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DIRTY HANDS, CLEAN HANDS!
In regards to the PARDON MY PLANET cartoon dated
3/8/06 I see at least three theological errors within it. First, though
angels undoubtedly have angelic voices, they never look angelic. In Scripture
they either appear as Hulk Hogan on steroids or as an unexpected guest in your
home. In the former case their sudden appearance prompted men and women
of old to tremble in fear for their life. In the latter case, the host
didn't realize they had been in the presence of an angel until after their unexpected
guest had left town.
The second error I see in this cartoon is that
God is pictured as a heavenly grandfather. As such he is drawn as
someone we would naturally treat with reference and respect but we would hardly
expect him to tackle the complex problems of the world we live in today. Yes,
in the old days he probably had the energy to deal with the world but now at
the grand old age of "whatever" he probably just isn't up to the challenges
of the mess we find ourselves in today.
Third, the cartoonist suggest that since the fall
of Adam and Eve God is at a loss as to how to restore the world to its original
design. Or, if he somehow managed to rescue some from the wreckage he is
at a loss as to how to restore them to holiness and and to maintain them in the
state of holiness. Leviticus tells us otherwise. It is God's maintenance
program. When followed closely it prevents disasters from happening down
the road.
The first five chapters introduced us to five
diverse offerings. The first three were designed for those in fellowship
with God. The remaining two told the worshiper how he or she could be restored
to fellowship in the wake of sin's side-effects. For sin inevitably soiled
the individual, contaminated the corporate body of believers, and damaged relationships
within the world in which we live.
Chapters six and seven of Leviticus takes another
look at the five offerings. But this time around they focus in on the role
played by the priest. For example, in vv. 9 - 13 of chapter six the priest
are told that they must keep the fire burning on the altar continuously. They
are told this five times in the space of five verses. Evidently this was
a very important part of their job. Why?
It was important because just as the church should
always be open to meeting the needs of its flock so too the tabernacle. No
one should ever come and find the fire out. For through the burnt
offering access to God was shown to always be available. Nor should they
find that the priest was unavailable to them for it was the priest who helped
them understand the significance of the burnt offering.
Then in vv. 19 - 23 of the same chapter we discovered
that the priest himself brought a grain offering to the Lord. His offering,
which was offered twice each day, was different from the commoner's offering
in that it didn't involve incense and it was burned completely rather than eaten. Nevertheless,
the significance of it was the same. It was a public expression of dedication
to the Lord. It meant that the priest was delighted to be doing what God
had called him to do. It meant that he was indeed the one you wanted to
have beside you in your time of need.
We now come to the role of the priest in what
was the third most frequent offering. In the NIV, as well as in most translations,
it is called the "sin offering." But it makes more sense to see
it as the purification offering for it's function was to cleanse the sinner. In
vv. 24 - 30 of chapter six, we read:
Then the LORD said to Moses, 25 "Give
Aaron and his sons these further instructions regarding the sin offering. The
animal given as a sin offering is most holy and must be slaughtered in the LORD's
presence at the place where the burnt offerings are slaughtered. 26 The
priest who offers the sacrifice may eat his portion in a sacred place within
the courtyard of the Tabernacle. 27 Anything or anyone who touches the
sacrificial meat will become holy, and if the sacrificial blood splatters anyone's
clothing, it must be washed off in a sacred place. 28 If a clay pot is
used to boil the sacrificial meat, it must be broken. If a bronze kettle is used,
it must be scoured and rinsed thoroughly with water. 29 Only males from
a priest's family may eat of this offering, for it is most holy. 30 If,
however, the blood of a sin offering has been taken into the Tabernacle to make
atonement in the Holy Place for the people's sins, none of that animal's meat
may be eaten. It must be completely burned up.
This is one of those "how to" sections
of Scripture. It tells the priest how to handle the purification offering
so that by the time he is done with his role the worshiper will know that he
is clean; i.e. forgiven.
It's like washing your hands. You have your
part to play which you have done for a long time. But most of us really
need to see a professional and have him or her do their part so that when we
do our part we know our hands are genuinely clean.
Kathy Luhn, Director of Health Education for the
Allen County Health Department in northwest Ohio maintains that it takes more
than splashing your hands with water and dabbing them with soap to kill germs. She
says, "The soap helps loosen the germs. (But) it's really the scrubbing
that gets the germs off." With this in mind here is what you need
to do to really have clean hands:
-
Wet hands with warm, running water.
-
Add soap and rub hands together, front and
back,
between fingers and under nails for
20
seconds (about how long it takes to sing
"Happy
Birthday" two times).
- Rinse. When
paper towels are available, use
them
to dry your hands.1
In like manner, the Lord told Moses what Aaron
and his sons had to do as priest in regards to the purification (sin) offering. If
they did it correctly, the worshiper would walk away knowing that his relationship
to God had been restored; i. e. that he had been cleansed from the soiling, the
grime, of sin. Aaron and sons were told to do three things.
First, it was made clear that the sin offering
had to be made in a precise location. It had to be brought before the
Lord, in the courtyard of the tabernacle where the burnt offering was slaughtered. This
point is that the sin for which you are wanting to be cleansed from first and
foremost offended God. He is the one from whom you must seek forgiveness
and so you must enter his Presence. You must go to Him, the very one you
have been playing hide and seek with for far too long.
If you said to the priest, as he made his rounds
outside of the tabernacle, "Do I have to go to the tabernacle to find purification?"
The answer would be "Absolutely, there is
no way around it. You must present yourself to God for he is the one you
have offended and he is the only one who can forgive you. Quit stalling,
if you come with a contrite heart you will find that our God is merciful and
gracious. While it won't be an easy thing to do, you will be glad you did
it when it is all over."
Second, although this was left unsaid but surely
understood, he must see to it that the worshiper slaughtered the animal. Like
it or not, sin's wages must be paid and it was up to the priest to see that the
penalty of death was executed.2
Third, when a portion of the meat was taken from
the altar it had to be eaten by the priest who offered it on behalf of the worshiper. It
had to be eaten in the courtyard of the Tabernacle. In practice this meant
that at least some of it was eaten in the presence of the one who brought the
animal for sacrifice. This was the worshiper's assurance that the
sacrifice had been accepted and that forgiveness was complete.
You see people need the reality of forgiveness
and not simply the hope of forgiveness. If a worshiper left the tabernacle
unsure of his standing with God then something went terribly wrong. It
was up to the priest to assure him that the sacrifice had been accepted and that
he could confidently draw near to God since he had been cleansed of his sins.
Then in vv. 27 - 28 we have a few supplementary
instructions regarding the dynamic properties of this offering. You'll
note, in v. 25, that this offering is described as "most holy" and
anything that it touches acquires holiness from it. A garment, however,
was an exception. It did not become holy and was, in fact, treated as if
it were unclean for the blood needed to be washed out of it in a holy place.
This accidental spattering on a priest's or layperson's
garment could happen when blood spurted out of the animal when it was slaughtered
or splashed out when the collection vessel was carried to the altar. So
before the blood was applied to the altar it occasionally spilled on the garment
and thereby contaminated it . The same was true with the clay pot and the
bronze pot. Both were contaminated by the meat cooked in them for this
meat evidently had not come into contact with the altar.
What this means, in a very real sense, is that
the blood was carrying the impurity from the person who owned the slaughtered
animal and identified with it by placing his hands on it. This explains
why it wouldn't make sense in this case to take the blood and smear some of it
on the worshiper. Why give the evil back to the very one who was trying
to get rid of it?
Nevertheless, it is a "most holy" offering! It
is somewhat of a paradox that in this offering holiness and impurity come together. But
they come together in such a way that holiness is not neutralized. It's
like the blood that flows through us for part of it has a waste-bearing function
and yet that aspect of our blood doesn't diminish in any way the life-giving
aspect of the same blood. Similarly, the process of purifying a wayward
Israelite didn't negate the holiness of this offering.
In short, God allowed the unthinkable. He
allowed holiness to come into contact with that which was contaminated by sin. He
did so knowing full well that once a year the tabernacle would need to be purified. But
he did it for the sake of the one who desired to come clean.
On a practical note, what this means is that He
sends you and I out into the world, a polluted environment, for the sake of those
who are in need of the Savior. He does so knowing full well that we will
need to return to him periodically for cleansing.
1 East
Valley/Scottsdale Tribune, Thursday, January 5, 2006.
2 Romans 6:23 reads: For the wages of sin
is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our
Lord.
LEVITICUS - GOD'S GUIDEBOOK TO WORSHIP 3/12/06 1
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