The Way to Wholeness
Lessons from Leviticus
Ray C. Stedman
Discovery House Publishers
Box 3566 Grand Rapids, MI 49501
The Way to Wholeness © 2005 by Elaine Stedman All rights reserved.
Discovery Press Publishers is affiliated with RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Discovery House books are distributed to the trade exclusively by Barbour Publishing, Inc., Uhrichsvilie, Ohio.
Requests for permission to quote from this book should he directed to: Permissions Department, Discovery House Publishers, PO. Box 3566, Grand Rapids, M149501.
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the New International Version (NIV), (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by the International Bible Society, and are used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Stedman, Ray C. The way to wholeness: studies in Leviticus / by Ray C. Stedman. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 157293-119-i (alk. paper) Bible. O.T. Leviticus--Criticism, interpretation, etc. I. Title.
BS1255.52.S74 2004 222'. 1306-dc22 2004023140
Printed in the United States of America 05 060708 09/SB /10 98 76 5432 2
CONTENTS
PART ONE: Basic Human Needs
1. The Way to Wholeness (Leviticus 20:26)
2. The Need to Belong (Leviticus 1)
3. The Need To Respond (Leviticus 2)
4. The Need for Peace (Leviticus 3 and 7)
5. The Need to Confess (Leviticus 4:1-5:13)
6. The Need to Restore (Leviticus 5:1-6:30)
7. The Need for a Priest (Leviticus 8:1-9)
8. The Work of a Priest (Leviticus 8:10-36)
9. The Present Glory (Leviticus 9)
10. Strange Fire (Leviticus 10:1-7)
11. How to Be a Priest (Leviticus 10:8-20)
12. God's Standard for Our Lives (Leviticus 11)
13. The Cure for Leprosy (Leviticus 12:1-13:46)
14. Sick Garments and Diseased Houses (Leviticus 13:47-14:57)
15. The Most Feared Chapter in Leviticus (Leviticus 15)
16. The Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16)
PART TWO: Basic Human Behavior
17. Blood and Sex (Leviticus 17 and 18)
18. The Power to Do (Leviticus 19 and 20)
19. Free to Serve (Leviticus 21 and 22)
20. God's Calendar (Leviticus 23)
21. The Pattern of Humanity (Leviticus 24)
22. Liberty and Rest (Leviticus 25)
24. Promises, Promises (Leviticus 27)
Leviticus 20:26
Let's face it: Most people are not very excited about studying the book of Leviticus. If you have ever made a commitment to read the Bible through, then you probably remember taking an easy and enjoyable trip through Genesis and Exodus. The first two books of the Bible make fascinating, page-turning reading, because every page is drenched in human drama. In Genesis and Exodus we find the compelling stories of such heroes as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses. We read about the creation of the universe, the fall of humanity, the heartbreak and triumph of Joseph, Israel's captivity in Egypt, and the story of Moses leading the people out of Egypt, climaxed by the parting of the Red Sea. It's no wonder that Hollywood has made several spectacular movies from the stories in Genesis and Exodus!
But then comes Leviticus. The drama evaporates. Suddenly, you are plodding through a catalog of offerings, ceremonies, dietary restrictions, specifications for the priesthood, and various other instructions that seem alien to our place and time. That is where many well-intentioned students of the Bible run out of gas. That is where many a well-intentioned commitment to Bible reading falters and fails.
So let's admit at the outset that the book of Leviticus is not an easy book to study. It can seem a hit dry--until you understand the meaning and the rich spiritual reality that underlies these ceremonies and instructions. Exploring the depths of God's truth is never boring, never dry. Once we begin to understand what these ceremonies and instructions mean, and their relevance to our lives today, the book of Leviticus truly becomes one of the most fascinating hooks of the Bible.
Reading the book of Leviticus without grasping its underlying reality can he like walking through a busy factory without a guide. When I first moved to the San Francisco Bay area, I visited a large steel products factory operated by Ed Stirm, one of the founders of Peninsula Bible Church. When I arrived at the building, Ed was busy, so while I waited for him I went out into the factory area and looked around by myself.
My impression was one of chaotic activity and tremendous noise. There were machines pounding and clanging, machines that hammered metal flat, machines that ground up metal, machines that spit out parts of various shapes. There was no apparent harmony or connection between what one machine did and what another machine did. There was so much noise, I couldn't hear myself think! Against this background of mechanical noise, I saw people scurrying here and there, moving dollies loaded with metal and getting in each other's way.
Finally, Ed joined me and took me on a guided tour of the plant. He took me from place to place, showed me what each machine did, what kinds of parts each machine made, and how these parts were assembled. He introduced me to people, told me what they did, and explained how one person's job connected with the work done by another person in the factory. He explained the assembly line and showed me how all the different parts of the operation flowed together. Finally, he took me to the shipping department, where he showed me the completed product, as it was being boxed and wrapped.
By the end of the tour, everything that had confused me before now made sense. What had seemed like a mass of chaos and noise a few minutes earlier had become a symphony of motion. It not only made sense, but it had become fascinating.
The same is true of the book of Leviticus. If you come to Leviticus without any background, without understanding how each part of the book connects to every other part of Leviticus and to the Bible as a whole, then it will seem chaotic and meaningless and, yes, boring.
But if you have a tour guide to Leviticus to help you make sense of it all, then I believe you will find it one of the most important and meaningful books of the entire Bible. You'll see that these ceremonies, sacrifices, and restrictions form intricately articulated relationships that reveal the plan of God for our lives.
Holiness and Wholeness: The Key to Leviticus
The key to Leviticus is found in a single verse located near the center of the book. All of the secrets of the book are unlocked by Leviticus 20:26:
"You are to be holy to me because I, the LORD, am holy, and have set you apart from the nations to be my own."
This is the purpose of the book of Leviticus. Here, God tells the people of Israel--and He tells Christians today--"You shall be holy to me." Why? "Because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have separated you from all the nations around you, so that you will be exclusively my people." What God said to Israel so long ago He also says to Christians today. The promises that appeared in picture form in the Old Testament now belong to us who live on this side of the cross. This profound truth will become even more apparent as we move deeper into Leviticus.
Look again at those words that God speaks to Israel and to us: "You are to be holy to me." What does that word holy mean to you?
Some people associate holiness with strangeness or peculiarity. They think of holy people as being weird or different. This misconception is fostered by the stereotype of ancient holy men who lived as hermits in the desert, remote from other people, a little crazed perhaps, possibly even seeing strange visions and talking to themselves. If this is your image of a holy person, then you probably don't find anything attractive in holiness. In fact, the word probably repels you.
For other people, the word holy suggests a sort of grim religiousness. They think of a holy person as someone who has been steeped in vinegar. Many of us react to the word holy the same way the little girl reacted the first time she saw a mule looking at her over a fence. She had never seen a mule before, so when this long-faced animal peered at her, she said, "I don't know what you are, but you must be a Christian--you look just like Grandpa!"
That's the way I reacted to the word holy when I was much younger. I thought of holy people as joyless, solemn people who prayed all the time, sang grim, gloomy hymns all the time, and never had any fun. The word holy was not attractive to me. In fact, it repelled me.
But my impression of holiness began to change when I encountered several verses in Scripture that spoke of holiness as a beautiful and glorious thing. For example, 1 Chronicles 16:29 tells us, "Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name. Bring an offering and come before him; worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness." (These words are echoed in 2 Chronicles 20:21; Psalm 29:2; and Psalm 96:9.) 1 began to realize that if holiness is a thing of splendor and beauty, then my mental image of holiness must be all wrong--and I began to explore what the Bible truly means by that word holiness.
The word holiness comes from the same Old English word from which we get our word wholeness. The Old English word is hali or halig, which had such varied shades of meaning as wholeness, completeness, health, and even salvation. So when we talk about holiness, we are truly talking about wholeness and completeness. And when God says to us, "You are to be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy," He is telling us that we are to be as whole and complete as He is.
There is no blemish in God; He lives in harmony with Himself. He is whole and perfect. That is the beauty and splendor of His holiness. And this beautiful, splendorous, holy God looks at us in our brokenness and says to us, "You, too, shall be whole, as I am whole." When we experience God's wholeness and His holiness, then we become fully what He intended us to he. All of the parts of our selves are present and functioning as God intended them to function.
That word wholeness has power to awaken a longing within us: We are aware of our brokenness, and we long to he whole and complete. Don't you want to be what God made you to be? Wouldn't you want to have every aspect of your personality function in perfect balance? That is what it means to be a whole and holy person. That is the beauty and splendor of wholeness and holiness. That is what God is after in our lives.
And that is what the book of Leviticus is all about. It is, in fact, a theme that runs throughout the entire Bible.
As a human race and as individuals, we are self-conscious about our brokenness, our lack of wholeness. We are aware of our inability to cope with life. We know how powerless we are to control bad habits, chronic sins, temptations and addictions, the things we say and do to hurt the ones we love. We put up a big façade and pretend that we are in control and there is nothing wrong with us. But underneath the façade, we are hurting, full of shame and guilt, and we are running scared.
But God, in Leviticus, tells us that He knows all about our brokenness and pain. He knows that our lives are riddled with sin, shame, and hurt. Our brokenness stands in stark contrast to His holiness. Yet His love teaches out to us, right where we are, and He makes a wonderful promise to us: "You are to be holy to me because I, the Low, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own." This is the wonderful plan and purpose He has for our lives.
Separate and Set Apart
We were created in perfection.
If you carefully read the creation account in Genesis 1, you may notice an interesting detail: At the end of every creation day, God looks on what He has created and sees "that it was good." Then in Genesis 1:27, the creation account undergoes a subtle but important change: "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." And Genesis 1:31 tells us that at that close of the day on which human beings were created, "God saw all that he had made, and it was very good."
Not just "good" but "very good."
When Adam first came from the hand of God, he was perfect and whole. He functioned as God intended humanity to function. He bore the beauty and splendor of the image and the likeness of God.
As human beings, we were lovingly fashioned by God, and He looked upon its and said that we were very good. But the human race has become misshapen and deformed by sin. Yes, God's image is still stamped upon us, but that image has become marred and damaged. We are no longer whole.
If you accidentally drop a quarter into a garbage disposal while it is running, that quarter will get hacked and nicked and possibly bent. Turn off the disposal and retrieve the quarter, and you'll be able to tell it is a quarter. You'll be able to recognize the image of George Washington that is stamped upon it, but that quarter will no longer be what it once was. It will he marred and damaged. That is what has happened to the image of God that is stamped on you and me.
We were made in the image and likeness of God--and we still have His image, but we have lost His likeness. There is a semblance of God, but the completeness and wholeness of God have been lost.
In his poem "Choruses from the Rock," T. S. Eliot laments that all of human knowledge only brings a greater sense of our ignorance, and all of our ignorance only draws us closer to death. And though we are approaching death, we are no closer to God. "Where," the poet asks, "is the Life we have lost in living?"
Isn't that the question millions are asking today? Where is the Life I have lost in trying to live? I seek knowledge, but I have no wisdom. I seek pleasure, but I have no joy. I keep chasing after happiness, but I have no satisfaction. I seek to make a living, but I have no life.
But here in Leviticus, God steps into the broken mess we have made of our lives and promises to make us whole again, just as He is whole. And He knows how to do it: "You are to be holy to me because I, the LORD, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own." How will God make us whole and holy? Through a process of separation.
The reason we are so broken is that we are involved in a broken race. We have been infected by a broken and sin-ridden world. Our attitudes are wrong. Our view of life is twisted and distorted. We mistake illusions for truth, and we end up chasing phantoms. So God must separate us. He must break us loose from conformity to the thought patterns and attitudes of the people around us. He must deliver us from this world, straighten out our thinking, set our minds and hearts right, and untangle our fouled relationships.
But God will not make us whole against our will. If we choose to remain broken, He will allow it. This process is completely voluntary--God never forces us into it. Some will choose to become whole and holy, and some will not. God will deliver only those who trust Him enough to respond to His love.
Christ Before the Cross
Once, when I was in my early teens, I saw a deer in a thicket at the edge of a clearing. I had an apple in my hand, so I tried to entice her out into the clearing by holding out the apple, She was a wild doe and very afraid of me, but she was also hungry, and she wanted that apple. She would venture a few steps toward me; then her fear would overtake her and she'd retreat into the woods. Then she'd come out again, stand still; look around for a minute, seemingly indifferent to my presence. All the while, I stood perfectly still, holding out the apple. Finally, she'd edge closer--then a twig would snap, and she'd disappear back into the bushes.
Now, I wouldn't have hurt her. If she'd only known my intentions, she would have been perfectly safe in walking right up and taking the apple from my hand. But she didn't know that.
I was there a long time, at least half an hour, trying to get her to come out of the woods. Finally she came about halfway toward me and stood there with her neck stretched out, trying to muster the courage to reach for that apple. Just as I thought she was going to take it, a car passed on the road nearby, and she was gone! I had to eat the apple myself.
This is a picture of what God contends with in reaching out to the human race. It takes infinite patience and love on His part to reach out to fearful, hurting men and women like us.
That is why God gave us His Book. He starts in kindergarten with us. He starts with pictures and shadows, with visual aids, in order to show its what He is going to do someday. All the ceremonies and offerings of the Old Testament are shadows and pictures of Jesus Christ. When we understand the meaning of these ceremonies and offerings, it becomes clear that Christ is pictured here in the book of Leviticus. God shows us, through His people Israel, His way of healing human guilt and pain. This is God's way to wholeness.
"Well," you might say, "I thought Jesus Christ was God's way to wholeness." That is exactly true. But Jesus is not the way to wholeness only for those who believed after the cross. For thousands of years before Jesus died and rose again, men and women were hurting and broken, just as we are. They needed Christ, too--and He was available to them centuries before He came to earth in human form. How? Through the pictures and symbols of these ceremonies in Leviticus. When people grasped the reality behind those pictures, when they laid hold of Jesus through faith in the One who would someday come to save them, they came to the same joy and peace that we have as Christians.
We see this principle clearly as we read the Psalms. There we see how much David understood of the presence and the grace of God in his life. Some of the psalms give us a picture of the divine nature of the coming Messiah. For example, Psalm 2:7 tells us, "He [the Lord] said to me, 'You are my Son; today I have become your Father.'" Others speak of the Messiah's humanity; for example, Psalm 8:4-6 tells us, "What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet."
Other messianic passages in the Psalms include Psalm 110:1-2, which Jesus quoted as proof of His authority (see Matthew 22:43-44); Psalm 110:4, which speaks of Christ's atoning and priestly role; Psalm 42:9, which speaks of His betrayal; Psalm 118:22-23, which speaks of Christ being rejected by the people; Psalm 22, which speaks of His suffering and death; and Psalm 16:8-10, which speaks of His resurrection. David was a man whose hurt and guilt had been healed by God. He understood that God was his strength and the source of his life. Only God could meet every need of David's heart and work out all the tangled relationships in his family and his personal life.
Like the Psalms, which were written centuries before the birth of Christ, Leviticus is filled with pictures of Christ. All of the sacrifices, rituals, and ceremonies of Leviticus are pictures of Jesus Christ and His work. From this side of the cross, we can see Jesus clearly in the pages of Leviticus.
So Leviticus is not merely a book of history, not is it merely a catalog of religious rules and regulations. It was not written merely for the people of Israel. It is a tremendously practical and relevant manual on how we are to live as Christians.
But there is even more to this powerful, practical book: When you read Leviticus and understand what it is saying, it will help you to understand yourself. It will reveal to You the person you truly are and the person God created you to be.
We are a mystery to ourselves. We don't even understand how we think. We are baffled by our own experience. We are driven by motives and urges we don't even understand, much less control. Paul expressed this painful dimension of our existence in his letter to the Romans: "For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing" (Romans 7:19). That is a penetrating, probing analysis of what is going on in your life and mine.
In the same way, the book of Leviticus shows why we do the things we do. It leads us to a deeper, richer understanding of ourselves. It is designed to meet us where we are, in our sinfulness, our helplessness, and our hurt. As we learn how to accept the healing grace that God offers us, Leviticus will reveal to us the beauty and splendor of wholeness that can be ours.
In Jesus Christ, God took upon Himself the form of a man. He came to this earth, God in human flesh, and He lived among us--a man who was everything God intended human beings to be. He came to us in the midst of our brokenness. Everything He was and did as a man is what we also can be and do. So as you study Leviticus, you will discover not only Christ but also yourself. You will learn what your deepest needs truly are and how God has met those needs in Jesus Christ.
An Overview of Leviticus
The book of Leviticus falls into two basic divisions. Part One speaks to human need. It reveals our condition as human beings and sets forth God's answer to our need. I call the first part of Leviticus (Leviticus 1-16) Basic Human Needs.
Part Two of Leviticus reveals what God expects from us in response to Him. This section shows God's provision for our wholeness, and then it reveals the performance that results from God's provision for our wholeness. I call this second part of Leviticus (Leviticus 17-27) Basic Human Behavior.
Part One: Basic Human Needs. In the first sixteen chapters of Leviticus we find four elements that set forth our need and reveal what we are truly like.
1. Five offerings. The first element is a series of five offerings. I believe that God gave us five fingers on each hand so that we can remember the five offerings: (1) the burnt offering, (2) the meal offering, (3) the peace offering, (4) the sin offering, and (5) the trespass offering. These five offerings are pictures of what Jesus Christ did for us when He was sacrificed upon the cross. They are also pictures of the great, fundamental needs of human life.
These five offerings speak of the two essential ingredients of human existence: love and responsibility.
We can never be complete persons if we lack this first ingredient, love. We can never be all that God created us to be if we are not loved and if we do not love others. Love is an essential ingredient of life. We were made to love and be loved. Nothing hurts and distorts a human soul like the denial of love.
The second essential ingredient is a sense of responsibility. As human beings, we have duties and responsibilities to other human beings and to God. When we live responsibly, meeting our responsibilities to God and others, we gain a sense of self-worth and self-respect that comes from God.
In order to be whole people with healthy relationships, we need to experience both love and responsibility. The offerings that are presented in Leviticus show us the role that love and responsibility play in our lives.
2. The priesthood. The second element in this first half of Leviticus is the priesthood. In Leviticus, God provides the priesthood to help us handle the emotional and intellectual problems we face in trying to work out our relationships with love and responsibility.
In the Old Testament, this priesthood consisted of the sons of Levi. That is where the book of Leviticus gets its name. Leviticus is the Latin form of the Greek word leutikos, which means "Levitical--having to do with the Levites, the sons of Levi." In Old Testament times, God established the priesthood as ministers of God's Law and God's grace to the people of Israel.
In New Testament times, the Levitical priesthood was exchanged for a new priesthood consisting of Jesus Christ Himself--our Lord and High Priest--and all Christian believers. That's right; in the body of Christ, the church, we are all priests one to another. We are to practice the priesthood of all believers. We cannot get along without each other, because we all have problems with which we need help. And when we need help, we can go to Jesus, our High Priest, and to one another in the priesthood of all believers.
3. The revelation of God's standard. The third element in this section of Leviticus is the revelation of God's standard by which we can tell the difference between true and false, holy and unholy, wholeness and brokenness, real and phony, life and death.
It seems amazing but it's true: In our natural condition, we cannot tell the difference. There are thousands and thousands of people who are doing things they think are good and helpful, yet they are causing hurt--and they don't understand why their best intentions create pain in their lives and the lives of others. They cry out and say, "What did I do wrong? Why am I in this mess?" It's because they could not tell the difference between true and false, whole and broken.
God loves us and wants us to know the truth. He wants us to be able to tell the difference between true and false. So He has given us the book of Leviticus in which He sets forth the difference between that which is harmful and that which brings wholeness, health, and happiness. Now that God has made His truth known, we have no excuse if we continue to do the things that cause harm.
4. An opportunity to respond to God. The final element of this section of Leviticus is an opportunity to respond voluntarily to God. The Lord never imposes His will upon us. We constantly need His help, and we must come to a place where we recognize our need. Once we recognize our absolute brokenness before God, we need to give Him a response. So, in Leviticus, God gives us the opportunity to voluntarily say yes to Him. This opportunity was provided in the Day of Atonement (or in Hebrew, Yom Kippur), the observance of which is set forth in Leviticus 16.
But what if, after we recognize our need of God's help in our lives, we say no to Him? He will, of course, allow us to do so. We can say no to God--but there's a very real danger in doing so: We might never return to that place of opportunity again. God is gracious, and He often allows us a long period of time before our rejection of Him becomes final. But we never know, and we should never presume upon God's grace.
Part Two: Basic Human Behavior. The second section of the book, Leviticus 17-27, describes the kind of lives we can lead because of the provision that God has made for us. Notice that when God divides Leviticus into two parts, the order of the two parts is very important. Leviticus 1-16 discusses God's provision, because His provision comes first. Then Leviticus 17-27 deals with our behavior on the basis of His provision. God never speaks about our behavior until He has made clear that the basis of our behavior must he His power alone. We cannot live as we were meant to live in our own power. We can only live as God treated us to live when we base our behavior on God's all-sufficient provision.
In the church, we often get this backward. A great deal of damage has been done to people by insisting that they behave in a certain way without helping them to understand the power by which to do so. Some Christians, out of an inadequate understanding of the Scriptures, teach people that they must live up to a certain standard of behavior before God will accept them! This is totally wrong, and it is a lie of Satan. It is deadly legalism, not biblical truth.
That is the great misimpression that God seeks to correct through the book of Leviticus. God never expects us to be holy and whole in our own power. He always provides His power first, so that we can understand the basis upon which we are to act. In Leviticus He gives the pattern for becoming a whole and holy people. Here are the four elements of that pattern.
1. The blood. The basis for wholeness is blood. You see this throughout the Old Testament. A river of blood flows through the Old Testament in the form of sacrifices that seem strange to our thinking. There are thousands and thousands of sacrifices offered every year--bulls, calves, goats, sheep, and birds of all kinds.
Though the sacrifices of Leviticus ceased to be practiced centuries ago, they are not, as many people suppose, mere relies of a bygone era. These sacrifices have a powerful, life-changing meaning for us today. They are symbols designed to teach us the truth about ourselves and our relationships, especially our relationship with God.
Many non-Christians look at how important the blood of animals is in the Old Testament and how important Christ's blood is in the New Testament, and they say, "Well, Christianity is nothing but a slaughterhouse religion! It's all about blood! Why is all this blood being shed?"
It's because God is trying to impress us with a fundamental fact: The brokenness of our lives runs very deep. It is a problem that can be solved only by a death. The basis for our wholeness is that a life must be given up, the lifeblood of another must be poured out. Our brokenness cannot simply be mended by our natural efforts. We must have a new kind of life poured into us. We must give up the old before we can receive the new.
God is telling us that we can't have both the old life and the new. As Christians, that is our continual struggle: We keep trying to hang on to the old way of life and refuse to accept the new. The blood of the Levitical sacrifices speaks to the fact that the old must pass away so that we can receive the new. We will explore this principle in greater detail as we move through our study.
2. Love in relationships. The second element that becomes clear in the second half of Leviticus is that God tells us to practice love in all the relationships of our lives. The Bible is an intensely practical book. It is not nearly so concerned about what you do in the temple as it is about what you do in your home as a result of having been to the temple. So this book deals with our relationships within the family, among our friends, and with society in general. It shows us exactly the kind of love relationship that God makes possible for us in all these areas.
3. Enjoying the presence and power of God. The third element of the last half of Leviticus is the enjoyment of the presence and power of God--humanity in relationship to God, worshiping God, and empowered by the exciting reality of the living God. The most important thing in life is to have a personal relationship with the living God, who is the source of all life and of everything good.
4. An awareness of the issues at stake. The final element in the second half of Leviticus is an awareness of the importance of the issues of life and eternity. God demands that we make a choice. No one else can make this choice for us. God never says, "I'm going to make you leave your misery." Rather, He says, "If you prefer being broken and don't want to be healed, then that is up to you. If you so choose, you can stay right where you are, and you can die in your brokenness. But if you want life, then you can choose life, and I will give it to you."
God never forces His will upon us. But He does set before us the choice--a clear and unambiguous choice between life and death. He expects us to respond. He demands that we choose.
Throughout our study of Leviticus we must remember the key verse that unlocks the meaning of the entire book: "You are to be holy to me because I, the LORD, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own" (Leviticus 20:26). That phrase "to be my own" has a unique, emphatic sense in the original Hebrew language. It is as if you can put all three tenses in a single word, so that God is saying, "You were mine, you are mine, you shall be mine."
As a Christian, you may have had an awareness that after you committed your life to Jesus Christ, you not only belonged to God at that moment, but there was a sense in which you had belonged to Him all along. The apostle Paul once wrote, "God... set me apart from birth and called me by his grace" (Galatians 1:15). Yet, for much of his life, Paul was an enemy of Christianity and a persecutor of Christians! Even so, Paul could look back upon his life and say that he was God's all along.
"You are mine," God tells us. "Even though you have been an enemy, even though you have been fighting me, you are mine! You have been mine, you are mine right now, and you will be mine for eternity." Even in our brokenness, our fragmented and imperfect state, God puts His loving hand upon our lives and says, "I have set you apart to be my own. You belong to me!"
I once heard about a service at a rescue mission in a city in the Midwest. It was a service for children, in which children put on the program. One little boy, about six years old, gave a recitation in the program. The boy had a birth defect which caused his back to be misshapen so that he was humpbacked. As he walked across the stage to give his recitation, he was shy and nervous. Not only was he self-conscious because of his physical condition, but it was the first time he had ever attempted a public performance. Doing the recitation was a great struggle for him.
There were two older boys in the back of the room who were chronic troublemakers. Just as the little boy was walking across the stage to begin his recitation, the two older boys in back called out, "Hey, kid! Where are you going with that pack on your back?"
The little boy stopped in his tracks and started to cry.
A man got up from the audience and walked up onto the stage. He knelt beside the little boy and put his arm around him. Then he said to the audience, "it must take a very cruel person to say such a thing. This boy has a condition that is not his fault. And he loves Jesus and he wanted to come out here and recite something for you all to show you what Jesus means to him. And I want you to know that I'm proud of this boy, because he is my own son. I love him just the way he is, and he belongs to me."
And the man hugged his son and led him off the platform.
That is what God says to us: He loves us just the way we are, and we belong to Him. He sees our hurt, our heartache, and our brokenness. He says to us, "You're mine, and you have always been mine. What's more, you will always he mine, and you will he made whole. All your blemishes and deformities will he corrected, all your sins will be set aside, all your tangled relationships will be straightened out. You will be whole, for I am whole. You will be holy, for I am holy."
That is what Jesus Christ is about. That is what the Bible is about. And that is what the book of Leviticus is about.
The rituals of Leviticus speak to us today as they spoke to the people centuries ago. The sacrifices of Leviticus point us to the sacrifice on the hill called Calvary where the life of God own Son was poured out for as, so that we might be whole and holy, so that God might set us apart to be His own.
So turn the page with me, and let begin our exploration of the rich and rewarding truths of the book of Leviticus.
Leviticus I
Someone is coming. As you read through the Old Testament, you feel this sense of expectation. On page after page, you see a great emphasis on an approaching figure. You get a clear sense that Someone is coming. We see it in prophecies, shadows, and pictures of the future. All of Old Testament history seems to focus our attention on a coming moment in time.
And it is not just the prophetic books, such as Isaiah or Malachi that tell us that Someone is coming. We can see it clearly even in the books of Old Testament law, in the book of Leviticus. The ceremonies, rites, and sacrifices of Leviticus are written in love, written in blood, and shout to us: Someone is coming!
Because we live on this side of the cross, we know who that Someone is: Jesus the Messiah. This, in itself, is a remarkable testimony to the divine authorship of Leviticus. Only God Himself could have prescribed offerings that so accurately depict the coming of Jesus.
Unfortunately, many people look at Leviticus and see only meaningless rituals, ceremonies, and sacrifices. But these rituals, ceremonies, and sacrifices are far from meaningless. They are pictures drawn by the hand of God to illustrate His truth. The Old Testament is filled with such pictures, and God employs them in His Word to prefigure something that is yet to come. The New Testament calls such pictures "shadows." In Colossians 2:1-17, Paul writes that the Old Testament dietary laws, religious festivals and celebrations, and Sabbath days "are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ." And Hebrews 10:1 tells us, "The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming--not the realities themselves."
These pictures are visual aids God uses to impress His truth upon our minds. After all, we human beings are not very smart. We think we are, because we can invent complicated gadgetry like computers and space shuttles. But, in contrast to the wisdom and greatness of God, we know nothing at all. So God teaches its as you might teach a child. Kindergarten teachers never start out by writing complex mathematical formulas on the blackboard for children to learn. They start with simple arithmetic, using pictures to illustrate the concepts involved ("one apple plus two oranges equals how many pieces of fruit?"). That is how God began teaching the human race--with pictures and shadows.
God's Pictures: The Law and the Tabernacle
In Exodus, the book immediately before Leviticus, we find the story of Israel's redemption from Egypt. Look at the components of that story and see if they remind you of a deep spiritual truth.
The people of Israel were in slavery under a cruel and vicious king. Then a deliverer came who spoke for God. By means of the Passover, God sheltered His people under the blood, which was splashed onto wooden crosspieces that framed a doorway. God's angel of death passed over the people, and the deliverer led the people out of bondage, through the depths of the sea, and into a place of freedom.
In this story, we also see a picture (a type) of how all humanity was in slavery to a cruel king named Satan. The people were in bondage to sin and death. Then came a deliverer, Jesus Christ. He served the Passover meal; then His blood was splashed on a wooden cross, and that cross became the doorway of escape. The angel of death passes over all who place their trust in the deliverer, Jesus. He leads us out of bondage, through the deep places of this life, and to a place of freedom from sin and death.
Exodus also records two more pictures God gave Israel as visual aids: The Law and the tabernacle. Let's look at each of these pictures and see how they illustrate profound and practical spiritual truth:
1. The Law. In Exodus 19 we find a dramatic and terrifying scene. Three months after leaving Egypt, the people of Israel gathered before Mount Sinai. A trumpet sounded--a blast that must have been very much like an air raid siren today. The mountain was wreathed in flame and smoke, the ground shook with a great earthquake, and the people were terrified. God said to Moses, "Come up here! I want to talk to you!" And Moses went up on the mountain alone.
I have never envied Moses that trip, or that awe-inspiring and terrifying encounter. But it was there, on the mountain, that God gave the Law to Moses.
The Ten Commandments (recorded in Exodus 20:3-17) are nothing more or less than God's revelation of His expectations of us. The Ten Commandments tell us the kind of people God designed and created us to be. When He made us in His own image, He made us to live the kind of life that is described in the Ten Commandments. Some of them pertain to our relationship with God: "You shall have no other gods before me,ĶYou shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God." Others deal with our relationships with family and neighbors: "Honor your father and your mother. "You shall not murder,ĶYou shall not commit adultery."
These commandments speak to us with power and authority, because something within us knows they are right. God has, in a sense, written aspects of the Law into every human heart. This is why everywhere in the world, no matter what culture you observe, you will find a sense of responsibility and accountability to God and an awareness that human beings should live up to a certain standard. This sense of oughtness--we ought to do this and we ought not do that--is evident throughout the human race.
2. The Tabernacle. Along with the Law, God gave Moses the pattern of a building--the tabernacle. God told Moses, in effect, "Don't vary the pattern; build it exactly as I have told you." The book of Hebrews tells us that the tabernacle is a picture of humanity and of what God intends to do--and that is to live in us. So God designed the tabernacle the same way He designed us: in three sections, spirit, soul, and body. In the tabernacle there was the outer court (representing the body), the Holy Place (representing the soul), and the Holy of Holies (representing the unfathomable, mysterious aspect of out being called the spirit). God designed the tabernacle as a picture of humanity so that we could understand ourselves and how God intends to dwell within us.
God illustrated His presence in the tabernacle by means of a bright, shining light which seemed to have no visible source. That light was called the Shekinah, and it was the visible mark of the presence of God. It was not God Himself but only a picture of God, for no human eye can see God. But that light reminded Israel that this is where God intends to dwell--in the human tabernacle, which the tabernacle represents. God's dwelling place is in you and me, His people.
The Law that was given to Moses at Mount of Sinai was the Old Covenant. God said to humanity, "This is what you ought to be." Thus the Law made an absolutely inflexible demand on the human race. God said, in effect, 'Any deviation from this Law must be punished because it means that you are failing to be what you were made to be, and this can't be ignored!" And the human race said, "All right, we'll keep the Law." And they tried--
But they failed. Why? Because someone has thrown a monkey wrench into the human machinery: We are all fallen As fallen creatures, we are incapable of keeping God's perfect Law.
The Law is like the instruction manual for your car, but with a nasty twist. Imagine this: You have bought a new car, you've carefully read the instruction manual, and you've promised yourself that you would faithfully follow every instruction. But every time you go out to drive your car, you find that someone has put water in your gas tank and sand in your oil--nothing works right. That is what it is like for us as human beings when we try to live in obedience to the Law. That Law, which seems so simple to understand and whose demands are so fair and reasonable, becomes in practice a set of demands that we can never hope to meet.
That is why God, after the tabernacle was built, gave the people of Israel a whole series of sacrifices as a picture of the New Covenant, the new arrangement for living. In these sacrifices there is death and blood--yet there is also a priest who helps us with our spiritual and emotional hurts, who pronounces God's forgiveness of sin, and who helps us experience a restored fellowship with God, even though we have broken His Law.
The Sacrifices
The sacrifices of Leviticus are shadows and pictures. The slaying of an animal and the shedding of animal blood cannot save us. But the blood pictures for us what can save us: Jesus Christ. The animal sacrifices are a picture of the sacrifice of Jesus upon the cross. The sacrifices pictured for the people of Israel a future event, which we now look upon as an historical event. When the people of Israel made these sacrifices, their faith was not in the shed blood of animals but in what that blood pictured, even though their understanding of that picture was limited. Though they didn't know Jesus Christ by name and had never heard the gospel that we have heard, their faith was in Him and in the work He would one day perform upon the cross for all of humankind.
The book of Leviticus opens with these words, which speak of the sacrifices that God has ordained:
The LORD called to Moses and spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting [that is, the tabernacle]. He said, 'Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'When any of you brings an offering to the LORD, bring as your offering an animal from either the herd or the flock" (Leviticus 1:1-2).
Notice that this whole system of sacrifices was never given from Sinai. It was given from the tabernacle, the place where God had come to live with humankind. This is significant for us. God never placed the demand of the Law upon us without also intending to meet it from within, from the life of Jesus Christ within us, which is God dwelling in us. So God has made a provision for the problem of breaking the Law. He has dealt with the problem of guilt, shame, condemnation, self-hatred, and all the other afflictions that attack us from within and keep us from experiencing the wholeness God created us to have.
Five offerings or sacrifices are presented in Leviticus, and each of those five offerings represents one aspect of the work of Jesus Christ. Each of these offerings followed a pattern that was fulfilled when Jesus Christ died on the cross and met all the requirements of our holy God. These offerings are (1) the burnt offering, (2) the meal offering, (3) the peace offering, (4) the trespass offering, and (5) the sin offering. When Jesus died, He took our place and made these offerings in our stead. That is why God put Him to death.
The five offerings reveal what we are as fallen human beings, as children of Adam, as heirs of the Adamic sin nature. So if you want to understand yourself, then heed these offerings. They represent what Jesus Christ had to become in order to help us. They tell us who and what we are.
The Burnt Offering
The first of these five offerings is the most basic one, the burnt offering, which followed a five-step pattern:
First step: A selection of the sacrifice. The burnt offering had to be an animal sacrifice, and, as we shall see, it was always a male, without blemish, without any kind of defect or disfigurement at all. Animals were the most valuable possession of the Hebrew people, so an animal was a costly sacrifice taken from their most valuable treasure--their herds.
Second step: They laid hands on the offering. What does that mean? God was teaching the people the principle of substitution--the fact that we human beings are all tied together, we belong to one another, we share life together, and there is a way by which one of us can substitute for another. To deal with our deepest guilt, however, that substitute had to be a spotless, sinless person. And the only human being who ever fulfilled that qualification was Jesus Christ. That is why He is the only one who can substitute for us and redeem us.
This rite of identification, the laying on of hands, is God's expressive way of teaching us that we belong to each other. That is why, in the church today, when we commission a person to do ministry in the church or on the mission field, we will bring that person before the entire congregation and lay hands on him or her. By this symbolic rite we say, "We are with you, we are one with you, we are praying for you and supporting you financially, spiritually, and emotionally." In the sacrificial sense, the rite of identification said that the people were identified with the sacrifice--not with the animal itself but with the sacrifice of the One the animal represented, the coming Christ.
Third step: They killed the animal immediately. God never allowed any compromise on this step. He did not say, "This cute little lamb is innocent of any wrongdoing, so just drain a half pint of blood and I'll be satisfied." God wanted to impress upon us the fact that our sin problem is so deeply rooted in our lives that nothing but death can solve it. It cannot be mitigated or disguised by some temporary expedient. The awfulness of sin requires the immediate death of the substitutionary sacrifice.
Fourth step: They sprinkled the blood and burned the portions of the sacrifice as an act of consecration and commitment to God. The instant the animal died, it became acceptable to God. Death solved the problem of separation and alienation so that the sacrifice could be offered to God.
Fifth and final step: They experienced a ceremonial indication of a restored relationship. Usually they sat down and ate part of the meat of the sacrifice. This is where the Hebrew people got their meat dishes, because they could eat only the meat of their sacrifices. Every animal they killed had to be slain at the door of the Tent of Meeting--that is, the tabernacle. There were some offerings, like the burnt offering, from which they could not eat. But with these God gave them other means of indicating that the relationship was restored and that there was peace again.
The burnt offering was the most frequently offered sacrifice in Israel. Every morning and every evening the priests would give a burnt offering. It was called the continual burnt offering and it had to fulfill certain requirements: The offering had to be a male without blemish, and it had to be totally consumed by fire.
First Requirement: A Male Without Blemish
The first requirement of the burnt offering was that it was always a male without blemish. The people had three choices as to the kind of animal:
"If the offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he is to offer a male without defect. He must present it at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting so that it will be acceptable to the LORD. He is to lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him. He is to slaughter the young bull before the LORD, and then Aaron's sons the priests shall bring the blood and sprinkle it against the altar on all sides at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. He is to skin the burnt offering and cut it into pieces. The sons of Aaron the priest are to put fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire. Then Aaron's sons the priests shall arrange the pieces, including the head and the fat, on the burning wood that is on the altar. He is to wash the inner parts and the legs with water, and the priest is to burn all of it on the altar. It is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the LORD" (Leviticus 1:3-9).
If you were rich, you brought a bull. But if you could not afford a bull or if you did not have a herd of cattle but only a flock of sheep or goats, then another provision was made:
"If the offering is a burnt offering from the flock, from either the sheep or the goats, he is to offer a male without defect. He is to slaughter it at the north side of the altar before the LORD, and Aaron's sons the priests shall sprinkle its blood against the altar on all sides. He is to cut it into pieces, and the priest shall arrange them, including the head and the fat, on the burning wood that is on the altar. He is to wash the inner parts and the legs with water, and the priest is to bring all of it and burn it on the altar. It is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the LORD" (Leviticus 1:10-13).
Every action described in these verses is symbolically significant in picturing the coming work and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. We will see this more clearly as we go along. Finally, if you were very poor and had no animals, you could bring a bird:
"If the offering to the LORD is a burnt offering of birds, he is to offer a dove or a young pigeon. The priest shall bring it to the altar, wring off the head and burn it on the altar; its blood shall be drained out on the side of the altar. He is to remove the crop with its contents and throw it to the east side of the altar, where the ashes are. He shall tear it open by the wings, not severing it completely, and then the priest shall burn it on the wood that is on the fire on the altar. It is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the LORD" (Leviticus 1:14-17).
All of this sounds very bloody and gory to our sensibilities today. But God is saying something important to us through all of this death and bloodletting. He is indicating by these sacrificial animals that a provision has been made for everyone, so that God's people can be made whole and holy. No one is left out. Even the poorest can offer something as a burnt offering. You may remember that when Joseph and Mary took the baby Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem to be circumcised on the eighth day, they gave a burnt offering of a pair of doves (see Luke 2:2124). It is amazing to realize that the offering they made on that day symbolized the coming sacrificial death of Mary's own son.
Why did God require that this first offering, the burnt offering, always be male? It is because in the Scriptures a male always stands for leadership, initiative, and dominion. Females in Scripture always signify support, following, and response, and there were certain offerings for which a female animal was specified. The people of God were told specifically what to do because these symbols were intended to teach them truths they needed to know.
So the burnt offering had to be a male without blemish or disfigurement. This is a recognition of the fact that in this most basic of all offerings, God was dealing with man as a king, as a sovereign. Man was made to rule. He was never made to be in bondage to anyone. That is why we are restless when we are enslaved or held in bondage of any sort. We cannot stand it, for something deep within us was made by God to rule.
In Psalm 8, David looks up to the heavens and asks, "What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?" And then he answers his own question: "You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet" (Psalm 8:4, 6). All the fish and other inhabitants of the seas, all the animals and birds, everything is put under the authority of man. That is man as God created him. And man still feels this. That is why we are not content unless we are running things in this world.
No scientist is content to be excluded from an area of knowledge. No explorer can rest if any mountains are left unclimbed. When Sit Edmund Hillary conquered Mt. Everest, he was asked why he did it. His reply: "Because it was there." All this is a dim remembrance of the dominion God gave man. This dominion is symbolized by the selection of the male for this offering. The sacrifice of the male was the sacrifice of a ruler, of one who has dominion. It symbolizes the sacrifice of Jesus the King.
Second Requirement: Totally Consumed
The second requirement of the burnt offering was that it must be totally consumed. Nobody ever ate the meat of the burnt offering. Look at Leviticus 1:6-9:
"He is to skin the burnt offering and cut it into pieces. The sons of Aaron the priest are to put fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire. Then Aaron's sons the priests shall arrange the pieces, including the head and the fat, on the burning wood that is on the altar. He is to wash the inner parts and the legs with water, and the priest is to burn all of it on the altar. It is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the LORD."
In Leviticus, there were three sacrifices that were said to be "an aroma pleasing to the LORD." The first of these is this burnt offering. God says that there is something about man which, when he recognizes his right to rule and gives himself wholly to it, is pleasing to God. God is thereby teaching us that man was meant to be His, wholly and totally. The whole human being--body, soul, and spirit--is to be the dwelling place of God. Only a human being who is indwelt and ruled by God is able to rule as he was meant to rule.
This is a recognition of the most basic hunger of man. It is a reflection of our need to belong, to be accepted, to beloved, to have an identity, a relationship, a cause to live for, and even to die for. The human soul is forever restless without a sense of belonging. We will never find fulfillment until we find it in committing ourselves totally to God. You and I are searching for someone to love us. That is the most primitive and basic hunger of our lives.
We like to think we have a godlike ability to control our own destinies. We try to run the universe and have everything revolve around us. Our will to complete autonomy and self-determination was well stated by William Ernest Henley in his poem "Invictus," in which he thanks "whatever gods may be" for his "unconquerable soul." He ends his poem with these defiant lines: "I am the master of my fate / I am the captain of my soul."
It is a satanic lie that a human being is master of his or her own fare. God could flick off a little switch inside your body and you would be instantly dead from a heart attack or an aneurysm. You'd have nothing to say about it. No human being runs his own life or controls her own destiny. Humanity is not God. We were not made to exist on our own. We were made to belong to someone else. When God says, "I have set you apart from the nations to be my own," He is telling us what our purpose is, what we were created to be--God's own people, a people who belong to Him.
Perhaps you have detected a paradox at this point. Here are two great truths, linked together in Scripture, which seem to contradict each other: Man was born to rule, but he was also made to belong to God. Man was born to be king over all, but he was made to be under the authority and ownership of God. In fact, human beings are not happy unless they are possessed by God. These truths appear contradictory, but they complement and complete each other.
A number of years ago, a young man in his late twenties came to our church--we'll call him Michael. He was in trouble with the law because he had been caught bilking people out of their money. For years Michael had lived as a con artist, taking advantage of people. Now he had been caught, and he wanted to mend his ways and start a new life. As I met with him, I learned his story.
Michael had not known anything about his origin or identity until he was fourteen years of age. He had grown up in foster homes. At age fourteen, he got an after-school job in a store, and while working there, he embezzled five thousand dollars. He used the money to hire a private detective agency to trace his family background. Every cent of the stolen money went for that purpose. He couldn't rest until he knew who he was and where he came from--and he was even willing to risk imprisonment to find out. The detective agency was able to uncover the information the boy wanted and reported back to him.
The agency told Michael that he was the illegitimate son of the daughter of an American missionary couple. While in the Philippines with her patents, the girl had fallen in love with a young Filipino man, and she'd had a baby out of wedlock. Because this was a matter of shame and embarrassment to the missionary family, the parents arranged to have the baby taken back to the States and placed in foster care. That baby--who was Michael--grew up in an orphanage and never knew his family background until he paid five thousand dollars in stolen money to find out.
The years of not knowing who he was or where he belonged had taken a toll on Michael. He was in the grip of that ancient paradox: He was born to rule and born to belong to another. Yet he had no sense of belonging, because he didn't know where he came from. His lack of identity and belonging drove him to steal in order to find his origins, and after the first theft, he kept stealing until he finally got caught and didn't want to live as a thief anymore.
In a real sense, we are all born as Michael was. Until we find God and allow Him to become the Master of our fate and the Captain of our soul, we are doomed to feel lost, cast adrift in the universe, without a sense of where we came from, without a place of belonging.
That is what the burnt offering tells us: Our most basic quest in life is to belong to someone, to be identified with someone, to be loved and accepted and possessed by someone. There is nothing more pitiable and pathetic than that person who feels no one loves him, no one cares for his soul.
Third Requirement: Death
A third requirement of the burnt offering is that it must involve a death. In these offerings, death is always a picture of the sacrificial death of the Lord Jesus Christ on our behalf. Only by means of the death of an acceptable substitute--which is Jesus--can human beings ever satisfy their great longing to he possessed by God. So we must give ourselves to God through Christ, acknowledging that He owns us, that we belong to Him: "You are not your own; you were bought at a price" (1 Corinthians 6:19b-20a).
Many people rebel at this idea. They say, "I don't want God to run my life; I don't want to be God's little robot." But God does not exploit us or treat us as robots or slaves. He loves us more than we love ourselves, and He wants us to be fulfilled and satisfied. Only when we truly belong to Him can we truly be free and happy. That is one of the great paradoxes and life-changing truths of the Christian faith.
You can find a certain amount of satisfaction in having a family to belong to, and in knowing where you came from in a human sense. But you will never find complete satisfaction by merely knowing your human origins. Your hunger for belonging can find its ultimate satisfaction only in a relationship to God through Jesus Christ. It is the death of Christ that opens the door to that relationship.
I once shared a speaking platform with Dr. Henry Brandt, the noted Christian psychologist. He told a story about when he and his wife were dating and talking about marriage. They told each other that they wanted to give themselves to each other's happiness. He said, "I'll never forget the night my wife said to me, 'Henry, dear, I want to spend the rest of my life just making you happy!' I thought, Isn't that great!? This beautiful woman wants to dedicate her life to making me happy' I thought it was tremendous--and then we got married."
The first week of their marriage, Henry Brandt told his wife, "Every Thursday night I go out with the guys. Tonight is Thursday night, so I'll be out late. Don't wait up for me." His wife, he said, reacted very strangely! She said, "But you can't leave me all alone!" He said, "There are lots of things you can do, and I'll just be out one night a week." She said, "You can't do that! You're married now! You have to stay here with me!" And Henry Brandt wondered to himself, What happened to her promise? Here is her first chance to make me happy, and she has blown it completely!
Eventually, Dr. Brandt realized that there is a great deal of joy in the fact that a husband and wife truly belong to each other. Even so, the deepest yearning for belonging can never be fully satisfied apart from a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
This is what the burnt offering says to us: Only through the death of Christ, which brings us into a relationship with the living God, can this universal desire for belonging be met. That is what accounts for the great sense of joy and relief so many people feel at the moment they surrender their lives to Jesus Christ. It is a feeling that says, "Now I belong! God is my Father! For in a family. I'll never be alone again! I belong to God!"
Fourth Requirement: The Sacrifice Must Be Continual
The fourth and final requirement of the burnt offering is that it must be continual. This requirement is given in Leviticus 6, where God gives additional instructions to the priests about how to make these offerings:
"The fire on the altar must be kept burning; it must not go out. Every morning the priest is to add firewood and arrange the burnt offering on the fire and burn the fat of the fellowship offerings on it. The fire must he kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out" (Leviticus 6:12-13).
What is God saying by that? Simply that this is the most basic relationship of your life. No other need can ever be met until this need is met. Every morning and every evening the people were to offer the burnt offering. It would consume the wood and the meat all through the day and all through the night, so that the fire never went out. The burnt offering was the central and most basic of the five offerings. Through the symbolism of the burnt offering, God says that you can never satisfy any other hunger of your life until you have satisfied your hunger for God love. Until you are His--body, soul, and spirit--you can never know peace.
If you want to solve any other problem of life, you must begin by coming into a relationship with God the Father through His Son, Jesus Christ. You must be able to say, "I belong to the Father. I am a child in His family. I know Him as my heavenly Father. I am loved by Him." A relationship with God is the starting point for restoring every other relationship in your life.
This, then, is the meaning of the burnt offering: It satisfies our need to belong, because it represents the continual sacrifice of Christ in our lives, Christ the One without spot or blemish, the One who was completely consumed, who died and rose again, and who opened the door to a relationship with God the Father. Because of the burnt offering sacrifice of Jesus Christ, that relationship can never be broken. We will never be abandoned, never forsaken, never lost. We have our identity and our place of belonging in God.
Leviticus 2
There is no more universal food than bread. Almost every culture around the world has its own version of it: white bread, wheat bread, rye bread, pumpernickel, sourdough, French bread, muffins, croissants, matzo, pita, tortillas, and on and on. Bread is symbolic of life and in fact is called the staff of life because we lean on it as a person leans on a wooden staff for support. Bread is also one of our most important social ties, for we break bread together as a sign of friendship and hospitality.
Here in Leviticus, as in our everyday lives, we see that bread, and the grain flour from which bread is made, has a symbolic importance far greater than we usually realize. In Leviticus 2, we come to the second of the five sacrifices, called "the grain offering" in the New International Version. Many other versions call it "the meal offering," while the Revised Standard Version calls it "the cereal offering." In the King James Version it is called the "meat" offering because "meat" was the old English word for "food." There is, however, no meat, no animal flesh whatsoever; in this second sacrifice. Of the five sacrifices in Leviticus, this is the only bloodless sacrifice, involving no animal death.
The grain sacrifice could be offered in any of three forms. The first form was that of simple, fine flour, which is a biblical symbol of idealized or redeemed humanity:
"When someone brings a grain offering to the LORD, his offering is to he of fine flour. He is to pour oil on it, put incense on it and take it to Aaron's sons the priests. The priest shall take a handful of the fine flour and oil, together with all the incense, and burn this as a memorial portion on the altar, an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the LORD. The rest of the grain offering belongs to Aaron and his sons; it is a most holy part of the offerings made to the LORD by fire" (Leviticus 2:1-3)
This sacrifice or offering was clearly intended to be food for the priests. Leviticus 2:4 describes a second form in which the offering could he presented:
"If you bring a grain offering baked in an oven, it is to consist of fine flour: cakes made without yeast and mixed with oil, or wafers made without yeast and spread with oil. If your grain offering is prepared on a griddle, it is to be made of fine flour mixed with oil, and without yeast. Crumble it and pour oil on it; it is a grain offering. If your grain offering is cooked in a pan, it is to be made of fine flour and oil. Bring the grain offering made of these things to the LORD; present it to the priest, who shall take it to the altar. He shall take out the memorial portion from the grain offering and burn it on the altar as an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the LORD. The rest of the grain offering belongs to Aaron and his sons; it is a most holy part of the offerings made to the LORD by fire.
"Every grain offering you bring to the LORD must be made without yeast, for you are not to burn any yeast or honey in an offering made to the LORD by fire. You may bring them to the LORD as an offering of the firstfruits, but they are not to be offered on the altar as a pleasing aroma. Season all your grain offerings with salt. Do not leave the salt of the covenant of your God out of your grain offerings; add salt to all your offerings" (Leviticus 2:4-13).
So the people could bring the grain in the form of loaves or cakes of unleavened bread which could be baked, grilled, or pan-fried. The third form of this offering is found in Leviticus 2:14:
"If you bring a grain offering of firstfruits to the LORD, offer crushed heads of new grain roasted in the fire."
The people could take freshly harvested wheat and shake the grain out by hand and crush it. That was then acceptable as a cereal offering. It is obvious that the essence of this offering was that it was bread, the staff of life. This theme is the key to the grain sacrifice. All through the Old Testament you find people offering the grain sacrifice, often in the form of three loaves of bread. And in the tabernacle there was the showbread--the twelve loaves that God had commanded to be displayed on a special table before Him at all times (see Exodus 25:30).
Why was the sacrifice of bread so important in Leviticus? The reason becomes apparent when you turn to the New Testament and see how Jesus spoke of Himself After the great miracle when He fed five thousand people with a few loaves and fishes, Jesus told the people, "For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world...I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty" (John 6:33-35). He told the people that He Himself was to he their food. We are to feed upon the character, person, and life of Jesus, because He is the bread of life from heaven.
The words of Jesus give us a clue as to what the grain sacrifice depicts. It is a description of humanity as God intended it to he. Humanity was displayed in its perfect form only in Jesus Christ--the perfect, unsullied, God-pleasing humanity of the Lord Jesus.
Many people today think that the gospel, the good news, is that Jesus Christ died on the cross so that we might go to heaven when we die. But that is only part of the gospel. The truly good news is that Jesus Christ died for you in order that He might live in you today. It is the life of Jesus in us today that is the exciting part of Christianity. If you are not linked with His humanity and all that He is, then you are not enjoying the fullness of the Christian experience, because that is what Christianity is all about.
"I have been crucified with Christ," wrote the apostle Paul, "and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me" (Galatians 2:20a). The perfect humanity of Jesus Christ is available to live in us and through us. All the fullness of His life, the fineness of His character, the balanced quality of His humanity--all of this is available to us. As His character becomes more and more our character, we can offer our humanity back to God to use as He pleases. When we do, our very lives become "an aroma pleasing to the LORD." That is the fullness of the gospel, and that is what the grain sacrifice is all about.
Fine flour is a beautiful symbol of redeemed or idealized humanity. In Scripture, fine flour is used to symbolize either the perfect humanity of Jesus Christ or the redeemed and refined humanity of those who are new creations in Christ. If you take a pinch of fine flour and run it through your fingers, you'll find that you can't feel any coarseness, any granularity, any roughness. It is smooth, powdery, and consistent.
This is why fine flour is such an apt picture of the humanity of Jesus, and of humanity, as God intended us to be. Now, if we wanted to symbolize our natural humanity as it is, apart from Jesus Christ, it would be something like rough-cut oatmeal, coarse with chips of husk and straw and other chaff. But humanity as God made its to be, and as He intends us to be, is a balanced life, smooth and refined and consistent.
What is Included
Three things always had to he included in the grain sacrifice and two things always were excluded. Each of these items has great symbolic importance for our lives. The three things always included were oil, incense, and salt. Every mention of the grain sacrifice in any form includes oil and incense. The oil was used in two ways: It was mingled with the fine flour, and it was also poured on top of it. This is very instructive, as we will soon see. The incense was a perfume, a delightful fragrance. The use of salt is specified in Leviticus 2:13:
"Season all your grain offerings with salt. Do not leave the salt of the covenant of your God out of your grain offerings; add salt to all your offerings."
Again, we have these marvelous visual aids that God uses to teach us what He wants to accomplish in our lives. In our new humanity, which we have received in Christ, God wants to make sure that three elements are present--elements which are symbolized in the grain sacrifice.
The first element is oil, that is a type, or picture, of the Holy Spirit. All through the Scriptures you find that oil symbolizes the Spirit of God. In the grain sacrifice, the oil is to be used in two ways. First, it mingles with our humanity. This speaks of the indwelling Spirit. When you became a Christian by faith in Jesus Christ, the Spirit of God was poured out in your heart (see Romans 5:5). The Spirit came to live in you, and He has become an inseparable part of you, mingled with your humanity. This is called the baptism of the Holy Spirit. By the Spirit, we are all baptized into one body, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12:13.
As you live the Christian life, you also need to have the Spirit anointing you and empowering you. To be anointed with the Spirit is to have the Spirit poured out on you. As Paul goes on to say in that same verse, "and we were all given the one Spirit to drink." This was true of Jesus Christ in His life. He was filled with the Spirit from His mother's womb. But then came the day when, in the baptism at the river Jordan, the Spirit of God anointed Him for His ministry.
The second element that must he added is incense, most commonly frankincense, a dried resin extracted from the boswellia tree, which grows from Africa to India. Leviticus 2:2 says, "The priest shall take a handful of the fine flour and oil, together with all the incense, and burn this as a memorial portion on the altar, an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the LORD."
When the Scriptures talk about "an aroma pleasing to the LORD," they speak of something that God desires in our lives--not something outward and showy but something inward and authentic. What this is, I believe, is made clear by various passages in Scripture which speak of the things that delight God. Let's look at just a few.
I will praise God's name in song
and glorify him with thanksgiving.
This will please the LORD more than an ox,
more than a bull with its horns and hoofs (Psalm 69:30-31).
Don't bother to bring the ox or the bull! Just bring a thankful, cheerful, praise-filled heart! That will please the Lord. And in the New Testament we read:
Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise--the fruit of lips that confess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased (Hebrews 13:15-16).
In these and other passages, God tells us that the fragrant, pleasing frankincense of our lives is a thankful, cheerful, obedient heart. That is what delights Him. As we present our redeemed humanity to Him, that is what He wants to see.
The third element that must be added is salt, which is a preservative. In the days before refrigeration, meat was preserved by salting it. Beef jerky is a form of salted, dried meat that you can buy today. It is preserved in much the same way that meat has been preserved for thousands of years.
Jesus once told His disciples, "You are the salt of the earth" (Matthew 5:13a). In other words, "You Christians are intended to be the thing that keeps society from becoming rotten and corrupt." He also said, "You are the light of the world" (Matthew 5:14a). Light is revealed truth. Salt is truth that is obeyed in the power of the Holy Spirit.
If we want to understand what is wrong with the world today, we need only look to ourselves. The Christian church has been preaching the truth, but it has not been obeying that truth. Until Christians obey what God has said about living moral, merciful, compassionate lives, there is no preservative in society. The world will continue to decay around us. But when the church begins to live as salt and light, living out Christ-like love and righteousness toward the world, then the church will be salt and light as God intended it to be.
That is why God says in Leviticus, "Add salt to all your offerings."
What Is Excluded
There are two things that must be excluded from the grain sacrifice, and both are mentioned in Leviticus 2:11:
"Every grain offering you bring to the LORD must be made with out yeast, for you are not to burn any yeast or honey in an offering made to the LORD by fire."
God did not want any yeast added to the grain sacrifice. Why? Because yeast is a leavening agent. It causes bread dough to rise and expand, to puff itself up. Yeast, then, is a picture of that aspect of human nature that puffs us up: pride.
Someone once said, "Human beings are odd creatures. When you pat them on the back, their heads swell up." Pride is a sneaky thing. We in the church have figured our ingenious ways to disguise our pride and make it look like humility! It is said that a church once gave its pastor a medal for humility--but they had to take it away because he wore it! We are all susceptible to the yeast of pride.
Paul said to the Corinthians, "We know that we all possess knowledge. Knowledge [that is, pride in one's knowledge] puffs up, but love builds up" (1 Corinthians 8:1). This is so true. God is saying, "When you come to offer your humanity to me, don't mix in any human ego with it. Don't do this for your own glory. Don't try to take credit for yourself." As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:29, no flesh, no human being, shall glory or boast in God's presence. God rejects the yeast of human pride.
The second thing that must be excluded from the grain sacrifice is honey. What's wrong with honey? Normally, nothing. Honey is usually spoken of in positive terms in the Bible, as when the Israelites were promised a land flowing with milk and honey. But here in Leviticus God rejects honey as part of the grain sacrifice.
Honey is not refined like sugar. It is natural sweetness. Honey, in this symbolic sense, refers to the natural sweetness of human nature. There are some people who could be called naturally sweet. They have a sweet disposition. They are charming. They are nice. But God says," Don't bring your natural sweetness to me because it won't work." The only sweetness God accepts is the sweetness of the perfect humanity of Jesus Christ working in us. He does not want our natural attributes. He refuses the honey we try to mix in with the grain sacrifice of our lives.
We Are Made to Respond
As you read through Leviticus and the rest of the Old Testament, you find that the people of Israel never offered a grain sacrifice by itself. It was always accompanied by an animal sacrifice. These grain offerings were designed to go with one of the animal sacrifices, and most often with the burnt offering. That is why it is put right next to the burnt offering in the order of the sacrifices. There is the burnt offering, then the grain offering, then the peace offering. The grain sacrifice is always offered in connection with the burnt sacrifice.
This tells us something significant about the meaning of this grain sacrifice. The burnt sacrifice was focused on our human need to be loved and accepted, our need to belong. But if God reaches out to you and says, "You are mine," then that lays a demand upon you, doesn't it? You need to do something; you need to respond to His love. He has reached out toward you; you need to reach back toward Him. That is what the grain sacrifice is all about. It tells us that we can never be fulfilled until we respond to the love of God.
We are made to respond. Usually we respond to others in the same way they approach us. If I approach you with affection and an embrace, you will probably respond to me the same way. If I approach you with criticism and accusation, you will probably criticize and accuse me in response.
God has reached out to us in love, so you'd think we would respond to Him in love as well, but it doesn't always work that way. Why not? Because there are sometimes barriers of fear, suspicion, and selfishness that need to be removed before we are able to respond in love to the love of God.
As long as we are unable to respond, there can he no progress in the love relationship between ourselves and God. The One who loves us and reaches out toward us cannot go any further in developing the relationship as long as we are unwilling or unable to respond. Even God, the Almighty and Omnipotent, can do nothing more with us until we say yes to what He has offered us.
That is why Hebrews 4:2 tells us that when the good news reached the people of Israel, "the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith." In other words, the people did not respond to the message God gave them. They did not say yes, so God could do nothing more to build a relationship with them. This is why Paul writes this heartfelt plea to the church in Corinth:
We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians, and opened wide our hearts to you. We are not withholding our affection from you, but you are withholding yours from us. As a fair exchange--I speak as to my children--open wide your hearts also (2 Corinthians 6:11-13).
Paul says, in effect, "There's nothing limiting us. We love you and want to help you. I want to minister to you, but you won't respond. You won't open your heart."
This is why God is often represented in the Scriptures as pleading with humanity. "'Come now, let us reason together,' says the LORD" (Isaiah 1:18). "Come to me," says the Lord Jesus, "all you who are weary and burdened, and Twill give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). God is forever pleading with humanity to respond to the love He has demonstrated toward us.
In Hebrews 11:6 the most basic approach to God is described in this way: "Anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." God has been seeking us, and He says, "Now it is time for you to begin to seek me. I've been reaching out to you. Now it is up to you to respond to me." Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. This is the law of response in human nature. This is why John says, "We love because he first loved us" (1 John 4:19).
This is why the grain sacrifice is the second of the five sacrifices. In the burnt sacrifice you have God reaching out and saying, "You're mine. I want you." But in the grain sacrifice we must respond and say, "Yes, Lord, I'm yours. I give myself to you." This is what God is after in our lives. Love creates the possibility of response. But if that response is refused, then a relationship is impossible.
This is why many Christians never seem to move beyond a certain level of relationship with God. At a certain point, some Christians stop saying yes to His love. Some of us reach a point where we sense that God wants us to turn over an area of our lives to Him--and we don't want to. We want to hold on to that habit, that character flaw, that addiction, that sin. So we say no to the love of God that reaches out to enfold us. As long as our response to God is no, the relationship is dead in the water. Nothing more can happen.
This is why we sometimes have to go through a time of crisis or trial before we will finally turn to God and say yes. As we noted before, God sometimes has to remove barriers of fear, suspicion, and selfishness from our lives before we are finally ready and willing to respond in love to the love of God. And sometimes the only way to remove those barriers is through a time of crisis. When all the props are knocked out from under us, when we can no longer rely on ourselves but must seek God's help, then we finally turn to God and say, "Yes, Lord! I accept your love for me! Help me!"
Of course, it is far better if we never have to go through such a trial before we will say yes to God. It is much better if, in the quietness of our hearts, we will simply and gratefully respond to the love God has shown us and say, "Lord, here I am. Here is my redeemed humanity, with its oil and frankincense and salt, but with no leaven and no honey. I want to be yours, so that today you can express all that you are through me. I give myself to you. Here I am, Lord. Let's walk together this day."
When you make that response to God, you offer Him the grain sacrifice of your life, just as Jesus, the Son of God, continually offered the beauty of His life, the spotlessness of His humanity, in an ongoing relationship with the Father. Is there some area of your life that you have withheld from God? Is there something in your life that keeps you from responding to His love and saying yes to a relationship with Him?
I pray that you will respond to Him by offering Him your whole heart, your whole life, without any reservation or holding back. Do not shut Him out. He loves you and wants to build a relationship with you. He wants to live through you, so that you can become all you were created to be.
So respond to Him, my friend. Say, "Yes, Lord, here I am. I need your love. I need to belong. I need to be identified with you. And as you have reached out to me, I now reach out to you. Let this be my grain offering to you, so that everything you are, I may be."
Amen!
Leviticus 3 and 7
Some years ago, a number of artists were commissioned to paint a picture of peace. One artist depicted peace as a calm and tranquil sea under the moonlight. Another depicted peace as a mother and child reading a book together in a sunlit garden. But the picture that won the prize pictured a turbulent mountain waterfall with its noisily plunging waters. Yet, half-hidden behind the waterfall, not far from the thundering waters, was a bird's nest with a mother bird sitting quietly and serenely on her eggs. That was true peace--a safe and quiet little space in the midst of a noisy and raucous world.
In Leviticus 3 we come to the third of the five sacrifices, and we find that this third offering is a picture of peace in the midst of trouble and conflict. This offering has beautiful power to symbolize a truth that affects us deeply in our relationship with Jesus Christ. All five of these offerings are pictures of aspects of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, and these five sacrifices follow a logical order. The first sacrifice, the burnt offering, testifies of the universal human need for love. The second sacrifice, the grain offering, speaks of the need for our response to God's love. And when we respond to His love, we experience joy.
In this third sacrifice, God pictures for us out universal need for peace. It is no accident that in Galatians 5:22, where Paul lists the fruit of the Spirit, the order of the first three elements of that fruit are love, joy, and peace. That order was planned by the God who designed human life. That is why these Old Testament sacrifices are just as eloquent in expressing human need as the New Testament revelation is. This is the evidence which convinces me that the Bible comes from a more-than-human hand. The truth of the Old Testament and the truth of the New Testament corroborate each other, proving both Testaments to be genuine products of God's own hand.
As the Israelites brought these sacrifices, they were learning these truths. It's true, of course, that an Israelite could bring a sacrificial offering in a purely mechanical and perfunctory way, just as some people today attend church mechanically and without sincerity. If an Israelite made a sacrifice to God without his heart being right with God, the sacrifice was worth nothing. It was nothing but a dead ritual, a meaningless act that God would not bless. We can attend church the same way today, singing hymns without meaning the words, hearing a sermon without applying it to our lives, bowing our heads in prayer without bowing our hearts. If that is the way we attend church, we might as well have stayed home and read the Sunday newspaper instead.
God does not want ritual for ritual's sake. The rites and rituals of Leviticus are meaningful only if they reflect the reality of our lives. When an Israelite brought a grain offering to God, he was to do so as a joyful response to God's love. In the grain offering the Israelite was opening up his life to God.
Now here, in the symbolism of the peace offering, God pictures for us how He meets another basic, fundamental need of the human heart--the need for peace. It is impossible to live a fulfilled, satisfying life without peace.
Essentially the Bible talks about two kinds of peace: (1) the peace of God, the supernatural sense of peace that comes through God's presence--the peace of knowing that all is well, even in the midst of trouble, because God is in control; and (2) peace with God, the experience of God's forgiveness.
This second kind of peace, peace with God, will be pictured for us in the next two sacrifices, the sin sacrifice and the trespass sacrifice. But the peace offering pictures for us the first kind of peace, the peace of God. It is peace not in the sense of an end to hostilities but in the sense of emotional stability of an untroubled heart. That is what we need: a sense of security of wellbeing, of confidence that things are under God's control and that all things will ultimately work together for good, even though things are not good right now.
The peace of the peace offering is what was pictured by that painting of the mother bird sitting on her eggs beside the waterfall. That is the kind of peace we can have--peace in the midst of trouble and conflict. That is the peace God pictures for us in the peace sacrifice.
Choosing What Is Better--the Peace of God
The kind of peace pictured in this sacrifice is best known by its absence. We know when we are not at peace. We have all felt that sense of tension and anxiety, the butterflies in the stomach that won't go away, the inability to get your mind off a troubling subject. No matter what you do, it is there, throbbing inside you. That is the absence of peace.
A lack of peace can create all kinds of disturbances in the body--nervous twitches, indigestion, ulcers, insomnia, and even emotional breakdown and nervous collapse. So the need for peace is a fundamental human need. (If you think the Bible is not practical, you have not even begun to understand this Book. It deals with human life as it really is.)
You probably recall the story of Mary and Martha in the Gospel of Luke (Luke 10:38-42). When Jesus visits their home, like any good hostess, Martha goes out into the kitchen and gets busy preparing a sumptuous dinner in the Lord's honor. She is a perfectionist, and she must have everything just so--but Jesus has come unexpectedly, so she is unprepared.
She tries her best, but she becomes nervous and upset when she doesn't have all the kitchen resources she wants to put on a fabulous feast. To put this story in an updated context, imagine Martha opening cupboards, rummaging in her refrigerator, wondering, What shall I do? Perhaps she spills flour on the linoleum and the coffee boils over and everything is ruined. Finally, she can't take the pressure anymore. She goes into the living room where her sister, Mary, sits at the feet of Jesus, quietly listening to Him. Martha instantly becomes angry that her sister is not helping in the kitchen. But it's not Mary that she blames. Instead, she blames Jesus!
"Lord," Martha snaps, "don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!" She is probably annoyed with Jesus for showing up without any advance warning. This sort of blaming behavior is characteristic of a troubled heart.
Now, I have always appreciated the fact that Martha at least did not hold anything in. I suspect Jesus appreciated her candor as well. She wasn't the kind of person who goes into an icy silence for weeks. Martha got it off her chest. This little rhyme could well have been written to describe Martha:
There's a gladness in her gladness when she's glad,
And a sadness in her sadness when she's sad.
But the gladness in her gladness,
And the sadness in her sadness,
Are nothing to her madness when she's mad!
How does Jesus answer when Martha blames Him for her stress and anxiety? He replies, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not he taken away from her." Only one thing is needed, Jesus says. What is that one thing? Peace. Mary chose peace by listening to the One who could set her mind at ease. Martha had missed it by worrying and obsessing over the details of a meal.
But didn't Martha have a right to be upset over the fact that Mary didn't help with the meal? In the original Greek version of this account there is a strong suggestion that Mary had already been in the kitchen and had done her part. She had prepared a simple little repast that was perfectly adequate. But Martha wanted to put on a banquet, and she became frustrated when she didn't have everything needed to put on an elaborate show of a meal.
Martha had missed the point of the Lord's visit, but Mary had chosen the one thing that was needed: peace. That kind of peace--the peace of God that passes human understanding--is what the peace offering is all about.
Four Distinctives of the Peace Sacrifice
The New International Version of the Bible, from which we take our text, is a very good and readable translation. For some reason, the editors of the NIV have called the peace sacrifice by a different name, "the fellowship offering," with a note at the bottom of the page that reads, "Traditionally peace offering." Most of the other translations of this text, including the King James Version, the Revised Standard Version, and the New American Standard Bible, use the term peace offering. In reproducing the NIV text of Leviticus 3 (and throughout the rest of this book), therefore, I have replaced the word fellowship with the bracketed word [peace]:
"If someone's offering is a [peace] offering, and he offers an animal from the herd, whether male or female, he is to present before the LORD an animal without defect. He is to lay his hand on the head of his offering and slaughter it at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. Then Aaron sons the priests shall sprinkle the blood against the altar on all sides. From the [peace] offering he is to bring a sacrifice made to the LORD by fire: all the fat that covers the inner parts or is connected to them, both kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the coveting of the liver, which he will remove with the kidneys. Then Aaron's sons are to burn it on the altar on top of the burnt offering that is on the burning wood, as an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the LORD.
"If he offers an animal from the flock as a [peace] offering to the LORD, he is to offer a male or female without defect. If he offers a lamb, he is to present it before the LORD. He is to lay his hand on the head of his offering and slaughter it in front of the Tent of Meeting. Then Aaron's sons shall sprinkle its blood against the altar on all sides. From the [peace] offering he is to bring a sacrifice made to the LORD by fire: its fat, the entire fat tail cut off close to the backbone, all the fat that covers the inner parts or is connected to them, both kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the covering of the liver, which he will remove with the kidneys. The priest shall burn them on the altar as food, an offering made to the LORD by fire.
"If his offering is a goat, he is to present it before the LORD. He is to lay his hand on its head and slaughter it in front of the Tent of Meeting. Then Aaron's sons shall sprinkle its blood against the altar on all sides. From what he offers he is to make this offering to the LORD by fire: all the fat that covers the inner parts or is connected to them, both kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the covering of the liver, which he will remove with the kidneys. The priest shall burn them on the altar as food, an offering made by fire, a pleasing aroma. All the fat is the LORD'S.
"This is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live: You must not eat any fat or any blood" (Leviticus 3:1-17).
Here in Leviticus 3 we notice four distinctives about the peace sacrifice that mark it as different from the other sacrifices we have examined. The first distinctive is that the peace offering could be either a male or a female animal.
"If someone's offering is a [peace] offering, and he offers an animal from the herd, whether male or female, he is to present before the LORD an animal without defect .... If he offers an animal from the flock as a [peace] offering to the LORD, he is to offer a male or female without defect" (Leviticus 3:1, 6).
Leviticus 3:12 says that it was also possible to offer a goat; in any case, the animal could he male or female. That is significant. God makes these distinctions in order to impart truth: The burnt offering could be only a male because it deals with man in his capacity to rule, his dominion over all things. And the one thing that is necessary to a man in order that he be able to rule is that he himself be possessed and loved. That is why a male was absolutely required for a burnt offering.
But here in the peace offering we are not dealing with man in terms of his overall purpose in life, his archetypal relationship. We are dealing now with humanity and the human condition. It does not make any difference whether you are a leader or a follower, whether you are in a position of authority or not. You need peace in any case. Therefore, either a male or a female is an adequate expression of the peace offering. (Now, perhaps, it is becoming clear why the distinctions between the five sacrifices are so important to recognize.)
The second distinctive mark of the peace offering was that all the fat was to be consumed upon the altar.
"From the [peace] offering he is to bring a sacrifice made to the LORD by fire: its fat, the entire fat tail cut off close to the backbone, all the fat that covers the inner parts or is connected to them, both kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the covering of the liver, which he will remove with the kidneys. The priest shall burn them on the altar as food, an offering made to the LORD by fire" (Leviticus 3:3-5).
Similar provisions for the offering of lambs and goats are contained in Leviticus 3:9-11, 14-15. Look also at Leviticus 3:16-17:
"The priest shall burn them on the altar as food, an offering made by fire, a pleasing aroma. All the fat is the Low's. This is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live: You must not eat any fat or any blood."
This restriction is explained further in Leviticus 7. Why were the Israelites not permitted to ear any of the fat or blood? Blood is a symbol of the life. This is God's way of impressing upon the Hebrew people, and upon all of us, that life is sacred to God. Life belongs to God. It is His to control. Humanity should treat life with respect and care. The Hebrews were reminded of this fact every time they were told they were not to eat blood.
The fat, too, is the Lord's. In the Scriptures, fat is a symbol of the richness of life. We think of fat-marbled meat as rich meat, the prime cut, and that is exactly what this symbol portrays. The richness of life comes from God and belongs to God.
All that is rich and enjoyable in life comes from God. As Paul writes, "Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance?" (Romans 2:4). God showers His love and His richness upon the just and the unjust alike in order that He might show its all that everything that makes life worth living comes only from God. As James puts it, "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows" (James 1:17).
The Hebrew people were told to take the fat and carefully remove it, especially the interior fat that was on the inner organs of the body. They were being taught that all the inner richness of life, everything that delights a person from within, is from God, belongs to God, and comes only from God.
A Picture of the Love and Strength of Jesus
The third distinctive mark of the peace offering is extremely important. We find it described in the law of the peace offering in Leviticus 7:28-34:
The LORD said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites: 'Anyone who brings a [peace] offering to the LORD is to bring part of it as his sacrifice to the LORD. With his own hands he is to bring the offering made to the LORD by fire; he is to bring the fat, together with the breast, and wave the breast before the LORD as a wave offering. The priest shall burn the fat on the altar, but the breast belongs to Aaron and his sons. You are to give the right thigh of your [peace] offerings to the priest as a contribution. The son of Aaron who offers the blood and the fat of the [peace] offering shall have the right thigh as his share. From the [peace] offerings of the Israelites, I have taken the breast that is waved and the thigh that is presented and have given them to Aaron the priest and his sons as their regular share from the Israelites.'"
Only two portions of the peace offering animal were to be eaten: the breast and the right thigh. But before they were eaten, they were offered, in a sense, to the Lord. They were not burned upon the altar. That would have ruined them as food for the priests. They were merely waved before the Lord. The thigh, perhaps heavier than the breast, was heaved up and down before the Lord, rather than waved. This was a symbolic gesture that these portions were related to God. Then the priests were to feed on them.
In this seemingly simple requirement is embedded a profound secret of how to have peace in the midst of trouble, how to get rid of the knots in your stomach and the tension in your mind. As we have already noticed, every one of these sacrifices involved the death of an animal. Even the grain sacrifice was always offered in conjunction with the burnt offering. In the Old Testament, the sacrificial death of an animal always symbolized the sacrificial death of Christ. He was the fulfillment of the peace offering, and He died in order that His life might be ours.
The two aspects of the life of Christ that we are to feed on are represented by the breast and the thigh. In Scripture, the breast is always a symbol of affection and love. It symbolizes the seat of our emotions. And the thigh is always a symbol of power and strength. It is where the strength of our physical bodies is centered. So in the breast and thigh of the sacrificial animal we have pictured for us the love and the strength of Jesus Christ to solve our problems.
We all need the love and strength of Jesus--two mighty forces that exploded from the cross at Calvary. His love tells us that He is alongside us in whatever we are going through. No matter what challenge we face or what pain we suffer, He understands because He has been through it Himself His strength is reliable and powerful to carry us through any trial. 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me," He said (Matthew 28:18). As we learn to rest in His love and trust His strength, we will find peace in our hearts, even in the most troubled circumstances.
Our problem is that we continually try to second-guess God. We ask Him in prayer to supply our needs, to calm our feats, to heal our relationships, just as God's Word says we should. But after we pray, what do we do? We start trying to figure out how God is going to do it. Sometimes we even start giving Him advice and telling Him how He should solve our problem. But when God doesn't solve our problem in the way we expect, in the time frame we demand, we become disappointed, even angry, with God. We say, "Lord, you've failed me! I guess you don't care about me at all! You don't keep your promises!"
What is the real problem? It's that we have forgotten that God has promised that He loves us and that He has power to work it out His own way. He tells us plainly, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways" (Isaiah 55:8). In other words, "The way you think it is going to work out is not the way I am going to work it out. But if you will trust me, I will work all things together for good." If we will accept God's will for outlives, if we figuratively feed upon the breast and the thigh of His sacrifice, if we will base our lives upon the love and strength of Jesus Christ, then He will work out His good purpose in our lives. That is the source of God's peace in our lives.
This is the teaching of both the Old Testament and the New. In John's gospel, Jesus, the true Sacrifice, put it this way:
"All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid" (John 14:25-27).
Notice that Jesus does not give peace as the world gives. When a worldling--a natural and unregenerated inhabitant of this world--is upset and troubled, he seeks peace through three means.
First, he tries to change the circumstances, because he believes that peace comes only from peaceful circumstances. He can be at peace only when his circumstances are peaceful. The problem is that circumstances cannot always be changed. Accidents, illnesses, losses, and financial problems have a way of crashing into our lives and robbing us of our worldly peace.
Second, if the circumstances cannot be changed, the worldling will try to forget his problems by numbing his mind. He tries to anesthetize his pain by going on vacation, or escaping into entertainment, or taking drugs or alcohol. Escaping into forgetfulness is the worlds way of finding peace when there is no peace. The problem is that anesthetics eventually wear off--and when they do, the worldling awakens to find that his problems have only grown bigger and more unmanageable than before.
Third, when he sees that he cannot change his circumstances or anesthetize himself against the pain, the worldling blames his problems on other people or on God. His lack of peace is everybody's fault but his. Blame shifting may not produce peace, but at least the individual gains that tiny particle of satisfaction that comes with whining, "It's not my fault!"
Jesus says, in effect, "I'm not going to give you peace the way the world gives peace. I have come not to take you out of your circumstances but to take you through them. And in the midst of the worst that the world can do to you, I give you my peace. Don't let your hearts he troubled, and don't be afraid."
How does Jesus give us His peace? He gives it from within. He gives it to us as we feed upon His love and His strength. When we trust His promises to be true, when we turn over the task of running our lives to Him and leave all of our circumstances in His hands, then we will have peace.
The deepest and most practical meaning of the peace sacrifice was expressed by the apostle Paul in his letter to the church in Philippi:
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus .... Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me--put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you (Philippians 4:6-7, 9).
That is what it means to feed on the love and strength of Jesus Christ. That is how we can have the peace of God in the midst of the turmoil and troubles of life.
A Strange Requirement
I once spoke at a series of meetings at a church in Phoenix, Arizona. While I was there, a man came up to meat the end of the Wednesday night meeting. He gripped my hand and said, "Pastor Stedman, you'll never know what your coming to Phoenix has meant to me. I don't attend this church, but I heard about these meetings, and I had to come last night and tonight. When I walked into this church last night, I was so full of fear and anxiety that I was on the verge of an emotional collapse. I was so upset that I couldn't eat or sleep.
"But as I listened to your messages, I heard Jesus speaking to me, inviting me to put my trust in Him. So I have placed my problems in His hands, and now I'm at peace. I never imagined that such peace was even possible. I just want to thank you for coming and telling me how I could experience the peace of Jesus Christ in my life."
I was tremendously moved by what this man told me. I have to confess to you that there have been many times, even in my Christian experience, when I have experienced deep troubles that have drained all my natural strength. At such times, I have been able to find peace only through the reassuring fact that our God, a God of infinite love and infinite power, was at work in the circumstances of my life.
The fourth and final distinctive of the peace sacrifice is found in Leviticus 7:15-18--and it is a rather startling requirement.
"The meat of his [peace] offering of thanksgiving must be eaten on the day it is offered; he must leave none of it till morning. If, however, his offering is the result of a vow or is a freewill offering, the sacrifice shall he eaten on the day he offers it, but anything left over may he eaten on the next day. Any meat of the sacrifice left over till the third day must be burned up. If any meat of the [peace] offering is eaten on the third day, it will not be accepted. It will not be credited to the one who offered it, for it is impure; the person who eats any of it will be held responsible."
Isn't that a strange requirement? As an Israelite, you could eat the meat of the peace sacrifice on the day you offered it if it was an offering of thanksgiving for some particular thing. If it was a general expression of your gratitude to God, you could save some of the meat for the second day. But under no circumstances were you ever to eat of the meat of the peace offering on the third day. It had to be burned with fire. If you tried to eat any of it, it was an abomination unto God.
What is God saying through the symbolism of these requirements? He is giving Israel--and us--some intensely practical life truths. He is saying that there must be no separation between the peace that you feel and the source of that peace, the sacrifice which provided it. You must not separate the two. In other words, you must not depend upon the feelings of peace that are given to you. Don't try to live on the basis of feelings, but live on the basis of your trust in the ultimate Sacrifice, who is Jesus alone.
Once we experience the peace of trusting the work of Jesus Christ, we often say to ourselves, "Ah! I feel much betted That is the feeling of peace I was seeking! Now I can continue on with my life covered by this feeling of God's peace!" In other words, we are tempted to shift our trust from Jesus Himself, the One who brings peace, to the peaceful feelings themselves. We stop trusting Jesus; we begin trusting emotions and feelings. And what happens then? Within a day or two, we find we are back in the same mess as before. Our heart is troubled; our mind is disturbed.
Feelings come and go. Only Jesus Himself is the unchanging Rock we can depend on. He will never let us down. Even though our emotions may change, His love and strength never change. We can trust the love and power of our risen Lord, because He can handle our problems and crises in ways we can't begin to imagine--if we will trustingly place them in His hands.
Leviticus 4:1-5:13
Everywhere, human beings avoid, if they can, having to deal with the reality of God. People do not want to even think of God. Most people become distinctly uncomfortable if any reference to God is interjected into a conversation--unless, of course, that reference is in the form of blasphemy. Taking God's name in vain has become acceptable, but talking about the love of God or the demands of God upon our lives is a social taboo! People simply do not want to talk about God.
Why is that? Why is God such a painful subject to so many?
In Leviticus 4 and 5, we come to the fourth of the five Levitical sacrifices, the sin offering. Here we come face to face with a question that hangs over our world but which few people ever attempt to answer: Why do people fear and avoid God?
This is a question that goes all the way back to the dawn of humanity. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve first walked in fellowship with God. In the cool of the evening, God would come and walk with them, and they were in perfect communion. Then Adam and Eve made a choice to obey the tempter's voice instead of God's. The first effect of their disobedience of God was that they hid from God when He came to walk in the garden--
And humanity has been hiding from God ever since.
Why? Because sin produces guilt, and guilt alienates us from God. What was true in the Garden is still true today. People fear God and hide from Him because of alienating guilt. Here in Leviticus 4 and 5, through the means of the sin offering, we see God dealing with the problem of human guilt.
The Message in the Order of the Sacrifices
Once again, we see that the order of the offerings is significant. This fourth offering comes only after the first three, which have dealt with the basic needs of men and women for love (the burnt offering), joy (the grain offering), and peace (the peace offering). Love, joy, and peace are the basic needs of human life. Without them, we cannot function effectively as human beings. This is the same order that these fruits of the Spirit are listed in Galatians 5:22-23--love, joy, and peace.
Only after symbolically dealing with these basic human needs does God begin to talk about sin and trespass, the next two offerings. In the final two offerings, God deals with another basic requirement of humanity. We need not only the positive virtues of love, joy, and peace, but also to behave as responsible individuals. The sin and trespass offerings call us to act responsibly toward God and toward the people around us.
It is important to notice the order of the five sacrifices because the sacrifices tell us something important about the mind of God. Notice where He begins. While all five of the sacrifices of Leviticus were fulfilled in the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, each sacrifice expresses a different aspect of His death, a different blessing that flows from His sacrifice. The first three blessings that come to us from the sacrifice of Jesus are love, joy, and peace. That is what the first three sacrifices speak of.
Then, in the final two sacrifices, the sin and trespass offerings, we see yet another blessing that flows to us from the cross of Christ: the forgiveness of sin. Now consider this: What is the first blessing we always think of when we reflect on the cross of Christ? Forgiveness! We always start our understanding of the cross with the issue of forgiveness--but that is not where God starts!
When we preach the Christian gospel, the first thing we usually say is, "You're a sinner! You need to be forgiven!" And sometimes we thunder away with hellfire and damnation at people in order to get them under conviction, to make them aware of the guilt that results from their sins. Its true, of course, that God wants to talk to human beings about sin. Men and women can never solve their problems until they solve the sin problem.
But we must remember that this is not where God starts. He begins by talking about love, joy, and peace. He provides these three blessings first. Then He says, "Now let's get at the heart of the problem that separates us." Isn't that marvelous?
That is why, in the story Jesus told of the prodigal son in Luke 15, when the wandering son returned from the far country and his father spotted him on the horizon, the father ran to meet him with his arms wide open. The father flung his arms around his returning son and cried out with joy. And the boy stammered and tried to make the speech of repentance he had memorized all the way home: "I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men" (Luke 15:19).
But the father didn't even wait for the boy to finish his contrite little speech. He shouted, "Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate" (Luke 15:22-23). The father recognized the boy as his son, and he blessed the son with love, joy, and peace before he dealt with his sin problem. To be sure, the son had to make his confession and deal with his sin and guilt--but that isn't where the father started.
We see this same order in Paul's letter to the Galatians, where he writes, "Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, 'Abba, Father" (Galatians 4:6). Now, we tend to turn that order around. We'd tend to say, "Because God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, we are sons of God." But that is not the way Scripture puts it. It says that because we are sons in Christ, God has sent His Spirit, and all the blessings that the Spirit brings: love, joy, and peace. On the basis of our sonship, God now wants to talk to its about the problem of guilt and alienation in our lives. That is our introduction to the sin offering.
Let's look at the regulations concerning the sin offering, as found in Leviticus 4:1-35:
The LORD said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites: 'When anyone sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the LORD'S commands--
"If the anointed priest sins, bringing guilt on the people, he must bring to the LORD a young bull without defect as a sin offering for the sin he has committed. He is to present the bull at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting before the LORD. He is to lay his hand on its head and slaughter it before the LORD. Then the anointed priest shall take some of the bull's blood and carry it into the Tent of Meeting. He is to dip his finger into the blood and sprinkle some of it seven times before the LORD, in front of the curtain of the sanctuary. The priest shall then put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense that is before the LORD in the Tent of Meeting. The test of the bull's blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. He shall remove all the fat from the bull of the sin offering--the fat that covers the inner parts or is connected to them, both kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the covering of the liver, which he will remove with the kidneys--just as the fat is removed from the ox sacrificed as a [peace] offering. Then the priest shall burn them on the altar of burnt offering. But the hide of the bull and all its flesh, as well as the head and legs, the inner parts and offal--that is, all the rest of the bull--he must take outside the camp to a place ceremonially clean, where the ashes are thrown, and burn it in a wood fire on the ash heap.
"If the whole Israelite community sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the LORD'S commands, even though the community is unaware of the matter, they are guilty. When they become aware of the sin they committed, the assembly must bring a young bull as a sin offering and present it before the Tent of Meeting. The elders of the community are to lay their hands on the bull's head before the LORD, and the bull shall be slaughtered before the LORD. Then the anointed priest is to take some of the bull's blood into the Tent of Meeting. He shall dip his finger into the blood and sprinkle it before the LORD seven times in front of the curtain. He is to put some of the blood on the horns of the altar that is before the LORD in the Tent of Meeting. The rest of the blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. He shall remove all the fat from it and burn it on the altar, and do with this bull just as he did with the bull for the sin offering. In this way the priest will make atonement for them, and they will be forgiven. Then be shall take the bull outside the camp and burn it as he burned the first bull. This is the sin offering for the community.
"When a leader sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the commands of the LORD his God, he is guilty. When he is made aware of the sin he committed, he must bring as his offering a male goat without defect. He is to lay his hand on the goat's head and slaughter it at the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered before the LORD. It is a sin offering. Then the priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. He shall burn all the fat on the altar as he burned the fat of the [peace] offering. In this way the priest will make atonement for the man's sin, and he will be forgiven.
"'If a member of the community sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the LORD'S commands, he is guilty. When he is made aware of the sin he committed, he must bring as his offering for the sin he committed a female goat without defect. He is to lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter it at the place of the burnt offering. Then the priest is to take some of the blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. He shall remove all the fat, just as the fat is removed from the [peace] offering, and the priest shall burn it on the altar as an aroma pleasing to the LORD. In this way the priest will make atonement for him, and he will he forgiven.
"If he brings a lamb as his sin offering, he is to bring a female without defect. He is to lay his hand on its head and slaughter it for a sin offering at the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered. Then the priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. He shall remove all the fat, just as the fat is removed from the lamb of the [peace] offering, and the priest shall burn it on the altar on top of the offerings made to the LORD by fire. In this way the priest will make atonement for him for the sin he has committed, and he will be forgiven."
As we have already seen, in each of the sacrifices in Leviticus there is a certain set of distinctive ceremonies and requirements which marks each sacrifice as distinct from the rest. Each of these sacrifices points out with beautiful accuracy some important aspect of the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ on our behalf. Since Jesus is the fulfillment of these offerings, they all point to Him. The first distinctive of the sin offering is that it provided for public and private sin. There were offerings available for those who had sinned as a group and those who had sinned as individuals. You find this clearly delineated in Leviticus 4. When a sacrifice was offered for the sin of a group, or a public individual representing a group, the offering always had to be a male. When it was an offering for an individual sin, the animal was a female:
The LORD said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites: 'When anyone sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the LORD'S commands--
"'If the anointed priest sins, bringing guilt on the people, he must bring to the LORD a young bull without defect as a sin offering for the sin he has committed" (Leviticus 4:1-3)."
Later, we see this same principle again:
"If the whole Israelite community sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the LORD'S commands, even though the community is unaware of the matter, they are guilty. When they become aware of the sin they committed, the assembly must bring a young bull as a sin offering and present it before the Tent of Meeting'" (Leviticus 4:13-14).
In the case of a ruler or king, we find this requirement given:
"When a leader sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the commands of the LORD his God, he is guilty. When he is made aware of the sin he committed, he must bring as his offering a male goat without defect" (Leviticus 4:22-23).
But we find that a female is to be offered when the common people sinned as individuals:
"If a member of the community sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the LORD'S commands, he is guilty. When he is made aware of the sin he committed, he must bring as his offering for the sin he committed a female goat without defect" (Leviticus 4:27-28).
And again:
"If he brings a lamb as his sin offering, he is to bring a female without defect'" (Leviticus 4:32).
So once again the distinction is made between the male, as the symbol of the ruler (man in his dominion over all things, as symbolized by any functionary, official, priest, ruler, or king) and the female, as the symbol of the common individual in the supportive relationship.
Provision for Rich and Poor Alike
There were also provisions made in the sin offering for people who could not afford large animals like a bull, goat, or lamb. We find these provisions in Leviticus 5:1-13:
"If a person sins because he does not speak up when he hears a public charge to testify regarding something he has seen or learned about, he will be held responsible.
"'Or if a person touches anything ceremonially unclean--whether the carcasses of unclean wild animals or of unclean livestock or of unclean creatures that move along the ground--even though he is unaware of it, he has become unclean and is guilty.
"'Or if he touches human uncleanness--anything that would make him unclean--even though he is unaware of it, when he learns of it he will be guilty.
"'Or if a person thoughtlessly takes an oath to do anything, whether good or evil--in any matter one might carelessly swear about--even though he is unaware of it, in any case when he learns of it he will be guilty.
"'When anyone is guilty in any of these ways, he must confess in what way he has sinned and, as a penalty for the sin he has committed, he must bring to the LORD a female lamb or goat from the flock as a sin offering; and the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin.
"If he cannot afford a lamb, he is to bring two doves or two young pigeons to the LORD as a penalty for his sin--one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. He is to bring them to the priest, who shall first offer the one for the sin offering. He is to wring its head from its neck, not severing it completely, and is to sprinkle some of the blood of the sin offering against the side of the altar; the rest of the blood must be drained out at the base of the altar. It is a sin offering. The priest shall then offer the other as a burnt offering in the prescribed way and make atonement for him for the sin he has committed, and he will be forgiven.
"If, however, he cannot afford two doves or two young pigeons, he is to bring as an offering for his sin a tenth of an ephah of fine flour for a sin offering. He must not put oil or incense on it, because it is a sin offering. He is to bring it to the priest, who shall take a handful of it as a memorial portion and burn it on the altar on top of the offerings made to the LORD by fire. It is a sin offering. In this way the priest will make atonement for him for any of these sins he has committed, and he will be forgiven. The rest of the offering will belong to the priest, as in the case of the grain offering.'"
Here is the principle in Leviticus 5:7: The Israelite who cannot afford a lamb is permitted to bring two doves or young pigeons, one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. And in Leviticus 5:11, there is even provision made for the one who is too poor to afford doves or pigeons:
That person may bring a tenth of an ephah of fine flout for a sin offering. Since an ephah is the equivalent of about twenty-one quarts, this person would bring just a little over two quarts of flour. So even the very poorest people of Israel had a way out of the guilt of their lives. Even if they could not afford an animal, they could bring a measure of flour.
But they were to put no oil in the flour, because oil is the symbol of the Holy Spirit and the Spirit-filled life. Nor were they to put any incense on it, because that is the symbol of the heart frilly yielded to God. This is a sin offering, and so the offering had to he represented by the fine flour alone.
The picture presented by this sacrifice is that all can find forgiveness and cleansing from sin and guilt--the rich and the poor, the mighty and the powerless. All we have to do is come to God, confess our sin and our guilt, and place our trust in the great Sacrifice that God made for us on the cross at Calvary.
Unsuspected Depths of Sin
Next, notice a second distinction of the sin offering. In several verses, we see that some sins are committed unknowingly. This is a major distinction of the sin offering. It does not deal with acts of deliberate evil, which all of us commit from time to time, but with our sin nature--the part of our humanity that prompts these acts and which often takes us by surprise.
Most of us have a fairly good opinion of ourselves. Oh, sure, we have our flaws and failings--but all in all, we consider ourselves good people. Yet, from time to time, we get caught doing or saying something we didn't even think we were capable o,Ǩ something we thought we would never do. We protest, "But that's not the way Tam! That was out of character for me to do that!" But was it? Or did that moment of sin force us to realize that our sin nature runs even more deeply in us than we had realized?
That is what the sin offering speaks to us about--the sin that catches us off guard, the unsuspected depths of evil in all of us, even in the best of us.
A young man once told me how he discovered the unsuspected depths of depravity and evil that lurked in his soul. When he was first married, he was not a Christian, but he considered himself a good person. During the first year of the marriage, he and his wife argued continually--it was a horrible first year. During one of their many arguments, he lost his temper and struck his wife in the face, knocking her to the floor.
Now, this young man had been brought up to believe that there was nothing lower than a man who would strike a woman. He had always despised any man who would hit a woman. When he saw what he had done, he was horrified. He apologized profusely to his wife and then went out for a walk, up and down the street. He was completely disgusted with himself, because he had to face the fact that he was the very kind of man he had despised.
As this young man related the story to me, he said that it was the sudden realization of the depths of his depravity that made him turn to God. Before this traumatic experience in his marriage, he had always felt self-satisfied and self-righteous, but his actions had forced him to recognize that the beast of sin lurked within him. That realization drove him to his knees to receive Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.
That is what the sin offering talks about--the kind of evil that is embedded in us, that part of our nature which takes us by surprise because we fail to realize the depths of our own evil. Many people are troubled by the doctrine of original sin. They ridicule it because they don't understand that evil lurks in everyone, including themselves.
Dostoevsky, in The Brothers Karamazov, tells a fable about a wicked woman who died and was taken to hell by devils and tossed into the lake of fire. Her guardian angel was very puzzled as to how he might help her. So he thought through her whole life to see if he could find at least one good thing that she had done which he might present before God. Finally, the guardian angel went to God and said, "Once a beggar came by when she was weeding her garden, and she pulled an onion out and gave it to him to eat."
God said to the angel, "All right, go down and get an onion and hold it out to her in the lake of fire. Tell her to take hold of it, and if you can pull her out with that onion she can come to Paradise." So the angel got the onion, went down to the lake of fire, and held it out to the woman. She grabbed hold, and he began to pull. He pulled and pulled and, sure enough, he began to pull her right up out of the lake. She was almost completely free when some other sinners around her, seeing that she was about to escape, grabbed hold of her ankles so as to be pulled out with her.
At first the onion held, and they too began to be pulled out. But the woman became very angry and cried, "This is my onion, and you're not going to go out with me!" As she kicked them loose, the onion broke, and she fell back in. And she is burning there to this day.
That is a graphic illustration of the kind of evil addressed in the sin offering. Even in moments of triumph the taint of evil infects every human heart. That is what the sin offering deals with.
The Blood Must Be Visible
Next, notice a third distinction of the sin offering. It concerns what was done with the blood. In the sin offering, as in previous offerings, blood had to be shed, a death had to occur. In the previous sacrifices, all the blood of the animal was poured out at the foot of the altar. But something unusual was always done with the blood of the sin offering:
"He is to present the bull at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting before the LORD. He is to lay his hand on its head and slaughter it before the LORD. Then the anointed priest shall take some of the bull's blood and carry it into the Tent of Meeting. He is to dip his finger into the blood and sprinkle some of it seven times before the LORD, in front of the curtain of the sanctuary. The priest shall then put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense that is before the LORD in the Tent of Meeting. The rest of the bull's blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting" (Leviticus 4:4-7).
What a strange requirement! The blood of the sin offering had to be sprinkled seven times before the Lord. Additionally, in the case of the offering for the anointed priest, blood had to be put on the horns of the altar of incense, which stood in the Holy Place, in front of the veil which guarded the Holy of Holies (the place of the very presence of the Lord). This same ritual was required if the entire congregation sinned. In cases involving an offering for a ruler or an individual, the blood was put on the horns of the altar of the burnt offering, which was in the outer court.
So there were differences in these requirements, depending upon the prominence and leadership role of the person who sinned. In the case of an extremely high official, such as the anointed priest, or the congregation as a whole, the blood had to be put on the altar right in the very presence of God. But if it was a ruler or an individual, the blood was put on the altar in the outer court where the offerings were usually burned.
What is the significance of this detail? Obviously, these requirements place special emphasis on the blood. The blood must be put in a visible place, and in a place which is obviously connected with God. It must be recognized openly as being on the horns of the altar before the Lord. The individual for whom the offering is made must be able to see the blood there.
That is the point. Those who have sinned must know that their sin is covered and forgiven. Only as people know they are forgiven can their conscience truly he at rest.
As a pastor, I often talk to people who cannot bring themselves to believe that God accepts the death of Jesus fully on their behalf. They are obsessed with the thought that their sin is somehow beyond the reach of God's forgiveness. They do not see the blood upon the horns of the altar, so they continue torturing themselves with guilt.
But God makes it clear, through the imagery of the sin sacrifice, that there is a way to be completely free of guilt. Once the blood is on the altar, no guilt remains. We are forgiven--not only of the sinful acts, which is what the trespass offering is for, but of our sinful nature. Because of our ultimate sin offering, Jesus Himself, we are no longer the same creatures we once were in Adam. Once we place our trust in Christ, there is a clean break between our old identity in Adam and our new identity in Christ.
Paul puts it this way: "Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it" (Romans 7:20). That is what this offering teaches us. The "I" has been separated from the sin that lives in our bodies. Even though we must continue to inhabit these sin-prone bodies, we are no longer condemned; we are forgiven. We are free of the nagging sense of guilt that alienates us from God.
People are always trying to find a way out of guilt--some way, anyway, as long as it is not God's way. They try to ignore their guilt, change the subject, drink it or drug it away, but the guilt remains as long as we avoid the blood that takes our guilt away.
Remember how hard King David tried to avoid the guilt of his sin of adultery and murder. In the psalms, he wrote, "When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer" (Psalm 32:3-4). His bones wasted away--he was physically affected by his guilt! That is what unacknowledged guilt will do. It will dry up your life and reduce you to a shallow, superficial existence that is not even worthy to be called living. Guilt robs us of sleep, joy, health, and peace--and there is no way out of our prison of guilt other than the blood of Jesus Christ.
A young woman once said to me, "I don't like hearing sermons that make people feel guilty. Shouldn't sermons make us feel better instead of worse? Isn't that what the Christian gospel is all about--that human beings aren't guilty?"
I said, "No, that isn't at all what the gospel is about! The gospel tells us that we are all guilty--but God has provided a way out of our guilt. He has laid our guilt on Another! The reason we can live guilt-free is because Another has bought our guilt, borne our guilt, nailed our guilt to a cross, and settled it forever. Our guilt was so great that only a bloody sacrifice could atone for it, and there is no other way to find release from our guilt but through that blood."
Outside the Camp
Finally, notice a fourth distinction of the sin offering, regarding the handling of the fat and meat of the offering. This offering is for the sins of the anointed priest--as the representative of all the people, his sins would bring guilt on the entire community.
"He shall remove all the fat from the bull of the sin offering--the fat that covers the inner parts or is connected to them, both kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the covering of the liver, which he will remove with the kidneys--just as the fat is removed from the ox sacrificed as a fellowship offering. Then the priest shall burn them on the altar of burnt offering" (Leviticus 4:8-10).
All the organs and their fat were to be offered to God, just as in the peace offerings--and then comes a major difference:
"But the hide of the bull and all its flesh, as well as the head and legs, the inner parts and offal--that is, all the rest of the bull--he must take outside the camp to a place ceremonially clean, where the ashes are thrown, and burn it in a wood fire on the ash heap" (Leviticus 4:11-12).
The rest of the bull was to be taken away--not merely to the altar of the burnt offering but outside the camp, where it was to be burned. These instructions are repeated regarding the sacrifice for the unintentional sins of the entire community:
"He shall remove all the fat from it and burn it on the altar, and do with this bull just as he did with the bull for the sin offering. In this way the priest will make atonement for them, and they will be forgiven. Then he shall take the bull outside the camp and burn it as he burned the first bull. 'This is the sin offering for the community" (Leviticus 4:19-21).
So here is another strange requirement. No one was to eat of this offering. When the blood was offered in the Holy Place, then the bull or other offering had to be taken and burned outside the camp. What does this mean?
Here again we have one of those remarkable symbols that expresses a profound truth about life. This requirement pictures for us the fact that our inner life as believers in Jesus Christ is acceptable to God. The fat and the kidneys and the organs within--all of the deepest parts of our lives--belong to God and are acceptable to Him. But there is something about the outer life--the body--that is unacceptable to Him. The body is unredeemed and subject to sin. That is why, in the New Testament, we are told that the body is still the seat of the flesh and therefore must die.
Our experience confirms this principle to be true. Christians die just as do non-Christians. Our bodies are yet unredeemed. They are not resurrected. If this were not true, then the moment a person became a Christian, not only would his spirit be made alive and his soul saved, but his body would also be transformed and glorified. The fact that our bodies remain as they were speaks of the fact that our bodies are still in an unrestored state, like the bodies of nonbelievers. That is why the body must go outside the camp to be burned.
The book of Hebrews makes this principle clear, telling us that this is exactly what happened to Jesus:
We have an altar from which those who minister at the tabernacle have no right to eat. The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, beating the disgrace he bore. For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come (Hebrews 13:10-14).
Though our inner life, our inner nature, is now changed and acceptable to God, we are still in the world. We still have to live under its reproach and its rejection, just as Jesus did. We are to bear that reproach with him, recognizing that there is still an aspect of our lives which has not yet been changed. That is why we look forward to the resurrection as the completion of God's work in our lives. All of this is beautifully described in the sin offering.
And there, outside the camp, we are to take the place that Jesus took--the place of humility and rejection before the world. This is a blow to our pride. We don't like it there. But our Lord is there, so God calls us to identify with Him as He has identified with us, and to take our place with Him outside the camp.
The great truth of the sin offering is that God has dealt with our sin nature, and we are no longer linked to it. We are no longer what we once were. With our lives hidden in Christ, we stand accepted before God, loved and favored in His sight.
St. Augustine was a wild and hedonistic young man before he became a Christian. He lived for selfish pleasure. When he gave his life to Jesus Christ, he became a new man. One day, as he walked down the street of the city, an old girlfriend saw him and called out to him, "Gustine!" He turned and saw the girl--then he gathered his robes around him and ran away. The girl chased after him, calling, "Gustine! Gustine! Why do you run? It is only I!" And Augustine stopped long enough to turn and say, "I run because it is no longer I!" Then he dashed off again, fleeing temptation.
That is what the sin offering tells us: In Christ we are no longer what we once were. The body may be the same, but inside we are all new. We are no longer guilty; we are forgiven. God has shown us a way out of our guilt, a way out of our alienation, so that we no longer need to be far off from God. We no longer need to fear God. He is our heavenly Father, and He loves and receives us because we are His children.
To remove our burden of guilt, we need only he honest with ourselves and with God, acknowledge our sin--and allow Him to take the burden off our shoulders. We all have the need to confess our sin, and once we have confessed it, we are truly free.
Leviticus 5:1-6:30
When Tommy's parents gave him a BB gun for his birthday, they told him not to aim it at any animals. The gun was only for shooting at paper targets or tin cans on the back fence. Tommy agreed to the conditions his parents imposed. After a few days, however, he got tired of shooting only targets and cans. Spotting a bird in a tree, he took aim, fired--
And the bird fluttered out of the tree, mortally wounded.
Tommy ran over to the bird and watched it slowly die. Overcome with guilt, he buried the little bird in a shallow grave at the base of the tree. Then he looked up and saw his sister, Jane, walking toward him from the house.
"I saw what you did!" Jane said. "You shot that bird and killed it! I'm telling!"
"No, don't" Tommy said. "I'll give you the money in my piggy bank if you don't tell!"
Jane agreed to the bribe.
That night at dinner, when Mom told Jane to wash the dishes, Jane said, "Tommy said he'll wash the dishes for me."
Tommy was about to protest when he saw the smug look on his sister's face. He knew what that meant: Wash the dishes or I'm telling. So Tommy washed the dishes.
On Sunday, after Jane left the comics strewn all over the living room floor, Mom told Jane to clean up the mess. Jane said, "Tommy promised he'd clean up the papers."
Again, Tommy was about to protest--then he saw the look on his sister's face. He cleaned up the papers.
After several more days of doing his own chores and Jane's, while feeling horrible inside about the bird, Tommy finally told his mother what he had done.
"Oh, I know all about the bird," Mom said.
"You mean Jane told you? She promised she wouldn't!"
"No," Mom replied. "Jane didn't say a word. I was standing at the window, and I saw you shoot the bird. I saw how sad you were, and I knew you'd come and tell me sooner or later."
"But why didn't you say anything?" Tommy said.
"I just wanted to see how long you were going to let your sister make a slave out of you," said Mom.
That is what guilt is like. We sin, and we try to hide our sin from other people, from God, and from ourselves. Soon, we become a slave to guilt. It makes us do things we don't want to do. It damages our relationships. It destroys our happiness.
In Leviticus 5:14, we come to an issue that affects and afflicts all of us: sin and the guilt that sin brings into our lives. Here we deal with the last of the five fundamental human needs represented by the five sacrifices instituted by God in the book of Leviticus. The fifth sacrifice is the trespass offering--or, as it is called in several translations, including the New International Version and the Revised Standard Version, the guilt offering.
The best word for this sacrifice is trespass offering. The word trespass means "to commit an offense or a sin; to intrude across a boundary; to infringe upon a law." It is trespass, not guilt, that the original Hebrew word in this passage suggests. So, in quoting the Leviticus passage from the NIV translation, I will substitute the word [trespass] in brackets in place of the word guilt.
The trespass offering is the fifth and final sacrifice in a series of five sacrifices. It deals with our relationships to other people--to our neighbors, our family members, and to every other human being with whom we come into contact. This offering teaches us how to restore harmony to broken human relationships, so it's as relevant to us today as it was to the Hebrew people in the time of Moses.
It is instructive to notice that this sacrifice comes last in God's order of business. All the other offerings come before this one. The first four sacrifices represent the need for love, expressed by the burnt offering; the need for joy, expressed by the grain offering; the need for peace, expressed by the peace offering; and the need for forgiveness, expressed in the sin offering. Finally, God gets around to talking about how we can get along with each other, with our neighbors, family members, and friends.
This is the reverse order from the way we human beings usually go about it. We are concerned primarily with how to get along with each other. We organize committees and work hard at trying to stop crime, eliminate war, and correct injustice. We set tip governments and struggle to solve these issues involving broken relationships between human beings. We think that if we can create the right set of laws and rules and institutional structures, then we will all get along and our social problems will disappear.
God acknowledges that our relationships are important, but He also wants us to know that this is not the place to begin. He reverses the order and says that the place to start is with your relationship to God Himself. That is why, when Jesus summarized the Law, He first said, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." In fact, He added His own commentary: "This is the first and greatest commandment." Then, next in order of priority, He said, "Love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:37-39).
It is obedience to the first command--"Love the Lord your God"--that gives us the power to obey the second command--"Love your neighbor as yourself." If you reverse the order, you lose the power to obey. God has to continually remind us how this principle works.
In the trespass offering, we deal with the resolution of problems caused by our sinful actions toward one another. In the previous sacrifice, the sin offering, we dealt with our estrangement and alienation from God as a result of our sinful nature, which is our inheritance from Adam. But here, in the trespass offering, we deal with the sinful deeds we commit against one another and the injustice and injury caused by those deeds.
It is important to understand that not all sins could he forgiven on the basis of the trespass offering, because the people of Israel were under the Law. Under God's grace, all guilt can be forgiven because all sin is against God, and it arises because we are lost children of Adam. God in His mercy has provided a way of redemption for us through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. So all guilt can be forgiven.
Under the Law, however, there were trespasses that could not be forgiven. For example, if people committed adultery, they were to be stoned to death. An act of sexual perversion or murder was also punished by death under the Law. The reason for these harsh penalties was that these acts strike against the very core of our humanity. Human beings can stand only so much stress in social relationships; when the stress exceeds a certain level, it can be relieved only by the elimination of the offender from society.
That is why God's punishments in the Old Testament, whether against individuals or even against entire nations, seem so harsh and severe to us today. God used these severe measures to keep human sinfulness from breaking down Hebrew society and Hebrew families, It was His way of limiting evil. That is why certain sins were unforgivable under the Law.
Under grace, this is no longer true. There is only one unforgivable sin under grace, and that is the rejection of the Savior Himself. Every other sin is covered by the grace of God, extended to us through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus.
Unclean People and Unclean Things
As we have seen, each sacrificial offering has a distinctive character. The unique characteristic of the trespass offering is that it required restitution. When an Israelite sinned against another person, he or she needed to go back and right the wrong, as far as it was possible. A broken relationship needs repair, whether that repair involves an apology, a confession, or restoring possessions that were lost or stolen. Human relationships can move forward into the future only when they have been freed of the problems of the past. That is what God teaches us through the symbolism of the trespass offering.
The regulations regarding the trespass offering are found in Leviticus 5 and Leviticus 6:1-7. In that passage, we read:
"'If a person sins because he does not speak up when he hears a public charge to testify regarding something he has seen or learned about, he will be held responsible.
"Or if a person touches anything ceremonially unclean--whether the carcasses of unclean wild animals or of unclean livestock or of unclean creatures that move along the ground even though he is unaware of it, he has become unclean and is guilty.
"'Or if he touches human uncleanness--anything that would make him unclean--even though he is unaware of it, when he learns of it he will be guilty.
"'Or if a person thoughtlessly takes an oath to do anything, whether good or evil--in any matter one might carelessly swear about--even though he is unaware of it, in any case when he learns of it he will be guilty.
"When anyone is guilty in any of these ways, he must confess in what way he has sinned and, as a penalty for the sin he has committed, he must bring to the LORD a female lamb or goat from the flock as a sin offering; and the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin.
"If he cannot afford a lamb, he is to bring two doves or two young pigeons to the LORD as a penalty for his sin--one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. He is to bring them to the priest, who shall first offer the one for the sin offering. He is to wring its head from its neck, not severing it completely, and is to sprinkle some of the blood of the sin offering against the side of the altar; the rest of the blood mast he drained out at the base of the altar. It is a sin offering. The priest shall then offer the other as a burnt offering in the prescribed way and make atonement for him for the sin he has committed, and he will be forgiven.
"If, however, he cannot afford two doves or two young pigeons, he is to bring as an offering for his sin a tenth of an ephah of fine flour for a sin offering. He must not put oil or incense on it, because it is a sin offering. He is to bring it to the priest, who shall take a handful of it as a memorial portion and burn it on the altar on top of the offerings made to the LORD by fire. It is a sin offering. In this way the priest will make atonement for him for any of these sins he has committed, and he will be forgiven. The rest of the offering will belong to the priest, as in the case of the grain offering."
The Lord said to Moses: "When a person commits a violation and sins unintentionally in regard to any of the LORD'S holy things, he is to bring to the LORD as a penalty a ram from the flock, one without defect and of the proper value in silver, according to the sanctuary shekel. It is a [trespass] offering. He must make restitution for what he has failed to do in regard to the holy things, add a fifth of the value to that and give it all to the priest, who will make atonement for him with the cam as a [trespass] offering, and he will be forgiven.
"If a person sins and does what is forbidden in any of the LORD'S commands, even though he does not know it, he is guilty and will be held responsible. He is to bring to the priest as a [trespass] offering a ram from the flock, one without defect and of the proper value. In this way the priest will make atonement for him for the wrong he has committed unintentionally, and he will be forgiven. It is a [trespass] offering; he has been guilty of wrongdoing against the LORD."
The LORD said to Moses: "If anyone sins and is unfaithful to the LORD by deceiving his neighbor about something entrusted to him or left in his care or stolen, or if he cheats him, or if he finds lost property and lies about it, or if he swears falsely, or if he commits any such sin that people may do--when he thus sins and becomes guilty, he must return what he has stolen or taken by extortion, or what was entrusted to him, or the lost property he found, or whatever it was he swore falsely about. He must make restitution in full, add a fifth of the value to it and give it all to the owner on the day he presents his [trespass] offering. And as a penalty he must bring to the priest, that is, to the LORD, his [trespass] offering, a ram from the flock, one without defect and of the proper value. In this way the priest will make atonement for him before the Low, and he will be forgiven for any of these things he did that made him guilty."
Five different categories of sin were covered by this offering. The first is what we might call sins of guilty silence. You see it in Leviticus 5:1--"If a person sins because he does not speak up when he hears a public charge to testify regarding something he has seen or learned about, he will be held responsible." This is a sin of omission. If a person has knowledge of an injustice being committed but keeps silent and does not help the injured person receive justice, he or she is guilty of a trespass. He has injured society by withholding testimony.
A just society cannot exist where evil is concealed. We all have a moral duty before God to do our part in helping the people around us to receive just and fair treatment. The person who remains silent and says, "I don't want to get involved," is guilty of a sin before God.
The second category of sin is found in Leviticus 5:2-3--"Or if a person touches anything ceremonially unclean--whether the carcasses of unclean wild animals or of unclean livestock or of unclean creatures that move along the ground--even though he is unaware of it, he has become unclean and is guilty. Or if he touches human uncleanness--anything that would make him unclean--even though he is unaware of it, when he learns of it he will he guilty."
This passage introduces the issue of unclean people and unclean things. When the Old Testament set aside an object, animal, activity, or person as unclean, it recognized a fundamental law of what we would today call ecology--the scientific study of maintaining clean, healthy, balanced relationships between people and their environment.
If laws of ecology are broken, the individual who breaks them usually does not suffer the consequences immediately. For example, a person who tosses trash Out of his ear window as he speeds down the freeway will not be damaged by his thoughtless actions--but if enough people break the laws of ecology, the cumulative effect can eventually disturb the delicate balance of nature and wreak havoc upon society and individual people. We are seeing the effects of unclean activity in our society today in the form of pollution and ecological disturbances. We are reaping the consequences of generations of ecological neglect and thoughtlessness.
Many of the technological advances that were once considered blessings for humanity are now known to have a severe ecological price tag. A good example was the invention of the automobile, which was considered a tremendous advance over the horse and buggy. Today, however, the automobile clogs our cities, chokes our lungs, and threatens our health and our environment. We can't live without our cars--but it also seems that we can't live with them. The fumes from our internal combustion engines have become a bigger problem than we can cope with.
Pesticides, such as DDT, were considered a great boon to the human race when they were first introduced. These chemicals controlled the swarming populations of flies and mosquitoes and helped reduce the incidence of insect-borne disease in humans and animals. But in time we found out that DDT was killing birds and other beneficial creatures and that the poison was accumulating in our bodies and making us sick. We even found that some of the pests it was supposed to kill were developing a resistance to DDT.
This is the kind of problem which God, in His wisdom, deals with in this matter of unclean things. He teaches us that uncleanness will ultimately destroy us. Uncleanness is an offense against society. As we face increasing dangers from ecological problems and from pollution, we need to take careful notice of what the Bible calls unclean.
The third category of sin is found in Leviticus 5:4--"Or if a person thoughtlessly takes an oath to do anything, whether good or evil--in any matter one might carelessly swear about--even though he is unaware of it, in any ease when he learns of it he will be guilty."
An oath is a promise or vow to accomplish something. If a person thoughtlessly, carelessly took an oath to do something, even something good, he was guilty before God. Why? Because fallible human beings do not have the power to guarantee that they will perform in an infallible and 100 percent dependable way. That's what an oath is: an absolute guarantee or promise. An oath is a statement of arrogance on the part of a mortal human being who has momentarily lost sight of his own mortality. He is pretending to be the almighty Creator instead of the frail and fallible creature he is.
For all three of these categories of sin, God prescribes the same sacrifice in Leviticus 5:5-6--"When anyone is guilty in any of these ways, he must confess in what way he has sinned and, as a penalty for the sin he has committed, he must bring to the LORD a female lamb or goat from the flock as a sin offering; and the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin." The sacrifice was to be a female animal because this sacrifice deals with humanity's weakness and submission to the laws of nature. The female of the species is, therefore, the appropriate symbol.
I understand, of course, that it is not considered acceptable in these days of political correctness to suggest that women are the weaker sex. I want to make it clear that neither God nor His Word ever suggest that women hold an inferior or second-class status to men. Throughout the Scriptures we see in women a value and strength that is different from the physical strength of men. The way the Bible here pictures the female as the weaker sex reminds me of a British motion picture that was released soon after World War II. The movie was ironically titled The Weaker Sex, yet it dealt with the incredible moral, spiritual, and emotional strength of English women during the dark days of the war. The fact that a female animal is used in Leviticus to symbolize human weakness is merely an acknowledgement of an obvious fact of nature: women, in general, are not as physically strong and powerful as men.
The first three categories of sin were sins of guilty silence, sins of uncleanness, and sins of giving a thoughtless oath. These are sins of human weakness, and the sacrifice symbolized the weakness of humanity and our all-too-human tendency to sin without even realizing the sinfulness of our actions or inaction.
The Need for Confession
As we have already seen, God made provision for all economic classes to be included in the sacrifices and forgiveness of sins. If a person couldn't afford a lamb, he could bring turtledoves. And if he couldn't afford turtledoves, he could bring a measure of finely ground flour and offer that. So even the poorest could be forgiven and reconciled to God.
There was only one inflexible requirement: that the sinner admit his or her sin. The individual had to confess to the act of wrongdoing against God. It wasn't that God demanded repayment for the sin. Human beings cannot repay God for sinning against Him. But God required that people make restitution, if only to the extent of confessing that the act of wrongdoing was truly wrong. Confession of sin was essential to obtaining forgiveness through the sacrificial offering of the animal.
The truth that is depicted here in these sacrifices is the same truth we read about in the New Testament letters of John: "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:8-9).
God insists that we admit and confess our sin--not because He wants to humiliate us but because confession is necessary in order for us to receive the forgiveness which He has already provided. It isn't that God forgives us at the moment we confess. He has already forgiven its. But we can't accept that forgiveness until we see and understand the truth about what we have done. That is why it is necessary for us to admit our wrongs before we can experience His cleansing forgiveness.
This is a fundamental principle for curing broken relationships within human society. We must come to a place where we face and admit our sins. We must admit our sin specifically, clearly, and unequivocally. It does no good to simply say, "If I have offended you, please forgive me." That word "if" cancels out everything else you say. It is a denial of your own recognition of sin. When someone says, "If I have done something wrong," he is really saying, "You may see what I did as wrong, but I don't, and I won't admit it. If you think I did something wrong, then I'm sorry you feel that way, but I don't agree." That is not an admission of guilt, and it does not result in healing, forgiveness, or a reconciled relationships.
There are times in human relationships when we must do things that are right but painful, such as confront people who are living in a sinful lifestyle. At such times, we can be sorry that we have to hurt someone by speaking the truth to them in love--yet we are not sinning by doing so, we are doing what is right. A doctor may say, "I'm sorry" when doing something that causes a patient to feel pain--but the doctor is not doing something wrong. Sometimes a doctor must cause a little pain in order to bring about healing. So we need to understand that not every incident of causing pain or hurt to someone else is necessarily a sin.
But when we do sin against other people, God wants us to admit it to ourselves and confess it to God and to the person we have sinned against. God wants us to come to a place where we say, 'Yes, I was wrong. I sinned, and I have no excuses to offer. Please forgive me."
Only at this point can a relationship be restored. In most broken relationships, it is necessary for both parties to seek forgiveness. Each person must begin with himself or herself. As Jesus said, "First take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye" (Matthew 7:5).
Restored Relationships
Next, we see two other classes of trespass sins. The first of these two is a religious offense, which is described in Leviticus 5:14-17:
The LORD said to Moses: "When a person commits a violation and sins unintentionally in regard to any of the LORD'S holy things, he is to bring to the LORD as a penalty a ram from the flock, one without defect and of the proper value in silver, according to the sanctuary shekel. It is a [trespass] offering. He must make restitution for what he has failed to do in regard to the holy things, add a fifth of the value to that and give it all to the priest, who will make atonement for him with the ram as a guilt offering, and he will be forgiven" (Leviticus 5:14-16).
This offense involved something done "in the LORD'S holy things," and for it the person was to bring a male because the offense here is greater. This offense was not just a result of human weakness but a breach of the individual's relationship to God, within which man is made to rule in dominion over the earth. Thus the male animal was the appropriate symbol.
Still, this offense was committed ignorantly and unwittingly. The person didn't understand that it was a wrong act at the time. But upon learning it was wrong, the individual could not merely pass it off and say, "Well, I didn't understand that at the time." He was to make restitution--and not just restitution of an equivalent sum. The offender was required to add an additional one-fifth (20 percent). He was to evaluate the offering according to a scale in the temple and add 20 percent of that amount to the sacrifice to make restitution.
This sacrifice addressed sins committed by an individual who acted with deep sincerity, with the utter conviction that he or she was doing the right thing in the name of the Lord, but who later discovered that it was the wrong thing. I think that such sins are very common among Christians today. We think we are doing good things in the name of the Lord when we attack other Christians who do not worship or believe exactly as we do. We think God wants our legalistic efforts, our formalistic rituals, our political action, or our strident condemnation of those who believe differently than we do--yet our hearts are very far from His heart.
Instead of loving God and loving others, we love rules, traditions, ideologies, dogmas, and doctrines. Instead of loving God and loving others, we love to be right and for others to be wrong. Like the pre-conversion apostle Paul, we become zealous for the things of God, but we have lost sight of God's love and mercy, His message of good news for lost and hurting people. We are sincere and convinced that we are right, yet the things we are doing in the Lord's name are not the things God would have us do. So we are sincere--but we are sincerely sinning against God. That is the kind of sin that is covered by the trespass offering.
And there is one more category of sin that is covered by the trespass offering. We find it discussed in Leviticus 6:1-7:
The LORD said to Moses: "If anyone sins and is unfaithful to the LORD by deceiving his neighbor about something entrusted to him or left in his care or stolen, or if he cheats him, or if he finds lost property and lies about it, or if he swears falsely, or if he commits any such sin that people may do--when he thus sins and becomes guilty, he must return what he has stolen or taken by extortion, or what was entrusted to him, or the lost property he found, or whatever it was he swore falsely about. He must make restitution in hill, add a fifth of the value to it and give it all to the owner on the day he presents his [trespass] offering. And as a penalty he must bring to the priest, that is, to the LORD, his [trespass] offering, a rain from the flock, one without defect and of the proper value. In this way the priest will make atonement for him before the LORD, and he will be forgiven for any of these things he did that made him guilty."
Here, God talks about the need to make restitution in cases of cheating, robbing, stealing, defrauding, or extorting goods from a neighbor; or cases of filing a false income tax return, or cases of harming a person's reputation. What was taken must be restored. Sin has broken the relationship, and the relationship cannot be healed until the offense is admitted. Time will not cure this kind of hurt. Decades may go by, but the hurt will not be healed unless the offender takes steps to seek forgiveness and make restitution.
As a young Christian in my early twenties, I worked for a contractor as a timekeeper. I made out the paychecks (including my own) at the end of each month. One month, I needed some money and asked my boss if I could have an advance of twenty-five dollars, and he graciously consented. I wrote out a check, signed it, and cashed it. At the end of the month, when I was making out the regular checks, I did forget that I had already drawn twenty-five dollars. So I made out my check for the usual amount.
Later, after the boss signed my check and gave it to me, I remembered the advance I had taken. I struggled with myself. I realized that he hadn't remembered it either. I rationalized it, telling myself, "Well, he really owes it to me anyway. I've been working very hard. So I'll just say nothing about it.
My job soon ended, and I went back to school. A couple of years passed, and I couldn't forget the fact that I had taken twenty-five dollars I hadn't earned. One day, under the conviction of the Spirit, I wrote the man a letter and at great cost to myself (this was during the Great Depression), I returned the twenty-five dollars. I didn't know that God's Word said I should add an extra fifth to it, or I would have had to send him thirty dollars! In my letter, I asked for the man's forgiveness, and he sent me a very gracious letter, inviting me to come back and work for him any time--and that was a great load off my soul.
Jesus talked about this very principle when He said, "Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift" (Matthew 5:23-24). God is more pleased with our integrity and our healed relationships than He is with our religious offerings.
God provided the trespass offering and fulfilled it in Jesus Christ, so that we might heal the broken relationships of the past and live our lives with a clear conscience. If you want to have a vital relationship with God, you may need to heal the broken relationships of the past--relationships with friends, neighbors, and family members. You may need to make restitution and confess your sins and errors. But once you do, those relationships will be healed before God, and you will experience emotional and spiritual freedom for the rest of your life.
In Leviticus 6:8-30, God tells the priests of Israel how they are to administer the burnt offering, the grain offering, and the sin offering to the people:
The LORD said to Moses: "Give Aaron and his sons this command: 'These are the regulations for the burnt offering: The burnt offering is to remain on the altar hearth throughout the night, till morning, and the fire must be kept burning on the altar. The priest shall then put on his linen clothes, with linen undergarments next to his body, and shall remove the ashes of the burnt offering that the fire has consumed on the altar and place them beside the altar. Then he is to take off these clothes and put on others, and carry the ashes outside the camp to a place that is ceremonially clean. The fire on the altar must be kept burning; it must not go out. Every morning the priest is to add firewood and arrange the burnt offering on the fire and burn the fat of the fellowship offerings on it. The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out.
"These are the regulations for the grain offering: Aaron's sons are to bring it before the LORD, in front of the altar. The priest is to take a handful of fine flour and oil, together with all the incense on the grain offering, and burn the memorial portion on the altar as an aroma pleasing to the LORD. Aaron and his sons shall eat the rest of it, but it is to be eaten without yeast in a holy place; they are to eat it in the courtyard of the Tent of Meeting. It must not be baked with yeast; I have given it as their share of the offerings made to me by fire. Like the sin offering and the guilt offering, it is most holy. Any male descendant of Aaron may eat it. It is his regular share of the offerings made to the LORD by fire for the generations to come. Whatever touches them will become holy."
The LORD also said to Moses, "This is the offering Aaron and his sons are to bring to the LORD on the day 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. Prepare it with oil on a griddle; bring it well mixed and present the grain offering broken in pieces as an aroma pleasing to the LORD. The son who is to succeed him as anointed priest shall prepare it. It is the LORD'S regular share and is to he burned completely. Every grain offering of a priest shall he burned completely; it must not he eaten."
The LORD said to Moses, "Say to Aaron and his sons: 'These are the regulations for the sin offering: The sin offering is to be slaughtered before the LORD in the place the burnt offering is slaughtered; it is most holy The priest who offers it shall eat it; it is to be eaten in a holy place, in the courtyard of the Tent of Meeting. Whatever touches any of the flesh will become holy, and if any of the blood is spattered on a garment, you must wash it in a holy place. The clay pot the meat is cooked in must be broken; but if it is cooked in a bronze pot, the pot is to be scoured and rinsed with water. Any male in a priest's family may eat it; it is most holy. But any sin offering whose blood is brought into the Tent of Meeting to make atonement in the Holy Place must not he eaten; it must he burned.'"
In these regulations for three of the sacrificial offerings in Leviticus, we see the importance God placed on the role of the priest in the spiritual life of the Hebrew people. We will explore the need for a priest in more detail in the next chapter.
As we close our study of the need for restored relationships, it is important to remember why God instituted not only a program of sacrifices to God but also a program of restitution and forgiveness between human beings. God understands human nature and human need, because He created its. He knows that we can't live joyfully and effectively when our relationships are in shambles.
When we bring our broken relationships to Jesus, He will heal them, transform them, and restore them. That is the provision God made for us through the trespass offering, and that is the provision Jesus made for us on the cross of Calvary.
Leviticus 8:1-9
If you buy a new car or computer, you also get the manufacturer's instruction book, which tells you how your new machine works and what to do with it when things go wrong. That is exactly what the Bible does. God created a marvelous machine--you!--and He also wrote an instruction book to tell you how you work and what to do when things go wrong with you. That instruction book is the Bible. The Bible is the greatest book ever written on the subject of human psychology. Our problem is that we tend to ignore its advice.
Many of us like to spend all of our time in the New Testament while essentially ignoring the Old Testament. The problem with this approach to Scripture is that the New Testament contains a great deal of truth that is too advanced for us. That is why we have the Old Testament. The Old Testament starts at the kindergarten level. It uses pictures in much the way a kindergartner's book is filled with pictures. We can't understand the advanced concepts of the New Testament until we have first learned our spiritual ABCs by studying God's picture book, Leviticus.
So far in Leviticus, God has been using animal sacrifices as pictures to show us that we human beings need a sacrifice, a substitute. No one can handle the problems of life alone. No one can solve the sin problem alone. That is the lesson of history and of our individual lives. In picture after picture, sacrifice after sacrifice, God tells us that the solution to our problems is this: We need a substitute, a sacrifice, to die in our place. Only if we accept God's perfect sacrifice as the solution for our problems can we have the basic needs of life met: love, joy, peace, forgiveness, and restored relationships with the people around us. That is what the five sacrifices of Leviticus 1-7 have been teaching us.
Now, as we come to Leviticus 8, the nature of these pictures changes, revealing a new facet of God's truth for our lives: Not only do we need a sacrifice, but also we need a priest. Even though a sacrifice has been provided for us, we still cannot solve our problems unless we have a priest.
The Purpose of the Priesthood
Why do we need a priest? Because no one can offer a sacrifice by himself or herself. Every individual, whether in ancient Israel or in twenty-first century America, needs a priest. We need a priest because we need instruction. We need someone to explain the meaning of the sacrifice to us. After the meaning of the sacrifice is explained and its value made clear, we need to have the sacrifice applied to our lives. We need help in dealing with the emotional and spiritual problems awakened by our awareness of sin and struggle in our lives. God understands this deep need we have, so He has given us the gift of the priesthood.
The most basic reason we need a priest is that we cannot see ourselves and our lives with clarity. We don't know what our faces look like without a mirror. Without the ability to see ourselves reflected, we would have no idea of the color of our eyes or the shape of our noses. A priest is like a mirror of the soul, a human being who looks into our hearts and reflects back to us what we are really like, so that we can understand ourselves more accurately. God designed the priesthood to be a class of people who are trained and skilled at meeting our needs for a clearer understanding of who we are, what we are like, and why we do the things we do.
The Old Testament priests were, in a sense, the psychiatrists of the Old Testament. They were the ones to whom people came when they had emotional problems and psychological issues such as guilt, fear, anxiety, hostility, and relationship problems. Though I have great respect for modern psychology and psychiatry, I am convinced that these Old Testament priests knew more about human nature than most modern therapists because the early priests were taught by God. So as we study the Levitical priests, it is important to realize that they did much more than merely conduct religious ceremonies. They fulfilled that tremendous need that people have for help with their problems. Our need for a priesthood is just as great today.
The Elements of the Priesthood
In the opening verses of Leviticus 8, God gives us an introduction to His plan for the priesthood, describing for us the essential ingredients that make a priest:
The LORD said to Moses, "Bring Aaron and his sons, their garments, the anointing oil, the bull for the sin offering, the two rams and the basket containing bread made without yeast, and gather the entire assembly at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting." Moses did as the LORD commanded him, and the assembly gathered at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting (Leviticus 8:1-4).
In those verses, God lists the basic elements of the priesthood. You may have missed the first element on the list, but you find it in the first few words of the passage: "The LORD said to Moses,ĶThe first ingredient of the priesthood is the Word of God. A true priesthood never originates from any human plans or intentions but from God's Word, God's thoughts. The Word of God does not originate from a pope, a council, a convention, a synod, or a committee. It originates with God Himself.
As we will soon see, the priesthood today, in the New 'Testament era, involves every believer. We are all priests to one another in the church of Jesus Christ; we minister to one another as believers in much the same way that the Levitical priesthood ministered to the people of Israel centuries ago. We need to make it clear, at the beginning, that the priesthood of all believers is God's idea, not a human idea. It is an idea that began with the Word of God.
The second element of the priesthood is Aaron and his sons. Aaron was the brother of Moses. Aaron and his descendants were the only family in the entire Old Testament authorized to serve as priests. In this family, Aaron was to be the chief priest, the high priest. This plan was beautifully designed by God to teach us an important truth about our lives. As the book of Hebrews makes clear, we too have a high priest. Aaron is a symbolic picture of our Great High Priest, Jesus Christ. The priesthood of Jesus is as necessary to our lives as Aaron's was to the life of Israel. When we read about Aaron serving as high priest, we see a picture of Jesus and of what He is to us.
If you don't understand the priesthood of Jesus, you are missing out on a great part of your Christian heritage. This is one reason so many people are bored and uninspired in the Christian life. They don't grasp the provision God has made for them. They don't access the rich spiritual and emotional resources that are available to them to meet their needs and lift their spiritual and emotional depression.
Just as Aaron is a picture of our Great High Priest, Jesus Christ, the sons of Aaron represent every believer in Jesus Christ, serving also as priests. Everyone who knows Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior is a believer-priest to the other members of the human family, to the world at large and to the rest of the body of Christ.
Some Christian denominations have a priesthood of men who have been set apart to serve as priests. I have no objection to a priestly clergy in the church, except that the officially ordained priests should not be viewed as the only exclusive priests in the church. The true priesthood is not limited to a certain class of professional Christians. Every believer, whether male or female, is a priest. This is clearly taught in the New Testament, as these two examples show.
To him who loves us and has freed us from out sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father--to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen (Revelation 1:5b-6).
You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:5).
So we are all priests in the church, the body of Christ. It's exciting to be priests to one another, because we have the privilege of helping our Christian brothers and sisters deal with the emotional and spiritual issues of their lives. We help one another solve problems in the realms of Christian behavior and Christian relationships. One of the great lessons of Leviticus is that it shows us how we can all serve as priests to one another and to God.
The third element of the priesthood is the element of the priestly garments. Moses was God's representative, acting on God's behalf, and God told him to take with him the priests' garments in preparation for the consecration of the priesthood. In the symbolism of Scripture, garments are always a revelation of the character of the individual who wears them. Later, we will examine the list of priestly garments, and we will see how they picture for us what a priest is and how he functions in our lives on God's behalf.
The fourth element of the priesthood is the anointing oil. In Scripture, the oil of anointing always speaks of the Holy Spirit. This means that a priest, to be effective, must walk in the Spirit. You can never be an effective priest unless you learn the ministry of the Holy Spirit and how He works in you and through you, imparting the life of Christ to others through you.
The fifth element of the priesthood is the sacrifices. God tells Moses to take the hull and the two rams. These always speak of redemption, of the need for dealing with the problem of sin and guilt. Since Aaron and his sons were human beings, prone to sin, they too needed sacrifices. But the sacrifices were also food. The sacrifices were the food that the priests were to feed on and live by.
The sixth element of the priesthood is the fact that God told Moses to bring the congregation together. God insisted on that. He wanted all the adults there, and all the children as well. He wanted the humblest and the greatest in Israel to be present. So God told Moses to assemble the whole congregation--more than a million people. They all gathered so that God might teach them what the priesthood meant in their lives and in the life of the nation of Israel.
The seventh and final element of the priesthood was that they were to assemble in front of the tent of meeting, the tabernacle. As we have already seen, the tabernacle is a picture of man. It was built on the same pattern as humanity itself. The tabernacle was a threefold entity; just as we are composed of body, soul, and spirit. This is God's way of telling its that He Himself will teach us what all of this means and that He will do so from within ourselves, from the place where God meets humanity. Remember that Paul says, "We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us" (1 Corinthians 2:12).
Washed by the Word of God
Next, Moses, under the direction of God, gives us a step-by-step account of the process by which God calls the priesthood into existence. If we read Leviticus purely as a book of instructions to ancient Israel, then this section is going to be dull and boring. But if we see Leviticus as God intends us to see it, if we truly see ourselves and our own priestly role as Christians inscribed upon these pages, then the book of Leviticus will come alive! God's picture of the priesthood is truly a picture of your life and mine. We have a Great High Priest, Jesus, who is pictured for us by Aaron, and you and I are pictured as the sons of Aaron. We find the first step in God's process of creating the priesthood in the next two verses:
Moses said to the assembly, "This is what the LORD has commanded to be done." Then Moses brought Aaron and his sons forward and washed them with water (Leviticus 8:5-6).
What does the washing of Aaron and his sons signify? We find a clue in the linking of the word and the water in this passage. The Lord commands--that's the word. Then the priests are washed--that's the water.
You will recall that in the Gospel of John, Jesus said to Nicodemus, the religious intellectual who came to Him by night, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit" (John 3:5). What did Jesus mean? Water stands for the Word. Unless a person is born by believing the Word of God, thus releasing the operation of the Spirit of God into his or her life, that person can never enter the kingdom of God. So the Word, in its capacity to cleanse and purify, is pictured for us by water. Jesus later used the same symbol when He told His disciples, "You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you" (John 15:3).
In His Great High-Priestly prayer, Jesus said, "I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world,ĶSanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified" (John 17:14, 17-19). That is the fulfillment of the word picture God draws for us here in Leviticus 8. Jesus consecrated Himself as our Great High Priest by the washing of the water of the Word--and as the only sinless man who ever lived, He is the only one who is fit to do so.
In Leviticus, we see Aaron, a symbolic type of Jesus, consecrated with water by Moses. Then the sons of Aaron are also washed. The priesthood operates by the proclamation of the Word of God; by the Word, the priesthood is prepared for ministry.
The Meaning of the Garments
After the washing of the priests comes the dressing of the high priest in his garments. We read:
He [Moses] put the tunic on Aaron, tied the sash around him, clothed him with the robe and put the ephod on him. He also tied the ephod to him by its skillfully woven waistband; so it was fastened on him. He placed the breastpiece on him and put the Urim and Thummim in the breastpiece. Then he placed the turban on Aaron's head and set the gold plate, the sacred diadem, on the front of it, as the LORD commanded Moses (Leviticus 8:7-9).
Notice that this whole ensemble is God's idea. Each piece of priestly clothing has a significant meaning. What are the meanings of these garments? If you follow the pattern of the Old Testament, you are given clues as to what Jesus Christ is prepared to he and to do in your life, for the garments reflect the character and the quality of the Great High Priest. Let's look at them.
First, Moses began dressing Aaron, who was naked, because he had just been washed with water. At the command of God, Moses put an inner garment upon Aaron, a white linen tunic which fit closely around Aaron's body and served as his undergarment. Moses bound it around him with an inner sash (or, in some translations, girdle). After Aaron was fully dressed, these two items were hidden by the outer garments, yet each was symbolically significant.
In Scripture, the tunic or coat is always a picture of the righteousness of an individual. This inner tunic coat is a picture of that inner, hidden righteousness of the Lord Jesus, which only God could see. Jesus had a purity within, a purity that God could see even when people could not. That is why God the Father spoke as he did at the baptism of Jesus, which took place after Jesus had lived almost thirty years in the town of Nazareth.
Many people have wondered what kind of a person Jesus was as a growing boy. Did he ever misbehave and get into trouble? The Father spoke from heaven and said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17). Jesus had no spot or blemish within Him, not the slightest taint of sin. He had the inner righteousness that was symbolized by the white linen undergarment worn by Aaron.
A sash or girdle, in Scripture, always symbolizes a servant. This inner sash represents that inner spirit of servitude, a willingness to he a servant. This is the attitude we see again and again in the life of our Lord. The people around Jesus could not always see it, but God the Father saw. The apostle Paul wrote that Jesus "made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death--even death on a cross!" (Philippians 2:7-8). It is His inner willingness to stoop and meet us at the point of our deepest need that characterized the life of our Great High Priest.
Over these garments, Moses placed the outer robe. In Exodus 28:31-34 and Exodus 39:22-26, it is described as an exquisite robe of finely woven cloth, all of one piece and colored a brilliant and beautiful blue. This robe speaks of righteousness--but in this case, it symbolizes the visible righteousness of Jesus that human beings could see. Before condemning Jesus to death, the Roman governor Pontius Pilate examined the life of Jesus and concluded, "I find no fault in Him." Jesus had an outward, visible righteousness that was plainly apparent to many.
Over the robe, Moses placed the ephod. The ephod was a long vestment that covered the front and back of the priest, hanging down to the knees. It was fastened at the shoulders by clasps and bound at the waist by a sash. The ephod was the mark of the high priest's authority because it hung from his shoulders, the biblical symbol of power. When Isaiah prophesied regarding the coining Messiah, he wrote, "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders" (Isaiah 9:6). The ephod serves to remind us of the words of Jesus just before He ascended into the heavens: "AU authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me" (Matthew 28:18).
We tend to think that while Jesus has power in heaven, human beings can thwart His purposes on earth. That is not true. All power is given to Jesus in heaven and on earth. He is able to act as He chooses. Much of the trouble of the church today comes from the fact that we have forgotten the Source of our power. We have lost sight of the fact that we have a High Priest who has all power and all authority. He is the one of whom it is said, "What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open" (Revelation 3:7).
Around the ephod was bound a skillfully woven waistband, a band of beautifully decorated cloth intertwined with gold. Here again, the waistband is a picture of the servitude of Jesus, but in this case His outward servant character--His willingness to stoop to meet our need, whatever it is. This means that our Great High Priest, even with all His power and authority, is willing to meet us right where we are.
This waistband reminds us of that moment in the upper room when Jesus, just hours before the cross, bound a towel around Himself and began to wash His disciples' feet. In this way, Jesus manifested His willingness to meet the need of His disciples even when they were too proud to be served. Peter pridefully tried to reject the Lord's servant ministry to him, but the Lord said, "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me" (John 13:8). In other words, "If you do not allow me to serve you, there is no way you can he helped." The high priest, bound with a beautiful waistband, reminds us of the beautiful servanthood of Jesus, who stooped to serve us and meet us at the place of our need.
Over the middle of Aaron's breast, Moses hung the breastpiece. This was a square of gold on which were written the names of all twelve tribes of Israel. Thus Israel was reminded that the high priest held closest to his heart every individual member of the nation of Israel. In the same way, Jesus holds all of God's people close to His heart. He cares about your needs and hurts. He is deeply involved with your life. He knows what you are going through.
In the midst of the breastpiece, Moses placed the two objects called the Urim and Thummim. What were these objects? No one knows. They are never described in the Bible. Even the ancient rabbis lost any conception or description of what these objects were and what they looked like. Their names mean "Lights" and "Perfections."
Though we don't know what the Urim and Thummim looked like, we know what they were for. They were used by the priests to determine the mind and will of God concerning specific events. Whenever a king or even an ordinary person desired to know what God wanted him to do, he went to the priest, and, through the Urim and the Thummim, the priest was able to help him find direction in life.
We are getting very close to the true meaning of these words when we translate "Lights" as "Insights" and "Perfections" as "Outworkings." "Lights" truly are insights into life. And "perfections" truly are the outworkings of circumstances to accomplish the goal God has in mind. When a problem arose, people could go to the priest, and he would use these instruments to gain insight from God into the nature of the problem. Then he received assurance from God that He was working out the problem to a perfect solution. This corresponds exactly to what the Spirit of God does in our hearts through the Word of God and through the counsel of other members of the priesthood of God. The Spirit helps us to gain an understanding of the problem and to have the assurance that He is working out His perfect purposes in our lives.
My mentor and patron saint, Dr. H. A. Ironside, used to tell of a young man who was a recent graduate of a theological seminary. Educated beyond his intelligence, he had arrived at a place where he thought he knew all the answers to every theological question. He traveled to a certain town where there lived an old Christian layman who had never been to a Bible school or a seminary but had taught himself the Word of God under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. In the process, he had gained a reputation as a man of wise counsel.
When the young theologian heard about the wise old Christian layman, he decided to meet the man, question him, and try to stump him with a theological riddle. So a meeting was arranged between the two men. The young man said, "Sir, I hear that you have quite a reputation as a Bible Student. I'd like to ask you a question."
"Well," the old man replied, "I don't know if I can answer it, but I'd he glad to try. What is your question?"
The young man said, "Tell me, what were the Urim and the Thummim.
"Well, sir," the old man said, I don't really know--and I don't think anyone else does either. The names mean 'Lights' and 'Perfections,' and we know that these were instruments the high priest used to determine the mind of God in certain situations. But I've found that if you change just one letter in these words, you have the instrument by which I can know the mind and will of God for my own life."
The young man was puzzled. "What do you mean?" he asked.
"'Well," the old man said, "if you change the R in Urim to an S, you'll make it 'Usim and Thumniim.' And when I want to know the mind of God, I just take the pages of my Bible and I use 'em and thumb 'em. By using and thumbing the pages of my Bible, I can learn what I need to know!"
I don't know how theologically accurate that is. But I do think the old man had arrived at a practical approach to seeking the mind of God.
Next, we see that Moses placed a turban on the head of the priest. The turban consisted of a beautiful cloth bound around Aaron's head--a symbolic picture of the mind under control, the intelligence of the priest in submission to the will of God. It represents what Paul describes when he writes, "we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5). Jesus, our Great High Priest, embodies all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, and He works intelligently on our behalf to carry out the will and purpose of God the Father in our lives. And that is what we are to do as a priesthood of believers, helping one another to understand the mind and thoughts of God.
Finally, in the middle of the turban, Moses set the golden plate which is called the diadem (or crown) of the high priest. Only the high priest wore it. Inscribed on it were the words "Holiness to the LORD." As we have already learned from the book of Leviticus, the word holiness means "wholeness." God's purpose is to make us a whole and holy people. This golden diadem is a beautiful picture of how our Great High Priest keeps this great purpose always before Him--the purpose of making us whole before the Lord. That is the purpose the Lord Jesus is working out in your life and mine, and that is the purpose we, as priestly believers, should seek in the lives of our fellow believers.
The hook of Hebrews tells us, "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin" (Hebrews 4:15).
Jesus our High Priest, has known discouragement, hostility, and opposition. He has wept with those who wept. He was angry over injustice and oppression. He understands how we feel and He has experienced the worst pain and suffering of which human beings are capable.
Whatever your problem may be at this moment, Jesus has been where you are. He has a servant's heart, and He knows how to solve every problem you will ever face. Your Great High Priest is ready to meet you at your place of need. The reason we are so weak and faltering as God's people is that we lose sight of this Great High Priest who is powerful and available to us twenty-four hours a day.
Friend in Christ, lift your eyes to your Great High Priest. He is ready to meet you at the door of your tabernacle, at the heart of your own life. He will release in you all of the mighty resources that are available to Him through God the Father.
Leviticus 8:10-36
Centuries ago in Germany, a monk named Martin Luther rediscovered certain long-neglected truths in the Scriptures. One of the most radical and transforming of these truths was the priesthood of all believers, which is rooted in I Peter 2:9--"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called You out of darkness into his wonderful light."
Prior to the time of Martin Luther, the church taught that the priesthood was limited to a select group of men who acted as intermediaries between God and ordinary people. Standing firmly on the clear teaching of the Bible, Luther exploded that idea. He taught that every person who comes to know Jesus Christ is a priest under God and that every believer joins with that Great High Priest, Jesus Christ Himself, in a ministry of mercy, blessing, and ministry to a world. This is the priesthood to which God has called you and me.
The priesthood of all believers is one of a number of truths that Luther rediscovered in Scripture. These truths had such a radical impact on the church in Europe that a whole new movement quickly swept across the continent: the Protestant Reformation.
In the centuries since Luther's day, the idea of the priesthood of al believers has again become a much-neglected truth. Today, few Christian realize that they themselves are a priesthood. They come to church on Sunday morning, absorb the music and the sermon, and go back home unchanged. They take, but they do not give. They listen, but they do no love and serve. They do not experience the excitement of the Christian life because they do not see themselves as priests.
All Christians were meant to serve God and serve others. All Christians were meant to be in the game, not in the grandstands. My prayer is that God would call us to a vibrant rediscovery of what it means to be a royal priest hood, a people belonging to God, declaring the praises and the good news of Him who has called us out of darkness and into His wonderful light. I pray that God would call us to an exciting rediscovery of what it means for very believer to be a priest of God.
Anointed with Oil, Anointed with the Spirit
As we previously saw in Leviticus 8:1-9, God set aside the high priest--Aaron, the brother of Moses--as a type or picture of our Great High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is symbolic that Aaron was set aside first, before his sons, because the Sons of Aaron are a picture of the priesthood of every believer. As we look at this passage, we discover some powerful, practical truths about the way God wants to work in our lives and use us to encourage, bless, and heal one another in His church.
When Aaron, the high priest, was set aside for service, he was cleansed with water and clad in beautiful priestly garments--a linen tunic or undergarment, air inner sash, the brilliant blue outer robe, the ephod, the beautifully woven waistband, the breastpiece with its golden decoration and the two mysterious objects, the Urim and Thummim. Each item of these priestly garments reveals an aspect of the work that our Great High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, does in our lives. The priestly vestments symbolize the fact that Jesus, our High Priest, meets all of our spiritual, emotional, and intellectual needs. With that as our background, we move deeper into Leviticus 8:
Then Moses took the anointing oil and anointed the tabernacle and everything in it, and so consecrated them. He sprinkled some of the oil on the altar seven times, anointing the altar and all its utensils and the basin with its stand, to consecrate them. He poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron's head and anointed him to consecrate him. Then he brought Aaron's sons forward, put tunics on them, tied sashes around them and put headbands on them, as the LORD commanded Moses (Leviticus 8:10-13).
Here we see the anointing of the high priest. It took place before the sons were anointed, and even before they were dressed in their priestly attire. This is symbolically significant. Though this Old Testament passage was written centuries before the earthly ministry of Jesus, it symbolically captures what Jesus did when He came and fulfilled these words.
After Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist, Jesus saw the heavens open, and the Spirit of God descended like a dove and rested on Him. A voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased" (see Matthew 3:13-17). This was the very moment that God anointed our Great High Priest, Jesus. The oil that Moses used when he anointed Aaron symbolizes the Holy Spirit, who anointed Jesus after His baptism. These ceremonies in Leviticus are shadowy pictures of the reality that would come when Jesus began His ministry.
Next, after anointing the high priest, Aaron, Moses anointed the sons of Aaron. This act symbolizes the anointing of the disciples by the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost (see Acts 2:1-4). Just as Jesus was first anointed by the Holy Spirit, then His disciples, so Aaron was anointed with oil first, then the sons of Aaron.
Moses clothed Aaron's sons with tunics (coats), then tied sashes around them and bound their heads with headbands. Here we see a picture of our ministry as the priesthood of believers. We are to the Lord Jesus Christ in our priestly ministry as Aaron's sons were to Aaron. Just as the garments of the high priest were a picture of his character and of what he could do, so the three items worn by the high priests sons are a picture of our ministry and of what we can do.
God is speaking directly to you and to me through these symbolic pictures in Leviticus. If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, then this is the ministry God has called you to--and this is the provision God has made for you, so that you can fulfill this ministry.
The Meaning of the Tunic
The vestments worn by the sons of Aaron were not just impressive-looking uniforms. They were visual statements of God's redemptive plan for the human race. Each piece of priestly clothing had a specific symbolic meaning.
First, there is the tunic or coat. The tunic is a covering; it symbolizes the righteousness of Christ, which is imparted to us. We are clad in His righteousness. We cannot please God and earn His approval by our works. Many people do good deeds and observe endless religious rituals, all in the hope that if they just do enough, then God will be pleased with them. The problem is that you can never know if you've done quite enough, so you are doomed to feeling discouraged and defeated all the time.
No matter how many good works you do, you will never feel you have done enough. You will always suspect that you fall short--because, in fact, you do fall short! As Paul wrote to the Romans, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). That's the bad news. Paul then goes on to give us the good news, that we "are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus" (Romans 3:24). We may try to justify ourselves by our good works, but we will always fall short of the glory of God. However, the true High Priest of God has wrapped a tunic of righteousness around us. By grace through faith, we are wrapped in the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
What does that mean for our daily lives? It means that you and I are allowed to make mistakes! It means that we are allowed to fail at times, because it isn't our ministry, our work, our perfection that makes us acceptable to God. It's His ministry, His work, His perfection. The life of Christ, the sacrifice of Christ, and the resurrection of Christ make us accepted in the Beloved. Jesus clothed us in His righteousness. That is the meaning of the tunic or coat worn by the priests, the sons of Aaron.
The Meaning of the Sash
Next, there is a sash (or girdle) that is tied around the tunic. In Scripture, this sash is always a picture of a servant character. It signifies the willingness that should reside in the heart of every believer to meet and serve other people at the point of their need. It signifies a humble, Christ like desire to stoop to any need, without ever asking what it will cost or what we will get in return.
This sash reminds us of the towel that Jesus wrapped around Himself before He began to wash the feet of His disciples (see John 13:1-17). Jesus didn't hesitate to wash dirty feet, and neither should we. God calls us to pattern our lives after the life of the Master, meeting people in the midst of their human need and their human stink and their human filth. If we would follow Christ, then we must take up the towel and basin, and we must serve.
In 1971, my wife, Elaine, and I went to Charlotte, North Carolina, for a celebration honoring Dr. Billy Graham. It was an exciting event--even President Richard M. Nixon was there. Afterwards, Elaine and I boarded the plane for the flight home to California. Once aboard, we noticed a woman with a tiny boy in tow. As she made her way onto the plane, dragging the unhappy-looking child, she loudly announced, "I have a naughty little boy to give away if anyone wants him! Would someone please take my grandson? You're welcome to him, because he's been nothing but trouble all day!"
The woman was obviously trying to shame her little grandson, and it was working. The boy looked absolutely miserable. The woman kept up this behavior all the way down the aisle, oblivious to the disapproving looks she received from the other passengers. The plane was not full, and I noticed that a number of passengers who were seated near her got up and moved to unclaimed seats.
As it happened, the woman was seated directly across the aisle from us. As the plane was beginning its takeoff run, Elaine looked at the woman and saw that she was all huddled up in her seat with her eyes tightly shut, perspiring and obviously scared to death. Elaine said, "Do you know what that woman's trouble is? She's scared!"
I said, "Would you like to help her?" Fortunately for me, Elaine had the aisle seat, so she was closer to the woman than I was. If I had been in the aisle seat, I would have felt obligated, as a pastor, to help this poor, frightened woman--and I was relieved to hand that unpleasant chore to my wife!
So Elaine unbuckled her scat belt, moved across the aisle, and sat down beside the trembling woman--much to the distress of the flight attendant (changing seats during takeoff, of course, is strictly forbidden!).
Buckling herself into the seat next to the woman, Elaine said, "Are you scared?"
"Scared to death!" the woman said. "I just don't know what to do! I wish I could fly without being so frightened."
"I know just how you feel,' Elaine said. "For years, I couldn't fly without being terribly afraid. But I no longer have any fear of flying."
"How did you get over it?" the woman asked.
"Well, my husband and I came to Charlotte for the celebration honoring Dr. Billy Graham. I'm sure you know about his ministry."
"Oh, yes!" the woman said. "I've seen his evangelistic crusades on TV, and I just love the singing of that man with the wonderful voice--George Beverly Shea."
"Have you ever heard Mr. Shea sing 'He's Got the Whole World in His Hands'?" Elaine asked. The woman said she had. "Well, that song means so much to me," Elaine continued, "because I know that Jam in God's hands, and He is watching over me. That assurance has taken away my fear of flying. By the way, it may comfort you to know that Mr. Shea himself is sitting two seats behind you on this plane."
The woman gasped, peered over the back of her seat, then said, "Well, then we don't have a thing to worry about, do we?"
In fact, the woman was so relieved that she was soon back to her old loud, obnoxious, troublesome self! But perhaps a seed of God's truth was planted.
The point is that in crossing the aisle to comfort that woman, Elaine was being a priest to her. She was ministering to that woman, serving her, and symbolically washing her feet. We are all, as Christians, called to be priests and servants to our fellow human beings, meeting them at their point of need. It may mean having to sit next to people that no one else wants to be close to. It may mean putting up with the offensiveness of humanity--but that is what servants do.
What excitement comes into our lives when we allow God to use us this way! What an adventure life becomes when we let God serve others through us. God doesn't want His priesthood confined within houses of stone and stained glass. He wants His priesthood to move out into the neighborhoods, streets, alleys, prisons, schools, shopping malls, and office buildings. He wants His priests to go wherever the people are, serving them wherever they hurt.
Living as priests isn't easy. It will cost us. It will inconvenience us. It will he unpleasant and even downright disgusting at times. Washing dirty feet is never pleasant work. But how can we call ourselves followers of Jesus if we refuse to live as He lived and serve as He served?
The Meaning of the Headband
The third article of clothing was the headband that was bound around the head of the priest. Just as the turban on the high priest is a picture of the mind bound by the authority of the Word of God, so the headband of the priest is a picture of the mind under the control of the Lord Jesus Christ. As Paul writes in I Corinthians 2:16, 'We have the mind of Christ." This means that we look at life as Jesus sees it. We set aside all the illusions and delusions of worldly thinking.
These, then, are the three dimensions of our priesthood, as pictured for us by the three primary articles of priestly clothing: The tunic pictures for us the righteousness of Christ, which clothes us and covers all of our sin and guilt. The sash depicts our servant attitude, our willingness to reach out to people in their hurt, need, and filthiness. The headband represents our minds under the control and authority of Christ. When we have this kind of attitude and relationship with God, then we are ready to go out as priests into this poor, broken, suffering world--and God will see to it that we have many opportunities to serve others in His name.
The Sacrifices for the Priests
Next we see that sacrifices had to be offered for Aaron and his sons. As the New Testament letter of Hebrews makes clear, the Lord Jesus, as the Great High Priest, had no need to offer sacrifices for Himself, for He was without sin. But Aaron was a fallen man, and his sons were fallen men. Their sins needed to be dealt with, so they, like the people they served, had need of the sacrifices. First was the sin offering.
He then presented the bull for the sin offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on its head. Moses slaughtered the bull and took some of the blood, and with his finger he put it on all the horns of the altar to purify the altar. He poured out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. So he consecrated it to make atonement for it. Moses also took all the fat around the inner parts, the covering of the liver, and both kidneys and their fat, and burned it on the altar. But the bull with its hide and its flesh and its offal he burned up outside the camp, as the LORD commanded Moses (Leviticus 8:14-17).
This sacrifice is God's reminder to us that the basic, fundamental problem of human nature is our sin-distorted, fallen nature. We never can solve a single problem until we deal with the problem of sin in our lives. That is why the sin offering is mentioned in Leviticus again and again. It is God's constant reminder.
There are many books and speakers today who tell us that if we will learn to think differently and discover our hidden potential, then we will find all sorts of personal power to achieve happiness and satisfaction in life. There are good ideas in many of these books and speakers, but rarely do they talk about the fundamental human problem, which is the problem of sin. There is rarely any recognition that the cross of Christ is the only basis upon which our God-given human potential can be fulfilled.
After the sin offering comes the burnt offering, which pictures for us the life that is completely given over and sacrificed to God:
He then presented the ram for the burnt offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on its head. Then Moses slaughtered the ram and sprinkled the blood against the altar on all sides. He cur the ram into pieces and burned the head, the pieces and the fat. He washed the inner parts and the legs with water and burned the whole ram on the altar as a burnt offering, a pleasing aroma, an offering made to the LORD by fire, as the LORD commanded Moses (Leviticus 8:18-21).
This sacrifice pictures for us the life that was described for us by Paul when he wrote, "You are not your own; you were bought at a price" (1 Corinthians 6:19b-20a). To the world, these words sound harsh, as if God has taken our lives away from us. But the Christian knows that this is the way to fulfillment. God loves us, owns us, and cherishes us, and that is how we find a deep sense of joy and satisfaction that the world cannot comprehend. We have been bought with a price, the sacrifice of our Great High Priest, and that gives us the right to say, "Yes, Lord! Use me as you will. I am here to be your servant and priest. Consume my life, use me up, because it is only through serving you that my life has meaning and purpose."
In the next few verses, we read of the third offering for the priests, the offering of ordination:
He then presented the other ram, the tam for the ordination, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on its head. Moses slaughtered the ram and took some of its blood and put it on the lobe of Aaron's right ear, on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot. Moses also brought Aaron's sons forward and put some of the blood on the lobes of their right ears, on the thumbs of their right hands and on the big toes of their right feet. Then he sprinkled blood against the altar on all sides (Leviticus 8:22-24).
What a strange ceremony that is! What does it signify? If you have followed the meanings of these symbols, the meaning is obvious: Blood reminds us that our lives have no meaning or hope apart from the death of Jesus Christ on our behalf. His spilled blood is the source of our life. The priest of God is to have a blood-stained ear, a blood-stained thumb, and a blood-stained toe--and each of these blood-stained places on the body is symbolically significant.
God's priest is to hear God's Word with ears that have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ. He should recognize that the Bible isn't just a collection of interesting stories and nice ideas. It is truth that transforms our lives, because it is essentially the truth of how God redeems us by the blood of His sacrificed Son.
God's priest is to use his hands in service to others, for they are hands that have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ. The thumb is used to stand for the entire hand because, as the body member that enables us to grasp and use tools, it is probably the most useful member of the human body. With our hands, we can feed those who are hungry, bathe those who are unclean, and touch the wounds of those who are hurting. Our hands are the members we use to serve others.
As servant-priests, we serve as blood-stained people--stained by the blood of our Great High Priest. We have no righteousness in ourselves, we are no better than the people we serve, we do not judge others or look down our noses at others. We serve others because Christ first served us and touched our lives with His bleeding, nail-pierced hands. And as we serve, we must be continually reminded of our need of constant cleansing by the blood of Christ.
Finally, God's priest is to use his feet to walk through life as a man or woman whose pathway has been redirected and redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ. In these verses, the entire foot is represented by the big toe, which is to he stained with blood. The Bible often represents our lives as a walk, so as we walk through life, we need to be continually reminded of God's cleansing grace, which we need to experience every day of our lives. Our walk must be a blood-stained walk, and our lives must daily speak to the world around us of the blood that flowed down the cross of Jesus Christ.
The Oil and the Blood
The offerings continue with the offering of the fat, inner parts, thigh, and breast, and the offering of the unleavened bread.
He took the fat, the fat tail, all the fat around the inner parts, the covering of the liver, both kidneys and their fat and the right thigh. Then from the basket of bread made without yeast, which was before the LORD, he took a cake of bread, and one made with oil, and a wafer; he put these on the fat portions and on the right thigh. He put all these in the hands of Aaron and his sons and waved them before the LORD as a wave offering. Then Moses took them from their hands and burned them on the altar on top of the burnt offering as an ordination offering, a pleasing aroma, an offering made to the LORD by fire. He also took the breast--Moses' share of the ordination ram--and waved it before the LORD as a wave offering, as the LORD commanded Moses (Leviticus 8:25-29).
We have previously seen that the fat, the thigh, and the breast symbolize richness, strength, and peace in the inner life, sacrificed and made acceptable to God. The meal offering is a type of the human response which says, "Here I am, Lord! My humanity is at your disposal. I'm ready to be used of you." Next, notice what Moses does with the anointing oil and the blood.
Then Moses took some of the anointing oil and some of the blood from the altar and sprinkled them on Aaron and his garments and on his sons and their garments. So he consecrated Aaron and his garments and his sons and their garments (Leviticus 8:30).
Here is another demonstration of the accuracy of Scripture. When Moses anointed Aaron as a type of Christ, our Great High Priest, he used only oil, the symbol of the Holy Spirit. But when he anointed the sons, who are a picture of our priesthood, he used oil and blood--oil symbolizing the Holy Spirit and blood representing the redeeming death of Jesus. Our priesthood is based upon a recognition that we are to minister in the power of the Spirit and on the basis of a personal experience of the forgiveness of sin. That is the only right we have as priests to minister to other people.
There is nothing in our fallen humanity that gives us the right to act as priests to other people. If you attempt to serve other people on any basis other than the blood of Jesus and the anointing of the Spirit, you are offering "unauthorized fire before the LORD, contrary to his command" (Leviticus 10:1), an offense which carries dire penalties. The only basis for our priesthood is a humble recognition of our own sinfulness, plus a realization that we are forgiven through the grace of God and the blood of Christ, plus a recognition that the Holy Spirit is pleased to work through us. Next we read:
Moses then said to Aaron and his sons, "Cook the meat at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and eat it there with the bread from the basket of ordination offerings, as I commanded, saying, Aaron and his sons are to eat it.' Then burn up the rest of the meat and the bread. Do not leave the entrance to the Tent of Meeting for seven days, until the days of your ordination are completed, for your ordination will last seven days. What has been done today was commanded by the LORD to make atonement for you. You must stay at the entrance to the Lent of Meeting day and night for seven days and do what the Loan requires, so you will not die; for that is what I have been commanded." So Aaron and his sons did everything the LORD commanded through Moses (Leviticus 8:31-36).
And no wonder! When Moses told Aaron and his sons to remain at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting (the tabernacle) for seven days "so you will not die," they took him seriously and did as they were commanded. Why? Because God is very serious about issues of sin and obedience.
Why did God command Aaron and his sons was to stay in the doorway of the tabernacle? Again, there is symbolic significance at work in this command. The tabernacle is a symbolic picture of the human body. This command symbolizes the fact that God wants us to wait and feast upon the work of Jesus Christ on our behalf. His work is symbolized by the right thigh of the animal, a picture of His strength; the breast, a picture of His love for us; and the bread offering, a picture of the life of Christ, available to us.
Why did God command Aaron and his sons to remain for seven days? Seven is always the number of perfection in the Bible. So the number seven in this command is a clue as to how God works.
We are impatient people. We pray, and then we expect God to respond like the genie in the story of Aladdin and his magic lamp, announcing, "I am here, human master, ready to do your bidding! What do you wish me to do?"
But praying to God is not like rubbing a magic lamp. We are not the master; God is. He is not our servant; we are His. So when we pray to Him, we must he patient, even when He seems to delay. His answer and His timing are always perfect, as symbolized by the number seven. We may have to wait as God works out His perfect plan according to His perfect timing. While we are waiting, He calls us to feed upon the truth of the sacrifice of Christ.
One of the hardest things to do in life is to wait upon the Lord. But a priesthood is made up of people who wait and serve. The only agenda a priest has is God's agenda, so it is our privilege, as His servants, to wait and watch the unfolding of His plan.
Are you living as a priest of God? Are you reaching our to this troubled and fragmented world? Have you discovered the adventure of living as a servant, a channel of God's love and healing power to the hurting people around you?
I urge you to keep your eyes open as you walk through your life. Look for people who are hurting, people who are in need--then serve them in the love of Jesus Christ. Allow the Holy Spirit to anoint you and work through you. As you do this, you will be living not only after the pattern of Jesus, our Great High Priest, but after the pattern of God's eternal commandments in the book of Leviticus.
Leviticus 9
Some years ago, I went through a time of personal crisis unlike anything I had experienced before. I prayed more intensely than I had ever prayed before, yet I felt no relief I didn't know it, but at the very time I was feeling totally alone with my pain and oppression, God was actively answering my prayer in a way I didn't realize or expect.
A few days later, I received a phone call from a dear and trusted friend who had been living in another state. He was in town and wanted to stop by and see me. I was stunned. I had reached a point where I felt that I was ready to break down, emotionally and physically, from the strain I was under. Just that morning, I had thought of this man and wished that I could see him and talk with him--and suddenly, miraculously, he had come to town!
We met for lunch, and in the course of our time together, he said a few words that restored my hope and delivered my spirit! I'm not saying that my circumstances changed, but my faith in God's ability to resolve those circumstances soared.
That man had no idea what I had been going through until we talked over lunch. In fact, he couldn't even tell me why he had come to see me. Tile just felt an urge to do so. I know that God sent him to me to be a priest to me, to speak God's message of healing to me. We all need a priest, and that is why God has ordained every individual in His church to be a priest.
Living by Resurrection Power
The ninth chapter of Leviticus continues the process of describing how a priest of functions in service to God and in ministry to humanity, meeting our basic human needs. Leviticus 9 opens with these words:
On the eighth day Moses summoned Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel (Leviticus 9:1).
Notice the symbolic significance of the numbers in this passage. Throughout the Old Testament, God used symbolic numbers to help us understand practical truth, and here He does so again: "On the eighth day,Ķ" Eight is the number of a new beginning, a resurrection. The eighth day symbolizes resurrection life. We see the significance of this number not only throughout the Old and New Testaments but also in nature.
For instance, the eighth day is the beginning of a new week. One of the strange mysteries of human life is the week. It is easy to explain why we have months, because they correspond to the phases of the moon. The year corresponds to the time it takes for the earth to orbit the sun. But no one can explain why we have a week of seven days. Nothing in the physical world corresponds to it. Yet from the earliest times, the human family has observed the seven-day week.
Or consider the tones of the musical scale. An octave consists of seven notes; the eighth note on the scale is the first note of a new octave. Eight corresponds to a new note, a new day, a new beginning.
By means of this number, God teaches us something important about the functioning of the priesthood. The ministry of a priest, He tells us, must take place on the basis of resurrection power. A priest must rely on the resurrected life of the living Lord within him (or her--for women also are priests in the priesthood of all believers). A priest functions not in his or her strength but in the power of the new life that is ours in Christ, the new beginning that Jesus made possible when He burst forth from the tomb on the first Easter.
Our natural tendency is to rely upon the natural, human resources of our old life, with its attempt to garner wisdom from human sources. We have all been subjected to the good advice of well-meaning people which, when followed, has only made life more difficult.
A priest who is truly living and ministering in the wisdom and power of the resurrected Lord will dispense the wisdom of God that comes from the Word of God. A priest deals sensitively to the needs of individuals according to the leading of the Holy Spirit. All of this marvelous truth is symbolized for us in these words: "On the eighth day Moses summoned Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel."
That is why Moses insisted that the priests should not leave the tabernacle for seven days. That is why God told them through Moses, "You must stay at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting day and night for seven days" (Leviticus 8:35). God is saying, in effect, "Do not try to act as a priest upon any other basis except resurrection power, for if you act on any other basis, you will only produce death."
This is a crucial principle for us to understand. Wherever we see deadness and sterility in the church today, we always find evidence that the church has abandoned reliance upon the resurrection power of Jesus Christ. Again and again, we see churches and individual Christians who substitute human power, human insight, human techniques and tactics in place of God's resurrection power, and the result is always death--Christians who become lifeless in their faith, as well as churches that become dead and powerless to authentically influence the world for Jesus Christ. In place of Spirit-led evangelism and ministry, we substitute electronic media and promotional techniques. These efforts may look successful on the outside, but they are empty and hollow on the inside. They are not animated by resurrection power but by human ingenuity.
God wants us to know that He doesn't need money, might, or majorities to win His battles. He always selects a handful of faithful people, and through those few individuals, He works His mighty deeds.
The Sinner and the Sacrifice
We know that our God is the great Creator of the universe and that His power is sufficient to meet all of our needs. Why, then, do we so often reject His power and resort to our own? The answer is given in the next section of Leviticus 9, which details for us the sacrifices that were offered in connection with the ordaining of the priests. First, there were the offerings for Aaron.
He said to Aaron, "Take a bull calf for your sin offering and a ram for your burnt offering, both without defect, and present them before the LORD. Then say to the Israelites: 'Take a male goat for a sin offering, a calf and a lamb--both a year old and without defect--for a burnt offering, and an ox and a ram for a fellowship offering to sacrifice before the LORD, together with a grain offering mixed with oil. For today the LORD will appear to you."
They took the things Moses commanded to the front of the Tent of Meeting, and the entire assembly came near and stood before the LORD. Then Moses said, "This is what the LORD has commanded you to do, so that the glory of the LORD may appear to you." Moses said to Aaron, "Come to the altar and sacrifice your sin offering and your burnt offering and make atonement for yourself and the people; sacrifice the offering that is for the people and make atonement for them, as the LORD has commanded."
So Aaron came to the altar and slaughtered the calf as a sin offering for himself. His sons brought the blood to him, and he dipped his finger into the blood and put it on the horns of the altar; the rest of the blood he poured out at the base of the altar. On the altar he burned the fat, the kidneys and the covering of the liver from the sin offering, as the LORD commanded Moses; the flesh and the hide he burned up outside the camp.
Then he slaughtered the burnt offering. His sons handed him the blood, and he sprinkled it against the altar on all sides. They handed him the burnt offering piece by piece, including the head, and he burned them on the altar. He washed the inner parts and the legs and burned them on top of the burnt offering on the altar (Leviticus 9:2-14).
So Aaron went to the altar and killed the calf of the sin offering, which was offered for himself and his sins. Then he killed the burnt offering, which was offered for himself and his sins. Here we see, once again, the strange prominence of sacrifices and blood which dominates the book of Leviticus. Why does God insist on all of this blood? Why could God's people not be purified apart from a sacrificial death?
God is telling us something important. No, He is not merely telling us--He's shouting to us! He is trying to get through to us He wants us to understand a fundamental truth about our condition and about our need for a priesthood. He is trying to tell us that the resurrection power of the living God can never be exercised apart from a sacrificial death.
When the Israelites brought their offerings, the blood of innocent animals had to be shed. These sacrifices were not intended, as many people suppose, to appease the anger of a tribal God. They were intended to teach the people of Israel an important lesson: Sin has a cost. When a person sins and offers a sacrifice for that sin, the sinner cannot simply slay an animal and then go on sinning as if nothing is changed. Something within that sinner must die. The offering means that the sinner is identified with the sacrifice. If the sinner does not identify with the sacrifice, then the sacrifice is meaningless and without effect.
That is what God is trying to tell us through these sacrifices in Leviticus. That is what Jesus was telling us when He said, "I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds" (John 12:24). That is what Jesus was telling us when He said, "For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it" (Mark 8:35).
Death precedes life. The only life worth living comes from death. We don't like to hear that, but it's true: The only way we can truly live is to let go of our lives, to identify with our Lord's death, and to die to ourselves. The world says, "Look out for number one!" Our media culture encourages us to give ourselves over to greed, arrogance, ego, and selfishness. But Jesus tells us that all those who live for self will see their lives slip through their fingers like grains of sand. If you live for self, you will lose your soul. If you grasp your self tightly, you will throw your soul away.
And that is what God teaches us in picture form through these sacrifices. The Old Testament and the New Testament agree: Out of death comes life. Out of sacrifice comes resurrection. When we surrender our dependence on our own resources and wisdom, we are able to lay hold of the supernatural life and power of our resurrected Lord. This is the power that enables its not only to live but also to minister to others as a priesthood of believers.
The Glory and the Fire
Next, we see what takes place as a result of the sacrifices that are offered on behalf of Aaron the high priest, his priestly sons, and the people of Israel.
Aaron then brought the offering that was for the people. He took the goat for the people's sin offering and slaughtered it and offered it for a sin offering as he did with the first one.
He brought the burnt offering and offered it in the prescribed way. He also brought the grain offering, took a handful of it and burned it on the altar in addition to the morning's burnt offering.
He slaughtered the ox and the cam as the [peace] offering for the people. His sons handed him the blood, and he sprinkled it against the altar on all sides. But the fat portions of the ox and the ram the fat tail, the layer of fat, the kidneys and the covering of the liver these they laid on the breasts, and then Aaron burned the fat on the altar. Aaron waved the breasts and the right thigh before the Loan as a wave offering, as Moses commanded.
Then Aaron lifted his hands toward the people and blessed them. And having sacrificed the sin offering, the burnt offering and the [peace] offering, he stepped down.
Moses and Aaron then went into the Tent of Meeting. When they came out, they blessed the people; and the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people. Fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and fell facedown (Leviticus 9:15-24).
What a dramatic scene! The whole camp of Israel gathered at vantage points where they could observe what happened in the open space before the door of the tabernacle, where the brazen altar was located. They watched Aaron and his sons kill these animals, put them on the altar, and sprinkle the blood and pour it out.
When everything was completed exactly as the Lord had commanded, Moses and Aaron went together into the tabernacle. A hush fell upon the whole assembly--no one knew what would happen next. Then Moses and Aaron come out again and they blessed the people--
And suddenly the glory of the Lord appeared!
What was this manifestation? The Scriptures indicate that it was a shining cloud of light called the Shekinah--a radiance that suddenly appeared and filled the whole area. A supernatural fire proceeded from the Shekinah. In a flash, that supernatural fire consumed the rest of the offerings upon the altar.
This was a powerful, astonishing scene! The shining radiance of God Himself appeared right before their eyes! No wonder the people fell on their faces and shouted. Notice, too, that they did not shout with fear but with joy. This was a scene of triumph, and the people expressed their awe and wonder over the fact that God, the King of glory and the Creator of the universe, was in their midst. (The Shekinah would later take up residence in the tabernacle, in the holy of holies, where it would hover over the ark of the covenant.)
These sacrifices, symbols, and events were all designed, Paul said, as lessons for our instruction: "Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did" (1 Corinthians 10:6). This is God's way of teaching us.
What is the lesson? It is that we are to be priests, and the purpose of priesthood is to produce the glory of the Lord. When the priesthood operates as God intended, then the shining presence of the Lord is manifested. The glory and the fire of God appear for all to see. What is this glory and fire of the Lord, and how is it manifested among us today? It is the beautiful, shining character of Jesus, radiating from our lives.
The Spirit of God is at work in our hearts to produce glory. Paul expressed this truth in these words: "For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ" (2 Corinthians 4:6). The character of Jesus, which is the character of God Himself, shines through our lives in our daily encounters with other people.
Grief into Joy
I once spoke at a prayer breakfast in Illinois. I noticed a woman in the audience who had a patch covering her right eye and cheek and much of her nose. Though part of her face was obscured, the rest of her face was radiant with joy. In fact, I have rarely seen anyone who was as glowingly joyful as this woman. At the end of the meeting she came to me, took my hand, and thanked me for coming and speaking. It was not easy for her to speak; the condition that had caused her disfigurement had apparently damaged her mouth so that she had trouble forming the words. Even so, her face continued to shine.
I later met this woman's husband, and he told me, "Three or four years ago, my wife was diagnosed with cancer of the eye. The surgeons removed her eye, but the cancer reappeared. So the doctors operated again and removed the bone around her eye. It came back again, and they removed part of her nose and cheekbone. It came back again, and now they have removed practically half of her face. She has struggled with the fear of death, with the pain of the surgeries, and with the horror of having her face taken away from her by these surgeries.
"But this experience has driven her deeper into prayer and into a trusting relationship with God. And in the process, she has become a more joyful and glowing Christian than she ever was before the cancer.
"Years ago, she complained and whined about every little problem. But look at what she's been through--and now she never complains about anything. God has used this disease to transform her personality. He has turned all her complaints and sorrows into joy!"
That is what God seeks to do in your life and mine. He wants to transform our hearts so that our lives will shine into the darkness of this world. He wants our lives to radiate with His glory, just as the glory and fire of the Lord appeared to all the people of Israel. He wants our lives to burn as living sacrifices for Him, so that when all the people around us see that we are on fire for Him, they will shout for joy and fall facedown in worship before the living God.
God wants to send us out into the world as priests, ministering to the needy souls all around us. How will He do that? By turning our present sorrows into joy. Do you remember what Jesus said to His disciples in those last terrible hours before the cross? He told them, "I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy" (John 16:20). And do you remember the comforting prophecy of Isaiah, in which he foretold the wonderful ministry of Jesus the Messiah? The prophet wrote that Jesus would give those who grieve "a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair."
God is building us into a priesthood--and He is doing so by transforming our sorrows into joy. Because you and I have experienced hurt, sorrow, oppression, and loss, we are better equipped as priests to minister with sensitivity to other suffering and grieving people. God wants to use us as wounded healers who are able to speak authentic words of release to people who are in bondage and despair.
But more than that, the purpose of the priesthood is that the glory of the Lord might be manifest to the world. It should fill us with awe and wonder to know that the Creator of the universe is pleased to ordain you and me as His priests, revealing His glorious light to a dark and hurting world.
So let's stop resisting His work in our lives. Let's stop complaining and whining about our petty problems. Instead, let's die to self so our souls might truly live by the resurrection power of our risen Lord--for it is only by death that we truly experience His glorious, radiant life.
Leviticus 10:1-7
Christian Friedrich Schonbein was a German chemistry professor at the University of Basel, Switzerland, in the mid-1800s. Soon after Schonbein and his wife were married, Mrs. Schonbein discovered that her husband liked to tinker with chemicals. Sometimes his experiments would fill their home with the stench of rotten eggs or a vapor that stung her eyes. Finally, Mrs. Schonbein put her foot down--no more chemical experiments in the house!
Professor Schonbein reluctantly promised to abide by his wife's rules--but he didn't keep his promise. When he knew that his wife would he out of the house for most of the day, he would sneak bottles of chemicals into the house and conduct his experiments--then, after he was done, he would open the doors and windows and air out the house to avoid getting caught.
One day, while his wife was out, Schonbein was conducting an experiment in his wife's kitchen when he accidentally spilled a mixture of nitric acid and sulfuric acid on the tile counter. Horrified that he would destroy the tile and incur Mrs. Schonbein's wrath, he grabbed his wife's cotton apron from the place where it hung next to the oven. He quickly mopped up the spill with the apron and hung it back on the peg to dry.
When his wife returned, everything was in place just as she had left it. Professor Schonbein had erased all evidence of his forbidden experiments. He was in the study of his home when he heard a scream from the kitchen. He dashed into the kitchen and found out why his wife was screaming: Her apron had spontaneously burst into flames! Fortunately, the apron was still hanging on the peg by the oven--she hadn't put it on yet.
It turned out that when he had mopped up the acid mixture with the cloth apron, Professor Schonbein had accidentally invented a substance now known as nitrocellulose or guncotton--a highly explosive and flammable substance. In disobeying his wife's wishes, he had made a new chemical discovery. His discovery could have had tragic consequences, however, if his wife had been wearing her apron when it exploded.
As we come to Leviticus 10, we meet two sons of Aaron, Abihu at Nadab. These two priests disobey God's commands by experimenting with 'strange fire"--and the consequences of their disobedience are tragic indeed!
Sudden Fiery Judgment
In Leviticus 9, we saw the results of priesthood. When everything was done as the Lord commanded, the result was a manifestation of the presence of God, a shining forth of the Lord's radiant glory. We saw Aaron--who is an Old Testament picture of Jesus Christ, our Great High Priest--joined b his sons in the priesthood. The sons' relationship to their father, Aaron, pictured our relationship with Christ. And when Aaron and his sons had done all that God had commanded, then the sacrifice was consumed in a flash of fire, the shining glory of God's presence appeared in their midst, and the was great joy among all the people of Israel. Leviticus 9 ends with a scene great triumph.
But as we move from Leviticus 9 to Leviticus 10, triumph turns tragedy. On the day that this tremendous breakthrough occurs in the camp of Israel, tragedy strikes, and the judgment of God appears with a shocking suddenness.
Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, contrary to his command. So fire came our from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD (Leviticus 10:1-2).
The same Shekinah which had consumed the sacrifice now flares up an consumes the two priests, Aaron's sons, as they minister. Imagine the shock this must have been to Aaron and his two remaining sons. Imagine the horror and amazement throughout the camp of Israel.
I picture Aaron watching with justifiable pride as his two sons carry out their priestly duties before the Lord. The young men fill their censers with glowing coals, place incense upon the coals, and go before the presence of the Lord. Suddenly, to Aaron's horror, a billow of fire blazes up out of the Shekinah glory and envelops his sons, killing them right before his eyes! How would you have reacted if you had seen such a terrible sight? The people of Israel were stunned, sobered, and shaken. Aaron was grief-stricken.
Why did this happen?
In the King James Version, this passage tells us that Nadab and Abihu "offered strange fire before the Lord, which he commanded them not." The NIV tells us that they "they offered unauthorized fire before the Low, contrary to his command." The passage does not explain in detail what is meant by "strange fire" or "unauthorized fire." But as nearly as we can determine, it appears that these sons of Aaron substituted a different incense from that which God had commanded.
This might seem like a minor offense to us--yet it triggered immediate judgment from God, an instantaneous and terrible death sentence. Why did Aaron's sons substitute "strange fire" for the fire that God had specifically commanded? We don't know. But we do know that God dealt with their disobedience in the most severe way imaginable.
How do you feel when you read this passage? I suspect that at the very least, you feel uneasy about this episode. Perhaps it bothers you, or even angers you, that God would react so harshly over what seems to be such a trivial act of disobedience on the part of these two priests. You may think, "God is unfair," or even, "God is cruel." Perhaps Aaron and his sons felt this way as they watched Nadab and Abihu die.
A Sin of Presumption
There are other stories in the Old Testament that speak of the swift and terrible judgment of God. For example, Miriam, the sister of Aaron, did nothing more than criticize Moses, yet God judged her and struck her with leprosy (Numbers 12). There is the story of Uzzah, who reached out to steady the ark of the covenant as David was returning it to Jerusalem--and for merely touching the ark, he dropped dead (2 Samuel 6). In the New Testament, there is the story of Ananias and Sapphira, who were slain for lying to the Holy Spirit and pretending to be more generous donors than they were (Acts 5).
We look at these incidents, and we think that God is being unreasonably harsh. Many people find it hard to reconcile this God of judgment with the fact that God is love, so they mentally create two Gods--the vengeful and tyrannical God of the Old Testament and the gracious and forgiving God of the New Testament.
But the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New are one and the same. There is no inconsistency between the Old Testament and New Testament depictions of God. The only reason we think there is an inconsistency is because we read our Bibles so superficially. God's judgment and His love are completely consistent. They flow from the same source. God is just and God is loving. He never deviates from what He has revealed Himself to be. When He acts in judgment, He is also acting in love.
This passage contains a number of facts that will better enable us to understand the full range of God's personality. The first of these facts: The two priests, Nadab and Abihu, did not act in ignorance. They acted in presumption. They knew that they were violating God's commandment, yet they presumed to have a better plan than the one that God had already given them. In the book of Exodus, we see that God had given the priests clear instructions for the burning of incense:
"Aaron must burn fragrant incense on the altar every morning when he tends the lamps. He must burn incense again when he lights the lamps at twilight so incense will burn regularly before the LORD for the generations to come. Do not offer on this altar any other incense or any burnt offering or grain offering, and do not pour a drink offering on it." (Exodus 30:7-9)
God makes Himself abundantly clear in this passage. He warns the priests against using the wrong kind of incense. So the actions of Nadab and Abihu are in clear violation of a direct command from God. They were forewarned, and they ignored God's warning. God never judges anyone for actions done in ignorance. As Isaiah 42:3 tells us, 'A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice." In other words, God understands the heart of someone who is trying to find Him, who is trying to do what is right but lacks knowledge or understanding. God is patient, tender, compassionate, and understanding.
But the sin of these two priests was not committed in ignorance. It was an act of willful presumption. They took it for granted that they could offer "strange fire" and that God wouldn't care, even though He had said He would. They insisted on their own way instead of God's way.
The second fact we notice in this passage is that God dealt severely with the sin of Nadab and Abihu because their sin distorted God's revelation of Himself. In all of these priestly sacrifices and rituals, God was explaining something about Himself so that we might learn what kind of God He is. But by their disobedience, these priests conveyed a false impression of God's nature, and that is why God judged them.
We saw this same principle at work in the life of Moses. When he was leading the people of Israel through the wilderness, on the way to the land of Canaan, the people needed water. In obedience to God's command, Moses struck a rock, and water flowed forth. Later, when the need for water arose again, God told Moses to speak to the rock, and not to strike it. But Moses, in his anger against the people, struck the rock.
Though God, in His grace and mercy, allowed the water to come forth, He told Moses, "Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them" (Numbers 20:12). In other words, Moses had misrepresented Gods nature, so even though God continued to use Moses in a great way, Moses paid a heavy price: God did not permit him to enter the land of promise.
Here, in Leviticus 10, we have a similar situation. The priests operate as instruments of God, and one of their functions is to reveal the true nature of God to the people. If they disobey God's commandments, then they mislead the people about the reality of God. That is what we discover next in this passage:
Moses then said to Aaron, "This is what
the LORD spoke of when he said:
"Among those who approach me
I will show myself holy;
in the sight of all the people I will be
honored."
Aaron remained silent (Leviticus 10:3).
It is evident that Aaron was in shock and grief. Perhaps he was angry toward God. It appears that he was about to cry out against what God had done in taking the lives of two of his sons. But Moses spoke to Aaron and said, in effect, "This is what God meant when He said that those who approach me as priests must present an accurate image of me to the people. They must show me as holy, so that the people will understand who I truly am and honor me as a holy God."
When Moses said this, Aaron went silent. 'Whatever he had planned to say died instantly on his lips. Aaron knew that God was righteous and that his sons had sinned by presenting a false picture of God. They had approached God as if His commandments had no effect. Even in his pain and sorrow, Aaron understood that God's judgment was righteous.
Worship that Delights the Heart of God
Why did God insist on this one kind of incense? Elsewhere in Scripture, we see that the incense used was frankincense, a dried resin extracted from the sap of the boswellia tree. As it burns, clouds of fragrant smoke rise into the air. What does this image remind you of?
In Scripture, incense is always a picture of prayer--the prayers of God's people, prayers of praise and thanksgiving, rising up to God in glorious, fragrant clouds. The symbol of incense, then, is intended to help us to understand how God views our prayers and our praise, which rise up to Him from our obedient and thankful hearts. Furthermore, I believe that frankincense pictures for us not merely prayers of praise and thankfulness for the blessing of life but also our prayers in the midst of hardships and trials.
Frankincense never yields its fragrance until it is burned. You and I must sometimes go through fiery trials, but if we do so with hearts filled with prayer and praise, then we give off a fragrance that is sweet and delightful to God. Why? Because those are the times when we manifest the character of God, and we show that we are learning the lessons of this life which are designed to make us more like God.
But the lesson that God wants to teach us through the picture of the clouds of fragrant incense becomes distorted if His priests substitute some other kind of perfume, if they offer God a "strange fire." A mere perfume would present a false image of the kind of prayers God desires from us. Perfume suggests happiness, so a perfumed fire would indicate to the people that God is concerned only with our happiness and with making us feel good. It would imply that our temporary times of happiness come from God but that God is not equally present with us in our times of sorrow and pain. That is a philosophy which, in many forms, is with us today.
One form of this philosophy is hedonism, the belief that anything that makes you happy is the reason for life. If it is pleasurable, it is right (or, as it is sometimes expressed, "If it feels good, do it!"). One variation on this philosophy is what we might call Christian hedonism, the belief that God exists to serve us and make us happy. According to this philosophy, God wants us to he healthy and wealthy and happy all the time, and if we are not, then it must he because we don't have enough faith. This philosophy, which has permeated much of the church today, is a "strange fire" that is consuming many lives. People who fall prey to this misleading impression of God often find their faith shattered when they go through suffering, because they have not learned to experience joy, praise, and thanksgiving in the fiery trials of life.
When people are taught an illusion about God, they will surely be disillusioned by the harsh realities of life. That is why God judgment is so swift and terrible against those who would distort His truth. He loves His people, and He does not want them to be misled by disobedient and presumptuous priests. Those who mislead God's people by offering the "strange fire" of false doctrines and lying worship are calling down His judgment upon themselves.
God wants us to know that true, lasting joy does not come from momentary pleasures but from a relationship with God. It comes from losing our lives and sacrificing ourselves so that we can find the resurrection life that Jesus came to bring us. Only by yielding ourselves and our wills to God can we find our true humanity and our true joy.
Perhaps the most graphic demonstration in the Bible of what it means to offer "strange fire" to God is the prayer Jesus recounted for us--the prayer of the proud Pharisee. Remember how he stood and prayed: "God, I thank you that I am not like other men--robbers, evildoers, adulterers--or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get" (Luke 18:11-12). This Pharisee recited all he had done for God, and he suggested that God was lucky to have this man on His side!
That is what is meant by offering "strange fire" before the Lord. Whenever we try to offer God our self-righteousness and our self-will, whenever we stop relying on the life He gives us as a free gift and start relying on our resources, we are offering "strange fire." And God does not receive "strange fire"--He rejects it instantly.
How can we offer Him worship that truly delights His heart? By learning to rejoice and praise Him in times of trial and testing as well as in good times. Whenever we go through pain and problems, we have an opportunity to manifest the character of God the Father and the resurrection life of His Son, Jesus. We should never waste those opportunities. Instead, we should offer our lives and our suffering to Him as a fragrant sacrifice, as sweet as incense, that is precious and pleasing to Him.
Any pagan can be happy and thankful when all of his bills are paid and he has money in the bank, when he is living in luxury, when he has no health problems, no relationship problems, no career problems, when all is smooth sailing. But it takes a person of godly, Christ like character to be joyful and grateful when his circumstances have turned against him, when he is sick and in distress, when people arc persecuting him, when he has lost his job, his savings, and all his worldly goods. God is looking for hearts which have genuinely learned to rejoice in the trials of life.
How will we ever show God's forgiving character if we do not experience butt and the opportunity to forgive others? How will we show the world how Christ like character responds to persecution unless we ourselves are persecuted? How will we show the world that God returns good for evil unless someone does evil to us? How will we demonstrate to the world God's limitless resources unless we ourselves are pushed far beyond our resources and into total, abject reliance upon Him?
Whenever we manifest the life of Jesus, we delight the heart of God. And the most vivid way that we can manifest the life of Jesus is through times of trial and testing. That is when the incense of our lives is heated to the burning point, so that it gives off a pleasing fragrance. That is why Paul tells us, "But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing" (2 Corinthians 2:14-15). This is the great lesson that God is seeking to impart to us.
Again and again, throughout the New Testament, we hear this message: "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds" (James 1:2). And: "In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--maybe proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed" (1 Peter 1:6-7). When we experience joy in our trials, we accurately express the character of God to the world, and we delight the heart of our loving Father.
Annie Johnson Flint was born on Christmas Eve 1866 in Vineland, New Jersey. When Annie was three, her mother died; her father died a few years later, leaving Annie and her sister as orphans. The two girls were reared by Christian foster parents, and Annie came to know Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior.
During Annie's teen years, both of her foster parents died, leaving Annie and her sister orphaned a second time. Two years after she completed high school, she began to develop symptoms of painful, crippling arthritis. She saw a number of doctors, but the arthritis grew steadily worse until it became almost impossible for her to walk--even though she was only in her early twenties. She spent the rest of her life in constant pain, supporting herself by writing inspirational poetry. Her earnings were meager, and she often found it difficult to pay her extensive medical bills.
At the same time, Annie had a number of Christian friends who told hey that God intended that every Christian should be healthy. Since she was suffering so much, they reasoned, Annie must either lack faith in God's ability to heal or she must have some hidden sin in her life. Annie, of course, found this counsel troubling, and she wondered if her friends where right.
So she prayed to God and searched the Scriptures. After weeks of seeking to understand God's will for her life, she came to the conclusion that while God does heal some Christians in a dramatic and miraculous way, He chooses not to heal other Christians of their afflictions. She became convinced that God intended to use her pain to bring glory to Himself She was able to say, along with the apostle Paul, "Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me" (2 Corinthians 12:9). Out of this experience, Annie Johnson Flint wrote a poem that has blessed and comforted millions of people since she penned it in 1919:
God hath not promised skies always blue,
Flower-strewn pathways all our lives through;
God hath not promised sun without rain,
joy without sorrow, peace without pain.
But God hath promised strength for the day,
Rest for the labor, light for the way,
Grace for the trials, help from above,
Unfailing sympathy, undying love.
So the question that confronts you and me is this: When we bow our heads to give thanks to God, what shall we thank Him for? Our food and clothing, the roof over our heads, the family times we enjoy, the blessings of life? Or can we go deeper into our relationship with God and offer Him the fragrant incense of a heart that rejoices even in suffering? Can we say, "Thank you, God, for the deep truths you are teaching me through my painful circumstances"? Can we say, "Thank you, Lord, for the way you are revealing yourself to me even amid these hardships and crushing disappointments"?
When we learn to lean upon God and draw upon His abundant resources in times of loss, pain, and stress, then we are able to offer Him the sweet-smelling clouds of frankincense in which He delights. There is no substitute for frankincense, which releases its fragrance only when it is burned. We cannot offer Him perfume or cologne or potpourri--that is "strange fire," and unacceptable to God. We must not distort God's image, as Nadab and Abihu did when they offered "strange fire" to God. We must worship Him in spirit and in truth.
How We Offer "Strange Fire" to God
The third fact we notice in this passage is that God's judgment is exemplary. God makes an example of Nadab and Abihu but never acts in the same way again. God judged and punished these priests for their violation of His command, but He did this only once, at the beginning of the priesthood. In a similar way, God judged the sin of Ananias and Sapphira once (Acts 5). Even though their sin was probably not unique among Christians in the early church, and though it is undoubtedly common today. God has never judged violators with sudden physical death as He did Ananias and Sapphira. God takes action to teach His people a lesson, but He does so only once.
As you read through the rest of the Old Testament and on into the New Testament, you will find that the later priests of Israel violated God's commandments regarding worship and sacrifice, yet God did not kill them for it. In the days of the Maccabees, the priests even offered pig's blood--the blood of an unclean animal--and this was a horrendous violation of God's commandment, yet there is no record of God's sudden judgment in that case.
But God thought that it was important to show the seriousness of His commandments at least one time. Though His judgment seems harsh to our limited understanding, this is a manifestation of God's love and concern. He is trying to prevent this kind of desecration from happening again, and He is giving us fair warning of the serious consequences of deliberate sin.
It is also important to understand that the fact that Nadab and Abihu were killed and consumed does not mean that they were eternally lost and condemned. I am personally convinced that these two young priests were with God in glory at the instant of their deaths. God took them home--not because He had condemned them to hell but because they had violated their ministry. He called them home as an example so that other priests would take their ministry seriously and not violate it in the same way.
What are some ways you and I may violate our priestly ministry and offer "strange fire" before the Lord? We do so whenever we depart from the Word of God while counseling others who are in need of a priest. When we listen to hurting people or counsel people who are struggling with guilt and sin, we must do so prayerfully and in a way that is consistent with the full counsel of the Word of God.
Suppose, for example, that someone comes to you who has been mistreated and insulted. This person describes the offense that has been committed, and says, "What should I do? How should 1 respond?" In our flesh, you and I might be tempted to respond, "Why, I would punch that guy in the nose!" But that is not how God's Word tells us to respond, is it? There are many passages in Scripture that clearly tell Christians how to respond when they are mistreated--as, for example, this counsel from the pen of the apostle Paul:
Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as fat as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. On the contrary:
"If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals
on his head."
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome
evil with good (Romans 12:17-21).
So if, in our role as God's priest, we give advice or counsel to another person that violates God's Word and God's character, then we are offering "strange fire" before God. We are guilty of the sin of Nadab and Abihu. We are all, as Christians, members of the priesthood of all believers, so we must offer to God and to the people around us a priestly service that is consistent with God's Word.
The Temptation to Quit
The next few verses reveal an understandable and human reaction on the part of Aaron and his two remaining sons.
Moses summoned Mishael and Elzaphan, sons of Aaron's uncle Uzziel, and said to them, "Come here; carry your cousins outside the camp, away from the front of the sanctuary." So they came and carried them, still in their tunics, outside the camp, as Moses ordered.
Then Moses said to Aaron and his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, "Do not let your hair become unkempt, and do not tear your clothes, or you will die and the LORD will be angry with the whole community. But your relatives, all the house of Israel, may mourn for those the LORD has destroyed by fire. Do not leave the entrance to the Tent of Meeting or you will die, because the Low's anointing oil is on you." So they did as Moses said (Leviticus 10:4-7).
You can imagine how hard it must have been for Aaron and his sons Eleazar and Ithamar to stand by and watch their relatives carry off the two charred bodies and take them for burial. Aaron and his sons were in shock, and their hearts were shattered with grief. Their natural inclination would be to collapse in grief, to fall down in the dust and mourn, to take the day--perhaps many days--to weep and remember and wallow in sorrow.
But Moses told them, in effect, "Don't leave the entrance of the tabernacle. You are still priests of God, and His anointing oil is on you. Don't neglect your priestly duties. Stay on the job or you, too, will die."
God understood what these young men needed. He knew that out of the shock and pain and anguish of their grief would come a new power and a new sense of purpose. So, speaking through His servant Moses, God told them, "Let the rest of Israel mourn Nadab and Abihu. You are my priests. You do not have the privilege of quitting. You have a job to do."
Have you ever felt like quitting? I have, many times. Sometimes the stress, the heartache, the sorrow, and the weariness of life become so great that we feel we don't have the strength to take another step for God, to do another act of ministry for God. Many times I have thought, I never expected my ministry for God to be this difficult! I just want to quit!
But God tells us the same thing He told Aaron and his two sons: "Don't quit! Be strong! Stay on the job!" That is why we read in the New Testament letter to the Hebrews:
And you have forgotten that word of encouragement
that addresses you as sons:
"My son, do not make light of the Lord's
discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you"
(Hebrews 12:5).
Don't shrink from the Lord's discipline. Don't complain that God is giving you more than you can bear. Out of the pain of your heart will come a clearer understanding, a deeper compassion, and a stronger, more realistic word of counsel to people who need a priest.
God is the ultimate realist. Nobody understands reality more completely than He does--for, after all, He created reality! God deals with life the way it is. We are the ones who are so easily victimized by illusions and fantasies. We sometimes think that we can toss off a word of advice according to our opinions, or our feelings of the moment, or the philosophies of this godless world. But God wants us to understand that we are priests. We are anointed by the Holy Spirit to minister to one another in the body of Christ. This is a solemn responsibility, and we dare not take it lightly.
You cannot shut your eyes and ears and say, "I don't want to be a priest! I don't want the responsibility!" You don't have that option. If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, then you are a priest, and God calls you to faithfully fulfill your priestly office. Don't say, "My pastor can be the priest--after all, he's been to seminary, he's the professional." No, in God's eyes, your pastor is no more a priest than you are. God has called you as surely as He has called anyone, so you need to exercise your priesthood right where you are--in your office, your shop, your school, your neighborhood, your home.
A day is coming when God will call you to account for your ministry as a priest. He will ask you, "How did you respond to this situation? To that person? 'What kind of counsel did you give? Why weren't you attentive when I sent you this opportunity to minister in my name? Why did you offer 'strange fire' instead of the authentic worship I commanded of you?" What will you say when God asks for an accounting?
God has placed a heavy responsibility on us. He takes this responsibility seriously--and the way He dealt with Nadab and Abihu proves it. Now the question is: Do we? Are we serious about our responsibility as God's priests and as servants of one another?
God is sovereign, He is to be respected, and He is not to be trifled with. But at the same time, He is a God of love. Every action He undertakes toward us is an action of love--even if those actions sometimes seem harsh. When He sees sin in our lives, He seeks to arrest it before it destroys us. He seeks to keep us from hurting ourselves, harming others, and distorting the truth about Himself.
So let us he serious about this very serious matter. Let us not bring Him any false ministry or "strange fire." Instead, let us be priests who bring pleasure to God by offering to Him the incense of pure worship and priestly service.
Leviticus 10:8-20
One of the most life-changing truths of the Christian life is the fact that if you are a Christian, you are a priest. I never tire of watching Christians discover the fact of their own priesthood, because that realization always hits home with a sense of excitement and joy. Many people have been church members for years, yet they have never understood this great truth. Once they discover that God wants them to experience far more than coming to church, warming a pew, and placing an envelope in the collection plate, their lives are transformed. They discover that the Holy Spirit has equipped them with gifts that enable them to make a powerful difference in the lives of others, inside and outside of the church.
Without a doubt, the fact that all Christians are called to be a priesthood of believers is one of the most electrifying and radical truths in all of Scripture. And that is why it is so important that we study the book of Leviticus, the book of the priesthood. Here in this ancient and often-neglected book, God teaches us by pictures and symbols what our priesthood truly means today.
I wonder if we have any idea how important this principle of our priesthood is in the world today. We look around us at the despair and violence in our inner cities, the moral decay in our entertainment media, the corruption in our government, the epidemics of alcoholism, drug abuse, and suicide in our culture, and the threats of war and terrorism. We think, The world is coming apart at the seams. What hope is therefore this fallen and dying world?
Yet there is hope for this world. And you might think, Well, of course, Jesus Christ is the only hope for the world. And that's true--but how does Jesus choose to work and minister to the world? Through you and me. That's right, the only hope for this world is Christ, ministering and loving the world through us, His church. We are His priests, and the world is dying because we are not doing the job God has ordained us to do. The world is ripping apart at the seams for the lack of a priesthood. The church has not been what God has called it to be.
Both as individual Christians and as a collective church, we have neglected the priesthood which was committed to us. We have failed to be salt and light in this dying world, as Jesus said we should (see Matthew 5:13-16). Without priestly salt as a preservative, there is nothing to keep our world from putrefying and corrupting at a fearful rate. Without priestly light, there is nothing to keep our world from sinking into a spiritual and moral darkness that is deeper than night.
A friend of mine and I once spoke at a public high school in the Deep South in the early 1970s. We spoke to the student body about how God was changing lives and hearts through the Jesus Movement in California. Many of the white students at that school were excited about our report. But we noticed that after our talk at the school assembly, many of the African-American students who lined the halls that we walked through were visibly hostile and sullen. They glowered at us with undisguised resentment. The air in those halls crackled with tension.
I knew instantly what was wrong in that school. These African-American Students had been subjected to racism and mistreatment, and the white Christians in that school had not been a priesthood to them, reaching out with love and understanding. So when my friend and I came to speak at the school, they didn't see us as Christians or as priests of God or as bearers of the good news of Christ. They saw us as two more members of the white race, keeping them in social and economic bondage.
We also saw that the white students and the white adults in that school were largely blind to the racial tensions that were all around them. I tried to point out some of the danger signs to the white Christian adults in that community. I told them that the African-American students at the school needed Christians to stop ignoring them and to start reaching out to them in love. It was hard to convince these people that a problem even existed.
Before we hasten to judge these white Christians, we should ask ourselves: Are we equally blind to the needs, hurts, anger, tensions, and injustices that surround us? God calls us to open our eyes and see our world clearly. He calls us to break down walls of indifference and apathy and to truly become His priests in a suffering and hate-torn world. He calls not only preachers and missionaries but common, ordinary Christians like you and me. This world is dying for lack of a priest, and you and I are the ones God has called to fill that gap and meet that need.
As we continue our study in Leviticus 10, we will look at God's instructions for our lives. We will discover how to be priests.
We Are Utter Realists
Following the account of the death of Nadab and Abihu, we come to an instructive passage.
Then the LORD said to Aaron, "You and your sons are not to drink wine or other fermented drink whenever you go into the Tent of Meeting, or you will die. This is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. You must distinguish between the holy and the common, between the unclean and the clean, and you must teach the Israelites all the decrees the LORD has given them through Moses" (Leviticus 10:8-11).
Here, God tells us of two great privileges of ministry that priests enjoy.
First, priests are privileged to discriminate between the holy and the common, between the clean and the unclean. In the Old Testament priesthood, this meant distinguishing between clean and unclean animals, holy and common vessels, and so forth.
In our priesthood, the New Testament priesthood of all believers, this means distinguishing between that which merely feeds the natural life and that which improves a person's spiritual relationship with God. It means distinguishing between that which is harmful in our lives and that which is wholesome and healthful to our lives. This is not easy to do! It takes a discriminating eye and a discerning mind to tell the difference between right and wrong, good and evil.
Second, priests are privileged to teach God's truth and unveil His reality. Priests are to tear down the illusions and lies that keep people in spiritual bondage, so that they can be free to see life as it really is. The Old Testament priests were responsible to teach the people of Israel all the statutes which the Lord had spoken to them through Moses. In much the same way, we are responsible to study and know the revealed truth of God's Word and to unveil and explain God's truth to the people around us.
Notice how these two ministries of the priesthood complement each other. The first ministry corrects what is wrong and untrue. The second ministry replaces untruth with what is right and true. This is a twofold ministry that our world desperately needs today.
In Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, he doses a section about the spiritual equipment of the believer by saying, "The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment: For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ" (1 Corinthians 2:15-16). In other words, God has enabled us to see the world as Christ sees it, as it really is, and thus we are utter realists. That is the job of a priest--your job, my job--to take God's truth and to set it before people in such a way that they can see the truth about themselves and about life.
I was once working on my Sunday sermon while traveling on an airplane when a flight attendant leaned over and said, "Sir, what are you working on?" I said, "I'm studying the Bible." She said, "Oh, that's interesting. What do you learn about in the Bible?" I said, "Well, I learn about life--and I learn about you and your life, too."
That surprised and intrigued her. "What do you mean?" she asked. "Tell me a little about yourself, and I'll tell you," I said. "Well," she said, "to begin with, I'm married." I said, "Well, that's what I mean. The Bible has a lot to say about married people and how they should live. Let me give you something." I reached into my briefcase and took out a copy of one of my printed messages entitled "What Every Husband Should Know." I gave it to her and said, "Why don't you give this to your husband? There is also one for wives. I don't have it with me, but I can mail it to you if you'll give me your address."
She took the printed message and went about her work. After a while, I looked up from my studies and there she stood--with two other flight attendants. She said, "I read a few pages from your pamphlet, and it's great! I want my husband to read this, too! And my friends also want copies for themselves and their husbands!"
That is the work of a priest. I was ministering to human needs at an altitude of forty thousand feet--not because I am a pastor of a church but because I'm a follower of Christ, just as you are. God wants you and me to minister for Him wherever we live, work, and travel. The world needs to hear the truth of God's Word, and how will the world ever hear if we don't go out as priests and talk about it?
Think of how many people are confused in the area of materialism and values. So many people today are discovering that material things never bring true satisfaction. A generation of empty, seeking people desperately needs a priesthood of all believers who will point the way to true peace and satisfaction.
Think of how many people today have a twisted view of their sexuality. For good or ill, our sexual urges drive a great deal of our behavior. Human sexuality affects every aspect of our society, from our politics to our entertainment--yet as a culture we have so little true understanding of this powerful force in our lives. Sex is one of God's greatest gifts to the human race, and it is a thing of beauty and significance when it is expressed as God intended, within the safe enclosure of marriage. Yet sex becomes one of the most destructive forces in human lives, human relationships, and human society when it is expressed outside of God's plan. The world desperately needs a priesthood of all believers who will teach the truth about sex from God's Word.
Wine and Strong Drink
Next, notice that there is one thing the priests must not do. In Leviticus 10:8-9, we read: "Then the LORD said to Aaron, 'You and your sons are not to drink wine or other fermented drink whenever you go into the Tent of Meeting, or you will die. This is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come.'"
Now, don't misunderstand that. The Bible never says that anything is wrong with wine except the abuse of it--that is, in drinking to excess. The Bible does say, with complete consistency all the way through, that drunkenness (and this principle applies equally to getting high on other drugs, such as cocaine, marijuana, and so forth) produces a lack of control. Being out of control because of substance abuse is wrong in God's eyes because it diminishes our humanity and it destroys lives and families.
God warned His priests that they should be sober when entering the tabernacle for ministry. Some people try to apply these Old Testament injunctions, which were given to the Old Testament priesthood, to our lives today. But in order to be completely consistent, we would also have to sacrifice animals today as the priests of Leviticus did. We know that animal sacrifice is a symbolic picture of the death of Christ on our behalf, and now that we have the reality of Christ's death to look back upon, we no longer need the symbolic picture. Similarly, when God forbade the priests to drink wine or strong drink, He was picturing something on the spiritual level in our lives.
It signifies that we should avoid on the spiritual level that which wine and strong drink do on the physical level.
What does wine do to us physically? It diminishes our discernment and distorts our judgment. It makes it much more difficult for us to discriminate between that which is harmful and that which is wholesome and healthy. So God has forbidden us to do anything that would destroy our ability to make wise judgments for ourselves and for others with whom we may be ministering.
This is a warning we should urgently heed! For example, I have seen many incidences in which Christians, with the best of intentions, have gotten involved in shady financial deals, trying to make a lot of money quickly while justifying it on the grounds that they could use that money to contribute more to the church or to missionaries. Sometimes, they have used that rationalization to justify cutting ethical and legal corners--sometimes even committing acts that would trouble the conscience of a pagan! They allowed their greed and covetousness to blind their minds to moral and spiritual reality, so that they couldn't tell right from wrong. That is an example of what God seeks to warn us against here.
Another example: I have seen Christians who have tried to counsel someone who is caught in sexual sin. In the process of spending time trying to counsel that straying person and perhaps talking frankly about intimate issues with that person, they have seduced themselves into sexual sin. Our sexual urges are more powerful than we imagine, and those who try to help others in this area must have strong moral and spiritual boundaries. They should also have other Christians praying for them and holding them accountable for the purity of their lives. It is easy for even strong Christians to have their passions aroused, so that they begin to rationalize and blur the distinction between right and wrong.
The Strength of a Priest
The next section deals with the source of the priests' strength.
Moses said to Aaron and his remaining sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, "Take the grain offering left over from the offerings made to the LORD by fire and eat it prepared without yeast beside the altar, for it is most holy. Eat it in a holy place, because it is your share and your sons' share of the offerings made to the LORD by fire; for so I have been commanded" (Leviticus 10:12-13).
The grain offering, as we have already seen, is a picture of the perfect humanity of Jesus--a human being as God created humanity and intended humanity to be. Through His Son Jesus, God has identified with us. What's more, we can identify with Jesus, because He was tempted in every point as we are. He knows exactly what we go through. He experienced every pressure, sorrow, and temptation that we undergo.
Now notice where the priests are to eat the grain offering: beside the altar. God commanded that the priests eat the symbol of humanity (the grain) in the shadow of the symbol of sacrificial death (the altar, where the sacrificial animals were killed). 'Why? So that the priests would be reminded of a fundamental principle that runs throughout Scripture: "For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it" (Mark 8:35).
This is the basic law of human existence. If you try to cling selfishly to your existence, you will lose your life. It will wither and die, and you will be left desolate. But if you give yourself away to others, if you die to self and live for God as living sacrifice, then you will save your life and you will be left with joy, peace, and a satisfied heart.
Through these symbols, the priests are being instructed as to the source of their strength for carrying out their duties as priests. They are being told, through symbolic pictures, that they are to live selflessly, sacrificing their humanity for the sake of others. Only by dying to self can they have the objectivity they need to dispense God's Word and God's wisdom to those who are in need of a priest.
Next, God uses two more symbolic pictures to suggest two other sources of strength that the priests are to draw upon.
"But you and your sons and your daughters may eat the breast that was waved and the thigh that was presented. Eat them in a ceremonially clean place; they have been given to you and your children as your share of the Israelites' [peace] offerings. The thigh that was presented and the breast that was waved must be brought with the fat portions of the offerings made by fire, to be waved before the LORD as a wave offering. This will be the regular share for you and your children, as the LORD has commanded" (Leviticus 10:14-15).
Notice the emphasis on the continuity of this provision: "This will be the regular share for you and your children." This provision shall be available all the time, forever.
We have already studied the meaning of these two portions of the sacrificial animals. The breast is a symbol of the love of Christ for us. The thigh symbolizes His strength and power on our behalf.
So this passage tells us, in effect, "When you feel discouraged and beaten down by life, remind yourself of the love the Lord Jesus has for you. Remember how He cares for you and accepts you, and that His love never changes." That is what it means to feed upon the breast portion of the sacrificed animal. This passage also tells us, "When you feel so weak and powerless that you cannot serve God and others, when you feel the demands that are placed upon you are too great, then remind yourself that Christ's life is in you and that His strength is yours to draw upon." That is what it means to feed upon the thigh. Notice that these portions of the animal may be eaten anywhere--not just at the altar, but anywhere you need them. God wants us to know that the love and strength of Jesus are available to us anywhere, anytime.
Beyond the Letter of the Law
The final section of this passage deals with a problem that arose. In this passage, Moses learns an important lesson from Aaron.
When Moses inquired about the goat of the sin offering and found that it had been burned up, he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron's remaining sons, and asked, "Why didn't you eat the sin offering in the sanctuary area? It is most holy; it was given to you to take away the guilt of the community by making atonement for them before the LORD. Since its blood was not taken into the Holy Place, you should have eaten the goat in the sanctuary area, as I commanded."
Aaron replied to Moses, "Today they sacrificed their sin offering and their burnt offering before the LORD, but such things as this have happened to me. {Note: Aaron refers here to the death of his two sons.] Would the LORD have been pleased if I had eaten the sin offering today?" When Moses heard this, he was satisfied (Leviticus 10:16-20).
Do you see the problem here? There were two kinds of sin offering, as explained in the law of the sin offering, Leviticus 6. One of these offerings specified that the blood of the sacrifice was to be carried into the inner sanctuary, into the Holy Place, and there it was to be sprinkled on the horns of the golden altar of fragrant incense. This procedure was required as a picture of human depravity and evil. Because of that depravity, no part of the animal was to be eaten, but it was all to be taken outside the camp and burned. The symbolic message of this offering is that human evil is so deep that only God may consume it.
But there was another kind of sin offering in which the blood was sprinkled on the horns of the brazen altar in the outer court. There the flesh of the animal was to be eaten by the priests as a picture of their understanding of the nature of their evil and as a token of their acceptance of the forgiveness of God.
The offering that takes place in these verses is of the second kind. The blood had not been brought into the sanctuary, so Moses said, in effect, "You should have eaten this mead Why didn't you do it?" Moses feared that the judgment of God which consumed Nadab and Abihu would now consume the rest of the priests.
But Aaron explained his action to Moses, saying, in effect, "Two of my sons have sinned. And even though a sin offering was offered this very morning, my two sons died. There is evidently some depth of depravity here that we don't understand but which has taken their lives. Therefore it seemed tome that the Lord would not be pleased if I ate the sin offering. So we have treated it as though the blood were sprinkled before the golden altar, and the body of this animal has been burned in its entirety."
When Moses heard Aaron's explanation, he understood and approved of Aaron's action. He realized then that Aaron had gone deeper than the letter of the law; he had understood the intent of it. Aaron had understood what God wanted to accomplish through these sacrifices and ceremonies. God, in His mercy, did not exercise judgment here because Aaron had pressed beyond the letter to the deep intent of the Law. And Moses was content with that.
The attitude displayed by Aaron always pleases God. Contrary to what many people think, God is not interested in our rituals. Ultimately, God is not impressed by the fact that we come to church every Sunday, or that we use certain lofty-sounding words when we pray, or that we observe this liturgy or recite that creed. There is only one thing that matters to God: Is our heart right with Him? Rituals and activities do not make us more acceptable in His sight. He wants to know if we sincerely love Him, if we have sincerely, obediently placed our trust in Him.
David the psalmist wrote these words after repenting from his terrible double sin of adultery and murder:
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would
bring it;
you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart,
O God, you will not despise (Psalm 51:15-17).
Those words express the attitude of Aaron as he brought his sacrifice. When Moses understood the heart of the high priest, he was content to permit the letter of the Law to be violated because the intent of the Law was so beautifully fulfilled.
That is what God seeks in your life and mine. That is what God expects from His priests. He doesn't want our religious folderol. Rituals and ceremonies arc just pictures to reveal spiritual truth. The ceremonies are for our benefit and instruction, not God's. 'What He truly seeks in our lives is a heart that is open, responsive, and obedient before Him.
That--and that alone--is what truly delights the heart of God.
12 GOD'S STANDARD FOR OUR LIVES
Leviticus 11
It would amaze us if we totaled up all the time we spend each week eating, thinking about eating, planning and preparing what we are going to eat next, and shopping for food. Sometimes it seems that our whole lives revolve around food! Someone once assembled a set of seven "scientifically proven" diet tips, which I now pass along to you, though I confess that I cannot vouch for their validity.
Diet Tip No. 1: Snacks consumed in a movie theater are not fattening, because they are considered entertainment, not food. Diet Tip No. 2: Though whole cookies are fattening, pieces of cookies contain no calories. This is because the calories leak out when the cookies are broken. Diet Tip No. 3: If you drink a diet soft drink with a candy bar, the soft drink and candy bar cancel each other out. Diet Tip No. 4: Snacks consumed after midnight have no calories. Diet Tip No. 5: A rule of thumb for any food is that if no one sees you eat it, it has no calories. Diet Tip No. 6: Calories don't count if you eat with someone else and you both eat the same amount. Diet Tip No. 7: Food taken for medicinal purposes does not contain calories. "Medicinal" foods include Ghirardelli chocolates, Ben & Jerry's ice cream, and Sara Lee cheesecake.
As we come to Leviticus 11, we find God's dietary advice, as given through Moses to the people of Israel. On the surface of this passage, we see that God was so concerned for His people and involved in their lives that He instructed them in all the details of their lives, even in what they ate, what they wore, where they went, and what they did. But as we look beneath the surface of this passage, we will see that God has an equal concern for us that goes beyond our physical well-being, all the way to the care and feeding of our eternal spirit and soul.
Guidelines for Healthy Living
In this section of Leviticus, we come face to face with our need for a standard, a measuring stick by which we can distinguish between things that are harmful and ones that are wholesome and healthy--between right and wrong, good and evil. This is not easy to do, as you well know. Here we see the realism and reliability of Scripture in action. Here we discover how God's Word deals practically and realistically with the day-to-day issues of our lives.
Certain secular opinion leaders today would have us believe that there is nothing in life that is truly harmful or immoral. According to them, it is only our distorted thinking that makes certain things right or wrong, good or bad. They would have us believe that the Bible, with its narrow and judgmental focus on so-called sin, makes people feel guilty for following their natural urges. If a person seeks fulfillment and pleasure by abandoning his or her family and having a sexual relationship (or many relationships) outside of marriage, who are we to judge? This secularist amoral attitude is rapidly becoming the dominant view in our culture today.
The teaching of the Bible stands in stark contrast to the teaching of our secular culture. The Bible tells us that there is objective truth, absolute good, and absolute evil. God's Word tells us that it is vitally important that we be able to discern right from wrong, wholesome from harmful, lest we be destroyed by our lusts and fallen appetites. There are snares and traps all around us, and God wants to make us aware of them so that we can live the kind of healthy, effective, satisfying life He created us to live.
People continually rebel against God's view of reality. They say, "Why shouldn't I use drugs if drugs make me feel good? Why shouldn't I have sex in any form that I want, with whomever I want? Why does God impose so many rules on our lives? Doesn't He just want to prevent us from having fun and enjoying life?" Yet these same people are the first to complain of God's unfairness when they wake up to find themselves addicted to drugs or infected with HIV or some other sexually transmitted disease.
God wants us to live healthy, whole, satisfying lives--but to live that way, we must be able to tell the difference between good and evil, healthful and harmful. In every choice that confronts us in life, He wants us to learn to distinguish between the equivalent of a tasty, wholesome mushroom and a poisonous toadstool. That is why He has given us His guidelines for healthy living in the dietary realm and in the moral and spiritual realm.
Turning to Leviticus 11, we see that God is concerned about what people eat. He regulated the diet of the people of Israel. In this passage, He sets forth laws for distinguishing clean animals from unclean, as well as various sanitary practices. These laws were not in any way capricious or arbitrary. God's laws helped preserve Israel from the many diseases and epidemics that were rife in the nations around them. God kept His people physically clean and healthy through these regulations.
In his excellent book None of These Diseases, medical missionary and college physician Dr. 5. 1. McMillen explains how many of the illnesses and ailments of our present life could be avoided if we would follow the practical, commonsense regulations which God taught His people in the Old Testament. [Editor's note: None of These Diseases has been revised and updated by Dr. McMillen's grandson, Dr. David E. Stern; it is published by Fleming H. Revell (third edition, 2000).] It is important to realize, however, that not all of God's regulations in Leviticus were given for reasons of health and hygiene.
Many of the animals that were prohibited to the Israelites as food were not harmful in any way. They were prohibited only to teach a symbolic lesson to the people of Israel. This fact is made clear in the book of Acts, in the story of Peter's dream on the housetop before his visit to the Gentile, Cornelius, in Caesarea (see Acts 10:9-16). In his dream, Peter sees a sheet let down from heaven with various kinds of animals on it, clean and unclean. Peter, steeped in the Jewish law, has never even considered eating such animals. Many are creeping and crawling things forbidden in Leviticus 11.
But in the dream, God commands, "Get up, Peter. Kill and eat." Peter is shocked and replies, "Surely not, Lord! I have never eaten anything impure or unclean." Then God corrects Peter, saying, "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean." Many of these animals which were prohibited in Leviticus make decent, healthy, nourishing food. They were prohibited solely in order to teach a symbolic lesson. It is this symbolism that we are interested in.
How to Meditate on God's Word
God distinguished four different types of animals as either clean or unclean. First, the animals which walk on the earth--the normal and natural food of humankind. Some of these were declared clean, and others were considered unclean. Second, the animals which come from the sea. Third, there was food from the heavens--the birds and winged insects. Fourth and finally, animals that crawl or creep along upon the ground.
These four divisions directly correspond to four spheres of human life. They correspond to four areas from which we draw nourishment for our inner life. What the Israelites were forbidden to eat on the physical level, we are also forbidden to take into ourselves on the spiritual and emotional level, the level of our inner life. There are clean and unclean ideas and concepts and spheres of knowledge that we need to distinguish today. These dietary laws help us greatly, because the same basic principles apply in the physical level of life and the spiritual and emotional level.
First, let's look at the normal and natural food of humanity--animals that walk upon the ground--and see what those animals symbolize for our inner life.
The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Say to the Israelites: 'Of all the animals that live on land, these are the ones you may eat: You may eat any animal that has a split hoof completely divided and that chews the cud.
"'There are some that only chew the cud or only have a split hoof, but you must not eat them. The camel, though it chews the cud, does not have a split hoof; it is ceremonially unclean for you. The coney, though it chews the cud, does not have a split hoof; it is unclean for you. The rabbit, though it chews the cud, does not have a split hoof; it is unclean for you. And the pig, though it has a split hoof completely divided, does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you. You must not eat their meat or touch their carcasses; they are unclean for you" (Leviticus 11:1-6).
This passage has been widely ridiculed by the skeptics of the Bible who say that this shows that the Bible doesn't know anything about natural science, because rabbits and coneys (hares) do not chew the cud. It is true that they don't ruminate like cows and other ruminants. But it has recently been discovered that they do have another process, somewhat similar, by which food is redigested, called refection. And so the Bible is right, after all.
Why did God impose these dietary restrictions on the people of Israel? Notice that animals that were approved had two characteristics: They had to chew the cud, and they had to divide the hoof. If an animal had one of these characteristics but not both, they were prohibited.
The animals which God permitted Israel to eat were taken from the normal range of food animals, such as cattle and sheep. These animals correspond to the normal area of feeding for the believer. They symbolically represent the normal body of knowledge, insight, and understanding that we, as believers, are to feed ourselves upon. And what is that normal body of knowledge? The Word of God.
Over and over in Scripture, we are told that God's Word is our food. Jesus Himself said, "Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4). Elsewhere in Scripture, God's Word is likened to milk, to meat, and to bread. The Word of God is knowledge and food.
We are to feed our mind, soul, and spirit on knowledge--but only that knowledge which has been tested by two processes that are described here in the symbols of the chewing of the cud and the dividing of the hoof. What do these symbols mean? What is the chewing of the cud a picture of? If you have ever watched an animal that chews its cud, you know that it is a beautiful picture of the art of meditation. We take in knowledge and concepts, and we tentatively swallow them undigested--then we bring them up again to chew on them, to rethink them and reexamine them and redigest them.
Many people treat the Word of God lightly and casually. They read a verse of Scripture one time and believe they know all there is to know about it. They consume a verse, swallow it, and forget it. But one superficial reading of God's Word does not even begin to extract all the richness and meaning that is at the heart of each verse of Scripture, each kernel of God's truth. In order to truly feed on God's Word, we need to chew on it again and again, we need to adopt the practice of meditating on His truth. When we learn to do that, God's Word will truly come alive in our minds and in our lives. We only begin to taste the richness of Scripture when we learn to chew it again and again.
We can all make better use of our time by meditating on Scripture while waiting for a red light or tied up in a traffic jam, or sitting in the dentist's chair, or washing the dishes, or mowing the lawn, or raking the leaves. We can memorize Scripture, then meditate on it, think deeply about it, and discover its hidden truths and secrets. God has designed Scripture to contain many layers of truth. That is why a verse of Scripture we thought we understood many years ago continues to yield fresh insights every time we study it.
How to Separate Right from Wrong
However, it is not only the chewing of the cud but also the dividing of the hoof that is important. 'What does God mean by this symbol? It is a picture of the principle of separation, discrimination, and discernment. We laced to learn how to distinguish between right and wrong, between the truth of God and the lies of Satan, between the clarity of godly thinking and the confused and twisted ideas of humanity.
Two attorneys, a prosecutor, and a defense attorney, once opposed each other in a courtroom. The prosecutor thought he would make a great impression on the jury by quoting from the Bible. So he said, concerning the defendant, "We have it on the highest authority that it has been said, 'Skin for skin! A man will give all he has for his own life.'" Then he sat down, smirking at the defense attorney.
But the defense attorney knew the Bible better than the prosecutor. He stood and addressed the jury, saying, "I'm very much impressed by the fact that my distinguished colleague regards as the highest authority the one who said, 'Skin for skin! A man will give all he has for his own life.' You will find that this saying comes from the hook of Job, the second chapter, the fourth verse--and the one who utters those words is the devil la himself. That is who the prosecutor regards as the highest authority!"
We should not quote the Bible indiscriminately. We should understand what the Bible says and what it means in context. Many cults have arisen because of the failure of people to use God's Word as it was intended to be used.
The hook of Ecclesiastes, for instance, has given rise to many false ideas which have been widely disseminated and attributed to the Bible. These ideas are found in the Bible, but they are not the ideas of God. They are human ideas, reflecting a human perspective, not the viewpoint of God. The existential despair that is expressed throughout the book of Ecclesiastes is God's reflection to us of the meaninglessness of a life that is lived only to accumulate wealth, fame, knowledge or power. So we need to learn how to discern right from wrong, truth from error, even when we lead God's Word.
Living as Fish
The next realm from which the Israelites were to take food was the realm of the sea. We read:
"Of all the creatures living in the water of the seas and the streams, you may eat any that have fins and scales. But all creatures in the seas or streams that do not have fins and scales--whether among all the swarming things or among all the other living creatures in the water--you are to detest. And since you are to detest them, you must not ear their meat and you must detest their carcasses. Anything living in the water that does not have fins and scales is to be detestable to you" (Leviticus 11:9-12).
The sea is used throughout Scripture as a symbol of human society. Isaiah, for example, describes the wicked human race as "like the tossing sea, which cannot rest, whose waves cast up mire and mud." The symbolism of the humanity as a sea encompasses the whole realm of the business world, academia, the political world, the entertainment industry, the broadcast industry, the music industry, the publishing world. This is the human sea, and when we feed on the animals of the sea, we are to be discriminating. Just as God told Israel to distinguish edible food by its fins and scales--not one or the other, but both--He tells us to be discriminating when we consider taking into our inner selves the ideas and isms and ideologies of the human sea. In this passage, God gives us clues by which we are to discern what is good and bad in the human sea. What are these clues? First, fins give a fish the capacity to penetrate the water and move through its element, the sea. Second, scales protect the fish against harm. So when we translate these clues to the human sea of our society, we see that we need to have the capacity to penetrate ideas and ideologies. We do not want to be tossed to and fro by the sea; we want to he able to move volitionally and intentionally through the sea of ideas as God directs.
God teaches us His truth with uncanny accuracy in these symbolic pictures. As the Israelites observed the dietary restrictions of Leviticus, they found that they couldn't eat shellfish, such as clams or oysters, nor could they eat crustaceans, such as shrimp, lobsters, or crabs. They also could not eat catfish, which have fins but no scales. There is nothing unhealthy about these foods--you and I eat them all the time with no ill effects. But those sea creatures did not teach the symbolic lesson God wanted His people to learn, so they were prohibited.
The Christian is to handle the knowledge of the world in the same way a finned sea creature plies the water: We are to keep moving forward all the time. We are to ask penetrating questions of every idea that confronts us:
Where does this idea lead? Where is it going to take me? We are not to he content with superficial knowledge of a subject, but we are to go straight to the heart of the matter and understand the implications of every idea for our inner lives--for our heart, mind, soul, and spirit. We are to resist being captured, swayed, or tossed to and fro by any human idea or ideology.
Jesus told us that we are to be in the world but not of it (see John 15:19). What does this mean in practical terms? It means that we are to live as Jesus lived--right in the midst of life, shoulder to shoulder with people who are involved in all sorts of wrong ideas and bad behavior, living among them but not living as they live, engaging them in conversation but not engaging in their way of life. We are to move through the crowds, penetrating their false ideas, not being swayed by them but swaying them toward Christ as we continue making progress through life.
Truth and Falsehood in the Spiritual Realm
The third realm from which the Israelites could take their food was from the heavens, from the sky.
"These are the birds you are to detest and not eat because they are detestable: the eagle, the vulture, the black vulture, the red kite, any kind of black kite, any kind of raven, the horned owl, the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk, the little owl, the cormorant, the great owl, the white owl, the desert owl, the osprey, the stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe and the bat" (Leviticus 11:13-19).
These specific birds and the flying mammal, the bat, were all forbidden. If you look through the list, you can see why. For the most part, these were either carnivorous birds, which feed on live or freshly killed animals, or carrion eaters, such as vultures and buzzards, that feed on dead animals they find, or omnivores--scavengers that eat anything. This is instructive, as we shall soon see.
Linked with these animals are the winged insects.
"All flying insects that walk on all fours are to be detestable to you. There are, however, some winged creatures that walk on all fours that you may eat: those that have jointed legs for hopping on the ground. Of these you may eat any kind of locust, katydid, cricket or grasshopper. But all other winged creatures that have four legs you are to detest" (Leviticus 11:20-23).
You may think all insects are detestable, no exceptions! But in many parts of the world, insects are a delicacy and are served in many interesting ways. When I was in Asia, I was offered roasted grasshoppers, covered in chocolate. I declined on the grounds that I shouldn't have chocolate. Locusts, you may recall, were the dietary staple of John the Baptist (along with wild honey). These were permitted under the dietary restrictions of Leviticus 11, but almost every other insect was forbidden to the Jews. Why would some insects be considered edible and others forbidden? And what does this tell us in a symbolic way about the realm of ideas and knowledge?
Here we are dealing with food from the heavens. In Scripture, the heavens are always the realm of the spirit. The function of the human spirit is that it enables us to relate to God. This is the realm of faith and religion. Human beings are made to worship. The urge to worship is wired into our inner being. So food from the realm of the heavens involves all forms of our need to worship. It includes authentic biblical faith--but it also includes the false doctrines of worldly metaphysics, the occult and witchcraft, UFOs, and extrasensory perception. When we are dealing with this realm, we need to carefully test what we take into our inner being, to make sure that we are not poisoning ourselves with spiritual falsehood.
First, we are to reject all food that is obviously carnivorous--that is, those ideas and notions that are related to the flesh, that are carnal in nature. These are the self-indulgent, self-gratifying, self-focused ideas that often pass themselves off as spiritual, but are sensual and hedonistic.
Next, we are to reject all food that is carrion-like--that is, those ideas and ideologies that are focused on death. Examples include spiritualism and mediums (those who channel the dead through séances and other occult practices), as well as spiritual practices that demonstrate a fascination with death (from murderous religious cults like the Manson family to the devotees of gothic religion, with their unholy obsession with vampirism and other death-oriented fantasies and beliefs).
Then we are to reject all food that is eclectic and omnivorous--that is, those philosophies and ideologies which attempt to take a little from here, a little from there, then blend it all together to create a religion that is supposedly the best from all the religions. This, God tells us, is forbidden. Our faith is to he the pure, unadulterated faith that we have received through His Word, not some hodgepodge of the most agreeable parts of many religions.
In the physical realm, those who touched the carcasses of prohibited animals were to be considered ceremonially unclean and must take certain actions to cleanse themselves.
"You will make yourselves unclean by these; whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean till evening. Whoever picks up one of their carcasses must wash his clothes, and he will be unclean till evening.
"Every animal that has a split hoof not completely divided or that does not chew the cud is unclean for you; whoever touches the carcass of any of them will he unclean. Of all the animals that walk on all fours, those that walk on their paws are unclean for you; whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean till evening. Anyone who picks up their carcasses must wash his clothes, and he will be unclean till evening. They are unclean for you" (Leviticus 11:24-28).
As we extend the symbolism of this passage to its logical conclusion, we realize that we are contaminated whenever we touch unclean ideas and ideologies. The only way to cleanse our minds and spirits from the contamination of the world is by the washing of God's Word (see John 15:3; Ephesians 5:26).
Creatures that Creep Along the Ground
Finally, this passage addresses the realm of creatures that were in full contact with the ground.
"Of the animals that move about on the ground, these are unclean for you: the weasel, the tat, any kind of great lizard, the gecko, the monitor lizard, the wall lizard, the skink and the chameleon. Of all those that move along the ground, these are unclean for you. Whoever touches them when they are dead will he unclean till evening. When one of them dies and falls on something, that article, whatever its use, will be unclean, whether it is made of wood, cloth, hide or sackcloth. Put it in water; it will be unclean till evening, and then it will be clean. If one of them falls into a clay pot, everything in it will be unclean, and you must break the pot. Any food that could be eaten but has water on it from such a pot is unclean, and any liquid that could be drunk from it is unclean. Anything that one of their carcasses falls on becomes unclean; an oven or cooking pot must be broken up. They are unclean, and you are to regard them as unclean. A spring, however, or a cistern for collecting water remains clean, but anyone who touches one of these carcasses is unclean. If a carcass falls on any seeds that are to be planted, they remain clean. But if water has been put on the seed and a carcass falls on it, it is unclean for you.
"If an animal that you are allowed to eat dies, anyone who touches the carcass will be unclean till evening. Anyone who eats some of the carcass must wash his clothes, and he will be unclean till evening. Anyone who picks up the carcass must wash his clothes, and he will be unclean till evening.
"Every creature that moves about on the ground is detestable; it is not to he eaten. You are not to eat any creature that moves about on the ground, whether it moves on its belly or walks on all fours or on many feet; it is detestable. Do not defile yourselves by any of these creatures. Do not make yourselves unclean by means of them or be made unclean by them" (Leviticus 11:29-43).
Here we have the entire category of animals that crawl or creep on their bellies along the ground. What does this category of creatures suggest to your mind? The fall of humanity in the Garden of Eden. After seducing Adam and Eve into disobeying their Creator, the serpent in the Garden was cursed by God to crawl on his belly for the rest of his existence. Crawling upon the belly, then, is a symbol of a curse.
God gives us great freedom to explore the realm of human ideas and knowledge. But once we discover an idea or practice or realm of knowledge that is satanic and under God's curse, then we are to go no further. We are to reject it. Such ideas are seductive; they seem harmless at first, but they draw human beings into error, pride, self-deification, and self-glorification. The end of such ideas is hate, rebellion against God, and death, physical and spiritual. We are not to take these ideas into our inner being. They contaminate and stain the soul.
This is why Christians are forbidden to explore the realms of satanic thought. This is why God warns us, as He warned ancient Israel, "Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead" (Deuteronomy 18:10-11). These are practices and ideas which crawl upon the ground, which are under the curse of God, and which Satan still uses to seduce the souls of men and women--and yes, even children.
God concludes His declaration of His standards for the nation of Israel with these words:
"I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. Do not make yourselves unclean by any creature that moves about on the ground. I am the LORD who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.
"These are the regulations concerning animals, birds, every living thing that moves in the water and every creature that moves about on the ground. You must distinguish between the unclean and the clean, between living creatures that may be eaten and those that may not be eaten" (Leviticus 11:44-47).
At the outset of this book, we observed that the key to the book of Leviticus is found in Leviticus 20:26, which reads, "You are to be holy to me because I, the LORD, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own." Here, at the end of Leviticus 11, we see that same statement: "I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy" To be holy is to be whole--a complete person, fulfilling one's God-given potential as a human being.
A whole person is one who performs the function for which he or she was originally designed. A whole and holy person is one who belongs to God and fully reflects God's image, in which that person was created.
Let's look at some other uses for that word holy. We call Palestine the Holy Land because it is the land that belongs to God. It is His. We call the Bible the Holy Book because it is God's Book. It belongs to Him, it originated with Him, and it exists for His glory. In the same sense, we are God's holy people, because God is holy. He made us, we belong to Him, we originated with Him, and we exist for Him. He created us and loves us, and He is working through us to bring glory to Himself.
God is love, God is holy, and God is a whole and wholly integrated Being. In His love for us, He wants us to be holy and whole as well, and He wants us to fulfill our humanity. That is why God lovingly sets limits and restrictions on our lives. That is why He says, "Don't get involved with these things. Don't take them into your inner being. Don't fool around with these dangerous ideas and practices! You will be trapped if you do. You will be defiled and contaminated; your humanity will be compromised and destroyed. You will not be able to fulfill the purpose I lovingly planned for you." So He limits us out of love.
God is not really interested in our religious activities, our religious busyness, our religious fervor or emotionalism. He is interested in the kind of character we display. He wants us to be whole and holy. In our homes, in our businesses, in our schools, in our neighborhoods, He wants people to see His holy character shining through our lives, expressed through the qualities of love, joy, peace, forgiveness, patience, and understanding we show to the people around us. That is the character of a whole person.
So God says to you and me, just as He said to the people of Israel so long ago, "Be holy because I am holy. Shun the things that would defile you and contaminate you and fragment you. Be whole. Be holy. This is my standard for your lives."
Leviticus 12:1-13:46
Dr. Paul Brandt, in Where Is God When It Hurts? described his work among people afflicted with leprosy (or Hansen's disease), one of the most feared and disfiguring diseases in human history. One of the effects of leprosy is that it destroys the nerves so that sufferers of the disease are unable to feel sensations such as pain.
On one occasion while he was on the grounds of the leprosy clinic where he worked, Dr. Brandt attempted to open a rusted padlock, without success. A young man who was infected with the disease came over and said, "Here, Dr. Brandt, let me help you." The young man wrestled with the key and lock for a moment, then the lock clicked open. As the patient took his hand away from the lock, Dr. Brandt noticed that the fellow's hand was bleeding--he had cut his finger all the way to the bone and hadn't even noticed.
Leprosy is a horrible disease with a long history of tormenting the human race. As we come to Leviticus 12 and Leviticus 13, we are confronted with the problem of leprosy, as well as a number of other afflictions. Yet, as we look beneath the surface of this passage, we see that these verses symbolically deal with the reality of our relationship to God and to others. We find that it is easy to do damage to our most important relationships without even being aware of the harm we are causing.
The afflictions of the body that are described in this passage symbolize the troubling and hurtful things we often do and say to one another without even being aware of the harm we cause. Just as physical leprosy blocks nerve impulses that signal bodily damage, our spiritual leprosy blocks our awareness of the damage we cause to ourselves and others. God wants us to be physically healthy, but He even more urgently desires that we be healthy in our relationships and our innermost being.
Childbirth, Purification, and Sacrifice
As we examine this passage, we will see that many modern sanitary and hygienic procedures are anticipated by the regulations laid down by Moses for the people of God. If these health and sanitation guidelines had been followed through the course of the centuries, many outbreaks of plague and epidemic would have been avoided. In this passage, for example, we see that God tells His people how to practice early detection of serious diseases, how to care for the sick, and how to quarantine contagious eases. He also instructs His people that bed rest is one of the most important keys to recovery when people are sick. This passage opens with a short chapter about childbirth.
The LORD said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites: 'A woman who becomes pregnant and gives birth to a son will be ceremonially unclean for seven days, just as she is unclean during her monthly period. On the eighth day the boy is to be circumcised. Then the woman must wait thirty-three days to be purified from her bleeding. She must not touch anything sacred or go to the sanctuary until the days of her purification are over. If she gives birth to a daughter, for two weeks the woman will be unclean, as during her period. Then she must wait sixty-six days to be purified from her bleeding" (Leviticus 12:1-5).
At first glance, you might think that this passage teaches that childbirth is an inherently unclean event. That is not what this passage teaches. There is nothing wrong with childbirth, or with the sexual activity that preceded it, or with women and their bodies. The entire context of the Bible makes it clear that the act of procreation, the process of conception, the act of childbirth, and the female body are all beautiful and glorious, for they are designed and created by God.
Why, then, did God give the people of Israel these requirements for a woman to be purified from her uncleanness following childbirth? These requirements were given so that God's people would remember a basic and fundamental fact: Since the fall of Adam, every human being born into this world is born into a fallen race. We are born into a sinful race.
There is no way that we, in our natural condition, can permanently solve the fundamental problems of human relationships. Though we were made in God's image, that image has been marred by sin. As a result, we human beings do not function as we were created to function. Our understanding is limited. Our motives are tainted. Our relationships are distorted. God impresses this truth upon His people by imposing a restriction on women in childbirth.
The restriction is this: A mother was to be considered ceremonially unclean for a week after the birth of a male child, then undergo thirty-three days of purification. In the case of the birth of a female child, she was to be considered unclean for two weeks, followed by sixty-six days of purification. All of this was intended to remind the woman and her family that a baby is always born with a tainted nature.
Many people today teach that children are born in complete innocence. Some pretend that babies come into the world in a state of complete innocence, and if you just leave them alone and give them the opportunity to express themselves, they will grow into whole, fulfilled persons. That destructive philosophy has caused chaos in many homes, in our educational system, and in society as a whole. If you are a parent, you probably know this philosophy is not true. Children are clearly born with a sin nature, and they need a great deal of guidance and training in order to learn responsibility, character, self-control, discipline, values, and faith. That is one reason why God teaches His people from the beginning that there is a problem in human nature--the sin nature that we are born with.
The circumcision of the male baby was another reminder that something needs to he removed from the life inherited from Adam. The circumcision rite was followed by thirty-three days of purification for the mother. This time of purification was doubled after the birth of a female child. We can't be sure why this is so. We know, however, that the purification period was partly a compassionate consideration. During the purification period, the mother was relieved from certain obligations to work around the house. The longer period of purification after the birth of a girl is probably a reminder of the fact that the temptation to sin entered the human race through the weakness of the woman, who was deceived by Satan. The human race fell in Adam, the man, who sinned knowingly; but temptation entered the human race through Eve, who was deceived.
Next, a sacrifice is commanded. Why? Because God is teaching Israel that purification ultimately requires a death. Even when a new life is born, death must be acknowledged--the substitutionary death of Jesus our Great High Priest, as represented by the sacrifice.
"When the days of her purification for a son or daughter are over, she is to bring to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting a year-old lamb for a burnt offering and a young pigeon or a dove for a sin offering. He shall offer them before the LORD to make atonement for her, and then she will be ceremonially clean from her flow of blood.
"These are the regulations for the woman who gives birth to a boy or a girl. If she cannot afford a lamb, she is to bring two doves or two young pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. In this way the priest will make atonement for her, and she will be clean" (Leviticus 12:6-8).
The sacrifice cleanses. It pictures for us the sacrifice of Jesus upon the cross, which cleanses us from sin. In the New Testament, we have this account of the circumcision of Jesus and Mary's purification and sacrifice.
On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise him, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he had been conceived. When the time of their purification according to the Law of Moses had been completed, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, "Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord"), and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: "a pair of doves or two young pigeons" (Luke 2:21-24).
The phrase from the Law that is quoted in this passage is from Leviticus 12:8. Mary and Joseph followed the Levitical law to the letter. Even though Jesus was born without sin, He was circumcised, and Mary underwent the time of purification and made the sacrifice of a pair of doves. This was so that Jesus would he fully identified with sinful humanity.
It is significant that God commanded circumcision to take place on the eighth day. Doctors tell us that the eighth day is the first day that a baby's blood contains enough blood-clotting factors to make such an operation safe. In fact, the blood-clotting factors skyrocket on the eighth day to a level higher than normal, then rapidly level off to normal. So the eighth day is the safest day of all for circumcision to be performed.
The Detection of Disease
Leviticus 13 deals with the problem of diseases and hygiene. The fact that it is linked with Leviticus 12 suggests that the taint of sin is not removed at the moment we are born again by faith in Christ. Though we have moved from death to life, the sinful flesh is still there. Christians can and do sin.
Many people seem to forget this obvious fact, and they expect instant perfection from Christians at the moment of their conversion. That's simply not possible. We need help in dealing with the sin problem. The flesh needs to be recognized and controlled--and that isn't easy.
Take, for example, the issue of anger. Temperaments differ from person to person. One may have a quiet, calm temperament while another may be fiery and explosive by nature. There is nothing wrong with these personality differences; God made each of us unique. We can't all be cool and dispassionate; some are more volatile and quick to react--and that is not wrong. There is sinful anger, and there is righteous anger. But we all know that righteous anger--for example, anger that is directed at oppression and injustice--can turn to a sinful and hateful rage, or to malice, bitterness, and grudge-bearing. How do we learn to respond to difficult situations in a righteous and godly manner instead of responding in our sinful flesh?
You might be surprised to discover that this is, in fact, the underlying theme of Leviticus 13, which opens with these words:
The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "When anyone has a swelling or a rash or a bright spot on his skin that may become an infectious skin disease, he must be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons who is a priest. The priest is to examine the sore on his skin, and if the hair in the sore has turned white and the sore appears to be more than skin deep, it is an infectious skin disease. "When the priest examines him, he shall pronounce him ceremonially unclean. If the spot on his skin is white but does not appear to he more than skin deep and the hair in it has not turned white, the priest is to put the infected person in isolation for seven days. On the seventh day the priest is to examine him, and if he sees that the sore is unchanged and has not spread in the skin, he is to keep him in isolation another seven days. On the seventh day the priest is to examine him again, and if the sore has faded and has not spread in the skin, the priest shall pronounce him clean; it is only a rash. The man must wash his clothes, and he will be clean. But if the rash does spread in his skin after he has shown himself to the priest to be pronounced clean, he must appear before the priest again. The priest is to examine him, and if the rash has spread in the skin, he shall pronounce him unclean; it is an infectious disease" (Leviticus 13:1-8).
The obvious and overriding focus of this chapter is the detection of an infectious disease. The King James Version uses the word "leprosy," but the New International Version, which is quoted above, wisely uses the term "infectious disease." In the original language, the Hebrew word translated "leprosy" in the KJV and "infectious disease" in the NIV does not merely refer to the disease we now call Hansen's disease. The Hebrew word includes other contagious and infectious skin diseases in addition to leprosy.
These diseases were regarded as a serious threat not only to the sick individual but also to the whole camp of Israel. It was important that these diseases be detected early. So the Levitical law established a process of inspection and detection. The priest would examine the symptoms of the sufferer, then quarantine that person for seven days, examine again, then (if necessary) quarantine the sufferer again. At the end of that time, the priest would determine whether the disease was contagious or not.
These procedures and instructions have a counterpart in our spiritual lives. This passage doesn't just talk about afflictions and diseases of the body, but of the spirit as well. These afflictions of the spirit are the hurtful attitudes and burning resentments we harbor, the grudges we carry around in our hearts. These dangerous spiritual diseases are to be detected by the priest. And who is our priest today?
Remember that, according to the New Testament pattern, all believers are priests. So we, as believers, should be helping each other to see ourselves more clearly, detect emotional and spiritual diseases, and help each other to be cleansed of that spiritual uncleanness.
Unfortunately, we are all blind to ourselves. Most of us tend to see ourselves as better and more spiritually healthy people than we really are. But when we look around at other people, we can spot all kinds of flaws that they themselves don't seem to see! We wonder why everyone around us can't be as genial, gracious, and inoffensive as we ourselves are!
The truth is that we are blind to our failings. We can't detect our flaws because they hide in our blind spots. That is why we need one another in the church, the body of Christ. As priests to one another, we can hold up a mirror and help each other to see and correct those flaws. So when the Israelites were required to be inspected by the priest, it was not only a matter of good hygiene in ancient Israel but a matter of good spiritual, emotional, and relational health for us today. We need to have our priests, our fellow believers, inspect our lives, watch our behavior, monitor our attitudes, and help us to grow more and more like Jesus Christ.
The procedure that the priest of Israel was to use was a careful examination, not a hasty, impulsive judgment. The priest didn't merely glance at a skin lesion, snap his fingers, and say, "Oh, I know what you have! You've got measles--or mosquito bites--or leprosy." No, he carefully watched the development of the case for seven days (notice that the number seven is the number of perfection in the Bible). He gave the matter time to see if the case worsened. He allowed his understanding of the situation to grow and clarify. Only when he could speak with certainty and confidence did he make his pronouncement.
The procedure that is outlined for a priest of Israel is instructive for our lives as we seek to be wise and caring priests to one another in the body of Christ. When someone comes to us confessing a sin or asking for guidance and counsel with a spiritual crisis or a relationship problem, we should always be quick to listen and slow to speak. A priest should never render a hasty, impulsive judgment. We should never leap to conclusions or prescribe superficial remedies for spiritual, moral, emotional, or relational problems.
Four Symptoms of Spiritual Leprosy
Although the priest was concerned with detecting the threat of any infectious disease, he was especially concerned about the threat of leprosy. There are four characteristics of leprosy, and each is important and instructive. The priests looked for these four manifestations. If the afflicted person had them, then a diagnosis of leprosy was made. If not, then the illness was probably of short duration and relatively harmless. The next passage gives us the four characteristics by which leprosy was recognized.
"When anyone has an infectious skin disease, he must be brought to the priest. The priest is to examine him, and if there is a white swelling in the skin that has turned the hair white and if there is raw flesh in the swelling, it is a chronic skin disease and the priest shall pronounce him unclean. He is not to put him in isolation, because he is already unclean" (Leviticus 13:9-11).
The priest was to first examine any spot, outbreak, or eruption on the skin to see what it was. It could be just a harmless pimple, or it might he more serious. Anyone with an outbreak brought it to the priest, just as we are to bring to one another the blemishes and eruptions in our soul, spirit, emotions, or relationships.
The first symptom the priest would look for was swelling, a sign that the lesion or spot on the flesh went deeper than the skin. A temporary pimple was only a superficial, skin-deep problem. But swelling suggested a symptom of a deeper, more dangerous, and seriously infectious condition.
'Transposing this to the spiritual realm, we see the same principle at work. When people well up in pride, it often indicates a deep-seated arrogance and conceit within the heart. When people swell up in anger, it often indicates a soul filled with bitterness and resentment--not always, but sometimes. The swelling we observe may be no more than the manifestation of a passing mood, a minor irritation of spirit.
But if the swelling doesn't subside, and if we see other symptoms as well, then it may be a sign of a more permanent, deeply rooted, and dangerous sin problem within that individual. As Jesus said, "What comes out of a man is what makes him 'unclean.' For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly" (Mark 7:20-22).
The second symptom the priest would look for was white hair. The priest would check to see if the hair at the site of the eruption had turned white. White hair is always a sign of approaching death--relatively speaking. Whenever I look at the clippings that have fallen from my head to the floor around the barber chair, I try to tell myself otherwise, but I can't deny it: With advancing age and approaching death comes white hair.
White hair is always a sign that the aging process is at work. "When the snow appears on the mountain," goes the old saying, "winter is at hand." So it was with the infectious disease that is here called leprosy. The disease would accelerate the process of approaching death, causing the hair at the site of the infection to turn white. (We should note, however, that white hair is not a standard symptom of what we call leprosy today--that is, Hansen's disease.)
In our spiritual and emotional lives there are also certain signs to watch for. There are emotional reactions and attitudes that we all have. Some are momentary and benign; others are long-lasting and poisonous. If, for example, a person flashes with momentary anger, it is nothing more than the equivalent of a rash or skin irritation. But if a person stews for months or years, brooding over bitterness, malice, hatred, and thoughts of self-pity or revenge, then that person is showing signs of a malignant infection, a leprosy of the soul.
The third symptom the priest would look for was raw flesh--a lesion that was open and ugly and which stubbornly refused to heal. An eruption that was healing on its own was nothing to worry about. But the presence of raw flesh was a strong indication of infectious disease.
In his letter to the Galatians, Paul describes what raw flesh means in spiritual terms. In the original Greek, Paul speaks of "the acts of the flesh," or, as the New American Standard Bible renders it, "the deeds of the flesh." The NIV changes it to 'the acts of the sinful nature"--and, of course, when Paul speaks of "the flesh" he does mean our sinful nature, the fallenness of our human flesh. So I will insert the bracketed phrase "[the flesh]" into the NIV text from Galatians so that you can clearly see what Paul is saying to us.
The acts of [the flesh] are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God (Galatians 5:19-21).
Here is the raw flesh of our humanity, the symptoms of a person infected with a leprosy of the soul: Sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery--the sinful misuse of our sexuality. Idolatry--worshiping anything other than God. Witchcraft--allying oneself with the forces of Satan and his demons. Hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy--acts that harm other people and which divide and disrupt the body of Christ. Drunkenness and orgies--giving oneself over to a substance abuse (involving not just alcohol, but any mood-altering drug), wild partying, and engaging in debased and immoral behavior with other people.
Just to make sure we can't say, "Well, my particular vice isn't on this list," Paul adds the phrase "and the like," a reference to any related behavior that he might not have listed but which results from our fallen flesh. Twenty-first century society has invented many new ways to indulge in the acts of the flesh, such as viewing pornography on computers, engaging in phone sex, developing illicit relationships with other people over the Internet, and on and on. The fact that Paul didn't specifically list our chosen vice twenty centuries ago does not let us off the hook! Such acts are leprous and deadly to our souls.
When the Infection Has Spread
The fourth symptom the priest would look for was that the infection was spreading--this symptom is mentioned in Leviticus 13:12. But God makes a curious pronouncement in connection with this symptom, as we are about to see. This fourth symptom requires careful examination.
"If the disease breaks out all over his skin and, so far as the priest can see, it covers all the skin of the infected person from head to foot, the priest is to examine him, and if the disease has covered his whole body, he shall pronounce that person clean. Since it has all turned white, he is clean. But whenever raw flesh appears on him, he will be unclean. When the priest sees the raw flesh, he shall pronounce him unclean. The raw flesh is unclean; he has an infectious disease. Should the raw flesh change and turn white, he must go to the priest. The priest is to examine him, and if the sores have turned white, the priest shall pronounce the infected person clean; then he will be clean" (Leviticus 13:12-17).
Here is the fourth mark of leprosy: it has spread. We see this same principle in the spiritual realm, when the infection of sin, malice, immorality, or dissension spreads from one person and affects others in the body of believers. A bitter spirit can be as contagious as smallpox. A rebellious attitude can spread like an epidemic. When this occurs, the person with the leprous disease of the soul is unclean in God's sight. The infection of sin is dangerous and harmful to the individual and to the body of Christ in which He lives. As the book of Hebrews tells us, a spirit of bitterness and dissension easily "grows up to cause trouble and defile many" (Hebrews 12:15).
In Luke 17 there is the account of ten lepers who came to Jesus and asked for help and healing. Jesus told them to go and show themselves to the priests, according to the law of Moses. As they went, their leprosy turned white, and they knew that they were cleansed. This is a beautiful picture for us of how to cure the leprosy in our lives. When what had been leprous turns white, then, even though the whole body was infected from head to foot, the priest pronounced the person clean. When the leprosy turns white, the evil has been arrested, the infection has been stopped, and the sufferer has been cleansed.
Transposing this principle to the spiritual realm, we realize that the evil we have done must be brought under the judgment of the Word of God in order for us to be cleansed. We must face our sin, name it for what it is, see it as God sees it, and repent of it. All of our defenses and denials have to be broken down, and we must go to God, fully confessing our sin. Then God can cleanse us and turn the leprosy of our sin pure white.
This does not mean we will not suffer the aftereffects of our sin. The scars may remain, perhaps for the rest of our lives. We may have to deal with health problems, damaged relationships, financial problems, or the humiliation of having our secret sin exposed before others. Those are our scars. But the action of the sin has been arrested, and we no longer need to fear it.
This is a beautiful illustration of the truth of 1 John 1:8-9--"If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in its. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify its from all unrighteousness." What a gracious provision God has made for the healing of our spiritual leprosy!
What prevents us from being healed? Our defenses and excuses. We say, "Oh, I can't help being prone to infidelity. I just can't get enough of the opposite sex!" Or, "Our family has had a problem with alcohol for generations. It's in my genes." Or, "I can't help getting mad and lashing out at people. It's just because I'm Irish [or Italian or Latin or whatever ethnic component we wish to blame]. Don't expect me to change--it's just who I am."
We use these excuses to avoid the hard work and painful self-examination required to find the cure for our spiritual leprosy. Our desire to clutch these hurtful, injurious attitudes is proof of the fallen, distorted, Adamic nature within us. Isn't it strange that we cling so tenaciously to the very things that cause pain to ourselves and the ones we love? The pride of our hearts drives us to resist God's attempt to bring us healing and wholeness. When someone comes to us as a priest, trying to help us see our sin, we respond by lashing out and acting spitefully. This resistance to God's way of helping and healing us reveals the fact that a potent spiritual leprosy is at work in our lives.
Other Types of Afflictions and Diseases
The rest of Leviticus 13 deals with other types of afflictions and diseases, and the same basic treatment is administered. There were boils, burns, itches, scabs, and other problems that appear to be what we would today call psoriasis and eczema. We read:
"When someone has a boil on his skin and it heals, and in the place where the boil was, a white swelling or reddish-white spot appears, he must present himself to the priest. The priest is to examine it, and if it appears to be more than skin deep and the hair in it has turned white, the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is an infectious skin disease that has broken out where the boil was. But if, when the priest examines it, there is no white hair in it and it is not more than skin deep and has faded, then the priest is to put him in isolation for seven days. If it is spreading in the skin, the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is infectious. But if the spot is unchanged and has not spread, it is only a sear from the boil, and the priest shall pronounce him clean.
"When someone has a burn on his skin and a reddish-white or white spot appears in the raw flesh of the burn, the priest is to examine the spot, and if the hair in it has turned white, and it appears to be more than skin deep, it is an infectious disease that has broken out in the burn. The priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is an infectious skin disease. But if the priest examines it and there is no white hair in the spot and if it is not more than skin deep and has faded, then the priest is to put him in isolation for seven days. On the seventh day the priest is to examine him, and if it is spreading in the skin, the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is an infectious skin disease. If, however, the spot is unchanged and has not spread in the skin but has faded, it is a swelling from the burn, and the priest shall pronounce him clean; it is only a scar from the burn.
"If a man or woman has a sore on the head or on the chin, the priest is to examine the sore, and if it appears to be more than skin deep and the hair in it is yellow and thin, the priest shall pronounce that person unclean; it is an itch, an infectious disease of the head or chin. But if, when the priest examines this kind of sore, it does not seem to be more than skin deep and there is no black hair in it, then the priest is to put the infected person in isolation for seven days. On the seventh day the priest is to examine the sore, and if the itch has not spread and there is no yellow hair in it and it does not appear to be more than skin deep, he must be shaved except for the diseased area, and the priest is to keep him in isolation another seven days. On the seventh day the priest is to examine the itch, and if it has not spread in the skin and appears to be no more than skin deep, the priest shall pronounce him clean. He must wash his clothes, and he will be clean. But if the itch does spread in the skin after he is pronounced clean, the priest is to examine him, and if the itch has spread in the skin, the priest does not need to look for yellow hair; the person is unclean. If, however, in his judgment it is unchanged and black hair has grown in it, the itch is healed. He is clean, and the priest shall pronounce him clean.
"When a man or woman has white spots on the skin, the priest is to examine them, and if the spots are dull white, it is a harmless rash that has broken out on the skin; that person is clean" (Leviticus 13:18-39).
If we venture to interpret these various afflictions, we can see their counterparts in the spiritual realm. Boils are always painful infections which finally come to a head, much like the crises of our attitudes and our negative dispositions. You know what it feels like when someone says some sharp, hurtful word to you; it wounds you and angers you, and that hurt can quickly fester into a growing resentment. You try to set it aside, but it keeps growing and growing until it finally comes to a head, much like a boil that grows and becomes more painful until it ruptures and the pressure is relieved.
Burns are injuries caused by circumstances outside of ourselves. We can be burned emotionally and spiritually as well as physically. Sometimes, when we are hurt by other people, we actually express it in those terms: "I really got burned by that person!" When we get burned in an emotional sense, we need to treat that wound with the healing grace of God. We should turn to our family of faith and allow them to he priests to us, and minister God's healing touch to our stinging emotions, our wounded spirit.
Itches are maddening irritations--they are not painful, but they are insistent, and the more you scratch them, the worse they become. Scabs are the crusty residue of wounds and lesions--not quite healed but not yet a scar. If they are not allowed to heal properly, scabs can become reinfected and worse than before.
This entire catalog of afflictions and diseases is focused on one question: Are your leprous spots being properly dealt with in the light of God's Word? Are they being brought to the One who can heal our leprosy with a touch? Or are we hiding our wounds and diseases from our fellow priests and our Great High Priest, Jesus Himself? What are you and I doing to be healed of our foul moods, our temperamental outbursts, our bitterness and resentment, our self-centeredness, our depression?
Next, God offers a word of reassurance for those (like myself) whose hair is thinning.
"When a man has lost his hair and is bald, he is clean. If he has lost his hair from the front of his scalp and has a bald forehead, he is clean. But if he has a reddish-white sore on his bald head or forehead, it is an infectious disease breaking out on his head or forehead. The priest is to examine him, and if the swollen sore on his head or forehead is reddish-white like an infectious skin disease, the man is diseased and is unclean. The priest shall pronounce him unclean because of the sore on his head" (Leviticus 13:40-42).
Leprosy could hide beneath a full, youthful head of hair, but age and thinning hair make leprosy harder to hide. The same is often true in the spiritual realm. Everyone expects young people to behave in an immature or unwise way from time to time. But if we fail to build Christ like character and wisdom into our lives as we grow older, a time eventually comes when our defects of character begin to show. The leprosy in our spirit becomes obvious for everyone to see, like a splotch of leprosy on the head of a bald man. We should deal with our spiritual leprosy early in life, so that when we reach a ripe old age, people will be able to say, "There is a person who has spent a lifetime building a whole, healthy, Christ like personality."
Finally, God's guidelines for health and hygiene close with these words, which describe the fate of those whose leprosy goes uncured.
"The person with such an infectious disease must wear torn clothes, let his hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of his face and cry out, 'Unclean! Unclean!' As long as he has the infection he remains unclean. He must live alone; he must live outside the camp" (Leviticus 13:45-46).
In ancient times, lepers were a common sight on the edge of town, begging beside the road. They sometimes lived alone in caves or together with other lepers, and they looked exactly as this passage describes: torn clothes, unkempt hair, the lower part of their faces masked. They called out "Unclean!" as a warning to the uninfected people to keep their distance so that they would avoid becoming victims of the disease.
Here again, God teaches us with a powerful visual symbol. What the law of Moses demanded is what God allows to take place in the lives of those who fail to deal with the leprosy in their inner being. These issues cannot be avoided. This is what will happen to those who do not deal with their leprous souls, as taught by these symbols.
The first symbol is the torn clothes. Throughout Scripture, clothes symbolize human behavior, the outward actions of an individual. Torn clothes are a picture of behavior that has no sense, no unity, no wholeness.
A person who does not seek healing in the leprous areas of his or her inner being will manifest a poorly integrated, fragmented personality. That person's walk and talk will not match. He or she will get tripped up in lies, cover-ups, secret sins, and shame. That is what the leper's torn clothes tell us.
The second symbol is unkempt hair. In Scripture, hair is always a mark of beauty. A woman's hair, especially, is regarded as her crown of glory. Unkempt hair, then, is beauty disarrayed, beauty lost. The potential is there, but the inherent beauty of the personality is lost. A life that is marked by an inner leprosy is one in which so much potential beauty has been squandered, twisted, and made ugly by sin.
The third symbol is a masked face. There is shame in having a leprosy-ridden soul. Such people must continually hide who they truly are. They shrink back from discovery. They are afraid to let others know them. It is a terrible way to live.
The fourth symbol is the cry of "Unclean! Unclean!" This is a vivid picture of what happens when leprosy of the soul goes unhealed. The individual announces his or her uncleanness to the world. Leprosy--whether physical or spiritual--can be hidden in the early stages. Eventually, however, it shows, it announces itself, and it leaves the individual feeling conspicuously shamed and condemned. People who are unclean with a leprosy of the soul are spotted and avoided by other people. Leprosy produces revulsion, and that revulsion makes outcasts of lepers.
Lepers dwell alone. They might wish to be close to other people, but they cannot. They long for love like anyone else, but they find themselves rejected and shunned. Ultimately, they are friendless and alone.
The message of this passage is that now is the time to face our leprous attitudes and behavior, our selfish motivations, our destructive habits, and our broken relationships. Now is the time to take our diseased souls to the Great High Priest, the Great Physician, so that He can reach out and heal us. With just the touch of His Word, He can arrest the infection of our sin, turn our leprosy white, and set us free.
14 SICK GARMENTS AND DISEASED HOUSES
Leviticus 13:47-14:57
In recent years we have been hearing about something called Sick House Syndrome. Since the late 1970s, people living in modern, well-constructed, well-insulated homes noticed that they were experiencing such symptoms as itchy skin, headaches, watery eyes, nasal congestion, coughing, wheezing, dizziness, and fatigue. At first, sufferers were told that the problem was simply hay fever, or even that the symptoms were all in their minds.
But then a discovery was made: After the energy crisis of the late 1970s, when energy costs for heating and air conditioning rose dramatically, people began insulating, weather-stripping, and otherwise sealing up their homes to make them more energy-efficient. The result was that these modern, well-constructed, well-insulated homes no longer had the ventilation that homes once had. These homes could no longer breathe.
Once these homes were tightly sealed, they became unhealthy. They trapped humidity and moisture, becoming a breeding ground for molds and mildew. Tightly sealed homes concentrated dust mites in the air, triggering a higher rate of asthma attacks. They also trapped dangerous gases such as carbon monoxide from furnaces and stoves and radioactive radon gas from the rocks beneath the home. Remodeling efforts to make older homes more energy-efficient had caused the airborne release of dangerous particles of leaded paint, asbestos, and formaldehyde.
In an effort to make homes more efficient, people were making their homes sick--and these contaminated homes were making people sick. As we continue moving through Leviticus 13 and on into Leviticus 14, we find that God was concerned with the problem of contamination in the homes and garments of the people of Israel. In those ancient times, there were problems of contamination and mildew which could bring disease into the camp.
The Problem of Contaminated and Infectious Garments
Here is how God addresses the problem of contamination and infection, beginning with the issue of contaminated clothing:
"If any clothing is contaminated with mildew--any woolen or linen clothing, any woven or knitted material of linen or wool, any leather or anything made of leather--and if the contamination in the clothing, or leather, or woven or knitted material, or any leather article, is greenish or reddish, it is a spreading mildew and must he shown to the priest" (Leviticus 13:47-49).
Here we see God's concern about certain molds, mildews, and bacterial and fungal growths which could attach themselves to garments and spread infection to the whole camp. Long before human science understood the operation of bacteria and fungal spores, the people of Israel were taught that some spots that they might find on clothing or in their houses were not necessarily harmless stains but could be symptoms of contamination that could grow and spread.
As we apply these hygienic guidelines to the level of life on which we live today--the spiritual, social, emotional, and relational levels of our lives--we need to determine what these garments and infections symbolize. In Scripture, garments are used as a picture of character, especially as expressed in behavior. In Leviticus 8, we saw how the garments of the high priest revealed how our Great High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, is equipped to deal with our problems. His garments reveal His character. Garments are used this way throughout Scripture and are associated closely with the individual who wears them.
"Clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ," Paul writes in Romans 13:14, "and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature." And in Colossians 3:12, he adds, "Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience." Peter uses the same symbolism in 1 Peter 5:5--"Clothe yourselves with humility toward one another."
Today, we still identify ourselves with our garments. The way we dress is a statement about who we are and what matters to us. Have you noticed how good you feel when someone compliments your attire? You take it as a reference to you as a person--to your style, your taste, your values, your character, and even your position in life. We are identified by the clothes we wear, and we identify with them.
We change our garments to suit the various roles we play in life. We wear one set of clothes to the gym or out jogging; we wear another set of clothes to putter around the house; we wear another set of clothes to a wedding or to the symphony. We dress in a way that is suitable for our task, our setting, our role. Our garments symbolize not only who we are but also what we do. So garments are used in Scripture as a symbol of our character, our roles, our behavior, our relationships with others.
Here in Leviticus 13, God is teaching us that out lives--our personality and character, our roles and relationships--can be contaminated by a disease-like infection. Certain aspects of our relationships with one another can have spots in them which are dangerous. Certain behaviors and attitudes can be virulent and destructive to others, even to our entire church, spreading contagion and infection to everyone they touch.
Avoid Hasty Judgment
Just as a garment may he beautifully designed and skillfully made but ruined by a spot of contamination, a personality or a relationship may be beautiful except for one area, one attitude, one bad habit that lurks and contaminates all that it touches. God wants us to deal with these contaminating forces in our own personality, attitudes, behavior, and relationships. In symbolic language, He tells us how to do it. The passage continues:
"The priest is to examine the mildew and isolate the affected article for seven days. On the seventh day he is to examine it, and if the mildew has spread in the clothing, or the woven or knitted material, or the leather, whatever its use, it is a destructive mildew; the article is unclean. He must burn up the clothing, or the woven or knitted material of wool or linen, or any leather article that has the contamination in it, because the mildew is destructive; the article must be burned up" (Leviticus 13:50-52).
Earlier in Leviticus 13, we saw that the priest was not to apply a hasty, impulsive judgment to problems of human illness, such as leprosy. When a person had a disease in his or her flesh, God prescribed a careful process of examination, quarantine, and reexamination before judgment should be rendered. Here, in the case of a contaminated garment, God outlines a similar procedure. There is to be no hasty, impulsive judgment regarding a garment that is suspected of contamination. Transposing this from the symbolic realm to our everyday world of behavior and relationships, we realize that we frequently transgress this command of God.
We see people going into a certain place, or talking to a certain person, or engaged in a certain activity; and we immediately jump to the worst possible conclusion. This person is sinning! This person is carrying on a sinful relationship or engaged in scandalous behavior! Only after we have made judgments and spread rumors do we find out that this person did nothing wrong-but by that time, it's too late. The damage is done, the feelings are hurt, the reputation is destroyed, the lives are ruined. God does not want us to make hasty judgments that hurt other people.
Notice that, in our own lives, we tend to be slow to judge our behavior. We linger in wrongful relationships because we enjoy the emotional thrill it brings. We wallow in sinful habits because we like our sin and don't want to give it up. We don't want to examine our sinful behavior--and we surely don't want others to question what we are doing! It's none of their business! How dare they judge me? We are slow to judge ourselves, yet quick to judge others.
So, through this passage in Leviticus, God tells us, in effect, "Take your time. Be careful. Do not be too quick to condemn the spotted garment of another person's life. Take time to examine the behavior or relationships. Take time to understand, so that you don't make a terrible mistake and bring suffering and embarrassment upon an innocent person." God calls us to investigate anything that is hurtful, sinful, and infectious in our lives and relationships--but He also calls us to be careful, patient, and slow to pass judgment.
So the garment must be inspected and then reinspected on the seventh day. If, at that point, it is clear that the contamination is spreading, then the garment must be destroyed. The clothing is unclean and the priest "must burn up the clothing, or the woven or knitted material of wool or linen, or any leather article that has the contamination in it, because the mildew is destructive; the article must be burned up." 'What does this mean in symbolic terms for our lives today?
It means that if a pattern of behavior or a relationship is found to be harmful and infectious, if it is contrary to God's Word, then it must be stopped. Contaminating habits and relationships can spread to other people and infect a church. They can take over our lives and cause us to neglect our most important priorities and responsibilities. That is why drastic action must he taken. 'That is why unwholesome relationships, destructive habits, and sinful behavior must be confronted and ended. The infected garment must be destroyed, or it will spread that infection throughout the household.
The Washing of the Word of God
Not all spotted garments need to be burned and destroyed. As we go on to read, some spotted clothing can be made clean by washing.
"But if, when the priest examines it, the mildew has not spread in the clothing, or the woven or knitted material, or the leather article, he shall order that the contaminated article be washed. Then he is to isolate it for another seven days. After the affected article has been washed, the priest is to examine it, and if the mildew has not changed its appearance, even though it has not spread, it is unclean. Burn it with fire, whether the mildew has affected one side or the other" (Leviticus 13:53-55).
In other words, there were spots which, if they didn't spread, were not necessarily an infectious contamination, and they could be remedied by washing the garment. Washing, in Scripture, is a symbol of the action of the Word of God. Jesus said to His disciples, "You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you" (John 15:3). Sometimes, our lives, behavior, and relationships have problems that can be solved by the cleansing of the Word of God.
We often become involved in behavior or a relationship that is not sinful per se, but we have allowed it to create an imbalance in our lives. For example, eating is a good thing, because food is pleasurable and keeps us healthy; overeating, however, is destructive to our health. So if our problem is overeating, God would not want us to burn our behavior of consuming food and stop eating. Rather, He would have us wash our behavior in God's Word (which condemns the sin of gluttony), so that we can eat in a moderate and healthy fashion.
Young people will sometimes form a romantic relationship involving behavior that is immoral and relationally unhealthy. Often, the relationship itself is not wrong--that is, there is no reason why these two Christian young people shouldn't court each other and possibly marry someday. But if their behavior toward each other has been unchaste, then their relationship needs to be brought under the authority of God's Word. It needs to be washed and cleansed. The couple needs to make a commitment to remain chaste and virtuous from this day forward, and should he held accountable to do so. Then their relationship can continue in a healthy and godly way. Leviticus 13 concludes:
"If, when the priest examines it, the mildew has faded after the article has been washed, he is to tear the contaminated part out of the clothing, or the leather, or the woven or knitted material. But if it reappears in the clothing, or in the woven or knitted material, or in the leather article, it is spreading, and whatever has the mildew must he burned with fire. The clothing, or the woven or knitted material, or any leather article that has been washed and is rid of the mildew, must be washed again, and it will be clean."
These are the regulations concerning contamination by mildew in woolen or linen clothing, woven or knitted material, or any leather article, for pronouncing them clean or unclean (Leviticus 13:56-59).
Here, beneath the surface of what appears to be merely advice for the care and cleaning of clothing, is practical advice for daily living. Perhaps you have a spot in your relationship with your spouse or children, an area where you tend to be harsh, judgmental, or quick to criticize. Perhaps you have been toying with the idea of divorcing your mate or ordering your teenager out of the house--in essence, burning the relationship.
God says, in effect, "Be careful! Don't be too quick to destroy an important relationship! Don't be too quick to put people out of your life! That which is merely spotted can be washed by the Word and made clean and good again." These are wise words and helpful principles that will spare us much grief if we will heed what God is telling us through the symbolism of spotted garments.
The Cleansing of Lepers
In Leviticus 14, God continues to speak to Moses--and to us--about the issue of contamination. Once again, there is a deeper truth to be discerned here than mere physical infection.
The LORD said to Moses, "These are the regulations for the diseased person at the time of his ceremonial cleansing, when he is brought to the priest: The priest is to go outside the camp and examine him. If the person has been healed of his infectious skin disease, the priest shall order that two live clean birds and some cedar wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop he brought for the one to be cleansed. Then the priest shall order that one of the birds be killed over fresh water in a clay pot. He is then to take the live bird and dip it, together with the cedar wood, the scarlet yarn and the hyssop, into the blood of the bird that was killed over the fresh water. Seven times he shall sprinkle the one to he cleansed of the infectious disease and pronounce him clean. Then he is to release the live bird in the open fields" (Leviticus 14:1-7).
Here, God begins by addressing the issue of people who have apparently been healed of leprosy. He lays out a beautifully symbolic ritual that is not intended to heal a person but to cleanse a person who has already been healed. Only God can heal. The act of healing is a sovereign act of God that takes place in the inner life of a human being. Cleansing is a symbolic act that enables us to understand that God's basis for healing is nothing less than a blood sacrifice. That is the picture which is drawn for us here.
We need to understand that all of us, as human beings, have hearts that are infected with spiritual leprosy. We are full of sin, envy, covetousness, lust, resentment, hatred, and malice. We have a hard time seeing the true sickness of our hearts unless God draws it out for its with symbols such as these. When we truly see the sinfulness and leprosy of our hearts, we can do nothing but fall before God and plead, "Lord, heal me!"
And God does! The moment we let down our defenses and admit our sickness and sinfulness, He reaches into our hearts with His touch of grace and heals our inner leprosy. The leprosy is arrested, and we are healed.
But after we are healed, we still need cleansing. We need to understand the basis on which our inward healing occurred so that our outward behavior can be adjusted to a new pattern. That is what is brought out here in this symbolic cleansing of the leper. The ceremony is not ritual for ritual's sake. It is a vivid and visual representation of what God does in the life of a sinner who is cleansed from sin. It is clear that God has thought through every detail in order to teach us profound truths.
The first thing we learn is that the basis for our healing is always the shedding of blood. God never heals, never blesses, never arrests the action of evil apart from the shedding of blood. The meaning of the symbols is obvious for anyone to see.
The priest takes two live birds, some cedar wood, some blood-colored scarlet yarn, and hyssop (a tiny, moss-like plant that grows in nooks and crannies of the rocks). The priest has one of the birds killed over fresh water in a clay pot. Then the other bird is dipped into the bloody water, along with the wood, yarn, and hyssop. Then the healed leper is sprinkled seven times, and the living bird is released and allowed to go free.
The blood, of course, pictures for us the blood of the Lord Jesus. Throughout Leviticus, the sacrifices continually picture for us the sacrificial death of Christ, which puts the old nature to death and brings its new life. God never puts a bandage on cancer; He strikes at the root of the cancer, destroys it, and gives us a whole new life. He doesn't just salve our symptoms; He heals our disease. The shed blood of this innocent bird is a beautiful picture of the Lord Jesus and His death for us.
The clay pot is a picture of the humanity of Jesus. Paul spoke of our humanity this way: "But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us" (2 Corinthians 4:7). Fresh water, newly drawn from a spring or stream, always pictures the Holy Spirit in His refreshing, life-giving quality. Jesus spoke of the Spirit in these words: "Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." In other words, the Spirit of God flows from the hearts of those who believe in Jesus.
The cedar tree was regarded in Israel as the acme of beauty and symbolized the glory of God. The moss-like hyssop, by contrast, was regarded as a symbol of the lowliness of humanity. So here we have a picture of the two extreme opposites that were embodied in Jesus Christ--His divine glory and His lowly humanity. The scarlet yarn symbolized His kingliness. All of these items were dipped in the shed blood, baptized in death. The living bird, too, was dipped in the shed blood and released--a picture of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and of our identification with Him in His death and resurrection. By our identification with Him, we are set free from death and sin and released to the heavens, just like that bird. Through His sacrifice, Jesus sets us free to be new creatures in Him.
It is amazing how meaningful these Old Testament symbols are. They demonstrate that the Old and New Testaments tell us one consistent story, from Genesis to Revelation. As Jesus told the Pharisees, "You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me" (John 5:38). Clearly, the rich symbolism of Leviticus speaks volumes about Jesus.
The next step in the ritual involved the personal cleansing of the healed leper, followed by a seven-day waiting period to make sure that the leper's healing and cleansing was genuine.
"The person to be cleansed must wash his clothes, shave off all his hair and bathe with water; then he will be ceremonially clean. After this he may come into the camp, but he must stay outside his tent for seven days. On the seventh day he must shave off all his hair; he must shave his head, his beard, his eyebrows and the rest of his hair. He must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water, and he will be clean" (Leviticus 14:8-9).
After this, the leper was to bring four offerings. The importance of the exact order of the four offerings should not be overlooked.
"On the eighth day he must bring two male lambs and one ewe lamb a year old, each without defect, along with three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering, and one log of oil. The priest who pronounces him clean shall present both the one to be cleansed and his offerings before the LORD at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
"Then the priest is to take one of the male lambs and offer it as a guilt [trespass] offering, along with the log of oil; he shall wave them before the LORD as a wave offering. He is to slaughter the lamb in the holy place where the sin offering and the burnt offering are slaughtered. Like the sin offering, the guilt offering belongs to the priest; it is most holy.
"The priest is to take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot. The priest shall then take some of the log of oil, pour it in the palm of his own left hand, dip his right forefinger into the oil in his palm, and with his finger sprinkle some of it before the LORD seven times. The priest is to put some of the oil remaining in his palm on the lobe of the right eat of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot, on top of the blood of the guilt offering. The rest of the oil in his palm the priest shall put on the head of the one to he cleansed and make atonement for him before the LORD.
"Then the priest is to sacrifice the sin offering and make atonement for the one to be cleansed from his uncleanness. After that, the priest shall slaughter the burnt offering and offer it on the altar, together with the grain offering, and make atonement for him, and he will be clean" (Leviticus 14:10-20).
The trespass offering was first. Leprosy in a garment symbolizes the harm and injury that our sin causes to others or that they cause to us. A trespass has occurred, a relationship has been hurt or broken, and that needs to be dealt with first. So the trespass offering (or, in the NIV, guilt offering) comes first. Jesus offered Himself as the sacrifice for our trespasses.
Next came the sin offering. This offering goes deeper, to our fallen sin nature. This offering teaches us that through the death of Christ, God has dealt with the source of evil within us--the sinfulness that is woven into our fallen flesh. Because Jesus dealt with our sin nature, we don't have to follow the urges to sin anymore. We still feel them, but we are not bound to them as we once were. We are freed from the dominion of sin.
Next was the burnt offering, which recognized the devotion of a heart that has been cleansed and is now open, accepting, and dedicated to God.
Finally came the grain offering, which represents the presentation of our humanity to God. All of this renders the leper clean from his leprous disease, and even his relationships are cleansed, and so he is free to enter normal life once again.
What do these offerings mean? They are all symbolically significant, and all of them except the grain offering involve the shedding of blood. The blood in these sacrifices is always a picture of guilt removed, of evil ended. The blood is applied to remove the offense of the ear, the hand, and the foot. Those who are infected with the leprosy within have listened to false philosophies, so the ear must be cleansed. They have manipulated and maneuvered and committed other evil deeds, so the hand must be cleansed. Their feet have gone down sinful paths, so their walk must be cleansed.
The great teaching of this passage is that the blood of the guilt offering cleanses the sinner. When there is a spot of sin in your life and you confess it and its action has been halted by the repentance of your heart, then God applies the blood of His Son to you so that your sin is cleansed away. All of the members of your flesh that have engaged in sin are cleansed--your ear, your hand, your walk. You are forgiven.
Notice, next, that in addition to the blood, oil is also applied to those same members of the body--the eye, hand, and toe. Oil is the symbol of the Holy Spirit. The blood is only the first step--the step that leads to our salvation from sin. The next step is that we must apply the oil; we must yield ourselves to the Spirit of God. The oil is placed on the ear and the thumb and the foot in order that the mind may now be devoted to hearing the things of the Spirit, that the hand may be offered to the service of God, and that the walk may follow the leading of the Spirit.
Once the blood has cleansed and the oil has been applied, symbolizing yieldedness to the Spirit, the leper is ready to return to society. These symbols are beautiful and instructive for our lives.
A young woman, a college student, once approached me for help with a personal problem. "My roommate has the most annoying habits," she said. "She does these irritating things, and I feel resentful toward her. But I know it's wrong to feel that way, so I keep confessing my feelings to God. Yet those feelings of resentment keep coming back. How can I he freed from this?"
I said, "The problem is that you are doing only part of what the Lord tells us to do in situations like this. Yes, we are to confess our sin and ask forgiveness; you are doing the first step. But God also wants us to turn around and make the members of our bodies available to God for His work. We are to offer them to Him for righteous purposes. You are confessing your sinful resentment, but you are not turning around and actively loving your roommate in the power of God. The negative is not enough; we must also do what God requires of us in a positive and proactive way."
In other words, we need not only the blood of Christ to cleanse the sin of the ear, hand, and foot, but we also need the oil of the Holy Spirit to lead the ear, hand, and foot in a new and positive direction. We need to yield ourselves to the Spirit so that He can take over and enable us to reach out to others in love.
The next section shows that God is concerned with the meaning of the sacrifice, not how expensive the sacrifice is. God wants the message and rich symbolism of the cleansing ritual to be available to all, including the poor.
"If, however, he is poor and cannot afford these, he must take one male lamb as a guilt offering to be waved to make atonement for him, together with a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering, a log of oil, and two doves or two young pigeons, which he can afford, one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering.
"On the eighth day he must bring them for his cleansing to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, before the LORD. The priest is to take the lamb for the guilt offering, together with the log of oil, and wave them before the LORI) as a wave offering. He shall slaughter the lamb for the guilt offering and take some of its blood and put it on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand and on the big roe of his right foot. The priest is to pour some of the oil into the palm of his own left hand, and with his right forefinger sprinkle some of the oil from his palm seven times before the LORD. Some of the oil in his palm he is to put on the same places he put the blood of the guilt offering--on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot. The rest of the oil in his palm the priest shall put on the head of the one to be cleansed, to make atonement for him before the LORD. Then he shall sacrifice the doves or the young pigeons, which the person can afford, one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, together with the grain offering. In this way the priest will make atonement before the LORD on behalf of the one to be cleansed."
These are the regulations for anyone who has an infectious skin disease and who cannot afford the regular offerings for his cleansing (Leviticus 14:21-32).
The symbolism in this section yields the same rich Christ-centered message as the previous section--but it does so in a way that is within reach of even the poorest people of Israel.
The Solution for Sick Houses
The final section of Leviticus 14 deals with the issue of contamination in the houses of the people of Israel. We read:
The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "When you enter the land of Canaan, which I am giving you as your possession, and I put a spreading mildew in a house in that land, the owner of the house must go and tell the priest, 'I have seen something that looks like mildew in my house.' The priest is to order the house to be emptied before he goes in to examine the mildew, so that nothing in the house will be pronounced unclean. After this the priest is to go in and inspect the house. He is to examine the mildew on the walls, and if it has greenish or reddish depressions that appear to be deeper than the surface of the wall, the priest shall go out the doorway of the house and close it up for seven days. On the seventh day the priest shall return to inspect the house. If the mildew has spread on the walls, he is to order that the contaminated stones be torn out and thrown into an unclean place outside the town. He must have all the inside walls of the house scraped and the material that is scraped off dumped into an unclean place outside the town. Then they are to take other stones to replace these and take new clay and plaster the house.
"If the mildew reappears in the house after the stones have been torn out and the house scraped and plastered, the priest is to go and examine it and, if the mildew has spread in the house, it is a destructive mildew; the house is unclean. It must be torn down--its stones, timbers and all the plaster--and taken out of the town to an unclean place.
"Anyone who goes into the house while it is closed up will be unclean till evening. Anyone who sleeps or eats in the house must wash his clothes.
"But if the priest comes to examine it and the mildew has not spread after the house has been plastered, he shall pronounce the house clean, because the mildew is gone. To purify the house he is to take two birds and some cedar wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop. He shall kill one of the birds over fresh water in a clay pot. Then he is to take the cedar wood, the hyssop, the scarlet yarn and the live bird, dip them into the blood of the dead bird and the fresh water, and sprinkle the house seven times. He shall purify the house with the bird's blood, the fresh water, the live bird, the cedar wood, the hyssop and the scarlet yarn. Then he is to release the live bird in the open fields outside the town. In this way he will make atonement for the house, and it will be clean" (Leviticus 14:33-53).
Here, God instructs the people of Israel to use the same procedure to cleanse a house as to cleanse a human leper. Though we are dealing with mildews and molds and fungi, the kinds of things which can appear on the walls of a house, these growing infections are symbolically identical to the infection of leprosy in a human being. I have been in the tropics and have seen plaster walls that were covered with green mold, and I can tell you that it truly does appear is if the house has a disease such as leprosy.
We have seen that these instructions for dealing with infected people and contaminated objects all have symbolic meaning for our lives. What, then, does a mildew-infected house symbolize for us today?
Remember that the New Testament calls the church "God's household" or "the house of God" (see 1 Timothy 3:15; Hebrews 10:21). This, of course is not a reference to a church building but to the true dwelling place of God--His people. So when we see a house used in Leviticus, what does it symbolize? Clearly, it is an assembly of God's people. Today, we know that assembly as the church. And the church, like a house, can become contaminated and infected in such a way that it resembles leprosy. When God's church becomes infected, it must be cleansed. This sometimes requires drastic treatment.
God lays out a process of dealing with a house that has a stubborn mildew contamination. The contaminated stones must be torn out and discarded in a trash dump outside of town; then the walls must be scraped clean and new stones and plaster must be used to repair the house and replace the discarded material. And if the mildew reappears even after these measures have been undertaken, then the house must be declared unclean, and it must he dismantled and the stones and timbers must be sent to the trash dump.
We see this principle at work in the New Testament where Paul writes to the Corinthian church about an infection of immorality in the church. There was a man in the church who was living incestuously with his father' wife, his stepmother (see 1 Corinthians 5:1-5). The situation was so scandalous that even the pagans in the city were offended. Yet many of the Corinthian Christians were boasting about how broad-minded they were!
Paul replied, "And you are proud! Shouldn't you rather have been filled with grief and have put out of your fellowship the man who did this?" In other words, Paul told them they should remove the offender from their midst, just as God had told the people of Israel to remove contaminated stones from their homes. Paul went on to reprove the Corinthian Christians for other wrongs they had allowed to arise--so he was scraping their contaminated plaster, too!
When Paul wrote his second letter to the Corinthians, he used a different tone. The severe treatment had its desired effect--a cleansing effect. The house--the church in Corinth--was preserved. In fact, God graciously restored the lost stone; the man who had sinned with his father's wife repented and was reinstated in the house of God.
What God pictures for us in this section of Leviticus is church discipline. Sometimes, disciplinary action must be exercised in the church in order to arrest a contagious infection and prevent it from spreading to the other members of the church. If the infection is not halted, a day will come when the entire house must be destroyed. This is pictured for us by the house with the infection that will not go away and which must be torn down, every stone and every timber, and disposed of outside of town.
In the opening chapters of Revelation are seven letters from the Lord Jesus to seven churches in Asia. In those letters, the Lord, as the Great High Priest, examines seven of His houses. In each one He sees certain things that are wrong and need to be corrected. He gives careful directions as to what must take place in order to resolve the problem. In each case He says that a failure to heed His warning will result in judgment--the uncleansed house will be broken down and will cease to have a testimony in the community where it lives.
This is what God does when Christians fail to remove the contamination of sin in their midst. The house is broken down, and the testimony disappears. If the people in the church will not clean their house, God will clean it for them--and leave nothing standing.
The chapter goes on to make provision for the ceremonial cleansing of a house in which the contamination has been arrested. Once again, God uses the symbol of two birds--one slain, the other dipped in the blood then released to the heavens. This ritual depicts the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ as the only basis upon which the church, the house of God, can be cleansed.
The final lines of Leviticus 14 reveal once more God's tender concern and compassion for His people.
These are the regulations for any infectious skin disease, for an itch, for mildew in clothing or in a house, and for a swelling, a rash or a bright spot, to determine when something is clean or unclean. These are the regulations for infectious skin diseases and mildew (Leviticus 14:54-57).
God wants every spot to he examined, because it could be harmful to the individual or to the community. This is true whether we are speaking of a spot of leprosy on the body, a spot of mildew on a garment or the wall of a house, or a spot of immorality in a human life or in the church. God loves His people, and He instructs us so that we may be protected from the things that corrupt and destroy.
Once again, we see that God desires our wholeness and our holiness, which are truly one and the same thing. He wants us to be able to clearly distinguish between that which is harmful and that which is wholesome and holy. As the key verse of Leviticus tells us, God tells us: "You are to be holy to me because I, the LORD, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own" (Leviticus 20:26).
God calls us to be whole people, for He is a whole Person. He calls us to look at our attitudes, our habits, our relationships, and our behavior. Where we see unhealthiness and contamination, He calls us to healing and cleansing. So let us heed His call on our lives. Let us examine ourselves and invite others in the priesthood of all believers to examine our lives. Let us be healed and restored, cleansed and renewed, whole and holy, for we serve a whole and holy God.
15 THE MOST FEARED CHAPTER IN LEVITICUS
Leviticus 15
Today we come to the famous fifteenth chapter of Leviticus. One Sunday, while I was in the middle of a series of messages on Leviticus, a member of the congregation came to me after church and said, "Pastor, I'm fearful."
I said, "Fearful of what?"
He said, "I am a little afraid of what you're going to say when you come to the fifteenth chapter of Leviticus!"
What is it about Leviticus 15 that makes some Christians feel anxious and concerned? Answer: Bodily functions. Even in this anything-goes media age in which we live, when almost every taboo has been broken on television, radio, and in the movies, people still feel uncomfortable to find these matters discussed in their Bibles. Many Christians feel these matters are so personal and private that it is not proper to refer to them in public. My reply is this: If God didn't intend Leviticus 15 to be read, He would not have written it.
The book of Proverbs assures us that "every word of God is pure" (Proverbs 30:5 KJV). There is nothing immoral, indecent, or unclean about any portion of Scripture, even though it often deals with the immorality, indecency, and uncleanness of human beings and the human condition. If the Holy Spirit of God, who inspired the Bible, is guilty of poor taste, then what is the measure of good taste?
When it comes to Leviticus 15, our attitudes need to be corrected. It is the Word of God that judges and corrects our lives; it is not we who judge and correct the Word of God. If the Bible offends us, then we should reexamine our prudishness and hypersensitivity. The Bible looks at the human body with a wonderful frankness, and its treatment of the functions of the body is candid but never vulgar.
Like many Christians, I was raised under a Victorian morality which assumed that the human body ended at the waist--nothing below that point should ever be mentioned. Today, of course, that Victorian morality has almost vanished, to be replaced by an extreme and shocking permissiveness in matters of sexual and bodily functions. I suspect that much of that permissiveness is the direct result of an overreaction to the old Victorian prudery.
The human race seems incapable of ever finding a balanced approach toward the human body. Throughout history, the pendulum has swung from one extreme to the other but has never really settled at that balanced view that God expresses in His Word. God, of course, created our bodies and our sex drive, and He pronounced it good. There is nothing sinful or shameful about the way we are constructed, the way our bodies function, or with a frank discussion of such matters. When we read in Leviticus 15 of such matters as menstruation, seminal emissions, or the normal discharges of elimination, there is no need for us to blush or feel embarrassed. If we do, it is a sign that we need to adjust to reality.
Sound Sanitary Precautions
I am reminded of the time I was discharged from the United States Navy at the end of World War II. Every soldier and sailor leaving military service had to undergo a physical examination. There were over two hundred men gathered in one building, all stripped naked. We stood in line and passed by a series of doctors who gave us an extremely thorough examination. At one point, as we approached a particularly humbling and embarrassing part of the examination, the man next in line to me remarked, "I just can't get over how many things the United States Navy is interested in!"
As we come to this chapter, we marvel at how many aspects of our lives God is interested in. You can't read Leviticus without seeing how intimately God is concerned with His people. He regulates their food, clothing, and activities for the sake of their health and happiness. He gives advice on every matter of life. Those who accuse God of being remote and unconcerned about the human race need only to read Leviticus to get a very different impression. No wonder the Lord Jesus said to His disciples, "Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered" (Luke 12:7). Everything about us is of great concern to our heavenly Father.
We will also see, as we look at these various bodily functions from God's perspective, that there are still more symbols and pictures that relate to spiritual realities in our lives today. The chapter divides into sections. Leviticus 15:1-18 deals with bodily functions concerning men; Leviticus 15:19-30 deal with bodily functions of women; Leviticus 15:31-33 forms a brief summary. The first problem addressed in this passage deals with bodily discharges associated with certain diseases.
The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Speak to the Israelites and say to them: "When any man has a bodily discharge, the discharge is unclean. Whether it continues flowing from his body or is blocked, it will make him unclean. This is how his discharge will bring about uncleanness" (Leviticus 15:1-3).
When people get sick, they experience bodily discharges such as diarrhea and runny noses. God is concerned for His people, and He wants them to avoid spreading these illnesses from person to person, so He set up rules of cleanliness and quarantine to prevent the spread of disease throughout His people.
"'Any bed the man with a discharge lies on will be unclean, and anything he sits on will be unclean. Anyone who touches his bed must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean till evening. Whoever sits on anything that the man with a discharge sat on must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will he unclean till evening.
"'Whoever touches the man who has a discharge must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean till evening.
"If the man with the discharge spits on someone who is clean, that person must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean till evening.
"'Everything the man sits on when tiding will be unclean, and whoever touches any of the things that were under him will he unclean till evening; whoever picks up those things must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean till evening.
"Anyone the man with a discharge touches without rinsing his hands with water must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean till evening.
"A clay pot that the man touches must be broken, and any wooden article is to be rinsed with water'" (Leviticus 15:4-12).
It is important for us to remember the people of that day had no understanding of such matters as bacteria and viruses and the transmission of infectious diseases. When they heard and followed these instructions, it was all a matter of ritual to them. They followed these practices as a matter of religious ceremony, not as a matter of scientific understanding or sanitary precaution.
So it is all the more amazing that the procedures described in these chapters are almost exactly the same procedures used in hospitals today to prevent the spread of contagious diseases. In today's healthcare environment, the objects touched by a sick person are considered unclean and need to be sterilized or disposed of before they can he used by other people. Those who come in contact with a sick person must wash and remove the contamination that could spread the disease. These practices were anticipated in a book written some seventeen or eighteen centuries before Christ and were imposed upon God's people by their heavenly Father in order to safeguard them from plagues and epidemics that were rampant in the ancient world. When God called His people out of Egypt, He promised them, "If you listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals you" (Exodus 15:26). This is the way God fulfilled His promise. He instructed them in procedures of sanitizing and quarantining, to prevent the spread of contagious disease.
These restrictions and regulations saved the nation of Israel from many dangerous plagues which decimated the pagan populations around them. In fact, I suspect that these health guidelines from God are a major reason that Israel has been preserved as a nation throughout the centuries.
Sex and Symbolism
Once a person was relieved of these discharges and cleansed, he was to offer a sacrificial offering, as we have seen in earlier instances in Leviticus.
"'When a man is cleansed from his discharge, he is to count off seven days for his ceremonial cleansing; he must wash his clothes and bathe himself with freshwater, and he will be clean. On the eighth day he must take two doves or two young pigeons and come before the LORD to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and give them to the priest. The priest is to sacrifice them, the one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. In this way he will make atonement before the LORD for the man because of his discharge" (Leviticus 15:13-15).
The illnesses referred to here were of a much less serious nature than the disease of leprosy which was addressed in Leviticus 12 and Leviticus 13. The healed leper had to undergo a much more rigorous cleansing ceremony than we see here, involving a series of offerings. In Leviticus 15, however, the simplest of the offerings is prescribed: two turtledoves or two young pigeons, one for a sin offering, one for a burnt offering. This is the least expensive and most readily available of the offerings.
Notice, however, that God never sets aside the requirement for the blood of an innocent substitute. By this means, God underscores the fact that human nature needs to be dealt with by blood, by a life being poured out. Our defilement and contamination is a deep and complicated problem. Throughout Leviticus, God constantly underscores the need for a blood sacrifice, because He continually points His people toward the sacrifice of Jesus.
Next, God deals with a second type of bodily discharge which involves male sexuality.
""When a man has an emission of semen, he must bathe his whole body with water, and he will he unclean till evening. Any clothing or leather that has semen on it must be washed with water, and it will be unclean till evening. When a man lies with a woman and there is an emission of semen, both must bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening'" (Leviticus 15:16-18).
Here, God deals with the emission of semen in the context of married sex. It is important to understand that this passage does not suggest in any way that sex in marriage is immoral or dirty. 'Why, then, does God require the man and woman to bathe? Why are they to be considered "unclean till evening"?
This is simply God's reminder of the fact that human nature is fallen and polluted by sin and that our fallen nature is passed on even as a man passes his semen to a woman and a child is conceived. The child that is the product of that sex act will have the same fallen and sinful nature that the parents were born with. The symbolism of the washing and ceremonial uncleanness speak of our desperate need for a Savior---yet the marital sex act itself is holy, moral, and good.
What Makes Us "Unclean"
Next, God deals with the intimate issues of a woman's body. Leviticus 15:19-30 deals with the monthly menstrual flow of women and with problems caused by diseases.
"'When a woman has her regular flow of blood, the impurity of her monthly period will last seven days, and anyone who touches her will be unclean till evening.
"Anything she lies on during her period will be unclean, and anything she sits on will be unclean. Whoever touches her bed must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean till evening. 'Whoever touches anything she sits on must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean till evening. 'Whether it is the bed or anything she was sitting on, when anyone touches it, he will be unclean till evening.
"'If a man lies with her and her monthly flow touches him, he will be unclean for seven days; any bed he lies on will be unclean.
"'When a woman has a discharge of blood for many days at a time other than her monthly period or has a discharge that continues beyond her period, she will be unclean as long as she has the discharge, just as in the days of her period. Any bed she lies on while her discharge continues will he unclean, as is her bed during her monthly period, and anything she sits on will be unclean, as during her period. Whoever touches them will be unclean; he must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean till evening.
"'When she is cleansed from her discharge, she must count off seven days, and after that she will be ceremonially clean. On the eighth day she must take two doves or two young pigeons and bring them to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. The priest is to sacrifice one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. In this way he will make atonement for her before the LORD for the uncleanness of her discharge."
Again, in these references to ceremonial uncleanness, to bathing and cleansing and sacrifices, God is not suggesting that there is anything morally wrong or dirty about this female function. The symbolic significance and the offerings are exactly the same as when a man has an emission of semen. Here again, God uses this regular monthly function as a reminder of our human need for a sacrifice that cleanses us and removes our defilement. God continually points the attention of His people toward Jesus, who was offered for our sins.
The primary significance of this section of Leviticus is not the issue of physical hygiene but the spiritual and symbolic meaning of these issues. God gave us these pictures in the Old Testament to remind us of our spiritual need for God and for a Savior. This is what Paul meant when he wrote to the Christians in Rome, "For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope" (Romans 15:4).
We don't have to guess at the spiritual application God intended for this passage, because Jesus Himself made those applications clear. He said, "Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. Nothing outside a man can make him 'unclean' by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him 'unclean'" (Mark 7:14-15). Mark added a parenthetical comment: "(In saying this, Jesus declared all foods 'clean')." Jesus is telling us that nothing we eat or drink can defile us, either ceremonially and morally. There are no unclean foods. There may be dangerous food, even poisonous food, but it is not unclean in a moral sense. It is what comes out of us that defiles us.
Jesus makes it clear that He is speaking in a moral and spiritual sense; He is not referring to physical, bodily discharges. He goes on to say, "What comes out of a man is what makes him 'unclean.' For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality; theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean" (Mark 7:20-23). That is the Lord's commentary on Leviticus 15. He is lifting our eyes from the merely physical level to the level of the soul and spirit, the level on which we are to live before God.
Jesus tells us that it is our sins that defile the human spirit, the human tabernacle in which the Spirit of God has taken up residence. Some of these sins, such as murder, adultery, and theft, are acts that decent people generally find unthinkable. But Jesus also lists sins that are common to us all, even Christians: evil thoughts, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance, and folly. Even the most devoted and spiritual-minded of believers wrestles with these sins. They come out of us without planning or premeditation. They flow from our fallen nature, even though we are believers and have a new relationship with Christ.
What are we to do about these sins? Are we to merely ignore them? No, for our sins will add up against us and stack up in our subconscious if we do not deal with them. Our guilt will increase, and a sense of shame and restlessness will enter our spirits. Eventually a coldness will settle over our hearts, extinguishing the fire of our passion for God and the warmth of our love for others. That is what happens when we repeatedly defile the sanctuary of this human tabernacle in which we dwelt.
So God has provided a remedy. First, a person who is defiled shall bathe. As we have already seen, washing is always a picture of the action of the Word of God. The individual shall consult God's Word and see what God has to say about each defiling deed, thought, statement, tone of voice, and attitude of heart. The washing of the Word is the beginning of cleansing.
What does God mean when He says, "and he will he unclean till evening"? We have seen this phrase all through Leviticus, and we need to know what it conforms to in our spiritual experience. In the Old Testament, we see that there were two ways that people could be rejected, by God and by the nation of Israel, as a result of their sin. First, they could be called "unclean" by God. Second, they could be 'cut off" from the people and be called an "abomination" before the Lord.
To put this in New Testament terms, to be unclean would correspond to what we call being out of fellowship. It means to pull back from dependence upon the Spirit of God and to choose to live, in a momentary sense, according to the flesh and the old nature. There is a break in communion with the Spirit of God so that the flow of the life of Christ in the believer is temporarily arrested. Although Christ doesn't forsake that individual for even a moment, that individual has lost something--the joy that comes from being in fellowship with Jesus Christ. That is what it means to be unclean.
To be cut off from the people corresponds to what the New Testament calls apostasy. Apostasy is the state of having moved so far from the core principles of one's faith that one must be set aside by God and the church. This is sometimes expressed as being "handed over to Satan." In 1 Corinthians 5:5, Paul speaks of a man living an openly immoral lifestyle, and he says, "Hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord." And in 1 Timothy 1:20, Paul refers to "Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme." If he or she is allowed to continue on the path of apostasy, a person will ultimately become an enemy of the faith and of Jesus Christ.
Uncleanness, being less serious, is a condition that lasts until evening and then is considered to be ended. The words "and he will be unclean till evening" are instructive for us because, among the Hebrews, the day began at sunset. When evening comes, a new day begins. So the uncleanness continued until a new beginning, until the sun set and a new day began. There is a spiritual counterpart of this new beginning at sunset. In the spiritual life, we experience a new beginning when we repent of our fleshly way of life and return to a place of trust in God and obedience to the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is the Lord of creation, so restored fellowship with Him results in a new beginning.
This new beginning takes place whenever we repent, change our minds, and stop defending and excusing our sinful thoughts, words, and actions. Until we repent and become renewed in our trust and obedience to God, we remain unclean. That is how contamination gradually creeps into our soul and spirit, defiling the sanctuary in which God chooses to dwell. In this passage in Leviticus, God teaches that we must deal with the uncleanness that occasional defiles our lives, and we must continually renew our relationship with Him.
The Water and the Blood
It is important for us to notice that cleansing comes through the offering of blood. All through Leviticus, we find that God's cleansing agents are water and blood. The apostle John tells us, "This is the one who came by water and blood--Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood" (1 John 5:6). Jesus came to cleanse us in this twofold way.
The blood speaks of the death of Jesus on our behalf, which frees God to love us without any restraint whatsoever. The blood is what God really sees. The blood of the innocent Substitute pays the debt of our guilt and thus God is vindicated in His justice. God has poured out upon Another all the horrible wrath which He has in His holy nature against sin, so that the world can see that God means it when He says that He hates sin.
The water speaks of the washing of the Word. God's Word cleanses our conscience. You can say, "Yes, God has forgiven me," yet many people who say that fail to go on and forgive themselves. They don't allow their conscience to he cleansed. But when we read in the Word of God that Jesus has washed away our sins and cleansed us from all unrighteousness (see Acts 22:16; 1 John 1:9), and when we believe what God's Word tells us, then our conscience is cleansed, and we are clean indeed.
We often quote 1 John 1:9 while failing to truly apply its meaning to our lives: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." When we read those words, we need to experience God's cleansing by saying to ourselves, "If God said that, He must mean it. So I have to stop beating myself up over sins that God has forgiven and forgotten. God has cleansed me, so I am clean indeed."' That is the effect of the water, the washing of God's Word.
The water and the blood work together, cleansing the conscience and freeing us from guilt before the justice of God. He has designed this process to keep us free from contamination, so that we can truly live for Him.
"'You must keep the Israelites separate from things that make them unclean, so they will not die in their uncleanness for defiling my dwelling place, which is among them. '"These are the regulations for a man with a discharge, for anyone made unclean by an emission of semen, for a woman in her monthly period, for a man or a woman with a discharge, and for a man who lies with a woman who is ceremonially unclean (Leviticus 15:31-33).
God is careful to ensure that we walk in a way that will allow Him to pour out to us the fullness of His glory joy, and peace. When we fail to experience these qualities in our lives, it is often because we have allowed contamination into our lives and remain uncleansed. We didn't intend to rebel against God or sin against God. But we allowed unclean thoughts, attitudes, words, and actions to creep into our lifestyle, and we failed to cleanse ourselves.
If we are to truly live for God and enjoy His presence in our lives, we must be cleansed. We must deal regularly with the sins that so easily sneak into our lives and contaminate us. Many young Christians, in particular, struggle in this area. They start their Christian adventure filled with joy and enthusiasm. After a while, however, their Christian experience seems to go stale, and they don't know why. They have not yet learned to deal with the unavoidable discharges and unclean emissions of their lives--the hurtful things they think, say, and do.
As we learn to apply God's remedy, the sanctuary of our lives w