January 30, 2018
I don’t know about
you, but when I read Leviticus, I sometimes struggle with “what does this have
to do with me?” questions. I spent some
time researching these chapters and listening to podcasts and sermons, and I
stumbled on the following from gotquestions.org. But I don’t want any of you who do not have
an iworship Bible to miss this on sacrifice.
“Only the best, most costly gift was worthy to
be offered to God. By this sacrifice,
the worshiper believed he could maintain his relationship with the Lord and
received forgiveness. But those
sacrifices weren’t enough. Only the
offering of God’s own Son, the most perfect Lamb of God, could remove the
barrier between God’s holiness and our disobedience. Jesus offered that sacrifice on the cross (1
Corinthians 5:7).
That which costs little or nothing is no
sacrifice, only a hollow gesture. Jesus’
sacrifice cost him everything. We’re
also asked to make a sacrifice. Ours can’t
compare with that of Jesus, but in a way it’s costly also. It’s a sacrifice to worship when we
acknowledge that God is in charge of our lives – not us or our own wants and
desires. “With Jesus’ help, let us
continually offer our sacrifice of praise to God by proclaiming the glory of
his name.” (Hebrews 13:15).”
Clean animals: land
animals that chew the cud and have a divided hoof, such as cattle, deer, goats,
and sheep; seafood with both fins and scales, such as bluegill, grouper, and cod;
certain birds, including chickens, doves, and ducks; and even some insects,
such as grasshoppers and locusts.
Unclean animals: land animals that either do not chew the cud or do not have a split hoof, such as pigs, dogs, cats, horses, donkeys, and rats; seafood lacking either fins or scales, such as shellfish, lobster, oysters, and catfish; some birds, such as owls, hawks, and vultures; and other animals, such as reptiles and amphibians.
While the New Testament teaches that we are no longer judged regarding what foods we eat (Colossians 2:16), nutritionists have noted that the listings of clean and unclean foods in the Old Testament actually provide a guideline for a healthy diet. In a time period lacking modern food safety techniques, a diet consisting of only clean animals would have protected people against many health problems.
Ultimately, God’s distinction between clean and unclean animals was about more than one’s diet. Many of God’s regulations were to remind His people, that they were set apart to worship the one, true God. The original audience of Genesis 7, during Moses’ day, would have associated the reference to clean animals with the animals God had given them for food as well as sacrifice. It would only make sense to include more clean animals than unclean on the ark. Noah made a sacrifice immediately after the Flood (Genesis 8:20). Since seven (or seven pairs) of every clean animal had been aboard, the sacrifices would still have left plenty of animals to begin replenishing the earth.
Unclean animals: land animals that either do not chew the cud or do not have a split hoof, such as pigs, dogs, cats, horses, donkeys, and rats; seafood lacking either fins or scales, such as shellfish, lobster, oysters, and catfish; some birds, such as owls, hawks, and vultures; and other animals, such as reptiles and amphibians.
While the New Testament teaches that we are no longer judged regarding what foods we eat (Colossians 2:16), nutritionists have noted that the listings of clean and unclean foods in the Old Testament actually provide a guideline for a healthy diet. In a time period lacking modern food safety techniques, a diet consisting of only clean animals would have protected people against many health problems.
Ultimately, God’s distinction between clean and unclean animals was about more than one’s diet. Many of God’s regulations were to remind His people, that they were set apart to worship the one, true God. The original audience of Genesis 7, during Moses’ day, would have associated the reference to clean animals with the animals God had given them for food as well as sacrifice. It would only make sense to include more clean animals than unclean on the ark. Noah made a sacrifice immediately after the Flood (Genesis 8:20). Since seven (or seven pairs) of every clean animal had been aboard, the sacrifices would still have left plenty of animals to begin replenishing the earth.
Leviticus chapter 12
often strikes readers today sexist. The Law specified that a woman who gave
birth to a son would be ceremonially unclean for 7 days, while a woman who gave
birth to a daughter would be unclean for 14 days. Why would God require a woman
to wait twice as long to be ceremonially clean after having a daughter than
after having a son?
The best understanding to account for this difference is found in the Jewish perspective regarding holiness. First, ritual purity is of great importance in the Jewish tradition. A woman traditionally remained impure for seven days following her monthly menstruation cycle. Impurity in this context is not intended to imply sinfulness or inferiority; rather, it emphasizes the tremendous importance of holiness within a woman’s body and the power to create a new life through union with her husband.
At childbirth, this same tradition continues to operate. As we read here in chapter 12, if a woman has a son, she is unclean for 7 days and her son is circumcised on the eighth day, following God’s covenant with Abraham. The woman must then wait 33 days to be purified from her bleeding for a total of 40 days (Leviticus 12:4).
When a woman gives birth to a daughter, two differences are noted. First, instead of being unclean for 7 days, she is unclean for 14 days, or twice as long. Second, instead of waiting 33 days until being purified, she must wait 66 days, again twice as long, for a total of 80 days (Leviticus 12:5). According to Jewish tradition, this period is twice as long to account for the purity of both the mother and the daughter. Therefore, the time period is twice as long as when a mother gives birth to a son.
Physically, there is no reason a woman should be unclean for longer or require longer to recover after giving birth to a daughter. Some have suggested more time was given for a mother to bond with a daughter or to provide protection for her, but this idea is not found in the passage.
The best understanding to account for this difference is found in the Jewish perspective regarding holiness. First, ritual purity is of great importance in the Jewish tradition. A woman traditionally remained impure for seven days following her monthly menstruation cycle. Impurity in this context is not intended to imply sinfulness or inferiority; rather, it emphasizes the tremendous importance of holiness within a woman’s body and the power to create a new life through union with her husband.
At childbirth, this same tradition continues to operate. As we read here in chapter 12, if a woman has a son, she is unclean for 7 days and her son is circumcised on the eighth day, following God’s covenant with Abraham. The woman must then wait 33 days to be purified from her bleeding for a total of 40 days (Leviticus 12:4).
When a woman gives birth to a daughter, two differences are noted. First, instead of being unclean for 7 days, she is unclean for 14 days, or twice as long. Second, instead of waiting 33 days until being purified, she must wait 66 days, again twice as long, for a total of 80 days (Leviticus 12:5). According to Jewish tradition, this period is twice as long to account for the purity of both the mother and the daughter. Therefore, the time period is twice as long as when a mother gives birth to a son.
Physically, there is no reason a woman should be unclean for longer or require longer to recover after giving birth to a daughter. Some have suggested more time was given for a mother to bond with a daughter or to provide protection for her, but this idea is not found in the passage.
God had given the
Israelites very specific instructions on how to deal with leprosy and other
skin infections (Leviticus 13). Anyone suspected of having this disease had
to go to a priest for examination (Leviticus 13:2-3). If found to be infected, “the leprous person who has the
disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose, and he
shall cover his upper lip and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean.’ He shall remain
unclean as long as he has the disease. He is unclean. He shall live alone. His
dwelling shall be outside the camp” (Leviticus
13:45-46). The leper then
was considered utterly unclean—physically and spiritually.
Incurable by man, many believed God inflicted the curse of leprosy upon people for the sins they committed. In fact, those with leprosy were so despised and loathed that they were not allowed to live in any community with their own people (Numbers 5:2). Among the sixty-one defilements of ancient Jewish laws, leprosy was second only to a dead body in seriousness. A leper wasn’t allowed to come within six feet of any other human, including his own family. The disease was considered so revolting that the leper wasn’t permitted to come within 150 feet of anyone when the wind was blowing. Lepers lived in a community with other lepers until they either got better or died. This was the only way the people knew to contain the spread of the contagious forms of leprosy.
The Bible records the story of a leper who was the first to be healed by Jesus (Matthew 8:2-4). The key lesson to be learned from this incident is that sin defiles us in the sight of God, but through Christ, we can be healed of the plague of sin that separates us from God. God loathes sin; it is repulsive to Him. Sin bans us from the presence of God because God will not allow sinful man in His sight and presence (Psalm 5:5; Habakkuk 1:13; Revelation 21:27). This is not only true of sins with a sexual connotation that are normally regarded as filthy and repulsive, but it includes all forms of disobedience and rebellion (1 Samuel 15:23; Proverbs 15:9). All sin is abhorrent to God. But those who have been redeemed from sin by grace through faith in Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9) can stand in God’s presence in full confidence that we are accepted “in the Beloved,” and we praise Him for the grace He extends to us for that purpose (Ephesians 1:5-7).
When we’ve captured a glimpse of the holiness and purity of God, we have to exclaim as did the prophet Isaiah, “Woe to me … 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” (Isaiah 6:5). Our attitude toward sin in the light of our Savior should echo the words of Peter: “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” (Luke 5:1-8). Another key lesson we learn from the leper in Matthew’s Gospel is that just as the leper did, we can confidently approach Jesus in all our need, with all our sin and defilement. When we plead for cleansing and forgiveness, He will not turn us away (Hebrews 4:16; Psalm 103:12).
Incurable by man, many believed God inflicted the curse of leprosy upon people for the sins they committed. In fact, those with leprosy were so despised and loathed that they were not allowed to live in any community with their own people (Numbers 5:2). Among the sixty-one defilements of ancient Jewish laws, leprosy was second only to a dead body in seriousness. A leper wasn’t allowed to come within six feet of any other human, including his own family. The disease was considered so revolting that the leper wasn’t permitted to come within 150 feet of anyone when the wind was blowing. Lepers lived in a community with other lepers until they either got better or died. This was the only way the people knew to contain the spread of the contagious forms of leprosy.
The Bible records the story of a leper who was the first to be healed by Jesus (Matthew 8:2-4). The key lesson to be learned from this incident is that sin defiles us in the sight of God, but through Christ, we can be healed of the plague of sin that separates us from God. God loathes sin; it is repulsive to Him. Sin bans us from the presence of God because God will not allow sinful man in His sight and presence (Psalm 5:5; Habakkuk 1:13; Revelation 21:27). This is not only true of sins with a sexual connotation that are normally regarded as filthy and repulsive, but it includes all forms of disobedience and rebellion (1 Samuel 15:23; Proverbs 15:9). All sin is abhorrent to God. But those who have been redeemed from sin by grace through faith in Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9) can stand in God’s presence in full confidence that we are accepted “in the Beloved,” and we praise Him for the grace He extends to us for that purpose (Ephesians 1:5-7).
When we’ve captured a glimpse of the holiness and purity of God, we have to exclaim as did the prophet Isaiah, “Woe to me … 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” (Isaiah 6:5). Our attitude toward sin in the light of our Savior should echo the words of Peter: “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” (Luke 5:1-8). Another key lesson we learn from the leper in Matthew’s Gospel is that just as the leper did, we can confidently approach Jesus in all our need, with all our sin and defilement. When we plead for cleansing and forgiveness, He will not turn us away (Hebrews 4:16; Psalm 103:12).