Okay ladies, another week has gone by and this week we have been in the notoriously tedious book of Leviticus. How are you doing with it? I personally cannot even begin to express how much this blog has helped me stay focused on the "big picture" and not get bogged down by the details. I thank each one of you for the amazing posts and subsequent comments!
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These three chapters deal with clean versus unclean in several different areas: animals, after childbirth, and leprosy. When I was researching about the clean and unclean animals, my ESV Study Bible had a few interesting things to say in the study notes. The reasoning behind exactly why one animal is considered "clean" and the other "unclean" has puzzled commentators throughout time. There is no consensus on why the classification is set up the way it is. However, this quote from the study notes out of my ESV Study Bible is worthy of quoting here, as it gets to the bottom line of why this was important: "Significantly, making these distinctions in the ritual realm would no doubt serve as a constant reminder to the people of their need for making the parallel distinctions in the moral realm as well. Further, adherence to these food laws expresses Israel's devotion to the Lord: just as he separated the Israelites from the other nations, so they must separate clean from unclean foods." Remember, God is ALWAYS concerned about the heart, not just the law-keeping! To connect this to the New Testament, in Acts chapter 10, verses 9-16, Peter has a vision about eating unclean animals and God tells him to "kill and eat" the unclean animals in this vision. What God was trying to do here was tell Peter that NOTHING should get in the way of fellowshipping with the Gentiles and sharing The Gospel with them. Are we letting any thoughts of someone or something being "unclean" keep US from telling them about The Gospel????
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The horrible disease of leprosy was bad enough with all of the actual health issues that it brought on and the fact that it was contagious. But more than that were the social implications. Much humiliation, loneliness, and rejection came from this terrible affliction, as the leper had to remain outside of the camp during his infection. You will notice, the chapter on the laws concerning leprosy is VERY long. They even had to walk around shouting "Unclean!" when another person got near. Can you imagine having to walk around while having your period shouting "Unclean!"? How humiliating would that be? Now, once again, let's connect this to the New Testament. In Luke chapter 17, verses 11-19, Jesus has compassion and mercy on 10 lepers and heals them all, but only ONE comes back to thank Jesus for this...ONE! I want to be the ONE that remembers to thank Jesus for ALL that He has done for me! Will you join me in this attitude of thanksgiving??? By the way...the ONE leper that came back to thank Him and praise Him was...a Samaritan (the Jews HATED, I mean HATED the Samaritans!!!!!). Unclean? Not when JESUS cleanses you!!!
Minday - thank you for the wonderful post and the chart AND the picture. It must have been hard trying to remember what you could eat and what you could not eat - wonder if they prepared menus in advance each week and went over them just to make sure?? And the clean and unclean - WOW made me realy humble thinking how I can think in my mind about some "group" or some "people group" being unclean. Thank God, he loves us all without limits!! Would that I could do the same.
ReplyDeleteAm I to understand that the priests seemed to be the "doctors", for the people also? And, wow! What a list of animals! I guess this helped them to further distinguish themselves from the world around them? And it didn't hurt to remind them to keep the law and be holy because He is holy....and HE'S the one who saved their necks out of Egypt. :)
ReplyDeleteI thought the same thing Jaybrena as I was reading about the priests. I thought to myself those priest must have been exhausted after examining all the people with infectious diseases, boils, burns, spots on the skin, rashes, swelling, etc. Whew!!!!
ReplyDeleteLeviticus 11:44-45 also spoke to me "...be holy, because I am holy." The key theme of holiness keeps appearing throughout the chapters. I continue to strive to be holy in my daily life. Leviticus is more interesting than I thought.
I am SURE the priests were exhausted at the end of the day with the wide variety of their duties and how VERY important each of those duties were. They did wear the hat of a doctor quite often didn't they? I have to agree with Angela...Leviticus is much more interesting than I thought as well!!!!
ReplyDeleteYou know, the "clean and unclean" business made for a rounding discussion today around these parts. A good one though. Because, to my medical mind, so much of the "clean and unclean" makes biological sense from our medical perspective today, I want to try and explain all of it from that perspective. But the reality is, I don't know God's reasons, and I don't have to. He did it all for the good of Israel, and for his reasons and his reasons alone. On a much practical perspective, I'm very glad I'm not Jewish. I LOVE shellfish- and they do not fall into the category of "clean" for the animals from the sea. Another check mark in the pro category for living in A.D. :) Though, not such a positive for the cholesterol levels.
ReplyDeleteTHIS IS SO AMAZING THAT WE HAVE DERMATOGIST TO HELP US WITH OUR SKIN AND DIETICIANS TO HELP US WITH OUR FOOD. GOD JUST KNEW WE WOULD NOT KEEP THINGS SEPARATE. VERY GOOD MINDY AND I REALLY FEEL FOR THE PRIEST. I WONDER IF HE EVER WORRIED ABOUT CATCHING SOMETHING FROM ALL HE HAD TO LOOK AT. I HAVE SOMEONE VERY CLOSE TO ME THAT HAS A SKIN DISORDER AND IT IS SO HARD ON HER. SHE TRIES TO HIDE IT BUT SOMETIMES IN THE SUMMMER SHE WEARS CLOTHES THAT YOU SEE IT. WE HAVE THINGS IN OUR LIVES TO REMIND US OF GOD AND HIS POWER TO HEAL OR HELP US DEAL WITH IT. THANK YOU LORD.
ReplyDeleteGOOD NITE
I wonder how the Israelites kept all of these laws straight.
ReplyDeleteAs I was reading this passage, I had the thought that God was possibly protecting the Israelites from disease or sickness. Maybe this is what Natalie was referring to in her comment. Maybe that's just me trying to add my reasoning :)
My NIV study notes make some good points. "The ceremonially unclean were excluded from the camp" (the area around the tabernacle). The unclean were seperated from God. "As a result of their seperation from God, the unclean were to exhibit their grief by tearing their clothes, by having unkempt hair and by partially covering their faces."
At first thought I felt like this was some harsh punishment for people who may have not done anything to cause their uncleanliness. After thinking through it a bit more... it goes back to God's standard of perfection and holiness. He cannot compromise.