purity

Purity

Readings for today: Leviticus 5-7

Who is God? This is the ultimate question the Bible is written to answer. What kind of God is He? What qualities make up His nature and character? Can He be trusted? Is He good? Is He worthy of our love and devotion? So many have this idea that God is harsh and rigid and legalistic and pedantic. They read a book like Leviticus and it only confirms their worst fears. God is arbitrary and capricious. He is arrogant and egotistical. Why else would He need all these sacrifices? Why else would He put in place all these laws? Why else would He want His people making sacrifice after sacrifice in order to stay right with Him? Where is His grace? Where is His unconditional love? Where is His mercy? Why can’t He give them a break? What these questions reveal is the fundamental problem that plagues humanity. We think too highly of ourselves and too lowly of God. We believe, on some level, that we are in a position to judge God. We think we have the right or the standing to put Him on the witness stand and make Him defend His actions. The reality, of course, is much different.

Why doesn’t God walk away? That’s the question we should be asking. Why didn’t God just walk away when Adam and Eve sinned? Why didn’t God walk away when He flooded the earth? Why doesn’t God walk away as humanity plunges into ruin over and over again? What is it about God that keeps Him coming back? Why does God keep offering us an olive branch? Why does He make way after way after way for us to approach Him and live in relationship with Him? That’s what these laws in Leviticus are ultimately all about. Purity. Ritual purity. Sacred purity. The kind of purity we need if we are to meet with God and talk with God face to face. Without purity, we would be destroyed. His holiness would overwhelm us. That’s why He protected Moses in the cleft of the rock when His glory passed by. Even Moses couldn’t stand in God’s presence without some kind of protection!

The law of God is given to teach us the depth and breadth of our sin. The law is like a mirror for the soul. It reveals all that is sinful about us. The law also provides a way to forgiveness. A way to purity. A way to holiness. By performing the prescribed sacrifices and living intentionally within the boundaries the law set, Israel would enjoy a deep, intimate relationship with God. A relationship that would set them apart from the other tribal nations who surrounded them. They would experience the blessing of God. The favor of God. The protection of God. The provision of God. They would become a city set on a hill. A light in the darkness. Salt on the earth. And in this way, God’s reputation and glory would spread. The nations would come to Jerusalem to see this God and to know this God. They would bring their own offerings and sacrifices. This is the glorious vision God has for His people and it’s why He makes a way for them to literally dwell in His presence.

None of us live in ancient Israel. We are not governed by the same laws that governed them. So what can we draw out from Leviticus? What practical purpose does this book serve in our lives? It points us to Jesus. Jesus, our great high priest and perfect sacrifice. Jesus, the one who fulfilled all the demands of the law by offering His own life in our place. Jesus, the one whose purity and holiness is available to us by faith. Jesus, the one who covers us in His own righteousness. In Jesus, God made yet another way, the only way, for us to live in relationship with Him. And because Jesus died once for all, we no longer have a need to bring any sacrifice except the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving for all He has done.

Readings for tomorrow: Leviticus 8-10

Clean vs. Unclean

Readings for today: Leviticus 11-13, Psalm 33

As I said a few days ago, Leviticus can be very challenging. Holy. Unholy. Clean. Unclean. Common. Polluted. Lots of words that we don’t think much about in our own context and culture. This begs for some explanation. Scholar Gordon Wenham does a great job describing the distinctions in his commentary.

“Everything that is not holy is common. Common things divide into two groups, the clean and the unclean. Clean things become holy, when they are sanctified. But unclean objects cannot be sanctified. Clean things can be made unclean, if they are polluted. Finally, holy items may be defiled and become common, even polluted, and therefore unclean… . cleanness is a state intermediate between holiness and uncleanness. Cleanness is the normal condition of most things and persons. Sanctification can elevate the clean into the holy, while pollution degrades the clean into the unclean. The unclean and the holy are two states which must never come in contact with each other.” (pp. 19-20)

Why does all this matter? Because God’s stated goal for His people is for them to be holy as He is holy. “For I am the Lord, who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God, so you must be holy because I am holy.” (Leviticus‬ ‭11‬:‭45‬ ‭CSB‬‬‬) Yes, in Christ the ceremonial laws of Leviticus have been fulfilled. We no longer need to worry about clean and unclean animals. (See Peter’s vision in Acts 10 as an example.) We no longer need to fear being made unclean by touching lepers or coming into contact with the dead. Through His shed blood, Christ has not only washed us clean (in the Levitical sense) but also sanctified us permanently. This is incredible to think about as we read about the rituals the Israelites had to perform.

At the same time, the call to personal holiness has not been set aside. God still calls His people to be set apart. By thought, word, and deed. We are called to “be holy as He is holy” and to offer our lives as “living sacrifices” according to Romans 12. The moral law is still in effect. God still has expectations for His people. Sin is still serious and should not be treated casually. This is why Jesus spends a great deal of time talking about the heart in the Sermon on the Mount and Paul spends a great deal of time on the ethical obligations of Christians in most of his letters. As Christians, we no longer need to undergo elaborate rituals to maintain a state of cleanliness or sanctification before the Lord but we should undergo regular examination and confession of our sin in light of the Word of God. 

Readings for tomorrow: Leviticus 14-15, Psalm 34