back to indexWed Bible Study - Lesson 15
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Alright, so the purpose of all the laws regarding the bodily discharge that we're talking about 00:00:29.240 |
in chapter 15 is summarized at the end of the chapter in verse 31. 00:00:34.440 |
So in 31 it says, "Thus you shall keep the people of Israel separate from their uncleanness, 00:00:39.200 |
lest they die in their uncleanness by defiling by tabernacle that is in their midst." 00:00:43.920 |
So there's two things that are told us here, to keep the people of Israel clean. 00:00:49.320 |
Again this is not just a summary of chapter 15, but all the chapters that we've been talking 00:00:54.760 |
So how many chapters we're talking about uncleanness up to this point? 00:01:02.400 |
What chapter did we start with the uncleanness? 00:01:11.520 |
Chapter 11, anybody remember what chapter 11 was about? 00:01:21.000 |
All you have to do is flip through your Bible, okay? 00:01:23.560 |
The food and animals, which are unclean foods and which are unclean animals. 00:01:30.080 |
And then chapter 12 was about uncleanness and childbearing, right? 00:01:41.060 |
And then chapter 13 and 14, we were just there, about leprosy. 00:01:48.120 |
Chapter 13 is about diagnosing leprosy and then chapter 14 is about restoration back 00:01:55.480 |
And so chapter 15 is a summary, is the last part of the series on the uncleanness. 00:02:00.880 |
What makes you clean and what makes you unclean? 00:02:02.800 |
And so he spells out the reason why all of this was given is to keep Israel clean, right? 00:02:09.400 |
And again, the idea of cleanness is to be set apart, to be different from the rest of 00:02:15.760 |
We're going to get into that at the end of the Bible study and why this is so significant, 00:02:20.760 |
And so he spells out at the very end, in conclusion of chapter 11 through 15, that the first reason 00:02:26.120 |
given why all of these is given is to keep you separate, make you clean. 00:02:31.580 |
The second reason is given, the second part, is to prevent death by defiling God's holy 00:02:36.800 |
Remember when we started the book of Leviticus, right? 00:02:40.240 |
Remember in Exodus, God establishes a tabernacle, but he's up in the mountain? 00:02:46.600 |
Book of Leviticus, God comes down and he's speaking from the tabernacle, but they can't 00:02:53.160 |
And then we go to Numbers, God calls them into the tabernacle. 00:02:56.300 |
So the whole purpose of this tabernacle is so that God's holy presence can dwell with 00:03:02.960 |
And if the people are not clean, if they are not covered and they're not clean, what would 00:03:11.980 |
So basically what he is saying here is that the purpose of these laws is so, one, so that 00:03:17.220 |
they would be kept clean, and secondly, so they would not die in their uncleanness when 00:03:24.620 |
Okay, so that's pretty much the summary of the last four chapters that we were looking at. 00:03:33.420 |
So just as a quick review, chapter 11 through 15, it varies in seriousness and duration. 00:03:40.940 |
All of the laws were to describe or teachings about how to identify what is clean and unclean, 00:03:47.420 |
but they are all varying in seriousness and duration. 00:03:52.940 |
So the first one, we start in chapter 11, the uncleanness that is talked about with 00:04:03.220 |
So this was a regular part of who they were, and it was a permanent part of their lives, 00:04:09.740 |
These animals who are declared unclean are unclean permanently, and these certain things 00:04:15.100 |
that he says are clean are clean permanently. 00:04:18.300 |
The second one, that's with chapter 12, again, depending on what was going on through childbirth, 00:04:30.060 |
It was not permanent, but the duration was a bit longer. 00:04:34.600 |
And then chapter 13, the skin disease, could be permanent because there was no cure for it, 00:04:43.820 |
and the duration could have been permanent, ultimately leading to death, unless God showed 00:04:50.700 |
And then the final one today in chapter 15, that it deals with uncleanness associated 00:04:57.160 |
with discharge, associated with reproduction, which only lasts one day or up to seven days. 00:05:04.180 |
So considering all the different laws that were given to us starting from chapter 11, 00:05:09.620 |
chapter 15 is probably the lightest of all the laws, and the consequences of it is probably 00:05:19.100 |
Because if you were defiled in any way, the duration in which you were to be isolated 00:05:25.560 |
or to be unclean, most of the time would have been just one day. 00:05:29.220 |
You would have just washed your hands and washed your clothes, taken a bath, and you 00:05:33.140 |
would have been considered unclean until the rest of the night, and then tomorrow morning 00:05:36.500 |
you would be considered clean, unless you had some abnormal discharge, and that would 00:05:41.940 |
take you about seven days, and the eighth day you would be restored. 00:05:47.780 |
Now again, all of this is going to mean something at the end, but for the time being, just as 00:05:54.900 |
So out of all the four different types of uncleanness, this is probably the lightest. 00:06:04.980 |
The seriousness of the leprosy that we looked at in verse 13 and 14 points to the need for 00:06:12.620 |
Remember we talked about how other than the mercy of God, there was no cure for leprosy? 00:06:19.240 |
And every part of the law of leprosy, the ugliness of what it brought and the damage 00:06:23.460 |
that it created, the isolation, and ultimately they were cast out outside the camp, and all 00:06:32.380 |
they had to do, were able to do, is either wait for the disease to take its course and 00:06:39.060 |
then slowly deteriorate and die, or somehow by the mercy of God, God would bring healing 00:06:46.460 |
So all of it, chapter 13 and 14, is a point to our utter helplessness without God, ultimately 00:06:55.340 |
Today in chapter 15, the uncleanness is not as serious, the remedy is less rigorous, has 00:07:01.980 |
no need for isolation, and it's only temporary. 00:07:08.820 |
None of the stuff that's mentioned here is permanent. 00:07:11.700 |
It reminds God's people of the consistent need for purification, which points to, ultimately, 00:07:18.260 |
So chapter 13 and 14, if we were to spiritualize and say, "Well, what does leprosy and all 00:07:26.140 |
Ultimately, it points to justification, that we're utterly helpless until God steps in 00:07:32.140 |
Chapter 15 points to a constant need for purification, again, which Jesus mentions in chapter 13, 00:07:41.380 |
10, with the disciples, "The one who has bathed does not need to wash except for his feet, 00:07:45.740 |
but is completely clean, and you are clean, but not every one of you." 00:07:51.380 |
So if you are a genuine believer, meaning that you have bathed, and you don't need to 00:07:58.460 |
And so when Jesus said that, it clearly points to this aspect of purification, that need 00:08:07.340 |
to constantly go, but doesn't need justification. 00:08:12.540 |
On 15.3, "Already you are clean, because the word that I have spoken to you." 00:08:19.580 |
So the way God describes salvation as clean and unclean, clearly pointing to the laws 00:08:29.580 |
Again, all of this is just a summary of what is stated in chapter 15. 00:08:35.740 |
In the four central sections of chapter 15, there is the definition. 00:08:39.380 |
Again, this is a rough outline of hopefully what you read before you came here. 00:08:44.580 |
There's definition of the types of contamination, and there's four types that he talks about. 00:08:49.580 |
There's descriptions of the consequences, if these things are happening, what you need 00:08:54.340 |
to do, and an explanation of how to appropriate right of purification. 00:09:03.460 |
Definition, description of consequence, and how to remedy that. 00:09:17.220 |
They needed to wash, they needed to wash their hands, they needed to take a bath, and they 00:09:22.100 |
needed to wash their clothes, and then they needed to wait until evening, if somehow they 00:09:28.540 |
So again, out of the four different rituals, this one was probably the lightest. 00:09:35.900 |
It doesn't mean that it wasn't important, in fact it has huge consequences, which we'll 00:09:41.100 |
But I want you to understand, remember, the book of Leviticus is written in what kind 00:09:53.500 |
Chiastic meaning you have point one, two, three, and then where's the main point? 00:09:59.180 |
In the middle, and then it mimics the first part of it in the opposite direction, the 00:10:08.340 |
So remember the chiastic form, chapter 1 through 15, is in reference to what? 00:10:18.780 |
Cleanliness of tabernacle, sacrifices, the priesthood, and then all of these rules are 00:10:24.780 |
about how they ought to or not enter into the tabernacle. 00:10:29.060 |
Now we're going to see all of this in the reverse order. 00:10:31.640 |
Chapter 17 and going on, it's going to be talking about how to be clean, but this time, 00:10:38.120 |
instead of talking about how to enter the tabernacle, it's talking about daily life. 00:10:44.320 |
So it's going to mimic, the subject is going to be mimicked in the opposite order, except 00:10:48.680 |
the point of chapter 1 through 15 is from the perspective of the tabernacle. 00:10:54.440 |
How you ought to be clean in order to participate in the community in the tabernacle, and then 00:10:58.760 |
chapter 17 to the end of the book is going to be talking about purification and cleanness 00:11:11.760 |
Now why I'm telling you this, because up to this point, he doesn't talk about if you became 00:11:22.500 |
It just tells you if you are impure, this is what you need to do in order to come back 00:11:28.960 |
As we go and we mimic the same subject in the opposite order, he's going to be talking 00:11:33.360 |
about when you break this command, what the consequences are as far as sin is concerned. 00:11:43.400 |
Because this side is just talking about society. 00:11:47.400 |
This is what happens if you don't keep the law, or if something happens to you that you 00:11:55.060 |
On this side, there's personal responsibility. 00:12:00.180 |
If that went over your head, just keep it in your mind, and later on when we get to 00:12:15.640 |
Chapter 15, and the whole book of Leviticus is written in the chiastic form. 00:12:21.280 |
Chapter 15 itself is written in the chiastic form. 00:12:25.720 |
The first two cases concern continuing occasional omission of the male, then an end is followed 00:12:32.240 |
with the last two cases that reverses this order dealing with female, meaning verse 18 00:12:38.880 |
is at the center of the chiastic structure, which is highlighted in the sexual relations 00:12:44.920 |
To give you a quick outline, that's what the outline looks like. 00:12:49.200 |
The beginning of chapter begins with chapter 1-15 talking about the abnormal, not normal 00:12:56.440 |
discharge from the male, and then 16-17 talking about not because of any kind of disease, 00:13:02.560 |
but the normal discharge of semen, and then it talks about verse 18. 00:13:08.160 |
Again, it connects the man and the woman in verse 18 with sexual relations and the fluids 00:13:16.880 |
that come from that, how that makes them unclean, and then it reverses the order with the female, 00:13:21.480 |
with the normal female discharge, with the abnormal female discharge. 00:13:24.400 |
Talking about menstruation in verse 19-24, and then abnormal menstruation in verse 25-30. 00:13:41.680 |
So everything that is taught centers around what is being taught in verse 18. 00:13:47.960 |
So we are supposed to read chapter 15 understanding the main point of all of these laws is to 00:13:56.680 |
give us a clear understanding of sexual relationship between man and woman. 00:14:03.680 |
I thought you'd be more excited about this subject. 00:14:12.680 |
So I'm going to come back and repeat this so that you'll have a better understanding, 00:14:16.040 |
but this is one of those chapters that if you just skim through it, I mean there's so 00:14:19.920 |
much contained in chapter 11 through chapter 15 that if you skim through it, I guarantee 00:14:24.960 |
you your understanding of the gospel is going to be superficial. 00:14:28.640 |
I'm sure many of you have already caught that, that so much of the language and so much of 00:14:33.800 |
the teaching in the New Testament comes directly out of the book of Leviticus, and there's 00:14:38.120 |
bits and pieces of the gospel that you probably didn't understand until you start talking 00:14:43.280 |
to a Jehovah's Witness or somebody starts challenging your view of the gospel, and then 00:14:47.480 |
you realize you don't have a good answer, right? 00:14:52.960 |
You just kind of accept that God loved you and died for you, you know, and then he was 00:14:56.280 |
buried, he was raised, great, I love him, I'm going to go to heaven, which is all true, 00:15:02.000 |
but until you actually challenge that, well, what does it mean? 00:15:11.460 |
So all of this language that's embedded and used repeatedly in the New Testament, you 00:15:16.440 |
probably just kind of heard it, and you've heard it so many times, you just kind of assumed 00:15:20.320 |
you knew, but if you go witnessing and talk to non-Christians on a regular basis, I'm 00:15:26.100 |
pretty sure you're very familiar with a lot of the stuff that I'm already saying, because 00:15:31.040 |
a lot of times if you talk to people with different religion or a false gospel, you're 00:15:39.120 |
But if you're living in isolation and you rarely share the gospel with anybody, you 00:15:44.120 |
probably have holes all over your understanding of the gospel, but you just don't know where 00:15:50.360 |
And that's why the book of Leviticus is so important, because it gives you a deeper understanding 00:15:55.920 |
of what you already profess to believe, right? 00:15:59.720 |
Again, I say this over and over again because I know how easily we can get lost in the book 00:16:04.760 |
of Leviticus, thinking like, "Oh, what is the point of this, about this discharge? 00:16:09.720 |
Oh, we learned about menstruation today, men in their semen secretion, that's what we learned 00:16:20.880 |
Again, remember I talked about in my sermon a couple weeks ago why sexual immorality was 00:16:27.240 |
so emphasized in the New Testament, considering there's murder, stealing, robbing, I mean 00:16:34.000 |
all sorts of horrendous things that human beings could commit against one another, why 00:16:38.960 |
this sexual relationship, sexual deviation is highlighted in the New Testament to be 00:16:49.920 |
But just to give you an outline of all of this. 00:16:54.600 |
Now, I forgot to mention, all of this ultimately points to what is clean and what is unclean. 00:17:03.520 |
We talked about food, giving birth, disease, and then now sexual relations. 00:17:13.480 |
All four of these things are a part of everyday part of human life. 00:17:20.640 |
These aren't things that you just see rarely, these are things that majority of it you wouldn't 00:17:32.400 |
This is normal part of living in a fallen world. 00:17:36.640 |
Giving birth, we wouldn't be here without that. 00:17:39.520 |
Sexual relations is obviously what leads to all of that. 00:17:43.580 |
So all of these laws that govern what's between in human existence, what is clean and unclean, 00:17:56.640 |
So when you think about, as a Jew, when these commandments were given, what is clean and 00:18:02.000 |
unclean, these are not deviations from human life where you went somewhere and you went 00:18:07.760 |
up to the mountains or you ran into something or some strange jellyfish bit you in the arm 00:18:14.640 |
We're talking about essential things that you can't survive with that would make you 00:18:23.080 |
So think about it as a Jew who was in that system, who was taught that for hundreds of 00:18:30.080 |
years, where they were concerned about where they went to. 00:18:35.640 |
If they went into a house, do they have pork in here? 00:18:39.800 |
If there's a woman during menstruation, that's unclean. 00:18:48.920 |
The guy who was unclean was just in here and he touched this table. 00:18:58.040 |
But then you're in a Gentile home, they don't distinguish between clean and unclean. 00:19:01.760 |
So if they bring something on the plate that is considered unclean, you would become unclean. 00:19:12.080 |
If this was part of your daily diet and basically your core of your existence and it says that 00:19:20.760 |
if you do this, you become unclean, if you do this, you're clean and you had all of these 00:19:26.760 |
It wasn't just kind of like you became unclean and you said, "Oh, I'm sorry, I shouldn't 00:19:33.640 |
Every time you became unclean, even this, even though this was the lightest of the commandments, 00:19:37.960 |
you had to wash your hands, you had to take a bath, you had to go put all the clothes 00:19:42.480 |
in laundry, and you had to wait till evening. 00:19:47.880 |
And this is the lightest of all the commandments. 00:19:52.480 |
But the minimum requirement was you take a bath, wash, change your clothes. 00:19:57.200 |
And again, we're not talking about people today where you have all different kinds of 00:20:01.960 |
wardrobes and if you get one dirty, you just put one in the laundry and put another one 00:20:06.440 |
Majority of the people only owned one item of clothing. 00:20:09.960 |
So if they became unclean, what happened to them? 00:20:16.560 |
I mean, you sat around naked or you put a blanket over, you have to sit there in isolation 00:20:25.440 |
No one could be in the room because wherever you sat, they're going to become unclean. 00:20:29.200 |
So imagine the psychology of a Jew during the time of Christ. 00:20:36.440 |
Now you understand why the Jews didn't want to go through Samaria. 00:20:43.240 |
If they went through Samaria and they ended up touching something of the Gentiles, it 00:20:53.320 |
They go to a restaurant and then something is served and they didn't distinguish between 00:21:03.000 |
It naturally separated Israel from the rest of the world. 00:21:08.680 |
It naturally separated Israel from any other nation because Israel was the only country 00:21:19.860 |
Remember what God told Israel when they go into the Promised Land to do what? 00:21:30.680 |
And all of these rituals that God gave them forced them to be if they obeyed it. 00:21:41.760 |
Chapter 15 described four cases of secretion from the reproductive organs that resulted 00:21:50.000 |
Two of these cases arose from disease and two from natural causes. 00:21:54.000 |
So this is just again another summary of this chapter. 00:21:57.680 |
The first description of the discharge seemed to refer to either diseased flow of semen 00:22:02.680 |
and many commentators believe that it was a description of maybe gonorrhea, sexually 00:22:07.160 |
transmitted disease, or a discharge of pus from the urethra. 00:22:14.720 |
This was some kind of disease that this person had. 00:22:19.600 |
The second case deals with a non-disease voluntary emission of semen. 00:22:32.760 |
Whatever it was, was a normal secretion of semen would have been considered unclean. 00:22:40.720 |
The third case deals with the woman's menstrual cycle, which was normal. 00:22:45.960 |
Any healthy female would have experienced this monthly. 00:22:49.000 |
So every month, once a week, for seven days, she would have had to have been in isolation. 00:22:53.860 |
And any bed that she slept on, anything that she touched became unclean. 00:22:57.800 |
And one of the things it says is that if a man and a woman is having relations and she 00:23:02.240 |
happens to start her period, he also becomes unclean for seven days. 00:23:12.280 |
And then, fourthly, the case involved a woman who experienced continuing menstrual problems 00:23:20.620 |
Her purification ritual was the same as the one prescribed for a man with an abnormal 00:23:26.160 |
So we see the case of this in the book of Mark and Luke, right? 00:23:33.920 |
So Mark chapter 5, and I'll just read this passage. 00:23:38.600 |
And there was a woman who had a discharge of blood for 12 years. 00:23:45.040 |
If she had a discharge of blood that she couldn't stop for 12 years, think about what her life 00:23:52.960 |
Her presence would make other people unclean. 00:23:55.560 |
So it may not have been as uncomfortable as leprosy. 00:24:00.100 |
She was not forced to live outside the camp, but might as well have because she couldn't 00:24:07.160 |
So she probably hid it as much as she could, right? 00:24:12.440 |
She had this problem for 12 years and who had suffered much under many physicians and 00:24:15.880 |
had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse. 00:24:20.400 |
So again, we can understand why she spent every single penny that she had to fix this 00:24:25.040 |
problem because she wouldn't have been able to be around people. 00:24:36.660 |
She had heard the reports of Jesus and came up behind him in a crowd and touched his garment. 00:24:40.920 |
So imagine how scandalous that would have been for a woman who was bleeding for 12 years 00:24:47.320 |
to come and not to be in the presence of that crowd. 00:24:51.080 |
So the fact that she was there, anybody who was around her would have become unclean. 00:24:56.140 |
So because of her, all of them would have had to at the minimum wash their hands, wash 00:25:02.680 |
their clothes, and then be in isolation for the rest of the day because she came into 00:25:11.280 |
So she comes in, she deliberately comes and touches Jesus' garment. 00:25:15.760 |
She said, "If I touch even his garment, I will be made well." 00:25:18.560 |
So she was desperate that even though this was unlawful for her to do, she did it anyway. 00:25:24.080 |
And immediately the flow of blood dried up and she felt in her body that she was healed 00:25:29.300 |
And Jesus perceiving in himself that power that had gone out from him immediately turned 00:25:33.400 |
about in a crowd and said, "Who touched my garment?" 00:25:39.120 |
So in every other instance, right, if she touched the other person, what happens to 00:25:47.720 |
For the first time, she touches Jesus and what happens? 00:25:55.800 |
Every other human being, even by touching the table, sitting on the table, and that 00:26:00.320 |
person coming and sitting at that table will become unclean. 00:26:08.660 |
Only by touching Jesus was this curse reversed. 00:26:26.960 |
One of the most sacrilegious things that they were told not to do is to drink the blood, 00:26:32.200 |
eat the blood of the animal because the life of the animal is in the blood. 00:26:38.640 |
I mean, you talk about if this made you unclean, drinking blood, right, would have been blasphemous 00:26:45.880 |
But Jesus says in John chapter 6, "If you do not drink of my blood and eat of my flesh, 00:26:53.640 |
In every other instance, they would have been stoned to death. 00:26:57.360 |
But Jesus says if you drink of me, the curse actually gets reversed. 00:27:07.860 |
In every other instance, our sins bring out the sins of other people. 00:27:13.880 |
In every other instance, our defilement defiles other people. 00:27:20.460 |
If you're selfish, you end up, you and I typically trigger the selfishness of other people. 00:27:29.600 |
Because you and I live in a society where under the curse and condemnation of sin, you 00:27:35.120 |
are born a sinner, and then you sin, and your sin causes other people to sin, and we trigger 00:27:47.920 |
And only in Christ, only in Christ, when we touch him and when we drink of him and eat 00:27:58.560 |
And so now, instead of sin being infectious to other people, what happens? 00:28:03.340 |
The love of Christ begins to infect other people, which is the core of the gospel message. 00:28:12.200 |
You understand how profound this foundation is to the understanding of the gospel message 00:28:20.000 |
Because everything about this Levitical system was to teach about the element of what sin 00:28:26.920 |
is doing to mankind and its society, to its family, to its husband, to wife, to children, 00:28:32.540 |
to generations, to the society, to the nation. 00:28:35.960 |
And all of a sudden, Jesus comes in and he absorbs the sin. 00:28:40.560 |
Instead of reacting to the sin, he draws near, and he who knew no sin became sin. 00:28:45.160 |
He absorbs sin, and in his resurrection, he actually reverses the curse. 00:28:51.520 |
Instead of him becoming unclean, we become clean because we touch him, because we eat 00:28:57.140 |
I mean, again, as difficult and as hard as Leviticus is, Leviticus is so profound because 00:29:04.060 |
it gives us a deeper understanding of what you and I already confess. 00:29:09.700 |
And again, after he says that, the disciples said to him, "You crowds of press are around 00:29:17.620 |
And he looked around to see who had done it, but the woman, knowing what had happened to 00:29:21.860 |
her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him and told him the whole truth. 00:29:28.900 |
If the disciples knew what she was doing, she could have easily been stoned. 00:29:33.340 |
And he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well. 00:29:37.540 |
So again, the Levitical law gives us a better understanding of that miracle. 00:29:45.380 |
Why were these things considered unclean in the first place? 00:29:49.860 |
In Genesis 3, verse 16, the curse of sin reaches into the relationship between a husband and 00:30:00.880 |
Sexual perversion is at the core of human rebellion. 00:30:04.560 |
So it wasn't just, you know, in our culture we talk a lot about homosexuality because 00:30:14.240 |
it's being pushed as an agenda, but all sexuality has been perverted. 00:30:20.960 |
We can't fight homosexuality while watching perverted heterosexual porn because it's both 00:30:32.080 |
Now homosexuality is highlighted in the scripture as being greater sin, but all sexuality, all 00:30:38.280 |
sexuality that you and I experience is perverted because we don't simply have desire for husband 00:30:50.320 |
So at the fall, sexuality was at the core of human existence, at the core of giving 00:31:04.540 |
So one of the things that this points to is that human sexuality in and of itself is at 00:31:16.260 |
This is before they enter into the land of the Canaanites and he told them to be separate. 00:31:22.020 |
The Canaanite worship, at the core of it, practiced prostitution and orgies as a regular 00:31:28.360 |
And this was not just at this time, but even at the time of Christ when they said, "I don't 00:31:34.820 |
A good chunk of the idol worship involved orgies and prostitution. 00:31:38.540 |
And so we see that clearly being stated in the book of Corinthians, right? 00:31:43.560 |
How they're going to the temples and how a lot of the stuff that Paul mentions there 00:31:48.100 |
are cultural things prohibiting visitation of prostitution because that was a regular 00:31:57.300 |
So by God making restrictions on these things, automatically prevented Israel to associate 00:32:06.520 |
Their dietary laws, their sexuality, all of it automatically would cause them to be set 00:32:17.660 |
None of these discharges made a man or woman sinful, only ceremonially unclean. 00:32:21.780 |
He doesn't say that because of the secretion and because you had sex that somehow you became 00:32:29.220 |
It's saying you became ceremonially unclean, ultimately pointing to a specific teaching 00:32:35.580 |
It's not that there was anything inherently wrong with the discharges, but because these 00:32:41.060 |
two are connected with the symbol of life and redemption. 00:32:46.540 |
I think I mentioned this either in Bible study or on Sunday sermon. 00:32:50.780 |
I think it was in the Sunday sermon, how what you and I consider to be sacred, right? 00:32:58.100 |
We have so many children being born and new life coming into the world as a source of 00:33:07.140 |
We would consider if there's anything sacred in our culture, at least from our perspective, 00:33:16.980 |
Because they're innocent, they're pure, at least that's from our perspective. 00:33:20.340 |
But in God's perspective, and in the spiritual reality is, another sinner is coming into 00:33:28.340 |
Until he is atoned by the blood of Christ, he's also another sinner, another human being 00:33:34.140 |
that will rebel against God by his own nature. 00:33:39.980 |
As innocent as it may, again, in comparison to us, if we believe in original sin, which 00:33:46.100 |
the Bible clearly teaches, every human being born into this world is another human being 00:33:54.740 |
It is not pure, it is not sacred, spiritually speaking. 00:34:00.300 |
Now, I want to spend a little bit of time on this passage, Genesis 6, 1-5, because I 00:34:06.100 |
remember doing a paper on this when I was an undergrad Bible major at Biola. 00:34:12.340 |
Who are the Nephilim, who are the sons of God and daughters of man? 00:34:23.380 |
But I have my own theory, and I want to share my theory with you. 00:34:27.300 |
It's not heretical, but to me, it makes the most sense out of all the different things 00:34:35.980 |
In Genesis 6, 1-5, it says, "When man began to multiply on the face of the land, and the 00:34:39.900 |
daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive, 00:34:44.620 |
and they took as their wives any they chose." 00:34:49.700 |
So the question is, who are the sons of God and who are the daughters of man? 00:34:53.380 |
So some of the theory is the sons of God were specific angels that were sent down to earth, 00:34:59.980 |
and we don't know who they are, we don't know why they're here, but somehow these celestial 00:35:03.980 |
beings were interacting with human beings, like females, and as a result of that, it 00:35:10.820 |
created this either super race or this race that was in rebellion against God. 00:35:17.700 |
So that's one of the common theories of how they interpret this passage. 00:35:22.860 |
And the Lord said, "My spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh, and his days 00:35:28.780 |
So let me give you my theory and how I understand this. 00:35:33.180 |
I think the description "sons of God" and "daughters of man" is just talking about human 00:35:39.540 |
You know, in Corinthians it says that the glory of man is God, and the glory of a woman 00:35:45.420 |
is man, and other parts of the Bible it describes women as daughters of man, and then there's 00:35:51.320 |
other parts of the scripture where it just describes men as sons of God, right? 00:35:56.460 |
And so I don't necessarily think that this is in reference to celestial angelic beings. 00:36:02.940 |
I think it's just a description of how they were having relations and mankind was multiplying. 00:36:09.100 |
So there wasn't something specifically sinful about this celestial being and this human 00:36:17.820 |
I think it's just a description of the multiplication of sinners. 00:36:24.740 |
If you've never read this passage before, you're probably like, "What is he talking 00:36:28.380 |
But if you've ever read this and you've asked this question or you've wrestled with this, 00:36:32.220 |
you know, hopefully you know what I'm getting at. 00:36:35.020 |
I think Genesis chapter 6, 1 through 5 is just a description of mankind just growing 00:36:42.160 |
And basically what they're saying is as they were multiplying and filling the land, what 00:36:48.340 |
Wickedness was increasing as mankind was increasing. 00:36:55.100 |
It's not talking about any specific sin of the celestial being and human being. 00:36:59.180 |
It's just man and woman having relations, they're multiplying like crazy and the more 00:37:03.100 |
they multiply, there was more sin, more wickedness. 00:37:08.940 |
Now you can challenge me, but that's my theory on this. 00:37:13.180 |
It's not heresy in one way or the other, but to me that makes more sense. 00:37:16.620 |
To me it seems more consistent to what other parts I see. 00:37:20.220 |
Now why I'm bringing this up is because whether this passage is actually saying this or not, 00:37:27.740 |
that's exactly what's described in scripture. 00:37:34.980 |
You ever wonder why the people out in the farms in the rural areas tend to be nicer? 00:37:43.460 |
Why the people, like anywhere you go, you know, if you go to Beijing, people tend to 00:37:48.860 |
be a little bit more testy and impatient, but if you go to the countryside, they're 00:37:54.300 |
If you go to Seoul, people tend to be testy and more impatient. 00:37:58.800 |
If you go to Jeju-do, the countryside, people tend to be more patient. 00:38:03.380 |
If you go to New York or parts of California, people tend to be more impatient and irritable, 00:38:09.820 |
but if you go to the Midwest, generally tend to be a bit more patient. 00:38:16.060 |
My theory is if you're around with a lot of people, you're facing a lot of sin, because 00:38:26.140 |
the more people you're around, there's more selfishness, there's more gossiping, there's 00:38:32.140 |
more reasons to have problems, there's more reasons to be irritated. 00:38:38.180 |
So if you look at people who have jobs, whose job is to regularly deal with people, they 00:38:50.420 |
That's why the people at DMV are always irritated, because they're dealing with people all day 00:38:56.220 |
It's just that anybody who has jobs where they have to deal with people all day long 00:38:59.740 |
tend to be more irritable, and people who tend to just kind of be in isolation, maybe 00:39:06.700 |
Again, this is just my theory, but I think, again, what I see in scripture is that when 00:39:14.100 |
the Bible talks about everybody getting together and we're going to have peace and all this 00:39:21.940 |
Because if you gather a lot of sinners together, eventually there's going to be a lot of sin 00:39:33.580 |
I bet money that you're going to agree with me one day, right? 00:39:37.380 |
The more you experience people, the more you will agree with me, I think. 00:39:43.180 |
So the increase of people is, all of this points to increase of sin. 00:39:50.420 |
And so this particular law, it was a constant reminder to the nation of Israel, wherever 00:39:59.380 |
And there's a lot of human beings, there's greater uncleanness. 00:40:06.020 |
And this is, again, embedded into the culture. 00:40:08.940 |
Biblical principle to glean in the New Covenant. 00:40:12.780 |
All things are lawful, but not all things are helpful. 00:40:14.860 |
So this law wasn't telling us that it is sinful, but the clean and unclean pointed to what 00:40:25.100 |
Again, I might be milking it here, but in 1 Corinthians 10, 20-24, it says all things 00:40:31.860 |
All things are lawful, but not all things build up. 00:40:34.620 |
And the one seeks his own good, but the good of his neighbor. 00:40:40.380 |
So it doesn't say that because of these things that you became, you sinned and you needed 00:40:49.060 |
But there was a constant reminder to the nation of Israel that they were unclean. 00:40:58.620 |
If you are at home, even now, if you have a female in your home, seven days out of the 00:41:07.500 |
month, your whole house has to get shut down. 00:41:14.060 |
If you have a daughter, and their periods don't line up, it could be two weeks out of 00:41:21.180 |
the four months, your house has to shut down. 00:41:26.740 |
It was a constant reminder that you were unclean. 00:41:31.180 |
It was a constant reminder that uncleanness is not something that you could escape from. 00:41:43.300 |
We have corruptible bodies, but we will one day have incorruptible ones. 00:41:50.420 |
What he says in chapter 15 are things that you could not avoid. 00:41:53.660 |
Every human being was in constant, constantly having to cleanse themselves, wash their hands, 00:42:00.700 |
take a bath, to be ceremonially clean, to be able to approach God. 00:42:04.540 |
Meaning that this law constantly reminded every Israelite that their bodies were corrupted. 00:42:13.020 |
And that's why the Bible talks about that the perishable body will be put on imperishable, 00:42:19.900 |
When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and mortal puts on immortality, then shall 00:42:23.500 |
come the passing that is written, "Death is swallowed up in victory." 00:42:26.740 |
Until death comes, there will always be impurity in our body. 00:42:33.860 |
And third, finally, bad company corrupts good morals. 00:42:40.020 |
So if you read chapter 15, you know how easily this uncleanness was transferred. 00:42:47.700 |
By shaking somebody's hand if you didn't wash your hands, by sitting somewhere where they 00:42:51.900 |
were sitting, touching something that they touched, it was easily transferable. 00:42:56.660 |
And that's why the best thing to do was for them to be in isolation. 00:43:01.740 |
Again, something that mirrors that in the New Testament says bad company ruins good 00:43:06.940 |
morals in 2 Corinthians 6.14, which says not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers, for 00:43:12.540 |
what partner has righteousness with lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? 00:43:16.980 |
Again, he's not saying that don't be around non-Christians. 00:43:19.740 |
He's talking about unequally being yoked where you're partnering together for something. 00:43:25.500 |
And obviously, the immediate application of that could be dating or being married to an 00:43:33.400 |
But the reverse of that, he says in verse 17, "For the unbelieving husband is made holy 00:43:49.500 |
because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. 00:43:52.980 |
Otherwise, your children will be unclean, for as it is, they are holy." 00:43:56.820 |
So just as much the scripture warns us about not being unequally yoked, and bad company 00:44:01.780 |
corrupts good morals, the reverse of that is an individual who has been sanctified in 00:44:06.620 |
the name of Christ, that their presence sanctifies others. 00:44:09.940 |
Now the word sanctify here doesn't mean that that person is saved. 00:44:13.540 |
That there's a heaven and hell, and then there's an intermediary place for people who are married 00:44:21.220 |
He's talking about common grace, that because of a believing person in that home, that the 00:44:27.460 |
other people in that home are nearer to what purifies them, which is the gospel, which 00:44:34.540 |
So if we are aromas of Christ, meaning that if you are an unbeliever or believe in an 00:44:40.900 |
unbelieving home, Paul's telling them do not leave, because your presence sanctifies the 00:44:51.020 |
So the only thing, in every other aspect, if you're unclean, you make them unclean, 00:44:57.820 |
their uncleanness makes you unclean, but the only part, only thing that reverses that is 00:45:05.700 |
So if we've been touched by the blood of Christ, our presence in this world is to reverse this 00:45:13.060 |
Instead of their uncleanness making us unclean, and uncleanness making them unclean, he says 00:45:18.980 |
the blood of Christ that touched us, now we act as an agent of purifying the world. 00:45:26.140 |
So that's why the Bible describes us as the salt of the earth. 00:45:29.700 |
We are the light that has come into darkness. 00:45:37.100 |
If we are the light, we are spreading light into a world that keeps getting darker and 00:45:41.540 |
darker and darker, and that's the principle that we see in this teaching in Leviticus 00:45:47.020 |
So the three discussion questions for today, what are some things that would be considered 00:45:55.380 |
lawful or not sinful, but are not helpful or profitable? 00:45:58.460 |
What are some biblical principles that should help us be guided in how to handle these things 00:46:04.200 |
So 1 Corinthians 10, 23-33 is where that phrase comes from, lawful but not profitable. 00:46:13.340 |
Number two, what are some things that you do or don't do that is a constant reminder 00:46:16.980 |
to you and to the people around you that you are set apart for God, that you're not like 00:46:24.220 |
Not simply what you say, but what are some things that causes you to stand out at your 00:46:31.220 |
Three, what is the greatest thing you've learned from the study of Leviticus? 00:46:35.500 |
This is just kind of in prep for a summary, just so that you have some time for discussion, 00:46:42.060 |
So up to this point, all the way up to the beginning of chapter one, what are some things 00:46:45.300 |
that caused you to, the greatest thing that you say that you've gleaned from the study 00:46:50.420 |
of the book of Leviticus, and how did you apply that in your life? 00:46:53.820 |
All right, let me pray for us, and then I'll have you guys get into your small groups. 00:47:01.780 |
Gracious and loving Father, we thank you for this evening. 00:47:04.580 |
We thank you, Lord God, that even though this material is difficult to understand, help 00:47:12.980 |
us, Lord God, to glean from it what you have desired and how you've embedded this into 00:47:16.540 |
the culture and the mindset and the society of your people, the Israelites, and how that 00:47:23.220 |
prepared them to understand the depth of your gospel. 00:47:26.940 |
Help us to glean, Father God, what it is that you have given us, and that in view of this 00:47:31.940 |
great mercy that we truly would live appropriate, reasonable lives.