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Review: Last week we completed quite a few chapters (Lev. 4-10), and finished the evening with two dramatic scenes: the first was the ordination of the priests, Aaron and his sons, and after their cleansing, anointing and the offering of their sacrifices - atoning for their sins, and symbolic of their total surrender to God's work, fire came down from heaven as God's "amen" on the ceremony. The second drama concerned two of those priests, Nadab and Abihu, who used "unauthorized fire," and were punished by God with death.
The five offerings-the whole burnt offering, the grain/meal offering, the peace or fellowship offering, the sin and guilt offerings, have been instituted. But we also saw that the human priests are just that-human. They yield to temptation and do other things which show God that they aren't taking their responsibilities seriously. God says "you must be holy; you are a kingdom of priests and a holy nation," and people who are holy-set apart for God-obey God and want to please him. But those human vessels in which God places responsibility are weak. That's why God gave us his son and instituted a New Covenant at Jesus death. And we learn in Hebrews 7:11-16, 22: "If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the law was given to the people) why was there still need for another priest to come-one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron? . . . For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, and in regard to that tribe Moses said nothing about priests. And what we have said is even more clear if another priests like Melchizedek appears, one who has become a priest not on the basis of regulation as to his ancestry, but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life. . . . Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.
We met Melchizedek in Genesis 14; Abraham met him, Melchizedek blessed Abraham and Abraham gave him tithes. Hebrews 7:1, 3: tells us "Melchizedek was a priest of God Most High. . . without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, like the son of God, he remains a priest forever." This is the kind of priest Jesus is: an eternal priest forever in the heavens making intercession for us.
And in Hebrews 9 we see very clearly that this new and better covenant had to be based on Jesus' death and sacrifice, not on the blood of animals, an atonement for sin that was offered once and for all:
Hebrews 9:1-7, 11-15, 18-28
1Now the first covenant had regulations for worship and also an earthly sanctuary. 2A tabernacle was set up. . . .6When everything had been arranged. . . the priests entered regularly into the outer room to carry on their ministry. 7But only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance. . . .
The Blood of Christ
11When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say, not a part of this creation. 12He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. 13The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. 14How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! 15For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance -- now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant. . . 18This is why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood. 19When Moses had proclaimed every commandment of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves, together with water, scarlet wool and branches of hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people. 20He said, "This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to keep." 21In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies. 22In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. 23It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24ForChrist did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God's presence. 25Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. 26Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. (italics mine)
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This is what Leviticus points to, speaks of, symbolizes: The OT sacrificial system was a way to cover sin, but it pointed to, foreshadowed the coming of Jesus. It typifies all that Jesus did for us on the cross. Sin, which entered human life in Gen. 3, cannot be "covered" by our efforts; it takes the sinless Son of God to take away the sins of the world. But remember that in Leviticus, we see a very real world: these are real people, and their lives are part of history-our history. They had the law; they had sacrifices, and they also had an entire system of regulations concerning every day life. Their ceremonial fitness was a large part of the way they lived their lives.
Leviticus 11: As we reviewed the sin and guilt offerings, the non-sweet savor offerings, we noted that these were to cover "unintentional sins," some of which were listed in chapters 5 and 6. Lev. 5:2 says touching an unclean thing is a sin, and requires confession and an atoning sacrifice. What is an "unclean thing"? In Lev. 11, we begin to learn about clean/unclean which related not to physical cleanliness, but to ceremonial fitness. The person who is "clean" can participate in community worship; a person who is "unclean" is excluded. Clean and unclean also apply to certain animals, and these constitute the Kosher laws. Notice how clean animals are described: animals that chew the cud and have completely divided hooves. Any not in that category are unclean, off limits. That's why Jews then and now do not eat pork. They also cannot eat seafood unless it has both fins and scales-shellfish is off limits, but perch is OK; a dolphin is off limits, but a trout is OK. Certain birds and insects are also put off limits. In addition, God says don't eat "road kill," and don't even touch those carcasses because it will make you unclean.
Why does God prescribe such laws regarding food? Some have surmised that it had to do with health, and in some respects it does. But it's also a way to keep the Israelites "fenced off" culturally. If you keep Kosher today, you can't go have meals at other people's homes. If you keep Kosher, you have to shop in certain places, and you have to avoid restaurants. No orthodox Jew can, for example, have a McDonald's cheeseburger because it's meat and dairy; God says don't do that. It preserves them as a people just as slavery kept them unassimilated in Egypt.
Leviticus 12: Childbirth excluded a woman from community activities for a period of time: 7 days plus 30 days for a male child and double that for a female child. When this time is completed, she is to bring a lamb-or a dove or pigeon if she cannot afford a lamb-as a purification offering. We see Mary (and Joseph) doing this in Luke 2:22. This is done to allow the woman to have time with this new baby; she's free from ceremonial duties all the time of waiting to be allowed to enter the community's worship again.
Leprosy: Now we get into leprosy, which, as we noted earlier, is a type of sin. Leprosy is not caused by sin; please be clear about that. The NIV calls this an "infectious skin disease," but leprosy is a better translation. The priest was the screener. In the OT there are several instances of leprosy. For example, when God calls Moses, one of the miracles God does to convince Moses is to return to Egypt as his spokesman. He tells him to put his hand in his robe and when Moses withdraws it, it's covered with leprosy. He puts his hand back in his robe and this time, when withdrawn, it's clean. Only God can cure leprosy; only God can cure sin. In Numbers 10, Miriam is affected with leprosy as God's punishment; Moses prays for her and she recovers. Naaman (II Kings 5) comes to Elisha the prophet asking to be cured of leprosy; Elisha tells him to dip 7 times in the Jordan River and Naaman is furious; he wants Elisha to pray, wave his hand and make him well. But Naaman is convinced by his servant to do what he's told; he does and he's made well. In the New Testament, Jesus heals lepers, and one of these instances is particularly poignant. It occurs in all three of the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) but let's look at Luke 5:12. Jesus touches the man; the man comes right up to Jesus. Both were forbidden by the law. A leper had to live outside the town; he had to shout "unclean, unclean" when anyone came near. He could not be touched by anyone, but Jesus, seeing him and feeling pity, touches him and heals him. Only God can cure leprosy; only God can cure us of sin.
Leprosy pictures sin in five ways: sin begins small; it spreads; it affects our own life and the lives of others; it separates us from God; if not dealt with, sin is permanent and therefore a permanent separation from God.
Leviticus 13: We see that the priest diagnoses leprosy (vv. 1-46). The person with the rash or skin condition goes to the priest to be examined; the priest decides, based on what God has said leprosy is. We see all through this chapter the various stages of leprosy, the ways the priest deals with it, and then, in v. 45, we see the results: "The person with such an infectious disease-leprosy-must wear torn clothes, let his hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of his ace and cry out 'Unclean! Unclean!' As long as he has the infection, he remains unclean. He must life alone; he must live outside the camp." He's excluded from his home and the community; he lives outside the camp. He's ceremonially unclean, and he is isolated in the strictest sense.
Leviticus 13:47: Here we discover that clothing can be contaminated with leprosy and it, too, must be examined, and if it meets certain definitions, must be burned.
Leviticus 14:33-58: Houses can also become contaminated, and these regulations pertain to their entering the Promised Land and building houses of timber, stone and stucco. In the case of a house with leprosy, it must be scraped and cleansed, but if that doesn't rid the house of the condition, it must be torn down, the materials taken outside the town, and the house rebuilt with new material. Sin affects every part of our lives.
Leviticus 14:1-32: First the priest goes outside the camp to the place the leper lives to see if he leprosy is gone. If it is, the leper may return to camp for this ceremony which will once again make him a part of the community. Here is a fascinating ritual: the person to be cleansed so that he is ceremonially fit takes to the priest two live birds, cedar wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop. The birds were alternative burnt offerings for those too poor for a bull, sheep or goat (Lev. 1), and they speak of Jesus humility; the cedar wood is resistant to disease and speaks of the cross which is incorruptible. The hyssop, used in the Passover (Ex. 12) to place the blood above the doorpost and on the sides of the door, speaks of faith in the cleansing Jesus offers us. So this pictures Jesus' work in a very real way. The details of what the priest does with the birds and other materials is described in Lev. 14:4-7. Then the person is bathed, shaved, and waits 7 days until he repeats this bodily cleansing; then he returns to the priest, this time with two male lambs and one ewe lamb without defect (or if these are too expensive for the person, birds can be substituted), fine flour mixed with oil, and a separate container of oil. Now he's making his guilt offering and a sin offering; oil and blood are placed on the altar but also on the person's ear lobe, right thumb and right big toe-just as we saw at the sanctification of the priests in Lev. 8. This is to symbolize the cleansing and re-entry into the community as a person whose sins have been forgiven and who is now sanctified-set apart-for God's service.
Leviticus 15: This chapter concerns bodily discharges, both normal and abnormal, for men and women, and the ceremonies through which they must go to be cleansed and made ceremonially fit again.
Let's close in prayer.
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