Leviticus (Chapters 17-19)

This video is about Leviticus 17-19

Transcript

Welcome And Leviticus Setup

Phil Porter 0:00

You're listening to Teach Me the Bible podcast. Our mission is to help the people of God understand the Word of God. Join us each Monday and Thursday for new episode releases. Listen to our full library of content at teachmethebible.com or by downloading the Teach Me the Bible app from any app store. You're listening to Teach Me the Bible Podcast. Hey everybody, welcome to Teach Me the Bible Podcast. I'm here alongside with Dr. David Klingler, and we are uh continuing through the book of Leviticus. We are actually more than halfway done uh with the book in podcast form, but uh well there's still a lot to go, and um, you'll realize that there's a lot more here than you uh thought. We used to, again, I think the I've had several people talk about Snooze of Viticus, and uh I've redacted that term now. Um now that I know more, that's just basically I think how it goes, you know. Uh you read through it and you realize, what does this have anything to do? Why I'll just skip to the New Testament, I guess. You know, that's what people kind of tenually do. Uh, but this has been so incredible so far as we've learned throughout Leviticus. And so we're gonna begin in uh chapter 17 today, and uh let's go.

Dr. David Klingler 1:18

Yeah, so there's um so one of the things we want to say right up front for this uh this session is that when we get into these individual verses, let me show you one for example. This is uh um in verse 7, uh 17 7. Uh they shall no longer sacrifice uh their sacrifices to the goat demons. Um well this you know there is a lot of discussion, a lot of debate, uh not only in this uh chapter, but in the but in the discussion with the scapegoat back in uh in chapter uh sixteen. What exactly is going on here? And and and we'll we'll catch this uh type of thing later with the uh fruit. What you know, what uh there's fruit in the tree, and and the word they're gonna use there is it's uncircumcised. What's going on here? Um and the short answer is uh we don't know. I mean, there's uh there's speculation, there's debate. So uh one of the things that's helpful is to know that we don't know. Um you know uh always say in seminary, the first thing that you need to learn in seminary is what you don't know, so that you can begin to learn what you don't know. But some things we may never know. And so so there are people who dedicate themselves, all these books that we've got behind us. There's people who dedicated themselves to kind of tracking down these little details and try to figure out what may or may not be going on there. And so uh when you're a translator, you have to put something on the page. You can't just skip it and say, Well, we don't know, skip this verse. Um it would be nice if they, you know, if there was a way, and and in study notes, there usually is something. The net Bible notes uh uh uh are wonderful. So if you have access to the net Bible and the net Bible notes, they're really helpful, uh, both not only for translation, but for issues like this. Uh where they will say, yeah, there's some stuff going on here, and so this is our best shot. Um, but you know, don't build a doctrine um off of you know the uh you know the the uh goat demons in 177. Um uh you know, and and so there there was instruction for Israel, and I'm sure they knew exactly what Moses was saying. But we're a bit after the fact, and and so we've got to try to figure some of this stuff out. So anyway, so that when when that type of stuff shows up, uh we'll be sure to to uh to point that out. Uh but anyway, let's pick it up in chapter 17, verse

Leviticus 17 And Sacred Blood

Dr. David Klingler 4:03

1. Uh then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to Aaron and to his sons and to all the sons of Israel, and say to them, This is what the Lord has commanded, saying, Uh, a man, a man of the house of Israel. That's how all this stuff is gone to uh literally read in the Hebrew. Uh if any man from a house of Israel who slaughters an ox or a lamb or a goat in the camp, uh or who slaughters it outside the camp, and has not brought it to the doorway of the tent of meaning to present it as an offering to the Lord before the tabernacle of the Lord, blood guiltness will be reckoned to that man. He has shed blood, uh, and that man shall be cut off from his people. This is a perfect example, this cut off from his people. What exactly does that mean? He shall be uh cut off uh from the midst of his people. Is this um the people were to remove him, they were not to associate with him, the Lord was going to kill him? What what exactly is going on? And the answer is, well, well, we don't know uh exactly uh what's going on there. Um you know, and so so we can we can speculate. Um but uh but our speculation doesn't, you know, it's just personal guess, right? Um so you know, so so the the point, one of the points that I try to continue to make or think about when I'm trying to handle verses like this is what's the big picture? What's the what's the whole story doing? And the whole story is um uh is recognizing uh that the the problem in Genesis one and two, uh well the setting in Genesis one and two is uh uh is it introduces a problem in Genesis three, uh, and the solution is resurrection, you know, so cut off from the midst of his people. You know, I think about passages like uh Psalm 1. You'll look for the wicked man and uh and in you know in the resurrection in the assembly of the righteous, you won't see him there, right? And so um we go back to the uh the the sacrificial system uh and what was it picturing, what was it looking forward to? And this is introduced in the book of Genesis early in the in the story. Uh the sacrificial system is a placeholder for the coming Christ. And so to uh not have regard for the the the placeholder, the the you know, the the the offerings or the fat sacrifices or any of this would be to treat the Lord with contempt, to disregard the Lord, and have no regard for the rock of his salvation, that is the coming Christ. And so that's my best guess. Um but uh you know, but again, that's uh that's it's there's not much agreement. There's a lot of speculation, but not much agreement on what a phrase like that would say, cut off from uh his people. Um on account of this, or because of this reason, uh the reason is that the sons of Israel may bring their sacrifices, which they are sacrifices in the open field, they may bring them to the Lord in the doorway of the tent of meeting, to the priest, and sacrifice them as sacrifice uh sacrifices of peace offering to the Lord, and the priest shall sprinkle sprinkle butter, blood on the altar and on the doorway of the tent of meeting, and offer up the fat in the smoke of the soothing aroma of the Lord. They shall no longer sacrifice their sacrifices to uh to the goat demons which that to which they played the harlot. Um whatever they were doing in the um you know previously, they're not to do it now. This is the instruction, this is a permanent statute throughout all of the generations. Then you shall say to them, any man from the house of Israel or uh from the aliens who live among them who offers a burnt offering or a sacrifice. So this is all going back to the the sacrifices that were began in the book of Genesis, uh, and does not bring it to the doorway of the tent of meeting to offer it to the Lord, that man shall be cut off from his people. Again, I think it's the same thing going on here. The burnt offering uh begins in uh in uh in uh the Noah story. It shows up again with uh with uh Abraham saw offering a sacrifice to Isaac. All these were pictures of the coming Christ and uh what he would uh do. Um for the life of the flesh is in its blood, and I have given uh it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls. And so again, this is going back to the atonement, the covering for its blood, uh for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes the atonement. Therefore I have said to the sons of Israel, No person among you may eat the blood, nor any alien who lives among you shall eat the blood. Um so when any man from the sons of Israel, or any aliens who live among them, is hunting, uh catches a bird or a beast in the field, which it is eaten, he may pour out its blood and uh cover it with the earth. This is interesting little uh you shall cover it with um uh with dust. For the life uh um uh for the life is uh of all flesh is in its blood. Therefore I said to the sons of Israel, you ought not to eat any of the blood of the flesh, for the blood of the flesh is it uh is it uh the for the life of all flesh is in its blood, whoever eats it shall be cut off. When any person eats an animal which dies or is torn up by beasts, whether it is uh native or alien, he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and the remaining unclean and uh he will remain unclean until evening, then he will become clean. But if he does not wash and bathe his body, then he will bear his guilt. Uh and so this is the you know the types of things that uh that uh you know they're dealing with in the um in the law.

Be Holy Because God Is Holy

Dr. David Klingler 10:09

Uh the the next section, uh, and this is going this little phrase is going to show up. It was actually introduced back in chapter 11, verse uh 44 of Leviticus. I am the Lord your God, therefore, they translated it back in 1144. Consecrate yourself and be holy, for I am holy. This is going to be a phrase that's going to be repeated. Um the phrase here is for I am the Lord your God, for I am the Lord your God, for I am the Lord your God. And it's going to show up uh three times here in uh chapter 18, and then eight times in chapter 19, uh, and then three more times into chapter 20. So this section right here is for I am the Lord your God, for I am the Lord your God. And I think it gives us a clue as to the not only the function of all of Leviticus, but what was going on here. You're not to be like all the other nations. You're not to act like they act, you're not to sacrifice the way they sacrifice, you don't dress the way they dress, you don't breed your cattle, the way they breed their cattle, you don't do anything. You don't eat the way they eat. Yeah. You are to be separate, you are to be holy, separate from them, because um you're not to be like them because I'm not like their gods, right? So that's basically uh the uh the gist of what's going on here. Uh and one of the things that the nations apparently were doing uh was um, and this is uh down uh later in the this uh this chapter is they were you know committing incest. And so you're not to do what they do. Uh you're not to defile yourselves by any of these things, for by all these things uh the nations which I am ca casting out before you have become defiled. This is what they were doing. This is in verse uh 24. Uh for the land has become defiled, therefore I brought this punishment upon it. So the land has spewed out its inhabitants. This is the e the wickedness that they've engaged in. You don't do it. Uh, and so what is that list? And this is in chapter 18, begins that list. For I'm the Lord your God. Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, verse 2, for I'm the Lord your God. You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt, where you live, nor are you to do what is done in the land of Canaan, where you're going, where I'm bringing you in. You shall not uh you shall not walk in their statutes. Uh you shall are to perform my judgments and keep my statutes and live in accordance with them, for I am the Lord your God. There it is again, for I am the Lord your God. You don't follow their gods, you follow me. So you shall keep my statutes, my judgments, uh by which a man may live if he does them. I am the Lord. Again, I think when we tie this back to the overall plot, uh it's not like if they didn't do these things, they would um die on the spot. You know, for example, uh, you know, again, we're gonna get this in uh uh this this continued, you know, um life discussion. And I think this this uh on account of him uh he may uh live uh if he does them. You know, this is how they're translating this in uh uh in verse five. I think again this is all going back to the same plot. Um uh none of you shall approach any blood relative uh to uncover uh of his to uncover nakedness. I am the Lord. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, of your mother, she is your mother, you shall not uncover her nakedness. Um you shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's wife. It is your father's nakedness. You are the nakedness of your sister, your father's daughter, your mother's mother's daughter, whether born at home or born outside, their nakedness you shall not uncover. In other words, uh, this is a prohibition against all familial relations. You're not to uh to you know basically we call it incest. Um you shall not marry a woman in addition to her sister as a rival while she is still alive to uncover her nakedness. This is what the pagans do. Um verse 18. This is in 1818. Um you shall not marry a woman in addition to her sister as a rival, uh, adds uh you know, while she's still alive. Well, that that rings some bells, doesn't it? I mean, uh as a sarar. Um this is uh well we can give examples of that in with Jacob. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Yeah. And and there's going to be several laws that are going to be in the in Torah that are going to condemn what Jacob and his sons did. Um, the law of the firstborn. You're not to, you know, have one wife you love and another wife you hate, and and if they both have wives in the older, you're you're not allowed to do what Jacob did. And this is a these were prohibitions against and so the story introduces some of um you know what they did, but then the law judges what they did. Um now they have the law in the story at the same time. So they knew um through the the giving of the law that what these characters were doing was was evil. And here's an example, right? You shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness. Verse 19, during her menstrual impurity, you shall not have intercourse with your neighbor's wife to be defiled, uh, you shall not give any any of your offspring uh to offer them to Moloch, uh you shall uh uh nor shall you profane the name of the Lord your God. In other words, you don't do what the nations do. Um you shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female. It's an abomination. You shall not have intercourse with an animal. All these things, and of course, these are things we're dealing with in our culture today, and say, well, they're not, you know, there's nothing wrong with this because Jesus didn't say it, right? Or or Paul said it, um, but Jesus didn't say it. And so it's it's all fair game. I'm going, well, Jesus doesn't address every single detail. Um, but this is the the the law of the Lord, yep. And Jesus does say I didn't come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it, right? And so so we can't just pick and choose where we, you know, want to follow the morality of the Lord. Um do not defile yourselves by any of these things, for um, because on account of all these things I am casting uh them out, um cat you know, so so I am casting out before you uh and have become defiled, for the land has become defiled. Therefore I have brought uh upon it the punishment, so that it has spewed out its inhabitants. But as for you, you are to keep my statutes, my judgments, and you shall not do any of these abominations, the native or the alien or anyone who lives among you. For the men of the land who had been before you have done all these abominations, and the land has become defiled, so that the land will not spew you out, should you defile it, just as it spewed out the nation which was there before you. Uh for whoever does any of these abominations, those people will be cut off from among their people. Thus you are to keep my charge. You shall not do any of the abominable customs which they have done before you, so as to defile yourself before uh with them, for I am the Lord your God.

Leviticus 18 And Sexual Boundaries

Dr. David Klingler 17:46

Uh in this, for I am the Lord your God, it's going to continue all the way in. And so, so let's go ahead and jump into chapter 19. Now, chapter 19 is going to continue this, for I am the Lord your God. It's this, you are to be separate, for I am uh you are to be holy, for I am holy. Uh, verse uh 19.1. Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, You are to be set apart, holy, for I, uh the Lord your God am set apart. Every one of you shall fear his father and mother. Uh shall reverence they translated it's fear. Why? Uh what is what's this to fear your father and mother? Is it they're supposed to chase you around with a switch and terrorize the children? No. Uh you're to fear the Lord your God. Uh, this is um you know we see this type of um parallelism. It's actually you can see it in Psalm 19. Uh, we've got uh in Hebrew parallelism, uh we talk about uh Hebrew poetry. Uh in in Hebrew poetry, the poet, uh in uh in this uh this case, a Psalm of David, he's going to say the same thing over and over. He's gonna talk about the law of the Lord is perfect, the precepts of the Lord are right, the fear of the Lord, I'm in 199, Psalm uh 199, is clean. Uh the judgments of the Lord, the commandment of the Lord, the precepts, the testimony, and right with it, the fear of the Lord. Uh so so the fear of the Lord, um, you know, if you don't want to get wiped out, if you don't want to be cut off from your people, if you don't want to be stoned to death, or I'll get all these judgments that are coming from rejecting the Lord, then you need to fear the Lord. Uh, and the one who is supposed to teach you the word of the Lord was the father and mother. These words which I am commanding you today shall be on your heart, and you shall teach them to your sons uh in days to come when you're when your sons ask, why do we do these things? You know, so so the honor, fear uh father and mother is because they're teaching you the word of the Lord. So everyone shall fear his mother and his father, and you shall keep my statutes, I am the Lord. You do do not turn to idols, nor make yourself molten gods, for I am the Lord your God. Uh three times in three verses, for I am the Lord your God. Uh when you offer a sacrifice or of peace offerings to the Lord, you shall offer it so that it may be accepted. It can be eaten the same day, you shall offer it the next day. What remains the third day shall be burned with fire. If it's eaten on the third day, it's an offense, it shall not be accepted. Anyone who eats it shall bear his own iniquity. You've profaned the holy thing of the Lord. That person shall be cut off from his people. You don't do this. Uh, when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap the very corners, nor shall uh you gather the gleaning of the harvest. It's going to explain why, um, both here and in other passages. Uh nor shall you glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather the fallen fruit from your vineyard, you shall leave it for the for the needy and for the stranger, for I am the Lord your God. Um you shall not steal, you shall not deal falsely, you shall not lie to one another, you shall not swear falsely by my name, so as to profane my name, for I am the Lord. Uh you shall not oppress your neighbor, you shall not rob him. The hired uh the wages of a hired man shall not remain with you all night until morning. Uh you you you know, you're to look out for your neighbor, look out for your brother. Uh you shall not curse a deaf man, you shall not place a stumbling block before a blind man. Uh you shall fear your uh your God, for I am the Lord. So the reason why you don't do these things is because you fear the Lord, and He'll wipe you out. You you care for the orphan, the widow, the alien, because he does, because you were aliens in the land of Egypt. It's uh that's Deuteronomy chapter 10. It's going to be repeated over and over and over.

Leviticus 19 And Fair Justice

Dr. David Klingler 21:50

Uh verse 15 You shall do no injustice in judgment. Uh, this is uh uh you shall not. Uh lift up uh faces, literally. Um uh you you uh you shall not recognize faces, you shall not lift up faces. Um why why not? Um because judgment and justice is to be blind. Uh if we go over to Deuteronomy chapter 16, it's uh I said uh here it's you shall not uh lift up faces. It's uh it's the same thing in Deuteronomy chapter 10. When you go to do go to Deuteronomy chapter 16, uh and this was the instruction for the uh for the judges and the officers, you shall judge the people with righteous judgment, you shall not distort judgment uh justice, nor shall you be partial. And that how they translate be partial here, this is in Deuteronomy 16, now 19, is is uh from uh Nakar Panim. You shall not uh recognize faces. It doesn't matter who walks in before you. Judgment is to be impartial. Um you don't um and and here's one of the things that that I think we that we miss. Um you you know, we're familiar with you're not to show partiality to the rich man, and that's probably the more problematic one because we tend to like those who can do something for us. But conversely, um, this is in back in uh Leviticus 19, 15, you shall not uh do uh any injustice in judgment, you shall not lift up faces uh to the poor. You shall not show partiality to the poor, nor shall you defer to the great. Uh here to the to the so so you don't show partiality to the poor because he's poor, nor to the great because he's great. But you're to judge uh your neighbor uh with you know with with righteous uh this is Sadiq. This is uh this is just judgment, this is righteous judgment. You shall not walk as a slanderer. This is one of those words that we um uh you know that we were talking when we started this this podcast. That the okay, what does this mean? They translate it as a slanderer. Um you know, the the uh the the exact meaning of this word is a bit debated. There's there's the root word that goes back to like a a a merchant. Uh so so maybe you're you're not uh which would fit. You you're not to go about uh profiting, you know. You're saying things about your brother for gain for yourself. You know, maybe that's what's going on here. But a slanderer among your people, you are not to act against uh the blood, you're not to literally stand upon the blood of your uh of your neighbor. Well, what does that mean? You're not to stand over the blood or upon the blood of your neighbor.

Love Your Neighbor And Rebuke

Dr. David Klingler 24:54

We don't know. Uh love your neighbor. Right? For I am the Lord. You shall not hate your fellow countrymen in your heart. Uh here's a verse that Jesus quotes, right? You've heard it said um, you know, the uh that uh you're you shall not murder, but I say you shall not hate your brother in your heart. This is from the Sermon on the Mount. Uh Jesus is just quoting the law here, right? The standard is not murder. The standard is not don't hate your brother and kill him. Your stand, the standard was you are to be your brother's keeper. You're to look out for him. Um, so you're not to act upon the life of your brother, you're not to stand over the blood of your brother. Uh kind of summons in my mind the Cain and Abel story. Uh the the blood of your brother is crying out from the ground. You're not to kill him, you know. So I think that this is probably what Jesus is doing with the, you've heard it said, you shall not murder. Um, you shall not, I think what he's saying is you shall not stand over the blood of your of your neighbor, your blood of your brother of your brother. Maybe that's it. Like the Cain and Abel story, he's slain his brother and his blood is laying there on the ground, and he's standing over it. Maybe that's what's going on here. Um, but uh you shall, you know, but you shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely reprove your neighbor. You shall surely reprove your neighbor. You you are to rebuke him. It's not an option. This is part of loving your brother, is to rebuke him. If he's wrong, if he's walking down the trail of stupid, yeah, you go grab him and you pull him back. Um but you shall not lift up uh upon him uh or over him sin. In other words, you shall not incur sin on account of him. Um you know, maybe this is what's going on in uh in uh the you know in Ephesians, for example, be angry and do not sin. This is a quote actually coming out of Psalm 4, uh verse 4. But maybe this is where it's coming from. That uh that uh be angry but do not sin. You know, go grab your brother, save him from you know, from doing stupid stuff. Um that's part of loving your brother.

unknown 27:18

Right?

Dr. David Klingler 27:18

And we're gonna see this all the way through the proverbs. The um the the to care, you know, the the one who doesn't care for you will tell you what you want to hear, won't won't intervene. Um because they are concerned about what's how you will view them. I think that may go back to the to the the the slanderer word, right? That the that you know they're uh they're negotiating. They won't confront you because it will cost them something. Well, that that's not how we're supposed to operate. Um but you shall not incur sin because of him. Uh you shall not take vengeance, right? Uh you shall not bear a grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself, right? And so this is um so central. And I think um, you know, this goes to obviously the first uh, you know, the the uh what Jesus calls the first command and you know the greatest command. And and actually when he's questioned by the rich young ruler, what's the greatest command? Love the Lord your God with all of your heart. And the second is like it, to love your neighbor as yourself, love your brothers yourself. This is the the the passage. This is Leviticus 19, 18. Um and uh and so much of our theology today focuses on ourself. Um been thinking about uh of late this uh, you know, once saved, always saved. Well, the problem that I have with the once saved, always saved theology isn't so much the theology, is the result of it. It's well, I'm saved, so now I can go do whatever. Because it's it's all about me. See, salvation is about me. Well, no, you were saved for a purpose to represent the love of the uh of the Lord to someone else. Uh conversely, so you have the once saved, always saved, and then you have the you can lose your salvation crowd, and they're over there saying, Well, you got to keep doing stuff, so you, so I have to keep doing stuff so I don't lose my salvation. Right? How many times do you have to say my in that sentence? No. Um uh what we are to do is to love our brothers ourselves. The Lord has loved us, the Lord has given us mercy, so we give mercy to others. We're looking out for them. We are our brother's keeper. That's what we're called to be. And with that comes all kinds of responsibility. Uh, and um, you know, and so you're to judge your brother with with fair judgment. You don't put stumbling blocks in front of him. You, you know, if he's going down the road of sin, you go grab him and drag him back, because the one who is turned a sinner has saved his soul from death. This is the book of James and saved, I think in James, this is a little bit off topic, but he's saved his um his soul. That's from chapter one of James from uh from death, uh, from a useless faith. But anyway, uh this faith is to be active and working in the way that it what it looks like is care for brother. And this is what Israel was to live out. They were not to take vengeance, uh, but you're to love your neighbors yourself. You're to keep my statutes.

Being Distinct In Everyday Practices

Dr. David Klingler 30:31

Uh, and then it seems like this weird switch, right? And don't breed your cattle. No, it's the you are to be holy as your uh the Lord your God is holy. You're to be totally separate and set apart. So in everything you say and everything you do, and these little actions uh that the Lord is going to give them is going to separate them from the nations so that they were to see it. Israel was to see it, and the nations were to see it, right? You don't breed cattle the way they breed cattle. You don't sow your in the field, the two kinds of, you know, you don't intermix. And I think this is is you don't do things like they do, you don't intermix with them, you don't intermarry with them, you don't even dress like them, you don't cut your hair like them, you don't breed your cattle like them, uh, you don't plant your garden like them. Um you don't wear two kinds of garment, you don't mix these materials together. Verse 19. Verse 20. Now, if a man lies carnally uh with a woman who is a slave and you know um uh but has in no way redeemed or given her freedom, there uh shall be punishment. Uh they shall not be put to death because she was not free. Um again, this is one of those case law issues. Uh he shall bring his guilt offering to the Lord at the tent of meeting, a ram or a guilt offering, the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram or the guilt offering before the Lord uh for the sin which he has committed, uh, and the sin which he has committed will be forgiven him. This is uh one point to be made here is uh um you we get these, what we call uh in uh in Hebrew this case law. Um and in uh in verse 20 uh it's usually introduced with what we call a key clause. It's key in Hebrew. Uh if a man does X, then this is the judgment. Um a classic example of that is when Jesus is asked about uh adultery uh and divorce, uh specifically divorce. Are you allowed to divorce? Moses allows divorce. Or are we allowed to divorce? Uh and his he he quotes Deuteronomy and he's and he's quote quoting one of these key clauses. If a man has done this offense and he's written off his his wife and another man it happens again, he can't. Uh his point is Moses allowed divorce because of the hardness of your heart. None of these sins that have occurred were sanctioned or okay. If a man does this, that's a sin. Here's the judgment, right? That's the point. And so often we say, well, the the Bible is uh is justifying, and that's not justifying sin, it's pointing it out. These are this is case law saying if this offense has happened, then this is the judgment, and he has to bring his guilt offering to the doorway of the tent of meeting and the priest, then he will be forgiven. So uh so that's verses uh so that key clause is you'll see this all the way through, and we'll talk about that more as we go because we're gonna get more examples of this. When you enter the land uh and plant all kinds of trees, you shall uh count their fruit as forbidden. Or uh the word here for forbidden, this is in uh chapter 19, verse uh verse 23, is uh is uncircumcised. It's in that you shall regard it as uncircumcised. For three years it is uncircumcised to you, uh it shall not be eaten, but in the fourth year uh its fruit shall be holy, as an offering of praise to the Lord. In the fifth year you may eat it, uh that uh the yield may increase to you. I am the Lord your God. Okay. Uh is there's uh some significance to the third year, the fourth year, the fifth year, maybe. Uh, but I think the issue here is circumcised and uncircumcised, that that you were just even in the regarding of your fruit and the planting of the tree, it was a picture of circumcised, uncircumcised, and separation uh to the Lord. Uh you shall not anything with its blood, nor practice divination. Uh, that word there for divination, uh, the root word there is our uh Nakosh word, the serpent, right? The serpent was more crafty than any of the beasts of the field. Um, you don't engage in any of the satanic stuff of the nations. Divination, soothsaying, uh you shall not uh round off the sides of the growth of your heads, nor harm any of the edges of your beard. You don't look like them. You're not to cut your body for the dead, you're not to you know make tattoos upon yourself, um, you shall not profane your daughter by making her a harlot uh so that the land will not fall into harlotry. Um you aren't allowed to, you know, probably well, what what's going on why why would a someone profane your daughter by making her a harlot? You don't intermarry with the nations. You don't take your sons nor give your daughters. Um uh you're not to intermarry with them because they will cause you to follow other gods, to play the harlot, and then the Lord your God will be angry against you. You shall keep my Sabbaths, you shall fear my sanctuary, I am the Lord. You're not to turn to mediums or spiritists. This is what Saul's going to do. Uh consult the mediums and the spiritists as he tries to resurrect Samuel from the dead. You don't seek them out to be defiled. I am the Lord your God. Uh you shall raise up, uh uh you shall rise up before the gray headed and the the honor of the aged, um, for you shall uh uh fear the Lord your God. Uh the elders in the culture were to teach the youngers. You'll see this in Paul's writings, right? Uh elders teach the youngers, fathers teach the sons. This was the instruction. You didn't honor them because they were old. You honored them because they they had walked faithfully, and that you were to listen to them. The strangers who reside in your land, you're to do to them no wrong. The stranger who resides uh uh you shall be to you as a native among you, you shall love him as yourself, for you are aliens in the land of Egypt. We're gonna get this again in Deuteronomy chapter 10 in very big ways. You shall love the orphan and the widow uh and the alien, for you are aliens in the land of Egypt. That's chapter 10 of Deuteronomy. Uh I am the Lord your God, you shall do no wrong in judgment, in measurement of weight or capacity. You shall have just balances, just weights, just uh epha, uh a just hen. I am the Lord your God. You don't cheat your brother. If you want to have unjust balances, make them unjust towards you, not towards your brother, right? Uh you're to love your brother. Back to the same thing. Um uh I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt. Thus you shall observe all of my statutes and all my ordinances uh to do them, for I am the Lord

Why This Still Applies Today

Dr. David Klingler 37:48

your God. Right? And so this is going to continue down into the same discussion in chapter 20. We'll shut it down here for for this time. But the but the point is that um the Lord your God is holy and separate, you're to be holy and separate, and and you know, and the nations were to see it. Remember, this wasn't just to keep Israel separate, but they were to be a kingdom of priests of holy nations, so that when the nations saw how these people lived, how they treated one another, how they cared for one another, how they didn't cheat one another, how they didn't slander each other, how they didn't, you know, sleep with their relatives, how they didn't, you know, all of the stuff, uh, they were to say, wait a second, you people are different. Kind of like how the world ought to see the church. Yep. Uh wait a second, y'all love each other. What's going on here, right? Um, but when we turn it into it's all about me and my stuff and my salvation and my blessing and my this, that's that that's not Bible. Uh that is something altogether different. And unfortunately, um, we've gone down the trail of what the the Gentiles did, what the pagans did, what they you know, they they did this type of stuff. They uh they treated their God as some um genie. Uh they would bribe their God with good works, whatever that entailed, having their kids walk through the fire, you know, whatever it was. Um you know, offering to you know, sheep, you know, demons, if that's what was going on. Goat demons, whatever it was, um, so that they could get stuff now. Um, but this law is saying, no, you leave stuff in the field for your brother, you care for your brother, you regard him, you don't hate him, you're not allowed to hate him. You have to turn your brother from sin. All of this was to separate Israel from the nations, and and I think there's some really good practical application that finds its way into the New Testament. You know, the the second command, the you know, the great command in the second one is like it, you shall love your brothers yourself. Is that still around today? Sure. In first John, uh, John says this that the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious. They're obvious. Um, the one who loves uh the Lord, who believes in the Christ, he's gonna say this in chapter three, uh, and loves his brother. Not as Cain, who is of the evil one and slew him. And why did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil and his brothers were righteous, right? And so so this is going to be repeated theology throughout not only the Old Testament, not only the historical books. Uh Israel is going to be condemned because their lack of care for the poor and the orphan and the widow. They're showing they're showing partiality towards the rich man uh in disregarding the poor. But remember in Leviticus 19, 16, you're not to to regard the poor just because he's poor either. Right? This is our social gospel nonsense that we've engaged in. Um but you're to judge in in righteous judgment, in uh uh in judgment of Sadiq of righteousness. Uh and so all of this flows all the way into the New Testament and it ought to flow all the way into our lives. And so, yes, this was instruction to Israel, uh, but it's still just as practical today, applicable uh applicable, applicable today as ever.

Closing Thoughts And How To Support

Phil Porter 41:13

Absolutely. I mean, uh, as Israel is supposed to be separate from the nations, I think of something like my mom would tell me, she would say, You don't smoke, you don't chew, and you don't hang out with people that do.

Dr. David Klingler 41:24

Yeah, we're porters.

Phil Porter 41:25

We don't do that. Yeah, yeah, and that's exactly what she just knew there was a line that does not get crossed. And it's not allowed in my house, you know, either. And so it it's I'm reading this and I'm going, this is simple. This is God just saying, This is what I'm allowing, this is what I'm not allowing.

Dr. David Klingler 41:42

Yeah, and there's some who you know say, well, that is our family. We do do those things. Well, okay, well, you're not that family anymore. So don't do those things anymore, right? Yeah, absolutely. And so, yeah, this is just a great instruction for us and great reminder uh that um that you are that we are to be holy as the people of God because he is holy. Uh, and what does that look like? And here it is what it looks like is looking out for your brother, caring for your brother.

Phil Porter 42:10

And it should be obvious. Should be obvious. Yep. All right. Well, thank you, David. We will continue uh next time in uh it looks like chapter 20. See you then. For more resources, visit teachmethebible.com or download our app from any app store. You can partner with Teach Me the Bible in helping the people of God understand the Word of God by subscribing and sharing with others. Thank you for listening to Teach Me the Bible Podcast.