Wow, that was a lot of reading about horrible skin diseases and discharge was it not? I haven't heard too many sermon series on stuff like that (actually, I heard zero!). Remember, when we are going through some of the tougher sections of the OT that seem like they have no practical application, get over yourself and open up to what God can tell you. Ask, "Why this is in the scripture...why this is important to God...what it tells us about His nature?"
Chapters 13 and 14 - It is easy to look at these chapters and simply say, God just told the people these things to keep them healthy and make sure diseases did not spread. While this is true, I also think it is a bit of a cop out on our part...I think there is something deeper going on. When the word leprosy is used, it is not referring simply to leprosy as we know it today...in fact, most of the descriptions given do not coincide with traditional symptoms of leprosy. The word translated as leprosy was a term used to describe many different skin diseases, and that is what we see described for us. I think the emphasis on these chapters is not the health of the Israelite people, but the holiness of God. God dwells int he camp of the Israelite people and because they have a covenant system based on ritual and sacrifice...the unclean cannot be allowed int he presence of God. Yes, the people are spared from spreading disease when the quarantine and wash like God instructs, but that is just an added side bonus. God is showing the Israelites what it means to be the holy people of God...God is showing them the perfection that His presence requires. Never forget that we serve an awesome and holy God...we must offer ourselves to cleansed int he blood of Jesus Christ - as righteous. We must not offer ourselves out of selfishness and sinful motivation, but out of worship and the forgiveness we receive through His sacrifice.
Chapter 15 - Again we deal with some of the issues we came across earlier in Leviticus...how can something that is natural and meant for the creation of life make a person unclean? Also again, if the Israelites followed God's laws of cleanliness, they will cut down on diseases and infections and live much more healthy lifestyles...but I think here is still something deeper going on. These laws of the unclean nature of male and female sexually related emissions (Something you don't figure into your youth ministry lesson planning very often!) speak to a huge difference between God and man. When God creates, life comes into existence without death. God created us in His image, so before Adam and Eve sinned...I believe humans could create life side by side with God that involved no death (Death did not exist before sin). When sin came into the world, death came along with it. Now all sexual emissions are reminders of our mortality and how far we are from God. Blood represents life and when menstruation comes, blood is lost - representing a death of sorts. The same goes for male emissions. Even the eggs lost in menstrual cycles represent death of sorts. And the children that come from a union of man and woman are born into death - they will die, that is the legacy we have left our children (Depressing, huh?). God is again showing us how different He is when compared to us. He is life and life comes from Him...we brought death into a world He created for life. The uncleanness that comes from these emissions is a reminder of the death that we have brought and the desperate need we have for God's forgiveness and cleansing.
3 comments:
Chapter 13. According to scripture my baldness does not make me unclean. And did you notice that baldness was the only thing that required a person to cover their face and cry out Unclean! Unclean!. No wonder so many guys hate going bald.
You know, the church basically teaches that no one is perfect and everyone commits a sin. While I agree with that, consider that if someone was perfect when it came to the law, if they got a skin disease they would have to bring a sin offering. If they are a woman, then soon as that period starts she would need a sin offering. If your a married man, I guarantee you will need to present a sin offering.
This must mean that not only was Jesus perfect to the law, but he must have also been physically perfect when it comes to the law. Is that a stretch?
Staying clean was a hard thing to do. It seems to me that trying to stay clean was a 24-hour job. They probably had little or no time to do anything selfish.
I got a little confused on the beard part. Was it saying that if you had a boil on your face and the hairs turn yellow then you have to shave everything except the infected area? if so, there must have been some funny-looking israelites with just patches of hair on their faces. :)
That's because Jesus did what Aaron did when he refused to eat the sin offering after his sons rebelled against God. Jesus understood the heart of the law and live perfectly in-tune with that. He touched sinners and beggars who would have made Jews unclean, but because he did it within the spirit of the law he was perfect. Plus since he never had sex, that part of the uncleanness was a moot point.
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