Sunday, March 15, 2009

Leviticus 17-20 Laws of Holiness

CHAPTER 17: The Sacredness of Life and The Shedding of Blood.


Sacrificial Blood: Living with a holy God requires that the blood of sacrifice be for the altar representing the life given for atonement.


The blood is the life of the flesh (17:11) and it is through the atoning blood of Christ that the believer receives redemption (I Peter 1:18-19), forgiveness (Ephesians 1:7), justification (Romans 5:9), spiritual peace (Colossians 1:20), and sanctification (Hebrews 13:12).



  • 1 Peter 1:18-19: For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And the ransom he paid was not mere gold or silver. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God.

  • Ephesians 1:7: He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins.

  • Romans 5:9: And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation.

  • Colossians 1:20: and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.

  • Hebrews 13:12: So also Jesus suffered and died outside the city gates to make his people holy by means of his own blood.


Do not sacrifice anywhere inside or outside the camp without bringing it to the entrance of the Tabernacle to present it as an offering to the Lord. The penalty is death! Why? So the priest can sprinkle the blood and burn the fat on the altar. Also, so the people would be less likely to slip into idol worship. Do not offer sacrifices to evil spirits in the fields. There is only one place where God meets with the sinners - at the altar at the door of the Tabernacle and later at the Cross.


In the pagan world at that time, it was customary to offer sacrifice wherever one pleased. Altars were customarily built on high hills, in forested areas, or at other special places.


1 Corinthians 10:19-20: What am I trying to say? Am I saying that food offered to idols has some significance, or that idols are real gods? No, not at all. I am saying that these sacrifices are offered to demons, not to God. And I don’t want you to participate with demons.


Do not eat or drink blood because the life is in the blood. Genesis 9:4 (to Noah): But you must never eat any meat that still has the lifeblood in it.

If you kill an animal or blood when hunting, you must pour the blood on the ground and cover it with dirt.


CHAPTER 18: Forbidden Pagan Sexual Practices


Morality in Life and Ritual: Living with a holy God requires an established cultural pattern of morality in life and ritual for one to continue in the community and for Israel to continue in the land.


All through the Scriptures we are taught that sex is to be a total union of a man and his wife, expressing physical, emotional, and spiritual oneness. That is what sex is supposed to be about. Therefore, marriage is its only possible expression.


(1-5) Then the Lord said to Moses, “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. I am the Lord your God. So do not act like the people in Egypt, where you used to live, or like the people of Canaan, where I am taking you. You must not imitate their way of life. You must obey all my regulations and be careful to obey my decrees, for I am the Lord your God. If you obey my decrees and my regulations, you will find life through them. I am the Lord.


No sex with:



  • Your mother.

  • Any of your father's wives.

  • Your sister or half sister (Abraham married his half-sister).

  • Your granddaughter.

  • Your aunt.

  • Your daughter-in-law.

  • Your sister-in-law.

  • Both a woman and her daughter.

  • A woman and her granddaughter.

  • A woman and her sister (Jacob married Rachel and Leah).

  • While the woman is having her menstrual period. You are not even to touch her or you'll be ceremonially unclean. Note how the woman with an issue of blood touched the hem of Jesus' robe and was healed, which would have made Jesus ceremonially unclean.

  • Your neighbor's wife.

  • No homosexuality. God calls homosexual sex an abomination, even as He does in Romans 1:24-32.

  • No bestiality.

  • Also, do not sacrifice your child to Molech as practiced by the Canaanites.


(27-30) “All these detestable activities are practiced by the people of the land where I am taking you, and this is how the land has become defiled. So do not defile the land and give it a reason to vomit you out, as it will vomit out the people who live there now. Whoever commits any of these detestable sins will be cut off from the community of Israel. So obey my instructions, and do not defile yourselves by committing any of these detestable practices that were committed by the people who lived in the land before you. I am the Lord your God.”


The phrase "I am the Lord" is sprinkled throughout this chapter for emphasis. This is the focal point of Leviticus.


CHAPTER 19: Holiness in Personal Conduct


Leviticus chapter 19 outlines how an Israelite is to live a holy life. The Mosaic Covenant is established so that Israel would be a holy nation (Exodus 19:6). While there are hints at how holiness is to be practiced by the people of God earlier in the Pentateuch, it is in the 19th chapter of the Book of Leviticus that holiness is defined in great detail. Exodus 19:6: And you will be my kingdom of priests, my holy nation.’ This is the message you must give to the people of Israel.”


Holiness involved sacrifice, in that it is costly. Holiness was more than a matter of observing religious rituals - it involved a wide variety of actions as a part of one’s everyday life. Holiness is the imitation of God. Holiness was here to be revealed positively, rather than negatively. Finally, holiness is practiced by loving one’s neighbor as one’s self (verse 18).


DO NOT:



  • Do not put your trust in idols or make metal images of gods for yourselves.

    The word for idols literally means "nothings". Idols represent gods that are not real and do not really exist. Israel had a major problem idol worship until the Babylonian captivity (some 800 years from the time of Leviticus). After the Babylonian captivity, Israel was cured of gross idolatry of molded gods and began a more insidious form of idolatry - idolatry of the nation itself, idolatry of the temple and its ceremonies, and an idolatry of tradition - much as with some religions today - Catholicism and Islam for example.

    Molech was a fertility god, represented by a great iron or stone statue which was heated until white-hot by a fire built within it. People would take their infants and lay them in the outstretched arms of this idol and stand by as the children screamed in agony, cremated alive as an offering to Molech. Why would parents do a thing like that? -- because they believed that this would increase the yield of their crops, and therefore their own prosperity. God was not only intent upon ending this cruel practice, with its insane sacrifice of human life in this horrendous manner, but what he really wants to convey is the evil of the principle involved: parents sacrificing their children for their own benefit.

  • When you harvest the crops of your land, do not harvest the grain along the edges of your fields, and do not pick up what the harvesters drop.

  • Same with your grape crop—do not strip every last bunch of grapes from the vines, and do not pick up the grapes that fall to the ground. Leave them for the poor and the foreigners living among you. See Ruth chapter 2.

  • Do not steal.

  • Do not deceive or cheat one another.


  • Do not bring shame on the name of your God by using it to swear falsely.

  • Do not defraud or rob your neighbor.

  • Do not insult the deaf or cause the blind to stumble.

  • Do not twist justice in legal matters by favoring the poor or being partial to the rich and powerful.

  • Do not spread slanderous gossip among your people.

  • Do not stand idly by when your neighbor’s life is threatened.

  • Do not nurse hatred in your heart for any of your relatives.

  • Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against a fellow Israelite.

  • Do not mate two different kinds of animals.

  • Do not plant your field with two different kinds of seed.

  • Do not wear clothing woven from two different kinds of thread.

  • Do not eat meat that has not been drained of its blood.

  • Do not practice fortune-telling or witchcraft. 1 Chronicles 10:13: So Saul died because he was unfaithful to the Lord. He failed to obey the Lord’s command, and he even consulted a medium.

  • Do not trim off the hair on your temples or trim your beards. To do this was to imitate pagan customs of that day. Jewish orthodox men are conspicuous by their untrimmed beards and long, curly locks on the sides of their heads. The phrase "round the corners of your heads" refers to a practice in ancient idolatry where priests shaved around their head leaving a tuft of hair on top. "Mar the corners of thy beard" refers to an Egyptian custom forbidding beards. Read Genesis 41:14 that documents Joseph being imprisoned and called before Pharaoh, and before they met he hastily "shaved himself and changed his rainment" to avoid criticism due to their custom.

  • Do not cut your bodies for the dead.

  • Do not mark your skin with tattoos.

  • Do not defile your daughter by making her a prostitute, or the land will be filled with prostitution and wickedness.

  • Do not take advantage of foreigners who live among you in your land. Treat them like native-born Israelites, and love them as you love yourself. Remember that you were once foreigners living in the land of Egypt.


  • Do not use dishonest standards when measuring length, weight, or volume. Your scales and weights must be accurate.


DO:



  • You must be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy. The idea behind the word holy is "separate." As it is applied to God, it describes God's "apartness". It means that God is different than man in the greatness and majesty of His attributes. He has a righteousness unlike any other; a justice unlike any other; a purity unlike any other - and love, grace, and mercy unlike any other. Being holy means being like God, separating ourselves unto Him and His truth - and naturally, separating ourselves from those things that are not like Him and not according to His truth.

  • Respect your mother and father.

  • Observe my Sabbath days of rest.

  • Offer your peace offering to the Lord properly so you will be accepted by God.

  • The sacrifice must be eaten on the same day you offer it or on the next day.

  • Pay your hired workers the same day they work.

  • Always judge people fairly.

  • Confront people directly so you will not be held guilty for their sin.

  • Love your neighbor as yourself. Unfortunately, many ancient Jews had a narrow definition of who their neighbor was and only considered their friends and countrymen their neighbors. Jesus commanded us to love your enemies (Luke 6:27), and showed our neighbor was the one in need, even if a traditional enemy (Luke 10:25-37).

    Mark 12:30-31: And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”

  • Obey all my decrees.

  • If a man has sex with a slave girl whose freedom has never been purchased but who is committed to become another man’s wife, he must pay full compensation to her master. But since she is not a free woman, neither the man nor the woman will be put to death. The man, however, must bring a ram as a guilt offering and present it to the Lord at the entrance of the Tabernacle. The priest will then purify him before the Lord with the ram of the guilt offering, and the man’s sin will be forgiven.

  • When you enter the land and plant fruit trees, leave the fruit unharvested for the first three years and consider it forbidden. Do not eat it. In the fourth year the entire crop must be consecrated to the Lord as a celebration of praise. Finally, in the fifth year you may eat the fruit. If you follow this pattern, your harvest will increase.

  • Keep my Sabbath days of rest, and show reverence toward my sanctuary.

  • Do not defile yourselves by turning to mediums or to those who consult the spirits of the dead

  • Stand up in the presence of the elderly, and show respect for the aged.

  • Keep all of my decrees and regulations by putting them into practice.

    • Constantly repeated in this chapter: I am the Lord. 15 times in this chapter, God declared that He is the Lord - and the one with the right to tell us what to do. This is something that God expected ancient Israel to respect, and expects His modern day followers to also respect.



CHAPTER 20: Punishments for Disobedience (both to native Israelites and to the foreigners living in Israel):


The structure of the chapter can be seen as outlined below:



  • Prohibition: Molech and Mediums (vv. 1-6)


  • Exhortation to be holy: Obey God’s Statutes (vv. 7-8)

  • Prohibition: Sins against the Family (vv. 9-21)

  • Exhortation to holiness: Keep God’s Ordinances (vv. 22-26)

  • Prohibition of Mediums: Must be executed (v. 27)



The Bible portrays every sin as worthy of death. The wages of sin, we are told, is death (Romans 6:23). There is no such thing as a small sin in God’s sight. God looks upon sin not only in terms of the action and its consequences, but also in terms of the attitude which is evidenced. At the bottom line, sin is an act of rebellion against God. It matters little what form our rebellion takes, for any act of rebellion against the sovereign God is worthy of death. Since all sins are capital sins, worthy of death, all men desperately need to experience God’s provision for sinners - forgiveness through the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ, who died on the cross, bearing the punishment which we deserve. The sins listed in Leviticus 20 are those sins which the Canaanites would not have considered sins at all.



  • If any of them offer their children as a sacrifice to Molech, they must be put to death. The people of the community must stone them to death.

    The Ammonites made child sacrifice to Molech (their national god). Molech was worshipped by heating a metal statue representing the god until it was red hot, then by placing a living infant on the outstretched hands of the statue, while beating drums drowned out the screams of the child until it burned to death. The penalty for Molech worship was death and if the sentence was not carried out by Israel, God declared He would set My face against that man and against his family. Even Solomon at least sanctioned the worship of Molech and built a temple to this idol (1 Kings 11:7). King Ahaz of Judah dedicated his own son to Molech (2 Kings 16:3). One of the great crimes of the northern tribes of Israel was their worship of Molech, leading to the Assyrian captivity (2 Kings 17:17). King Manasseh of Judah dedicated his son to Molech (2 Kings 21:6). Up to the days of King Josiah of Judah, Molech worship continued, because he destroyed a place of worship to that idol (2 Kings 23:10).

  • Commit spiritual prostitution by putting their trust in mediums or in those who consult the spirits of the dead. I will cut them off from the community.

  • Anyone who dishonors father or mother must be put to death. Virtually all commentators agree this is not the outburst of a small child - or even an adolescent - against their parent, but the settled heart of an adult child against their parent. According to Deuteronomy 21:18-21, the parent did not have the right to carry out this punishment, but they had to bring the accused child before the elders and judges of the city. As a practical matter, the judges of Israel rarely if ever administered the death penalty in such cases, yet the child was held accountable.

  • If a man commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, both the man and the woman who have committed adultery must be put to death. This also helps us to understand what Jesus was doing when confronting the crowd who brought to Him the woman taken in adultery. By their presence and words, they claimed to have caught the woman in the act - but why then did they not bring the guilty man as well? And who was willing to cast the first stone - that is, initiate the execution? (John 8:1-12)

  • If a man violates his father by having sex with one of his father’s wives, both the man and the woman must be put to death.

  • If a man has sex with his daughter-in-law, both must be put to death.

  • If a man practices homosexuality. They must both be put to death.

  • If a man marries both a woman and her mother, he has committed a wicked act. The man and both women must be burned to death.

  • If a man has sex with an animal, he must be put to death, and the animal must be killed.

  • If a woman has sex with an animal, she and the animal must both be put to death.

  • If a man marries his sister, the daughter of either his father or his mother, and they have sexual relations, it is a shameful disgrace. They must be publicly cut off from the community.

  • If a man has sexual relations with a woman during her menstrual period, both of them must be cut off from the community.

  • Do not have sexual relations with your aunt. Both parties are guilty and will be punished for their sin.

  • If a man has sex with his uncle’s wife - they will die childless.

  • If a man marries his brother’s wife, it is an act of impurity. The guilty couple will remain childless.

  • Men and women among you who act as mediums or who consult the spirits of the dead must be put to death by stoning.


(7-8,22-26) So set yourselves apart to be holy, for I am the Lord your God. Keep all my decrees by putting them into practice, for I am the Lord who makes you holy. “You must keep all my decrees and regulations by putting them into practice; otherwise the land to which I am bringing you as your new home will vomit you out. Do not live according to the customs of the people I am driving out before you. It is because they do these shameful things that I detest them. But I have promised you, ‘You will possess their land because I will give it to you as your possession—a land flowing with milk and honey.’ I am the Lord your God, who has set you apart from all other people. “You must therefore make a distinction between ceremonially clean and unclean animals, and between clean and unclean birds. You must not defile yourselves by eating any unclean animal or bird or creature that scurries along the ground. I have identified them as being unclean for you. You must be holy because I, the Lord, am holy. I have set you apart from all other people to be my very own.


These verses are another reminder that God's laws to the Israelites were given to set them apart from the pagans surrounding them and in Canaan. God's laws were given to differentiate what is right and wrong, in comparison to the pagan immoral customs. If someone examined your life, would they see that you are set apart from the customs of our modern world?



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Saturday, March 7, 2009

Leviticus 16 - Yom Kippur

The first reference to the Day of Atonement comes in the Book of Exodus,
chapter 30. The first nine verses detail the plans for the Altar of Incense.
There is then a special word of warning, followed by a brief reference
to the Day of Atonement:

Exodus 30:9-10: Do not offer any unholy incense on this altar, or any burnt offerings, grain offerings, or liquid offerings. “Once a year Aaron must purify the altar by smearing its horns with blood from the offering made to purify the people from their sin. This will be a regular, annual event from generation to generation, for this is the Lord’s most holy altar.”


Unlike the other Jewish holidays, the Day of Atonement was no festive
event. It was a day of national mourning and repentance. This was a Sabbath
day celebration, which meant that no work could be done.
Anyone who did not observe this Sabbath was to be cut off from his people, which is a euphemism for being put to death. Beyond this,
this was a day when the people were to “humble their souls”. This would thus be the only religious holiday which was characterized
by mourning, fasting, and repentance. No other sacrifice in Leviticus
more clearly anticipates the future, greater, atonement of Israel’s
Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ. And no other sacrifice provides a better
backdrop against which to see the vast superiority of our Lord’s
atonement over that of Aaron.


Leviticus 23:26-32: Then the Lord said to Moses, “Be careful to celebrate the Day of Atonement on the tenth day of that same month—nine days after the Festival of Trumpets. You must observe it as an official day for holy assembly, a day to deny yourselves and present special gifts to the Lord. Do no work during that entire day because it is the Day of Atonement, when offerings of purification are made for you, making you right with the Lord your God. All who do not deny themselves that day will be cut off from God’s people. And I will destroy anyone among you who does any work on that day. You must not do any work at all! This is a permanent law for you, and it must be observed from generation to generation wherever you live. This will be a Sabbath day of complete rest for you, and on that day you must deny yourselves. This day of rest will begin at sundown on the ninth day of the month and extend until sundown on the tenth day.”


Numbers 29:7-11: “Ten days later, on the tenth day of the same month, you must call another holy assembly. On that day, the Day of Atonement, the people must go without food and must do no ordinary work. “You must present a burnt offering as a pleasing aroma to the Lord. It will consist of one young bull, one ram, and seven one-year-old male lambs, all with no defects. These offerings must be accompanied by the prescribed grain offerings of choice flour moistened with olive oil—six quarts of choice flour with the bull, four quarts of choice flour with the ram, and two quarts of choice flour with each of the seven lambs. You must also sacrifice one male goat for a sin offering. This is in addition to the sin offering of atonement and the regular daily burnt offering with its grain offering, and their accompanying liquid offerings.


The day would begin as usual with the offering
of the morning sacrifice, the burnt offering of a one year old lamb. After these duties were performed, the High
Priest would commence the ceremonies of the Day of Atonement. The Day of Atonement is observed on the 10th day of the seventh month
of Tishri. It is the only commanded fast in the year and is, doubtless,
the most solemn day in the sacred calendar.
On this day the high priest laid aside his official ornaments and dressed
in a white linen garment entered the Most Holy place to make atonement
for himself, the priesthood and the congregation of Israel. The Epistle
to the Hebrews (chapter 9) explains that this annual entry by the High
Priest in the Holy of Holies foreshadowed the entrance of the Messiah
the High Priest of the Melchizedek Order into Yahweh's
presence to secure salvation for His people.


To the ancient Jews, the Day of Atonement was called “the great day” or sometimes even just “the day.” Modern Jews still regard Yom Kippur an important day of fasting, soul searching, and righting wrongs - yet they offer no sacrifice for sin.


The Day followed exactly six months after the setting aside of the lambs for the Feast of the Passover, and was followed five days later by the Feast of Tabernacles/Booths.


The Hebrew word kipper for atone means "to cover".
On the day of Atonement, the people of Israel confessed their sins as
a nation and the high priest went into the Holy of Holies to make atonement
for them. Sacrifices were made and blood was shed so that the people's
sins could be "covered" until Christ's sacrifice on the cross
would give people the opportunity to have their sin removed forever. The English word "atonement" means to make amends for, to reconcile,
to restore, to repair, to make at-one again. And that is exactly what
the Day of Atonement prefigures. It points to a specific time in the future
when the great High Priest of the Melchizedek Order (Yeshua the Messiah)
will literally bring the redeemed host of mankind right into the very
presence of His Father, in order that we may be AT-ONE with YAHWEH. That indeed will by a reconciliation beyond compare, when the Almighty's
estranged human family - alienated from Him by sin - will actually be
brought into His presence to be AT ONE with Him. This captures the thought behind the Hebrew word for atonement: Kipper, which means, “to cover.” Sin was not removed, but covered over by sacrificial blood. The New Testament idea of atonement is that our sin is not merely covered, but removed - taken away, so there is no barrier between God and man any longer.


Yahweh's family of true believers:



  • Ransomed at the Passover and liberated by the blood of His Son - the
    Passover Lamb.


  • Purged of sin, hypocrisy and false doctrine during the Days of Unleavened
    Bread     to become a holy Temple of God.


  • Filled with the power of the Holy Ghost at Pentecost in order to bear fruit for all
    eternity.

  • Victoriously gathered and defended at the Feast of Trumpets when the trumpets
    of Yahweh will sound throughout the earth.

  • And finally on the Great Day of Atonement, brought into the very presence
    of the Almighty by his Son the High Priest to be at-one with Him for all
    eternity.


  • Luke 15:22-24: “But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began.


(1) The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of Aaron’s two sons, who died after they entered the Lord’s presence and burned the wrong kind of fire before him.


(2) The Lord said to Moses, “Warn your brother, Aaron, not to enter the *Most Holy Place behind the inner **curtain whenever he chooses; if he does, he will die. For the ***Ark’s cover—the place of atonement—is there, and I myself am present in the cloud above the atonement cover.


*Most Holy Place: This is the Holy of Holies; that place within the veil where the ark of the covenant ,etc., were laid up; and where God manifested his presence between the cherubim.


**curtain: The Hebrew term parokhet is usually translated “veil” or “curtain,” but it seems to have stretched not only in front of but also over the top of the ark of the covenant which stood behind and under it inside the most holy place, and thus formed more of a canopy than simply a curtain. There is a veil between the ark, and the two other pieces of furniture representing the persons and altar of incense which is very close to the veil. This veil, sown with cherubim represent the time when the angel with a flaming sword that turned every direction prevented Adam and Eve from entering the Garden from the east entrance. Therefore, whenever the High Priest enters the Holy of Holies, it is symbolic of a re-entrance to where God had resided (since the garden was also called the “garden of God”, implying that the garden AND heaven were united in a way we cannot perceive except spiritually and theologically today). Jesus’ work on the cross and his entrance to the third heaven is exactly what the High Priest’s entrance into and work in the Holy of Holies preaches.


***Ark:

1 Chronicles 28:2: David rose to his feet and said: “My brothers and my people! It was my desire to build a temple where the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant, God’s footstool, could rest permanently. I made the necessary preparations for building it,

Psalm 132:7-8: Let us go to the sanctuary of the Lord; let us worship at the footstool of his throne. Arise, O Lord, and enter your resting place,
along with the Ark, the symbol of your power.


The mercy-seat was the covering on the Ark of the Covenant of Yahweh, where atonement could be made and man become reconciled to God. It was the ‘kapporeth’, the place where reconciliation and atonement was finally performed. This was a solid gold slab on which were the two cherubim at either end looking inward. It was the same size as the chest which it covered. It comes from the root ‘kpr’ (to cover) and the conjugation used signifies the place where sins are ‘fully covered’ so that they are no longer seen by God and held against the sinner (Jeremiah 18:23). It is the place where the punishment for sin was met by the shedding of blood, the place of atonement, of reconciliation, where He and His people were made at one. There is also a suggestion behind it that it is the earthly throne of Yahweh between the cherubim.


Hebrews 4:16: So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.


Hebrews 9:7-12, 24-26: But only the high priest ever entered the Most Holy Place, and only once a year. And he always offered blood for his own sins and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance. By these regulations the Holy Spirit revealed that the entrance to the Most Holy Place was not freely open as long as the Tabernacle and the system it represented were still in use. This is an illustration pointing to the present time. For the gifts and sacrifices that the priests offer are not able to cleanse the consciences of the people who bring them. For that old system deals only with food and drink and various cleansing ceremonies—physical regulations that were in effect only until a better system could be established. So Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come. He has entered that greater, more perfect Tabernacle in heaven, which was not made by human hands and is not part of this created world. With his own blood—not the blood of goats and calves—he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever...For Christ did not enter into a holy place made with human hands, which was only a copy of the true one in heaven. He entered into heaven itself to appear now before God on our behalf. And he did not enter heaven to offer himself again and again, like the high priest here on earth who enters the Most Holy Place year after year with the blood of an animal. If that had been necessary, Christ would have had to die again and again, ever since the world began. But now, once for all time, he has appeared at the end of the age to remove sin by his own death as a sacrifice.


(3) “When Aaron enters the sanctuary area, he must follow these instructions fully. He must bring a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.


On this day, after the morning whole burnt offering (a lamb of the first year) had been offered with its accompanying grain offering, Aaron’s approach to Yahweh had to commence with offerings for himself because the true high priest was to be SPOTLESS! The Jewish writers say that for seven days before the day of expiation the high priest was to retire from his own house, and to dwell in a chamber of the temple, that he might prepare himself for the service of this great day. During those seven days he himself did the work of the inferior priests about the sacrifices, incense, etc., that he might have his hand in for this day: he must have the institution read to him again and again, that he might be fully apprised of the whole method.


(4) He must put on his linen tunic and the linen undergarments worn next to his body. He must tie the linen sash around his waist and put the linen turban on his head. These are sacred garments, so he must bathe himself in water before he puts them on.


He was not to dress in his high priest's garments, but in the simple garments of the Levites, because it was a day of humiliation;
and as he was to offer sacrifices for his own sins, it was necessary that
he should appear in clothing suited to the occasion. Hence he has neither
the robe, the ephod, the breastplate, the mitre, etc. Now, he appears, before God as a
sinner, offering an atonement for his transgressions, and his garments
are those of humiliation. Beautiful colored materials, intricate embroidery, gold and jewelry made
him look like a king. On the day of atonement he looked more like a slave.
His outfit consisted of four simple garments in white linen. On
this one day, the high priest enters the ‘other world,’ into
the very presence of God. He must therefore dress as befits the occasion.
Among his fellow men his dignity as the great mediator between man and
God is unsurpassed, and his splendid clothes draw attention to the glory
of his office. But in the presence of God even the high priest is stripped
of all honor: he becomes simply the servant of the King of kings, whose
true status is portrayed in the simplicity of his dress. Ezekiel (9:2-3,
11; 10:2, 6-7) and Daniel (10:5; 12:6-7) describe angels as dressed in
linen, while Revelation 19:8 portrays the saints in heaven as wearing similar
clothes.


The breastplate and the tunic and the gold and the blue and the scarlet would all be put aside. It was a picture of the Messiah who would lay aside His glory (Philippians 2:7).


(5) Aaron must take from the community of Israel two male goats for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.


(6) “Aaron will present his own bull as a sin offering to purify himself and his family, making them right with the Lord.


(7) Then he must take the two male goats and present them to the Lord at the entrance of the *Tabernacle.


*Tabernacle: Hebrew Tent of Meeting


(8) He is to cast sacred lots to determine which goat will be reserved as an offering to the Lord and which will carry the sins of the people to the wilderness of Azazel.


(9) Aaron will then present as a sin offering the goat chosen by lot for the Lord.


(10) The other goat, the scapegoat chosen by lot to be sent away, will be kept alive, standing before the Lord. When it is sent away to *Azazel in the wilderness, the people will be purified and made right with the Lord.


The two goats represented the two ways God was dealing with the Israelites' sin:

1) He was forgiving their sin through the first goat, which was sacrificed, and

2) He was removing their guilt through the second goat, the scapegoat, that was sent into the wilderness.


*Azazel is a name many scholars have debated about its meaning.


(11) “Aaron will present his own bull as a sin offering to purify himself and his family, making them right with the Lord. After he has slaughtered the bull as a sin offering,


(12) he will fill an incense burner with burning coals from the altar that stands before the Lord. Then he will take two handfuls of fragrant powdered incense and will carry the burner and the incense behind the inner curtain.


Only fire from the brazen altar of burnt offering, where atonement had been made, could be used for kindling the incense on the golden altar in the holy place. All other fire was "strange fire".


The Jews say that he was to go in side-ways, that he might not look directly upon the ark where the divine glory was, till it was covered with smoke; then he must come out backwards, out of reverence to the divine majesty; and, after a short prayer, he was to hasten out of the sanctuary, to show himself to the people, that they might not suspect that he had misbehaved himself and died before the Lord.


(13) There in the Lord’s presence he will put the incense on the burning coals so that a cloud of incense will rise over the Ark’s cover—the place of atonement—that rests on the Ark of the Covenant. If he follows these instructions, he will not die.


The smoke shielded him from the Ark of the Covenant and the presence of God so that he would not die.


(14) Then he must take some of the blood of the bull, dip his finger in it, and sprinkle it on the east side of the atonement cover. He must sprinkle blood seven times with his finger in front of the atonement cover.


Note that he sprinkles on the nearest side only, not on all four sides. He is only a temporary visitor here with restricted rights, and even now must not come too close. The ‘seven times’ indicates completeness.


The Holy of Holies would be in complete darkness lit only by the coals from the censer and a very faint light coming through from the golden lampstand through the gap in the veil through which the High Priest comes. And there in the dark shadow would be the famed and revered Ark of the covenant of Yahweh. (After the Exile all that would be there was a large stone put there to serve as a substitute until the Ark could be returned. Or at least the latter was what many believed).


(15) “Then Aaron must slaughter the first goat as a sin offering for the people and carry its blood behind the inner curtain. There he will sprinkle the goat’s blood over the atonement cover and in front of it, just as he did with the bull’s blood.


2 Corinthians 5:21: For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.


(16) Through this process, he will purify the Most Holy
Place, and he will do the same for the entire Tabernacle, because of the
defiling sin and rebellion of the Israelites.


(17) No one else is allowed inside the Tabernacle when Aaron enters it for the purification ceremony in the Most Holy Place. No one may enter until he comes out again after purifying himself, his family, and all the congregation of Israel, making them right with the Lord.


Atonement of the holy place is done alone, without anyone present to
help or to watch. This was a picture of Jesus who was forsaken by all when He became the covering for our sins.


(18) “Then Aaron will come out to purify the *altar that stands before the Lord. He will do this by taking some of the blood from the bull and the goat and putting it on each of the horns of the altar.


*altar: The altar of burnt offering.


The type given is of Jesus entering the Holy of Holies, which has been fulfilled. But, He has not yet come back out of or returned from the Holy of Holies (in type).


(19) Then he must sprinkle the blood with his finger seven times over the altar. In this way, he will cleanse it from Israel’s defilement and make it holy.


(20) “When Aaron has finished purifying the Most Holy Place and the Tabernacle and the altar, he must present the live goat.


(21) He will lay both of his hands on the goat’s head and confess over it all the wickedness, rebellion, and sins of the people of Israel. In this way, he will transfer the people’s sins to the head of the goat. Then a man specially chosen for the task will drive the goat into the wilderness.


(22) As the goat goes into the wilderness, it will carry all the people’s sins upon itself into a desolate land.


Now as the years went on there was a highly developed ritual that went with this as the temple was finally established in Jerusalem. There was a certain area (10 miles out) where the scapegoat was generally released. There were men that would stand at vantage points all the way out to the Judean wilderness. The priest would be going out and the people would all be waiting back in the great area of the temple mount. The priest would come to the wilderness area where he turned it loose. As it ran and when it disappeared, he would give a signal to the fellow back on the mountain peak, who would give the signal to the next guy, who would send to the next, to the next, to the next. And in just a few moments the signal would come from the Mount of Olives to those down in the temple mount that the scapegoat has gone, the sins are gone. There would be this great rejoicing of the people and singing of praises to God as the news would come back that the goat carrying the sin was gone - just as are sins are gone, never to return, when we've accepted Jesus' atoning sacrifice on the cross for us.


(23) “When Aaron goes back into the Tabernacle, he must take off the linen garments he was wearing when he entered the Most Holy Place, and he must leave the garments there.


(24) Then he must bathe himself with water in a sacred place, put on his regular garments, and go out to sacrifice a burnt offering for himself and a burnt offering for the people. Through this process, he will purify himself and the people, making them right with the Lord.


(25) He must then burn all the fat of the sin offering on the altar.


(26) “The man chosen to drive the scapegoat into the wilderness of Azazel must wash his clothes and bathe himself in water. Then he may return to the camp.


(27) “The bull and the goat presented as sin offerings, whose blood Aaron takes into the Most Holy Place for the purification ceremony, will be carried outside the camp. The animals’ hides, internal organs, and dung are all to be burned.


(28) The man who burns them must wash his clothes and bathe himself in water before returning to the camp.


(29) “On the tenth day of the appointed *month in early autumn, you must **deny yourselves. Neither native-born Israelites nor foreigners living among you may do any kind of work. This is a permanent law for you.


*month: This would be the seventh month (Tishri). Yom Kippur is one of the three fall festivals and here are their dates in 2009:




  1. Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah which means "Head of the Year" or "First of the Year") - 9/19/09.

  2. Day of Atonement
    (Yom Kippur) - Sunset September 27, 2009 - nightfall September 28, 2009.

  3. Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) - starts 10/3/09.


The 7 feasts correspond to the Menorah:



  1. Passover (Pesach) - FULFILLED

  2. Feast of Unleavened Bread - (Hag Ha Matzah) - FULFILLED

  3. Feast of First Fruits - Yom HaBikkurim - FULFILLED

  4. Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) - Shavuoth - FULFILLED

  5. Feast of Trumpets (The Jewish New Year) - Rosh Hashanah - YET TO BE FULFILLED

  6. Day of Atonement - (Yom Kippur) - YET TO BE FULFILLED

  7. Feast of Tabernacles - (Succot) - YET TO BE FULFILLED



**deny: afflict or humble your souls.


Modern Jews who do observe the Day of Atonement typically fast for that day. Yet they have no sacrifice for sins. Some Jews consider charity a suitable substitute for sacrifice; the word “charity” in modern Hebrew is the same as the word for “righteousness.” Some Jews consider sufferings a suitable substitute for sacrifice; among the Jews of Eastern Europe there used to be custom to inflict 39 lashes upon themselves on the Day of Atonement. Some Jews consider good works or the study of the law as suitable substitutes for sacrifice.


(30) On that day offerings of purification will be made for you, and you will be purified in the Lord’s presence from all your sins.


(31) It will be a Sabbath day of complete rest for you, and you must deny yourselves. This is a permanent law for you.


Yom Kippur ends with the blowing of the Shofar, the trumpet that heralds the coming of the Messiah.


(32) In future generations, the purification ceremony will be performed by the priest who has been anointed and ordained to serve as high priest in place of his ancestor Aaron. He will put on the holy linen garments


(33) and purify the Most Holy Place, the Tabernacle, the altar, the priests, and the entire congregation.


(34) This is a permanent law for you, to purify the people of Israel from their sins, making them right with the Lord once each year.” Moses followed all these instructions exactly as the Lord had commanded him.


Numbers 29:7-11: “Ten days later, (after the Festival of Trumpets) on the tenth day of the same month, you must call another holy assembly. On that day, the Day of Atonement, the people must go without food and must do no ordinary work. You must present a burnt offering as a pleasing aroma to the Lord. It will consist of one young bull, one ram, and seven one-year-old male lambs, all with no defects. These offerings must be accompanied by the prescribed grain offerings of choice flour moistened with olive oil—six quarts of choice flour with the bull, four quarts of choice flour with the ram, and two quarts of choice flour with each of the seven lambs. You must also sacrifice one male goat for a sin offering. This is in addition to the sin offering of atonement and the regular daily burnt offering with its grain offering, and their accompanying liquid offerings.


The rituals of the Day of Atonement were to be repeated each year. For over a thousand years, this drama was acted out, first within the Tabernacle, and later within the Temple. The ritual found its fulfillment on a spring day in the first century A.D. The Romans had set aside three crosses. Three thieves were destined to hang upon those crosses. They had been apprehended, judged, and found to be guilty. They were placed under the sentence of death. But one of those thieves missed his appointment. He never went to the cross. His name was BARABAS. Another man went to the cross in his place. Jesus died upon the cross of Barabas and Barabas was set free. We have been set free, too. And it was not because we were any more deserving. It was a gift of GRACE.


The Feast of Trumpets is followed by ten days called by modern Jews, "the days of awe." This is a time of national repentance for Israel. The 10th day of the seventh month is the Day of Atonement. On this day the priest entered the Holy of Holies into the presence of God to sprinkle the blood on the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant. The Passover clearly represents personal salvation, [each family had their own lamb, and celebrated Passover at home]. But the Day of Atonement represents national salvation for Israel. Only one sacrifice was offered for the whole nation. The Bible makes it clear that at the second coming of Christ, the surviving Jews will look upon Christ and be saved in a day. [cf. Zechariah 12:9,10 & 13:1, Romans 11:25-27, Revelation 1:7] If there is any day on the Jewish calendar which is a prophecy of the second coming of Christ to overthrow the world kingdoms and deliver His people Israel, this is it.



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Sunday, March 1, 2009

Leviticus 11 - 15: Laws of Purity

Leviticus 11 - 15: Laws of Purity


When Israel had been slaves in Egypt, keeping their unique identity hadn’t been an issue - they were slaves. The boundaries between the people of Israel and the people of Egypt had been clearly drawn. Following the exile this all changed and clear separation had to be defined between the people of Israel and the Gentiles. Some of the prohibitions in these sections are prohibited because they were practiced by the Gentile nations. They needed to know what was ceremonially "clean" and what was "unclean".


Holiness in Daily Life Leviticus 11-22



  • Holiness in Diet: Leviticus 11

  • Holiness with New Children: Leviticus 12

  • Holiness in Sickness: Leviticus 13-14:32

  • Holiness in Hygiene: Leviticus 14:33-15

  • Holiness in Day of Atonement: Leviticus 16

  • Holiness in regard to Blood & Pagan practices: Leviticus 17

  • Holiness in Sexuality: Leviticus 18

  • Holiness in Personal Relationships: Leviticus 19

  • Penalties for Unholiness: Leviticus 20; 24:10-23


Leviticus 11 - Food Restrictions:


Noah already understood that anything that was to be offered to God had to be something that was "clean". So the distinction between clean and unclean begins far earlier than the Book of Leviticus. However, it is not until Leviticus 4 that the “clean and unclean” terminology reappears after Genesis 7 and 8. Now it is given more substance, and “clean and unclean” are brought to bear on Israel’s worship of God and on Israel’s eating habits. At the end of Genesis 8, Noah offered up the "clean" animals as a sacrifice to God. Noah brought seven of the clean ones so that he could sacrifice them to God.


Leviticus 11 deals with the subject of cleanness and uncleanness - specifically, with the subject of clean and unclean foods. The word “clean” has a lot of different meanings today depending upon the context in which it is used. Cleanness and uncleanness are related to holiness. If we desire practical holiness in our lives, we need to understand how cleanness and holiness are related. Unclean and its related terms occurs 132 times in the Old Testament, over 50 percent in Leviticus. So the sense of uncleanness is a predominate theme.


Some practices that resulted in ceremonial uncleanness were not morally wrong in themselves, such as childbearing. Therefore, we must not think "sinful" whenever we read "unclean." "Unclean" does not mean "sinful" but "impure." Impurity restricted the Israelite from participating in corporate worship at the tabernacle.


First, there are the land animals. There are two basic stipulations which must be met before an animal that dwells on the land can be considered clean and therefore can be eaten by the Israelite. It must be both split-hoofed and a cud-chewer.


It seems to be partly true, if not universally true, that many of the creatures that are unclean are those creatures which may live on meat and may therefore be blood-shedders. It would seem that often, though not always, the animals that are unclean are blood shedders, or they are those that eat off dead prey, as vultures of some sort or another. Israelites are not to eat of animals that of themselves sacrifice the life or come into contact with other animals. So man only eats creatures which are themselves free from contamination by death, by not shedding blood in a sacrificial way.


Specific animals listed as "unclean": camel, rock badger, hare, pig. However, we're not sure of the identity of the "hare" and the "rock badger" but that's how it's translated in the NLT.


Specific animals listed in Deuteronomy 14 as "clean": ox, sheep, goat, deer, gazelle, roebuck, wild goat, ibex, antelope, mountain sheep.


Second, the sea creatures. When we come to the creatures that dwell in the sea, they must meet two qualifications as well—they must have fins and scales. Shrimp, lobster, dolphins, squid and whales are then unclean.


Third, those creatures that are in the air. They are creatures that are non-vulture like. Then we have flying insects that are described. Here all flying insects are called unclean, with the exception of those that have a set of jumper legs which propel them so they can leap through the air and thus propel themselves through the air. Jumping, flying insects are edible; all the rest are not. So, locusts, crickets and grasshoppers are "clean".


Specific birds listed here and in Deuteronomy 14 as "unclean": eagle, vulture, kite, falcon, raven, ostrich, nighthawk, sea gull, little owl, short-eared owl, barn owl, tawny owl, stork, heron, hoopoe and the bat.


Fourth, there is the category of dead animals which are unclean. Essentially, any dead animal other than an animal which has been killed through the sacrificial process in the front of the door of the tent of meeting is unclean. There are unclean animals that will defile in their death, and there are clean animals that will defile man in their death, if their death is not a sacrificial death. The carcasses are that which can contaminate. Therefore if a person eats a cow which has just been killed by a wolf, that person would be ceremonially unclean even though he could eat the meat if it were sacrificed to God.


Fifth, swarming animals. This category includes things like mice, lizards and snakes. Apparently they are called swarming because they go about together in groups, and they seem to have an erratic, unpredictable manner of movement. Even touching one makes you "unclean". Additionally, anything that crawls on its belly such as snakes are "unclean."


We ought not to eat clean animals that die by themselves.


Cleanness or uncleanness is a matter of category more than of condition. Cleanness is defined by God and declared by the priests. It is the state of access to God. The practical outworking of being declared unclean means that we have to stay back. For example, a priest in Leviticus 22 cannot go about his priestly duties in a state of uncleanness. He must wait until he is ceremonially clean. So one may not approach God in his normal worship in an unclean state. It restricts one’s fellowship with God, and it restricts one’s fellowship with men. That is the natural consequence of the declaration of uncleanness.


When we get down to the basic reason why an Israelite is to make these distinctions between clean and unclean, it is because God says, “You are to be holy, for I am holy.” Cleanliness is related to God’s holiness, and Israel is to observe it because of the holiness of God.


Cures for uncleanness are spelled out in Leviticus and on through the Old Testament.


David says in Psalm 51:7: Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. and in Psalm 51:10: Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. Cleanness becomes something that is more internal than external.


Ezekiel 36:24-27: For I will gather you up from all the nations and bring you home again to your land. “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols. And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.


Isaiah 6:5 (New International Version): "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."


When we come to the New Testament, we discover that Jesus talks in terms of clean and unclean, and particularly as the scribes and Pharisees are disputing with Him. In Mark 7, for example, they debate about whether Jesus and His disciples can come in from outside and then begin to eat dinner when they have not ceremonially washed their hands. This is something the Jews added to the interpretation and the meaning of the Old Testament. They had more emphasis on cleanliness that was by their tradition than it was by Scripture. Jesus said, “Don’t you understand that it is not that which comes from without that defiles a man, but that which comes from within that defiles a man.” Then, Mark says parenthetically, “Thus He declared all things to be clean.” No one really understood the implications of that until after the death of Jesus Christ.


Cleanness and uncleanness in terms of food was what distinguished a Jew and a Gentile. That is, a Jew, in order not to eat of the kinds of food God had prohibited, could not eat in a Gentile home because undoubtedly there was going to be contamination there. That built up a great wall of separation between Jews and Gentiles. That distinction was designed in the Old Testament, but it had to be set aside in the New Testament. The Book of Ephesians says the middle wall of partition has been torn down—the enmity that existed there has been taken away, and the Jews and Gentiles have been brought together in one new body—the church. The distinctions therefore that separate Jews and Gentiles have to be set aside. Thus in Acts 10, God said in a vision to Peter that He wanted him to eat of these things which Peter recognized as being unclean by Old Testament definition. And Peter said “Oh, no!” But God said to him three times, “What I have called clean, don’t you call unclean.” He takes the arbitrary definition of clean and unclean. Something is clean or unclean because God declares it to be just that. That means if God re-declares that something which was unclean is now clean, it is clean. And Peter had difficulty understanding that.


Acts 10:9-15: The next day as Cornelius’s messengers were nearing the town, Peter went up on the flat roof to pray. It was about noon, and he was hungry. But while a meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. He saw the sky open, and something like a large sheet was let down by its four corners. In the sheet were all sorts of animals, reptiles, and birds. Then a voice said to him, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat them.” “No, Lord,” Peter declared. “I have never eaten anything that our Jewish laws have declared impure and unclean." But the voice spoke again: “Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean.”


Leviticus 12: Purification after Childbirth:


For the next four chapters, concentration is mostly on ‘uncleanness’ as it applies to men and women in connection with discharges from, or diseases in, their physical bodies.


After the birth of a son, who is to be circumcised the eighth day, the mother is considered unclean for forty days After the birth of a daughter, 80 days. When the days of her purifying were ended, she was to bring a lamb for a burnt-offering, and a young pigeon or a turtle-dove for a sin-offering. If she was poor and not able to bring a lamb, she was to bring either two turtle-doves or two young pigeons, which is what Mary brought after the birth of Jesus.


The purpose of sin offering “atonement,” in particular, was to purge impurities from the tabernacle, whether they were caused by physical uncleannesses or by sins and iniquities. In this case, the woman has not “sinned” morally by having a child. Even Mary brought such offerings for giving birth to Jesus (Luke 2:22-24), though she certainly did not “sin” in giving birth to him. Note that the result of bringing this “sin offering” was “she will be clean,” not “she will be forgiven”. The impurity of the blood flow has caused the need for this “sin offering,” not some moral or relational infringement of the law.


Luke 2:22-24: Then it was time for their purification offering, as required by the law of Moses after the birth of a child; so his parents took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. The law of the Lord says, “If a woman’s first child is a boy, he must be dedicated to the Lord.” So they offered the sacrifice required in the law of the Lord—“either a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”


Leviticus 13-14: Diseases on Skin, Clothing and Dwellings:


According to Wenham (The Book of Leviticus - Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1979, page 201) there are 21 different cases of skin disease in chapter 13, along with 3 different cases of diseased garments.


Health regulations pertaining to "contagious skin diseases" as translated in the New Living Translation or "leprosy" in the King James version were also included in God's laws. Such guidelines enabled the priests, who were responsible for the health of the camp, to distinguish between serious and chronic forms of these various diseases. Some of these diseases - unlike the diseases we call "leprosy" or "Hansen's disease" today - were contagious. Regulations regarding certain forms of mildew (greenish or reddish) in fabrics or houses are also described (Leviticus 13:49; 14:37).


The Hebrew word translated as "leprosy" is tsara'at. It is obvious from the context that this is not what we today consider leprosy - it includes skin ailments such as festering or running sores, itches from fungal infestations such as ringworm, eczema, scabies, boils, inflamed swellings and rashes, warts, psoriasis, hives, boils, burns, etc. and is even extended to dwellings and clothing (mold, mildew and fungus)! What today is called leprosy (Hansen's disease) was unknown in the Near East at the time of Leviticus.


Those whom the priest declared to be "unclean" due to a skin disease were required to live outside the camp until the priest declared that they were free of their disease and to present a sacrifice as part of a cleansing ceremony. The purpose of this law is to prevent what is "unclean" from coming into contact with what is holy.


The person with a skin disease is to tear his clothes, go about with an unadorned head, have his beard and mouth covered and say "Unclean, Unclean" as the walked about.


Only a priest can declare a person or a dwelling "clean."


2 Kings 5:1-14: The king of Aram had great admiration for Naaman, the commander of his army, because through him the Lord had given Aram great victories. But though Naaman was a mighty warrior, he suffered from leprosy. At this time Aramean raiders had invaded the land of Israel, and among their captives was a young girl who had been given to Naaman’s wife as a maid. One day the girl said to her mistress, “I wish my master would go to see the prophet in Samaria. He would heal him of his leprosy.” So Naaman told the king what the young girl from Israel had said. “Go and visit the prophet,” the king of Aram told him. “I will send a letter of introduction for you to take to the king of Israel.” So Naaman started out, carrying as gifts 750 pounds of silver, 150 pounds of gold, and ten sets of clothing. The letter to the king of Israel said: “With this letter I present my servant Naaman. I want you to heal him of his leprosy.” When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes in dismay and said, “This man sends me a leper to heal! Am I God, that I can give life and take it away? I can see that he’s just trying to pick a fight with me.” But when Elisha, the man of God, heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes in dismay, he sent this message to him: “Why are you so upset? Send Naaman to me, and he will learn that there is a true prophet here in Israel.” So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and waited at the door of Elisha’s house. But Elisha sent a messenger out to him with this message: “Go and wash yourself seven times in the Jordan River. Then your skin will be restored, and you will be healed of your leprosy.” But Naaman became angry and stalked away. “I thought he would certainly come out to meet me!” he said. “I expected him to wave his hand over the leprosy and call on the name of the Lord his God and heal me! Aren’t the rivers of Damascus, the Abana and the Pharpar, better than any of the rivers of Israel? Why shouldn’t I wash in them and be healed?” So Naaman turned and went away in a rage. But his officers tried to reason with him and said, “Sir, if the prophet had told you to do something very difficult, wouldn’t you have done it? So you should certainly obey him when he says simply, ‘Go and wash and be cured!’” So Naaman went down to the Jordan River and dipped himself seven times, as the man of God had instructed him. And his skin became as healthy as the skin of a young child’s, and he was healed!


Mark 1:40-44: A man with leprosy came and knelt in front of Jesus, begging to be healed. “If you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean,” he said.

Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” Instantly the leprosy disappeared, and the man was healed. Then Jesus sent him on his way with a stern warning: “Don’t tell anyone about this. Instead, go to the priest and let him examine you. Take along the offering required in the law of Moses for those who have been healed of leprosy. This will be a public testimony that you have been cleansed.”



Leviticus 15: Bodily Discharges:


Discharge of semen makes the man unclean for 7 days. Semen on clothing, furniture or a saddle makes them unclean for 7 days. Sex makes the man and woman unclean until evening and until they have a bath. Not to have sex during a woman's menstrual period. A woman is unclean during her menstrual period. After 7 days, she must bring a sacrifice of two turtledoves or two young pigeons.


Part of this is because of the practice of temple prostitution in most of the rest of the world.


Mark 5:25-34: A woman in the crowd had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding. She had suffered a great deal from many doctors, and over the years she had spent everything she had to pay them, but she had gotten no better. In fact, she had gotten worse. She had heard about Jesus, so she came up behind him through the crowd and touched his robe. For she thought to herself, “If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed.” Immediately the bleeding stopped, and she could feel in her body that she had been healed of her terrible condition. Jesus realized at once that healing power had gone out from him, so he turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my robe?” His disciples said to him, “Look at this crowd pressing around you. How can you ask, ‘Who touched me?’” But he kept on looking around to see who had done it. Then the frightened woman, trembling at the realization of what had happened to her, came and fell to her knees in front of him and told him what she had done. And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over.”


Leviticus 15:31-33 summarizes this chapter and even this entire section: “This is how you will guard the people of Israel from ceremonial uncleanness. Otherwise they would die, for their impurity would defile my Tabernacle that stands among them. These are the instructions for dealing with anyone who has a bodily discharge—a man who is unclean because of an emission of semen or a woman during her menstrual period. It applies to any man or woman who has a bodily discharge, and to a man who has sexual intercourse with a woman who is ceremonially unclean.”



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