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Continuing my writing about the Old Testament book of Leviticus.
Leviticus 11-26<o:p> </o:p>
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Chapters: 11-15<o:p> </o:p>
This section regulates the series of laws regulating “ritual” purity. Since God is holy, it was crucial that His people prepare themselves to enter His presence. The rules may seem harsh and complex but they were essential in the relationship with God. These laws taught the people about the wholeness and completeness of holiness. This is where we find the laws central to Kosher practices. There were levels of uncleanness. Mild included coming in contact with something unclean. More serious involved childbirth. The strongest level was caused by a grievous skin disease. A person would have to recover in order to rejoin the congregation after an elaborate “rite of aggregation.” There was a point to these laws and it was to teach the Israelites to prepare themselves for entering God’s presence at the sanctuary. It was a continual reminder of the wide gulf that separated the human family from the holy God. Another purpose for the laws of purity was to separate Israel form the worship practices and customs of their neighbors. They established a barrier against the forces of the demonic. The unclean became associated with death and death is the opposite of the holy things and of God because God is the “LIVING” God and the author of life. Keeping these laws of ritual purity promotes and honors life, health, and holiness. What these laws did had a profound impact on the moral fiber of Israel. As they observed them, they promoted solidarity and encouraged spiritual development. <o:p> </o:p>
Now where do we fit in the midst of uncleanness, purity, holiness and these laws? We can’t quite get there unless we 1st discuss the reason for where we are now. Jesus put an end to the laws of ritual purity. He has called us to purity of heart, not of our dress or diet. <o:p> </o:p>
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Chapter: 16<o:p> </o:p>
This presents the regulations for the Day of Atonement. This was the most solemn day in Israel’s calendar. This was the day the high-priest entered alone into the very Holy of Holies. He presented purification offerings. The priest performed a ritual offering “the live goat to Azazel.” The process involved the priest to place both of his hands on the head of the live goat and confess the people’s sins thus transferring them to the goat. Then the goat was released thus returning the sins to their place of their origin. The intent of the ritual was to remove the power of sin from the congregation. This was a foreshadow to the work of Christ. <o:p> </o:p>
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Chapters: 17-26<o:p> </o:p>
This section has been called the Holiness Code. It ranged from Laws restricting animal sacrifice to the Tent of Meeting to Laws regulating priests to the calendar of feasts and holy days to the calendar for seven-year cycles concluded by blessings and curses. Israel’s God was Lord of time as well as of moral life such as our God is a God of seasons and ethics. He is the same God and He has never changed. <o:p> </o:p>
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The Message of Leviticus<o:p> </o:p>
Leviticus is a picture window into ancient Israel’s worship. It unfolds the relationship between holiness and ethics while providing a background for grasping the significance of Christ’s sacrificial death. <o:p> </o:p>
* God is holy.
* God is jealous.
* God is pure.
* God is just.
* God is life.
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Leviticus provides the basis for understanding the death of Christ as a sacrifice – for us a necessary sacrifice made possible by God, through Jesus.</span></font></span></span></span>