The Same Gospel From The Beginning – To Make a Distinction

 

A Seven Week Study Through Leviticus

Introduction

Example:

If Leviticus 11 is all about health and safety then why are there no laws against eating poisonous plants?

 

(*Check for Minors*)

 

Leviticus 11 – Food Laws – Leviticus 11:46-47

            To Make a (Distinction) Between the Clean and Unclean

Leviticus 12 – Motherhood Laws – Leviticus 12:6-8

            Everyone Born From Adam is (Guilty)of Adams Sin and Unclean

 

Leviticus 13 & 14 – Leprosy Laws – Leviticus 14:54-57

            ** Leprosy is a Physical Example of (Spiritual) Uncleanness **

 

Leviticus 15 – Laws on Sexually Related Body Functions – Leviticus 15:31

            Defining What Makes Sex (Unclean)

Leviticus 11 – Food Laws

 

Focus Passage

Leviticus 11:46-47

⁴⁶ This is the law regarding the animal and the bird, and every living thing that moves in the waters and everything that swarms on the earth, ⁴⁷ to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean, and between the edible creature and the creature which is not to be eaten.

Leviticus 20:25-26

²⁵ You are therefore to make a distinction between the clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean bird and the clean; and you shall not make yourselves detestable by animal or by bird or by anything that creeps on the ground, which I have separated for you as unclean. ²⁶ Thus you are to be holy to Me, for I the Lord am holy; and I have set you apart from the peoples to be Mine.

 

To Make a (Distinction) Between the Clean and Unclean

To Become Unclean = Defiled

Defilement does not come an external source. Defilement comes from within us.

Mark 7:14-23

¹⁴ After He called the crowd to Him again, He began saying to them, “Listen to Me, all of you, and understand: ¹⁵ there is nothing outside the man which can defile him if it goes into him; but the things which proceed out of the man are what defile the man. ¹⁶ [If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”]

¹⁷ When he had left the crowd and entered the house, His disciples questioned Him about the parable. ¹⁸ And He *said to them, “Are you so lacking in understanding also? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him, ¹⁹ because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?” (Thus He declared all foods clean.) ²⁰ And He was saying, “That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. ²¹ For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, ²² deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. ²³ All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.”

Acts 10:13-15

¹³ A voice came to him, “Get up, Peter, kill and eat!” ¹⁴ But Peter said, “By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything unholy and unclean.” ¹⁵ Again a voice came to him a second time, “What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.”

Acts 10 is a vision about Jews and Gentiles

Romans 10:12-13

¹² For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; ¹³ for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Defilement is does not come from our ethnic heritage.

Defilement comes from our heart.

What was dose with animals in the law will be done on the last day.

Matthew 25:31-33

³¹ “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. ³² All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; ³³ and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Transition:

Q: If Chapter 11 shows that God will make a distinction between the Clean and unclean, then who is unclean?

A: According to Chapter 12, everyone!

Leviticus 12 – Motherhood Laws

In chapter 12 we will only focus on the Sin and Burnt Offering*

*(1^st of only two offerings where a female is allowed to bring an offering before the LORD)

Focus Passage

Leviticus 12:6-8

⁶ ‘When the days of her purification are completed, for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the doorway of the tent of meeting a one year old lamb for a burnt offering and a young pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering. ⁷ Then he shall offer it before the Lord and make atonement for her, and she shall be cleansed from the flow of her blood. This is the law for her who bears a child, whether a male or a female. ⁸ But if she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves or two young pigeons, the one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering; and the priest shall make atonement for her, and she will be clean.’”

Q: Why is the sin offering required?

It is not a sin to have sex.

Genesis 1:28

Be fruitful and multiply -God

It is not a sin to have children, or to be born.

Psalm 127:3, 5

Behold Children are a gift of the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward

How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them

A: Because the sin offering refers to all who are born from the seed of Adam are also born guilty of Adams sin (Genesis 3)

Everyone Born From Adam is (Guilty) of Adams Sin and Unclean

 

Two things happened at the fall of man

1. Inherited Corruption – We can’t live a good life even if we wanted to

John 15:5

Apart from me you can do nothing

2. Inherited Guilt – Imputed Guilt (Romans 5)

Job 25

¹ Then Bildad the Shuhite answered,

² “Dominion and awe belong to Him
Who establishes peace in His heights.
³ “Is there any number to His troops?
And upon whom does His light not rise?
⁴ “How then can a man be just with God?
Or how can he be clean who is born of woman?
⁵ “If even the moon has no brightness
And the stars are not pure in His sight,
⁶ How much less man, that maggot,
And the son of man, that worm!”

This is why the Sin Offering was required. Every person born from Adam is Guilty of Adams sin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Transition:

Lev 11 – To Make a (Distinction) Between the Clean and Unclean

Lev 12 – Everyone Born From Adam is (Guilty of Adams Sin) and Therefore Unclean

 

This brings us to my two favorite chapters of Leviticus. Chapters 13 & 14

I belive it is in these chapers that God expresses the Spirituality of our uncleanness through the physical expression of Leprosy.

Leviticus 13 & 14 – Leprosy Laws

 

** Leprosy is a Physical Example of (Spiritual) Uncleanness **

 

Focus Passage

Leviticus 14:54-57

⁵⁴ This is the law for any mark of leprosy—even for a scale, ⁵⁵ and for the leprous garment or house, ⁵⁶ and for a swelling, and for a scab, and for a bright spot— ⁵⁷ to teach when they are unclean and when they are clean. This is the law of leprosy.

9 Similarities between the Physical and the Spiritual realities

            The condition is seemingly permenant (Gal 5:19-21)

Sinners and Lepers are outcasts (Rev 21:25-27 – Lev 13:46)

We cannot heal ourselves (Mat 8; Luke 17; 2 Kings 5 – John 15:5)

Both Humanity and the World are affected (Romans 8:20-21)

The Priest always comes to the infected (John 3:17 – Lev 14:3)

The Offering is provided (John 3:16 – Lev 14:4)

The Offering is two of the Same (John 1)

The Offering is saved through the death of the other (Col 2:9-15)

Only those Cleansed are allowed back home (Lev 14:8 – John 14:1-4)

Transition:

So if God sent his Son to redeem human life then we should have a high regard for human life.

But that high regard should not become an act of worship.

In Chapter 15 God sets boundries to ensure this does not happen.

Leviticus 15 – Laws on Sexually Related Body Functions

 

Although sex is not a sin, but sex is a very intimate and delicate subject matter.

I will tread lightly.

 

Defining What Makes Sex (Unclean)

God, Gross, or Gift[1]

Sex is not (a god) and should not be worshiped. This is the cultural norm.

Sex is not (gross). This is an over reaction to a culture that worships sex.

Sex is (a gift) that is to be enjoyed only in the context of a marriage between a man and a woman.

Focus Passage

Leviticus 15:31

³¹ “Thus you shall keep the sons of Israel separated from their uncleanness, so that they will not die in their uncleanness by their defiling My tabernacle that is among them.”

God is establishing healthy sexual practices

The Egyptian and Canaanite culture both had fertility gods whom they worshiped by participating in sex at a temple with temple prostitutes. This practice still continues today through internet pornography, brothels, and the sex trafficing industry which a an industry that specializies in organizing the systematic prostituting and raping of women and children.

God wanted to ensure the nation of Israel used sex as the gift is and not to worship it.

The combination of the fall of man and the misuse of human sexuality has resulteds in various physical consequences of sin. One of these affects can be seen in verses1-15 of chapter 15

Vv 1-15 – STD’s – The Sin & Burnt Offering is Required

STD’s are a result of the fall of man. A male misusing sex does not always get an STD. STD’s exist because human sexuality has beed misused.

Vv 16-17 – Seminal Emision

This is a protection of the gift of sex. Sex is not a sin. That is why there is no offering required for a seminal emission. But God Is making sure the the worship of God is not suplemented with sex. (Number 25)

Vv 18-24 – Menstral Cycle

This is a protection of the gift of sex. The menstral cycle is not a sin. It is because of this law that womean were prohibited from being a priest. They would have been disqualified from temple work up to 1/3 of the year.

Vv 25-30

Q: Why a sin offering required?

A: Because life begins at conception. This is about the sanctity of life.

Vv 25-30 – Miscarriage – The Sin & Burnt is Offering Required*

*(2^nd of only two offerings where a female is allowed to bring an offering before the LORD)

Miscarriages are a result of the fall of man. A female misusing sex does direcctly correlate with her having a miscarriage. Miscarriages exist because human sexuality has beed misused.

Sex is a gift only to be shared between one husband and one wife. It is a beaufiful and God ordained privalage. The benefits of using sex in a God honoring way are deep, but the wounds from the misuse of sex are extremly painful.

Transition:

We have now completed the most difficult section of Leviticus.

Conclusion

Are Chapters 11-15 really about health and safety?

 

Leviticus 11 – Food Laws – Leviticus 11:46-47

            To Make a (Distinction) Between the Clean and Unclean

Leviticus 12 – Motherhood Laws – Leviticus 12:6-8

            Everyone Born From Adam is (Guilty of Adams Sin) and Unclean

 

Leviticus 13 & 14 – Leprosy Laws – Leviticus 14:54-57

            ** Leprosy is a Physical Example of (Spiritual) Uncleanness **

 

Leviticus 15 – Laws on Sexually Related Body Functions – Leviticus 15:31

            Defining What Makes Sex (Unclean)

 

 

 

 

 

Application

 

Take a moment to quietly respond to God’s offer of redeemption by:

expressing your thankfulness

or

finally accepting his free offer.

Closing Comments:

-For next week read Chapters 16 & 17 and any verse that use the word propitiation

-I’ll be up here to answer any questions you may still have

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