Leviticus 14

God gave these specific sacrifices so he could spend time with His people, us! He even sent His own sacrificial lamb to earth to pay the wages for all of our sins forever!

Click here if you chose to follow Jesus!

Will: https://www.instagram.com/thewilliamreich

Transcript

Copy Transcript Copied

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hello and welcome to the Christians on College Campuses podcast. My name is Will from the University of Oklahoma, and today we are talking about Leviticus chapter 14. So, last chapter we talked about skin diseases and how they make you ceremonially unclean. Remember that God is life without death, so when the Israelites come into contact with anything associated with mortality or death, they become unclean in the eyes of God. When the Israelites have a skin disease, they have to stay in quarantine away from the other Israelites until it's gone. Imagine if you get a cold and suddenly you are excommunicated from everyone, without a phone, for at least a week. That would suck. So this chapter talks about how people can be cleansed from a skin disease after they have physically healed. The following instructions are for those seeking ceremonial purification from a skin disease. Those who have been healed must be brought to the priest, who will examine them at a place outside the camp. If the priest finds that someone has been healed of a serious skin disease, he will perform a purification ceremony using two live birds that are ceremonially clean, a stick of cedar, some scarlet yarn, and a hyssop branch. The priest will order that one bird be slaughtered over a clay pot filled with fresh water. He will take the live bird, the cedar stick, the scarlet yarn, and the hyssop branch, and dip them into the blood of the bird that was slaughtered over the fresh water. The priest will then sprinkle the blood of the dead bird seven times on the person being purified of the skin disease. When the priest has purified the person, he will release the live bird in the open field to fly away. The persons being purified must then wash their clothes, shave off all their hair, and bathe themselves in water. Then they will be ceremonially clean and may return to the camp. However, they must remain outside their tents for seven days. On the seventh day, they must again shave all the hair from their heads, including the hair of the beard and eyebrows. They must also wash their clothes and bathe themselves in water. Then they will be ceremonially clean. On the eighth day, each person being purified must bring two male lambs and a one year old female lamb all with no defects, along with a grain offering of six quarts of choice flour moistened with olive oil, and a cup of olive oil. Then the officiating priest will present that person for purification along with the offerings before the Lord at the entrance of the tabernacle. The priest will take one of the male lambs and the olive oil and present them as a guilt offering, lifting them up as a special offering before the Lord. He will then slaughter the male lamb in the sacred area where sin offerings and burnt offerings are slaughtered. As with the sin offering, the guilt offering belongs to the priest. It is a most holy offering. The priest will then take some of the blood of the guilt offering and apply it to the lobe of the right ear, the thumb of the right hand, and the big toe of the right foot of the person being purified. Then the priest will pour some of the olive oil into the palm of his own left hand. He will dip his right finger into the oil in his palm and sprinkle some of it with his finger seven times before the Lord. The priest will then apply some of the oil in his palm over the blood from the guilt offering that is on the lobe of the right ear, the thumb of the right hand, and the big toe of the right foot of the person being purified. The priest will apply the oil remaining in his hand to the head of the person being purified. Through this process, the priest will purify the person before the Lord. Then the priest must present the sin offering to purify the person who was cured of the skin disease. After that, the priest will slaughter the burnt offering and offer it on the altar alongside the grain offering. Through this process, the priest will purify the person who was healed, and the person will be ceremonially clean. But anyone who is too poor and cannot afford these offerings may bring one male lamb for a guilt offering, to be lifted up as a special offering for purification. The person must also bring two quarts of choice flour moistened with olive oil for the grain offering and a cup of olive oil. The offering must also include two turtle doves or two young pigeons, whichever the person can afford. One of the pair must be used for the sin offering and the other for the burnt offering. On the eighth day of the purification ceremony, the person being purified must bring the offerings to the priest and the Lord's presence at the entrance of the tabernacle. The priest will take the lamb for the guilt offering along with the olive oil, and lift them up as a special offering to the Lord. Then the priest will slaughter the lamb for the guilt offering. He will take some of its blood and apply it to the lobe of the right ear, the thumb of the right hand, and the big toe of the right foot of the person being purified. The priest will also pour some of the olive oil into the palm of his own left hand. He will dip his right finger into the oil in his palm and sprinkle some of it seven times before the Lord. The priest will then apply some of the oil in his palm over the blood from the guilt offering. That is on the lobe of the right ear, the thumb of the right hand, and the big toe of the right foot of the person being purified. The priest will apply the oil remaining in his hand to the head of the person being purified. Through this process, the priest will purify the person before the Lord. Then the priest will offer the two turtle dubs or the two young pigeons, whichever the person can afford. One of them is a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering, to be presented along with a grain offering. Through this process, the priest will purify the person before the Lord. These are the instructions for purification for those who have recovered from a serious skin disease, but who cannot afford to bring the offerings normally required for the ceremony of purification. So before we continue to the next chunk of the chapter, I was thinking while researching and reading this, why are these sacrifices so specific? Like every single one is step-by-step, very nickpicky. You have to bring specific things. And after doing some research, each action is specific because it's symbolic. And we can see the symbolism in other parts of the Bible. For example, blood represents life. A spoiler alert for Leviticus, a couple chapters later, it's in chapter 17, verse 11 says, For the life of the body is in its blood. I have given you the blood on the altar to purify you, making you right with the Lord. It is the blood given in exchange for a life that makes purification possible. So the blood of these animals, the life of these animals, uh covers the sins, the the death requirement of our sins, so that we can be pure. And basically, we're taking the purification from the animal. Or at least the Israelites are. Next it says that Jesus is the lamb of God. Um when you are doing sacrifices, you often have to send a lamb to the slaughter, unless you can't afford it, then you do two of a bird. Um, but for the most part, you do a lamb. And God sent his own lamb. It was his son Jesus. It says the next day, this is in John chapter 1, verse 29. The next day, John saw Jesus coming towards them and said, Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Finally, these sacrifices in the tabernacle are a shadow for something greater. It says in Hebrews chapter 9, verse 23, that this is why the tabernacle and everything in it, which were copies of things in heaven, had to be purified by the blood of animals. The real things in heaven had to be purified with far better sacrifices than the blood of animals. Then later, chapter ten, verse one, the old system under the law of Moses was only a shadow, a dim preview of the good things to come, not the good things themselves. The sacrifices under that system were repeated again and again, year after year, but they were never able to provide perfect cleansing for those who came to worship. So we'll we'll circle back to that a little bit later, but right now let's go back to Leviticus fourteen. Houses can develop mildew, and that makes them unclean in the eyes of God. Says that the owner of such a house must go to the priest and say, It appears that my house has some kind of mildew. Before the priest goes in to inspect a house, he must have the house emptied so nothing inside will be pronounced ceremonially unclean. Then the priest will go in and examine the mildew on the walls. If he finds greenish or reddish streaks in the contamination appears to go deeper than the wall surface, the priest will step outside the door and put the house in quarantine for seven days. On the seventh day, the priest must return for another inspection. If he finds that the mildew on the walls of the house has spread, the priest must order that the stones from those areas be removed. The contaminated material will then be taken outside the town to an area designated as ceremonially unclean. Next, the inside walls of the entire house must be scraped thoroughly and the scrapings dumped into the unclean place outside the town. Other stones will be brought in to replace the ones that were removed, and the walls will be replastered, but if the mildew reappears after all the stones have been replaced and the house has been scraped and replastered, the priest must return to inspect the house again. If he finds that the mildew has spread, the walls are clearly contaminated with a serious mildew, and the house is defiled. It must be torn down, all of its stones, timbers, and plaster must be carried out of the town to the place designated as ceremonially unclean. Those who enter the house during the period of quarantine will be ceremonially unclean until evening, and all who sleep or eat in the house must wash their clothing. But if the priest returns for his inspection and finds that the mildew has not reappeared in the house after the fresh plastering, he will pronounce it clean because the mildew is clearly gone. To purify the house, the priest must take two birds, a stick of cedar, some scarlet yarn, and a hyssop branch. He will slaughter one of the birds over a clay plot filled with fresh water. He will take the cedar stick, the hyssop branch, the scarlet yarn, and the live bird, and dip them into the blood of the slaughtered bird and into the fresh water. Then he will sprinkle the house seven times. When the priest has purified the house in exactly this way, he will release the live bird into the open fields outside the town. Through this process, the priest will purify the house and it will be ceremonially clean. These are the instructions for dealing with serious skin diseases, including scabby sores and mildew, whether on clothing or in a house, and the swelling on the skin, a rash, or discolored skin. This procedure will determine whether a person or object is ceremonially clean or unclean. These are the instructions regarding skin diseases and mildew. So why do the Israelites do these sacrifices? Well, God is a gracious God that wants to spend time with his people. God is full of life and only life, and anything associated with death cannot be around God because it will die. So in the Old Testament, they did these sacrifices to be ceremonially clean. But if we remember from earlier, God sent us his own lamb to sacrifice, his own son, Jesus. Jesus lived a pure life, never sinning, never associating with anything mortality and death related, basically being God on earth. And he decided to sacrifice himself, a lamb on a slaughter on a cross, as a sacrifice for our sins, so that we can be forever pure with God. It says in Hebrews that the uh old system of the law of Moses had to be done year after year, but they were never able to provide perfect cleansing for those who came to worship. God provided the perfect cleansing for us coming to worship. And for us to accept his gift, his sacrifice for us, we have to believe in him and live in the ways of God. So if that is something you want to do, I'm about to pray and repeat these prayers after me. They are not magic, it's not a magic word, you're not gonna feel any different afterwards. But after you pray, you will be a follower of Christ. And if you click the link in the description, we can get you some next steps on what that looks like. But if that is something you want to pray, repeat after me. God, I need you. I know I'm a sinner. In need of a savior. Jesus, I believe you died. And rose again. Pay the price for my sin. God, save me. Make me new. From this day forward, I will follow you.