Unclean..Clean..Holy
Tuesday, March 9, 2010 at 12:47PM The book of Leviticus is an instruction manuel for holy living. It bewilders most who read it, angers those who read it out of context, is misquoted to make a bad point, and often avoided altogether by Christians. The hard work of digging into this book makes me cringe and want to cower in the corner, rather than read it as I journey through the Bible this year.
On top of my reading plan, the seminary class I'm currently taking is a survey of the Old Testament (OT), which means Leviticus and I will be spending some quality time together.
As I dove into the first 4 chapters last night, I was in need of some help, I consulted my ESV Study Bible for some visual aids to provide perspective, and my brand spanking new textbook for clarification. I hope to share some insights in the coming days, but would like your input as well.
At it's core, Leviticus lets us know that holiness in the presence of a holy God is not optional. As you read it, you must keep the rest of the story in the forefront of your mind, that Jesus fulfilled the sacrificial system with his death, so much of Leviticus is moot, but still infinitely important.
We are told that the meaning of the OT was to make us long for Christ and to make us overwhelmingly aware of our failures and frailties, so that we would cling to the cross, and glorify God with our lives evermore. It's not a list of rules, regulations or how to's. The OT is the story of relationship formed after the fall, and the lengths God will go to in the rescue and redemption of his creation.
Leviticus was written at a unique time in Asian culture where a multitude of other beliefs existed, all with animal sacrifice and holiness codes, but none like these followers of the one true God. Mesopotamians would sacrifice animals to tell the future, reading their entrails. The Jewish sacrifices were directly linked to the RELATIONSHIP formed with God, not as a way to appease him. God sought sacrifice for his people to be clean, not to make him happy. (This of course was foreshadowing of the sacrifice of Christ in the future, when the entire system would be done away with) The holiness codes separated the Jews from their near neighbors by even greater margins, making them an even more different group of people, for the world to behold.
As we read through the first 4 chapters, nothing alarming, other than the minute details of how exactly the offerings are to be received. In addition, it is made quite clear that those in service as priests will be held to a higher standard than anyone else, and that professional ministry should not be entered into lightly.
More to come tomorrow.
Thoughts
Reader Comments (1)
Do some studying of "types" and "anti-types."
All of it, the sacrifices, the feasts, etc. was all about Jesus. Everything points to Jesus. And for us to understand who Jesus really was, we have to understand the Old Testament. It is impossible to understand the New Testament unless you know the Old Testament. Here is a passage from a teaching I read a couple months ago on the subject (mainly about Pentacost and how it was a type):
Fifty days after the first Passover in Egypt, the Law was given to the nation of Israel at Mount Sinai, written upon tables of stone. Fifty days after the final Passover was sacrificed, the Law was given to the "Israel of God," written upon their hearts by the Spirit of God (2 Cor. 3:3), thus fulfilling God's promise to Israel:
"But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD, "I will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. (Jeremiah 31:33 NASB)
On the first Pentecost, the Law was given; 3,000 people died for worshiping the golden calf, signifying the covenant of the law that brought death (Ex. 32:28; cf. 2 Cor. 3:16-18).
On the first New Covenant Pentecost day, the Spirit was given; 3,000 people received life and were added to the Church of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:41), signifying the covenant of the Spirit brought life:
"who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." (2 Corinthians 3:6 NASB)
We see here that the New Covenant is LIFE but the old KILLS:
"But if the ministry of death, in letters engraved on stones, came with glory, so that the sons of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, fading as it was" (2 Corinthians 3:7 NASB)
On the first occasion, and 50 days after the Feast of Firstfruits, God came down to Moses on Mt. Sinai to bring the Law. In the giving of the Law, God established the nation of Israel. As His covenant people, they were destined to become a people manifesting the righteousness of God. They would become a "royal priesthood and a holy nation." Both the giving of the Law on Mt. Sinai and the giving of the New Covenant through the Holy Spirit to the 120 in the temple were events that occurred on the very same day of the lunar calendar, the sixth of Sivan, the Day of Pentecost.
Pentecost was the fulfillment, the anti-type, of the type given to Israel. It was the birthday of the Church of Jesus Christ. God was now to dwell, not in a tent, but with His people. We, the Church, are the New Israel of God and in us all the promises made to the Fathers are fulfilled.
The giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai involved the Aaronic priesthood, the sacrificial system, the tabernacle, the Sabbath days, the festivals, the civil and ceremonial laws, and the Ten Commandments (Exodus 19:17,20; 20:1,21-22; 21:1-2,12; 22:1,16; 23:10-11,14; 24:1-8,12,18; 25:1,8-9,40; 28:1; 31:12-18; 32:1; 34:27-28; Hebrews 8:1-6; 9:1-12,15,18-24; 10:1,10; 13:20). These things were given by God as a shadow of things to come (Hebrews 10:1) to teach us (Galatians 3:24) about Jesus and the redemptive work of God (Colossians 2:16-17). Shavuot was the birth of the congregation in the wilderness (Acts 7:38). The things given at Mount Sinai were divine and from God, but shown in a physical way (Hebrews 9:1) to enable us to understand the spiritual truths that God wanted to communicate to us (1 Peter 2:5-9). So God gave Israel the covenant; the Torah; the services; the oracles of God; and the promises (Romans 9:4-5; 3:2), which were divine (Hebrews 9:1), at Mount Sinai to teach us about Jesus:
Then I said, "Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book it is written of me; (Psalms 40:7 NASB)
Old Covenant Israel was a type, to point us to Christ. It is all about Jesus!
Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, "And to seeds," as referring to many, but rather to one, "And to your seed," that is, Christ. (Galatians 3:16 NASB)
All the promises that God made to Israel are fulfilled in Christ. All believers are in Christ and share all that Christ is and has.