Clean or Unclean?

Leviticus 11:24 “And by these you shall become unclean. Whoever touches their carcass shall be unclean until the evening, 25 and whoever carries any part of their carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening. 26 Every animal that parts the hoof but is not cloven-footed or does not chew the cud is unclean to you. Everyone who touches them shall be unclean. 27 And all that walk on their paws, among the animals that go on all fours, are unclean to you. Whoever touches their carcass shall be unclean until the evening, 28 and he who carries their carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening; they are unclean to you.

One the of things that many find most curious about the Levitical Laws is the distinction between clean and unclean animals.  Some of these things go back to Noah and the animals brought onto the ark. It was for more than a healthy diet that these were given. The main reason was to distinguish the worship of Israel from that of her pagan neighboring cultures with their idol worship.  Everything named clean or unclean - not just animals - was to call attention to Israel as being a set apart people who worshipped only the true and living God. There was nothing they were to have in common with the immoral idol-worshipping people whose land they were to receive or who would surround them after they settled. The key question is: Will we obey what God commands without always questioning His wisdom or His ways?

The First Ordination

22 Then he presented the other ram, the ram of ordination, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram. 23 And he killed it, and Moses took some of its blood and put it on the lobe of Aaron's right ear and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot. 24 Then he presented Aaron's sons, and Moses put some of the blood on the lobes of their right ears and on the thumbs of their right hands and on the big toes of their right feet. And Moses threw the blood against the sides of the altar. 25 Then he took the fat and the fat tail and all the fat that was on the entrails and the long lobe of the liver and the two kidneys with their fat and the right thigh, 26 and out of the basket of unleavened bread that was before the Lord he took one unleavened loaf and one loaf of bread with oil and one wafer and placed them on the pieces of fat and on the right thigh. 

If you have ever been to the ordination service for a deacon, elder, priest, missionary, evangelist, or other church leader, it probably was a little different than this first recorded one: that of Aaron and his sons. But the imagery is very powerful here. To serve as priest one had to be truly set apart for service. The blood on the ear, thumb, and toe demonstrated a commitment to hear and speak God's word, to serve Him with one's hands, and to live(walk) in total obedience to Him. God asks no less of us as His priests today - not just the leaders mentioned above, but His whole Kingdom of Priests - each and every confessing follower.

Why Not That?

Leviticus 7:22 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 23 “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, You shall eat no fat, of ox or sheep or goat. 24 The fat of an animal that dies of itself and the fat of one that is torn by beasts may be put to any other use, but on no account shall you eat it. 25 For every person who eats of the fat of an animal of which a food offering may be made to the Lord shall be cut off from his people. 26 Moreover, you shall eat no blood whatever, whether of fowl or of animal, in any of your dwelling places. 27 Whoever eats any blood, that person shall be cut off from his people.”

The reference here is back to the peace offering, detailed in chapter 3, which was for reconciliation and fellowship between God and a sincere worshipper.  Nothing was to be held back for oneself but totally offered to God. In no cases was the blood to be eaten/drunk, as "the life is in the blood", and many pagan rituals involved the drinking of blood. We see here that even animals that died not from sacrifice but were potentially sacrifices were to be treated the same way.  No sacrifice was to be taken lightly or made for any selfish reasons.  All was Holy to the Lord.

Sin Offering Eater

Leviticus 6:24 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 25 “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, This is the law of the sin offering. In the place where the burnt offering is killed shall the sin offering be killed before the Lord; it is most holy. 26 The priest who offers it for sin shall eat it. In a holy place it shall be eaten, in the court of the tent of meeting. 

God spent over two chapters giving instructions for the sin offering, when it was to be offered, and by whom.  He now told about what to do with it.  It was to be eaten by the priests who had been made holy for this service.  God was very specific about who, when, and where it was to be eaten. Fast forward to the upper room, where Jesus said: "This is My body, given for you; take and eat." They were being told to eat the sin offering.  In that same setting He told them that they were made holy through their faith in Him. They, and those after them, were His priests, made holy through faith, who gather in remembrance of Him and what He has done.  This pictures God's acceptance of what Christ has done for us, just as the eating of the sin offering by the priest pictured God accepting the sin offering.

Special, Yet the Same

Leviticus 4:22 “When a leader sins, doing unintentionally any one of all the things that by the commandments of the Lord his God ought not to be done, and realizes his guilt, 23 or the sin which he has committed is made known to him, he shall bring as his offering a goat, a male without blemish, 24 and shall lay his hand on the head of the goat and kill it in the place where they kill the burnt offering before the Lord; it is a sin offering. 25 Then the priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and pour out the rest of its blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering. 26 And all its fat he shall burn on the altar, like the fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings. So the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin, and he shall be forgiven.

It only makes sense that since Exodus ends with the completion of the Tabernacle that this next book, Leviticus, would begin with the offerings brought there in worship.  When we come to chapter 4 we are talking about sin offerings, be it for sins by the priests, the whole people, individual citizens, or in this case by a leader of the people. In comparing the four classes, two distinct characteristics emerge. First, the cost of the sacrifice was greater for the leader than the average citizen. Second, whereas sins by the priests or the whole congregation had the blood taken into the holy place, while those of individuals -even leaders- did not. Sins of leaders are in a sense more important, yet on the other hand, they are not more important than any other citizen. They have greater accountability, but do not deserve special treatment. 

Everything Put into Place

Exodus 40: 20 He took the testimony and put it into the ark, and put the poles on the ark and set the mercy seat above on the ark. 21 And he brought the ark into the tabernacle and set up the veil of the screen, and screened the ark of the testimony, as the Lord had commanded Moses. 22 He put the table in the tent of meeting, on the north side of the tabernacle, outside the veil, 23 and arranged the bread on it before the Lord, as the Lord had commanded Moses. 24 He put the lampstand in the tent of meeting, opposite the table on the south side of the tabernacle, 25 and set up the lamps before the Lord, as the Lord had commanded Moses. 26 He put the golden altar in the tent of meeting before the veil, 27 and burned fragrant incense on it, as the Lord had commanded Moses. 28 He put in place the screen for the door of the tabernacle. 29 And he set the altar of burnt offering at the entrance of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting, and offered on it the burnt offering and the grain offering, as the Lord had commanded Moses. 30 He set the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it for washing, 31 with which Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet.

In this last chapter of Exodus, the assembly of the Tabernacle has been completed, and the furnishings have all been prepared. It is now move-in day. I remember well our recent move into our home, where we had planned where everything would go and fit just right. Once that was done, we could get on with what we came to do.  That is where Israel was: they had come out of Egypt to worship God. Now they were ready.  What is keeping you from being ready?  What is still not "in place"?  Stop holding back. Get on with putting everything in place.

Dressed for the Occasion...

Exodus 39:22 He also made the robe of the ephod woven all of blue, 23 and the opening of the robe in it was like the opening in a garment, with a binding around the opening, so that it might not tear. 24 On the hem of the robe they made pomegranates of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. 25 They also made bells of pure gold, and put the bells between the pomegranates all around the hem of the robe, between the pomegranates— 26 a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate around the hem of the robe for ministering, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

God had spelled out all the details for the place of worship. He had also addressed who would represent the people by entering into the temple.  Now the garments were being made for the priest who would do so.  This outer garment was bright but tasteful, with a special added touch: the bells at the bottom. It is said that they were to indicate that the priest inside was still alive.  Since the holiness of God was so profound, warnings were given about not approaching Him presumptuously. If a priest did so, and he were to faint or die inside, no one else could go in after him. It is also said they would put a rope around his foot in order to drag him back if necessary.  Others would be waiting outside, listening intently, while he would offer the prayers of his people to God.  Do we come "dressed" to God, waiting in such humble worship and anticipation?