Leviticus

Yahweh speaks to Moses, commanding him to speak to the priests. The priests are not holy enough to receive this message from the Lord God directly, but the context is their holiness before God. The first six verses detail the defilement of a priest in the circumstances of their touching a dead person. This would normally only otherwise occur in the preparation for the burial of a loved one. Only in specific circumstances is a priest able to touch a dead person - that of the death of a direct blood relative, which does not include his wife (v4). The high priest himself isn't even afforded the exception of touching a blood relative who has died, even for his father or mother (vv10-11). The priests bring offerings and food before Yahweh so they shall be holy (vv6,8). Touching a dead person would make them unholy until they were cleansed. Verses 7-15 detail the marital relationship requirement of the priest, specifically, whom they may not marry, or in the case of the high priest, the qualification for whom he must take as a wife (vv13-14). The statutes of the final verses in this chapter regard the defects of the priests and their prohibition from coming near the holy place and the holy of holies (ref v22). This standard reflects the defects prohibited in sacrifices presented to the Lord. In neither case is there to be anything, offering nor offeror, that will profane God's sanctuary (v23). Those with defects are not prohibited from the fellowship meal afforded the priests (v22), but God's standards for service in His presence are not to be compromised.

As with the previous chapter, there are distinct and separate sections, clearly divided by the statement "Then Yahweh spoke to Moses saying" (vv1,17,26). Beginning with provisions for who may eat of the holy gifts offered to Yahweh (vv1-16), to the distinctions between acceptable offerings for fulfilling vows or being given freely (vv17-25), to how a sacrifice is to be handled before and after its presentation to Yahweh (vv26-30), the prevailing emphasis is contained in verse 32 "And you shall not profane My holy name, but I will be treated as holy among the sons of Israel; I am Yahweh who makes you holy." Of the curiosities in this chapter, the allowance in verse 23 for an ox or lamb with an overgrown or stunted member to be presented as a freewill offering is noteworthy. Rather than suggesting these deformities confer impurity, this provision affirms the opposite. Animals with deformities of birth are still sacrifices that may be made when the gift to Yahweh is made as a freewill gift to Him - but not in fulfillment of a vow or legal obligation/sin debt. As we today present ourselves as living sacrifices to God, we are first obligated to repent of sin. This is the votive sacrifice requiring no impurity - true repentance. But when we consider our human shortcomings, surrendering ourselves freely to God as a gift, flaws and all, we are absolutely acceptable. As with the sacrificial system delivered to Moses by God for the children of Israel, the order is specific and important for us today. Freewill offerings were not acceptable until after the burnt offerings (sin offerings) had been sacrificed. Today, we are able to be used by God, flaws and all, only after we have repented of our sins and surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus Christ the King!

The dates, details, and times for the feasts in Leviticus 23 point both forward and backward. The backward-looking picture of captivity in Egypt and the deliverance Yahweh commands His people to commemorate is stated plainly in verse 43. "so that your generations may know that I had the sons of Israel live in booths when I brought them out from the land of Egypt. I am Yahweh your God.’” Yet the forward-looking picture illustrates the life, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of the Messiah. Beginning with the Sabbath as the foundation and most regularly observed holy convocation (מִקְרָא miq·rā - assembly), the numbers associated with each appointed feast are specific and purposeful. The Sabbath (v3) is observed on the seventh day after six days of work, commensurate with the six days of creation and the seventh day of rest. Christ Himself is the Rest, Salvation, and Deliverance that fulfills the Scriptures and our need to observe the Sabbath. The Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread (vv4-8) begins with the meal of a year-old lamb, commemorating Israel's last night in Egypt, and immediately ties to the Feast of Unleavened Bread representing the haste with which the Israelites departed. These two events, lasting seven days each, represent thoroughness and completeness. The Feast of the Harvest/First Fruits (vv9-14) would be celebrated on the first Sabbath of the harvest. Again, with the one-year-old lamb, this sacrifice represents a full-grown sacrifice, suitable for Yahweh. Normally, the grain offering to accompany a sheep would be one-tenth of an ephah. Here, two-tenths would double the amount to underscore thankfulness for the Lord's provision. No meal could be eaten until the sacrifice of thanksgiving was made for the harvest. This continues to be acknowledged at mealtimes in Christian households today. The Feast of Weeks (vv15-22) is associated with the giving of the law and the covenant at Mount Sinai. This feast takes place 50 days after Passover when the lamb is sacrificed, just as the covenant is fulfilled when the Risen Christ ascends to heaven 50 days after Christ, the Lamb was slain. The Day of Trumpet Blasts (vv23-25), beginning on the first day of the seventh month, delivers the inception of rest following the six months of labor that would have preceded it. The Day of Atonement (vv26-32), known today as Yom Kippur, follows the Trumpet Blasts "on exactly the tenth day of this seventh month" and is the most solemn day of the year, but it actually begins on the evening of the ninth day of the month, because this is when the people are commanded to begin fasting (v32), in addition to doing no labor. The Feast of Booths/The Feast of Yahweh (vv33-44) begins on the fifteenth day of this seventh month and lasts for seven days, plus a closing eighth day. This feast holds great significance in the ministry of Jesus Christ as it corresponds to when water flowed from the rock struck by Moses in Numbers 20:2-13 and would have clarified for the assembly He spoke to in John's Gospel that He was the answer to their prayers. "Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” Jn 7:37–38.

Verses 1-9 restate the statutes of the continually burning lampstands in the holy place (Ex 27:20-21) and the bread of the Presence (shewbread) and frankincense on the table before Yahweh at all times (Ex 25:30). Here, the statue is given as a perpetual responsibility of the sons of Israel - continuing the obligation begun in the previous chapter for the perpetual observance of Feasts. Originally, these implements of oil and bread were provided by the chieftains (Ex 35:27-28), but now it is clarified that this service is the responsibility of all the people, even though only the priests partook of the bread each week when it was replaced by new loaves. This would also have mocked pagan nations who also placed food before their idol gods but, by the deceptions of their priests eating the food, claimed that the gods themselves ate the food. Note, too, that the shewbread is stated to be for Aaron and his sons (v9). While there is no specific prohibition for others to eat this bread as there is with other sacrifices set apart exclusively for the priests of God (i.e., 22:12-16), this bread was clearly intended only for the priests. This is relevant later when King David gets help from Ahimelech, the priest, and eats the shewbread in 1 Samuel 21. Jesus references this in Matthew 12:4-7. But the context is clear. Despite David breaking the law, there is a need for mercy to be the greater law in some cases. This is plain as Jesus quotes Hosea 6:6 in the same passage: "I desire mercy, not sacrifice." We read the contrast between where mercy is applicable and where it is not in the remainder of the chapter. A man identified as a sojourner among the sons of Israel (v16) blasphemes the name of Yahweh. In this, there is no mercy, and "all the congregation" (vv14,16) participates in his judgment. There are two very important elements to note from this. Blaspheming the name of God will not receive mercy, and even those who sojourn in a land that is not their own will be subject to the laws of the people of the land. God does not employ a double standard. Today, as Christians, we are citizens of the Kingdom of God and beholden to His law. But we are not residents of that Kingdom yet. "Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul" (1 Pe 2:11). "And if you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your sojourn," (1 Pe 1:17). "So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household," (Eph 2:19). We remain as sojourners in a foreign land ruled by the god of this age, Satan (2 Cor 4:4). We may suffer the consequences of unjust laws, especially as we approach the Day of the Lord. But that is what God allows and has preordained. The Law of God is holy, and we endure for His glory.
"For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed in this we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked. For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life. Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge. Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord— for we walk by faith, not by sight— we are of good courage and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord." 2 Co 5:1–8.