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4:18
In this chapter, God wanted to set rules in place to make sure the Israelites were giving their offerings to Him and not to idols or other things they called "gods."
Hello and welcome to the Christians and College of Hampshire Podcast. My name is Will from the University of Oklahoma, and today we are talking about Leviticus chapter 17. We have been in the middle of rules and regulations for the sacrifices the Israelites must do so they can spend time with God. The wages of sin and everything associated with mortality is death. And in Leviticus, Jesus was not yet on earth to sacrifice himself for everyone's sins permanently, so these sacrifices had to happen. The Lord said to Moses, Give the following instructions to Aaron and his sons and all the people of Israel. This is what the Lord has commanded. If any native Israelite sacrifices a bull or a lamb or a goat anywhere inside or outside the camp instead of bringing it to the entrance of the tabernacle to present it as an offering of the Lord, that person will be as guilty as a murderer. Such a person has shed blood and will be cut off from the community. The purpose of this rule is to stop the Israelites from sacrificing animals in the open fields. It will ensure that they bring their sacrifices to the priest at the entrance of the tabernacle, so he can present them to the Lord as peace offerings. Then the priest will be able to splatter the blood against the Lord's altar at the entrance of the tabernacle, and he will burn the fat as a pleasing aroma to the Lord. The people must no longer be unfaithful to the Lord by offering sacrifices to the goat idols. This is a permanent law for them, to be observed from generation to generation. Give them this command as well. If any native Israelite or foreigner living among you offers a burnt offering or a sacrifice, but does not bring it to the entrance of the tabernacle to offer it to the Lord, that person will be cut off from the community. And if any native Israelite or foreigner living among you eats or drinks blood in any form, I will turn against that person and cut him off from the community of your people, 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. That is why I have said to the people of Israel, you must never eat or drink blood, neither you nor your foreigners living among you. If any native Israelite or foreigner living among you goes hunting and kills an animal or bird that is approved for eating, he must drain its blood and cover it with earth. The life of every creature is in its blood. That is why I have said to the people of Israel, you must never eat or drink blood, for the life of any creature is in its blood. So whoever consumes blood will be cut off from the community. And if any native born Israelite or foreigners eat the meat of an animal that died naturally or is torn up by wild animals, they must wash their clothes and bathe themselves in water. They will remain ceremonially and clean until evening, but then they will be clean. But if they do not wash their clothes and bathe themselves, they will be punished for their sins. Why would they be punished for this? Well, imagine you were God and you wanted to spend time with your people. Then if your people do the things they have to do in order to spend time with you, but do it for other things that they think are gods but don't actually exist, you would be sad, maybe mad, and all around feeling pretty bad. But that's why God put these rules in place, to redirect his people back to him. He made it where you have to bring your sacrifices to the tabernacle so that they go to God and not some random doat idol in the middle of a field. The blood that comes from these animals represents life. Its life is covering your sin, your death. And it will be cheated if you are drinking and eating blood. You are trying to take your life into your own hands and not letting God save your life from the tabernacle inside. And that is why these rules are in place. So Jesus to come here now, and I thank you that these rules, although they still they would still apply to us, but you made it so they don't have to. You came down to earth and you used your blood, your sacrifice, as a permanent way to forgive us of our sins and bring us back to you forever and ever. And in Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
