Journal Through the Bible: Week 19 Thursday

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Leviticus chapter 19

What did holy living look like? It looked pretty much like Jesus affirmed it to be in the gospels. First, love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. And second, because you do love God, love your neighbor as yourself.  Until God spelled it out in minute detail no one had any idea how to go about it. Even when we do have the minute details we are incapable of doing them! Sin still distorts our ability to perfectly follow God's description of holy living.

Included in God's plan for holy living and loving the neighbors was a welfare system that allowed anyone who needed food to gather it out of designated areas in nearby fields or vineyards. What a great idea! God designed the original Food Bank! If landowners left some of the harvest out in the field, orchards, and vineyards for the poor and the poor would gather it for themselves, all would be adequately fed from God's sufficient bounty.

Does God make any promises in this chapter?

• Those that followed God's guidelines would be considered holy. (No human could follow them perfectly, however, except the God/Man Jesus Christ. And that was the point God was making.)
• Those who ate the peace offering sacrifice on the third day would bear their iniquity because the hallowed sacrifice would be profaned. (In other words, God promised there would be no peace!)

Are there any references to Jesus?

• As previously mentioned, Jesus was holy and exhibited actions that demonstrated all of the criterion necessary to be declared holy.
• The peace-offering sacrifice was not to be eaten on the third day but was to be burned. As stated in previous posts, Jesus was the peace offering and He arose on the third day. Any death sacrifice that portrayed the Messiah could not be used longer than the length of time Jesus spent in the tomb! (Plus, there is that problem of corruption, or decay. Jesus' body was not allowed to suffer corruption.)

Are there any references to future events?

• These standards of righteousness will be the law when Christ reigns on the earth in the Millennium. Most of them will no longer apply on the New Earth since no one could be poor and there definitely are not going to be any physical defects like blindness. But those that deal with getting along well with neighbors and honoring God completely will be standard behavior. (We really have no idea what it is like to even have thoughts cross our minds, let alone how to interact with our God and our neighbors, apart from the sin nature that permeates our being! It makes it difficult for us to picture eternity unhindered by sin!)

Does God issue any commands?

• First and foremost God commands the people to be holy because their God is holy. A list then is given of what the actions would be that indicate holiness: respect of parents, keeping the sabbaths, not worshiping idols, making free-will peace offering to God
• The corners of the fields should be left for the poor to reap and that some of the grapes in the vineyard be left for the poor to gather. This work-fare system was God's way of providing welfare for the poor.
• God commanded honesty in all dealings including not stealing, not lying, not defrauding, not withholding pay to a hired laborer, and not falsely swearing using God's name as a witness.
• No one was to make the deaf or blind the target of practical jokes.
• God commanded honest judgment untainted by bribery.
• Gossip was not allowed!
• Hatred and retaliation were forbidden.
• Animals were to be kept purebred and not hybridized.
• Seed for planting was not to be hybridized.
• Fabric was not to be of mixed yarn, specifically linen and wool.
• A man that seduced a bondwoman had to offer a trespass offering and the woman was scourged.
• The fruit of newly planted fruit trees was not allowed to be eaten at all for three years, the fruit of the fourth year was to be offered to the LORD, but the fruit from the fifth year onward was allowed to be eaten.
• Witchcraft and astrology were forbidden.
• Disfiguring marks on the head, cutting oneself in grief, and tattoos were forbidden.
• Their children were not to be sold into prostitution.
• The elderly were to be honored and respected.
• Strangers were to be allowed to live safely and treated hospitably. 
• Scales and measures were to be honest.

Journal Through the Bible: Week 19 Wednesday

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Leviticus 17:10-18:30

When it comes to marriage, love is not reason enough to enter it! Theologians and non-theologians alike have long argued (and are still arguing) about God's views of marriage and/or the relations that were intended to be reserved for marriage (this is a family friendly blog and I intend to choose my words carefully).

God deals with some controversial topics in this passage. Even King Henry VIII used chapter 18 in order to rid himself of Catharine of Aragon, his brother's widow whom he took as his own wife until he grew tired of her. The Church of England started as a result of his "understanding" of chapter 18.

Why did God choose such a time as this in the history of the young Hebrew nation to institute certain laws about who could produce children together? After all, hadn't it been a tradition throughout the history of the Hebrews that they would marry close relatives? Well, yes. And if this continued it was going to be a problem genetically. (Abraham and Sarah were half-siblings; Isaac and Rebekah were first cousins once removed; Jacob and his wives, Leah and Rachel, were first cousins. Even Moses' parents were aunt and nephew. Everyone's genealogy led back to Abraham's father, Terah.)

If you look at a standard family tree you will see that it branches out as you go farther back in generations and time. It keeps doubling. For instance, there are spaces for 2 parents, 4 grandparents, 8 great-grandparents, and so on. Theoretically if one could keep tracing his family tree back far enough one would find that the spaces allotted to a certain generation would exceed the earth's population at that given time. Eventually there would of necessity be the repetition of names upon the family tree. In other words, we're all related because there were only so many people from whom we all descend. The problem isn't that we marry relatives. As one human family, we automatically do. The problem is when people continue to breed with relatives that are too closely related to them. Genetic weaknesses can then become dominant. This is why God told the Hebrews to start marrying a bit more distantly than their ancestors had done.

This discussion really isn't as complicated as it sounds. This is why there are differing breeds of horses, dogs, cats, etc.  The animals in a certain breed are intentionally closely related in order to pass on certain characteristics. It is also why some animal breeds are having a tough time overcoming inbred weaknesses. After awhile undesired characteristics also become dominant and animals become weak or sickly.

Besides the inbreeding question, God was also telling them not to covet their neighbor's wife, close relative or not. The Apostle Paul had to deal with this situation many years later in the city of Corinth and what a mess that was!

There were also laws concerning taking wives that were closely related to each other. One can only imagine how the conflict that raged between Leah and Rachel figured into this ordinance! Although God never intended polygamy, He allowed it when it happened, probably as a means of protecting the children that resulted from the union. It is a system that caused jealousy and fighting whether the wives were related to each other or not, but it would be so much better than what we see today where people take liberties with many partners. They birth children for whom the parents provide few of life's necessities. Many of these children do not even know their biological father! Those children then grow up to be adults who have no idea how closely related they are to other members of their community and are at risk of unintentionally having children with close biological relatives.  (As someone wisely put it, we should all be thankful for the invention of the automobile and the way it introduced new bloodlines into our genealogies!)

Does God make any promises in this passage?

• God promised to "cut off" (destroy?) any person living among the Hebrews that ate the blood of animals.
• God promised that they would live if the Hebrews would keep His laws and not those of the Egyptians or Canaanites.
• God promised to throw out the inhabitants of Canaan because they were guilty of all the abominations that He forbid the Hebrews to do concerning marital relationships.
• God promised that if the Hebrews practiced those abominations the land of Canaan would spew them out also.

Are there any references to Jesus?

• Not specifically, but whenever we read a passage full of "Ye shall . . ." we know He did! And when we read a passage full of "Ye shall not . . ." we know He didn't!

Are there any references to future events?

• This passage dealt with the issues of shedding an animal's blood. There will be no animal blood shed in the eternal state (specifically, the New Earth) because there will be no death.
• This passage dealt with marital relationships and the passing along of a genetic code. Someday, many years from now (at least 1,000!), the last human baby will be born. There will no longer be reproduction of the human species. In eternity, all people who have ever existed will be separated into two groups: those who trusted Jesus as their savior and those that did not. Those who trusted will spend eternity with Him. Those who did not will spend an eternity in torment.

Does God issue any commands?

• God emphatically charged that no one who lived among the Hebrews be allowed to eat the blood of an animal!
• God commanded hunters that the blood of a slain animal be poured onto the ground and covered with dirt.
• God commanded that anyone that ate an animal that died from unknown causes or as prey of another animal should wash himself and his clothing and be unclean until the evening.
• God commanded that they not follow the laws of Egypt or Canaan but follow His laws.
• God commanded that no one have marital relations with a close blood relative.
• God commanded that no one sacrifice his children in the fire to idols. (Children are the heritage of the LORD [Psalm 127] and are to be raised to encourage them to offer themselves to Him as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable  [ Romans 12:1].)
• God commanded that the marital relationship be between a man and a woman. Anything else is termed an abomination.
• God commanded that there be no impure relationship with animals. (God had commanded people to care for His animals, not do abominable things with them.)

Journal Through the Bible: Week 19 Tuesday

courtesy of Christian Clip Art

Leviticus 16:1-17:9

Does God make any promises?

• God said that He would appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat on the Ark of the Covenant within the most holy place.
• God said that He would consider clean those who offered their sacrifices through the high priest on the Day of Atonement.
• God said He would destroy anyone who offered the blood of an animal to an idol or devil.

Are there any references to Jesus?

• The bullock of the sin offering was a picture of Jesus, the acceptable atonement for sin.
• The goats were both pictures of Jesus. The one upon which the LORD's lot fell was to be a burnt offering for sins. The second, the scapegoat, was to be presented alive to God and then let go into the wilderness. Not only was Jesus a scapegoat for us because He had no sins of His own for which He had to atone, but He died but was then alive. These goats picture the death and resurrection of Jesus.
• Unlike Aaron, Jesus did not need to atone for His own sins so Aaron was an imperfect high priest but Jesus is our perfect High Priest. (The book of Hebrews makes this clear.)
• Even the tabernacle and its equipment were not without fault since they were made by men so they had to be atoned for by the priest. Since our bodies are called tabernacles and temples of God (the place where God dwells) in the New Testament, the atoning sacrifice for the tabernacle itself was a picture of Jesus' atonement for our earthly bodies.
• There are several places designated for certain functions during the Day of Atonement ceremonies. On the day of Jesus' crucifixion He ministered in all those places as our high priest: within the most holy place, within the tabernacle of His body, outside the camp.
• The Day of Atonement was a picture of the Day of Crucifixion. It was a day of mourning, suffering, and sorrow. Such was that day for Jesus.
• There was only ONE WAY of sacrifice that was acceptable to God. (17:1-9) There is only ONE WAY to God now and that is Jesus Christ! (John 14:6)

Are there any references to future events?

• The imagery of the priest making an atonement for the physical tabernacle is one that depicts Jesus atoning for our physical bodies. Paul discusses in First Corinthians 15 (see particularly verses 35-58) that Jesus paid the atonement even for our corrupt physical bodies in order to make them incorruptible in the resurrection.
• The yearly Day of Atonement was meant as a day of grief for the people to help them realize that they were sinners who needed a savior. After their day of acknowledging they needed blood to be shed to atone for them they were to go about the rest of their days with joy knowing that their Redeemer was coming! As Christians, our sins cause grief and we need a Savior. We acknowledge our sins, repent of them, thank God for the atoning blood of Jesus given for them, and then look forward with rejoicing to the return of our Redeemer!

Does God issue any commands?

• God gave commandment to Aaron, the high priest, not to come into the most holy place within the vail except once a year, the Day of Atonement.
• God commanded that the high priest first make sacrifices to atone for his own sins before making the atonement for the people.
• God commanded Aaron to bring coals from off the altar and handfuls of sweet incense within the vail of the most holy place. The cloud of smoke was to cover the mercy seat. Then the blood of the bullock was to be sprinkled toward the east and then seven times in front of the mercy seat.
• God commanded Aaron to offer the atonement for the tabernacle itself after he had offered the atonement for his own sins.
• God commanded that Aaron offer an atonement for the sins of the people after he had offered one for the tabernacle.
• God commanded that Aaron remove his linen garments after putting his hands upon the head of the people's scapegoat and sending someone with it out into the wilderness. He was to wash before putting on his clothing. The man who took the goat out to the wilderness was also to wash himself and his clothes outside the camp before returning.
• God commanded that someone should carry out of the camp the bullock and the goat that were offered as the sin offering and whose blood made the atonement and burn them. Then that person was to wash himself and his clothing before returning to the camp.
• God commanded that the Day of Atonement be a day of serious introspection for the people. It was to be a day of grief when they examined themselves to remember their sins.
• God commanded that sacrifices be properly offered to God by the high priest and not privately offered to idols or devils by individuals. Just as there were certain standards for the offering of incense (as Nadab and Abihu discovered) there were standards for shedding the blood of an animal as a sacrifice.

Journal Through the Bible: Week 19 Monday

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Leviticus chapter 15

This can be a very embarrassing chapter to read because it deals with bodily fluids, but it is also very practical. When it comes to health it is well-known that bodily discharges carry germs. It's as simple as that. And yet, it is quite profound that the Great Physician (and Great Creator) gave the Hebrews detailed instructions about how to protect themselves from those great germ carriers: mucus and blood!

Does God make any promises in this chapter?

• The implication at the end of the chapter is that the people would be clean and acceptable if they followed God's rules of hygiene.

Are there any references to Jesus?

• None that I specifically noted, but as the possessor of a perfect, sinless human being Jesus' body would not have spread toxic germs through mucus or blood. He also would not have been contaminated by the germs carried by others which means He would have had a perfect immune system. His body was not subject to any part of the death sentence of sin except for when he willingly gave Himself to die on the cross. Then his body would have eventually suffered the corruption of decay since it had been touched by the sin curse. But since He arose before His body had time to decay His body did not suffer corruption as Old Testament scripture stated. (*NOTE: This is one of the reasons why the priests were told to burn any uneaten meat on the third day: see Leviticus chapter 7! Not only was it to keep the priests free from food poisoning, but Jesus' body was only dead for three days and was not corrupted. The sacrifice, which was a type of Christ, was not to be a sacrifice past that point because Jesus' body did not remain dead. The May 6, 2013 post was recently updated to reflect this. )

Are there any references to future events?

• No, but is clear that there will be no issues with communicable diseases spread pathologically because everything will be free of sin, disease, and the results of them.

Does God issue any commands?

• God told Moses and Aaron that whenever a man's body had a discharge he was unclean and anywhere that the man slept or sat was also unclean until washed. Caretakers were also unclean (contaminated).
• God commanded diligent handwashing! (see verse 11)
• God stated that earthen pots were to be broken if they were used by the sick man but wooden dishes could be sanitized by washing.
• God said that the man and his clothing should be washed thoroughly in running water seven days after the discharge ended. The sacrifice of two turtledoves or pigeons was commanded on the eighth day for a sin offering and a burnt offering.
• God gave instructions for cleanliness following marital relations.
• God gave specific instructions for women experiences their menses. 
• She would be unclean for seven days after it ended. Then on the eighth day she would bring two turtledoves or pigeons to be offered as a sin offering and a burnt offering.