Conviction Versus Eviction

July 12, 2023July 13, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

²²“You shall therefore keep all my statutes and all my rules and do them, that the land where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out. ²³And you shall not walk in the customs of the nation that I am driving out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I detested them. ²⁴But I have said to you, ‘You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey.’ I am the Lord your God, who has separated you from the peoples. ²⁵You shall therefore separate the clean beast from the unclean, and the unclean bird from the clean. You shall not make yourselves detestable by beast or by bird or by anything with which the ground crawls, which I have set apart for you to hold unclean. ²⁶You shall be holy to me, for I the Lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.

²⁷“A man or a woman who is a medium or a necromancer shall surely be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones; their blood shall be upon them.” – Leviticus 20:22-27 ESV

Long before the Israelites entered the land of Canaan, God warned them that their stay there would be a short one if they failed to keep His commands. And God used very graphic terms to describe the consequences of their disobedience.

“You must keep all my decrees and regulations by putting them into practice; otherwise the land to which I am bringing you as your new home will vomit you out.” – Leviticus 20:22 NLT

This rather grotesque-sounding eviction notice was intended to underscore the vile nature of the moral conditions in Canaan. Back in chapter 18, God used the same terminology to explain why He was planning to expel the land’s current occupants.

“Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, for the people I am driving out before you have defiled themselves in all these ways. Because the entire land has become defiled, I am punishing the people who live there. I will cause the land to vomit them out.” – Leviticus 18:24-25 NLT

According to God, the inhabitants of Canaan were guilty of all the sexual sins and morally repugnant behaviors He had just banned the Israelites from participating in. The lifestyle of the Canaanites was in direct opposition to the will of God and their presence in the land had left it defiled. The various people groups who had taken up residence in Canaan, including the Hivites, Girgashites, Jebusites, Amorites, Hittites, and Perizzites, were guilty of every one of the atrocities God had banned. Their immoral behavior had so “sickened” the land, that it was going to vomit them up in search of relief. The Hebrew word can literally be translated, “to vomit up, spue out, disgorge.”

Back in chapter 18, God described the land as being “defiled.” The Hebrew word is טָמֵא (ṭāmē’), and it means “to be foul, especially in a ceremonial or moral sense (contaminated)” (“H2930 – ṭāmē’ – Strong’s Hebrew Lexicon (kjv).” Blue Letter Bible. Web. 12 Jul, 2023. <https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h2930/kjv/wlc/0-1/>). And God went on to explain that the land had become contaminated by the presence of the Canaanites. Their own defilement had left the land in a foul and morally corrupt state, leaving God with no other choice but to evict or disgorge the sickness from the land. And God warned the Israelites about mimicking the ways of the Canaanites.

“You must not imitate their way of life.” – Leviticus 18:2 NLT

Instead, the Israelites were to obey His decrees and regulations, so that they might “find life through them” (Leviticus 18:5 NLT). Rather than infecting the land with further moral sickness, the Israelites were to rejuvenate the land by living in obedience to the will of God. God reminds the Israelites that Canaan was the land of promise, an inheritance passed down from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

“I have promised you, ‘You will possess their land because I will give it to you as your possession—a land flowing with milk and honey.’ I am the Lord your God, who has set you apart from all other people.’” – Leviticus 20:24 NLT

This rich, fertile land was intended to be a gift from God, but its fruitfulness had been diminished by the sinful exploits of the Canaanites. Their degraded behavior had left a stain on the land. But even in its morally compromised state, Canaan was to be the future home of God’s people, just as God had promised to Moses as his calling.

“I have promised to rescue you from your oppression in Egypt. I will lead you to a land flowing with milk and honey—the land where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites now live.” – Exodus 3:17 NLT

God had kept His word and rescued the Israelites from their captivity in Egypt. He had led them to Mount Sinai, where He gave them the law, His plans for the Tabernacle, and the instructions concerning the sacrificial system. But Sinai was a temporary stop in their journey east. Their real destination was Canaan and God was going to keep His promise to give them the land as their possession.

Centuries earlier, after God had called Abraham out of Ur and led him to the land of Canaan, He revealed the future fate of His servant’s descendants.

“Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years.” – Genesis 15:13 ESV

God predicted the Israelite’s 400-year stay in Egypt. But God also promised their eventual return to the land of Canaan.

“And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” – Genesis 15:16 ESV

God knew in advance that, during the Israelite’s absence from Canaan, the Amorites and all their pagan peers would turn the promised land into a moral wasteland. They would have four centuries to degrade and defile the land that God had set apart as the inheritance of Abraham’s offspring. And long before Moses and the people of Israel reached Sinai, God had assured His servant Abraham that the ownership of land would one day change hands.

“To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.” – Genesis 15:18-21 ESV

But there was one condition:

“You must keep all my decrees and regulations by putting them into practice; otherwise the land to which I am bringing you as your new home will vomit you out.” – Leviticus 20:22 NLT

If the Israelites dared to emulate the ways of the Canaanites, they would face the same fate. Their set-apart status as God’s chosen people would not immunize them from God’s judgment. If they failed to obey His commands, they too would face eviction from the land. God wanted them to understand that their privileged position as His treasured possession came with expectations.

“I am the Lord your God, who has set you apart from all other people.” – Leviticus 20:24 NLT

God had “separated” them from all the other nations on earth. The Hebrew word is בָּדַל (bāḏal), and it means “to make a distinction or difference.” God had culled them from the rest of the nations, not because they were unique or deserving of His attention, but because He had determined to use them as an example of His grace, mercy, and love. He was going to do for them what they could never have accomplished on their own. He would set them apart, distinguishing them from the other nations by providing them with His laws to regulate their conduct, the Tabernacle to determine their worship, and the sacrificial system to maintain their right standing with Him. All of these things would set them apart as His chosen people. But none of it mattered if they failed to live up to their calling.

The Israelites were no different or better than the Hivites, Girgashites, Jebusites, Amorites, Hittites, and Perizzites. The only thing that distinguished them from the pagan occupants of Canaan was their relationship with Yahweh. They had been chosen by Him to serve as His “kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Leviticus 19:6 ESV). But it was obedience to His commands that would truly set them apart. God had no use for disobedience priests of an unholy nation. The land of Canaan was already filled with those kinds of people. That’s why God reminds the Israelites, “You must be holy because I, the Lord, am holy. I have set you apart from all other people to be my very own” (Leviticus 20:26 NLT).

God didn’t want the Israelites to misunderstand. Yes, holiness can be viewed as a status conferred by God. The Hebrew word for “holy” is קָדוֹשׁ (qāḏôš), and can be translated as “set apart” or “consecrated.” God had separated the Israelites from the rest of the nations by deeming them to be His treasured possession. But their set-apart status required a distinctive set of behaviors. As His kingdom of priests and His holy nation, they were expected to live in a way that differentiated them from everyone else on the planet. Holiness isn’t just a status, it is a calling, and it requires purity, commitment, obedience, and faithfulness. Holiness is an all-encompassing lifestyle that demonstrates one’s allegiance to and love for God. The apostle Peter describes it this way:

So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.” – 1 Peter 1:13-16 NLT

God had redeemed Israel out of captivity, given them His law, provided the Tabernacle as His earthly dwelling place, and instituted the sacrificial system as a means of atoning for their sins and maintaining their ongoing access to His power and presence. But they were going to have to live as who they were: His holy people. Otherwise, they would eventually suffer the same fate as the Canaanites.

There is an interesting parallel to this passage found in the story of Jonah. This prophet of God had been ordered to travel to Ninevah in order to deliver a message.

“…go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.” – Jonah 1:2 ESV

But Jonah refused to obey God. Fearing that God’s message might result in the repentance of the wicked people of Ninevah, Jonah ran the other direction. He ended up on a ship, was caught in a storm, was cast into the sea by the sailors, and swallowed by a great fish. But what happens next is the truly interesting part. It seems that his time in the fish’s stomach brought Jonah to his senses and he prayed to God. But God’s means of deliverance was far from flattering or dignified. Notice what the text says:

And the LORD spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land. – Jonah 2:10 ESV

That is the same Hebrew word used in Leviticus 20. God had the fish “vomit” or unceremoniously disgorge Jonah onto dry land. Jonah’s disobedience made the fish sick. And God warns the people of Israel that the same fate awaits them if they fail to keep His commands. But in their case, it will be the land itself that vomits them up. And God ends this section with a statement that appears somewhat out of place.

“Men and women among you who act as mediums or who consult the spirits of the dead must be put to death by stoning. They are guilty of a capital offense.” – Leviticus 20:27 NLT

But this summary statement appears to be a not-so-subtle reminder that holiness is tied directly to obedience. The ways of the wicked are to be avoided at all costs. God’s lengthy list of prohibitions is meant to be obeyed, down to the last detail. God would not tolerate any concessions or compromises. And neither will Jesus. In His words to the church in Laodicea, recorded in the book of Revelation, Jesus has some strong words concerning their failure to remain wholeheartedly committed to His will.

“I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!” – Revelation 3:15-16 NLT

The half-hearted obedience of His people is enough to make Jesus sick. Holiness demands a sold-out commitment to living set-apart lives that reveal the transformative power of God’s Word and will.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Self-Destructive Nature of Self-Determination

July 11, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹⁰“If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. ¹¹If a man lies with his father’s wife, he has uncovered his father’s nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them. ¹²If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death; they have committed perversion; their blood is upon them. ¹³If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them. ¹⁴If a man takes a woman and her mother also, it is depravity; he and they shall be burned with fire, that there may be no depravity among you. ¹⁵If a man lies with an animal, he shall surely be put to death, and you shall kill the animal. ¹⁶If a woman approaches any animal and lies with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.

¹⁷“If a man takes his sister, a daughter of his father or a daughter of his mother, and sees her nakedness, and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace, and they shall be cut off in the sight of the children of their people. He has uncovered his sister’s nakedness, and he shall bear his iniquity. ¹⁸If a man lies with a woman during her menstrual period and uncovers her nakedness, he has made naked her fountain, and she has uncovered the fountain of her blood. Both of them shall be cut off from among their people. ¹⁹You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister or of your father’s sister, for that is to make naked one’s relative; they shall bear their iniquity. ²⁰If a man lies with his uncle’s wife, he has uncovered his uncle’s nakedness; they shall bear their sin; they shall die childless. ²¹If a man takes his brother’s wife, it is impurity. He has uncovered his brother’s nakedness; they shall be childless.” – Leviticus 20:10-21 ESV

Once again, chapter 20 mirrors chapter 18 but with one very important difference. While the earlier chapter contains a series of laws prohibiting immoral sexual activity, chapter 20 provides God’s judgments against any violations of those laws. To ensure that His covenant people took His commands seriously, God let them know exactly what the punishment would be if they chose to disobey.

That God had to go cover such a wide range of sexual sins reveals that He knew the scope of the dangers facing the Israelites when they arrived in Canaan. Yahweh was well aware of the decadent and depraved lifestyles of the land’s pagan inhabitants who regularly engaged in everything from adultery and incest to homosexuality and bestiality. He also knew that His chosen people would find the Canaanite’s no-holds-barred approach to sex to be highly alluring. Despite His clearly defined bans on such behavior, the Israelites would be tempted to adopt the more “progressive” ways of their more liberal neighbors. So, God let His people know the deadly consequences they would face if they chose to ignore His commands and emulate the ways of the lawless and licentious Canaanites.

In each case, the penalty was the same: Death. In the case of adultery, both the man and the woman were to face capital punishment. Their violation of God’s command concerning the sanctity of marriage was not to be taken lightly. From the very beginning, God had proclaimed, “a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24 ESV). Jesus picked up on this theme when He spoke to the Pharisees concerning divorce.

“Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” – Matthew 19:4-6 ESV

The apostle Paul also quoted from Genesis when he called the believing husbands in the city of Ephesus to love their wives as Christ loved the church.

In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” – Ephesians 5:28-31 ESV

The author of Hebrews provides further insight into God’s views on the sanctity of the marriage relationship.

Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. – Hebrews 13:4 ESV

God intended marriage to be between one man and one woman. But a host of aberrations involving human sexual activity had sprung up ever since the fall. Mankind had come up with all kinds of ways to take what God had ordained and pervert it. And the apostle Paul describes how God allowed the deviant desires of fallen humanity to run their course, eventually resulting in the very behaviors outlined in this chapter.

God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved. – Romans 1:26-27 NLT

But the Israelites were to be different. The laws given to them by God were to regulate their behavior and keep them from going down the same sordid path as the rest of the world’s inhabitants. They were not allowed to be promiscuous or perverse in their pursuit of sexual pleasure. Adultery was off-limits. All forms of incest were strictly forbidden. Homosexuality, while acceptable among the pagans, was not to be practiced by God’s people. And something as grotesque and off-putting as bestiality was to be viewed as a direct violation of God’s order of creation.

The important thing to consider is that these activities were being practiced among the inhabitants of Canaan. They were not imaginary or hypothetical cases but real-life examples of human behavior apart from a relationship with God. With no guidance or oversight from the Creator God, mankind was left to operate according to its own selfish and self-satisfying passions.

God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies. – Romans 1:24 NLT

In Canaan, adultery was de rigueur, an everyday part of daily life. It was acceptable and even preferable. Any and all boundaries on sexual activity had long ago been abandoned. Mankind had made recreation the primary purpose behind sex instead of procreation. God’s command to “be fruitful and multiply” had been replaced with the more self-serving mantra of “if it feels good do it.” Everyone was doing what was right in their own eyes and according to their own perverse passions.

This free-for-all behavior among the pagans is what led God to provide His people with detailed laws that prohibited their emulation and carried a high price for any violation. Disobedience was punishable by death because God knew that if this kind of behavior was left unchecked it would spread like cancer among His people. Sexual sin is insatiable and those who engage in it are never satisfied. What was once considered perverse becomes preferable and pleasurable. The taboos of yesterday eventually become tolerable and normal. Nothing is off-limits. No desire is left unmet and no rules are allowed to deny one’s passions.

As always, for God the issue was holiness. His people were to live set-apart lives that mirrored His will and demonstrated His divine plan for humanity. All of the perversions mentioned in this chapter are meant to illustrate just how far the human race had fallen from grace. These immoral behaviors provided ample evidence that humanity had followed the example of the first couple, who in their desire to be like God, succumbed to the enemy’s lies and ate of the forbidden fruit. Adam and Eve sought to know good and evil, the capacity to determine their own moral fate. They longed to be the autonomous arbiters of righteousness, making their own decisions about what was right and wrong. And that dangerous desire for self-determination had plagued mankind ever since. This is why God provided His people with a new and expanded set of laws designed to make it clear that He alone held the right to regulate human behavior.

And in the closing verses of this chapter, God will reiterate His call to holy living. The Israelites had been set apart by God so that they might demonstrate what righteousness looks like in everyday life. Adam and Eve had failed to live in obedience to God’s commands. Now, the nation of Israel had the opportunity to “be fruitful and multiply” in the land of Canaan, demonstrating to the world the benefits and blessings of living according to God’s will rather than the desires of the flesh. But for their lives to stand out, they would have to wholeheartedly buy into God’s commands or suffer the consequences.

Stand Your Ground. Stay the Course.

July 9, 2023July 10, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

²⁶“You shall not eat any flesh with the blood in it. You shall not interpret omens or tell fortunes. ²⁷You shall not round off the hair on your temples or mar the edges of your beard. ²⁸You shall not make any cuts on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves: I am the Lord.

²⁹“Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute, lest the land fall into prostitution and the land become full of depravity. ³⁰You shall keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord.

³¹“Do not turn to mediums or necromancers; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them: I am the Lord your God.

³²“You shall stand up before the gray head and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God: I am the Lord.

³³“When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. ³⁴You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.

³⁵“You shall do no wrong in judgment, in measures of length or weight or quantity. ³⁶You shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. ³⁷And you shall observe all my statutes and all my rules, and do them: I am the Lord.” – Leviticus 19:26-37 ESV

When the Israelites finally arrived in the land of Canaan, they would find themselves facing a myriad of temptations that would put a strain on their relationship with Yahweh. This section of laws was designed to regulate the choices they would make when they inevitably had to interface with the pagan nations of Canaan. They would be entering a land whose preexisting occupants were not followers of Yahweh. According to Deuteronomy 7, when Israel was preparing to enter Canaan for the first time, the land contained seven different nations: The Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.

These distant relatives of the Israelites were the descendants of Ham, one of the sons of Noah, but they had long ago abandoned their worship of Yahweh. As Moses prepared the people of Israel to enter Canaan for the first time, he warned them about the “detestable customs” of the land’s occupants.

“When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, be very careful not to imitate the detestable customs of the nations living there. For example, never sacrifice your son or daughter as a burnt offering. And do not let your people practice fortune-telling, or use sorcery, or interpret omens, or engage in witchcraft, or cast spells, or function as mediums or psychics, or call forth the spirits of the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord. It is because the other nations have done these detestable things that the Lord your God will drive them out ahead of you. ¹³But you must be blameless before the Lord your God. The nations you are about to displace consult sorcerers and fortune-tellers, but the Lord your God forbids you to do such things.” – Deuteronomy 18:9-14 NLT

So, God took time to reemphasize those laws that specifically dealt with the problems associated with Canaan. Verses 26-28 cover behaviors that God has already addressed but that would prove to be very tempting in the land of Canaan because they were prevalent among the seven nations that lived there. God’s ban on the consumption of blood was not practiced by the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, or Jebusites. In fact, many of these groups had their own elaborate religious rituals where they offered blood sacrifices to false gods like Baal and Molech. As part of these rites, the drinking of blood was actually encouraged because it was believed that the blood could endue the worshiper with energy or power.

God warned the Israelites about incorporating any of these cultic practices into their worship or daily lives. Each of the admonitions contained in this passage deals with behaviors that were common practice among the Canaanites and were associated with the worship of their false gods.

“Do not eat meat that has not been drained of its blood. Do not practice fortune-telling or witchcraft. Do not trim off the hair on your temples or trim your beards. Do not cut your bodies for the dead, and do not mark your skin with tattoos. I am the Lord.” – Leviticus 19:26-28 NLT

Superstition and an obsession with the dead pervaded the Canaanite mindset, taking the form of fortune-telling and witchcraft. Ancestor worship and attempts to communicate with the dead were common among the Canaanites. But the Israelites were to have nothing to do with such practices. They were not even to emulate the fashion and hairstyles of their Canaanite neighbors. The reference to trimming the hair of their temples and beards was probably a warning against copying the look of the cultic priests. The Israelites were forbidden to take on the outward characteristics of the pagans, including disfiguring their bodies through ritual scarring or the use of tattoos. All of these things were closely associated with the idolatrous worship of the Canaanites.

“According to Babylonian-Assyrian religion, gods who represented the superior natural forces could be directly influenced by charms and spells to direct their power against evil demons who sought to work ill. This was sacred magic, and embraced under its scope, enchantment, sorcery, incantation, and witchcraft” – W. Carleton Wood, “The Religion of Canaan: From the Earliest Times to the Hebrew Conquest,” Journal of Biblical Literature, 1916, Vol. 35, No. 1/2 (1916), pp. 1-133

Magic, potions, bodily disfigurement, worship of the dead, and the consumption of blood were just a few of the pagan rituals the Israelites would find themselves confronting in the land of Canaan. And God knew they would be tempted to incorporate many of these pagan practices into their worship of Him. But God demanded distinctiveness among His people. He found the practices of the Canaanites abominable and unacceptable because they were associated with the worship of false gods. Everything about these rituals and rites was an affront to Yahweh’s status as the one true God and His chosen people were to have nothing to do with them.

God even had to go so far as to ban Israelite fathers from allowing their daughters to become prostitutes. This is most likely a reference to the practice of cult prostitution that was prevalent among the Canaanites.

“A peculiar feature of the Mesopotamian and Canaanite culture was ritualistic prostitution. To the temples of the goddesses of fertility (Inanna, Ishtar, Astarte) were attached bordellos served by consecrated women who represented the goddess, the female principle of fertility… The existence of sacred prostitutes shows that the individual worshipers received in this way communion with the divine principle of life and a renewal of their life forces.” – Eugene J. Fisher, Cultic Prostitution in the Ancient Near East? A Reassessment. Biblical Theology Bulletin

That Israelite fathers might even consider doing such a thing is an affront to our modern sensibilities. But it simply reveals the moral decline that had taken place among the nations of the earth by that time. In humanity’s flight from God, they had abandoned all reason and made the pursuit of personal pleasure their highest priority. The apostle Paul describes this moral descent in far-from-flattering terms.

Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles.

So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies. They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen. That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. – Romans 1:22-26 NLT

God knew that anything done in the name of religion could become a gateway to all kinds of sins and excesses. Cultic prostitution would not stop at the temple but would make its way into the very fabric of Israelite life. If one could justify sin by spiritualizing it, it was just a matter of time before it pervaded every sphere of daily life.

That’s why God reemphasized His law concerning the Sabbath. That one day of the week had been set apart for the exclusive worship of Yahweh. It was to be a regular reminder that He was the one and only God, and He alone was worthy of worship, glory, and honor. There was no place for mediums or necromancers among God’s people. They didn’t need witches and diviners. They had the all-powerful God of the universe dwelling in their presence and providing for their every need. There was nothing they could gain from the pagan magicians and cultic priests of Canaan.

Instead, God’s people were to honor the elderly, show care and concern for the foreigners living among them, and treat one another with honor and respect. There was no room for deceit or dishonesty among God’s chosen people. Those were the ways of the pagans. Their false sense of piety was marked by moral decay and pervasive sin. But God had given His people His law so that they might stand out from the crowd. That’s why God ends this section with the admonition: “You must be careful to keep all of my decrees and regulations by putting them into practice. I am the Lord” (Leviticus 19:37 NLT).

The real test would come when the Israelites entered the land of Canaan. When that day came, the true battle would be for the hearts and souls of God’s people and not for the land. Gaining control of Canaan would be relatively easy because God would give His people victory over their enemies. But winning the battle against moral compromise and ethical accommodation would be far more difficult. To defeat the urge to concede moral ground to the enemy was going to require obedience to God’s commands. The Israelites were going to have to pursue holiness more than their own happiness. They would need to make pleasing God a higher priority than seeking personal pleasure. The world of Canaan would offer a host of alluring options but the people of God would have to stand their ground and stay the course. They would need to heed the words God used to open this chapter: “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy” (Leviticus 19:2 ESV).

Loving Obedience

July 6, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy. ³Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and you shall keep my Sabbaths: I am the Lord your God. ⁴Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves any gods of cast metal: I am the Lord your God.

⁵“When you offer a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord, you shall offer it so that you may be accepted. ⁶It shall be eaten the same day you offer it or on the day after, and anything left over until the third day shall be burned up with fire. ⁷If it is eaten at all on the third day, it is tainted; it will not be accepted, ⁸and everyone who eats it shall bear his iniquity, because he has profaned what is holy to the Lord, and that person shall be cut off from his people.” – Leviticus 19:1-8 ESV

Chapter 19 serves as a summary statement for the entire book, reminding the people of Israel that they serve a holy God who expects those who bear His name to live holy lives. Their undeserved status as His chosen people came with conditions. They would continue to enjoy the blessings of His presence and power but only if they lived in keeping with His law. But God desired more than rote adherence to a set of commands. He wanted their obedience to be motivated by love – for Him and for one another. Moses later reiterated God’s laws to the people of Israel, just before they attempted to enter the land of Canaan, and he emphasized the need for love to permeate all their actions and attitudes.

“These are the commands, decrees, and regulations that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you. You must obey them in the land you are about to enter and occupy, and you and your children and grandchildren must fear the Lord your God as long as you live. If you obey all his decrees and commands, you will enjoy a long life. Listen closely, Israel, and be careful to obey. Then all will go well with you, and you will have many children in the land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you.

“Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today.” – Deuteronomy 6:1-6 NLT

It’s interesting to note that when Jesus was confronted by the Pharisees and asked to name the greatest commandment, He didn’t turn to Exodus 20, where the Decalogue is outlined. Instead, He quoted from Deuteronomy 6 and Leviticus 19.

“‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.” – Matthew 22:37-38 NLT

The first commandment in the Decalogue simply states, “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3 ESV). There is no mention of love on the part of the worshiper. But God does go on to emphasize His own love for the people of Israel.

“I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.” – Exodus 20:5-6 ESV

Jesus wanted the Pharisees to understand that obedience alone was not enough. If their adherence to God’s commands was not motivated by love, it was little more than wasted energy. It was duty without desire. That’s why Jesus went on to tell His own disciples, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15 ESV).

Love must come first. Without love, any attempts to obey the will of God will come across as empty and lifeless. The apostle Paul emphasized the futility of pious acts performed without love.

If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing. – 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 NLT

Doing things that appear to be godly but without a love for God ends up being pointless and ineffectual. They earn no brownie points with God. He is not impressed by our outward displays of righteousness. He looks at the heart to see if the actions we perform are motivated by love and a sincere desire to honor and please Him.

To this command, Jesus added a second one that He lifted directly from chapter 19 of Leviticus.

“A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.” – Matthew 22:37-40 NLT

Jesus points out that love for God is incomplete if it is not accompanied by a love for others. And to make His point, He borrows from Leviticus 19:17-19.

“You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.” – Leviticus 19:17-18 ESV

Love for God and love for others are inextricably linked. They are inseparable and cannot exist apart from one another. The apostle John emphasized this point in his first letter.

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. – 1 John 4:7-8 ESV

And John went on to stress the symbiotic relationship between love for God and love for others.

If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother. – 1 John 4:20-21 ESV

This seems to be the point behind chapter 19 of Leviticus. In this passage, God repeats a handful of His laws but does so in order to emphasize the need for behavior that reflects a heart of love. He expects His people to live holy lives because He is a holy God. And, as John pointed out, because God is love, His people should reflect that same kind of love for Him and for another. A failure or refusal to love is the greatest example of disobedience to the will of God. Ritualistic adherence to a set of laws, codes, or regulations is not what God is looking for. He desires a wholehearted commitment to living and loving in such a way that His children properly reflect His character to the lost world around them.

Jesus would pick up on this divine desire for love among the people of God when He told His disciples, “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples” (John 13:34-35 NLT).

He shared this “new” commandment on the night He was to be betrayed by Judas. Knowing that His days on earth were quickly coming to an end, Jesus emphasized the one thing His disciples would need if they were to carry on His mission in His absence. They were going to need a special kind of love to survive the dark and difficult days ahead. He was calling them to emulate the same kind of selfless, sacrificial, lay-it-all-on-the-line kind of love that He was about to demonstrate with His death on the cross.

Jesus would go on to repeat this new command to His disciples, adding a special note of emphasis on the sacrificial nature of the kind of love He had in mind.

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.” – John 15:12-14 ESV

In Leviticus 19, God is communicating the very same idea. He is calling His people to a life of selfless sacrifice and wholehearted obedience that reflects their love for Him as well as their love for one another.

In verses 5-8, God emphasizes the peace offering because it was the final sacrifice offered to God and was intended to symbolize that the worshiper was in right standing with Him. An individual who offered the peace offering was claiming to be at peace with God. He had followed the prescribed sacrificial rituals and received forgiveness and atonement for his sins. This final offering was an expression of gratitude for having had his relationship with God restored. But God stressed the need for this final sacrifice to be done properly. There was a meal that accompanied the sacrifice and it was required that the worshiper eat the meal within the timelines prescribed by God. This was a fellowship meal, signifying that the worshiper had been fully restored and was welcome to eat in the presence of God Almighty. To partake of the meal in an improper way or to skip it altogether would be an expression of ingratitude and a lack of love for God.

This meal was meant to be shared with family and friends. So, if someone violated God’s law by serving the meal after God’s prescribed deadline, he risked defiling all those who joined him at the table. And they, like him, would suffer the consequences of their actions.

“…everyone who eats it shall bear his iniquity, because he has profaned what is holy to the Lord, and that person shall be cut off from his people.” – Leviticus 19:8 ESV

There could be no greater demonstration of a lack of love for others. To willingly include your family and friends in your disobedience to God, without their knowledge or consent, would be unloving and unfathomable. Who would dare to do such a thing? The answer is simple: Anyone who does not love God. And an individual’s lack of love for God stems from a failure to understand His love for them. The whole sacrificial system was meant to be a visual and visceral demonstration of God’s great love. He had provided a way for sinful men and women to be made right with Him. He loved them enough to make atonement and restoration possible. And they were to recognize that love and return it in the form of willful obedience to His commands and selfless acts of benevolence toward one another.

The apostle Paul concluded his great “love chapter” with the following summary statement: “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13 ESV). Love is eternal because it is from God. And God expects His children to demonstrate that love in practical and personal ways – both now and for eternity.

A Higher Standard

July 4, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

⁶“None of you shall approach any one of his close relatives to uncover nakedness. I am the Lord. ⁷You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, which is the nakedness of your mother; she is your mother, you shall not uncover her nakedness. ⁸You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife; it is your father’s nakedness. ⁹You shall not uncover the nakedness of your sister, your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether brought up in the family or in another home. ¹⁰You shall not uncover the nakedness of your son’s daughter or of your daughter’s daughter, for their nakedness is your own nakedness. ¹¹You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife’s daughter, brought up in your father’s family, since she is your sister. ¹²You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s sister; she is your father’s relative. ¹³You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister, for she is your mother’s relative. ¹⁴You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s brother, that is, you shall not approach his wife; she is your aunt. ¹⁵You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law; she is your son’s wife, you shall not uncover her nakedness. ¹⁶You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife; it is your brother’s nakedness. ¹⁷You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and of her daughter, and you shall not take her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter to uncover her nakedness; they are relatives; it is depravity. ¹⁸And you shall not take a woman as a rival wife to her sister, uncovering her nakedness while her sister is still alive.” – Leviticus 18:6-18 ESV

We live in an age in which sexual boundaries and mores seem increasingly non-existent or simply ignored. What was once normal and accepted insights into human identity and sexuality have been turned on their heads. The once non-negotiable taboos of the past have been rejected as antiquated and out-of-touch with our modern sensibilities. And as the people of God, we find ourselves pressured to compromise our convictions just to remain relevant and avoid rejection by our more enlightened neighbors.

The Israelites were in a similar situation – whether they realized it or not. They had no idea what awaited them in Canaan, the land that God had promised to them as their inheritance. None of them had ever set foot in the “promised land,” and it had been four centuries since their ancestor, Jacob, and his family of 70 arrived in Egypt as refugees from the famine in Canaan. After more than 400 years in Egypt, they had long ago forgotten what things were like in their former homeland. They had no idea what the moral and religious atmosphere in Canaan was like. But God knew and He was preparing them for the worst.

“You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you.” – Leviticus 18:3 ESV

They had just come out of a far-from-ideal situation in Egypt. There, they had experienced the indignity of living as slaves, but that had not always been the case. For decades, they had lived as the guests of the Pharaoh, occupying choice acreage in the lush and fertile land of Goshen. The original 70 Jacobites expanded rapidly and filled the land. And as their numbers grew, they became increasingly more amenable to their new surroundings. They acclimated to the ways of Egypt, accommodating themselves to the local customs and social conventions, even adopting many of their false gods as their own. So, by the time they left the land of the Pharaohs, they had become fully Egyptianized and quite content to carry their acquired tastes and customs with them when they crossed the Red Sea on their way to Canaan. In fact, years later, long after they had conquered and occupied the land of Canaan, Joshua would warn them:

“Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell” – Joshua 24:14-15 ESV

God had known all along that His people would struggle with idolatry. That’s why the very first commandment He gave His people contained prohibitions against idolatry.

“You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God…” – Exodus 20:3-5 ESV

But there was another pressing problem facing the Israelites: Their propensity for immorality. And it’s no coincidence that idolatry and immorality seemed to go hand-in-hand in the ancient pagan world. Gross sexual sins were often associated with the worship of the false gods of Egypt and Canaan. In the process of trying to satisfy their gods, the Canaanites and Egyptians concocted rites and rituals that also satiated their sexual desires. Cult prostitutes plied their services in the pagan temples, providing a rather bizarre form of worship that was quite popular among the male population.

But all of this was off-limits to God’s people. He had given them His Tabernacle and a stringent set of laws concerning its proper use. There was to be no borrowing from the Egyptians or Canaanites. Their rituals and rites were unacceptable and had no place in the worship of Yahweh. But in order to drive home the need for His people to remain distinctively different from the rest of the nations of the world, God gave them a list of banned sexual activities. And the very fact that God had to put these prohibitions in writing accentuates the fact that His people were already predisposed to living this way. What stands out is that, in this passage, God deals with everything from incest to bestiality. These were not simple moral indiscretions, but gross sexual sins of the worst order.

And it’s interesting to note that there is a direct link between this passage and Genesis chapter 9, which outlines the sin of Ham, the son the Noah.

“This passage tells how Ham, the father of the Canaanites, acted with moral abandon when he saw the nakedness of Noah and for his lack of filial respect a curse was pronounced on his descendants, who would act with the same moral abandon.” – Allen P. Ross, Holiness to the Lord: A Guide to the Exposition of the Book of Leviticus

According to Genesis 10, the sons of Ham were “Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan” (Genesis 10:6 ESV). So, the Egyptians and Canaanites were the descendants of Ham, and the descendants of Canaan, Ham’s son included “the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites” (Genesis 10:16-18 ESV). In other words, most of the occupants of the land of Canaan were descendants of Ham and would mirror his immoral behavior.

Ham had been guilty of uncovering his father’s nakedness. There has been much debate as to the exact nature of Ham’s sin but it seems that he had walked into his father’s tent and viewed him in a drunken and naked state. It is not so much that Ham viewed his father’s naked body but that he dishonored his father by gossiping about it to his two brothers. And when Noah sobered up and realized what his son had done, he was angry enough to curse Canaan, the son of Ham. Ham’s moral indiscretion proved costly.

And in chapter 18 of Leviticus, God repeatedly uses terms like “nakedness,” “uncovering,” and “seeing” when describing the sins of the Canaanites that the Israelites were to avoid. No Israelite as to “approach any one of his close relatives to uncover nakedness” (Leviticus 18:6 ESV). And God drove home His point by using that phrase over and over again.

“You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife…” – vs 8

“You shall not uncover the nakedness of your sister, your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter…” – vs 9

“You shall not uncover the nakedness of your son’s daughter or of your daughter’s daughter…” – vs 10

To put it bluntly, God’s people were forbidden from having sexual relations with any of their relatives. Throughout Leviticus 18, God uses the term “uncover the nakedness” as a euphemism for sexual intercourse. The relatively innocent-sounding sin of Ham had turned into unmitigated moral excesses of the worst kind. While Ham had been guilty of seeing his father naked, his descendants were guilty of committing every sort of sexual perversion the human mind could come up with. And it is sad to note that God had to provide such exacting detail to His list of unacceptable sexual activities. He was blatantly graphic in terms of His description of the sexual sins that were off-limits for His people.

The possibility of these sins taking place among His people was real. In fact, there is a good chance that some of these sins were already prevalent among the Israelites while they were in Egypt and as they made their way to Sinai. But the temptation would only increase when they arrived in the land of Canaan. So, God laid out His law in great detail so that His chosen people could never claim, “We never knew!” From this point forward, they would have no excuse.

When it came to sexuality, the Israelites were to live according to a higher standard; once provided to them by God. Every area of their lives belonged to Him and He expected their behavior to reflect their status as a royal priesthood and a holy nation. They were not descendants of Ham, but if they followed the example of their distant relatives, they would live to regret it. Disobedience would bring curses. But obedience would bring the blessings of God – in every area of their lives, including their sexuality and social interactions. During their years in Egypt, God had blessed them so that they increased in number. And He would continue to do so as long as they remained faithful to Him and obedient to His stringent standard of behavior.

Banished or Burned

June 23, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

⁴⁰“If a man’s hair falls out from his head, he is bald; he is clean. ⁴¹And if a man’s hair falls out from his forehead, he has baldness of the forehead; he is clean. ⁴²But if there is on the bald head or the bald forehead a reddish-white diseased area, it is a leprous disease breaking out on his bald head or his bald forehead. ⁴³Then the priest shall examine him, and if the diseased swelling is reddish-white on his bald head or on his bald forehead, like the appearance of leprous disease in the skin of the body, ⁴⁴he is a leprous man, he is unclean. The priest must pronounce him unclean; his disease is on his head.

⁴⁵“The leprous person who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean.’ ⁴⁶He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease. He is unclean. He shall live alone. His dwelling shall be outside the camp.

⁴⁷“When there is a case of leprous disease in a garment, whether a woolen or a linen garment, ⁴⁸in warp or woof of linen or wool, or in a skin or in anything made of skin, ⁴⁹if the disease is greenish or reddish in the garment, or in the skin or in the warp or the woof or in any article made of skin, it is a case of leprous disease, and it shall be shown to the priest. ⁵⁰And the priest shall examine the disease and shut up that which has the disease for seven days. ⁵¹Then he shall examine the disease on the seventh day. If the disease has spread in the garment, in the warp or the woof, or in the skin, whatever be the use of the skin, the disease is a persistent leprous disease; it is unclean. ⁵²And he shall burn the garment, or the warp or the woof, the wool or the linen, or any article made of skin that is diseased, for it is a persistent leprous disease. It shall be burned in the fire.

⁵³“And if the priest examines, and if the disease has not spread in the garment, in the warp or the woof or in any article made of skin, ⁵⁴then the priest shall command that they wash the thing in which is the disease, and he shall shut it up for another seven days. ⁵⁵And the priest shall examine the diseased thing after it has been washed. And if the appearance of the diseased area has not changed, though the disease has not spread, it is unclean. You shall burn it in the fire, whether the rot is on the back or on the front.

⁵⁶“But if the priest examines, and if the diseased area has faded after it has been washed, he shall tear it out of the garment or the skin or the warp or the woof. ⁵⁷Then if it appears again in the garment, in the warp or the woof, or in any article made of skin, it is spreading. You shall burn with fire whatever has the disease. ⁵⁸But the garment, or the warp or the woof, or any article made of skin from which the disease departs when you have washed it, shall then be washed a second time, and be clean.”

⁵⁹This is the law for a case of leprous disease in a garment of wool or linen, either in the warp or the woof, or in any article made of skin, to determine whether it is clean or unclean.” – Leviticus 13:40-59 ESV

The presence of disease is not an indication that the ill person has sinned. But sin is the reason disease is present in the world. All illness is a direct result of the fall. Its very existence is tied to the original sin committed by Adam and Eve in the garden. Their fateful decision to disobey God and eat the forbidden fruit doomed all their descendants to lives characterized by sin and cursed by death. The apostle Paul explains the grave implications of what the first couple did in the garden, but he lays all the blame at the feet of Adam – the one to whom God had given His order to stay away from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. – Romans 5:12 NLT

For Adam’s sin led to condemnation… – Romans 5:16 NLT

For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. – Romans 5:17 NLT

Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone… – Romans 5:18 NLT

Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. – Romans 5:19 NLT

Adam’s failure to adequately warn his wife about the dangers of the tree made her susceptible to the temptations of the enemy. And Adam’s decision to join his wife in her act of disobedience sealed their fate. Rather than reject the fruit she offered him, he was willingly complicit in her sin. And the rest, they say, is history.

Their sin led to condemnation. God’s holiness demanded action and it resulted in the immediate expulsion of Adam and Eve from the garden. And when God cast them out, they were banned from His presence. No longer would they enjoy intimate and unbroken fellowship with their Creator. Their sin made them unclean and unworthy of basking in His glory and benefiting from His goodness. And, in time, the entire creation began to experience the effects of sin’s presence. Atrophy set in. Paul states that “death spread to everyone.”

But Adam and Eve did not die immediately. Instead, death took the form of decay, a slow-moving deterioration of all things. The first couple began to age. In time, disease entered the scene. The entire creation, once declared “very good” by God, was placed under a curse and doomed to the ravages of time and the dilatory effects of sin. Once again, the apostle Paul provides insightful commentary on the implications of sin’s entrance into the world.

Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. – Romans 8:20-22 NLT

Death and decay are everywhere and their effects are unavoidable. Chapter 13 of Leviticus emphasizes just a few of the symptoms of their presence, including a variety of unsightly and uncomfortable skin disorders.

As the Israelites made their way from Sinai to Canaan, they would experience many of these painful pathologies of the skin. It was inevitable and unavoidable. And these lesions, boils, sores, and skin disorders were not new to them. They had plenty of experience with these kinds of ailments, but now, God was informing them that these common conditions were cause for greater concern. Because the Israelites were God’s chosen people, the presence of these skin disorders could them unclean and impure before God. They would not be condemned to death for having a rash or a boil. But the presence of disease would result in their banishment from the community and their inability to enter God’s presence.

God wanted them to understand the seriousness of sin. Its entrance into the world had damaged God’s creation beyond repair. All that God had made was in a constant state of decline that would ultimately result in death. And this decay, disease, and death were antithetical to the will of the life-giving God of the universe. The one who gave life to all that is in the world stands opposed to the very idea of death. Yes, God sovereignly decreed death to be the penalty for man’s sin (Romans 6:23), but His original intent was for His creation to experience life in all its fullness.

…then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. – Genesis 2:7 ESV

He himself gives life and breath to everything… – Acts 17:25 NLT

And His Son came to earth so that He might provide new life to all who were under the curse of death.

“I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” – John 10:10 ESV

God’s detailed instructions concerning everything from baldness to boils were intended to show the people of Israel the damaging influence of sin on their lives. They were surrounded by the effects of sin’s presence. It infected everything they touched, and it took the form of disease and decay. Hair fell from their heads, leaving them bald. Lesions appeared on their skin, causing discomfort and pain. Rashes and boils could show up without a moment’s notice or any explanation. And even their garments could become infected through contact with these disorders. And everything had to be closely examined and carefully cleansed so that the purity of the community could be maintained.

Any infection deemed unclean required immediate, yet temporary banishment.

“Those who suffer from a serious skin disease must tear their clothing and leave their hair uncombed. They must cover their mouth and call out, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ As long as the serious disease lasts, they will be ceremonially unclean. They must live in isolation in their place outside the camp.” – Leviticus 13:45-46 NLT

But the goal was the eventual restoration of the banned individual. Their isolation was intended to protect the wholeness of the community. The disease and its treatment were intended to serve as a metaphor for sin and its influence on God’s people. Disease was not to be taken lightly, and neither was sin.

Even garments that had come into contact with any of these skin disorders were to be considered unclean and in need of purification. The presence of mildew or mold was to be taken seriously and dealt with immediately. All of these things would render the wearer of the garment unpure and unworthy of entering God’s presence. So, cleansing was mandatory. The infected item was to be closely examined and subjected to a stringent purification protocol.

“After examining the affected spot, the priest will put the article in quarantine for seven days. On the seventh day the priest must inspect it again. If the contaminated area has spread, the clothing or fabric or leather is clearly contaminated by a serious mildew and is ceremonially unclean.” – Leviticus 13:50-51 NLT

And if, after the garment was quarantined, the mildew, mold, or contamination remained, the garment was to be burned.

“It must be completely burned up, whether the contaminated spot is on the inside or outside.” – Leviticus 13:55 NLT

But if the spot disappeared, the garment was to be declared clean and restored to its former use. It was ceremonially pure. And that is the entire focus of the chapter. God was letting His people know that impurity would be a constant threat to their relationship with Him. Any form of impurity could render them unclean and unworthy of entering the presence of a holy, sinless God. They were not to offer blemished, diseased, or lame animals for sacrifice. They were not to come before God bearing any kind of skin disease or disorder. Their clothes were to be clean and free from mold and mildew. And all of these requirements were in keeping with God’s command concerning holiness.

“You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.” – Leviticus 19:2 ESV

Wholeness and Holiness

June 21, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ²“When a person has on the skin of his body a swelling or an eruption or a spot, and it turns into a case of leprous disease on the skin of his body, then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons the priests, ³and the priest shall examine the diseased area on the skin of his body. And if the hair in the diseased area has turned white and the disease appears to be deeper than the skin of his body, it is a case of leprous disease. When the priest has examined him, he shall pronounce him unclean. ⁴But if the spot is white in the skin of his body and appears no deeper than the skin, and the hair in it has not turned white, the priest shall shut up the diseased person for seven days. ⁵And the priest shall examine him on the seventh day, and if in his eyes the disease is checked and the disease has not spread in the skin, then the priest shall shut him up for another seven days. ⁶And the priest shall examine him again on the seventh day, and if the diseased area has faded and the disease has not spread in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean; it is only an eruption. And he shall wash his clothes and be clean. ⁷But if the eruption spreads in the skin, after he has shown himself to the priest for his cleansing, he shall appear again before the priest. ⁸And the priest shall look, and if the eruption has spread in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a leprous disease.

⁹“When a man is afflicted with a leprous disease, he shall be brought to the priest, ¹⁰and the priest shall look. And if there is a white swelling in the skin that has turned the hair white, and there is raw flesh in the swelling, ¹¹it is a chronic leprous disease in the skin of his body, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean. He shall not shut him up, for he is unclean. ¹²And if the leprous disease breaks out in the skin, so that the leprous disease covers all the skin of the diseased person from head to foot, so far as the priest can see, ¹³then the priest shall look, and if the leprous disease has covered all his body, he shall pronounce him clean of the disease; it has all turned white, and he is clean. ¹⁴But when raw flesh appears on him, he shall be unclean. ¹⁵And the priest shall examine the raw flesh and pronounce him unclean. Raw flesh is unclean, for it is a leprous disease. ¹⁶But if the raw flesh recovers and turns white again, then he shall come to the priest, ¹⁷and the priest shall examine him, and if the disease has turned white, then the priest shall pronounce the diseased person clean; he is clean.” – Leviticus 13:1-17 ESV

Decay, disease, and death are the inevitable result of sin’s entrance into the world, and even God’s chosen people are susceptible to their influence. The Israelites had been set apart by God as His treasured possession and had been ordered to conduct themselves according to His laws so that they might reflect His holiness. Their lives were to mirror His.

“I am the LORD your God. You must consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy.” – Leviticus 11:44 NLT

But even if the Israelites managed to keep all of God’s laws, a formidable and impossible task, they still faced the constant threat of being made impure or unholy simply as a result of living in a fallen world. Their relationship with God did not exempt them from contracting diseases or succumbing to death. The world was a dangerous place in which exposure to defilement was an everyday reality. Maintaining ritual purity was virtually impossible and the risk of spiritual contamination was unavoidable. It was just a matter of time.

So God established a series of purity laws that are outlined in Leviticus 13-15. The key to understanding these rather obscure and strangely specific laws is to focus one’s attention on the concepts of holiness and wholeness. These two characteristics are inseparable and interrelated. In the book of Genesis, Moses records a statement God made to Abraham in which He called His servant to a life of wholeness.

“I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” – Genesis 17:1-2 ESV

The Hebrew word that is translated as “blameless” is תָּמִים (tāmîm), and it is sometimes translated as “perfect.” Abraham was 99 years old when he received this command from God and it would seem that a divine call to live a perfect life would have been an impossible task for him to carry out. Was God demanding absolute perfection from His elderly servant? Was He expecting Abraham to live a sinless and totally righteous life at all times?

The word, tāmîm, might be better understood as a call to wholeness or completeness. Its root word, תָּם (tām), carries the idea of uprightness or integrity. There is a sense in which God expected His servant Abraham to live a life marked by integrity and wholeness. There was to be no compartmentalization or secular/sacred split when it came to how Abraham “walked” before God. And this call to wholeness and holiness was passed down to Abraham’s descendants, the Israelites. They too were expected to walk before God and be blameless or whole. That is what the purification laws are all about.

In attempting to live holy lives in an unholy environment, they would find themselves occasionally contaminated by contact with a fallen world. Their wholeness and holiness would be compromised. They were not inoculated from disease and were not immune from its potentially deadly effects. It is important to note that the diseases and disorders discussed in these chapters are not sins in and of themselves. They are the byproducts of sin’s presence in the world. God’s point is not that the one who contracts these diseases has sinned, but that they have become ceremonially un-whole and, therefore, unholy before God. Just as the act of childbirth is not a sin, neither is contracting leprosy or any other skin disease to be considered a sin.

As chapter 12 revealed, a woman giving birth to her child is subjected to pain and suffers the loss of blood and bodily fluids in bringing new life into the world. This natural and necessary process renders her un-whole and in need of restoration. In the same way, “When a person has on the skin of his body a swelling or an eruption or a spot, and it turns into a case of leprous disease on the skin of his body” (Leviticus 13:2 ESV), he shall be considered unclean. The presence of the disease will have affected the wholeness of his body. The physical integrity of his body will have been compromised, rendering him unholy before the Lord. Again, it is important to remember that the disease is not an indication that the individual has sinned. This was a common misunderstanding among the Jews. Even Jesus’ disciples had been influenced by this misperception and it caused them to see those afflicted with maladies and disorders as somehow under the judgment of God. At one point, Jesus and His disciples passed by a man who had been born blind, and His disciples logically concluded that his disorder was the result of sin. So, they asked Jesus, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” (John 9:2 ESV). To which Jesus replied, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him” (John 9:3 ESV).

The man’s problem was not due to anyone’s personal sin but was simply evidence of the world’s fallen state. And it reflected this man’s lack of wholeness and need for healing. Jesus graciously healed the man by miraculously restoring his sight. He made the blind man whole.

In essence, that is what is taking place in Leviticus 13. The skin disorder described in verses 1-13 is referred to as “a leprous disease” (Leviticus 13:3 ESV). But the term, “leprous” can be misleading. What God describes bears little resemblance to what we know now as Hansen’s disease or leprosy. The skin conditions outlined in chapter 13 refer to a wide range of pathologies, from relatively mild to severe. But each had the potential to render its “victim” unwhole and unholy before God. The various symptoms provided evidence of a lack of bodily integrity or wholeness. These symptoms were visible to the eye and easily examined by a priest to determine their level of danger.

“Anyone who develops a serious skin disease must go to the priest for an examination. If the priest finds a white swelling on the skin, and some hair on the spot has turned white, and there is an open sore in the affected area, it is a chronic skin disease, and the priest must pronounce the person ceremonially unclean.” – Leviticus 13:9-11 NLT

While the results of these examinations could include quarantine or expulsion from the community, the ultimate goal was purification and restoration. Through a series of elaborate and detailed tests, the priests were to determine the ongoing state of the infected individual’s condition. The objective was to isolate in order to eventually reinstate the person to fellowship with God and the faith community.

“…the priest will then pronounce the person ceremonially clean by declaring, ‘You are clean!’” – Leviticus 13:17 NLT

Wholeness was the goal because the integrity of the entire nation was at stake. In a sense, the disease was a symbol of sin, which was a constant threat to the Israelite’s relationship with God. By focusing their attention on the visible signs of disease, God was helping them understand the invisible and even more dangerous presence of sin in their lives. These diseases, because of their infectious nature, could easily spread throughout the camp, and threaten the wholeness of the entire nation. The same thing was true of sin. If left unchecked, unconfessed, and unatoned for, sin could do serious damage to God’s chosen people, rendering them unwhole and unholy.

The presence of disease required separation and purification. Healing was necessary before access to God could be restored and reinstatement within the community could be enjoyed. By teaching His people to take skin disorders seriously, God was helping them to understand their need for moral and spiritual wholeness. Every area of their lives was critical to maintaining their relationship with God. Nothing could be overlooked or ignored. Examination and purification were necessary steps in protecting and preserving the physical and spiritual purity of the community.

King David reflected on his understanding of the need for constant examination and purification. He was a man who recognized his own inability to determine the wholeness and holiness of his life, so he pleaded with God to shine the light of His righteousness on the inner recesses of his own heart so that his sin might be exposed and his wholeness restored.

Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
Point out anything in me that offends you,
and lead me along the path of everlasting life. – Psalm 139:23-24 NLT

The Deadly Influence of Death

June 18, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

²⁴“And by these you shall become unclean. Whoever touches their carcass shall be unclean until the evening, ²⁵and whoever carries any part of their carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening. ²⁶Every animal that parts the hoof but is not cloven-footed or does not chew the cud is unclean to you. Everyone who touches them shall be unclean. ²⁷And all that walk on their paws, among the animals that go on all fours, are unclean to you. Whoever touches their carcass shall be unclean until the evening, ²⁸and he who carries their carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening; they are unclean to you.

²⁹“And these are unclean to you among the swarming things that swarm on the ground: the mole rat, the mouse, the great lizard of any kind, ³⁰the gecko, the monitor lizard, the lizard, the sand lizard, and the chameleon. ³¹These are unclean to you among all that swarm. Whoever touches them when they are dead shall be unclean until the evening. ³²And anything on which any of them falls when they are dead shall be unclean, whether it is an article of wood or a garment or a skin or a sack, any article that is used for any purpose. It must be put into water, and it shall be unclean until the evening; then it shall be clean. ³³And if any of them falls into any earthenware vessel, all that is in it shall be unclean, and you shall break it. ³⁴Any food in it that could be eaten, on which water comes, shall be unclean. And all drink that could be drunk from every such vessel shall be unclean. ³⁵And everything on which any part of their carcass falls shall be unclean. Whether oven or stove, it shall be broken in pieces. They are unclean and shall remain unclean for you. ³⁶Nevertheless, a spring or a cistern holding water shall be clean, but whoever touches a carcass in them shall be unclean. ³⁷And if any part of their carcass falls upon any seed grain that is to be sown, it is clean, ³⁸but if water is put on the seed and any part of their carcass falls on it, it is unclean to you.” – Leviticus 11:24-38 ESV

In these 15 verses, God uses the word “unclean” 22 times. His repetitive use of this word provides ample proof of just how seriously He took this matter. The Hebrew word is טָמֵא (ṭāmē’), and it refers to someone becoming ceremonially defiled or impure, rendering them unfit for participation in the household of God but, more importantly, making them unholy and incapable of coming into God’s presence. It was not that this “infection” involved actual contagion from harmful bacteria or disease but that the one deemed unclean had violated God’s ban.

All of these restrictions deal with an individual having contact with the dead bodies of particular creatures. The issue had less to do with the species of the animal than its lifelessness. Death was the mitigating factor in the prohibition. God makes it clear that touching the dead body of any of these creatures would render the individual defiled and in need of purification.

“The following creatures will make you ceremonially unclean. If any of you touch their carcasses, you will be defiled until evening.” – Leviticus 11:24 NLT

That the defilement did not involve an actual life-threatening contagion is made clear by the temporary nature of the individual’s isolation. The defilement or uncleanness was ceremonial in nature. The point that God seems to be making is that death, while inevitable and unavoidable, was also antithetical to His nature. He is the God of life. Death entered His perfect creation as a result of mankind’s sin. In the beginning, God breathed life into the body of the man He created.

…then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. – Genesis 2:7 ESV

God is the creator and sustainer of all life. The book of Nehemiah records the people’s declaration of God’s role in giving life to all creatures, human and otherwise.

“You alone are the Lord.
You have made the heavens,
The heaven of heavens with all their host,
The earth and all that is on it,
The seas and all that is in them.
You give life to all of them
And the heavenly host bows down before You.” – Nehemiah 9:6 NASB

Death was an anomaly, caused by the entrance of sin into God’s pristine and perfect creation. And the apostle Paul makes it clear that death was a byproduct of man’s rebellion against God.

When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. Yes, people sinned even before the law was given. But it was not counted as sin because there was not yet any law to break. Still, everyone died—from the time of Adam to the time of Moses—even those who did not disobey an explicit commandment of God, as Adam did. – Romans 5:12-14 NLT

Adam’s sin brought death into an atmosphere that had been marked by life and light. So death, like sin, was unacceptable to a holy and righteous God. And yet, death is not outside the sovereign will of God; it is the result of His justice and righteousness. God had told Adam that if he ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he would die (Genesis 2:17). Death would be the judgment for Adam’s disobedience to God’s command. As the apostle Paul points out, “the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23 ESV). Death is the God-ordained penalty for sin. The very presence of death in God’s creation is a constant reminder of the reality and pervasive nature of sin. Without sin, there would be no death. And, ultimately, death is God’s curse on all creation due to mankind’s rebellion against Him.

“‘See now that I, even I, am he,
    and there is no god beside me;
I kill and I make alive;
    I wound and I heal;
    and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.” – Deuteronomy 32:39 ESV

The curse of death has infected all of creation. Animals, insects, birds, and plants all suffer eventual death. Even the universe itself is in a constant state of atrophy. And the apostle Paul describes this unavoidable process of decay and decline in stark terms.

The apostle John states that “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5 ESV). Death is a symbol of the darkness caused by sin. Death is a destroyer and the ultimate source of alienation from God. To die is not only to cease from living but to be separated from the God of life. So, God placed restrictions on His people that were intended to regulate and mitigate their contact with death while still living. The primary point is that death rendered one unholy and unworthy of entering God’s presence.

“The main point of Moses’ instructions was for the people to avoid touching corpses when possible because dead bodies conveyed ritual contagion through contact. This made the person or thing unfit to remain in the camp. Only after the proper ritual cleansing was the person or item reintegrated into the life of the community.” – Kenneth A. Matthew, Leviticus: Holy God, Holy People

Coming into contact with dead animals or people was inevitable. Death was an unavoidable part of life. But even mere contact with death would separate the Israelites from their life-giving God. Touching the carcass of a dead animal would render someone unclean before God. Even an ordinary object that came into contact with a dead animal was to be considered unholy and defiled until properly cleansed.

The repeated use of the word “unclean” also emphasizes the importance of cleanliness or purity. God expected His chosen people to understand their need for purity at all times. The slightest contact with death would deny them access to God and place them outside the community of faith.

Jesus Himself emphasized His Father’s life-giving nature. When confronted by a question from the Pharisees regarding the reality of the resurrection, Jesus alluded to the fact that even Moses believed in the resurrection because he described God as “the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob” (Luke 20:37 ESV). Then Jesus went on to elaborate that His Father is the author of life, not death.

“Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him.” – Luke 20:38 ESV

This section of Leviticus is meant to emphasize the life-giving nature of Israel’s God. It emphasizes the reality of death and the inevitable and unvoidable impact it would have on the people of Israel. But God provided a means for mitigating its divisive and destructive nature. His people could receive cleansing and have their separation from God restored. But it was essential that they understand the seriousness of sin and the deadly influence it could have on their relationship with God. Every day would be filled with reminders of sin’s presence and their need for purification from its infectious influence. Yahweh was the God of life and death was a reminder of humanity’s sin and its need for His cleansing and forgiveness.

Food For Thought

June 9, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹¹“And this is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings that one may offer to the Lord. ¹²If he offers it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer with the thanksgiving sacrifice unleavened loaves mixed with oil, unleavened wafers smeared with oil, and loaves of fine flour well mixed with oil. ¹³With the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving he shall bring his offering with loaves of leavened bread. ¹⁴And from it he shall offer one loaf from each offering, as a gift to the Lord. It shall belong to the priest who throws the blood of the peace offerings. ¹⁵And the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving shall be eaten on the day of his offering. He shall not leave any of it until the morning. ¹⁶But if the sacrifice of his offering is a vow offering or a freewill offering, it shall be eaten on the day that he offers his sacrifice, and on the next day what remains of it shall be eaten. ¹⁷But what remains of the flesh of the sacrifice on the third day shall be burned up with fire. ¹⁸If any of the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offering is eaten on the third day, he who offers it shall not be accepted, neither shall it be credited to him. It is tainted, and he who eats of it shall bear his iniquity.

¹⁹“Flesh that touches any unclean thing shall not be eaten. It shall be burned up with fire. All who are clean may eat flesh, ²⁰but the person who eats of the flesh of the sacrifice of the Lord’s peace offerings while an uncleanness is on him, that person shall be cut off from his people. ²¹And if anyone touches an unclean thing, whether human uncleanness or an unclean beast or any unclean detestable creature, and then eats some flesh from the sacrifice of the Lord’s peace offerings, that person shall be cut off from his people.” – Leviticus 7:11-21 ESV

God turns His attention once again to the peace offerings for thanksgiving. These types of offerings were covered in chapter three and followed God’s exposition on the sin and guilt sacrifices. Those two types of offerings involved atonement and cleansing, whereas the peace offering was designed as an opportunity for the formerly guilty party to enjoy his restored relationship with God by providing the appropriate gift. This was intended to be a time of worship as the one who had received atonement partook of a meal with the Lord.

One of the things that set this particular offering apart from all others it that a portion of the meat that was sacrificed was to be shared by the giver. This section of chapter seven clarifies who could eat what part of the sacrifice. Any grain offering or bread was to be the property of the priest, but a portion of the meat was reserved for the one who offered up the animal as a peace offering.

“This peace offering of thanksgiving must also be accompanied by loaves of bread made with yeast. One of each kind of bread must be presented as a gift to the Lord. It will then belong to the priest who splatters the blood of the peace offering against the altar. The meat of the peace offering of thanksgiving must be eaten on the same day it is offered. None of it may be saved for the next morning.” – Leviticus 7:13-15 NLT

The worshiper was allowed to eat any of the leftover meat but it had to be consumed according to God’s parameters. The one who gave the offering was required to eat it on the same day. Any attempt to preserve the meat for the following day was strictly prohibited. This meal was to be enjoyed by the giver and anyone else he chose to join him. It was the priest’s job to ensure that God’s commands were carried out.

In the case of a vow offering, God extended the time for consuming the meat a second day.

“If you bring an offering to fulfill a vow or as a voluntary offering, the meat must be eaten on the same day the sacrifice is offered, but whatever is left over may be eaten on the second day.” – Leviticus 7:16 NLT

God provides no explanation for this slight variation between the two offerings. What distinguished the various types of peace offerings was the motivation behind the gift. The category of peace offering contained three subtypes: The thank offering, the vow offering, and the freewill offering. The first of these three was really a praise offering. The Hebrew word translated as “thanksgiving” is תּוֹדָה (tôḏâ) and might better be translated as “acknowledgment” or “praise.” This offering was given in recognition of God’s providential care and faithful provision. The giver was expected to declare to the entire congregation what God had done for them. In giving his gift, the giver would be accompanied by friends and family members to whom he would express the ways in which God had richly provided for all his needs. These invitees would then join him in consuming the sacrificial meal as a form of worship to Yahweh for His goodness and generosity.

“It was an integral part of the public act of thanksgiving. The ceremony concluded with a joyful communal meal, involving the worshiper, family, priests, Levites, and the poor (Psalm 22:25, 25).” – Kenneth A. Matthew, Leviticus: Holy God, Holy People

From the time the Israelites departed Mount Sinai to the moment they entered the land of Canaan, they would have plenty of reasons and opportunities to praise God for His provision of all their needs. The “praise” offering was instituted as a means of expressing gratitude to God for all He had done, and because it was to be a public confession of God’s goodness and greatness, it was meant to encourage the entire community to place their trust in Him for all their needs.

God outlined two additional fellowship offerings that were closely related to the peace offering. One was the votive or vow offering and the other was the freewill offering. The first of these was an offering given to celebrate or commemorate the successful completion of a vow. Having fulfilled a commitment made to God, the worshiper offered a gift to celebrate the occasion. The freewill offering was a voluntary gift given to God as an expression of praise and gratitude. It was not tied to a vow or associated with the confession of a particular sin. This gift was given willingly and gladly as a public display of one’s gratefulness to God. And each of these offerings included a communal meal so that others could celebrate Yahweh alongside the giver.

But these meals had restrictions as well. While these offerings were not given for the purpose of confession or atonement, they were still required to be holy and pure before God. No shortcuts or concessions could be made. Unclean or defiled meat was not allowed. Any violation of God’s commands regarding the timeline for consuming the meat would render the gift unacceptable. God had a reason behind His regulations concerning the timely consumption of sacrificial meat. These rules were not arbitrary.

“Any meat left over until the third day must be completely burned up. If any of the meat from the peace offering is eaten on the third day, the person who presented it will not be accepted by the Lord. You will receive no credit for offering it. By then the meat will be contaminated; if you eat it, you will be punished for your sin.” – Leviticus 7:17-18 NLT

God was protecting His people from incurring guilt and His wrath. In the process of offering their praise to Him, the people of God could actually end up contaminating themselves and negating the efficacy of their gift.

It was the job of the priest to ensure that none of these rules were broken. If the meat of the sacrifice inadvertently touched something unclean, it was to be burned with fire. The priest was not to allow anyone to consume the contaminated meat. He was also to regulate the participation of all those who gathered to partake in the communal meal. It was essential that the sacrificial meat be consumed only by those who were ceremonially clean. If someone had come into contact with an unclean person or object and then attempted to partake in the communal meal, they would be held guilty and punished for their action.

“If you are ceremonially unclean and you eat meat from a peace offering that was presented to the Lord, you will be cut off from the community. If you touch anything that is unclean (whether it is human defilement or an unclean animal or any other unclean, detestable thing) and then eat meat from a peace offering presented to the Lord, you will be cut off from the community.” – Leviticus 7:20-21 NLT

Since these offerings were built around the idea of a celebratory meal, you can see how the Israelites might treat them with less seriousness than the sacrifices for sin and atonement. In their eagerness to enjoy a meal together, they might make unnecessary concessions that would taint and disqualify the sacrifice. Rather than focusing on the offering’s primary purpose of worshiping God, the meal might become the focus. And people might be tempted to cut corners to enjoy a quality meal with their friends. But God wanted all sacrifices to be treated with a soberness and seriousness that reflected a respect for His holiness.

The one thing the people of Israel needed to understand was that each of these sacrifices was to be dedicated to God. And the peace offerings were especially important because they each involved a meal eaten in communion with God. He was allowing the giver to partake of part of the meat that had been sacrificed and dedicated to Him. He was graciously sharing a meal with His people, and He expected them to treat that special occasion with the proper dignity and decorum it deserved.

Centuries later, the apostle Paul would warn the believers in Corinth against taking the Lord’s table in an unworthy manner. This too was a meal eaten in celebration of God’s graciousness and goodness. It was a communal meal commemorating God’s gift of His Son and intended to express gratitude for the undeserved atonement provided by Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross. But Paul’s audience was guilty of misusing this meal. It had lost its original significance and become just another opportunity to satisfy their own fleshly desires.

When you meet together, you are not really interested in the Lord’s Supper. For some of you hurry to eat your own meal without sharing with others. As a result, some go hungry while others get drunk. – 1 Corinthians 11:20-21 NLT

So, he warned them to realign their priorities and treat the Lord’s Table with the reverence it deserved.

So anyone who eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily is guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. That is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking the cup. For if you eat the bread or drink the cup without honoring the body of Christ, you are eating and drinking God’s judgment upon yourself. That is why many of you are weak and sick and some have even died. – 1 Corinthians 11:27-30 NLT

Proper Priestly Protocol

June 7, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

⁸ The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ⁹“Command Aaron and his sons, saying, This is the law of the burnt offering. The burnt offering shall be on the hearth on the altar all night until the morning, and the fire of the altar shall be kept burning on it. ¹⁰And the priest shall put on his linen garment and put his linen undergarment on his body, and he shall take up the ashes to which the fire has reduced the burnt offering on the altar and put them beside the altar. ¹¹Then he shall take off his garments and put on other garments and carry the ashes outside the camp to a clean place. ¹²The fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it; it shall not go out. The priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and he shall arrange the burnt offering on it and shall burn on it the fat of the peace offerings. ¹³Fire shall be kept burning on the altar continually; it shall not go out.

¹⁴“And this is the law of the grain offering. The sons of Aaron shall offer it before the Lord in front of the altar. ¹⁵And one shall take from it a handful of the fine flour of the grain offering and its oil and all the frankincense that is on the grain offering and burn this as its memorial portion on the altar, a pleasing aroma to the Lord. ¹⁶And the rest of it Aaron and his sons shall eat. It shall be eaten unleavened in a holy place. In the court of the tent of meeting they shall eat it. ¹⁷It shall not be baked with leaven. I have given it as their portion of my food offerings. It is a thing most holy, like the sin offering and the guilt offering. ¹⁸Every male among the children of Aaron may eat of it, as decreed forever throughout your generations, from the Lord’s food offerings. Whatever touches them shall become holy.”

¹⁹The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁰“This is the offering that Aaron and his sons shall offer to the Lord on the day when he is anointed: a tenth of an ephah of fine flour as a regular grain offering, half of it in the morning and half in the evening. ²¹It shall be made with oil on a griddle. You shall bring it well mixed, in baked pieces like a grain offering, and offer it for a pleasing aroma to the Lord. ²²The priest from among Aaron’s sons, who is anointed to succeed him, shall offer it to the Lord as decreed forever. The whole of it shall be burned. ²³Every grain offering of a priest shall be wholly burned. It shall not be eaten.”

²⁴The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁵“Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, This is the law of the sin offering. In the place where the burnt offering is killed shall the sin offering be killed before the Lord; it is most holy. ²⁶The priest who offers it for sin shall eat it. In a holy place it shall be eaten, in the court of the tent of meeting. ²⁷Whatever touches its flesh shall be holy, and when any of its blood is splashed on a garment, you shall wash that on which it was splashed in a holy place. ²⁸And the earthenware vessel in which it is boiled shall be broken. But if it is boiled in a bronze vessel, that shall be scoured and rinsed in water. ²⁹Every male among the priests may eat of it; it is most holy. ³⁰But no sin offering shall be eaten from which any blood is brought into the tent of meeting to make atonement in the Holy Place; it shall be burned up with fire.” – Leviticus 6:8-30 ESV

At this point, God turns His attention to Aaron and his sons, focusing on their role as His priests and the mediators for the people of Israel. God outlines the five different offerings once again, but this time from the vantage point of the priestly family. These men had been given the weighty responsibility of making atonement for the sins of the people and God wanted them to take their role seriously. It was one thing for the sinner to offer the proper sacrifice for sin as ordained by God, but it would be of little value without a priest to perform the actual act of atonement. The sinner could bring the required sacrifice but only a priest was qualified to present the offering to God on the sinner’s behalf.

So, God provided Aaron and his sons with very specific instructions regarding the burnt offering, the grain offering, the ordination offering, and the sin offering. Each required a slightly different protocol that was to be observed down to the last detail. The priests were not allowed to improvise or alter the form of the sacrifice in any way.

Every morning, one of Aaron’s sons would put on his official robes, enter the Tabernacle compound and remove the ashes from the previous day’s sacrifices. These “holy” garments were required before he could approach God’s altar. Once the ashes were collected, he was to remove his sanctified garments and replace them with ordinary clothing so that he could leave the compound and place the ashes in a predesignated location that had been ceremonially cleansed and prepared for this purpose. In accomplishing this task, it was essential that the priest ensured that the fire never went out on the bronze altar.

“…the fire on the altar must be kept burning; it must never go out. Each morning the priest will add fresh wood to the fire and arrange the burnt offering on it.” – Leviticus 6:12 NLT

The ashes had to be removed but the embers were to be kept alive and additional wood was to be added in order to maintain a perpetual flame on the altar. As long as the Israelites were encamped and the Tabernacle was open for business, the flame on the bronze altar was to be constantly kindled and perpetually ready for sacrifices to be made. And it was the responsibility of the priests to keep the fire burning at all times.

In chapter 9, Moses records the inauguration of the sacrificial system, when Aaron and his sons offered a series of sacrifices on behalf of themselves and the people. Once Aaron had completed the required offerings, officially opening the Tabernacle for business, God placed His seal of approval on the entire proceedings in a powerful and memorable way.

Then Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and blessed them, and he came down from offering the sin offering and the burnt offering and the peace offerings. And Moses and Aaron went into the tent of meeting, and when they came out they blessed the people, and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people. And fire came out from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the pieces of fat on the altar, and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces. – Leviticus 9:22-24 NLT

God created the initial fire that consumed those first offerings, and it was up to Aaron and his sons to preserve a remnant of those embers for perpetuity. The flame that God ignited was to never go out.

It was from this very same altar that the priests would remove coals to ignite the incense that was burned on the altar of incense. God was the source and sustainer of the purifying flame that made their sacrifices not only possible but effective. Even the grain offerings that were offered to God were a pleasing aroma to Him due to the flame that He Himself had initiated. And God graciously provided Aaron and his sons with a portion of the grain offering as payment for their services.

“I have given it to the priests as their share of the special gifts presented to me. Like the sin offering and the guilt offering, it is most holy. Any of Aaron’s male descendants may eat from the special gifts presented to the Lord. This is their permanent right from generation to generation.” – Leviticus 6:17-18 NLT

God provided all that the priests needed, from the robes they wore to the food they ate. They served on His behalf and, in return, He amply sustained and rewarded them for their faithful service.

God notes that if anyone or anything other than one of the priests came into contact with these sanctified offerings, they would be rendered holy. If a commoner happened to touch some of the grain offerings that had been reserved for the priests, he would be considered holy by virtue of transference and expected to maintain his purity in the same way as the priests.

“The layman who touched these most holy things became holy through the contact, so that henceforth he had to guard against defilement in the same manner as the sanctified priests.” – Keil and Delitzsch, Leviticus

It was essential that everything be done according to God’s exacting standards so that holiness might be maintained. Any variation from God’s script would result in the sacrifices being defiled and their atoning purpose thwarted.

Even Aaron and his sons, whom God had set apart for His service, were required to maintain their set-apart status by carefully following God’s commands. This included their twice-daily offering of two quarts of choice flour. These offerings were to be burned in their entirety on the altar as a form of worship to Yahweh. It was not only important that the priests served God on behalf of the people, but they were also to demonstrate their own reverence for God by offering these gifts as a pleasing aroma to Him. It was all to be consumed by fire and offered as a gift to God alone.

Holiness, humility, worship, and obedience. All of these things factored into the proper adherence to God’s sacrificial system. Everything had to be done according to God’s strict requirements and from a proper perspective. The right sacrifice offered in the wrong way or with improper motives would prove fruitless and counterproductive. Obedience was essential but so was obeisance. Seeking God’s forgiveness but without offering Him proper worship from a contrite and reverent heart was to risk incurring His wrath. Atonement was only possible if done in the right way and from a right heart.

Devotionary

The Bible Made Accessible and Applicable

Sinai