Journal Through the Bible: Week 19 Friday

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Leviticus 20:1-21:15

Today's promises are mostly in the form of curses which are not exactly the kind of promises we want fulfilled, but the kind deserved by those who fail to keep God's statutes. The same God who promised good to those who obey Him promised punishment for those who disobey Him.

Does God make any promises?

• God promised to turn His face away from any man that profaned His name and defiled His sanctuary by sacrificing his child to an idol.
• God also promised to turn His face away from anyone who knew someone who did the wicked act of sacrificing his child to an idol and did nothing about it!
• God promised to cut off the individual that would seek the advice of fortune tellers and demon possessed individuals.
• God promised that if they would follow His standards of righteousness they would inherit the land and live in it safely but if they would not the land itself would spit them out much like what was happening to the current inhabitants.

Are there any references to Jesus?

•  Romans 5:8-9 says that Jesus died for us while we were sinners (the type of people who did the unholy works that made God angry) and justified us so that we need not fear the wrath of God (those promised punishments).
• The priests were commanded not to grieve in an unholy manner. To do so would signify anger toward the will of a sovereign God and would also be a demonstration that the bereaved did not believe in the resurrection. If anyone should exhibit hope in immortality it should be the spiritual leaders of the people! Jesus said that He is the resurrection and the life. Death and resulting grief are our biggest enemies and Jesus conquered them. God's people are not to grieve in the same manner as those that have no hope.
• God promised to turn His face away from the wicked. Jesus had no wickedness but took ours upon Himself. The result was that God turned His face away from Jesus when He became sin for us.
• The priests' marriages were to pure. This was a holy picture used with meaning both in the Old and New testaments. God described Himself to be the bridegroom and Israel His bride (who proved to be unfaithful: see Hosea  and Ezekiel chapter 16); Jesus is compared to a bridegroom in His relationship to the New Jerusalem in Revelations chapters 21 and 22, to the churches in Ephesians chapter 5, as well as to each individual believer in John 3:29 and Matthew 25:1-6. 
• As our high priest, Jesus was above reproach in manners of relationships. That is one reason why  conjecture about Jesus being married to a mortal woman and having children as a result of that union is blasphemous.
• Jesus made it clear in His teachings that we cannot become citizens of His kingdom unless we become like little children. Whenever He was near them He treated them kindly and cared well for them. He obviously had a high opinion of them and their place in life, considering them an important picture of what His followers should be like. Is it any wonder then that God would be angry with anyone who would abuse children especially parents who would sacrifice them to devils or imaginary gods?

Are there any references to future events?

• None of these profane circumstances will be part of our life in eternity. Unholiness will no longer exist because the High Priest, Jesus Christ, abolished them. Then the King of Kings, Jesus Christ, will reign in righteousness forever and we, His subjects, will no longer bear the torment of sins within our mortal bodies.

Does God issue any commands?

• God commanded that any that put their children to death as a sacrifice to Molech should be stoned to death themselves.
• God commanded the Hebrews to be set apart and holy by refusing the abominable practices of child sacrifice and divination.
• God commanded death to anyone that cursed his parents.
• God commanded adulterers to be put to death. This included other marital relationship sins such as incest, same gender relations, and animals.
• God commanded that they abstain from marital relations during a woman's menses. 
• God commanded that those who were possessed by spirits be put to death.
• God commanded that the priests not be defiled for any of his deceased family members except for those of his immediate family. (This command concerns touching a dead body.)
• God commanded the priests not to cut their flesh, shave their heads or beards, or do any of the other things that the ungodly did at the time of grief. 
• The priests were not to take a wife with a notorious past.
• God commanded that the high priest not be defiled for any person, even in the death of an immediate family member.
• God commanded the high priest to take a wife from among women who were without reproach.
• God commanded the high priest to abstain from any profanity when it came to his children. Purity was to be the standard!