What does Tribe teach about god's holiness?
Drawn from the messages where it was actually addressed: the words said from the front, the passages taught, and where to hear the whole thing.
At Tribe, the teaching on God's holiness starts with a frame most people do not realize they are carrying. Brian Hunter points out that the ancient pagan world assumed the gods were dangerous and had to be constantly appeased, and that most people quietly bring that same assumption into the Bible. The result is a picture of an angry God who barely tolerates people as long as sacrifice keeps coming. Brian says that picture could not be further from the truth. God's holiness is not a threat to be managed. It is the very thing that makes real relationship with Him remarkable, because a perfectly holy God had to design a way to dwell among people who are not.
That design is what Leviticus is about. Brian has described it as a divine blueprint for holiness, showing Israel, and really everyone, how to create a sacred environment where God can dwell among His people. The fire that fell in Leviticus 9 and consumed the offering is the same fire that fell in Leviticus 10 and consumed Nadab and Abihu. The holiness of God is not selective or mild. It is the same quality whether it meets a sacrifice or a priest offering something God did not ask for. Brian gave the congregation permission to ask why, but also pushed back on that as the most productive question, noting that God does not owe anyone an explanation for anything He does.
The blood of sacrifice in this framework is not about satisfying an angry God's demand for payment. It is something God Himself designed so that people could draw close to Him. Brian says, "God has provided an incredible, beautiful way for us to have intimate relationship with God." And that way comes at a cost. As Brian put it, "For a life giving relationship with God, something has to die." The holiness of God is what makes that cost necessary, and also what makes the provision of Jesus so weighty.
Taught from Leviticus 9:18-24 · Leviticus 10:1-6 · Leviticus 3:1-17 · 1 John 4:9-10 · Leviticus 17:11
“God has provided an incredible, beautiful way for us to have intimate relationship with God.”
From The Sin Offering
The passage taught · 1 John 4:9-10
9 By this God’s love was revealed in us, that God has sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.
10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
World English Bible
The messages that teach on it
- March 3, 2025 The Sin Offering Leviticus 3 shows that God designed blood sacrifice not to satisfy his anger but to draw us into intimate relationship with him.
- February 23, 2025 Finding Jesus in Leviticus A pastor and congregation wrestle with Leviticus 9-10 and Hebrews 9 to ask how a holy, consuming God can love sinful people without ever compromising his holiness.
Mentioned along the way
- February 16, 2025 The Series: Two Men Enter, One Man Leaves A Jackson Hole pastor opens a series on Leviticus and Galatians, exploring why something must die for a life-giving relationship with God to begin.