Saturday, June 16, 2018

Life in the Desert - Leviticus 17-27 - The Holiness Code



Lev 17: Sacrifice and Blood
17:1-9 The Place of Sacrifice Specified
To prevent worshiip of demon goat idols.
17:10-16 The Eating of Blood Prohibited
1. The life principle is centered in the blood.
2. The LORD chose blood for atonement.
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Lev 18: Pagan Sexual Acts Outlawed
18:1-5 Not as Egypt or Canaan. I am the LORD.
18:6-18 Forbidden to “uncover the nakedness of” (have relations with): one’s mother, step-mother, sister, granddaughter, half-sister, aunt, daughter-in-law, sister-in-law, wife’s daughter or granddaughter, or his living wife’s sister.
18:19-23 Not during woman’s monthly cycle; no adultery; no child sacrifice; not male with a male (abomination); not with an animal (perversion).
18:24-30 “Lest the land vomit you out.”
Lev 19: Holy Daily Conduct Demanded
Note these repeated words: “I am the LORD.”
19:1-2 Holiness in every part of life. Because …
19:3-4 Father and mother. Sabbaths. No idols.
19:5-8 Eating the sacrifice of peace offerings.
19:9-18 Regard for poor. Ethics. Honesty. No cruelty. No partiality. No  slander. No hatred or vengeance. Work it out! Love neighbor as self.
19:19 Consistency and unity.
Lev 19: Holy Daily Conduct Demanded
19:20-22 Relations with concubines. Penalty.
19:23-25 Fruit holy in 4th year. Eaten in 5th.
19:26-29 No omens, fortune-telling, (pagan) disfigurement, cuts, tattoos, dtrs as prostitutes.
19:30-37 Sabbaths and sanctuary. No mediums or necromancers (who call up the dead). Respect for the gray-headed elderly. Treatment of the sojourner same as the native. Love the sojourner as yourself, because you were strangers in Egypt. Honest measurements.
Lev 20: Punishments for Sin Listed
20:1-5 Offering children to Molech.
20:6-8 Using mediums, necromancers.
20:9 Cursing father or mother.
20:10-21 Committing sexual immorality.
Some cases: “They shall be put to death.”
Others: “… cut off” from God’s people.
20:22-27 Summary and reminder: Obey [1] lest the land vomit you out, [2] because of the good land you are given, [3] God set you apart.
Lev 21: Holiness of Priests Required
21:1-9 Requirements for All Priests Given
21:10-15 Requirements for High Priest Given
21:16-24 Disqualifying Blemishes Listed
Lev 22: Holiness of Offerings Required
22:1-9 Priest alone allowed to eat of the sacred offerings, but not if ceremonially unclean.
22:10-16 Only those fully in the priest’s family could share in eating the sacred offerings. Any other person who ate it by mistake was to make restitution with equivalent food plus a 20% fine.
22:17-30 Acceptable offerings were to be males without these specific blemishes or defects.
22:31-33 Sanctify, do not profane My name. I sanctify you. I saved you. I am the LORD.
Lev 23: Sabbath, Feasts Regulated
23:1-3 Sabbath Law
23:4-8 Passover, Unleavened Bread
23:9-14 Firstfruits
23:15-22 Feast of Weeks (Pentecost)
23:23-25 Feast of Trumpets
23:26-32 Day of Atonement
23:33-44 Feast of Tabernacles
Lev 24: Lamps and Bread; Blasphemy of the Name
24:1-4 Lamps: olive oil, continually burning
24:5-9 Bread of the Presence: 12 loaves, set out each Sabbath, for Aaron and sons in a holy place
24:10-16 Blasphemy, a Capital Sin
Son of Israelite mother and Egyptian father
Witnesses lay their hands on his head.
Entire congregation stones him.
24:17-23 Lex talionis (Law of Retribution)
Penalty fit the crime, no more or less.
Lev 25: Sabbath Year, Year of Jubilee
25:1-7 Sabbatical Year
Land had a “Sabbath” rest from cultivation.
Began at time of sowing (Fall) each 7th year.
Voluntary produce would be enough for all. No systematic harvest. All, including the poor, ate.
25:8-55 Year of Jubilee
Every 50th year – property restored to original Israelite family owners; slaves freed. Liberty!
         25:35-46 Kindness to the Poor
Lev 26: Rewards and Punishments
26:1-13 Promises for Obedience
Rain, produce, peace, military victory.
The LORD to dwell and walk among, with you.
26:14-46 Penalties for Disobedience
Panic; disease; defeat; pestilence; drought; cannibalism; destruction of religious centers, cities, and land; exile to a foreign land.
If you confess and repent in that foreign land, the LORD to remember His covenant and restore.
Lev 27: Vows, Dedications, and Tithes
27:1-8 Valuation of Dedicated Persons
One could dedicate himself or a member of his family. Since a non-Levite could not serve in the sanctuary, he made a payment to the sanctuary.
27:9-13 Dedicated Animals
27:14-25 Dedicated Real Estate
27:26-29 Objects Excluded
27:30-33 Tithes
27:34 Summary of Leviticus

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