamination. Hence, much of the high priest's activity on this day, the Day of Atonement, involves making atonement for various parts of the sanctuary.
Lev 16:15 "He shall then slaughter the [first] goat for the [purification] offering for the people and take its blood behind the curtain...: He shall sprinkle it on the atonement cover [= lid on the ark].... 16 In this way he will make atonement for the Most Holy Place because of the uncleanness and rebellion of the Israelites.... He is to do the same for the Tent of Meeting, which is among them in the midst of their uncleanness.... 18a "Then he shall come out[sidej to the altar...and make atonement for it.... 19 He shall sprinkle some of the blood on it...to cleanse it and to consecrate it from the uncleanness of the Israelites.We tend to think that nothing has changed since man sinned in the Garden. Satan became ruler of this world, the battle lines were drawn, and we are waiting for liberation, God's final assault when the messiah returns; but God retains several outposts here, enclaves of holiness, to remind Satan and us of who is really in control and to provide the means by which we may meet God.20 This is one such enclave...
It is where God's people could meet Him. The temple is no more, but other enclaves of holiness remain. For example, though not in this passage...1. The sanctuary is holiness in space, being the place God set apart from all other places.
It is when God's people can meet Him. These enclaves, the sanctuary and the Sabbath, are wonderful opportunities He has graciously provided for people to encounter God, but they are not without risk. By coming in contact with one of them, it is possible to violate God's holiness. Man lives in a fallen world and is himself fallen...sinful. This fallenness contaminates all it touches. Sinful Israel's contact with the sanctuary defiled it, so the sanctuary itself required annual atonement or cleansing in order for a holy God to reside there.2. The Sabbath is holiness in time, being the period God set apart from all other periods.21
The Sabbath, the other enclave of holiness I mentioned, is not part of this chapter, so I will not discuss it further, except to say that it is also possible to violate the sanctity of this time. God does not require the same decontamination He demands for the sanctuary, but He does not regard lightly those who desecrate His holy day.
Exod 35:2 For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day shall be your holy day, a Sabbath of rest to the LORD. Whoever does any work on it must be put to death.While desecrating the Sabbath is not a capital offence in America, it is still important to God and should be important to you.... How will you sanctify this Sabbath day?22
God's holiness also extends beyond the things with which He is involved,23 because...
B. It extends to the people with whom He is involved (Lev 16:20-34).This is a third enclave of holiness God establishes, in addition to the sanctuary and the Sabbath: The believer is holiness in situ (holiness personified), being among the people God set apart from all other peoples.24 This is what the book of Leviticus is about. As God says in chapter 19 (v. 2): "You will be holy, because I, the LORD your God, am holy."25 And...
That is why, after the priest purifies the sanctuary, he takes care of the nation.1. For people to be holy they must be cleansed of impurity.
Lev 16:20 "When Aaron has finished making atonement for the Most Holy Place, the Tent of Meeting and the altar, he shall bring forward the live goat. 21 He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites—all their sins—and put them on the goat's head. He shall send the goat away into the desert in the care of a man appointed for the task. 22 The [second] goat will carry on itself all their sins to a solitary place; and the man shall release it in the desert.The second goat is part of the purification (a.k.a. "sin") offering (v. 5) and is sent into the wilderness to illustrate the fact that God has removed Israel's impurity.26 Nevertheless, there is more to being a holy people than just being ceremonially cleansed, and the ram, the dedication (or "burnt") offering, illustrates the other aspect.
Lev 16:24b Then he shall come out and sacrifice the [dedication] offering for himself and the [dedication] offering for the people, to make atonement for himself and for the people.Only certain parts of the purification offering are burned on the altar; the rest of the animal is burned elsewhere (Lev 16:27); but all of the dedication offering is consumed on the altar, because it represents the complete devotion of the one who brings it, in this case, the priest on behalf of the people. This is the other aspect of holiness.
The priest expresses devotion through the dedication offerings, both his own devotion and that of the people. While the main event of the day concerns the priesthood, though, the people are not merely spectators. They express devotion through self-denial in the form of a fast,27 which not only involves the people in the ritual, it helps focus their attention on the fact that physical contact with God is not without cost.282. For people to be holy they must be consecrated to God.
Lev 16:29 This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: On the tenth day of the seventh month you must deny yourselves and not do any work—whether native-born or an alien living among you— 30a because on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you.The temple is not at present a functioning outpost of holiness in this fallen world, God does not dwell among His people in a physical way, so we need not keep these ceremonial regulations.29 Does that mean we do not need to be concerned about holiness? ...No, with or without the temple, God still expects His people to be holy.30 The author of Hebrews says,31
Heb 12:14 Make every effort...to be holy; [for] without holiness no one will see the Lord.We are not able to express holiness as Lev 16 instructs, but there are other ways in which we demonstrate the difference between the sacred and the profane.
One way is by avoiding contamination through contact with what is unclean, not merely what is ceremonially unclean but what is morally unclean. The apostle Paul identifies two such contaminating influences around us that we must avoid.32
- The first (and most obvious) contaminating influence to avoid is unholy actions.33 Paul writes in...
Rom 6:19b Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness.
Holiness requires you to adopt a new lifestyle, one that is an obvious contrast to your former way of life. Before you turned to God, you used to do certain things, discuss certain topics, and go certain places that did not meet His standards. All that must change if you are to be holy. The transformation does not necessarily occur instantly, but your life must exhibit a fundamental revision that is measurable, that enables you to look back and say with confidence: "I am not the same person I was before." You must avoid unholy actions.
- The second contaminating influence to avoid is unholy associations. Paul writes in...
2 Cor 6:14 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 7:1 [L]et us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.
The apostle is not advocating that Christians have no non-Christian friends. He is saying that you are known and influenced by the company you keep; or, as he states elsewhere, "Bad company corrupts good character" (1 Cor 15:33). You must recognize that your affiliation with unbelievers cannot go beyond a certain point. There are things they do, topics they discuss, places they go that are wrong in God's eyes, and for you to join them in any of these would defile you. In such ways, you must draw the line and limit your involvement with them. You must avoid unholy associations.Becoming holy is not an easy task, but it is a doable task and it is the task to which God calls each of us. He has taken the first step by purifying us from the sin that once cut us off from His presence. With His help, we must make purification an on-going activity in our lives as we devote ourselves increasingly to His service.
In the absence of a temple, it is not possible to follow many of God's instructions in Leviticus, including those in chapter 16, but what that portion of scripture teaches about His holiness remains valid.
- God's holiness is still exclusive.
- He is separate from man, so coming boldly before the throne of grace in prayer does not mean that you may do so carelessly or presumptuously.
- He is also different than man, so you must always maintain an attitude of reverence, no matter how great your enthusiasm or joy.
God's holiness is sill exclusive.Moreover...
- God's holiness is still inclusive.
- Holiness extends to the things with which He is involved, so as every Sabbath brings you in touch with the holiness of God, every Sabbath it is possible for you to violate or to affirm His holiness.
- Holiness also extends to the people with whom He is involved, so just as God has declared you holy, you must become holy by purifying your life of whatever is displeasing to Him.
God's holiness is still inclusive.You may not understand all the intricacies of the sacrificial system as Leviticus describes them, but this book can help you to appreciate what it means that God is holy and why it is that He calls you to be holy. The Holiness of God must be evident in the people of God. So, how are you becoming holy?
For the Bibliography and Endnotes, see the pdf here.
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Jim Skaggs