|
The
Holy God wanted a Holy People. They lived in a
Holy Land, which had a Holy City. Within that
Holy City was a Holy House, in which was a Holy
Place and a Most Holy Place. Serving in the Holy
House were Holy Priests, mediators who brought
the Holy God closer to unholy men and women, and
who brought unholy men and women closer to the
Holy God. The Holy People needed to be holy in
God’s sight to draw near to God at the Mishkan.
This part of Leviticus gives us the laws so that
the Holy People could stay holy. It was essential
that the Jewish people were separated from their
uncleanness, lest while they were in a state of
uncleanness, they try to draw near an infinitely
holy God, defile His Dwelling Place, and be severely
punished for it.
Chapter 14: The procedure
for cleansing leprosy
Remember
that a leper was unclean, isolated from Israel,
unable to draw near to God at the Mishkan, in
a continual state of mourning. Leprosy is a good
illustration of what sin does to us. Sin makes
us unclean, cut off from God, unable to draw near
to God at the Mishkan and worship the Lord. Sin
forces us to live alone, isolated and unwelcome
from the community of God’s people. Sin kills
life; it removes the goodness and happiness and
blessing from us.
If someone
with leprosy was healed from their leprosy, they
needed to undergo a complex procedure. A bird
was killed over running water. Blood cleanses,
as does clean, running water. This is a symbol
of cleansing. Another bird, along with cedar wood,
which smells clean and delicious, a scarlet string,
which represents being in a state of sin, and
hyssop, was dipped into the blood of the bird
that was killed. The live bird was then released
over an open field - a symbol of the man’s newfound
freedom. The one cleansed from the leprosy washed
his clothes, shaved off all his hair, and bathed
in water. On the seventh day he repeated the process.
On the eighth day he offered a guilt offering
to atone for his transgressions, a sin offering
to atone for sin, a burnt offering, since he was
newly dedicated to God. Blood and oil was placed
on the right ear, indicated he could hear God
again, the thumb of his right hand, showing that
he could serve God again, and his right big toe,
indicated his new walk with God. A grain offering
was offered, showing that he was able to work,
and his work was now accepted by God.
Not only
people, but even houses could get leprosy. If
there was a suspicious mark, the house was quarantined
for seven days. If the growth spread, the affected
area was torn out and rebuilt. If after being
replaced the mark broke out once again, the whole
house was torn down. If the home was pronounced
clean by the cohen, a similar procedure with two
birds, cedar wood, scarlet string, hyssop, running
water, and the open field, was employed, and then
the house was atoned for, and made clean. Thank
God that there is healing from leprosy, and that
there is also healing for spiritual leprosy -
sin!
Chapter 15: Laws
for holy life with the body
Sin has
affected every part of us - body, soul and spirit.
Now, Sex and reproduction is a part of normal
life, and it is right and proper, and a pleasure
and a delight within marriage, but unfortunately
sin has affected this aspect of humanity as well.
Under the Older Covenant, it affected Israel’s
ability to draw near to God.
If a
man had a disease in his genitals - if his physical
body wasn’t working right in that important area,
and had some sort of bleeding or discharge, he
was unclean for seven days. He couldn’t go to
the Mishkan to worship during that time. After
he was healed, he needed to wait seven days, then
wash his clothes, bathe his body, so he was clean
inside and out, and on the eighth day, offer two
pigeons or doves, for a sin offering, and a burnt
offering. He was atoned for, and rededicated to
the Lord, and able to draw near to God at the
Mishkan.
If a
man had sex, and there was a normal emission of
semen, if they simply bathed in water, they then
became clean at sunset, the beginning of a new
day. They could go to the Mishkan and draw near
to God there. No sacrifice was needed.
If a
woman had her monthly period, she was unclean,
and could not draw near to God at the Mishkan.
Anyone who touched her, or things in close proximity
to her, was unclean until he washed his clothes
and bathed his body. Then at sunset he was clean.
After her period finished, if she simply bathed
in water, then seven days later, she was once
again able to go to the Mishkan and draw near
to God there. No sacrifice was needed.
If a
woman had some sort of bleeding or discharge that
was not part of her normal period, she could not
approach the Dwelling Presence of God at the Mishkan.
She was unclean. But after she was healed from
it, like the man, she needed to wait seven days;
then on the eighth day, she offered two pigeons
or doves, for a sin offering, and a burnt offering.
She was atoned for, and rededicated to the Lord,
and able to draw near to God at the Mishkan -
praise be the Lord.
Chapter 16: Drawing
near to God on Yom Kippur
This
is the main set of laws about the proper way for
the Holy People to draw near to God on Yom Kippur,
the special set apart by God to atone for all
the sins of the entire nation that had accumulated
during the year. I want to point out that what
the Torah demands is very different from what
is going on in synagogues anywhere in the world
today. Yom Kippur is all about the Temple, the
priests and the sacrifices - not about rabbis
and synagogues, prayers and fasting.
Before
he could take care of his own needs for atonement,
the High Priest first bathed in water, as an act
of physical and spiritual cleansing. After bathing,
the High Priest put on his garments: the linen
undergarments, the linen tunic, the linen sash
and turban. No ephod or breastplate was worn on
this occasion because the High Priest appeared
as the head of the people in a simple, humble
manner.
Likewise,
Messiah Yeshua, our High Priest, made atonement
for us, not in the glorious robes of His divine
glory, but the linen garments of humanity, clean
indeed, but also ordinary and humble.
Like
the High Priest that came from Aaron, and like
Messiah Yeshua, we need to be right with God before
we can really meet the deepest needs of others.
We must be washed by the waters of baptism, and
have atonement through faith and commitment to
the Messiah, be dedicated to Him, and walk humbly
before our God. Is that you?
Then
High Priest took care of the sin problem for himself
and his family. The High Priest of Israel was
himself a sinner. Before he could atone for the
nation, he first had to deal with his own sins.
He needed sacrifices in order to approach the
presence of the holy God. The High Priest killed
a bull for a sin offering for himself. He took
some of the blood, a fire pan full of coals from
the altar, two handfuls of incense, and went through
the veil into the Most Holy Place.
Because
of God's mercy, He allowed the High Priest, a
mere man, to go within the veil, to come into
His presence, to atone for himself and for the
nation. But even there the High Priest put the
incense on the fire so that the ensuing cloud
of incense covered the Ark, and the whole area
of the Most Holy Place. This had to be do so that
he would not die. Even the High Priest of Israel
was not to gaze directly at the presence of God
on Earth.
In the
Most Holy Place the High Priest took some of the
blood in his finger and sprinkled the Ark Cover,
and in front of the Ark Cover. The blood of the
bull was the symbol of the new, innocent and pure
life provided for the priest and his household.
This gave him new life to stand in a right relationship
to God, and provided atonement for the priest's
offenses against God.
The Torah
allowed priests to serve that were themselves
sinful and in need of atonement. They were required
to bring sacrifices for themselves. By contrast
the High Priest of the New Covenant, Messiah Yeshua,
did not need to atone for His sins because His
Person and Work were flawless. He did not have
to offer sacrifices for Himself before He could
serve us. Our High Priest was holy, pure and undefiled.
During His whole life He demonstrated perfect
love and obedience to God, and conformity with
His will. He was tempted in all ways like we are,
yet never once did He yield to sin. Though living
in a world of sin and temptation, He remained
undefiled.
Having
taken care of his own sin problem, the High Priest
then went out, took one of the goats for the sin
offering, slaughtered it, took some of its blood
back into the Most Holy Place and sprinkled the
blood in front of and on the Kaporet, the Ark
Covering, as he had done with the blood of the
bull. By doing this, God could cover man's sin
of breaking His laws so He could be merciful to
us.
By sprinkling
blood on the Covering of the Ark, God showed that
He could cover the Ark containing the 10 commandments,
which all of us violated, and grant us atonement.
God could now show mercy, because His righteousness
and justice were completely satisfied.
God could
say, "I am no longer offended because the
evidence of man's sin has been covered from My
eyes, and I see only the blood of an innocent
substitute who paid the required penalty of death.”
Through this atonement the nation received a new
lease on life for one more year.
The Ark
Covering and the blood that was sprinkled on it
pointed us to the Messiah. Because of what Yeshua
did, because of the blood that He shed, God is
completely satisfied with His work of atonement.
The Lord is able to forgive mankind, and is able
to dwell in and among His people. Messiah is where
atonement is made, where God dwells, where God
and man meet. Have you come to the blood sprinkled
ark covering?
Not only
did the High Priest himself, and his family, and
the nation of Israel, need atonement, but there
was also a need to cleanse God's Holy House, because
of the impurities of the Chosen People. The blood
of the goat sprinkled on and before the Ark Cover
atoned for the Temple as well.
Having
finished his duties within the Temple, the High
Priest then went out to make atonement for the
Mizbeach - the Bronze Altar. Taking blood of the
bull and of the goat, the High Priest put it on
the horns of the altar. The blood was sprinkled
seven more times on the altar so that it was completely
consecrated for another year of service.
Even
though this was where the sacrifices of Israel
were offered up, where atonement took place, since
we were an imperfect people, with an imperfect
priesthood, the altar itself had to be purified.
You see, sin is so powerful, sin is so exceedingly
sinful, sin is so pervasive, that even the Holy
Temple and the Holy Altar of the Holy People needed
to be cleansed of impurities. Now, if we were
the chosen nation that was closest to God, what
does that tell us about the rest of the world,
and about the nature of mankind in general?
Isn't
it wonderful that our High Priest, Messiah Yeshua,
is now in the true Temple in Heaven, which can
never be defiled, where sin can never reach? From
that perfectly pure Temple He can save completely
(in a perfect, all-comprehensive manner) all who
come to God through Him.
Next
the High Priest took the live goat, and on behalf
of the entire nation of Israel he laid his hands
on the head of the goat and confessed all the
sins of Israel onto the goat. When the High Priest
confessed the sins of the entire nation onto the
head of the Azazel, the scapegoat, it enabled
this innocent life to bear our sins. The goat
took on the sins of the nation. It was led out
into the wilderness, pushed over a cliff, never
to return again. We didn't want our sins coming
back to bother us! The people could have full,
complete and total assurance that their sins had
been taken away from them. They would never be
confronted by these sins again.
In the
New Covenant, we also have the assurance of salvation.
God has given us eternal life, and this life
is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life;
he who does not have the Son does not have the
life. These things I have written to you who believe
in the name of the Son of God, that you may know
that you have eternal life.
The Yom
Kippur ceremonies did not stop with atonement.
Once atonement had been made, the High Priest,
the other priests and the people could then enter
into the blessedness of dedication to God. The
High Priest took off his humble linen clothes.
Then he would bathe in a special place, put back
on his entire High Priestly clothing of beauty
and splendor, and sacrifice a ram for a burnt
offering of dedication for himself, and one for
the entire nation. Serving in his clothes of glory
as the official High Priest after atonement had
been made, he could dedicate himself and the nation
to God for another year.
In a
similar way, after we are atoned for, we must
be dedicated to God's purposes. We must present
our bodies, our lives, our money, our wealth,
as a living a holy sacrifice acceptable to God,
which is our spiritual service of worship.
It was
impressed upon Israel that this day was one of
the most important days of the year, occurring
in the seventh month, indicating that this month
was the most perfect time for atonement and final
redemption. The observance of this day is a permanent
statute for all Israel. It is Shabbat Shabbaton,
a Sabbath of Sabbaths. It is the one day a year
for intense soul searching, to understand the
awfulness of sin, that sin leads to death. It
is a day for sacrifices, prayer, fasting and soul-searching,
and knowing that God has provided His way of atonement
- under the Older Covenant through Priest, Temple
and Sacrifice, and now under the New Covenant
by means of the death and resurrection of the
Son of God.
We can
only approach God on His terms, not on our terms
that we make up and we insist on. Since the Temple
was destroyed in 70 AD the non-Messianic Jewish
community has approached God on their own terms.
Sadly, the majority of the Jewish people have
rejected the Messiah that He has sent, and the
salvation and atonement that He provides. and
substituted repentance, prayers, good deeds and
fasting for the God-ordained sacrifices and rituals
of this day. However, without an innocent substitute,
without the shedding of blood, without the exchange
of life principle, there can be no atonement,
no cleansing, no new life. Authentic Judaism today,
therefore, only is found in Messianic Judaism.
Chapter 17: Laws
concerning sacrifices
While
Israel was in the wilderness, with the Mishkan
right there, the Lord insisted that the animals
that were killed for food needed to be sacrificed
at the Mishkan by the priests as peace offerings,
which could be eaten by the offerer. Now, normally
animals don’t need to be sacrificed in order to
be kosher to eat. The reason for this was to cure
Israel from making their own sacrifices, away
from the Mishkan, and being tempted to offer the
sacrifice to other gods. All sacrifices must be
offered at the Mishkan, under the supervision
of the priests.
Another
important principle: no one is to eat blood. Blood
is holy. It represents life. Verse 11 is a good
verse to memorize: For the life of the flesh
is in the blood, and I have given it to you on
the altar to make atonement for your souls; for
it is the blood, by reason of the life, that makes
atonement. This is an important law, not only
for Israel, but for everyone today. So, you Europeans,
no blood sausages, no blood pudding and no blood
soup!
Hunting
is permitted, but the blood of the animal or bird
must be poured out and covered out of respect
for this holy substance. If an animal was eaten
which died naturally, or was killed by another
animal, he was unclean - he could not worship
at the Mishkan until he washed his clothes, bathed,
and a new day began at sunset. Then he was clean
once again.
Chapter 18: Proper
Sexual Relationships
The Egyptians
and the Canaanites engaged in improper sexual
relationships, which disgusted and angered God.
The Holy People of Israel must have proper marriages
and proper sexual relationships. I don’t want
to elaborate them all, but basically you couldn’t
marry a relative that was too close. You must
not commit adultery with someone else’s wife.
All homosexuality and lesbianism is forbidden
by penalty of death. Sexual activity must remain
within our species - sex with non-humans is absolutely
forbidden under penalty of death. At that time
men were allowed to marry more than one wife,
but you couldn’t marry a mother and daughter,
or two living sisters.
My friends,
many of these terrible sexual perversion are back,
and gaining strength. We must keep ourselves from
them! God calls them toh-eh-vah, an abomination,
or toh-eh-vot - abominations - a very strong word.
We must not leave out the “eh”, and declare that
they are “tov” - good, when God declares them
toh-eh-vah - abomination! Woe to the man, the
woman, the nation, the civilization, that takes
away from the word of God, and calls tov what
God calls toh-eh-vah!
One other
law for sex within marriage. Even within a proper
marriage, intercourse was not to take place while
the woman was having her period. It’s disgusting,
and defiles the couple. They are to be cut off
from Israel. I would hope that all of us would
practice this as well.
Chapters 19 and 20:
General principles for being holy
Fathers
and mothers are to be honored, revered, respected
- never cursed.
God’s
sabbaths, His holy days, are to be kept, even
if it means loss of income.
No idolatry
of any kind is to be engaged in.
Peace
offerings may be eaten only on the first or second
day. Perhaps the meat might start going bad by
then, and since the food was eaten to draw near
to the holy God, spoiled food should not be used.
The needs
of the poor were to be met by not reaping the
corners of the field, gathering the gleanings
of harvest or vineyard, but leaving them for the
poor to gather. We too must give tzadakah to the
poor. Do you?
We must
be honest in our actions, and not steal.
We must
be honest in our actions, and not deal falsely.
We must
be honest in our words, and not lie to one another
or slander one another.
We must
be honest in our judgments, not being partial
to the poor, just because they are poor, or showing
favoritism to the rich, because they are powerful,
but letting truth and law prevail.
We must
only pray and worship and make promises and vows
to the one true and living God.
We must
pay our employees on time. They depend on us.
We must
not show disrespect to those with physical handicaps.
We must honor the grayheaded and elderly. We must
treat the non-citizens living among us with love
and respect. We must not take advantage of them,
because once we were aliens in Egypt, and so we
know better.
We must
not hate our fellow countryman in our heart; if
he does something wrong, we can correct him, but
not take our own personal vengeance against him.
Let the legal system and God take care of him
for you. Rather, you shall love your neighbor
as yourself - looking out for the good, working
for the well-being of those around you; which
our Supreme Rabbi said is the second greatest
commandment of all.
We were
not to breed together two kinds of your cattle;
sow our field with two kinds of seed, nor wear
a garment of two kinds of material mixed together.
God has laws in nature, and we want to respect
those laws, and remember that we are a holy people,
unmixed with evil.
When
we planted fruit trees, the first three years
of fruit were not to be eaten. The fruit of the
fourth year was given to the priests at the Temple.
We could eat the fruit of the fifth year.
Trying
to peer into the future by occult methods - by
divination or soothsaying, is absolutely forbidden.
It’s dangerous; it’s demonic. If we want to know
the future, we consult the prophets of God, not
psychics! Don’t try to consult the dead by turning
to mediums or spiritists.
We don’t
make our facial hair look unnatural, by rounding
off the side-growth of our heads nor harm the
edges of our beard. The Chassidim have misunderstood
this verse, and grow side curls, but that is not
necessary, and not what this command is telling
us to do.
Nor are
we to make our body look unnatural, by making
any cuts in our body nor making any tattoo marks
on ourselves. I would add body piercings as well.
Our bodies are beautiful the way God made them.
They reflect His image. They are His Temple -
don’t harm them. Don’t defile them!
We must
not engage in prostitution, which defiles the
people who participate in it, and the city or
nation that tolerates it.
Honesty
and integrity must characterize out business and
financial dealings. We must use only just weights
and measures.
We must
not sacrifice our children to god or power. Why
would anyone sacrifice one of their children?
For extra blessing, for success. And, isn’t that
what motivates most of the abortions in our country?
The children are sacrificed to supposedly make
the lives of their parents better or easier.
The Canaanites
violated all these laws. They had sex with close
relatives, were adulterers, homosexuals, lesbians,
engaging in prostitution, bestiality, sacrificing
their children to their gods, filled with mediums,
spiritists, divination, and many other shameful
things. Their iniquity was now full, their land
defiled, dirty, unclean in God’s sight, because
of all these abominations, God was about to judge
them and destroy them, and rightfully so.
As for
us, let us be holy, knowing that the Lord our
God is holy. And, may we be light and salt, preventing
our nation from deteriorating further. Perhaps
the Lord will even use us to turn back the tide
of corruption, and bring our nation back to God.
|
