CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO LESSONS
HONORING GOD, HONORING LIFE!
After class last week, Bob Hanson came up and
ask the following questions. "Does Israel presently offer sacrifices? If
not, when and why did they stop?" Wow! Those are good questions! Questions
which in the busyness of my life, I forgot about until I picked up Leviticus
again and started studying the next chapter, chapter seventeen. As it turns
out, in the providence of God's grace and wisdom, this chapter provides the answers
to Bob's questions.1
This chapter, as you will see, acts as the hinge
linking the first part of the book with the last part. For chapters 1 -
16 contain the rituals regulating the public life of Israel while chapters 18
- 25 contain admonitions regulating the personal and private life of each individual. This
chapter acts like a hinge as it connects material relating to both the public
and private life of Israel. In the first nine verses we read:
Then the LORD said to Moses, 2 "Give
Aaron and his sons and all the Israelites these commands from the LORD: 3
If any Israelite sacrifices a bull or a lamb or a goat anywhere inside or outside
the camp 4 and does not bring it to the entrance of the Tabernacle to present
it as an offering to the LORD, that person will be guilty of a capital offense.
Such a person has shed blood and must be cut off from the community. 5
This rule will stop the Israelites from sacrificing animals in the open fields.
It will cause them to bring their sacrifices to the priest at the entrance of
the Tabernacle, so he can present them to the LORD as peace offerings. 6
That way the priest will be able to sprinkle the blood and burn the fat on the
LORD's altar at the entrance of the Tabernacle, and it will be very pleasing
to the LORD. 7 The people must no longer be unfaithful to the LORD by offering
sacrifices to evil spirits out in the fields. This is a permanent law for them,
to be kept generation after generation.
"Give them this command as well, which applies
both to Israelites and to the foreigners living among you. If you offer a whole
burnt offering or a sacrifice 9 and do not bring it to the entrance of the Tabernacle
to offer it to the LORD, you will be cut off from the community.
It didn't take long for the Israelites to realize
that it was easier to worship at home. That is, it was easier to sacrifice
some domestic animal at home than it was to drag the bull, lamb, or goat up to
the tabernacle. After all, at the tabernacle you had to do things in a
very precise manner, you had to listen to the priest, and you had to be honest
with yourself and with God. At home you could be a little sloppy about
worship. In fact, you could by-pass worship altogether and just have a
barbecue in your backyard with a few close friends. This was convenient,
but it was a mistake. A common mistake made by the Israelites in the busyness
of their lives.
However, the point of vv. 3 - 5 is that if an
Israelite wanted to eat meat he had to bring his chosen animal to the tabernacle
as a peace offering (fellowship offering [v.5b]). The priest would then
see that the animal was killed in an approved manner, sprinkle the blood, burn
the fat, and share the meat with the family in the presence of God.
To us, failure to do this seems like a class six
(6) misdemeanor punishable by a slap on the hands. To God this offense
was as serious as murder. It's a class one (1) felony resulting in the
offending party being "cut off from his people." Now whether
this meant God himself punished the offending party or the community tried the
person in court is unclear. What is clear is that this crime was a felony
punishable by death for all practical purposes.2
The crime, in some cases being a matter of convenience,
may very well have been a crime prompted by disloyalty. Because these offsite
sacrifices, in some cases, were made to goat idols or as it is sometimes translated
in v. 7 goat-demons. To offer sacrifices to idols or demons was a flagrant
violation of the first commandment to "have no other gods before me." But
whether it was a matter of convenience or of outright disloyalty the punishment
was the same for in either case God was cast aside in favor of one's self-interest.
To put a stop to these inclinations of the heart
the Israelites were told in very clear Hebrew that all sacrifices had to be brought
to the Tent of Meeting. Here, in vv. 8 and 9, we have the answers to Bob's
questions. Basically, Israel does not sacrifice animals today because they
have no place to sacrifice. Because in 70 A.D. Titus, a Roman general,
marched into Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple.
To make matters worse for Orthodox Jews who wish
to resume the sacrifices as they are spelled out in Leviticus a mosque has been
built in the very place where the Temple once stood. This mosque is the
third holiest place in Islam. Supposedly, it is the very place where Mohammed
ascended up to heaven. So before the Temple is rebuilt, this mosque must
be destroyed. When this happens, not if it happens, you can be sure it
will fuel the anger between Israel and the rest of the Mideast.
Having spelled out the present-day implications
of vv. 8 and 9 for Orthodox Jews, I must tell you that outside of Orthodox
Judaism, and yet within Judaism it is taught that the sacrifices of yesteryear
are no longer required. Some Rabbis, for example, have developed a theology
out of the Old Testament which minimizes the need for sacrifices. They
based their thinking on the following verses.
But Samuel replied (to Saul), "What is more
pleasing to the LORD: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to
his voice? Obedience is far better than sacrifice. Listening to him is much better
than offering the fat of rams. (I Samuel 15:22)
"I am sick of your sacrifices," says
the LORD. "Don't bring me any more burnt offerings! I don't want the fat
from your rams or other animals. I don't want to see the blood from your offerings
of bulls and rams and goats. 12 Why do you keep parading through my courts
with your worthless sacrifices? (Isaiah 1:11 -12)
I want you to be merciful; I don't want your sacrifices.
I want you to know God; that's more important than burnt offerings. (Hosea 6:6)
Should we offer him thousands of rams and tens
of thousands of rivers of olive oil? Would that please the LORD? Should we sacrifice
our firstborn children to pay for the sins of our souls? Would that make him
glad? No, O people, the LORD has already told you what is good, and
this is what he requires: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly
with your God. (Micah 6:7 - 8)
Based on these verses, as well as others, and
the fact that the Temple no longer stands some Rabbis developed a theology relegating
the sacrifices to the distant past. They decreed that God forgives sins
through repentance, prayer, fasting, and good deeds. As someone put it,
as long as the Temple stood the altar atoned for sins, today a man's table and
what he does after he gets up from his table atones for sin.
Other Jews, Jews for Jesus, point to Jesus as
the Lamb of God who took away the sin of the world. They, and we, believe
God shed his own blood during Passover for the forgiveness of sin. Hence
there is no need for animals to be sacrificed today. Jews for Jesus, like
us, are affirmed in their position by verses such as:
So Christ has now become the High Priest over
all the good things that have come. He has entered that great, perfect sanctuary
in heaven, not made by human hands and not part of this created world. 12
Once for all time he took blood into that Most Holy Place, but not the blood
of goats and calves. He took his own blood, and with it he secured our salvation
forever. (Hebrews 9:11 - 12)
So in answer to Bob's questions. For some
Jews the sacrifices came to a halt in 70 A.D. when the Temple was destroyed by
Rome. Within this group some look forward to the day when they are resumed,
others have concluded that they are unnecessary. For a handful of other
Jews the sacrifices came to a halt when they realized that Christ Jesus sacrificed
himself once and for all on their behalf.
Going back to Leviticus 17, the first half of
the chapter imposed a very practical problem on Israel. The law as spelled
out in vv. 8 & 9 could only be effective when eating meat was a rare luxury
and when everyone lived reasonably close to the Tabernacle. In the years
ahead, when Israel settled in the land, this law would have compelled those who
lived a long way from the Temple to become vegetarians. This problem is
partially addressed in the second half of this chapter and fully addressed in
Deuteronomy. In chapter 12:15 - 25 of that book we read:
"But you may butcher animals for meat in
any town, wherever you want, just as you do now with gazelle and deer. You may
eat as many animals as the LORD your God gives you. All of you, whether ceremonially
clean or unclean, may eat that meat. 16 The only restriction is that you
are not to eat the blood. You must pour it out on the ground like water.
"But your offerings must not be eaten at
home-neither the tithe of your grain and new wine and olive oil, nor the firstborn
of your flocks and herds, nor an offering to fulfill a vow, nor your freewill
offerings, nor your special gifts. 18 You must eat these in the presence
of the LORD your God at the place he will choose. Eat them there with your children,
your servants, and the Levites who live in your towns, celebrating in the presence
of the LORD your God in all you do. 19 Be very careful never to forget
the Levites as long as you live in your land.
"When the LORD your God enlarges your territory
as he has promised, you may eat meat whenever you want. 21 It might happen
that the place the LORD your God chooses for his name to be honored is a long
way from your home. If so, you may butcher any of the cattle or sheep the LORD
has given you, and you may eat the meat at your home as I have commanded you. 22
Anyone, whether ceremonially clean or unclean, may eat that meat, just as you
do now with gazelle and deer. 23 The only restriction is never to eat the
blood, for the blood is the life, and you must not eat the life with the meat. 24
Instead, pour out the blood on the ground like water. 25 Do not eat the
blood; then all will go well with you and your children, because you will be
doing what pleases the LORD. 26 Take your sacred gifts and your offerings
given to fulfill a vow to the place the LORD chooses to dwell.
This passage of God's Word allowed the Israelites
to slaughter and eat sheep and oxen just as they might kill and eat wild game. It
did not negate the material found in Leviticus 17. It simply clarified
it and reinforced it. In slaughtering animals the Israelites had to be
careful not to eat or drink the blood. The reason for this, while reinforced
in Deuteronomy, is emphatically underscored in Leviticus 17: 10 - 16. We
read:
"And I will turn against anyone, whether
an Israelite or a foreigner living among you, who eats or drinks blood in any
form. I will cut off such a person from the community, 11 for the life
of any creature is in its blood. I have given you the blood so you can make atonement
for your sins. It is the blood, representing life, that brings you atonement. 12
That is why I said to the Israelites: 'You and the foreigners who live among
you must never eat or drink blood.'
"And this command applies both to Israelites
and to the foreigners living among you. If you go hunting and kill an animal
or bird that is approved for eating, you must drain out the blood and cover it
with earth. 14 The life of every creature is in the blood. That is why
I have told the people of Israel never to eat or drink it, for the life of any
bird or animal is in the blood. So whoever eats or drinks blood must be cut off.
"And this command also applies both to Israelites
and the foreigners living among you. If you eat from the carcass of an animal
that died a natural death or was killed by a wild animal, you must wash your
clothes and bathe yourselves in water. Then you will remain ceremonially unclean
until evening; after that, you will be considered clean. 16 But if you
do not wash your clothes and bathe, you will be held responsible."
This passage gives us two reasons for respecting
the blood of slaughtered animals. First, to eat or drink the blood is
to despise life itself for the life is in the blood. When we refrain from
eating flesh with blood in it, we honor life. Second, the ransom price
for man's life is not a monetary payment but the life of an animal represented
by its blood splashed over the altar. As such it is sacred and should not
be consumed by man.
Finally, on another practical note, I want you
to notice that these laws applied to both the Israelites and the resident alien,
legal or illegal. The alien was expected to obey the laws of Israel. If
he dismissed them as non-applicable he faced the same penalties as native Israelites. On
the other hand Leviticus 19:9 - 10 urges us to be gracious toward the aliens
among us. These two verses read as follows:
"When you harvest your crops, do not harvest
the grain along the edges of your fields, and do not pick up what the harvesters
drop. 10 It is the same with your grape crop-do not strip every last bunch
of grapes from the vines, and do not pick up the grapes that fall to the ground.
Leave them for the poor and the foreigners who live among you, for I, the LORD,
am your God.
Balancing these two requirements, obedience to
the rule of law and the need to be sensitive to the poor among us is sometimes
a difficult task, as in today's world.
1 It is as if I no sooner finished last weeks lesson on
Yom Kippur and God said, "Good, now let's start thinking about next week's
lesson." To jump start the thinking process he prompted Bob to ask
a few questions knowing full well the answers were in the next chapter!
2 Some argue it is unlikely that being "cut off" implied
a judicial process resulting in someone being punished by the community since
this crime could easily have been done in secret. If this is the case,
then God, in his own time and way, "cut" the individual off
from the community.
LEVITICUS - GOD'S GUIDEBOOK TO WORSHIP 5/7/06 1
CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO LESSONS