Leviticus
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Leviticus Chapter 22

• Leviticus 22:1 And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying, 
• 2 Speak unto Aaron and to his sons, that they separate themselves from the holy things of the children of Israel, and that they profane not my holy name in those things which they hallow unto me: I am the LORD.

Over and over we are reminded of the holiness of God and the need to discern between that which is holy and that which is not holy. We see the great need of being cleansed from sin that has polluted all mankind from the beginning of the fall of man when sin entered the world. 

They couldn't just waltz in the sanctuary and start making sacrifices and offerings to the Lord and minister in the holy presence of God in an irreverent manner or being unclean. God is so holy that man that is still in his sin cannot enter His presence. There has to be a change within the soul.

Before the coming of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit to change a person from a sinner to a saint, they had to go through many washings, cleansings and sacrifices before they could enter the presence of God who at that time abode in the tabernacle in the wilderness. 

God wasn't being uppity here. He was who He was and is now. Holy. Man in his or her natural state could not dwell in His presence. The temporary washings, rituals and ceremonial cleansing was a type of the real thing to come. It foreshadowed the real cleansing by the blood of Jesus that was to come. For now though they had to do all things exactly by the specific instructions given to Moses by God Himself in order to make sure those that served the altar would not die. That is how holy the presence of God is.

This is awesome to think about; that the sacrifice and offering up of Jesus Christ could usher in a powerful new dispensation that brings mankind back to God without an earthly priesthood, offerings or sacrifices.

Through Christ we can actually come into the presence of God without all these things that they had to do before Christ. We do have to be careful not to take His presence lightly and not be irreverent but we do have access to God after we have been born again by God's spirit that comes to us by simple childlike faith in what Christ did to atone for our sins and reconcile us to God.

All these things written about in Leviticus point to only one way. God gave instructions so specific because there was only one way and these offerings, cleansings and sacrifices pointed to the one way of salvation, God's only Son, Jesus. The Messiah (Christ). The book of Hebrews explains this to us:

• Hebrews 9:1 Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary. 
• 2 For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary. 
• 3 And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the holiest of all; 
• 4 Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant; 
• 5 And over it the cherubim of glory shadowing the mercy seat; of which we cannot now speak particularly. 
• 6 Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. 
• 7 But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people: 
• 8 The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing: 
• 9 Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; 
• 10 Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation. 
• 11 But Christ being come a high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; 
• 12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. 
• 13 For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: 
• 14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? 

Its so easy to forget the awesome way God gave to mankind to be cleansed from sin and inherit eternal life. Awesome. We don't need a priest now, we don't need to do a bunch of good deeds, we just have to believe in the Messiah God sent to save those that dare to believe. Jesus.

• Leviticus 22:3 Say unto them, Whosoever he be of all your seed among your generations, that goeth unto the holy things, which the children of Israel hallow unto the LORD, having his uncleanness upon him, that soul shall be cut off from my presence: I am the LORD.
• 4 What man soever of the seed of Aaron is a leper, or hath a running issue; he shall not eat of the holy things, until he be clean. And whoso toucheth any thing that is unclean by the dead, or a man whose seed goeth from him;

The families of Aaron were provided for and ate of the holy things offered up to God as a way to provide for them since they didn't make a living doing other types of work. They gave themselves totally to the service of the tabernacle to administer in holy ordinances.

The offerings and sacrifices were so holy that they could not partake of it when they were unclean in any way. Again this points to how holy and pure the sacrifice of Jesus was to be able to usher in a way to save mankind from sin and make him or her available to be filled with God's Holy Spirit. This is awesome. 

• Leviticus 22:5 Or whosoever toucheth any creeping thing, whereby he may be made unclean, or a man of whom he may take uncleanness, whatsoever uncleanness he hath;
• 6 The soul which hath touched any such shall be unclean until even, and shall not eat of the holy things, unless he wash his flesh with water.

As Jesus was holy without spot or wrinkle, these temporary sacrifices were so holy that to partake of them without being clean was a serious error. We cannot now go into God's presence without the blood of Jesus covering our sins. We cannot be saved except one way, Jesus the Christ.

He is the only way powerful enough be save a soul from eternal hell. The sin in mankind is so grievous and serious that there is only one way to get rid of it. God is holy. We need to be cleansed from sin in order to be holy as He is holy. We cannot do this by anything we think of to do to make things right with God. Through Jesus we are covered by His righteousness since we cannot do anything to obtain our own righteousness. It is impossible.

Only turning from sin and being cleansed by the blood of Jesus and the washing of the water of the word of God can a person enter the presence of God. Without this covering, we cannot be saved from sin and have eternal life.

The ones that were saved before the coming of Christ were only those who walked in obedience by bringing offerings and sacrifices to the priesthood set up by God before He sent to us the great high priest Jesus Christ that changed the priesthood from an earthly priesthood to a heavenly permanent one.

Being obedient to the ordinances that God set up was a type of repentance because when they brought offerings for the sacrifice of sin they were bringing it by faith that God would provide salvation. They may not have understood the significance of all these things but they that obeyed the law and followed God's instructions were walking in faith. They had faith in that which was to come while our faith today is in the one that did come.

• Leviticus 22:7 And when the sun is down, he shall be clean, and shall afterward eat of the holy things; because it is his food. 
• 8 That which dieth of itself, or is torn with beasts, he shall not eat to defile himself therewith: I am the LORD. 

That which died of itself may have been diseased and therefore unclean.

• Leviticus 22:9 They shall therefore keep mine ordinance, lest they bear sin for it, and die therefore, if they profane it: I the LORD do sanctify them.

They were sanctified by the Lord or cleansed by doing these things specifically the way God ordained that they do them until the fullness of time when He would send them a better way more permanent.

• Leviticus 22:10 There shall no stranger eat of the holy thing: a sojourner of the priest, or a hired servant, shall not eat of the holy thing.

This may be similar to why a person that does not understand the meaning of the Lord's supper is not to partake of it. They needed to be able to discern what they were doing and what they were eating. They had to be ceremonially clean.

When we come to Christ for forgiveness and cleansing of sin, we can then eat of the Lord's table. Until then we cannot or we would be judged as those that are not discerning the Lord's body. A stranger may have eaten the holy offerings without knowing what they were and what they stood for and that would be sin. 

• Leviticus 22:11 But if the priest buy any soul with his money, he shall eat of it, and he that is born in his house: they shall eat of his meat.

Someone who was living with the priest's family as one of the household could partake of the offerings. They became part of the priest's household or family.

I recall the story of Ruth when she followed Naomi to Israel making Naomi's God her God. That would make Ruth qualified to partake of this offering if she would have been of the household of Levi. Ruth married Boaz which was of the line of Judah so this wouldn't apply to her but the thought here is that a servant or slave would be part of the priest's household.

I'm sure God was not ordaining and sanctioning slavery or the type of slavery they had in early America. People use to sell themselves into servant hood and slavery in order to pay off debts or to survive because they had no other way of making a living. The rich could hire servants and it helped the rich get their work done and also provided a living for the poor.

Slaves were cared for and became part of the family. They were to enjoy the Sabbath days of rest also. There was no chattel slavery under the law of Moses where they could never earn their freedom. There were rules and regulations for the treatment of servants and slaves. Cruelty was forbidden.

As bad as the thought of slavery is to us in modern America, we must remember that they had no welfare system to support people who had no income. Sometimes having servants kept the poor from starving to death.

I see the hand of God in the fact that we in America could learn to live without slavery and everyone is given the opportunity to earn a living without being a slave. This is a gift of God and probably ordained of God. However, if this nation keeps denying God and going back into the way of the heathens, we might just end up with slavery again.

We do not always appreciate and we are not thankful for the good life God has given us here in America. If we keep ignoring His word and throwing out the bible, faith in Christ and such out of our society, He will give us over to either a false religion of cruelty or the ways of the heathen who knew not God and who did all kinds of abominations and had cruelty that we have never yet heard of. We need God folks.

• Leviticus 22:12 If the priest's daughter also be married unto a stranger, she may not eat of an offering of the holy things.
• 13 But if the priest's daughter be a widow, or divorced, and have no child, and is returned unto her father's house, as in her youth, she shall eat of her father's meat: but there shall no stranger eat thereof.

She returned to the household of the priest similar to one being born again by the spirit becomes partaker of the household of God through faith in Jesus the Son of God.

• Leviticus 22:14 And if a man eat of the holy thing unwittingly, then he shall put the fifth part thereof unto it, and shall give it unto the priest with the holy thing. 
• 15 And they shall not profane the holy things of the children of Israel, which they offer unto the LORD; 
• 16 Or suffer them to bear the iniquity of trespass, when they eat their holy things: for I the LORD do sanctify them. 

Here is see a merciful God showing how they can make things right if they accidently eat of things they were not supposed to eat.

If we sin against God, the remedy is to repent. It is that simple. Repent means to change, make it right, turn around and go the right way. Be sorry for the sin, ask forgiveness but then turn around and do right.

• Leviticus 22:17 And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying, 
• 18 Speak unto Aaron, and to his sons, and unto all the children of Israel, and say unto them, Whatsoever he be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers in Israel, that will offer his oblation for all his vows, and for all his freewill offerings, which they will offer unto the LORD for a burnt offering; 
• 19 Ye shall offer at your own will a male without blemish, of the beefs, of the sheep, or of the goats. 
• 20 But whatsoever hath a blemish, that shall ye not offer: for it shall not be acceptable for you. 

Again we are reminded of Christ who offered Himself as an offering to God on our behalf but He was without any sin Himself making Him qualified to die for our sins. This is why the offerings in the Old Testament had to be without spot or blemish. If Christ would have sinned just once, He could not have died for our sins, He would have died for His own. 

• Leviticus 22:21 And whosoever offereth a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the LORD to accomplish his vow, or a freewill offering in beefs or sheep, it shall be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no blemish therein. 
• 22 Blind, or broken, or maimed, or having a wen, or scurvy, or scabbed, ye shall not offer these unto the LORD, nor make an offering by fire of them upon the altar unto the LORD. 
• 23 Either a bullock or a lamb that hath any thing superfluous or lacking in his parts, that mayest thou offer for a freewill offering; but for a vow it shall not be accepted. 
• 24 Ye shall not offer unto the LORD that which is bruised, or crushed, or broken, or cut; neither shall ye make any offering thereof in your land. 
• 25 Neither from a stranger's hand shall ye offer the bread of your God of any of these; because their corruption is in them, and blemishes be in them: they shall not be accepted for you. 
• 26 And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying, 
• 27 When a bullock, or a sheep, or a goat, is brought forth, then it shall be seven days under the dam; and from the eighth day and thenceforth it shall be accepted for an offering made by fire unto the LORD. 
• 28 And whether it be cow or ewe, ye shall not kill it and her young both in one day. 

This shows mercy and love. God is not a God that is cruel. The reason animal sacrifices were done in the first place is because they were offered instead of man. It was a type of innocent dying for the guilty pointing to the time when God Himself in the form of His Son died for our sins, the innocent for the guilty. 

• Leviticus 22:29 And when ye will offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving unto the LORD, offer it at your own will. 
• 30 On the same day it shall be eaten up; ye shall leave none of it until the morrow: I am the LORD. 

Thanksgiving offerings were a type or worship like our praise and worship services should be. When we come together for worship, it is freewill and we freely praise God from the depths of our heart. 

• Leviticus 22:31 Therefore shall ye keep my commandments, and do them: I am the LORD. 

Why does God remind them of who He is? Because we are weak in the flesh and tend to forget. Feast days, worship services and such is to keep reminding us of who God is and how badly we need Him to survive. 

• Leviticus 22:32 Neither shall ye profane my holy name; but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel: I am the LORD which hallow you, 
• 33 That brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the LORD. 

He remembered His promise to Abraham and brought them out of bondage so that God was to be their God. This is beautiful. God wanted to be their God. He wants to be our God too. The only way He can be our God is for us to come His way that He made so that we are saved from sin and filled with the Holy Spirit. DC