Explore the Bible Lesson Preview November 19, 2017 Set Free Background: Leviticus 11:1-16:34 Lesson: Leviticus 16:3-10, 29-30

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1 Explore the Bible Lesson Preview November 19, 2017 Set Free Background: Leviticus 11:1-16:34 Lesson: Leviticus 16:3-10, Motivation: In this passage, we ll explore two well-known concepts: the scapegoat and the Day of Atonement. Together, they represent to removal of guilt and the purging of sin. Both of these foreshadow Christ s atoning work on the cross where our sin is not only forgiven by God but also forgotten. I. Living In Purity (11:1-15:33) A. Dietary Laws (11:1-47) Although not bound by the law, some Christians still choose to observe the dietary restrictions of this chapter as a matter of good health. Whether you eat pork chops or not, several spiritual applications can be made. 1. God s Commands Supersede Our Desires The Lord spoke to Moses You may eat all these kinds of land animals. (1) With twentieth century knowledge of various diseases which can be spread through animals, we can see that several of the animals are listed for obvious health reasons. However, as stated above, the primary reason for clean and unclean is to set the principle of distinction, God s people are to honor God s Word without the need for outside support. Our limited minds will never understand the purposes behind all that God asks us to do. (Isa. 55:9) If we reduce obedience only to commands that please us and agree with our way of thinking, then we reduce God to our level. (Deut. 29:29) HCSB: p : 1 / 9

2 11:1-47 This chapter includes two separate listings of clean and unclean creatures (vv. 1-23; vv ); the identity of many of the animals is uncertain. If the food laws were observed by the Israelites, the holiness of God would extend from the sanctuary to their homes, ensuring His continued presence. Although there may have been some hygienic benefit derived from keeping the food laws, the prohibited creatures were not consistently unhealthy for human consumption. More likely, these laws reflected the distinctive types at creation (Gn 1:26) and thereby taught the Israelites that there was an ordained pattern of conformity. The instructions showed the Israelites that they must conform to their creation as a holy people, avoiding assimilation with their pagan neighbors by adopting their domestic habits. The food laws that once separated the Israelites and the nations are not binding on modern believers (Ac 10:11-16; Col 2:16, but the underlying principle remains true: all that a Christian does must be for the glory of God (1 Co 10:31). Consecrated Christian living arises from the inner person who is redeemed, not from physical things (Mk 7:18-23; Rm 14:17-18). Christians must exercise spiritual maturity in choosing food and drink (Rm 14; 1 Cor 8; 10:23) and in associating with others (1 Co 5:11; 2 Co 6:14). 2. God s Commands Are for Our Ultimate Good Whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean until evening, and anyone who carries their carcasses must wash his clothes and will be unclean until evening. (27b-28) The concept of infectious disease, and especially those spread by an animal, is relatively new to civilization. The bubonic plagues that ravaged Europe in the Middle Ages are much closer in history to us than to Moses. That the Jews almost universally escaped such plagues led to their being despised and feared by their Gentile neighbors. A physician of 1895, Dr. Noel de Mussy of the Paris Academy of Medicine gives the reason for Jewish health: The idea of parasitic and infectious maladies, which has conquered so great a position in modern pathology, appears to have greatly occupied the mind of Moses and to have dominated all his hygienic rules. He excluded from the Hebrew diet animals particularly liable to parasites; and as it is in the blood that the germs and spores of infectious disease circulate, he orders that they must be drained of their blood before serving for food. ( Thru the Bible, vol. 1, p. 368) As late as the 1960 s, fundamental Christians were considered square because they tended to abstain from alcohol and tobacco, two vices freely extolled in movies and popular literature. The shift in society s position due to medical research simply confirms the protection 2 / 9

3 afforded God s people. Even when we cannot understand God s precepts, we can accept that they are given for our good. 3. God s Commands Are for Our Holiness so you must be holy because I am holy. (45) If, in fact, we want to be like Jesus, we must be willing to be holy (set apart). Dietary restrictions were just one part of God s plan for the ancient Hebrews; however, the call to holiness still is in effect today: for it is written, Be holy, because I am holy. (1 Peter 1:16) Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship (Romans 12:1) For He chose us in Him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in His sight. (Eph. 1:4) But now He has reconciled you by His physical body through His death, to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before Him (Col. 1:22) May He make your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints. Amen. (1 Thes. 3:13) B. Birthing Laws (12:1-8) The concept of clean and unclean had less to do with hygiene and more to do with interruption of fellowship with God. This is underscored by the sacrificial lamb for atonement. (8) HCSB: p , 12:1-8 The newborn child of a mother was not impure, since the male child was circumcised on the eighth day while the mother was in isolation. That circumcision was a part of her duty showed the mother s valued contribution to the community. She was the 3 / 9

4 vehicle of God s blessing of children within the covenant commitment of the Israelites to God (Gn 17). Children were considered a gift from God; the woman was not ritually defiled when she was pregnant. The impurity resulted from blood and fluids that are a part of the birth process (Lv 12:4-5, 7). Men also underwent separation and ritual reintegration due to bodily discharges (15:2-18). The message of these restrictions is that a person s spiritual relationship is more important than physical attributes (Ross, Holiness, 264). Jesus healed a woman who endured constant hemorrhaging, showing His power to cleanse physically and spiritually (Mk 5:25-34). Although the physical body was created good, Christians must subject their physical life to the greater good of the kingdom of God (Rm 12:1; 1 Co 6:13; Php 3:19-21). Jesus Christ is the perfect High Priest and pure sacrifice (Heb 7:26). By His blood Christians receive His purity and holiness (Heb 13:12; 1 Jn 3:3). This was true also of Mary, the mother of Jesus, whose flow of blood and physical impurities after childbirth symbolized her more serious spiritual defilement that was finally and fully cleansed through the blood of her son, Jesus. C. Laws concerning serious Skin Disease (13:1-14:57) HCSB: p.190: 13:2 The Hebrew word for skin disease ( tsara ath ) was translated into the Greek as lepra and transliterated as such into Latin. Thus most English translations render the word as leprosy. The Hebrew word, however, is a generic term that refers to changes in the surface of the human skin and is best translated as a disease on the skin ; it can also indicate fungus or mildew (v. 47; 14:34). During the postexilic period, rabbis identified 72 types of skin disease. The Purification ritual contains several symbols applicable to us: 1. We publicly approach our High Priest for cleansing (13:2) (Heb. 4:16, 14:2; Rom. 10:9-10; 1 Jn. 1:8-10). 2. We have reconciliation through Christ s death and resurrection (Lev. 14:4-7). 4 / 9

5 3. We see the incarnation as God sacrificed in an earthen vessel (Lev. 14:5; cf. 2 Cor. 4:7). 4. We achieve freedom only through the death of Christ (Lev. 14:7; cf. Gal. 2:20). 5. We have power for living through God s Holy Spirit (Lev. 14:15-18). D. Laws About Illness and Impurity (15:1-33) This section deals specifically with various diseases, especially those that resulted in abnormal problems with the male and female reproductive organs. These may be a symbol of secret sin because the malady would only be known to the bearer of the disease. HCSB: p. 195: 15 :16-18 The phrase emission of semen can refer to a nocturnal ejaculation (vv 16-17) as well as ejaculation in sexual intercourse (v. 18). This passage does not suggest that God considered sex sinful. Rather, God gave laws to ensure that sex must not be part of the sanctuary rites. These laws were a clear contrast with the ancient Near Eastern religions that portrayed gods and goddesses engaging in sexual relations and their followers imitating them as part of pagan temple worship. II. Preparing to Sacrifice Aaron is to enter the most holy place in this way: with a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. 4 He is to wear a holy linen tunic, and linen undergarments are to be on his body. He must tie a linen sash around him and wrap his head with a linen turban. These are holy garments; he must bathe his body with water before he wears them. 5 He is to take from the Israelite community two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering. 6 Aaro n will present the bull for his sin offering and make atonement for himself and his household (16:3-6) 5 / 9

6 A. Our Attire for Worship Must Be Christ s Righteousness (1-4) In heaven, the uniform of the day, seems to be purest white, like Aaron (Rev. 3:5, 4:4, 7:9, 15:6, 19:14). After two of Aaron s sons had polluted the tabernacle, chapter 16 records the response. HCSB: p. 196: 16:4 The high priest wore the garments of an ordinary priest, indicating that he must be humble, free of all pretense. The garments were classified as holy, and thus set apart exclusively for the high priest. The high priest would bathe his body twice (vv. 4, 26), and he would wash his hands and feet each time he entered the tabernacle or officiated at the altar (v. 24; Ex 30:19). B. Our Approach to Worship should be in Repentance and Humility make atonement (6) Aaron was required to sacrifice for his own sin before sacrificing for the sin of the nation. III. The Chosen Goat 7 Next he will take the two goats and place them before the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 8 After Aaron casts lots for the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other for azazel, 9 he is to present the goat chosen by lot for the Lord and sacrifice it as a sin offering. 10 But the goat chosen by lot for azazel is to be presented alive before the Lord to make purification with it by sending it into the wilderness for azazel. (16:7-10) 6 / 9

7 The two goats represent two aspects of Christ s death: 1) the sacrificial goat (9) represents Christ s payment for sin (propitiation: I John 2:2, Rom. 3:25); 2) the Scapegoat (10) represents the removal of sin and guilt (expiation: Ps. 103:12; Heb. 9:26) HCSB: p : 16:8 Three different interpretations have been proposed for the meaning of azazel, a word that occurs only in chapter 16. The LXX translates it as the one carrying away evil, from which we got the term scapegoat. The second view was developed by later rabbis who suggested that Azazel means a rough and difficult place and that it represented the goat s destination. The third view suggests that the word is the name of a demon that inhabited the desert. Later Jewish interpreters identified Azazel with Azael, whom legend identified as the leader of the fallen angels. The first interpretation seems to best fit the context of chapter 16 where the goat is sent away into the wilderness. IV. The Significance (16:11-28) A. The blood represents the basis for our redemption. Believer s Study Bible, p. 169: 16:12 Apparently Aaron made three trips into the Most High Place on the Day of Atonement; (1) to carry in the censer of hot coals along with the incense (vv. 12, 13); (2) to carry in the blood of the bull (which made atonement for himself and his household) and sprinkle it one time on the mercy seat and seven times on the ground in front of the mercy seat (v. 14) and (3) to carry in the blood of the goat (which made atonement for the sins of the people) and sprinkle it in like manner (v. 15). The entire procedure forcefully illustrates the abiding truth that the only way a sinful man can stand before a holy God is to stand on blood ground (cf. 17:11, Heb. 9:22). Further, it prefigured Christ s entering the Most Holy Place behind the veil in man s behalf to make atonement for sin (cf. Heb. 6:19, 20; 9:11-14; 10:19-20). The altar before the Lord (vv. 12, 18) refers to the altar of burnt offering in the outer court. B. The High Priest s solitary duty represents our trust in Christ alone. C. The laying on of hands (21) represents our sin being laid on Christ. (Is. 53:6; II Cor. 5:21) V. The Day of Atonement 7 / 9

8 This is to be a permanent statute for you: In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month you are to practice self-denial and do no work, both the native and the foreigner who resides among you. 30 Atonement will be made for you on this day to cleanse you, and you will be clean from all your sins before the Lord. (16:29-30) A. The attitude of the people (humility, 29) represents our attitude of worship. (James 4:6) B. The atonement of God s people was fulfilled on the cross (30). HCSB: p : 16: 29 The Day of Atonement (hb yom kippur ) was an annual ceremony held on the tenth day of Tishri (September/October). Self-denial is usually associated with fasting and prayer (Is 58:3, 5). The Targum adds that the people should abstain from food and drink, from the enjoyment of the baths and anointing, from wearing shoes, and from marital intercourse. Today, yom kippur is generally celebrated as a day of confession of sin and asking for forgiveness. Readings from Leviticus are included in this celebration, one of the most important holy days in Judaism. Application: 1. It is impossible to avoid uncleanness before God. (Is. 64:6) 2. Worship requires purity and holiness. 3. Righteousness, purity and holiness are only found in Christ s ultimate sacrifice (I Cor. 1:30). 8 / 9

9 Leader Pack: Item 8: chart: Jewish Sacrifices; Item 14: Poster: Leviticus 16:30 Illustrator: p. 84, The Day of Atonement: Its Meaning and Practice Notes: **You may access David s Lesson Preview in MP3 format at: g ; Dates: 8/30 11/15 Midlink on Wednesdays; 11/12 Preschool DTW Luncheon; 11/23-24 Thanksgiving Holiday, Offices Closed; 11/26 Worship Services only, no LBS ; 11/30 Women s Christmas Loop; 12/2 Deacon s Christmas Party; 12/3 Christmas Store Collection Day; 12/9 Natalie Grant/Danny Gokey 2 & 7; 12/12 FFEL Christmas Sing-a-long; 12/24 Christmas Eve Services 2, 4 & 6pm, no LBS; 12/25-26 Christmas Holiday, offices closed; 12/31 Impact NYE. 9 / 9