Chapters 16-20
Day of Atonement and Blood
Lev. Chapter 16 speaks of the Day of Atonement, also known as Yom Kippur. This was the only day of the year when Israelites were required to fast for 24 hours. Of course, there were some exceptions concerning the fasting. The children, sick, and elderly, were exempt from fasting.
The observance of these special holy days was not meant to pose a danger to health or life. Lev. 18:5 says, “Keep my decrees and laws, for the man who obeys them will live by them.” This suggest that the Jews were not to observe the laws if it endangered them. They were to live by them, not die by them. Human life takes precedence over keeping a commandment. For instance, Israelites can lie to protect someone’s life as Rahab did (Joshua 2:40) when she lied to protect the Israelite spies.
We’ll leave the discussion of the Day of Atonement, along with other Holy Days, for later when we discuss chapter 23.
Leviticus 17:10, “I will set my face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from his people. For the life of a creature is in the blood.” This is one of several passages that prohibits eating blood.
The prohibition of drinking blood and eating flesh is used as an argument against the teaching called transubstantiation. The teaching states that the bread and wine, at the moment of consecration during Holy Mass, actually become the body and blood of Jesus Christ. The change, however, is not detectable by the senses.
Now, Jesus and his disciples were Jews. Jesus was without sin. No observant Jew would eat flesh or drink blood. When Jesus observed the Passover with his disciples Matthew recorded, in Matt. 26:26-28, “While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.” Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”
If the drinking of blood and eating of the flesh was to be taken literally, then Jesus would have sinned. But, referring to himself is meant to be understood as a figure of speech. He did this several times, referring to himself as the bread of life, light of the world, the door, and the true vine. If we took these literally, might we ask, “What type of bread are you, Jesus? Whole wheat, rye or pumpernickel?” or “What type of light are you today, fluorescent, incandescent or LED?”
Also, in Acts 10:13-14 Peter saw a vision of something like a large sheet filled with unclean animals coming down from heaven and a voice called out, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.” Peter replied, “Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied, “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.” Did the Voice reply, “Sure you did Peter. Don’t lie to me. Don’t you remember that you drank blood a few days ago at the Passover.” It’s obvious that Jesus’ commands to eat his flesh and drink his blood were meant to be understood figuratively, not literally.
Lev. 18 contains prohibited sexual relations. You might thing, “Did God really have to tell them not to do these things?” Well, yes, He did. Apparently, some of these practices were widespread back in Egypt and in Canaan. Lev. 18:3 “You must not do as they do in Egypt; where you used to live and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you.” Among the prohibitions were: sex with close relatives, with people of the same sex or with animals.
There is also a TOTAL prohibition against sacrificing children to the Ammonite god named Molech. Later you will read that Queen Jezebel introduced this practice to Israel.
As detestable as infanticide in the name of a false religion was, some today would argue that it isn’t much different than sacrificing the unborn to the god of selfishness.
Lev. 19 contains various laws such as:
V.9, “leave some of your harvest in the field for the poor and aliens to have.” You might recall Ruth gleaning the fields owned by Boaz. This was an economic safety net, an assistance program for the poor. This was better than a handout because it did require some effort on the part of able-bodied people. In this way they would retain their self-respect and be less likely to take advantage of free food.
V.14, “Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind.” This is a figure of speech that means don’t keep information from someone who needs it. For instance, if you are selling someone a used car, don’t leave them blind or deaf to the cracked engine block or broken transmission.
V.16, “Do not go about spreading slander among your people.”
V.19, “Do not mate different kinds of animals.” If they did, the offspring would usually be sterile, as in the case of a horse and a donkey mating and resulting in a mule.
V. 19, “Do not plant your field with two kinds of seed.” These guys must not have known much about agronomy. Imagine the difficulty of harvesting of two different crops in the same field when one crop matures at a different time than the other. But weren’t most of these Israelites shepherds, not farmers back in Egypt?
V. 19, “Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material.” What? Is Moses giving household hints now? What’s next, “How to get a wine stain out of your priestly robe.”? “How to prevent your baked goods from sticking to the pan?”
Mixing materials could lead to one part of the garment shrinking at a different rate than the other and this might lead to tearing at the seams. At least that’s what my wife tells me.
V. 26, “Do not practice divination or sorcery.
V.31 prohibits going to mediums or spirits.
Isa. 47:13 condemns astrology, also.
Let’s take a closer look at these terms:
- Divination is seeking knowledge of the future or the unknown by supernatural means.
- Sorcery is seeking power from evil spirits.
- A medium or spirits is a person who seeks to communicate with the dead.
- Astrology is the study of the supposed influences of the stars and planets on human affairs and terrestrial events by their positions and aspects.
What do they all have in common? It appears that they seek information that we shouldn’t seek or seeking it from sources other than God.
When it comes to what we need to know by way of revelation from God, scripture is all we need and all we should seek. I Tim 3:17 tells us that scripture is inspired and provides us with all the revealed knowledge we need, “that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”
V. 27, “Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard.” What is that all about? Apparently, the worshipers of pagan gods would trim their beards and burn them as part of a worship ritual. It might sound strange to us, but no stranger than smearing ashes on foreheads on Ash Wednesday.
V. 32, “Rise in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God.” The older I get the more I appreciate this passage. And I also get a senior discount at some businesses.
Lev: 20 speaks of punishment for various sins. Among the capital crimes are:
Sacrificing your children to the pagan god Molech V.4,
Adultery V.10,
Homosexual sex V.13 Notice, it doesn’t say that desires are punishable by death, but only the acts themselves. The prohibition of homosexual acts is repeated in the New Testament Rom. 1:26-27,
V.22, “Keep all my decrees and laws and follow them, so that the land where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out.” Sadly, this is what happened, the Assyrians and then the Babylonians invaded, and the Israelites were vomited out of the land.
Mediums or spirits must be put to death V.27.
We know that there are quite a few sins that were classified as capital offenses, punishable by death. But the death sentence was seldom carried out because except for the crime of murder, all other capital crimes could be settled with a ransom or fine Deut. 35:30-31. The capital classification is given to impress upon the people the seriousness of these sins.
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