Skip to content The Day of Atonement: A Call to Holiness Mar 5 · 17 min ...more
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Family Research Council is serving in the kingdom of God by championing faith, family, & freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview.
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Leviticus 15: Uncleanness and the Call to Holiness 0:10 Good morning. Well, the day of atonement has come. That's what we're looking at today in our passage of Leviticus chapters 15 and 16. Verse 29 of chapter 16, this shall be a statute for0:21 you forever in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls and do no work at all. Whether a native of your own country or a stranger who dwells among you. For on the day, the priest0:33 shall make atonement for you to cleanse you that you may be clean from all your sins before the lord. Now I'm not gonna get into this today, but just to make a reference to this or in passing, I know0:45 Leviticus has kinda been a focal point of discussion about immigration and how we deal with immigrants. Well, just 1 point here. Here's a principle that we draw from this. Those who legally0:56 dwell with us are to assimilate. That's what this speaks of. They were not to be separate from, but follow the same guidance that the children of Israel followed. I'll leave it at that. Alright.1:08 Let's move on our first chapter, chapter 15. Let me ask you this question. Have you ever heard a sermon preached on Leviticus chapter 15? Now unless you're in a church that systematically preaches1:20 through the word of God, I think the answer is probably no. But we need to know it. Second Timothy chapter 3 6 verse 16, a passage I've I've quoted before and probably will quote1:32 many more times. All scripture is given by inspiration of God is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. Okay? It has relevance to us. We need to know it.1:44 Now let me pause for just a moment and provide a disclaimer. Alright. I I am, I'm gonna read the bible this morning. I'm gonna read I'm gonna read passage from1:55 chapter 15. And, of course, then I'm gonna get to 16. But, this is why we're studying the word of God. We wanna go through it systematically. But I know that we have many families with2:07 children on this journey, so I want parents, I want you to read this chapter first to make sure that our discussion doesn't prompt questions you're not prepared to discuss with your children. Now you should be depending2:18 on their age, but I just wanna give that disclaimer before, little lives watch this video. Okay. Now chapter 15 may not be the most compelling text for a Sunday2:30 morning service, but that is why we are studying the Bible as we are with stand on the word. Now there are other Bible studies in there, and so it's not just stand on the word, but stand on the word is2:41 designed to do this, systematically go through the word of God because the word of God is important. It helps us on these things that may not be at the topic of a sermon. It still provides vivid color2:54 to the redemptive work of God and his call to us to be holy. And and I think 1 of the things we're gonna be taking away from the book of Leviticus is that holiness is not an option.3:06 It is an essential. Alright. Let's begin. Leviticus chapter 15 verse 1. And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron saying, speak to the children of Israel and say to them, when any man has a discharge from his3:18 body, his discharge is unclean. And this shall be his uncleanness in regard to his discharge, whether his body runs with his discharge or his body is stopped up by his discharge, it is his uncleanness. Now3:30 this this, follow this goes through verse 13. Now let me just stop here. The the general interpretation, by biblical scholars of this discharge is a sexually transmitted3:42 disease. The individual is not only spiritually unclean, but is, in many cases, an agent of contagion to others and is to be avoided as we read here in this passage.3:54 Now later in the, this chapter, guidance is given for other naturally occurring bodily emissions, which still leave the person temporarily unclean, which speaks to the4:06 reality of our nature, which is fallen. It's sinful. Now look at how the chapter ends. Drop down to verse 31. Thus, you shall separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness,4:18 lest they die in their uncleanness when they defile my tabernacle that is among them. Right? What's the body in the new covenant? We are the tabernacle of the lord. The holy spirit dwells within us.4:30 That's why we're called to be holy. This is the law for 1 who has a discharge and for him who emits semen and is unclean thereby. And for her who is indisposed because of her customary impurity,4:42 and for 1 who has a discharge, either man or woman, and for him who lies with her who is unclean. Alright? All those natural things, even those natural things,4:54 because of our fallen nature are unclean, and we need to be mindful of our call to holiness. While this this understanding really is kind of lost in our focus of grace, it5:06 is the reason for the grace that we enjoy. It's god's holiness. I mean, god is holy, and he has called us to be holy, and we we can't measure up, so god has extended to5:18 us his grace. But god's call to holiness is a call to belong wholly to him, to reflect his character, to live distinct from the patterns of5:30 the corrupt and fallen nature of man that distort his design, his plans, his purposes. It is living as Jesus described in the new testament of being in the world but not5:42 of the world, and this is not something we can do by our own self will or determination. Now now to be clear, we we don't absolve ourselves from5:53 responsibility. We must be intentional. How do we do that? Well, what you're doing right here with this journey through the word, you're abiding in the word. That is giving us strength. We need discipline. Yes. We need6:04 to discipline our bodies. This was a part, as we'll see here in just a moment, of, of 1 of the feasts. But the power that we need is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit power is required.6:16 And and Paul wrote this to the Ephesians about, when in in Ephesians, when he wrote to them about how they were to live the Christian life in the midst of a very pagan world, He get he gets all6:28 the way through how they're to live in their personal life, how they're living the family, how they live in the workforce, how they're to conduct themselves in the church itself. And then he gets to the end, and I'm I'm6:38 sure they're overwhelmed. But how in the world are we going to do this? And this is what he says in Ephesians 6 10. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the lord and the power of his might. We can only do this. We6:50 can only live the Christian life in the power of the lord, and that comes through the holy spirit. That comes through his word. Alright. And and prayer. Alright. In, chapter 16, we read of the day of atonement,Day of Atonement: High Priest Preparation and Sacrifices 7:02 Yom Kippur Kippur, which is considered the most holy of all of the sacred feast. Verse 1. Now the Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the 2 sons of Aaron7:14 when they offered profane fire before the Lord and died. And the Lord said to Moses, tell Aaron, your brother, not to come just at any time into the holy place inside the veil before the mercy seat, which is on the ark,7:26 lest he die, for I will appear in the cloud above the mercy seat. Now as I noted before, some see this instruction. They see in this, instruction7:38 that, Aaron's maybe a suggestion that Aaron's sons looked behind the curtain when they were not supposed to, and that's why they were killed. Only once a year did the high priest enter the holy of7:50 holies. And as we as we read here in this chapter, much preparation was required before entering that place of the presence of God. Verse 3, thus Aaron shall come into8:01 the holy place with blood of a young bull as a sin offering and of a ram as a burnt offering. So before Aaron could make atonement for the people, alright, as we8:13 read here in this passage, he had to get himself right before the lord. Look at verse 6. Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his8:25 house. So he had to be prepared himself before he could stand in for the people and speak to the lord on their behalf and make atonement for them. Now let me take a a detour for8:37 just a moment. You know, I knew there were many on the journey. 1 of the engineers on our journey, those who I think loved the details of the tabernacle and all the elaborate plans that god laid out, asked8:49 a question, sent me a question, asked a question about the volume of sacrifices. Because if you do the math, we're talking about a lot of animals. Yes. The offering for the nation,9:02 as I research this, the or the offering for the nation on daily basis and the feast would be on an annual basis, roughly, 12 to9:13 1500 lambs, 150 bulls, 50 rams, and a number of goats, roughly 10 to 20 a day. Then there were the personal and the voluntary offerings,9:25 which could have been in the hundreds of animals each day during their time in the wilderness. So the priest were busy. They were busy. And as we'll see later, they9:36 retired at the age of 50, and I could probably see why. Now a couple of observations here when we look at the offerings is number 1 is the cost. Alright? The national offerings alone would be 1000000 dollars or9:48 more a year. And and remember that animals were their livelihood. Okay? That's how they made a living. That was their wealth. That was their livelihood. These offerings were not symbolic10:00 giving. They were a sacrifice, a declaration of dependence upon and faith in God. Alright? It was a reminder of that. And then secondly is the volume of blood10:12 that was shed. I mean, was I don't know. I I don't wanna get into much detail here, but for those that hunt, you'll have an understanding. And can you imagine? I mean, can you10:24 imagine? A lot. The the volume of blood that was shed, though, was a vivid reminder of the seriousness of the sin and the cost of atonement. Alright?10:35 So just just a little side note there. Let's go back to our passage, verse 7 of chapter 16. He shall take the 2 goats and present them before the lord at the door of the tabernacle of meaning. Then Aaron shall cast lots10:47 for the 2 goats, 1 lot for the lord and the other lot lot for the scapegoat. And Aaron shall bring the goat on which the Lord's lot fell and offer him as a sin offering.10:59 But the goat on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement upon it, and it shall and it to let it go as to the escape11:11 as the scapegoat into the wilderness. Okay. Got it. This is the first time we actually see this. We see the the scapegoat, and this was for the day of atonement.11:24 2 goats. Now you're probably familiar with the term scapegoat. It's used a lot in the common vernacular. It's often used in a way that's not totally aligned with its biblical meaning.11:36 The the Hebrew word is Azazel. I think it's pretty close. The meaning is, is somewhat debated, but generally understood to mean the entire removal into11:48 the wilderness. So the term actually, the term escape goat, not scapegoat, but escape goat was first used by William Tyndale in his sixteenth century translation12:00 of the bible, and that's where we get the term scapegoat, but it was 1 it meant sending into the wilderness, being removed. Verse12:11 20, and when he had made an end of atoning for the holy place, the tabernacle of meaning, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat. Aaron shall lay his hands on the head of the live goat,12:23 confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel and all their transgressions concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a12:31 suitable man. And shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man. The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land, and he shall release the goat into the wilderness.12:43 So 1 goat dies. Alright? The atonement is made through the blood of that goat. The other goat is sent away into the wilderness representing the removal12:55 of sin from the people. Verse 29, this shall be a statute forever for you. In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls and do no work at all, whether a native ofScapegoat, Fasting, and Self-Discipline 13:07 your own country or a stranger who dwells among you. So this is the this would be this is we're talking about the day of atonement, Yom Kippur. And notice the term afflict13:19 your souls. Alright? What does that mean? This is a called a fasting. This is the only festival or holiday in which they were called to fast, to deny themselves. They were to have a Sabbath of solemn rest,13:31 no work. This is the discipline that I talked about, denying yourself those things. I mean, you if you fasted, and I highly recommend that you you fast of some form or13:42 fashion, you know, you you can work your way up to different lengths of fasting. But fasting is good because for a multitude of reasons. But 1, it is just disciplining our body.13:55 We we need to be disciplined. I will tell you, I think we live in an age of, of very undisciplined people and that we just whatever you know, it's kinda like the14:07 old the the the the Nike motto or saying, if it feels good, do it. We we don't we don't withhold anything from ourselves. And I think it's important that we we14:19 learn to discipline our our bodies. 1, I I read a a biography on Stonewall Jackson. A great general died at the age of 38 by friendly fire,14:31 But he and he was he was a a strong Christian believer. Right? And I I know that there's a lot of rewriting of history. But if you read about his life, he was a he is a remarkable14:43 man. But 1 of the things he did is that he enjoyed, he he liked food. He he liked bread. But 1 of the things he would do to to to to kind14:55 of discipline himself is that he would not eat fresh bread. He would deny these he would eat stale bread just so he wouldn't become too accustomed to the delicacies of that. Not suggesting you have to do that. But15:07 just as an example of sometimes we need to deny ourselves the very thing that we want the most because then it has control over us. Alright. Verse 30, for15:19 on that day, the priest shall make atonement for you to cleanse you that you may be clean from all your sins before the Lord. It is a Sabbath of solemn rest to you, and you shall afflict your souls. It is a statute15:31 forever. Final verse, verse 34. This shall be an everlasting statute for you to make atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year, and he did as the Lord15:43 commanded Moses. Father, we thank you for your word. We're grateful for your word. And, Lord, we wanna yield ourselves to to your ways, to your word, and so we pray and ask that15:55 the holy spirit would lead us on this journey. Help us to understand the application of your word, the principles, and how they apply to our lives. Lord, continue to guide us on this journey. Use us to reach others.16:07 May we be instruments of your grace, your mercy, and truth in all that we do. We thank you, lord, and we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Alright. Thanks for joining16:19 me this morning. Until next time, time, keep standing on the word.16:25 Today's study comes from the Stand on the Word Bible Reading Plan, available for free at f r c dot o r g slash bible. By following along in just a few minutes a day, you16:36 can read through the entire Bible in just 2 years. Learn more and request the free reading guide at f r c dot o r g slash bible.In this video 0:00 Leviticus 15: Uncleanness and the Call to Holiness6:57 Day of Atonement: High Priest Preparation and Sacrifices12:58 Scapegoat, Fasting, and Self-Discipline
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