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WHAT A PERFECT SONG – FOR CHRIST IS THE END OF THE LAW FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
I don’t pick em!
Okay, the wrap up to Leviticus.
Chapter 21 is specifically to the priests and High Priest and begins with
And the LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto the priests the sons of Aaron,
Remember, priests literally means, “one who offers sacrifices,” and in the Apostolic Record this is assigned, after the death, resurrection and ascension of Christ, to a body of believers, male and female who offer themselves up as “living sacrifices.”
But as a type for them, we have God instituting a body of priests from Aaron and sons.
Chapter 21 begins by talking about ways they could be defiled and this included prohibiting them from touching anything dead excepting certain family members.
But there are a number of other things they cannot do that would defile them including
make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in their flesh.
Also, they
-shall not take a wife that is a whore, or profane; neither shall they take a woman put away from her husband: for he is holy unto his God.
Then at verse 9
And the daughter of any priest, if she profane herself by playing the whore, she profaneth her father: she shall be burnt with fire.
Then at verse 10 YAHAVAH speaks about the High Priest and says,
whose head the anointing oil was poured, and that is consecrated to put on the garments, shall not uncover his head, nor rend his clothes;
Neither shall he go in to any dead body, nor defile himself for his father, or for his mother;
Neither shall he go out of the sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of his God; for the crown of the anointing oil of his God is upon him: I am the LORD.
And we read God adds
13 And he shall take a wife in her virginity.
14 A widow, or a divorced woman, or profane, or an harlot, these shall he not take: but he shall take a virgin of his own people to wife.
15 Neither shall he profane his seed among his people: for I the LORD do sanctify him.
Then we read YAHAVAH’S specific instructions to Aaron, and says, in verses 17-24
17 Whosoever he be of thy seed in their generations that hath any blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of his God.
18 For whatsoever man he be that hath a blemish, he shall not approach: a blind man, or a lame, or he that hath a flat nose, or any thing superfluous,
19 Or a man that is brokenfooted, or brokenhanded,
20 Or crookbackt, or a dwarf, or that hath a blemish in his eye, or be scurvy, or scabbed, or hath his stones broken;
21 No man that hath a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest shall come nigh to offer the offerings of the LORD made by fire: he hath a blemish; he shall not come nigh to offer the bread of his God.
22 He shall eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy, and of the holy.
23 Only he shall not go in unto the vail, nor come nigh unto the altar, because he hath a blemish; that he profane not my sanctuaries: for I the LORD do sanctify them.
24 And Moses told it unto Aaron, and to his sons, and unto all the children of Israel.
And I want to pause here to discuss this.
The first thing is, God was able/willing and ready to relate to Man directly – WITHOUT ALL OF THIS – when He created them (male and female) in the Garden.
As Creator of all things, we can assume that like everything else that He created He saw the original humans were good – or at least as good as they COULD be being material and made in His image.
What I mean by this is, in another sense, He could have made us PERFECT in that we would never elect to do anything wrong because we would be striped of that capacity.
So to God, GOOD, means something contextual to liberty and freedom.
Anyway, by Creating us in His image we were given freewill, and He allowed the whole human race (found in perfectly constructed Man at that time called Adam and Eve) to choose to love and respond to Him by faith or to take a short-cut to knowledge by eating from the forbidden tree of knowledge of Good and Evil and as a result becoming like God by tapping into that source.
And the fruit of that tree called the Tree of knowledge of Good AND EVIL would lead to death – even if eating it made them like God.
So, this is the first concept to admit – fallen man, even by this time in the narrative of Leviticus, had become an amalgamation or product of the results of “human self-will” tapping into the knowledge of Good and Evil and tapping into corrupting influences, were MORE corrupt and polluted, stained, scarred, broken.
God, as established by scripture, is holy, pure, light but Humankind – in and through choosing to create its own ways to live were rendered ultimately more and more defective and deformed spiritually and materially.
Was God derisive of deformed human beings with disease and physical issues?
To make a point, yes.
The POINT?
Fallen corrupted humans have ZERO access to God in the logistical sense – and the blemishes (and such) mentioned here in chapter 21 are emblematic of that picture.
In the face of the world population sinking lower and lower into the muck of its own imagination, God chose to disperse the Tower of Bable crowd, then drown the rest of the inhabited world in Noah’s day, ostensibly as a means to try and restart our species.
Of course we know that He has called the Nation out through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to be a royal priesthood who would choose to be a light to all the other nations of the world.
Just to bring this to mind now, we have God calling Israel His Bride, His Son, His Treasured people, The Apple of His Eye.
We remember what He said to them in Exodus 19:5-6
Exodus 19:5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:
6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.
We also read in Isaiah 42:6 where YAHAVAH said
I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;
Of course, they failed in everyone of these titles, and we have already seen how this was pretty much their course from the get-go – even though God had so faithfully strived to reach them.
Another or second picture or type we get from this set of passages seems to speak to who could represent offerings to Him in His perfectly designed tabernacle.
Remember, the tabernacle was specifically appointed and designed and was established by God to reflect His Kingdom NOT another.
He did this by creating surroundings were made materially perfect and exact and those who were admitted to serve therein would have to reflect this same perfections to match.
The meaning seems to have been, “if humans were going to enter into this perfect tabernacle, the humans making offerings had to also reflect such perfections in their external material make-up.”
Therefore, broken or corrupted examples were not allowed to enter in and pollute or corrupt what He had them surround themselves with – they and their surroundings functioned like one unit – and both the house and the priests and high Priest had to be seen and must function in material wholeness.
In this way or through these means, God appears to want to make the perfection of the sanctuary so symbolically and visibly clear that He establishes a correlation between a deformed physical body and what would have been a deformed sanctuary.
Perhaps this is the whole expectation for qualification for entrance to His Kingdom – perfection of the soul and the only way that is possible is by faith on His SON.
PERIOD.
I am not convinced that we can understand the holiness of God. I think that it truly escapes our ability to realistically understand it and I think all human beings are going to be utterly stunned in His presence or proximity.
Of course we can talk about it, but the closer we get to our comprehension of Him and His Holiness, the more we realize how far afield we are from Him, and therefore how much humility and contrition through faith is literally the only response anyone can really ever have with respect to Him.
Because of the reconciliation through His Son, we are a spoiled world, and casually bandy about His name and person without a care – often with utter disrespect and contempt.
It seems like the only way to get His Holiness through our thick egotistical heads is for Him to demand these sorts of things as pictures and types for us to wonder about – including the sudden deaths of certain characters we will meet in the future who defy Him.
Yes, He is love. But that word, taken exhaustively and stripped of our corruptions of it, includes a LOT of sobering realities including ideas like,
We are all worthy of death before Him by our own volition.
We are all sinful and separate from Him without the shed blood of His Son.
Not one of us deserves to be in His presence or to even have life in our natural state.
We are not good – especially by comparison to Him – and dropping these notions begins when we understand why no body with a crooked nose can enter the tabernacle.
Notice clearly that everything God mentions here is external – nothing about the condition of the participants hearts or minds – just flat-noses, busted testicles, marrying virgins and hair cuts – with most of it relating to males from one select part of one Tribe.
Interestingly, and in the face of these pictures we see God as simultaneously “Holy and Unapproachable” (especially in the Old Testament) but in the Apostolic Record we see Him as “Merciful and Gracious.”
One persona is founded on Law, Order, consistency and justice (all very masculine traits) while the other is represented more in more feminine terms of mercy, patience, kindness, longsuffering –
But – don’t lose this point – both expressions are the same (as one) and both originate from perfect Love, Light, and Truth.
All of these Old Testament writings are screaming into our ears,
“God is holy. Sinners can’t approach him. Nothing imperfect can approach him.”
Hence all that we are reading here in Leviticus.
Moving forward,
Chapter Twenty-Two treats those infirmities and uncleanliness which rendered the priests unfit to officiate in sacred things and lays down directions for the perfection of the sacrifices which
should be offered to the Lord.
There are all sort of additional clean/unclean stuff here, but I want to highlight the last passage of the chapter where we read,
22:32 Neither shall ye profane my holy name; but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel: I am the LORD which hallow you, 33 That brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the LORD.
Do you know that the phrase, “who or that brought you out of the land of Egypt is repeated 114 times in the book!?
That is a lot for such a long specific phrase. Why?
We will discuss this phrase and its import in the weeks to come on Heart of the Matter was we can more effectively understand Mormonism through it.
Chapter Twenty-Three treats of the Sabbath and most of the great annual festivals including the passover, pentecost, feast of trumpets, day of atonement, and feast of tabernacles.
Let’s rework the Sabbath day a bit together since this chapter speaks so much about it.
But, first a clarification, “I do not believe it is my place (nor any person’s place) to judge what people do relative to gathering, worshipping, or honoring God on a specific day of the week.”
There is liberty in Christ – freedom to do as we are so lead and as we choose to show out personal allegiances. If someone wants to observe the Sabbath day, the Lord’s day, the year of Jubilee, or whatever, go for it.
I personally think God honors such actions when they come from the heart and are motivated out of love and devotions for Him.
However, religiously speaking, it is very important to understand the biblical presentation of what is being observed in order to help eradicate the bondage that many religious institutions place on unsuspecting people regarding the observance of certain days.
So, to some concepts – (excuse the repetitions)
#1: There is one Sabbath day and one only; it is on Saturday.
Sunday cannot be a Sabbath day any more than your dog can be a cat. Your dog might act like a cat, purr like a cat, walk like a cat, and even eat cat food, but your dog is still a dog.
The Sabbath is on Saturday. It has always been on Saturday and there are good, Biblical reasons for this.
First, the word Sabbath means “rest” in Hebrew. It is associated with God’s rest after He finished creating the world.
Now God was not tired and had to rest – “the rest” means He paused – like a rest in music – a pause or a break in the action.
For God the act of creation was at an end. The creation was finished and so He stopped. It was a break in the creation.
The true Sabbath hearkens back to what God did at the end of creation:
Genesis 2:2-3. And on the seventh day [which is Saturday] God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
Because of this connection many people see the day and an everlasting commemoration.
Concept #2:
The practice of Sabbath observance did not begin at creation with people.
The Sabbath rest was NOT, I repeat, was NOT, instituted at creation. Adam and Eve did not observe a Sabbath day. Why would they? What did they have to rest from in the garden of Eden? Nothing! GOD WAS WITH THEM!
Then why is the Sabbath day mentioned in Genesis?
For the same reason Eve was called the “mother of all living” (Genesis 3:20) prior to her ever having children; the same reason Judas was referred to in the gospel of John as the betrayer of Jesus before he committed the betrayal: it’s an anachronistic explanation.
The Genesis record was written as an explanation of why there was a Sabbath instituted among men, not as evidence of there being a Sabbath at the time Moses mentions it.
Remember, Moses wrote Genesis in retrospect. He wasn’t there with Adam and Eve. And when he wrote, he tied in many things to give the children of Israel an explanation as to “why” many of their practices existed.
How do we know this?
In Nehemiah, and speaking of God, Nehemiah writes:
Nehemiah 9:13-14. Thou camest down also upon mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, and gavest them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments: And madest known unto them thy holy sabbath, and commandedst them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses thy servant.
The Israelites observed the Sabbath after Sinai.
So, we drop the idea that the Sabbath day was a practice from the beginning. It wasn’t.
Concept #3: But the Sabbath day is a commandment – one of the ten – isn’t it?
Absolutely. But what was the context of that command? In order to fully get the gist of the Sabbath day first mentioned in Exodus 20, it must be seen in the context of the people to whom it was given: he children of Israel.
This is why the practice of it is so important to correctly understanding it.
In Deuteronomy 5:1 we will read,
“And Moses called all Israel, and said unto them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them. The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.
The ten commandments then begin at verse 6. When we read the ten commandments in their context (Exodus 19-24) they are inseparably connected with the OLD COVENANT of the law given to the Israelites.
Gentiles, on the other hand, are under the NEW COVENANT of grace, as all the law was fulfilled in Christ in Whom we now live by faith, as the writer of Hebrews says:
Hebrews 8:13. In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.
Now there are always, always people who want to burden others with aspects of the Old Covenant or the law. They want to apply what God had with the Jews to His new relationship with the Gentiles.
Lacking faith, they want to require outward demands which tend to make compliant people feel holy.
Religion wants to impose “law” over absolute grace in Christ.
Herbert W. Armstrong, self-proclaimed “God’s apostle” of the Worldwide Church of God emphasized Sabbath observance, dietary demands, and even grooming standards for women.
We see this in Mormonism too.
But Hebrews explains the Lord’s view of those who attempt to minimize the grace of His Son by reintroducing aspects of the law as mandatory for salvation and worthiness, saying,
Hebrews 10:29. Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?
As we know, the ten “commandments” are good. But how do they operate under the New Covenant of grace by faith found in the Lord Jesus?
They are simultaneously amplif ied in Yeshua and made possible through Yeshua. For example:
Commandment number six (Deuteronomy 5:17): Thou shalt not kill!
What did Jesus say about Thou shalt not kill? He said (Matthew 5:22), don’t even get angry without a cause (amplified). And how do we not even get angry without a cause? Through faith in Him as He has paid the price for all anger (made possible by Jesus).
Commandment number seven: (Deuteronomy 5:18): Thou shalt not commit adultery!
He said (Matthew 5:28), don’t even look upon a woman with lust (amplified). How? Through faith in Him who carried our sin and provides the strength to overcome that inclination (made possible again, by Yeshua).
All things are amplified and made possible through Him! HIM! ALONE.
He becomes everything to the believer. He is not one among many things; He is first and only among all things. He is not merely prominent; He is pre-eminent!
We’ll explain the Sabbath day according to this amplification/fulfillment of the law before we wrap up.
Concept #4: The scripture says that the Sabbath would last forever and be perpetual!
In Exodus, God said:
Exodus 31:16-17. Therefore the sons of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant. It is a sign between Me and the sons of Israel forever. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested, and was refreshed.
First of all, God is clear that this is an agreement between Israel and God. Period.
Second, if phrases like these are going to be literally applied today to the body of believers then everything in the Old Testament that is said to be perpetual should be continuing today, right?
Burnt offerings (Exodus 29:42)
Incense burnings (Exodus 20:8)
Ceremonial Washings (30:21)
Passover Feast (12:14)
Should all the covenants and all the obligations mentioned in the Old Testament, too; things like tithing, dietary laws, circumcision … continue?
Again, the Writer of Hebrews is explicit in explaining that the entire Old Covenant has been replaced by something better, stating and speaking of Christ,
Hebrews 8:6. But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.
If the New Covenant is better, then the New Covenant must be different and not contain Old Covenant demands.
Is there anything good for us today that are stated in the old? Sure – principally.
Are the writings of the old still viable? Sure. Paul wrote,
Romans 15:4. For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
The scriptures written “aforetime,” i.e., the Old Covenant, were written for our learning and our hope – but NOT for our doctrine or practice!
The Old Covenant morality remains in place, but it is actuated through the New Covenant worldview of Christ.
Don’t kill says the sixth commandment of the Old; don’t even be angry, says the new.
Pay tithes, says Malachi; give cheerfully, says the gospel of Jesus Christ.
All is amplified through Christ, and all is made possible through Christ. All is complete in Christ.
Concept #5: According to the gospels, Jesus kept the Sabbath. Shouldn’t we follow His perfect example?
Yes. Jesus observed the Sabbath. But why?
Galatians 4:4-5. But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
Simply put, the Old Covenant could NOT end until the death of the testator Christ and did not end until the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
The New Covenant in His blood is what we operate by today (Hebrews 13:20), not by prophets and Old Covenant observances.
During Yeshuas’ life, the law was still in effect, and He observed all of its requirements perfectly, so as to save His own from the demands of the law.
If Yeshua had not kept the whole of the Law, missing it even in the smallest point, he would have been disqualified as the Messiah for the Jews.
But the veil of the temple being torn in two and His death signified that it was finished … just as God was finished on the 6th day and rested, or completed, His work!
Isn’t that beautiful? Where the last day of the week was a day of rest – the Sabbath – for those under the law, Jesus said, “Come unto me …and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28); not just on one day of the week but every day of your regenerated life!
Here, we see another example of Yeshua amplifying the law because Yeshua becomes our Sabbath; He becomes our rest, not just for one day of the week but for every day!
Because the modern Jews does not yet recognize Yeshua as the Messiah, and are continuing under the Old Covenant demands, it only makes sense that they continue to observe the genuine Saturday Sabbath.
But for Christians to try and observe a completely different day of the week as a commandment and calling it “Sabbath” is not only unnecessary but impossible and out of character with the amplification/completion of the law which Jesus introduced to all who believe.
Do you see the inanity of tying Sabbath day observances to personal worthiness?
Some will say (which is concept #6)
That Paul regularly went to the synagogue on the Sabbath after the New Covenant began to prove the import of Sabbath day observance?
But, what is the context of his doing so? The early members of the body – believers – were, for the most part, Jewish.
Steeped in a thousand plus years of Judaism, they continued temple practices even after placing faith in Jesus Christ as their Messiah.
Old things take time to die, and new things take time to grow. This is the entire thrust of the book of Acts: the transition out of the Old Covenant and into the New.
Paul simply went to the temple to evangelize Jews. The ebb and flow of the Old to the New Covenant as evidenced in the book of Acts was an arduous and at times bitter event. It took time.
God allows for things to pass away and to grow at the same time! There is a natural overlap and exchange that occurs when God deals with humanity.
Also know that Paul wrote,
1 Corinthians 9:20, 22. And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law … I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some!
So, even though Paul visited the temple on the Sabbath day to reach unconverted Jews, he continued to preach the New Covenant to Gentiles as well, as a means to nourish the tender roots of the Bride.
Regarding the Sabbath day, Paul, the “apostle to the Gentiles,” wrote in Colossians 2:10, 16-17.
And ye are complete in [Christ] … Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.
In the same passage, Paul writes in verse that Yeshua,
Colossians 2:10. [Blotted] out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross.
As an interesting and important side note, the Sabbath of the Old Covenant was not just the last day of the week, Saturday, but it also included monthly and annual rest days.
It even included a fiftieth anniversary YEAR of rest!
Finally, Concept #7 speaks to the fact that the Bible does specifies an alternate day of worship for Christians.
Specifically, this is true. However, we do know a few things about meeting on the Lord’s day or what scripture calls the first day of the week.
From Acts we learn that:
Acts 20:7. …upon the first day of the week [Sunday], when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.
We also know that on the first day of the week, the risen Lord Jesus first appeared to His disciples with a commission to evangelize (John 20:19-23).
We know that on the first day of the week, the first recorded sermon was preached about the death and resurrection of Jesus (Acts 2:1, 22-36; the day of Pentecost was on a Sunday).
We also know that, on that same day, the first day of the week, the first recorded converts after Christ’s death, burial, resurrection, and ascension were gathered into the body and baptized (Acts 2:41).
Similarly, we know that on the first day of the week, believers laid aside their gifts for the Lord’s work (1 Corinthians 16:2)
Because of all of this, the first day of the week is both traditional and filled with beautiful significance.
But it is not a Sabbath day and it comes with no legislation of activities! Why?
BECAUSE CHRIST IS THE BELIEVERS REST EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK and not a day.
The first day of the week served a purpose then in the gathering of the Bride. In this age of fulfillment, individuals decide how they will rest in Christ.
Chapter Twenty-four speaks about the oil for the lamps, and the shew-bread; the law concerning which had already been given in Exodus 25 and mentions the case of the person who blasphemed God, and his punishment which helps lay down the law in cases of blasphemy and murder; and recapitulates what is called, the lex talionis,” or law of “like for like,” which is first described in Exodus 21.
Chapter twenty-five recapitulates the law, first given in Exodus 22 but especially relative to the Sabbatical year then it prescribes the year of jubilee and lays down a variety of statutes relative to mercy, kindness, benevolence, charity and the like.
Chapter Twenty-six again prohibits idolatry, promises a great variety of blessings to the obedient, and threatens the disobedient with many and grievous curses.
And finally, Chapter twenty seven speaks to vows, of things devoted, and of the tithes which should be given for the service of the tabernacle.
Again, there are some very interesting passages in these parts of Leviticus but I do not find them all necessary to review in our day and age.
We are done with Leviticus. That said, there is one passage that I will breakdown on Heart of the Matter in our preparation to speak to Mormonism – its Leviticus 20:27 – which says,
A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them.
Watch for this in the upcoming month of Heart of the Matter – Full Circle.
Questions/Comments
PRAYER
7 June 29th 2024
Leviticus Chapters 21-27
