Day #51

Sermon - Audio
Lev 22-23- Audio
Lev 22-23 - Daily Reading

Daily Insights - Please Comment


Lev 22

• 22.2: “treat with respect” as will be revealed in the next verses means to eat the sacred offerings only when the priest in ritually pure. The pure and impure may not mix at the table.
• 22.4ff: These verses define what is included in ritual impurity that would make a person to treat offerings with contempt if eaten in this state.
• 22.10-13: Only members of the priest’s household may eat of the sacred food. What is interesting is that a woman can return and be considered a part of the household again if she divorces her husband. God does not shun the divorced woman, but instead welcomes her back to eating the sacred food. Also, the fact that a slave may eat of the sacred food that is reserved only for the household of the priest may indicate that the kind of slavery practiced in Israel was very much one of having the slave be part of your family and not simply someone who was forced to do work.
• 22.14: It is possible that a person would somehow get some of the food designated for the priests. If he did he had to pay back what he ate plus 1/5. This reflects Leviticus 6.5 where when a person stole something he had to pay back in full plus 1/5.
• 22.15: God instructs the priests to do their work carefully enough that no one will accidentally eat food that is meant only for the priests.
• 22.17-25: God spells out that all sacrifices given to him are to be without defect. Again, God reminds the people that he is to be given the best.
• 22.23: “you may however…” The freewill offering was not used as a sacrifice, but given as a gift to the sanctuary. This animal could have a minor defect.
• 22.26-28: The Rabbi’s have different views on the reason for not sacrificing an animal until the eighth day and not killing both mother and its young on the same day. One of the ideas is that to do either one of these would show a certain cruelty toward the animals and God wants to teach his people kindness not cruelty.

Lev 23

• Yahweh gives to his people a yearly cycle of feasts that cause them to remember God’s great acts in the past, celebrate his provision for them in the present, worship his for all he has done, and rest from the day to day duties of life. In doing this God creates a kind of discipleship in time, as the people are continually moving through feasts that teach them about and remind them of God.
• Passover, Unleavened bread, and Firstfruits follow one after the other. On very rare occasions Passover is on Friday, Unleavened Break on Saturday, and Firstfruits on Sunday. This is exactly what happened at the time Jesus died. He dies on Passover (the day the commemorates God setting his people free from Egypt i.e. an evil power and the lamb that died to save them from the angel of death see 1 Cor 5.7-8), he lies in the grave during unleavened bread (a feast that celebrates among other things ridding our lives of evil [1 Corinthians 5.7-8]) and he comes to life on firstfruits (Paul tells us that Christ is the firstfruits of those who have risen from the grave – 1 Corinthians 15.20). What is so amazing is that God uses the Jewish feast system to teach us about the work of Christ. To know the system of the feasts is to know more about Jesus.
• 23.4-8: The emphasis here on not doing regular work or not working at your occupation is a powerful reminder that God is able to do his work in this world and keep this world going without our frenzied work.
• 23.11: A wave offering symbolizes giving or dedicating the thing waved to God.
• 23.14: “you must not eat….” God insists the people may not eat any of their harvest until the wave offering is made to him. The harvest is his and we may eat it only after it has been given to God first.
• 23.15: We know the feast of weeks as Pentecost. For the people of Israel the feast of weeks celebrated the incoming wheat harvest. Later on the Rabbis also connected the day of Pentecost with the giving of the Law at Mt. Sinai. It was a day that celebrated both food for the body and food for the soul. It also carried the idea that there could be no Passover (deliverance) without a Pentecost (obedient living before God by following his Torah).
• 23.20: “wave two lambs…” just a thought—how do you wave two lambs before the LORD? Those lambs can weigh a lot.
• 23.22: The firstfruits of the barley harvest (23.9-14) end with a reminder that the harvest belongs to God and the people may not consume it until they bring the first part to God. The feast of weeks ends with a reminder that the corners of the fields are to be left for the poor. It shows that as in the barley harvest God claims that all the crops are his and because they are his he commands that the people show his heart for the poor by leaving the corners for the poor.
• 23.26ff: For more on Yom Kippur see notes on Leviticus 16.
• 23.33ff: The Feast of Tabernacles or Booths (Sukkot) celebrated God’s provision for the people in the wilderness. As part of remembering the people lived in booths.