Forgiveness of Sins Talk Show – Leviticus & N.T.

Forgiveness of Sins Talk Show

Leviticus & N.T.

re-told by Debbie Dunn

Story Highlights:

* Rituals performed by Children of Israel to receive God's forgiveness of sins

* Scapegoat ceremony performed by Israelite priests from time of Moses

* Through the crucifixion of Jesus, He saved His believers from their sins

TALK SHOW DISCUSSION

HOST: Guest, I see you have a poster called 'FORGIVENESS OF SINS.' Why did you choose that topic?

 

Talk Show Guest: It's because of the March or April holiday.

Please note: If this talk show is used after Easter or long before Easter, then adjust the question to read: “It is because of the religious holiday that we usually celebrate in either March or April.”

Question: What is the holiday that happens this Sunday?
OR
What is the religious holiday that happens in either March or April?

Answer: Easter

Question: What do we call the Friday that falls before Easter?

Answer: Good Friday

Question: About 2000 years ago, who was crucified on Friday and rose again on Sunday?

Answer: Jesus

Question: When Jesus volunteered to be crucified, what did He die to save us from?

Answer: Our sins

HOST: Guest, we probably all understand that the bottom half of this poster is about Jesus. But what is happening in the top half of this poster?

 

Talk Show Guest: The top half of the poster represents sins committed by any of the Israelites during the time of Moses.

 

HOST: How long ago was that?

Question: Moses lived 1500 years before Jesus. Jesus lived 2000 years ago. So, 1500 plus 2000 = how many years ago did Moses live?

Answer: 1500 + 2000 = 3500

Talk Show Guest: Right. Moses lived about 3500 years ago.

HOST: Okay. So, if one of those Israelite moms or dads or kids sinned, what did the family need to do?

 

Talk Show Guest: Great question. Since they did not want to die for their sins, they needed to choose a substitute to die in their place. Their substitute would be a lamb that was free of blemishes.

Question: What do you think it means for a lamb to be free of blemishes?

Answer: No physical marks or defects

HOST: After picking out a lamb with no marks or defects, what did they have to do next?

 

Talk Show Guest: They had to bring that lamb to the priest. Then, in front of the priest and any witnesses, they would say, "I confess I have sinned. This is what I did wrong." Then, they would list their sins.

Question: What kinds of sins do you think they might have committed back then? [accept 3 answers]

Answer: Stole something, Coveted somebody's possession, Spread mean gossip or false rumors, etc.

HOST: What was the third step?

 

Talk Show Guest: They would place their hands on top of the lamb's head. Then, they would imagine that all their sins entered the perfect body of the lamb.

HOST: What was the final step?

 

Talk Show Guest: Then, the priest would sacrifice the lamb by killing it.

HOST: Yikes! That lamb was innocent of committing sins, but it had to die for that family's sins anyway.

Question: Who else was innocent of committing any sins, but died anyway?

Answer: Jesus

HOST: Guest, tell us about the Scapegoat ceremony.

 

Talk Show Guest: Once a year, on the Day of Atonement, the High Priest would choose a scapegoat. He would imagine transferring every sin committed by any of the Israelites in the previous year into this goat. Then, another priest would take this scapegoat, supposedly full of everybody's sins, miles away into the wilderness.

HOST: What would happen if the goat came back?

 

Talk Show Guest: It's not in the Bible, but there is a Jewish tradition that states that the Israelites would panic and say, "Oh, no! Our sins are returning to us." So, to keep that from happening, the priest started to push the goat off the top of a mountain to its death.

HOST: Yikes! Poor goat! So, how often would they do this scapegoat ceremony?

 

Talk Show Guest: They would do this once a year from the time of Moses.

HOST: So that leads us to the bottom half of the poster. Tell us about that.

 

Talk Show Guest: The bottom half of the poster is all about Jesus. As John the Baptist said, "Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"

Question: Let's get a volunteer to read John 3:16.

Answer:
John 3:16 For this is how God loved the world:
He gave His one and only Son,
so that everyone who believes in Him
will not perish but have eternal life. (NLT)

HOST: So, how did Jesus save us from our sins?

 

Talk Show Guest: Short answer. As it says in Romans 6:23, "the wages of sin is death."

 

But instead of us having to die for our sins and go to hell, Jesus volunteered to be our substitute. Even though He never sinned during the 33 years He spent on earth, He was willing to die in our place.

 

And because He was crucified on the cross and rose again 3 days later in that tomb, as long as we confess our sins, do our best not to sin again, and accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are saved from our sins and can spend eternity in Heaven.

 

In conclusion, as it states in 1 Peter 1:19, we are saved by the "precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God."

Question: Are there any questions or comments?

Please note: These are Bible stories we use with the girls at our Wednesday night Youth Outreach program sponsored by West Highland Baptist Church in Athens, Alabama. The pastor uses his own material when working with the boys. I also use these Bible stories with the Youth Sunday School class I co-teach.

Are you a Bible enthusiast or do you lead a Youth Group or Family Bible Study? To get a FREE PDF download of this story, click on this link below:

Free PDF download of Forgiveness of Sins Talk Show.

Do you want more stories about Moses? If so, visit the MOSES chapter from my EXPLORE BIBLE STORY dot org website.

Click here to get more stories about Moses.

My ever-expanding Explore Bible Story dot org website includes Bible stories and Biblical Family Trees about

• Creation, Adam, & his Descendants
• Noah, the Ark, & the Flood
• Abraham & Sarah
• Isaac & Rebekah, Esau & Jacob
• Jacob & his 4 wives
• 12 sons of Jacob who became known as the 12 Tribes of Israel
• Moses who was from the line of Levi
• Joshua who became leader of Israelites after death of Moses
• 12 Judges of Israel including Deborah, Gideon, & Samson
• Kings of Israel including Saul, David, & Solomon
• 4 Major Prophets of Israel: Isaiah, Daniel, Jeremiah, Ezekiel
• 12 Minor Prophets of Israel
• More Prophets of Israel: Samuel, Nathan, Elijah, & Elisha
• Women from Old & New Testament
• Jesus Christ, our Messiah, Lord, Savior, & King of king
• 12 Disciples of Jesus
• Apostle Paul & other Significant Followers of Christ
• Triune God: God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit
• The Free Gift of Salvation & The Sinner's Prayer
• About Website: Explore Bible Story.org
• About the author: Debbie Dunn