Loving The Unlovely
Phil. 2:1-11
One of the hallmarks of true Christianity is the ability Christ gives his followers to love the unlovely. Something that sets Christianity apart from the other world religions is the Jesus fueled capacity to treat others the way we want to be treated. There is a reason why the caste system still operates in India today, and it is connected to Hinduism.1 One of the closely guarded secrets of our day is the prevalence of the sex trade in fundamentalists Islamic countries. Why is it that a country like Iran, that will stone a teenage girl to death for walking down the road holding her boyfriend‘s hand, has seen a 635% increase in legalized prostitution in the years it has been in power? Why is it that in Tehran you can find over 200 houses of prostitution with over 80,000 prostitutes working the streets? Why is it that the head of Iran‘s Interpol bureau believes that the sex trade is one of Iran‘s most profitable activities?2 It has to do with Islam‘s view of women. There is a reason why the slave trade is flourishing in Islamic countries, and it has to do with their belief system.3
Contrast this with the influence Christianity has had over the years. Who was the driving force behind the abolition of slavery in England? William Wilberforce. Was he just a social ―do-gooder,‖ was he a wealthy philanthropist who had a soft heart, or was there something more important driving him? There was something more compelling him to stand up for the dignity of all men, and it was his commitment to Christ. Wilberforce came to Christ for salvation under the ministry of John Wesley, and in fact, the last letter Wesley ever wrote was to Wilberforce encouraging him to carry on in his work.
John Piper writes of Wilberforce like this. ‗What made Wilberforce tick was a profound Biblical allegiance to what he called the ―peculiar doctrines‖ of Christianity. These, he said, give rise, in turn, to true affections—what we might call ―passion‖ or ―emotions‖—for spiritual things, which, in turn, break the power of pride and greed and fear, and then lead to transformed morals which, in turn, lead to the political welfare of the nation. He said, ―If … a principle of true Religion [i.e., true Christianity] should … gain ground, there is no estimating the effects on public morals, and the consequent influence on our political welfare.‖‘
Wilberforce wasn‘t the only reason behind the abolition of slavery. Thomas Sowell says, ―The anti-slavery movement was spearheaded by people who would today be called ―the religious right‖ and its organization was created by conservative businessmen. Moreover, what destroyed slavery in the non-Western world was Western imperialism. Nothing could be more jolting and discordant with the vision of today‘s intellectuals than the fact that it was businessmen, devout religious leaders and Western imperialists who together destroyed slavery around the world.‖4
The reason Christianity operates this way is because of its founder, Jesus Christ, and we see the example he set in Phil. 2:1-11. Read these verses along with me.
If therefore there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, 2 make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. 3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself (do you see how this flies in the face of other world religions?); 4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. 5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Note the example Jesus sets for us as his followers:
1. He left a place of comfort and honor to go to a place of privation and derision. Think about what it would be like for you to leave your life and all its creature comforts and move to the Sudan. Now, multiply that by several thousand times and you see what Jesus had to go through to leave heaven and live on earth!
2. He associated himself primarily with the working class, the socially marginalized, and even the outcasts. He certainly didn‘t receive the royal treatment when he got here.
3. He focused ministry on the receptive needy, not the affluent indifferent. Jesus seemed to focus his ministry on those people who didn‘t have the capacity to reciprocate. What a difference between the groups of people Jesus targeted for ministry and the people most church planters target for establishing new churches.
The point I am making here is that Jesus sets the example for us emptying ourselves, crossing social barriers and loving the unlovely. This example runs 180 degrees opposite to our human nature.
Sociologists have a term called the ―homogeneity principle.‖ In a nutshell, it says that human beings like to hang out with other people just like them. The statistic is that you can go to any group of humans on the globe (e.g., a volunteer fire company, a local church, a bar, a neighborhood, a health club) and you will find that 80% of the people in the group are just like each other in three categories: their level of education, their level of income, and their ethnicity. 10% of the people in that group will be lower than the rest, and 10% will be higher than the rest. What this tells us about human nature is that we like to be with other people who are just like us!
But the example Jesus sets for us compels us to do things that are contrary to human leanings, and history is full of examples. If you‘d like to do an interesting study, look into the life of Father Damien, a catholic priest who ministered to the lepers of Hawaii. He ended up contracting the dreaded disease and eventually died as a result of his leprosy. But his Christianity compelled him to love the unlovely. Think of the Moravian men who sold themselves into slavery so they could be shipped to the islands to work on the sugar cane plantations, and minister to the slaves there.
There is a movie currently out called Of Gods and Men, and it is a great illustration of this point. It is the true story of a group of monks living in a monastery in Islamic Algeria during the 1990‘s when there was a bloody civil war. They have to decide if they want to leave or stay with their community when that community comes under threat by militant Islamic terrorists. They stay, because that is what followers of Christ do. When the mayor of the village offers to station government troops at the monastery for their protection, they decline the offer, and sure enough, seven of them get kidnapped by the terrorists, and they are found two months later, beheaded. Sometimes that is where following the example of Jesus will lead you. It‘s certainly where Jesus ended up.
I think of all the orphanages that were established by Christians meeting practical needs of society. Think of all the hospitals that were founded for the same purpose. Think of the social programs churches used to run that provided food, shelter, education, and clothing for the destitute. It all has to do with following the example Jesus set of ministering to the needy. And when the church relinquished its responsibility in these areas and gave them to the government, poverty exploded, the cost of health care exploded, and the cost of social services exploded, and the cost of adoptions exploded. What is the connection?
The connection is that when the motive for each of these changed from selfless ministry in the name of Christ to revenue producing enterprises, the cost of these activities exploded. It shouldn‘t cost $20,000.00 to adopt a baby from Russia, but why does it? Because adoption agencies aren‘t serving Christ, they are generating revenue. It shouldn‘t cost $24,000.00 for an appendectomy, but it does. Why? Because hospitals aren‘t in the business of Christian, physical compassion anymore, they have boards of directors to answer to and have to show a profit. It shouldn‘t cost $99 billion to take care of poverty in America, but it does. Why? Because welfare is big business.
Are you starting to see the difference Christ makes in practical ways? Jesus set the standard when he left his place of comfort and went to a place of deprivation, when he associated himself with the socially ostracized, and when he focused ministry on the needy who couldn‘t minister back to him. And there are times when Jesus calls on us to follow Him in this manner. So I‘d like Shaun to come up at this time and share with us his testimony of where he spent last weekend, because it is a perfect illustration of being obedient to the call of Jesus.
I want to end our study about loving the unlovely with a powerful passage in Luke 6. It is found in verses 31 – 35.
31 "And just as you want people to treat you, treat them in the same way. 32 "And if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.33 "And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 "And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, in order to receive back the same amount. 35 "But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.
Do you see the difference between ministering to those who have the capacity to reciprocate, and ministry to those who can‘t reciprocate? Ministry to those who can minister back isn‘t wrong, it‘s legitimate ministry. But that isn‘t what distinguishes a follower of Christ – even unsaved people do that. What makes us stand out is our willingness to
love the unlovely,
do good to the ungrateful, and
lend without any expectation of return.
The promise of Jesus is that if we will do that, our reward will be great, we will be demonstrating that we are sons of God, and we will be truly following the example of Jesus.
Footnotes:
1 http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/dharmadata/fdd53.htm
2 A measure of Islamic fundamentalists‘ success in controlling society is the depth and totality with which they suppress the freedom and rights of women. In Iran for 25 years, the ruling mullahs have enforced humiliating and sadistic rules and punishments on women and girls, enslaving them in a gender apartheid system of segregation, forced veiling, second-class status, lashing, and stoning to death. Joining a global trend, the fundamentalists have added another way to dehumanize women and girls: buying and selling them for prostitution. Exact numbers of victims are impossible to obtain, but according to an official source in Tehran, there has been a 635 percent increase in the number of teenage girls in prostitution. The magnitude of this statistic conveys how rapidly this form of abuse has grown. In Tehran, there are an estimated 84,000 women and girls in prostitution, many of them are on the streets, others are in the 250 brothels that reportedly operate in the city. The trade is also international: thousands of Iranian women and girls have been sold into sexual slavery abroad. The head of Iran‘s Interpol bureau believes that the sex slave trade is one of the most profitable activities in Iran today. This criminal trade is not conducted outside the knowledge and participation of the ruling fundamentalists. Government officials themselves are involved in buying, selling, and sexually abusing women and girls. http://www.uri.edu/artsci/wms/hughes/iran_sex_slave_trade
3 Tragically, Muslims are still enslaving blacks today in Africa. African-American economist Dr Walter Williams of George Mason University writes in Black Slavery is Alive in 2001:‗Slavery in the Sudan is in part a result of a 15-year war by the Muslim north against the black Christian and animist south. Arab militias, armed by the Khartoum government, raid villages, mostly those of the Dinka tribe. They shoot the men and enslave the women and children. Women and children are kept as personal property or they‘re taken north and auctioned off. http://creation.com/anti-slavery-activist-william-wilberforce-christian-hero
4 http://creation.com/anti-slavery-activist-william-wilberforce-christian-hero
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Clean and Unclean - Part Two
Studies in Leviticus
Clean and Unclean – Part 2
Lev. 11 - 15
I‟d like you to turn in your Bible this morning to Lev. 11:44. Two weeks ago we were in Lev. 11 – 15, and we started to consider the concepts of “clean” and “unclean” in the life of Israel. We saw that things that were “clean” were acceptable to God, and the things that were “unclean” were unacceptable to God. It really is a very simple concept. Sometimes you had control over being clean or unclean, and sometimes you didn‟t. These five chapters deal with food, skin disease, bodily discharges, mildew, and procreation. We ended our survey of these chapters here in Lev. 11:44 where I shared with you God’s rationale and Israel’s response. The thinking behind these guidelines, stated generally, is that the God who created the nation of Israel and delivered them from bondage in Egypt had the unequivocal right to regulate their lives as He saw fit. When you are the creator and deliverer, that is your prerogative! We see this in the phrase, “For I am the Lord your God.” The response on the part of Israel is seen in the next phrase, “Consecrate yourselves therefore and be holy, for I am holy.” They were to separate themselves from their surroundings (the concept behind “consecration”) so they could be in fellowship with God.
This concept of separation from our surroundings lies at the heart of our memory passage, so let‟s say it again before we start to make some practical application from these five chapters.
“Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, „Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, „I am the LORD your God. You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes. You are to perform My judgments and keep My statutes, to live in accord with them; I am the LORD your God. So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which a man may live if he does them; I am the LORD.‟”
What I want to do this morning is go a little further and show you that there is more going on here than God simply doing whatever He wants to with His people. There is more here than some autocrat exercising the whims of his power. So let me give you four secondary purposes behind the laws of the clean and the unclean.
1. God was building a barrier between His people and the surrounding cultures.
As I mentioned several weeks ago, if a person practiced these stipulations rigorously, it would be impossible for him to have any significant level of relationship with the surrounding nations. Why?
A. Because of the very limited diet. The nations around Israel did not have such a structured diet, so an Israelite was running the risk of contaminating himself any time he accepted an invitation to have a meal with someone of the surrounding nations. Take for instance the coney, or rock badger. It was a delicacy in that part of the world, and could easily be a meat the Canaanites would serve if they were having a guest over for a meal. But the Israelites couldn‟t eat them. Their limited diet served as a barrier between them and their surrounding cultures.
B. Because their cleanliness could so easily be compromised. Any time an Israelite touched something that had been touched by something unclean, he himself became unclean. Remember the point I made about how uncleanliness could be spread to inanimate objects as well as other people. If you had an open sore on your body and were under observation by the priest, if you sat on a stool, that stool became unclean. And if someone in your family came along and sat on that stool, he himself became unclean for the rest of the day. So the chances are very high that if you visited the home of your Canaanite neighbor or spent time shopping in their marketplace, you would become unclean.
C. Because of the public nature of being unclean. When you were unclean, basically everybody around you knew it. It was hard to keep it a secret. You were forbidden from tabernacle activities. In some cases you had to verbally announce your uncleanness. In some cases you were physically separated from the entire nation for observation. If you were sensitive to those around you were very cautious not to spread your state of being unclean. Do you see how this point would restrict your contact with the nations around you?
So the first thing God was doing with these guidelines was creating a barrier between His people and the surrounding nations. The next thing God was doing, which is very significant, maybe even the most significant, is that He was demonstrating the impossibility of holiness through human effort.
2. God was demonstrating the impossibility of holiness through human effort.
Probably the most startling dimension of this concept of cleanliness is the reality that the people of Israel were incapable of maintaining lasting fellowship with God. Look with me at 14:33 where we see a very interesting verse that illustrates this. “The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, „When you come into the land of Canaan, which I give you for a possession and I put a case of leprous disease in a house in the land of your possession, then he who owns the house shall come and tell the priest, „There seems to me to be some case of disease in my house.‟” Did you catch the significance of that? It was possible for you to be doing everything you were supposed to to maintain fellowship with God, and then bam! Here‟s mildew in the house, everything in the house is unclean, and because I have touched it, now I‟m unclean. And my separation from God is not because of something I have done, it is because God has put a case of the leprous disease in my house.
Last week I shared with you that normal, bodily functions made you unclean. In certain instances, obedience to God‟s expectations made you unclean. I want us to appreciate the reality of this situation because if you disobey, you are separated from God, and if you obey, you are separated as well. What‟s the deal with that? God was sending a very powerful message, and then illustrating it physically, that holiness by human effort is impossible. The nation of Israel couldn‟t do it 4,000 years ago no matter how hard they tried, and we can‟t do it today either!
So we see that God is doing some very important things with these rules for cleanliness and uncleanliness. He is building a barrier between His people and the cultures around them, and He was showing them that holiness through human effort was impossible. The third thing I want to show you this morning is that God was instilling in his people a profound reverence for human life.
3. God was instilling in His people a profound reverence for human life.
I‟ve spent quite a bit of time over the last month meditating on Lev. 12 which deals with childbirth, and Lev. 15, which in part deals with procreation. As I expressed several weeks ago, I was struggling with why something that was created by God, and ordained by God as holy, and blessed by God - would put you into a state of dis-fellowship with God. The immediate answer that came to me I shared with you – conception and birth brings another sinner into the world. So I understood the childbirth part, but what about the other parts in chapter 15 that deal with male emissions and female cycles and the consequences of marital intimacy?
To understand what is going on here, we need to contrast the culture of Lev. 15 with the culture of the evangelical church. From our perspective, marital intimacy is viewed primarily from the perspective of pleasure. It is a God ordained activity that is the pinnacle of the human sensory experience, and we need to appreciate that God created us this way deliberately. He could have created us in such a way that the female of the species went into estrus, and the male of the species could sense that. But we aren‟t animals, God created us differently, and we are right to perceive this as God‟s gracious gift to us as humans. But what we evangelicals have lost, though, is the procreative potential that accompanies that intimacy. By embracing the concept of contraception, we have inadvertently downplayed the primary purpose of our sexuality. We like the idea of conception, but only on our terms! In other words, if the mother‟s health is conducive to it, or if the house is large enough, or if the family income is sufficient, or if the father has health insurance, or if we don‟t already have several children – then we like the idea of conception.
Contrast that perspective with Lev. 15. In Israel‟s culture, every single dimension of conception, both male and female, both married and single, was marked by one day of being unclean! Why? Because it is a God thing. Every single month, each woman of childbearing age spent a week reflecting on God‟s role in conception. Every time a husband and wife were intimate, they both spent a day contemplating the spiritual dimension of conception. It was impossible in Israel‟s culture to separate marital intimacy from the potential for human life. This is why Judaism as a culture has a profound respect for life, as these statistics show. In the US,
Women identifying themselves as Protestants obtain 37.4% of all abortions,
Catholic women account for 31.3%,
Women with no religious affiliation obtain 23.7%,
18% of all abortions are performed on women who identify themselves as "Born-again/Evangelical," and
Jewish women account for 1.3% of all abortions.
This is why I say that the rules of clean and unclean created in Israel a profound reverence for human life.
The final thing I want to show you about these rules guiding what is clean and unclean I am saving for last on purpose, because it really is the least significant of these four points. And that is that God was protecting the physical well-being of His people.
4. God was protecting the physical well-being of His people.
As you read these chapters, you can‟t help but notice that something in the physical realm was taking place. What kind of animals were they prohibited from eating? Generally speaking, bottom feeding, scavenging, and predatory animals. In other words, those animals who were at risk for disease because of their own diets. And if you eat a diseased animal, guess who gets that disease?
We see more of this practical dimension in that infectious skin diseases were very closely regulated or even quarantined. Why? Because of how easily they can spread throughout the family and even an entire community. The same is true for how mildew or mold was to be treated. In addition, it makes sense not to touch dead animals because of the possibility of contracting disease yourself. So its easy to see that God had built into His nation some basic rules for the prevention and containment of disease.
But I mention this last because I want you to see it in its proper perspective. I think it is very unfortunate that some people come to these chapters and all they see is this last point. Or maybe they see a little more, but they hold this last point up as being the focal point of the entire passage. How do we know that this point is the least significant of the four? Because Jesus himself rescinded it! Out of these four points, three are still in effect today. God still wants a barrier between His people and the world. God still wants us to realize that holiness by human effort is impossible. God still wants his people to have a profound respect for human life. But when it comes to mildew in my closet, or my wife not being able to go to church for 40 days after the birth of a child, or picking up a dead cat and burying it, or eating bacon wrapped, cheese stuffed jalapenos – those things don‟t separate me from God like they used to.
I want to remind you of one of the first messages I brought from this book of Leviticus. I shared with you that one of the dangers of the book was to focus on the particulars and miss the big picture. Do you remember the illustration of the huge picture window that looks out over the ocean and the person standing there was preoccupied with the woodwork around it? This warning is especially true for these laws of the clean and unclean.
I want us to close by looking at 1 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.” Can you appreciate this morning that you are holy, not because of your human effort to maintain your holiness but because God has declared you as such (Jn. 15:3). What the Israelite struggled for his entire lifetime, you obtained with a single declarative statement on God‟s part. And it is all because of Jesus.
Prayer: Father, thank you for Jesus. Where would we be with Him? We‟d be locked in a depressing, endless cycle of trying to maintain our own holiness. Thank you for your Son who made it possible for us to be in fellowship with You in this lifetime as well as the next. Amen.
Clean and Unclean – Part 2
Lev. 11 - 15
I‟d like you to turn in your Bible this morning to Lev. 11:44. Two weeks ago we were in Lev. 11 – 15, and we started to consider the concepts of “clean” and “unclean” in the life of Israel. We saw that things that were “clean” were acceptable to God, and the things that were “unclean” were unacceptable to God. It really is a very simple concept. Sometimes you had control over being clean or unclean, and sometimes you didn‟t. These five chapters deal with food, skin disease, bodily discharges, mildew, and procreation. We ended our survey of these chapters here in Lev. 11:44 where I shared with you God’s rationale and Israel’s response. The thinking behind these guidelines, stated generally, is that the God who created the nation of Israel and delivered them from bondage in Egypt had the unequivocal right to regulate their lives as He saw fit. When you are the creator and deliverer, that is your prerogative! We see this in the phrase, “For I am the Lord your God.” The response on the part of Israel is seen in the next phrase, “Consecrate yourselves therefore and be holy, for I am holy.” They were to separate themselves from their surroundings (the concept behind “consecration”) so they could be in fellowship with God.
This concept of separation from our surroundings lies at the heart of our memory passage, so let‟s say it again before we start to make some practical application from these five chapters.
“Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, „Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, „I am the LORD your God. You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes. You are to perform My judgments and keep My statutes, to live in accord with them; I am the LORD your God. So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which a man may live if he does them; I am the LORD.‟”
What I want to do this morning is go a little further and show you that there is more going on here than God simply doing whatever He wants to with His people. There is more here than some autocrat exercising the whims of his power. So let me give you four secondary purposes behind the laws of the clean and the unclean.
1. God was building a barrier between His people and the surrounding cultures.
As I mentioned several weeks ago, if a person practiced these stipulations rigorously, it would be impossible for him to have any significant level of relationship with the surrounding nations. Why?
A. Because of the very limited diet. The nations around Israel did not have such a structured diet, so an Israelite was running the risk of contaminating himself any time he accepted an invitation to have a meal with someone of the surrounding nations. Take for instance the coney, or rock badger. It was a delicacy in that part of the world, and could easily be a meat the Canaanites would serve if they were having a guest over for a meal. But the Israelites couldn‟t eat them. Their limited diet served as a barrier between them and their surrounding cultures.
B. Because their cleanliness could so easily be compromised. Any time an Israelite touched something that had been touched by something unclean, he himself became unclean. Remember the point I made about how uncleanliness could be spread to inanimate objects as well as other people. If you had an open sore on your body and were under observation by the priest, if you sat on a stool, that stool became unclean. And if someone in your family came along and sat on that stool, he himself became unclean for the rest of the day. So the chances are very high that if you visited the home of your Canaanite neighbor or spent time shopping in their marketplace, you would become unclean.
C. Because of the public nature of being unclean. When you were unclean, basically everybody around you knew it. It was hard to keep it a secret. You were forbidden from tabernacle activities. In some cases you had to verbally announce your uncleanness. In some cases you were physically separated from the entire nation for observation. If you were sensitive to those around you were very cautious not to spread your state of being unclean. Do you see how this point would restrict your contact with the nations around you?
So the first thing God was doing with these guidelines was creating a barrier between His people and the surrounding nations. The next thing God was doing, which is very significant, maybe even the most significant, is that He was demonstrating the impossibility of holiness through human effort.
2. God was demonstrating the impossibility of holiness through human effort.
Probably the most startling dimension of this concept of cleanliness is the reality that the people of Israel were incapable of maintaining lasting fellowship with God. Look with me at 14:33 where we see a very interesting verse that illustrates this. “The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, „When you come into the land of Canaan, which I give you for a possession and I put a case of leprous disease in a house in the land of your possession, then he who owns the house shall come and tell the priest, „There seems to me to be some case of disease in my house.‟” Did you catch the significance of that? It was possible for you to be doing everything you were supposed to to maintain fellowship with God, and then bam! Here‟s mildew in the house, everything in the house is unclean, and because I have touched it, now I‟m unclean. And my separation from God is not because of something I have done, it is because God has put a case of the leprous disease in my house.
Last week I shared with you that normal, bodily functions made you unclean. In certain instances, obedience to God‟s expectations made you unclean. I want us to appreciate the reality of this situation because if you disobey, you are separated from God, and if you obey, you are separated as well. What‟s the deal with that? God was sending a very powerful message, and then illustrating it physically, that holiness by human effort is impossible. The nation of Israel couldn‟t do it 4,000 years ago no matter how hard they tried, and we can‟t do it today either!
So we see that God is doing some very important things with these rules for cleanliness and uncleanliness. He is building a barrier between His people and the cultures around them, and He was showing them that holiness through human effort was impossible. The third thing I want to show you this morning is that God was instilling in his people a profound reverence for human life.
3. God was instilling in His people a profound reverence for human life.
I‟ve spent quite a bit of time over the last month meditating on Lev. 12 which deals with childbirth, and Lev. 15, which in part deals with procreation. As I expressed several weeks ago, I was struggling with why something that was created by God, and ordained by God as holy, and blessed by God - would put you into a state of dis-fellowship with God. The immediate answer that came to me I shared with you – conception and birth brings another sinner into the world. So I understood the childbirth part, but what about the other parts in chapter 15 that deal with male emissions and female cycles and the consequences of marital intimacy?
To understand what is going on here, we need to contrast the culture of Lev. 15 with the culture of the evangelical church. From our perspective, marital intimacy is viewed primarily from the perspective of pleasure. It is a God ordained activity that is the pinnacle of the human sensory experience, and we need to appreciate that God created us this way deliberately. He could have created us in such a way that the female of the species went into estrus, and the male of the species could sense that. But we aren‟t animals, God created us differently, and we are right to perceive this as God‟s gracious gift to us as humans. But what we evangelicals have lost, though, is the procreative potential that accompanies that intimacy. By embracing the concept of contraception, we have inadvertently downplayed the primary purpose of our sexuality. We like the idea of conception, but only on our terms! In other words, if the mother‟s health is conducive to it, or if the house is large enough, or if the family income is sufficient, or if the father has health insurance, or if we don‟t already have several children – then we like the idea of conception.
Contrast that perspective with Lev. 15. In Israel‟s culture, every single dimension of conception, both male and female, both married and single, was marked by one day of being unclean! Why? Because it is a God thing. Every single month, each woman of childbearing age spent a week reflecting on God‟s role in conception. Every time a husband and wife were intimate, they both spent a day contemplating the spiritual dimension of conception. It was impossible in Israel‟s culture to separate marital intimacy from the potential for human life. This is why Judaism as a culture has a profound respect for life, as these statistics show. In the US,
Women identifying themselves as Protestants obtain 37.4% of all abortions,
Catholic women account for 31.3%,
Women with no religious affiliation obtain 23.7%,
18% of all abortions are performed on women who identify themselves as "Born-again/Evangelical," and
Jewish women account for 1.3% of all abortions.
This is why I say that the rules of clean and unclean created in Israel a profound reverence for human life.
The final thing I want to show you about these rules guiding what is clean and unclean I am saving for last on purpose, because it really is the least significant of these four points. And that is that God was protecting the physical well-being of His people.
4. God was protecting the physical well-being of His people.
As you read these chapters, you can‟t help but notice that something in the physical realm was taking place. What kind of animals were they prohibited from eating? Generally speaking, bottom feeding, scavenging, and predatory animals. In other words, those animals who were at risk for disease because of their own diets. And if you eat a diseased animal, guess who gets that disease?
We see more of this practical dimension in that infectious skin diseases were very closely regulated or even quarantined. Why? Because of how easily they can spread throughout the family and even an entire community. The same is true for how mildew or mold was to be treated. In addition, it makes sense not to touch dead animals because of the possibility of contracting disease yourself. So its easy to see that God had built into His nation some basic rules for the prevention and containment of disease.
But I mention this last because I want you to see it in its proper perspective. I think it is very unfortunate that some people come to these chapters and all they see is this last point. Or maybe they see a little more, but they hold this last point up as being the focal point of the entire passage. How do we know that this point is the least significant of the four? Because Jesus himself rescinded it! Out of these four points, three are still in effect today. God still wants a barrier between His people and the world. God still wants us to realize that holiness by human effort is impossible. God still wants his people to have a profound respect for human life. But when it comes to mildew in my closet, or my wife not being able to go to church for 40 days after the birth of a child, or picking up a dead cat and burying it, or eating bacon wrapped, cheese stuffed jalapenos – those things don‟t separate me from God like they used to.
I want to remind you of one of the first messages I brought from this book of Leviticus. I shared with you that one of the dangers of the book was to focus on the particulars and miss the big picture. Do you remember the illustration of the huge picture window that looks out over the ocean and the person standing there was preoccupied with the woodwork around it? This warning is especially true for these laws of the clean and unclean.
I want us to close by looking at 1 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.” Can you appreciate this morning that you are holy, not because of your human effort to maintain your holiness but because God has declared you as such (Jn. 15:3). What the Israelite struggled for his entire lifetime, you obtained with a single declarative statement on God‟s part. And it is all because of Jesus.
Prayer: Father, thank you for Jesus. Where would we be with Him? We‟d be locked in a depressing, endless cycle of trying to maintain our own holiness. Thank you for your Son who made it possible for us to be in fellowship with You in this lifetime as well as the next. Amen.
Clean and Unclean - Part One
Studies in Leviticus
Clean and Unclean
Lev. 11 - 15
This morning we are going to be looking at five chapters in our study of Leviticus. We don‟t normally cover this much material in a single service, but as you read these chapters you see that they are somewhat repetitive. They aren‟t as bad as a genealogy (actually, they are somewhat intriguing), but they do seem to go on and on about a topic that doesn‟t have a whole lot of immediate relevance to us today. In fact, the specifics of these chapters are unique in that they were abrogated by Christ and the New Covenant. But it would be a great mistake not to address them because we are going to see that there is a timeless principle being taught in them. So while the specifics may not apply to us, the overall teaching is critical to our maintaining fellowship with God and a testimony in the world. But before we go any further, let‟s say our memory project together.
“Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, „Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, „I am the LORD your God. You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes. You are to perform My judgments and keep My statutes, to live in accord with them; I am the LORD your God. So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which a man may live if he does them; I am the LORD.‟”
As we follow the flow of the book of Leviticus, God starts by establishing a means by which his people could draw near to Him. It was the sacrificial system (chs. 1-7), and it was designed to bridge the fellowship gap. God was holy and the people weren‟t, so if there were going to be any kind of relationship between them, something had to be done. The sacrifices erased the estrangement between the two parties. Then God established the priesthood (chs. 8-9), which was designed to bridge the communication gap. The High Priest was God‟s spokesman to the nation. The people looked to him for guidance and instruction, so God communed with the High Priest who communicated God‟s words to God‟s people.
Last week we saw a tragic failure in chapter 10 where two of the newly ordained priests lost their lives because they treated God as common and lightweight. God is holy, not common; and He is to be honored, not taken lightly. And when Nadab and Abihu diminished God‟s holiness and honor, fire came out from the presence of the Lord and slew them. That was a powerful, vivid object lesson to the entire nation concerning the holiness of God.
This brings us up to where we are today, and the issue that God is dealing with from Lev. 11 through 15 is the concept of “clean” versus “unclean.” This is something that might be foreign to us as followers of Christ living under the guidelines of the New Covenant, but this matter of clean and unclean comprised a significant dimension of the Old Covenant.
What is the concept behind the clean and unclean? The simplest explanation I have come across is the note in the MacArthur Study Bible which says, “God used the tangible issues of life which He labeled clean or unclean to repeatedly impress upon Israel the difference between what was holy and unholy. “Clean” means acceptable to God, “unclean” means unacceptable to God.” And when a person violated these guidelines, he himself became “unclean.”
When a person was in this state of uncleanness, several things happened. Let‟s say for example that a husband and wife are intimate one night. That made them both unclean. The man was unclean because of his seminal discharge, and his wife is unclean because it touched her. Here is what happened. First of all, they were barred from the Tabernacle. The person who had violated God‟s laws of cleanliness was physically estranged from God and all things holy. Secondly, the clothes they were wearing became unclean. The furniture they touched became unclean. In other words, the uncleanness was spreadable. If an unclean person spit on a clean person, that person became unclean as well! And finally, they had to go through a special ritual to remove the “uncleanness.” In this case, they could bathe and at the end of the day, and everything was back to normal.
What God is doing with these guidelines about things clean and unclean is showing his people the effects of violating God‟s standards. It doesn‟t matter if the violation of the standard occurred 5000 years ago in Israel or this morning in East Durham, NY, when we violate the standard, we are estranged from God. And what‟s more, our actions and the consequences of those actions spread. They aren‟t limited to the perpetrator alone. And finally, reconciliation is possible when we follow the protocol God has established to deal with the violation.
So with that little introduction to clean and unclean, let‟s move quickly over these five chapters.
Chapter 11 deals with clean and unclean animals, fish, insects, and birds. Let‟s read the first 8 verses which will give you a sense of the entire five chapters. “The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, 2 "Say to the Israelites: 'Of all the animals that live on land, these are the ones you may eat: 3 You may eat any animal that has a split hoof completely divided and that chews the cud. 4 " '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. 5 The coney [other versions call this the “rock hydrax” or the “rock badger” – a rodent that was a delicacy in that part of the world], though it chews the cud, does not have a split hoof; it is unclean for you. 6 The rabbit, though it chews the cud, does not have a split hoof; it is unclean for you. 7 And the pig, though it has a split hoof completely divided, dos not chew the cud; it is unclean for you. 8 You must not eat their meat or touch their carcasses [in other words, touching a live rabbit did not make you unclean]; they are unclean for you.” I think you get the idea. Certain animals were on the list, and other animals weren‟t.
God then deals with clean and unclean fish starting in verse 9. Generally speaking, bottom dwelling, scavenging fish and seafood were unclean. Clean and unclean birds are described starting in verse 13, and the list seems to focus on predatory and scavenging birds. Note that in verse 19 the bat is mentioned. Something to keep in mind is that God is communicating to His people in general terms, not biologically technical ones. We all know that bats are mammals and not birds, but they fly through the air with wings and have the bodily shape of a bird. So God included bats in the bird category. Starting in verse 20, God starts the list of clean and unclean insects. So that is chapter 11.
Chapter 12 deals with childbirth. In a nutshell, if a woman gave birth to a male child, she was unclean for 40 days, and if she gave birth to a female child, she was unclean for 80 days. During these days, verse 4 tells us “She must not touch anything sacred [any animals being raised for a sacrifice] or go to the sanctuary until the days of her purification are over.” According to verse 6, “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. 7 He shall offer them before the LORD to make atonement for her, and then she will be ceremonially clean from her flow of blood.”
This chapter has sparked quite a bit of discussion for two reasons. First of all, childbirth is a divine mandate (Gen. 1:22 – “be fruitful and multiply”), not to mention that it is actually God who opens and closes the womb (Ps. 127:3 – “the fruit of the womb is His reward”). Since conception is an act of obedience and God is responsible for allowing it, why did that act of obedience make a woman unclean, and why did it require a blood sacrifice for restoration to a state of cleanness? That is the first area of controversy.
The second issue of controversy is the time inequity. Why was she unclean for only 40 days for a baby boy, but twice that for a baby girl? Most likely, this inequity served as a reminder that it was through woman that sin entered the world. Paul alludes to this in 1 Tim. 2:14 when he says that it wasn‟t Adam that was deceived, but Eve. We are going to elaborate on this a little later, but for now just understand that in Israel, every time a new sinner was introduced into the world through childbirth, there was a 40 or 80 day period of reflection on the significance of what had just happened.
Chapters 13 and 14 address various skin diseases, mildew or mold, and the purification rites for becoming clean again. In 13:1 we read, “The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, 2 "When anyone has a swelling or a rash or a bright spot on his skin that may become an infectious skin disease [some of you may have a version that translates this word as “leprous sore” or even “leprosy.” The NIV translates it as “infectious skin disease” because from the description we see in these chapters, this condition is not leprosy as we know it today. This condition involved things like boils (vv. 18-28), shingles, psoriasis, ringworm, etc.], he must be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons who is a priest. 3 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. 4 If the spot on his skin is white but does not appear to be 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. 5 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. 6 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.”
Starting in verse 47 there are guidelines for how to handle clothing that has been infected with the germs of the disease, and in chapter 14 verse 33 you have a discussion of how to handle things if you have an outbreak of mildew or mold in your house.
Chapter 15 addresses bodily discharges, both male and female. When you read this chapter, what you see is that there are two general categories of discharge; normal and abnormal. There are secretions that are the result of disease and there are secretions that are the result of simply being human. For a man, his normal discharge is nocturnal emissions and intercourse. The abnormal male discharge in this chapter is some kind of genital disease. We don‟t for certain what it was, but many scholars believe it to be gonorrhea. For a woman, the normal discharge involved her menstrual cycle, and the abnormal discharge involved some kind of genital hemorrhage.
So starting in verse 4 we see that “Every bed on which the person with the discharge lies becomes unclean, and everything on which he sits becomes unclean. 5 'Anyone, moreover, who touches his bed shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening; 6 and whoever sits on the thing on which the man with the discharge has been sitting, shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening.” While this is specifically directed to the man with a discharge, the stipulations are basically the same for the woman.
So there you have the overview of the five chapters. But what does this mean for us today? To answer this, I want us to go back to chapter 11 and look at verse 44 where we see two things. In this verse we get first of all a glimpse into the mind of God concerning the rationale behind these rules for cleanliness and uncleanness. The second thing we see is a response on our part. And understand that even though the specific context of this verse concerns clean and unclean animals, the overarching principle applies to all the categories.'For [this is a critical word – it is alerting us to God‟s reasoning, it is a summary statement] I am the LORD your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am holy.
The rationale in this verse is, “I am the Lord your God.” This tells us that God has an unequivocal right to regulate the behavior of his people. As a father, from time to time I used the phrase, “because I said so.” That is the essence of this phrase, “I am the Lord your God.” The response is: “consecrate [separate – cf. Bill‟s scripture reading this morning] yourselves therefore, and be holy.” This tells us that Israel had a solemn responsibility to distinguish themselves from their surroundings. It was difficult if not impossible for the Israelites to develop any level of relationship with their neighboring nations when they followed the rules of clean and unclean. These two ideas of God‟s right to regulate Israel‟s behavior and Israel‟s responsibility to separate itself from its surroundings lies at the heart of these five chapters.
And when you think about it, this isn‟t the first time we‟ve seen this concept, is it? It sounds familiar because it is also at the heart of our memory passage. “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, „I am the LORD your God [rationale]. You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived [responsibility], nor are you to do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you [responsibility]; you shall not walk in their statutes. You are to perform My judgments and keep My statutes [rationale], to live in accord with them; I am the LORD your God [He ends with a reiteration of the rationale]‟”.
Next week we are going to tie up some loose ends and look at a series of practical applications we can make from these chapters.
Clean and Unclean
Lev. 11 - 15
This morning we are going to be looking at five chapters in our study of Leviticus. We don‟t normally cover this much material in a single service, but as you read these chapters you see that they are somewhat repetitive. They aren‟t as bad as a genealogy (actually, they are somewhat intriguing), but they do seem to go on and on about a topic that doesn‟t have a whole lot of immediate relevance to us today. In fact, the specifics of these chapters are unique in that they were abrogated by Christ and the New Covenant. But it would be a great mistake not to address them because we are going to see that there is a timeless principle being taught in them. So while the specifics may not apply to us, the overall teaching is critical to our maintaining fellowship with God and a testimony in the world. But before we go any further, let‟s say our memory project together.
“Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, „Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, „I am the LORD your God. You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes. You are to perform My judgments and keep My statutes, to live in accord with them; I am the LORD your God. So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which a man may live if he does them; I am the LORD.‟”
As we follow the flow of the book of Leviticus, God starts by establishing a means by which his people could draw near to Him. It was the sacrificial system (chs. 1-7), and it was designed to bridge the fellowship gap. God was holy and the people weren‟t, so if there were going to be any kind of relationship between them, something had to be done. The sacrifices erased the estrangement between the two parties. Then God established the priesthood (chs. 8-9), which was designed to bridge the communication gap. The High Priest was God‟s spokesman to the nation. The people looked to him for guidance and instruction, so God communed with the High Priest who communicated God‟s words to God‟s people.
Last week we saw a tragic failure in chapter 10 where two of the newly ordained priests lost their lives because they treated God as common and lightweight. God is holy, not common; and He is to be honored, not taken lightly. And when Nadab and Abihu diminished God‟s holiness and honor, fire came out from the presence of the Lord and slew them. That was a powerful, vivid object lesson to the entire nation concerning the holiness of God.
This brings us up to where we are today, and the issue that God is dealing with from Lev. 11 through 15 is the concept of “clean” versus “unclean.” This is something that might be foreign to us as followers of Christ living under the guidelines of the New Covenant, but this matter of clean and unclean comprised a significant dimension of the Old Covenant.
What is the concept behind the clean and unclean? The simplest explanation I have come across is the note in the MacArthur Study Bible which says, “God used the tangible issues of life which He labeled clean or unclean to repeatedly impress upon Israel the difference between what was holy and unholy. “Clean” means acceptable to God, “unclean” means unacceptable to God.” And when a person violated these guidelines, he himself became “unclean.”
When a person was in this state of uncleanness, several things happened. Let‟s say for example that a husband and wife are intimate one night. That made them both unclean. The man was unclean because of his seminal discharge, and his wife is unclean because it touched her. Here is what happened. First of all, they were barred from the Tabernacle. The person who had violated God‟s laws of cleanliness was physically estranged from God and all things holy. Secondly, the clothes they were wearing became unclean. The furniture they touched became unclean. In other words, the uncleanness was spreadable. If an unclean person spit on a clean person, that person became unclean as well! And finally, they had to go through a special ritual to remove the “uncleanness.” In this case, they could bathe and at the end of the day, and everything was back to normal.
What God is doing with these guidelines about things clean and unclean is showing his people the effects of violating God‟s standards. It doesn‟t matter if the violation of the standard occurred 5000 years ago in Israel or this morning in East Durham, NY, when we violate the standard, we are estranged from God. And what‟s more, our actions and the consequences of those actions spread. They aren‟t limited to the perpetrator alone. And finally, reconciliation is possible when we follow the protocol God has established to deal with the violation.
So with that little introduction to clean and unclean, let‟s move quickly over these five chapters.
Chapter 11 deals with clean and unclean animals, fish, insects, and birds. Let‟s read the first 8 verses which will give you a sense of the entire five chapters. “The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, 2 "Say to the Israelites: 'Of all the animals that live on land, these are the ones you may eat: 3 You may eat any animal that has a split hoof completely divided and that chews the cud. 4 " '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. 5 The coney [other versions call this the “rock hydrax” or the “rock badger” – a rodent that was a delicacy in that part of the world], though it chews the cud, does not have a split hoof; it is unclean for you. 6 The rabbit, though it chews the cud, does not have a split hoof; it is unclean for you. 7 And the pig, though it has a split hoof completely divided, dos not chew the cud; it is unclean for you. 8 You must not eat their meat or touch their carcasses [in other words, touching a live rabbit did not make you unclean]; they are unclean for you.” I think you get the idea. Certain animals were on the list, and other animals weren‟t.
God then deals with clean and unclean fish starting in verse 9. Generally speaking, bottom dwelling, scavenging fish and seafood were unclean. Clean and unclean birds are described starting in verse 13, and the list seems to focus on predatory and scavenging birds. Note that in verse 19 the bat is mentioned. Something to keep in mind is that God is communicating to His people in general terms, not biologically technical ones. We all know that bats are mammals and not birds, but they fly through the air with wings and have the bodily shape of a bird. So God included bats in the bird category. Starting in verse 20, God starts the list of clean and unclean insects. So that is chapter 11.
Chapter 12 deals with childbirth. In a nutshell, if a woman gave birth to a male child, she was unclean for 40 days, and if she gave birth to a female child, she was unclean for 80 days. During these days, verse 4 tells us “She must not touch anything sacred [any animals being raised for a sacrifice] or go to the sanctuary until the days of her purification are over.” According to verse 6, “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. 7 He shall offer them before the LORD to make atonement for her, and then she will be ceremonially clean from her flow of blood.”
This chapter has sparked quite a bit of discussion for two reasons. First of all, childbirth is a divine mandate (Gen. 1:22 – “be fruitful and multiply”), not to mention that it is actually God who opens and closes the womb (Ps. 127:3 – “the fruit of the womb is His reward”). Since conception is an act of obedience and God is responsible for allowing it, why did that act of obedience make a woman unclean, and why did it require a blood sacrifice for restoration to a state of cleanness? That is the first area of controversy.
The second issue of controversy is the time inequity. Why was she unclean for only 40 days for a baby boy, but twice that for a baby girl? Most likely, this inequity served as a reminder that it was through woman that sin entered the world. Paul alludes to this in 1 Tim. 2:14 when he says that it wasn‟t Adam that was deceived, but Eve. We are going to elaborate on this a little later, but for now just understand that in Israel, every time a new sinner was introduced into the world through childbirth, there was a 40 or 80 day period of reflection on the significance of what had just happened.
Chapters 13 and 14 address various skin diseases, mildew or mold, and the purification rites for becoming clean again. In 13:1 we read, “The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, 2 "When anyone has a swelling or a rash or a bright spot on his skin that may become an infectious skin disease [some of you may have a version that translates this word as “leprous sore” or even “leprosy.” The NIV translates it as “infectious skin disease” because from the description we see in these chapters, this condition is not leprosy as we know it today. This condition involved things like boils (vv. 18-28), shingles, psoriasis, ringworm, etc.], he must be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons who is a priest. 3 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. 4 If the spot on his skin is white but does not appear to be 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. 5 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. 6 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.”
Starting in verse 47 there are guidelines for how to handle clothing that has been infected with the germs of the disease, and in chapter 14 verse 33 you have a discussion of how to handle things if you have an outbreak of mildew or mold in your house.
Chapter 15 addresses bodily discharges, both male and female. When you read this chapter, what you see is that there are two general categories of discharge; normal and abnormal. There are secretions that are the result of disease and there are secretions that are the result of simply being human. For a man, his normal discharge is nocturnal emissions and intercourse. The abnormal male discharge in this chapter is some kind of genital disease. We don‟t for certain what it was, but many scholars believe it to be gonorrhea. For a woman, the normal discharge involved her menstrual cycle, and the abnormal discharge involved some kind of genital hemorrhage.
So starting in verse 4 we see that “Every bed on which the person with the discharge lies becomes unclean, and everything on which he sits becomes unclean. 5 'Anyone, moreover, who touches his bed shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening; 6 and whoever sits on the thing on which the man with the discharge has been sitting, shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening.” While this is specifically directed to the man with a discharge, the stipulations are basically the same for the woman.
So there you have the overview of the five chapters. But what does this mean for us today? To answer this, I want us to go back to chapter 11 and look at verse 44 where we see two things. In this verse we get first of all a glimpse into the mind of God concerning the rationale behind these rules for cleanliness and uncleanness. The second thing we see is a response on our part. And understand that even though the specific context of this verse concerns clean and unclean animals, the overarching principle applies to all the categories.'For [this is a critical word – it is alerting us to God‟s reasoning, it is a summary statement] I am the LORD your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am holy.
The rationale in this verse is, “I am the Lord your God.” This tells us that God has an unequivocal right to regulate the behavior of his people. As a father, from time to time I used the phrase, “because I said so.” That is the essence of this phrase, “I am the Lord your God.” The response is: “consecrate [separate – cf. Bill‟s scripture reading this morning] yourselves therefore, and be holy.” This tells us that Israel had a solemn responsibility to distinguish themselves from their surroundings. It was difficult if not impossible for the Israelites to develop any level of relationship with their neighboring nations when they followed the rules of clean and unclean. These two ideas of God‟s right to regulate Israel‟s behavior and Israel‟s responsibility to separate itself from its surroundings lies at the heart of these five chapters.
And when you think about it, this isn‟t the first time we‟ve seen this concept, is it? It sounds familiar because it is also at the heart of our memory passage. “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, „I am the LORD your God [rationale]. You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived [responsibility], nor are you to do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you [responsibility]; you shall not walk in their statutes. You are to perform My judgments and keep My statutes [rationale], to live in accord with them; I am the LORD your God [He ends with a reiteration of the rationale]‟”.
Next week we are going to tie up some loose ends and look at a series of practical applications we can make from these chapters.
Friday, April 1, 2011
A Priestly Failure
Studies in Leviticus
Nadab and Abihu – Priestly Failure
Lev. 10
This morning we are going to be in Leviticus chapter 10 where we see an example of priestly failure. Last week we were in chapters 8 and 9 where we saw God institute the priesthood. Once the sacrificial system was in place and the people could draw near to God, it was then necessary to establish a communication link – which is what the priesthood accomplished. The High Priest served as God‟s mouthpiece, he conveyed the will of God to the people of God, but almost immediately there was this tragic failure and Aaron‟s two oldest sons lost their lives because of it. This was a huge blow, not only to Aaron personally but also to the entire nation of Israel, and there are many lessons we can learn from this sad story.
Before we get into the passage though, let‟s review our memory passage.
“Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, „Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, „I am the LORD your God. You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes. You are to perform My judgments and keep My statutes, to live in accord with them; I am the LORD your God. So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which a man may live if he does them; I am the LORD.‟”
In the passage Bill read this morning from the book of Hebrews, we saw a principle that doesn‟t get a whole lot of exposure in Christendom today, and that is the truth that our God is a holy God who deals strongly with willful sin. It really is true that “it is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God!” I don‟t think Bill read verses 26 and 27 of the chapter, but those verses say, “For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a certain terrifying expectation of judgment, and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries.”
When is the last time you heard a sermon from this verse? Well, this principle literally came true in Leviticus 10, and what I want to share with you this morning is the danger of diminishing a holy God. Why is that a dangerous thing to do? Because of the personal consequences, the familial consequences, and the community consequences. What we are going to see in this chapter is that when we fail to honor the holiness of God, a series of concentric circles emanate from us that affect those we love most. Let‟s start reading in verse one.
Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their respective firepans, and after putting fire in them, placed incense on it and offered strange fire before the LORD, which He had not commanded them.
The burning of incense was one of the more mundane jobs of the priesthood. It involved taking your firepan, going to the altar where the offerings were burned, taking some tongs and picking out some coals, and then sprinkling incense on them which would smolder and create the smoke and pleasant smell that is associated with incense.
This is what Nadab and Abihu did, but God called it “strange fire.” What is this “strange fire” that they offered? Some translations render this word “unauthorized fire.” Whatever it was, it was not done according to the directions God had laid out for the priests, as seen in the last phrase, “which He had not commanded.” God‟s word doesn‟t tell us the specifics of the disobedience. Was it offered at the wrong time? Did they take the coals from the wrong altar? Did they use incense other than the specific kind God had mandated? We don‟t know. All we know is that it was contrary to God‟s directions and therefore not recognized by God as being legitimate. It was “strange fire.”
In verse two we see the personal consequences of their actions.
2 And fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD.
One of the truths I have come to be aware of is that in the church, imbalance is a greater threat to us than unorthodoxy. In other words, Satan causes more damage in our ranks through imbalance than through bad doctrine. Nobody here this morning is probably ever going to struggle with whether or not Jesus is the virgin born Son of God. But we will struggle with how much of our lives do we give to pursuing the Kingdom of God and how much of our lives do we give to pursuing our own agendas.
This phenomenon of dangerous imbalance is really seen in this matter of how we perceive God, because we know on the one hand that God is a loving, heavenly father. He is amazingly patient, and He has our best interest at heart, and longs for us as seen in the story of the prodigal son. But that is only half the story. God is also a holy and just God who has a hatred of sin that is beyond our understanding. I think we can legitimately say that our God is both a loving and a dangerous God!
And when we fail to keep both of these truths in balance, we get into trouble very quickly. That is the lesson that Nadab and Abihu learned. This is also the lesson that Ananias and Sapphira learned when they lied to the Holy Spirit about the price of a piece of land they sold, in Acts 5. This is also the lesson King Herod learned in Acts 12 when he accepted for himself the glory that was due to God. Yes, God is a patient and loving God, but that is only half the equation – he is also a God who will not tolerate willful defiance.
So here is where we see the personal consequences of diminishing the holiness of God. Nadab and Abihu thought they could serve as priests in the way they thought best. They found out differently.
3 Then Moses said to Aaron [understand that this is a man who has just seen two of his sons killed!], "It is what the LORD spoke, saying, 'By those who come near Me [the priesthood] I will be treated as holy, and before all the people I will be honored.'" So Aaron, therefore, kept silent.
This verse shows us the crux of the issue. What was it that Nadab and Abihu did that was so offensive to God? Think about it. They were serving God. They were wearing their priestly robes. They were performing a priestly duty. They were in God‟s tabernacle. What else could God want? Thanks for asking, because God wants two things. Number 1), God does not want to be treated as common, and number 2) God does not want to be taken lightly. Let me repeat that. Number 1), God does not want to be treated as common, and number 2) God does not want to be taken lightly. We see these two truths in the two words “holy” and “honored.” God‟s expectations are, “I will be treated as holy,” and “I will be honored.”
The word “holy” carries the idea of being separated from the common, and the word “honored” carries the idea of being weighty. The God of the universe is not to be treated as familiar, nor are His instructions to be understood as suggestions. To do so takes God from His throne and place Him down on the pavement where we are, and Nadab and Abihu‟s failure lay in their diminishing of God.
4 Moses called also to Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Aaron's uncle Uzziel, and said to them, "Come forward, carry your relatives away from the front of the sanctuary to the outside of the camp." 5 So they came forward and carried them still in their tunics to the outside of the camp, as Moses had said.
Here we see the waves of consequence starting to spread from the offenders to their family. Remember why it is dangerous to diminish the holiness of God: because of the personal consequences, the familial consequences, and the community consequences. And so here we have two of Nadab and Abihu‟s cousins carrying their dead cousins away from the tabernacle, through the encampment, and to a place outside the camp. They carried them by grasping their garments so they wouldn‟t be defiled by a dead body, and I would imagine that this scene was seared into the memory of the entire priesthood. It was a vivid object lesson concerning the holiness of God.
Something interesting we see here is the divine nature of the discipline. In verse two we see that “fire” came out from the presence of God and killed them, but interestingly enough, the fire did not consume their garments. Nobody looking on could say that this was a tragic accident and that the fire in the firepans got out of control and killed them. Had that been the case, their clothing would have been burnt – but it wasn‟t. This was a case of divine judgment for diminishing a holy God.
6 Then Moses said to Aaron and to his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, "Do not uncover your heads nor tear your clothes, so that you may not die, and that He may not become wrathful against all the congregation. But your kinsmen, the whole house of Israel, shall bewail the burning which the LORD has brought about. 7 "You shall not even go out from the doorway of the tent of meeting, lest you die; for the LORD's anointing oil is upon you." So they did according to the word of Moses.
This verse shows us more of the familial consequences of Nadab and Abihu‟s sin – Aaron and his two remaining sons were forbidden from showing the traditional signs of grief. They weren‟t even allowed to accompany the bodies to the burial. And right off the bat, Aaron and his sons have to demonstrate whether or not they are going to treat God as common and light, or holy and honored. When God says, “Don‟t uncover your head or tear your clothes or leave the tabernacle,” He means precisely that. No exceptions. No extenuating circumstances. No going with the “spirit of the law.” No “But God, these are my sons!” The High Priest and his two sons had to show that they understood God‟s unequivocal right to dictate even how they expressed their personal grief.
Now when we get to verse 8 we see something interesting. Out of the entire passage it gives us some clue as to what was going on in Nadab and Abihu‟s mind when they offered strange fire. We know what they did, but a deeper question is why? What was going through their minds when they offered the strange fire?
8 The LORD then spoke to Aaron, saying, 9 "Do not drink wine or strong drink, neither you nor your sons with you, when you come into the tent of meeting, so that you may not die-- it is a perpetual statute throughout your generations-- 10 and so as to make a distinction between the holy and the profane, and between the unclean and the clean, 11 and so as to teach the sons of Israel all the statutes which the LORD has spoken to them through Moses."
To be perfectly blunt, Nadab and Abihu were probably drunk when they did this. Why else would God interject this prohibition, and give it the status of a perpetual statute, at this time? We see further proof for this idea in verse 10 where God says that the rationale for not drinking strong drink when you come into the tent of meeting was so you could make distinctions between the holy and profane, between the clean and the unclean. When you are inebriated, what is one of the things you lose? Your ability to make distinctions between wise and foolish actions.
I heard about a drunk cowboy who went out into the street, stripped naked, ran to the edge of town and jumped in a bed of cacti. He sobered up real quickly. And when the doctor asked him why he did it, he said, “Well, at the time it seemed like a good idea.” That is what drunkenness does to you – it hurts your ability to make distinctions between good and bad ideas. And if there is anything a priest needs, it is that ability! Verse 11 is a sober reminder of the critical role the priesthood held in the nation of Israel – they taught the sons of Israel all the statutes which the Lord had spoken through Moses.
Now from verse 12 through verse 20, we have an account of the sacrificial meal that Aaron and his sons and family were supposed to eat. Understand that this probably happened on the day of the tragedy.
12 Then Moses spoke to Aaron, and to his surviving sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, "Take the grain offering that is left over from the LORD's offerings by fire and eat it unleavened beside the altar, for it is most holy. 13 "You shall eat it, moreover, in a holy place, because it is your due and your sons' due out of the LORD's offerings by fire; for thus I have been commanded. 14 "The breast of the wave offering, however, and the thigh of the offering you may eat in a clean place, you and your sons and your daughters with you; for they have been given as your due and your sons' due out of the sacrifices of the peace offerings of the sons of Israel. 15 "The thigh offered by lifting up and the breast offered by waving, they shall bring along with the offerings by fire of the portions of fat, to present as a wave offering before the LORD; so it shall be a thing perpetually due you and your sons with you, just as the LORD has commanded." 16 But Moses searched carefully for the goat of the sin offering, and behold, it had been burned up! So he was angry with Aaron's surviving sons Eleazar and Ithamar, saying, 17 "Why did you not eat the sin offering at the holy place? For it is most holy, and He gave it to you to bear away the guilt of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the LORD. 18 "Behold, since its blood had not been brought inside, into the sanctuary, you should certainly have eaten it in the sanctuary, just as I commanded." 19 But Aaron spoke to Moses, "Behold, this very day they presented their sin offering and their burnt offering before the LORD. When things like these happened to me, if I had eaten a sin offering today, would it have been good in the sight of the LORD?" 20 And when Moses heard that, it seemed good in his sight.
In a nutshell, Aaron and his family were in too much grief to eat this sacrificial meal that was the privilege of the priesthood. Instead, they burned the entire animal and didn‟t keep back any of it for themselves, which was probably not a wise idea since it was contrary to God‟s expectations! This is why v. 16 tells us that Moses was so angry – he had just seen two of his relatives lose their lives for disobedience, and now Aaron and his family were running the same risk. But Aaron‟s explanation in verse 19 was that there was no way their family could have enjoyed a feast on the day of the tragedy, so in verse 20 Moses accepts his explanation.
What does all this mean for you and me today? First of all, it means that God means what He says and says what He means. And when we minimize or marginalize Him, we do so at great personal risk. Secondly, it means that our God is not the caricature we see Him so often portrayed as in our culture. He is not “the big man upstairs.” He is not a doting, forgetful grandfather. He is not your best buddy. He is a holy God and when we diminish Him in any way, the consequences are very severe.
Nadab and Abihu – Priestly Failure
Lev. 10
This morning we are going to be in Leviticus chapter 10 where we see an example of priestly failure. Last week we were in chapters 8 and 9 where we saw God institute the priesthood. Once the sacrificial system was in place and the people could draw near to God, it was then necessary to establish a communication link – which is what the priesthood accomplished. The High Priest served as God‟s mouthpiece, he conveyed the will of God to the people of God, but almost immediately there was this tragic failure and Aaron‟s two oldest sons lost their lives because of it. This was a huge blow, not only to Aaron personally but also to the entire nation of Israel, and there are many lessons we can learn from this sad story.
Before we get into the passage though, let‟s review our memory passage.
“Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, „Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, „I am the LORD your God. You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes. You are to perform My judgments and keep My statutes, to live in accord with them; I am the LORD your God. So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which a man may live if he does them; I am the LORD.‟”
In the passage Bill read this morning from the book of Hebrews, we saw a principle that doesn‟t get a whole lot of exposure in Christendom today, and that is the truth that our God is a holy God who deals strongly with willful sin. It really is true that “it is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God!” I don‟t think Bill read verses 26 and 27 of the chapter, but those verses say, “For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a certain terrifying expectation of judgment, and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries.”
When is the last time you heard a sermon from this verse? Well, this principle literally came true in Leviticus 10, and what I want to share with you this morning is the danger of diminishing a holy God. Why is that a dangerous thing to do? Because of the personal consequences, the familial consequences, and the community consequences. What we are going to see in this chapter is that when we fail to honor the holiness of God, a series of concentric circles emanate from us that affect those we love most. Let‟s start reading in verse one.
Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their respective firepans, and after putting fire in them, placed incense on it and offered strange fire before the LORD, which He had not commanded them.
The burning of incense was one of the more mundane jobs of the priesthood. It involved taking your firepan, going to the altar where the offerings were burned, taking some tongs and picking out some coals, and then sprinkling incense on them which would smolder and create the smoke and pleasant smell that is associated with incense.
This is what Nadab and Abihu did, but God called it “strange fire.” What is this “strange fire” that they offered? Some translations render this word “unauthorized fire.” Whatever it was, it was not done according to the directions God had laid out for the priests, as seen in the last phrase, “which He had not commanded.” God‟s word doesn‟t tell us the specifics of the disobedience. Was it offered at the wrong time? Did they take the coals from the wrong altar? Did they use incense other than the specific kind God had mandated? We don‟t know. All we know is that it was contrary to God‟s directions and therefore not recognized by God as being legitimate. It was “strange fire.”
In verse two we see the personal consequences of their actions.
2 And fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD.
One of the truths I have come to be aware of is that in the church, imbalance is a greater threat to us than unorthodoxy. In other words, Satan causes more damage in our ranks through imbalance than through bad doctrine. Nobody here this morning is probably ever going to struggle with whether or not Jesus is the virgin born Son of God. But we will struggle with how much of our lives do we give to pursuing the Kingdom of God and how much of our lives do we give to pursuing our own agendas.
This phenomenon of dangerous imbalance is really seen in this matter of how we perceive God, because we know on the one hand that God is a loving, heavenly father. He is amazingly patient, and He has our best interest at heart, and longs for us as seen in the story of the prodigal son. But that is only half the story. God is also a holy and just God who has a hatred of sin that is beyond our understanding. I think we can legitimately say that our God is both a loving and a dangerous God!
And when we fail to keep both of these truths in balance, we get into trouble very quickly. That is the lesson that Nadab and Abihu learned. This is also the lesson that Ananias and Sapphira learned when they lied to the Holy Spirit about the price of a piece of land they sold, in Acts 5. This is also the lesson King Herod learned in Acts 12 when he accepted for himself the glory that was due to God. Yes, God is a patient and loving God, but that is only half the equation – he is also a God who will not tolerate willful defiance.
So here is where we see the personal consequences of diminishing the holiness of God. Nadab and Abihu thought they could serve as priests in the way they thought best. They found out differently.
3 Then Moses said to Aaron [understand that this is a man who has just seen two of his sons killed!], "It is what the LORD spoke, saying, 'By those who come near Me [the priesthood] I will be treated as holy, and before all the people I will be honored.'" So Aaron, therefore, kept silent.
This verse shows us the crux of the issue. What was it that Nadab and Abihu did that was so offensive to God? Think about it. They were serving God. They were wearing their priestly robes. They were performing a priestly duty. They were in God‟s tabernacle. What else could God want? Thanks for asking, because God wants two things. Number 1), God does not want to be treated as common, and number 2) God does not want to be taken lightly. Let me repeat that. Number 1), God does not want to be treated as common, and number 2) God does not want to be taken lightly. We see these two truths in the two words “holy” and “honored.” God‟s expectations are, “I will be treated as holy,” and “I will be honored.”
The word “holy” carries the idea of being separated from the common, and the word “honored” carries the idea of being weighty. The God of the universe is not to be treated as familiar, nor are His instructions to be understood as suggestions. To do so takes God from His throne and place Him down on the pavement where we are, and Nadab and Abihu‟s failure lay in their diminishing of God.
4 Moses called also to Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Aaron's uncle Uzziel, and said to them, "Come forward, carry your relatives away from the front of the sanctuary to the outside of the camp." 5 So they came forward and carried them still in their tunics to the outside of the camp, as Moses had said.
Here we see the waves of consequence starting to spread from the offenders to their family. Remember why it is dangerous to diminish the holiness of God: because of the personal consequences, the familial consequences, and the community consequences. And so here we have two of Nadab and Abihu‟s cousins carrying their dead cousins away from the tabernacle, through the encampment, and to a place outside the camp. They carried them by grasping their garments so they wouldn‟t be defiled by a dead body, and I would imagine that this scene was seared into the memory of the entire priesthood. It was a vivid object lesson concerning the holiness of God.
Something interesting we see here is the divine nature of the discipline. In verse two we see that “fire” came out from the presence of God and killed them, but interestingly enough, the fire did not consume their garments. Nobody looking on could say that this was a tragic accident and that the fire in the firepans got out of control and killed them. Had that been the case, their clothing would have been burnt – but it wasn‟t. This was a case of divine judgment for diminishing a holy God.
6 Then Moses said to Aaron and to his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, "Do not uncover your heads nor tear your clothes, so that you may not die, and that He may not become wrathful against all the congregation. But your kinsmen, the whole house of Israel, shall bewail the burning which the LORD has brought about. 7 "You shall not even go out from the doorway of the tent of meeting, lest you die; for the LORD's anointing oil is upon you." So they did according to the word of Moses.
This verse shows us more of the familial consequences of Nadab and Abihu‟s sin – Aaron and his two remaining sons were forbidden from showing the traditional signs of grief. They weren‟t even allowed to accompany the bodies to the burial. And right off the bat, Aaron and his sons have to demonstrate whether or not they are going to treat God as common and light, or holy and honored. When God says, “Don‟t uncover your head or tear your clothes or leave the tabernacle,” He means precisely that. No exceptions. No extenuating circumstances. No going with the “spirit of the law.” No “But God, these are my sons!” The High Priest and his two sons had to show that they understood God‟s unequivocal right to dictate even how they expressed their personal grief.
Now when we get to verse 8 we see something interesting. Out of the entire passage it gives us some clue as to what was going on in Nadab and Abihu‟s mind when they offered strange fire. We know what they did, but a deeper question is why? What was going through their minds when they offered the strange fire?
8 The LORD then spoke to Aaron, saying, 9 "Do not drink wine or strong drink, neither you nor your sons with you, when you come into the tent of meeting, so that you may not die-- it is a perpetual statute throughout your generations-- 10 and so as to make a distinction between the holy and the profane, and between the unclean and the clean, 11 and so as to teach the sons of Israel all the statutes which the LORD has spoken to them through Moses."
To be perfectly blunt, Nadab and Abihu were probably drunk when they did this. Why else would God interject this prohibition, and give it the status of a perpetual statute, at this time? We see further proof for this idea in verse 10 where God says that the rationale for not drinking strong drink when you come into the tent of meeting was so you could make distinctions between the holy and profane, between the clean and the unclean. When you are inebriated, what is one of the things you lose? Your ability to make distinctions between wise and foolish actions.
I heard about a drunk cowboy who went out into the street, stripped naked, ran to the edge of town and jumped in a bed of cacti. He sobered up real quickly. And when the doctor asked him why he did it, he said, “Well, at the time it seemed like a good idea.” That is what drunkenness does to you – it hurts your ability to make distinctions between good and bad ideas. And if there is anything a priest needs, it is that ability! Verse 11 is a sober reminder of the critical role the priesthood held in the nation of Israel – they taught the sons of Israel all the statutes which the Lord had spoken through Moses.
Now from verse 12 through verse 20, we have an account of the sacrificial meal that Aaron and his sons and family were supposed to eat. Understand that this probably happened on the day of the tragedy.
12 Then Moses spoke to Aaron, and to his surviving sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, "Take the grain offering that is left over from the LORD's offerings by fire and eat it unleavened beside the altar, for it is most holy. 13 "You shall eat it, moreover, in a holy place, because it is your due and your sons' due out of the LORD's offerings by fire; for thus I have been commanded. 14 "The breast of the wave offering, however, and the thigh of the offering you may eat in a clean place, you and your sons and your daughters with you; for they have been given as your due and your sons' due out of the sacrifices of the peace offerings of the sons of Israel. 15 "The thigh offered by lifting up and the breast offered by waving, they shall bring along with the offerings by fire of the portions of fat, to present as a wave offering before the LORD; so it shall be a thing perpetually due you and your sons with you, just as the LORD has commanded." 16 But Moses searched carefully for the goat of the sin offering, and behold, it had been burned up! So he was angry with Aaron's surviving sons Eleazar and Ithamar, saying, 17 "Why did you not eat the sin offering at the holy place? For it is most holy, and He gave it to you to bear away the guilt of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the LORD. 18 "Behold, since its blood had not been brought inside, into the sanctuary, you should certainly have eaten it in the sanctuary, just as I commanded." 19 But Aaron spoke to Moses, "Behold, this very day they presented their sin offering and their burnt offering before the LORD. When things like these happened to me, if I had eaten a sin offering today, would it have been good in the sight of the LORD?" 20 And when Moses heard that, it seemed good in his sight.
In a nutshell, Aaron and his family were in too much grief to eat this sacrificial meal that was the privilege of the priesthood. Instead, they burned the entire animal and didn‟t keep back any of it for themselves, which was probably not a wise idea since it was contrary to God‟s expectations! This is why v. 16 tells us that Moses was so angry – he had just seen two of his relatives lose their lives for disobedience, and now Aaron and his family were running the same risk. But Aaron‟s explanation in verse 19 was that there was no way their family could have enjoyed a feast on the day of the tragedy, so in verse 20 Moses accepts his explanation.
What does all this mean for you and me today? First of all, it means that God means what He says and says what He means. And when we minimize or marginalize Him, we do so at great personal risk. Secondly, it means that our God is not the caricature we see Him so often portrayed as in our culture. He is not “the big man upstairs.” He is not a doting, forgetful grandfather. He is not your best buddy. He is a holy God and when we diminish Him in any way, the consequences are very severe.
The Priestly System
Studies in Leviticus
The Priestly System – The Mediators Between Man and God
Lev. 8 & 9
This morning we are in Lev. 8 and 9, and we are going to move into the next section of Leviticus, the directions concerning the priesthood. If you kept your outline of the book, we are still in the general section of “How to obtain fellowship with God,” but we are now going from “how to draw near to God” to “the mediators between God and man.” It was the sacrificial system that removed the barriers, or estrangement between a holy God and sinful people; but now the communication issue had to be dealt with. And it was the priesthood that established a medium of direct conversation between God and the nation of Israel.
These are two very important words I want us to think about for a moment, reconciliation and mediation. The focal point of reconciliation is estrangement, and the focal point of mediation is communication. Reconciliation involves an act that reduces tension, hostility, and animosity; mediation involves a person who bridges the communication barrier. And what we are seeing in the book of Leviticus in this first section is that between the sacrifices and the priesthood, both of these issues are addressed. The sacrificial system erased estrangement, and the priestly system established direct communication with God.
I want us to take a minute and try to appreciate the significance of this event. Up to this point in the history of man, if God wanted to communicate with mankind, He did it in four basic ways. First of all, there was personal visitation, as in the case of Adam and Eve in the garden, and Moses at Mt. Sinai. Secondly, there were angelic messengers, as in the case of Lot leaving Sodom or Abraham being told of the birth of Isaac. Third, there were supernatural phenomena,as in the burning bush incident with Moses in the desert, and finally, there was dreams, as in the case of Joseph when God told him he was going to rule over his brothers.
All of that is changing right now. God is broadening his “audience” as it were, and now He is going to communicate with an entire nation as opposed to individuals only. And the instrument He is going to use is the high priest and his helpers, the rest of the priesthood. Keep in mind though that God‟s audience is still relatively small – it is the nation of Israel only. That dimension doesn‟t change until the ministry of Jesus.
To really get an idea of the significance of the priesthood, I want us to go to chapter 2 of the book of Malachi. In the first nine verses, God is rebuking the existing priesthood for their dereliction of duty, but I want us to read this passage because it shows us what God had in mind when He established the priesthood. These verses contain the job description of Aaron and his sons.
"And now, this commandment is for you, O priests. 2 "If you do not listen, and if you do not take it to heart to give honor to My name," says the LORD of hosts, "then I will send the curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings; and indeed, I have cursed them already, because you are not taking it to heart [in other words, the priesthood of Malachi’s day was not living up to God’s expectations]. 3 "Behold, I am going to rebuke your offspring, and I will spread refuse on your faces, the refuse of your feasts [this is a reference to a public and vile humiliation – remember the specific instructions for how to deal with the intestines and the careful washings]; and you will be taken away with it [a reference to carrying the parts of the offering to a place outside the camp and burning them]. 4 "Then you will know that I have sent this commandment to you, that My covenant may continue with Levi [the tribe of Levi was the priestly tribe that Aaron came from]," says the LORD of hosts. 5 "My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him as an object of reverence; so he revered Me, and stood in awe of My name. [Starting in verse 6 we get to God’s intent for the events of Lev. 8 and 9] 6 "True instruction was in his mouth, and unrighteousness was not found on his lips; he walked with Me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many back from iniquity. 7 "For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge, and men should seek instruction from his mouth; for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts. [Do you see the concept of communication here? God is now communicating to mankind through an intermediary – the priests] 8 "But as for you, you have turned aside from the way; you have caused many to stumble by the instruction; you have corrupted the covenant of Levi," says the LORD of hosts. 9 "So I also have made you despised and abased before all the people, just as you are not keeping My ways, but are showing partiality in the instruction.
So understand that the priesthood was huge. For the first time in the history of humanity, there was not only regular communication between God and man (v. 7 – “he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts”), but also a mediator between God and man (v. 6 – “he walked with me in peace and uprightness”). I don‟t know if we can fully appreciate this because today, every follower of Christ is a “priest.” Collectively, we comprise “a royal priesthood” and “a holy nation” according to 1 Pt. 2:9. But what is commonplace and normal to us was highly significant 6,000 years ago, and chapters 8 and 9 of Leviticus record for us the ceremony where God officially inaugurates this new era of communication. It would be similar to the swearing in ceremony our nation has every four years in January after a new president has been elected.
The way I want to cover these two chapters is to go through them with a highlighter and just point out some specifics, and then we will close with three specific points of application that answer the question, “what does all this stuff mean for me today?” I want this to be more than a history lesson!
Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 "Take Aaron [remember that Aaron is Moses’ brother] and his sons with him, and the garments and the anointing oil and the bull of the sin offering, and the two rams and the basket of unleavened bread; 3 and assemble all the congregation at the doorway of the tent of meeting." 4 So Moses did just as the LORD commanded him.
Sin offering
Burnt offering
Peace offering
Everything being done in view of the entire nation
When the congregation was assembled at the doorway of the tent of meeting, 5 Moses said to the congregation, “This is the thing which the LORD has commanded to do.” 6 Then Moses had Aaron and his sons come near, and washed them with water. 7 And he put the tunic on him and girded him with the sash, and clothed him with the robe, and put the ephod on him; and he girded him with the artistic band of the ephod, with which he tied it to him. 8 He then placed the breastpiece on him, and in the breastpiece he put the Urim and the Thummim. 9 He also placed the turban on his head, and on the turban, at its front, he placed the golden plate, the holy crown, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.
Aaron‟s clothing set him apart from the rest of the priesthood as the High Priest
Any good Bible dictionary will show you pictures of what he looked like
Note the reference to the Urim and Thummim in v. 8 – not sure what they were, but they must have been some small items that performed the function of “lots” or some way to discern God‟s will. We see it referred to in Ex. 28:29-30. "Whenever Aaron enters the Holy Place, he will bear the names of the sons of Israel over his heart on the breastpiece of decision as a continuing memorial before the LORD. Also put the Urim and the Thummim in the breastpiece, so they may be over Aaron's heart whenever he enters the presence of the LORD. Thus Aaron will always bear the means of making decisions for the Israelites over his heart before the LORD.”
Cf. Prov. 16:33 “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.”
We see an example of this in action in 1 Sam. 14:40-42. So he said to all Israel, "Stand on one side, and I and my son Jonathan will stand on the other." The people responded, "Do what you think best." 41 And Saul said to the LORD, the God of Israel: "Why did you not answer your servant this time? If the blame for this resides in me or my son Jonathan, LORD, God of Israel, respond with Urim; but if this guilt is in your people Israel, respond with Thummim." Jonathan and Saul were designated, and the people went free. 42 Saul then said, "Cast lots between me and my son Jonathan." And Jonathan was designated.
10 Moses then took the anointing oil and anointed the tabernacle and all that was in it, and consecrated them. 11 And he sprinkled some of it on the altar seven times and anointed the altar and all its utensils, and the basin and its stand, to consecrate them. 12 Then he poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron's head and anointed him, to consecrate him.
These were all symbolic acts designed to “consecrate” them, or “set them apart”
The root word is our word for “holy”
13 Next Moses had Aaron's sons come near and clothed them with tunics, and girded them with sashes, and bound caps on them, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.
Their outfits weren‟t as elaborate as Aaron‟s, but they were distinctive enough to visually mark them as priests
14 Then he brought the bull of the sin offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the bull of the sin offering. 15 Next Moses slaughtered it and took the blood and with his finger put some of it around on the horns of the altar, and purified the altar. Then he poured out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar and consecrated it, to make atonement for it. 16 He also took all the fat that was on the entrails and the lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and their fat; and Moses offered it up in smoke on the altar. 17 But the bull and its hide and its flesh and its refuse, he burned in the fire outside the camp, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.
When they laid their hands on this bull, they were transferring their sinfulness to the bull, and then the bull was killed
The sin offering symbolized substitutionary atonement, accomplished forgiveness, part was burned outside the camp, and it covered sins where reparation was impossible
18 Then he presented the ram of the burnt offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram. 19 And Moses slaughtered it and sprinkled the blood around on the altar. 20 When he had cut the ram into its pieces, Moses offered up the head and the pieces and the suet in smoke. 21 After he had washed the entrails and the legs with water, Moses offered up the whole ram in smoke on the altar. It was a burnt offering for a soothing aroma; it was an offering by fire to the LORD, just as the LORD had commanded Moses. 22 Then he presented the second ram, the ram of ordination; and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram.
23 And Moses slaughtered it and took some of its blood and put it on the lobe of Aaron's right ear, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. 24 He also had Aaron's sons come near; and Moses put some of the blood on the lobe of their right ear, and on the thumb of their right hand, and on the big toe of their right foot. Moses then sprinkled the rest of the blood around on the altar. 25 And he took the fat, and the fat tail, and all the fat that was on the entrails, and the lobe of the liver and the two kidneys and their fat and the right thigh. And from the basket of unleavened bread that was before the LORD, he took one unleavened cake and one cake of bread mixed with oil and one wafer, and placed them on the portions of fat and on the right thigh. 27 He then put all these on the hands of Aaron and on the hands of his sons, and presented them as a wave offering before the LORD. 28 Then Moses took them from their hands and offered them up in smoke on the altar with the burnt offering. They were an ordination offering for a soothing aroma; it was an offering by fire to the LORD.
The first ram was a burnt offering – a voluntary offering symbolizing total consecration
The second ram is referred to as “the ram of ordination” or “installation.” According to v. 31, part of this ram was eaten, which means it would be a “peace offering.” Then Moses said to Aaron and to his sons, "Boil the flesh at the doorway of the tent of meeting, and eat it there together with the bread which is in the basket of the ordination offering, just as I commanded, saying, 'Aaron and his sons shall eat it.'
32 "And the remainder of the flesh and of the bread you shall burn in the fire. 33 "And you shall not go outside the doorway of the tent of meeting for seven days, until the day that the period of your ordination is fulfilled; for he will ordain you through seven days. 34 "The LORD has commanded to do as has been done this day, to make atonement on your behalf. 35 "At the doorway of the tent of meeting, moreover, you shall remain day and night for seven days, and keep the charge of the LORD, that you may not die, for so I have been commanded." 36 Thus Aaron and his sons did all the things which the LORD had commanded through Moses.
So you can see this is quite an elaborate process Aaron and his sons went through, but the net effect of it all was that the entire nation saw God take this group of men and set them apart for a very special purpose
They were visually distinct (dress), spiritually distinct (seven days alone in the Tabernacle with God), and ceremonially distinct (anointed with blood and oil)
They were “go betweens” between God and Israel.
We aren‟t going to go through chapter nine this way because it is basically a repetition of chapter eight with two distinctions. First of all, the main actor in chapter 8 is Moses and he is doing all the ceremonial things to Aaron and his sons. In chapter 9, Aaron is the main character and he is doing all the ceremonial, priestly things for the very first time. The second main point of chapter 9 is seen in verses 22-24. “Then Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and blessed them, and he stepped down after making the sin offering and the burnt offering and the peace offerings. 23 And Moses and Aaron went into the tent of meeting. When they came out and blessed the people, the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people. 24 Then fire came out from before the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the portions of fat on the altar; and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces.”
This is God‟s stamp of approval on the events of the two chapters. Moses and Aaron had done everything God had asked of them, and now the priesthood was formally established. The nation of Israel had a mediator between them and God, and regular communication was now possible.
What does all this mean for us today? To answer this, I want us to turn to Heb. 5. We are going to read verses 1 through 9, and I want you to appreciate Jesus a little more.
For very high priest taken from among men is appointed on behalf of men in things pertaining to God, in order to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins; 2 he can deal gently with the ignorant and misguided, since he himself also is beset with weakness; 3 and because of it he is obligated to offer sacrifices for sins, as for the people, so also for himself. 4 And no one takes the honor to himself, but receives it when he is called by God, even as Aaron was. 5 So also Christ did not glorify Himself so as to become a high priest, but He who said to Him, "Thou art My Son, Today I have begotten Thee"; 6 just as He says also in another passage, "Thou art a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek." 7 In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. 8 Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. 9 And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation.
Our High Priest today is very unlike Aaron, and two ways come to mind. First of all, He didn‟t have to offer a sacrifice for His own sins before He could deal with us. And secondly, He was a combination priest and sacrifice, which brought an end to the entire system. When He was crucified, there was no longer a need for animal reconciliation and human mediation. Today, we “have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
The Priestly System – The Mediators Between Man and God
Lev. 8 & 9
This morning we are in Lev. 8 and 9, and we are going to move into the next section of Leviticus, the directions concerning the priesthood. If you kept your outline of the book, we are still in the general section of “How to obtain fellowship with God,” but we are now going from “how to draw near to God” to “the mediators between God and man.” It was the sacrificial system that removed the barriers, or estrangement between a holy God and sinful people; but now the communication issue had to be dealt with. And it was the priesthood that established a medium of direct conversation between God and the nation of Israel.
These are two very important words I want us to think about for a moment, reconciliation and mediation. The focal point of reconciliation is estrangement, and the focal point of mediation is communication. Reconciliation involves an act that reduces tension, hostility, and animosity; mediation involves a person who bridges the communication barrier. And what we are seeing in the book of Leviticus in this first section is that between the sacrifices and the priesthood, both of these issues are addressed. The sacrificial system erased estrangement, and the priestly system established direct communication with God.
I want us to take a minute and try to appreciate the significance of this event. Up to this point in the history of man, if God wanted to communicate with mankind, He did it in four basic ways. First of all, there was personal visitation, as in the case of Adam and Eve in the garden, and Moses at Mt. Sinai. Secondly, there were angelic messengers, as in the case of Lot leaving Sodom or Abraham being told of the birth of Isaac. Third, there were supernatural phenomena,as in the burning bush incident with Moses in the desert, and finally, there was dreams, as in the case of Joseph when God told him he was going to rule over his brothers.
All of that is changing right now. God is broadening his “audience” as it were, and now He is going to communicate with an entire nation as opposed to individuals only. And the instrument He is going to use is the high priest and his helpers, the rest of the priesthood. Keep in mind though that God‟s audience is still relatively small – it is the nation of Israel only. That dimension doesn‟t change until the ministry of Jesus.
To really get an idea of the significance of the priesthood, I want us to go to chapter 2 of the book of Malachi. In the first nine verses, God is rebuking the existing priesthood for their dereliction of duty, but I want us to read this passage because it shows us what God had in mind when He established the priesthood. These verses contain the job description of Aaron and his sons.
"And now, this commandment is for you, O priests. 2 "If you do not listen, and if you do not take it to heart to give honor to My name," says the LORD of hosts, "then I will send the curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings; and indeed, I have cursed them already, because you are not taking it to heart [in other words, the priesthood of Malachi’s day was not living up to God’s expectations]. 3 "Behold, I am going to rebuke your offspring, and I will spread refuse on your faces, the refuse of your feasts [this is a reference to a public and vile humiliation – remember the specific instructions for how to deal with the intestines and the careful washings]; and you will be taken away with it [a reference to carrying the parts of the offering to a place outside the camp and burning them]. 4 "Then you will know that I have sent this commandment to you, that My covenant may continue with Levi [the tribe of Levi was the priestly tribe that Aaron came from]," says the LORD of hosts. 5 "My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him as an object of reverence; so he revered Me, and stood in awe of My name. [Starting in verse 6 we get to God’s intent for the events of Lev. 8 and 9] 6 "True instruction was in his mouth, and unrighteousness was not found on his lips; he walked with Me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many back from iniquity. 7 "For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge, and men should seek instruction from his mouth; for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts. [Do you see the concept of communication here? God is now communicating to mankind through an intermediary – the priests] 8 "But as for you, you have turned aside from the way; you have caused many to stumble by the instruction; you have corrupted the covenant of Levi," says the LORD of hosts. 9 "So I also have made you despised and abased before all the people, just as you are not keeping My ways, but are showing partiality in the instruction.
So understand that the priesthood was huge. For the first time in the history of humanity, there was not only regular communication between God and man (v. 7 – “he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts”), but also a mediator between God and man (v. 6 – “he walked with me in peace and uprightness”). I don‟t know if we can fully appreciate this because today, every follower of Christ is a “priest.” Collectively, we comprise “a royal priesthood” and “a holy nation” according to 1 Pt. 2:9. But what is commonplace and normal to us was highly significant 6,000 years ago, and chapters 8 and 9 of Leviticus record for us the ceremony where God officially inaugurates this new era of communication. It would be similar to the swearing in ceremony our nation has every four years in January after a new president has been elected.
The way I want to cover these two chapters is to go through them with a highlighter and just point out some specifics, and then we will close with three specific points of application that answer the question, “what does all this stuff mean for me today?” I want this to be more than a history lesson!
Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 "Take Aaron [remember that Aaron is Moses’ brother] and his sons with him, and the garments and the anointing oil and the bull of the sin offering, and the two rams and the basket of unleavened bread; 3 and assemble all the congregation at the doorway of the tent of meeting." 4 So Moses did just as the LORD commanded him.
Sin offering
Burnt offering
Peace offering
Everything being done in view of the entire nation
When the congregation was assembled at the doorway of the tent of meeting, 5 Moses said to the congregation, “This is the thing which the LORD has commanded to do.” 6 Then Moses had Aaron and his sons come near, and washed them with water. 7 And he put the tunic on him and girded him with the sash, and clothed him with the robe, and put the ephod on him; and he girded him with the artistic band of the ephod, with which he tied it to him. 8 He then placed the breastpiece on him, and in the breastpiece he put the Urim and the Thummim. 9 He also placed the turban on his head, and on the turban, at its front, he placed the golden plate, the holy crown, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.
Aaron‟s clothing set him apart from the rest of the priesthood as the High Priest
Any good Bible dictionary will show you pictures of what he looked like
Note the reference to the Urim and Thummim in v. 8 – not sure what they were, but they must have been some small items that performed the function of “lots” or some way to discern God‟s will. We see it referred to in Ex. 28:29-30. "Whenever Aaron enters the Holy Place, he will bear the names of the sons of Israel over his heart on the breastpiece of decision as a continuing memorial before the LORD. Also put the Urim and the Thummim in the breastpiece, so they may be over Aaron's heart whenever he enters the presence of the LORD. Thus Aaron will always bear the means of making decisions for the Israelites over his heart before the LORD.”
Cf. Prov. 16:33 “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.”
We see an example of this in action in 1 Sam. 14:40-42. So he said to all Israel, "Stand on one side, and I and my son Jonathan will stand on the other." The people responded, "Do what you think best." 41 And Saul said to the LORD, the God of Israel: "Why did you not answer your servant this time? If the blame for this resides in me or my son Jonathan, LORD, God of Israel, respond with Urim; but if this guilt is in your people Israel, respond with Thummim." Jonathan and Saul were designated, and the people went free. 42 Saul then said, "Cast lots between me and my son Jonathan." And Jonathan was designated.
10 Moses then took the anointing oil and anointed the tabernacle and all that was in it, and consecrated them. 11 And he sprinkled some of it on the altar seven times and anointed the altar and all its utensils, and the basin and its stand, to consecrate them. 12 Then he poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron's head and anointed him, to consecrate him.
These were all symbolic acts designed to “consecrate” them, or “set them apart”
The root word is our word for “holy”
13 Next Moses had Aaron's sons come near and clothed them with tunics, and girded them with sashes, and bound caps on them, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.
Their outfits weren‟t as elaborate as Aaron‟s, but they were distinctive enough to visually mark them as priests
14 Then he brought the bull of the sin offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the bull of the sin offering. 15 Next Moses slaughtered it and took the blood and with his finger put some of it around on the horns of the altar, and purified the altar. Then he poured out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar and consecrated it, to make atonement for it. 16 He also took all the fat that was on the entrails and the lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and their fat; and Moses offered it up in smoke on the altar. 17 But the bull and its hide and its flesh and its refuse, he burned in the fire outside the camp, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.
When they laid their hands on this bull, they were transferring their sinfulness to the bull, and then the bull was killed
The sin offering symbolized substitutionary atonement, accomplished forgiveness, part was burned outside the camp, and it covered sins where reparation was impossible
18 Then he presented the ram of the burnt offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram. 19 And Moses slaughtered it and sprinkled the blood around on the altar. 20 When he had cut the ram into its pieces, Moses offered up the head and the pieces and the suet in smoke. 21 After he had washed the entrails and the legs with water, Moses offered up the whole ram in smoke on the altar. It was a burnt offering for a soothing aroma; it was an offering by fire to the LORD, just as the LORD had commanded Moses. 22 Then he presented the second ram, the ram of ordination; and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram.
23 And Moses slaughtered it and took some of its blood and put it on the lobe of Aaron's right ear, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. 24 He also had Aaron's sons come near; and Moses put some of the blood on the lobe of their right ear, and on the thumb of their right hand, and on the big toe of their right foot. Moses then sprinkled the rest of the blood around on the altar. 25 And he took the fat, and the fat tail, and all the fat that was on the entrails, and the lobe of the liver and the two kidneys and their fat and the right thigh. And from the basket of unleavened bread that was before the LORD, he took one unleavened cake and one cake of bread mixed with oil and one wafer, and placed them on the portions of fat and on the right thigh. 27 He then put all these on the hands of Aaron and on the hands of his sons, and presented them as a wave offering before the LORD. 28 Then Moses took them from their hands and offered them up in smoke on the altar with the burnt offering. They were an ordination offering for a soothing aroma; it was an offering by fire to the LORD.
The first ram was a burnt offering – a voluntary offering symbolizing total consecration
The second ram is referred to as “the ram of ordination” or “installation.” According to v. 31, part of this ram was eaten, which means it would be a “peace offering.” Then Moses said to Aaron and to his sons, "Boil the flesh at the doorway of the tent of meeting, and eat it there together with the bread which is in the basket of the ordination offering, just as I commanded, saying, 'Aaron and his sons shall eat it.'
32 "And the remainder of the flesh and of the bread you shall burn in the fire. 33 "And you shall not go outside the doorway of the tent of meeting for seven days, until the day that the period of your ordination is fulfilled; for he will ordain you through seven days. 34 "The LORD has commanded to do as has been done this day, to make atonement on your behalf. 35 "At the doorway of the tent of meeting, moreover, you shall remain day and night for seven days, and keep the charge of the LORD, that you may not die, for so I have been commanded." 36 Thus Aaron and his sons did all the things which the LORD had commanded through Moses.
So you can see this is quite an elaborate process Aaron and his sons went through, but the net effect of it all was that the entire nation saw God take this group of men and set them apart for a very special purpose
They were visually distinct (dress), spiritually distinct (seven days alone in the Tabernacle with God), and ceremonially distinct (anointed with blood and oil)
They were “go betweens” between God and Israel.
We aren‟t going to go through chapter nine this way because it is basically a repetition of chapter eight with two distinctions. First of all, the main actor in chapter 8 is Moses and he is doing all the ceremonial things to Aaron and his sons. In chapter 9, Aaron is the main character and he is doing all the ceremonial, priestly things for the very first time. The second main point of chapter 9 is seen in verses 22-24. “Then Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and blessed them, and he stepped down after making the sin offering and the burnt offering and the peace offerings. 23 And Moses and Aaron went into the tent of meeting. When they came out and blessed the people, the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people. 24 Then fire came out from before the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the portions of fat on the altar; and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces.”
This is God‟s stamp of approval on the events of the two chapters. Moses and Aaron had done everything God had asked of them, and now the priesthood was formally established. The nation of Israel had a mediator between them and God, and regular communication was now possible.
What does all this mean for us today? To answer this, I want us to turn to Heb. 5. We are going to read verses 1 through 9, and I want you to appreciate Jesus a little more.
For very high priest taken from among men is appointed on behalf of men in things pertaining to God, in order to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins; 2 he can deal gently with the ignorant and misguided, since he himself also is beset with weakness; 3 and because of it he is obligated to offer sacrifices for sins, as for the people, so also for himself. 4 And no one takes the honor to himself, but receives it when he is called by God, even as Aaron was. 5 So also Christ did not glorify Himself so as to become a high priest, but He who said to Him, "Thou art My Son, Today I have begotten Thee"; 6 just as He says also in another passage, "Thou art a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek." 7 In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. 8 Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. 9 And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation.
Our High Priest today is very unlike Aaron, and two ways come to mind. First of all, He didn‟t have to offer a sacrifice for His own sins before He could deal with us. And secondly, He was a combination priest and sacrifice, which brought an end to the entire system. When He was crucified, there was no longer a need for animal reconciliation and human mediation. Today, we “have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
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