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Recap of last week: Holy living - how to achieve holiness and maintain it - were the topics of Leviticus 16 through 20 which we studied last week, and they continue as themes for the rest of the book. God said over and over "I am the Lord" when giving commands for relationships in the family, in the neighborhood, and above all, with him. Leviticus 16 and the focus on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) most directly concerned us because it speaks of Jesus' sacrifice for our sins. We found cause to thank God once again that we are not bound to bring animal sacrifices to cover our sin because Jesus atonement took away our sins.
The Israelites had a complex worship liturgy, sacrificial system and civil code, all of which pointed to the ways by which God would create a "kingdom of priests and a holy nation" (Ex. 19:6). Little by little, God is transforming the slaves he brought out of Egypt into a nation with different customs, different values and a different focus: they are NOT like other nations. They are not to behave as the Egyptians or as the Canaanites they'll observe in the land God is giving them. God is very specific about this throughout Leviticus, but especially in Lev. 18, 19 and 20.
An apparent contradiction from last week. Judy asked if Lev. 18:16 was forbidding Levirate marriage, a custom we first encountered in Gen. 38 when Judah's eldest son was married to Tamar and died before she became pregnant. Judah then gave Tamar to his brother: he was to marry her and their children would be the descendants of his older brother, thus continuing his line. When the second son died, and there were still no children, Judah refused to give his third son - still too young to marry - to Tamar. She tricks him into a liaison which produces twin sons, and Judah admitted in Gen. 38:26 "She is more righteous than I since I wouldn't give her my son Shelah." Tamar's sons Perez and Zerah are mentioned in Jesus' genealogy Matt. 1, with Perez carrying on Judah's line, becoming an ancestor of Christ. The custom then, of obliging a brother to marry his brother's widow to carry on his line was established before God gave Moses the law in Exodus 20. However, in Deuteronomy 25, Moses in reiterating the law tells the Israelites "If brothers are living together and one of them dies without a son, his widow must not marry outside the family. Her husband's brother shall take her and marry her and fulfill the duty of a brother in law to her. The first son she bears shall carry on the name of the dead brother so that his name will not be blotted out from Israel." (Deut. 25:5-6) In succeeding verses we read provision for a time when a brother does not want to marry the woman. In Lev. 18, then, the command is: "Do not have sexual relations with your brother's wife; that would dishonor your brother." This would appear to be adultery, not marriage to the widow of a brother, but having sex with his wife. In Luke 20, Jesus is asked by Sadducees trying to trap him, whose wife a woman will be if she marries seven different brothers - all of whom die. Jesus tells them there is no marriage in heaven. This suggests that the levirate custom continued to the first century at least.
Tonight, we begin with Leviticus 21 and 22, instructions specifically to priests.
Leviticus 21: Here the priests are instructed in holy living. They are told whom they can marry, and because offerings must be without defect, God says his priests must also be without defect. The blind or deaf, lame or otherwise physically imperfect man born into a Levitical family was forbidden to offer sacrifices, but there were other duties he could perform. And he remained part of the priests' family, sharing the food they were given.
Leviticus 22: Further instructions to priests about treating sacrifices with reverence, and putting off limits acts that will make priests unclean. At v. 17, God begins more instructions about sacrifices - reiterating previous instructions which were given in the first 7 chapters. Why? This is all for emphasis, further explanations in case God omitted a circumstance that might arise from the earlier instructions. In a sense, God paces their learning: you can absorb so much in this lesson; you've got it? Good, now here's another lesson. Then in v. 31-33, God once again tells the priests why he is being so particular about what they do and what they wear and how they behave at the altar: "You must faithfully keep all of my commands by obeying them, for I am the Lord. Do not treat my holy name as common and ordinary. I must be treated as holy by the people of Israel. It is I, the Lord, who makes you holy. It was I who rescued you from Egypt that I might be your very own God. I am the Lord."
Leviticus 23: The regulations for the weekly Sabbath observance are outlined along with a description and regulations for festivals which would bring all the people together. The Sabbath was a weekly occasion for reverencing God and for family worship. It was a holy, special time, and it still is to observant Jews. The festivals were spaced throughout the year, and once the people came into the Promised Land, and the land was allocated (see the map showing tribal divisions), God wanted them to remain unified and so he said three festivals would be held each year in Jerusalem; the three pilgrimage festivals are Passover (Jesus was crucified on Passover), First Fruits (Jesus rose from the dead on First Fruits, and Paul says was the first fruits of our redemption), Pentecost (in the OT this commemorated the giving of the law; in the NT it was the day on which the Holy Spirit came down, 50 days after Jesus' resurrection); these first three are spring festivals. An additional three were held in the fall: Tabernacles (commemorating their 40 years of wandering in the wilderness), Festival of Trumpets, which is now Rosh Hashanah, and the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur which we studied in Lev. 16. Each had specific sacrifices, food, and other requirements to make it holy and a celebration of God's provision for their needs, including atonement from sin. (There are two more festivals which commemorate later events: Purim and Hanukkah or the Festival of Lights). Lev. 23:22 reiterates Lev. 19:9 regulation for harvesting fields having left a margin for gleaners.
Leviticus 24: In this chapter, vv. 1-9, we see the way the people were involved in the Tabernacle - the ancestors of the Altar Guild. The people, God said, were to supply the oil for the lamp which was to be kept burning continually in the Tabernacle, and flour or bread was also to be supplied by the people. The bread, 12 loaves each representing a tribe of Israel, were placed fresh each week on the Table of the Presence near the golden lampstand.
Beginning at Lev. 24:10, we read of an incident involving a young man the son of a Jewish woman and an Egyptian father. In Ex. 12, we read of the Passover, and the actual exodus from Egypt. In v. 38, "And a mixed multitude went also with them." Meaning, along with the Israelites were other people related to the community, Egyptians and those of other nations, who decided to go along. Here is one of those "mixed multitude." He didn't know who he was: was he a displaced Egyptian or a half Israelite? He blasphemed God during a fight, and this breaking of the command not to take God's name in vain cost him his life.
Leviticus 25: In Lev. 19, God tells the people that when they are given land in Canaan, they are not to reap their fields completely but to save some of the grain or grapes for the poor to pick. Now in this chapter, Lev. 25, we read more of God's way of taking care of the poor. He provided the "Sabbatical" year as well as the Jubilee year which in part deal with the problem of poor management and falling into debt. The Sabbatical year is one that college and university faculty know well: it's a provision of time to refresh themselves by travel and study, a year without teaching and other daily college responsibilities. It's a great time to stand back and get new perspective. The Sabbath year was for the land - and a means of demonstrating faith in God's provision for their needs. The Jubilee year came every 50 years, or after 7 Sabbatical years. In God's math, 7 is important: 7th day is the day on which God rested after creation; the Sabbath is a gift he gave his people - rest; 7s are all through the Bible, and here are two examples. If a man from the tribe of Judah, for example, had a section of land in Canaan and mismanaged it, he might have to sell it to his neighbor. He could do this, and the neighbor would offer him the amount the land was worth based on the number of years until Jubilee. If it's three years, he's unlikely to take the deal because in the Year of Jubilee, the land reverted to the original family. But if there are 20 years until Jubilee, the neighbor might agree to buy/lease the land for that period, paying the owner for 20 years of crops. The original family might remain on the land as tenant farmers. God cancelled debt every 50 years. There's no proof that Israel followed this law, and they suffered for it. The years they had failed to allow the land to rest were added to their time in exile. (2 Chron 36:21)
Leviticus 26 and 27: Blessings and curses. God has given the people a full set of worship liturgies, a set of principles by which to live with each other and with him, and additional regulations which, if followed, will ensure that they live in communion with each other and with him. They will become the "kingdom of priests and a holy nation" which God said his covenant people would be (Ex. 19:6). Sin, as we've discovered has consequences; but likewise, obedience has rewards. In the new covenant, we are not under a system of working for salvation, but John says in 1 John that "If anyone obeys God's word, God's love is truly made complete in him." In other words, love and obedience go together. We are to obey out of our gratitude for what God has done for us and our love for him. But in the OT, the Old Covenant which God is revealing to the people, he's going to lay down the conditions for a full life in the Promised Land, and for curses should they fail to abide by his laws. That is the content of Lev. 26; then in Lev. 27, we read for the first time about the kinsman redeemer who can buy back land for a relative, in addition to other kinds of redemption for vows and dedications to God. The way this works out for the church today is in tithe of time and energy. Suppose you want to tithe but you don't have enough money to cover expenses. So you offer the church your talent: your design ability, your time to clean or to do clerical work. You give time so that if billed at the going rate for those tasks, it would equal the equivalent monetary tithe. We tend to think of stewardship sometimes in a limited way: 10 percent of our income. But it also involves time, energy and talent.
We'll conclude next week, by taking a longer look at Hebrews than we have in the passing references I've made as we've studied Leviticus. And I'll preview our study of Matthew which I tentatively have set to begin Jan. 12, the second Monday of January, and we'll finish in seven weeks, ending just before the beginning of Lent on Feb. 25.
Let's close in prayer.
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