Leviticus - Chapters 21-27

In Leviticus chapters 21-27, God gives the holiness code to the people, emphasizing the importance of being holy. The code includes laws for the priests, acceptable sacrifices, and the appointed feasts. The feasts symbolize important events and point to Jesus. The chapter also includes laws regarding blasphemy, punishment for crimes, and the Sabbath year and year of jubilee. God promises blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience. Overall, the passage highlights the importance of holiness and obedience to God's commands. I'm Julie Callio your host and thanks so much for taking time out of your busy schedules to tune in with me today. If by chance you want to contact me you can do that at vab.bc.pc at gmail.com. Today we're finishing up Leviticus with chapters 21 through 27. Starting with chapter 17 through chapter 26 these are referred to as holiness code because the laws that are given for the people to obey reflect that God is holy and as he said in Leviticus chapter 20 verse 7 consecrate yourselves and be holy because I am the Lord your God keep my decrees and follow them I am the Lord who makes you holy. So far as we have read through the Bible this year we have seen in Job that God is sovereign over all things in Genesis he is the creator of the heavens and the earth plus so much more. In Exodus he is the Lord who brought the Jews out of Egypt and in Leviticus he is holy and he makes his people holy. This sets us up for chapter 21 when the Lord told Moses to speak to Aaron and the priest about how they too are to be ceremonially clean for their job because God is holy and they too must be holy. Now in this lesson last year which is God gives through Moses the holiness code on February 3rd 2023 I covered the various laws to keep them clean so today will be more of an overview. Verse 6 says they must be holy to their God and must not profane the name of their God because they present the offerings made to the Lord by fire the food of their gods they are to be holy. Chapter 22 also covers laws for Aaron and the priest and verse 2 says tell Aaron and his sons to treat with respect the sacred offerings the Israelites consecrate to me so they will not profane my holy name I am the Lord. This wording made me realize that to profane the name of the Lord is not just to use his name as a byword or a cuss word but our actions also play a part in profaning his name. In other words people who claim to be Christians but have a mouth on them and live ungodly lives profane the Lord's name by not representing his character to others. The rest of chapter 22 covers what are acceptable and unacceptable sacrifices. Verses 31-33 declare keep my commands and follow them I am the Lord do not profane my holy name I must be acknowledged as holy by the Israelites I am the Lord who makes you holy and who brought you out of Egypt to be your God I am the Lord. Now chapter 23 covers the appointed feast which the Lord called sacred assemblies. The Sabbath was first and if you haven't noticed it's a big deal in the Bible. It was every week and it is to be a day of rest. The Passover commemorated the death angel passing over the houses in Egypt that had the blood of the lamb on the door post. Only houses with the blood were saved from death. For us this points to the blood of Christ which saves our lives. The Passover celebration kicked off the feast of the unleavened bread which represented their quick exit from Egypt so that there was no time to make leavened bread. This was a week long and then the sacred assembly would be at the end. As my Old Testament professor said this taught separation from their past slavery to a new life with the Lord plus it is Jesus' body that was broken like bread is torn for us. The feast of first fruits would begin once they entered the promised land and this celebrated their grain offering. They were to present the first of the crops to the Lord and trust him for the rest. Fifty days later came the feast of weeks which celebrated the end of the harvest. This also is called Pentecost which is the Greek word for fifty. This was fulfilled in Acts when the Holy Spirit entered believers. They celebrated God's provision. Chapter 23 verse 22 says when you reap the harvest of your land do not reap to the very edge of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Save them for the poor and the alien. I am the Lord your God. As we will read in the future this is what Ruth the Moabite did to feed herself and her mother-in-law in the book of Ruth. Again we see in God's laws that he provides for those who are hurting. On the first day of the seventh month was the feast of trumpets which was also a day of rest. They were not to do regular work but present offerings before the Lord. After the Jews were exiled this is now celebrated and called Rosh Hashanah or New Year's Day. For believers in Jesus in the New Testament in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 verse 16 says the Lord will come with the trumpets of God. This prepared the people for the day of atonement on the tenth day of the seventh month. This also was a day of rest. Because the high priest came before the Lord to atone the Israelite sin for another year. We know it is through Jesus and his shed blood on the cross that we can have forgiveness of sins. Following that was a feast of tabernacles also known as the feast of booths and this started on the fifteenth day of the seventh month. This celebrated the grape harvest and people were to build booths and live outside of their houses for seven days to remember how the Lord provided for the children of Israel when they wandered in the wilderness on their way to the promised land. This also helps us to remember that the Lord will provide for us as we walk through the wilderness. I don't know if you have ever heard of an organization called Jews for Jesus but they come to churches and share what these feasts look like. But even more importantly they show us Jesus in these feasts. Their ministry is to share Jesus with the Jews and show them that Jesus is the Messiah. If you have time you may want to look them up online because especially now with the war in Israel they are ministering aid there and sharing the gospel and many Jews are believing in Jesus as their Messiah. Chapter 24 commends the Israelites to bring clear oil which will be for the lamp which is located in the holy place of the tabernacle because it was to constantly burn. In between the Old Testament and the New Testament it was this lamp which the Lord kept burning when they ran out of oil due to war and that is why the Jews celebrate Hanukkah the festival of lights. The Israelites were also to make 12 loaves of unleavened bread which sat on the table in the holy place and these 12 loaves represented the 12 tribes of Israel before the Lord. The priests were allowed to eat them every Sabbath and then place a new set of 12 loaves weekly so the 12 tribes would always be before the Lord. Something that is interesting about chapter 24 is that most of Leviticus is the Lord speaking to the people of Israel through Moses but here starting in verse 10 we have a story about a young man whose mom was Israeli and dad was Egyptian and he blasphemed the name with a curse. Verse 12 said they put him in custody until the will of the Lord should be made clear to them. They did not know what to do so they prayed to the Lord and waited until they heard what he had to say. The young man was put to death and those who heard him blaspheme the name as well as the entire assembly were to stone him to death. If you notice the one little narrative that is found in this book has to do with someone not honoring the Lord and blaspheming his name. He did not honor the Lord as holy and punishment came. Then there are a few more laws. If someone murders it is life for life or fracture for fracture or eye for eye, tooth for tooth, restitution for animals that were injured. Verse 22 says you are to have the same law for the alien and the native born. I am the Lord your God. The last three chapters focus on when the people will enter the promised land and the word land is used 30 times in these chapters. It begins with the Sabbath year of rest for the land. On the seventh year they were to let the land rest and not plant anything. This gave the land time to rebuild nutrients. The Lord does care for his environment. Then after seven Sabbaths of years which would be 49 on the 50th year they were to celebrate the year of jubilee. Verse 10, consecrate the 50th year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all of its inhabitants. If Hebrew families sold their land due to hard times they could go back and claim their land again. If Hebrews were enslaved by other Hebrews they were to be set free. Verse 17 says do not take advantage of each other but fear your God. I am the Lord your God. Remember the Lord knows our actions. Something that is interesting is that nowhere in scripture do we see the Israelites observing this celebration. It may be because it represents what will happen when Jesus comes again and our debts are forgiven and we experience true liberty when we get to go to our heavenly home. The Lord reminds his people that the land belongs to him and they are just aliens and verse 23 and that the Israelites themselves belong to the Lord as his servants. They are my servants whom I brought out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God verse 55. Chapter 26 describes what is called the retribution principle. If you obey the Lord you will be blessed. If you disobey the Lord you will be cursed. Verses 1-13 cover obedience and God promised peace and favor. They will be fruitful and multiply and the Lord will keep his covenant with them. Their harvest will be plentiful and verses 12 and 13 say I will walk among you and be your God and you will be my people. I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians. I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high. Then verse 14 starts with but if you will not listen to me it all goes downhill. Verse 31 says I will turn your cities into ruins and lay waste your sanctuaries and I will take no delight in the pleasing aroma of your offerings. Then verse 40a says but if they will confess their sins and the sins of their fathers then verse 40 I will remember my covenant with Jacob and my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham and I will remember the land. In the New Testament 1 John 1 verse 9 says if we confess our sins he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Dr. Betts calls this verse God's bar of soap. Leviticus chapter 27 explains the special vows and offerings to the Lord which are dedicated to him either people or sacrifices. Verse 30 says a tithe of everything from the land whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees belongs to the Lord. It is holy to the Lord. Leviticus ends these are the commands the Lord gave Moses on Mount Sinai for the Israelites. Verse 34 Before I close I want to share with you some comments from my Old Testament professor Dr. Betts. He said Leviticus ends with a promise of recovery and hope and a reminder that the Lord God will not reject them or forget his covenant that he has made with them. He also said the law in Leviticus itself may refer just to Israel but the purpose and character of God are beneficial to us today. So let me ask you if you confess that Jesus is Lord of your life do you live in such a way that it honors the Lord or does it profane his name? Do you acknowledge that the Lord is holy or are you struggling with his character because of life situations? Are you in a situation and you just don't know what to do? Have you taken time to ask the Lord what to do and are you waiting to hear from him? As a believer do you recognize that everything you have belongs to the Lord and we are just stewards of it? Do you also understand that because Jesus shed his blood on the cross that he paid the price for us and we therefore belong to him? We are his servants. Do you walk with your head held high because you know the Lord has set you free from the law of sin and death? Do you honor the Lord by giving a tithe or 10% of your income back to the Lord since he gave it all to you anyway? If you have heard his voice today, please don't harden your heart, that's when life goes down hill. Instead let's be women who hear from the Lord and obey because he is holy and he is making us holy too. Until next time and thanks so much for listening.