Book of Levitus

Brother T · Posted: Fri Mar 08, 2002 8:38 am Post subject: Book of Levitus

I've just read levitus...and more confuse then ever....

in Levitus 11...

there are so many rules about what you should eat and what you shouldn't eat...
eg lev. 11:43...

why don't christian follow these rule...why did god make these rules?

ps...in the old testement it often said "god said.."...and "god said.." how did god speak?...was it a thundering voice...or a silent whisper...did all hear him?

matdvd · Posted: Fri Mar 08, 2002 5:41 pm Post subject: Book of Levitus

Yikes. Pastor Lance?

This will take some study and reflection. Let me chew on it. I know there is an answer. God isn't the author of confusion.

< sound of line being place on "hold" with accompanying elevator music >

ACfixer · Posted: Fri Mar 08, 2002 8:31 pm Post subject: Book of Levitus

Leviticus (book of laws) was written by Moses, the 3rd out of at least 5 books he wrote in the Old Testament. God spoke to Moses directly, in fact so directly Moses wrote that he heard him aloud, often times through an "Angel of the Lord". Other times he spoke through other prophets and also in visions or dreams. Either way he spoke, Moses was articulate in his writing about it so it was not at all questionable when it happened. Moses was a man lacking in confidence until in Exodus 3 God first spoke to him in the burning bush. The call of God was so definate to Moses it changed his entire personality and he was so sure of it he went and took the words of God to the Pharaoh...

Back to Leviticus... at first there were but 10 commandments given (Exodus 20) and that covered all the bases. BUT men being men and especially the stiff-necked Israelites started looking for loopholes and picking apart the commandments asking for clarification so they could truly be holy as God wants them to be. God in essence said "Look, you want to meet my standards? Ok you asked for it!" And Leviticus spells out every little detail to be followed in order that one could approach the holiness of our creator. If you've read them, it is rediculously impossible to follow them all. God was saying that there is NO WAY humanly possible to not sin. Deep down what the Israelites were trying to do was prove they did not need God's help, all God was trying to do was let them know they did! In order to atone for their failures a sacrifice was to be offered, again in meticulous detail (cut the fatty lobe from the entrails and offer it as a sweet insence but do not burn this and that etc....). To appraoch God's holiness the rules were endless, but God NEVER wanted us to waste our time trying to approach his level, He knew this was impossible. Back to the ten commandments, no clarification was really necessary because they (and WE) know right from wrong based on these 10 easy to follow instructions. If one has to ask "well then, is it ok to look at my neighbors wife but not covet her?" or "is it adultry if I marry my divorced cousin" (or whatever the case may be.) The simple rule is this, if you have to ask, something is already telling you it is WRONG! Well the stubborn Jews would claim "we didn't know!" and so God spelled it out for them in detail!

We as christians are not bound to any of these rules. The Bible says we are free from the law because we have a new deal, or covenant in Christ who died for all sins which released us. Read Hebrews in the New Testament and it explains it, also the book of Romans. Is it ok then to lie? No, of course not, again what does your heart tell you. The thing is, a lie (I am just using lying as an example, insert the sin of your choice...) will no longer send us to hell if we do not offer a sacrifice because Jesus was our sacrifice that God made on our behalf so we could be free of all that and enjoy spending time with Him, which is why He created us, so we could enjoy each others company and love. So could we, once we are saved just sin when we want and still be saved? In theory yes, but Jesus and Paul, just to name two, make it clear that you can tell if a person is a christian by their fruit. Once we are saved we will no longer want to just sin and sin again because we are aware of the things Jesus wilfully subjected Himself to, suffering so much pain and humiliation. The Holy Spirit will in fact begin to make us feel convicted (sometimes quickly, sometimes slower) when we do sin and we will in turn ask for forgiveness and become willing to try and not sin wilfully. If every time you lied somebody took your daughter and smashed her big toe with a hammer, and you saw her pain and anguish, well you get the idea, the thought of here having to suffer for your sin would make you want to put an end to it real quick. Same thing with Jesus, for every sin you ever commited or will ever commit, he died a horrible death and suffered immensely and He was innocent and free of sin, no blemish, the only sacrifice acceptable to God in order that we might one day be in His presence.

All the eating and washing rules were done away with after this new covenant took effect. In Luke 11:6-9 Peter is told by an angel during a vision that all animals can be eaten now, to go ahead, kill and eat birds, fish, pigs, whatever. Peter resists but then he is instructed that these things were now ok and to "not call unclean what God has now made clean". Jesus instructed for us not to worry so much about washing bowls and hands and.... because it is not what goes in your mouth that defiles you, but what comes OUT of your mouth that defiles you. In other words clean up your hearts and minds before you start sweating the small stuff.

In short, we are to still try and follow the commandments, most impotantly that we follow the new one Jesus gave: Love the Lord God with all your heart, and Love your friends and neighbors as you would yourself. The Jews at that time missed the whole point AGAIN and asked Jesus "well, who exactly qualifies as a neighbor?"

Love God, love everybody including yourself, and everything else will fall into place. Jesus says upon this hang the rest of the commandments.

God speaks to us now through His Word, the Holy Spirit (dreams, visions, thoughts), through others who prophesy, through divine circumstances, and through answered prayer just to name a few.

Thanks for "sharpening my iron" BrotherT!

God bless.

matdvd · Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2002 3:59 am Post subject: Book of Levitus

Ya know Lance,

I had just typed those exact words, almost verbatim, and then decided to look before I posted it, and you had already done it. Thanx. hehehe

Excellent job BTW!

jamesron41 · Lion Joined: 16 Dec 2001 Posts: 945 Location: Waco,TX

Lance, are you sure you aren't a Pastor somewhere?

hey, good job buddy! You have a great gift, Lance, to be able to write and think like that! Thank you!

ACfixer · Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2002 2:23 pm Post subject: Book of Levitus

Thanks for the encouragement guys

No Harry, I have no formal training or anything. I had a great pastor named Roger Scalice in Calvary Chapel of Big Bear Lake and some years back that taught me the importance of just tuning in to the Word of God and let the Holy Spirit be the commentator as He speaks to my heart. When my wife divorced me for no good reason not too long ago I was so hurt by what other pastors had to say and how it wasn't lining up with what the Bible said, they meant well but were just men like you and I. It was then I realized what Pastor Roger meant and from then on as I read I would do my own research and just digging into the Word. I have always enjoyed the Bible but now it was like the book was talking to ME! I learned more about the book of John this time through than I ever have in all the years past combined. Why? Because we took it straight through and we all just commented on what the Bible said to us, no spin. When it comes to the Word, spin is sin in my opinion. People spend time telling us "what Jesus REALLY meant by this was...", well that's all pretty much hogwash. What He REALLY meant was exactly what HE said!

jamesron41 · Lion Joined: 16 Dec 2001 Posts: 945 Location: Waco,TX

True that Lance!

matdvd · Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2002 4:32 pm Post subject: Book of Levitus

I like that phrase!

"Spin is sin!"

Pretty cool. You do slogans too. You 'da man!

Michael D · Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2002 6:23 pm Post subject: Book of Levitus

So, Lance is making this the "No Spin - No Sin Zone"? Kinda has a nice ring to it.

Great question. Great answer.

Brother T · Posted: Tue Mar 19, 2002 1:46 pm Post subject: Book of Levitus

hey Lace you said
"If you've read them, it is rediculously impossible to follow them all. God was saying that there is NO WAY humanly possible to not sin. Deep down what the Israelites were trying to do was prove they did not need God's help, all God was trying to do was let them know they did! In order to atone for their failures a sacrifice was to be offered, again in meticulous detail (cut the fatty lobe from the entrails and offer it as a sweet insence but do not burn this and that etc....). "

ok if god made the rules to show his how its impossible to meet his standard of holiness...i gotta say the rules don't make any sense. I don't see how the rules what to eat...what to wear...and maintaining from sexual intercourse during certain period...a woman being unclean if she is having her period...(all written in Levititus)..reflects gods holiness.
I mean God is holy and he tells us to eat he have created...but looking at the rules for what it is...i don't following those rules bring you any closer to God's holiness....
What is sacrificing a red calf...have to do with holiness?....
These rules just confuse the priest even more...

I know what you mean when you say the Isrealite were stiff necked....
Thanks for the long response

Zathrus · Posted: Tue Aug 27, 2002 11:49 am Post subject: Book of Levitus

It's worth noting too that there are commandments in the law that CAN NO LONGER be obeyed today! There were laws requiring the Israelites to sacrifice animals at the temple in Jerusalem at certain times of the year. That temple is no longer standing, and in its place is a mosque.

The destruction of the temple in 70AD is a definitive message from God that the old covenant had been put to an end, that it had only a shadow of good things to come, it could never actually make anyone righteous, and that now we have a new and better covenant, the true temple, and the fulfillment of the promise of everlasting righteousness.

Zathrus · Posted: Tue Aug 27, 2002 12:03 pm Post subject: Book of Levitus

Brother T, in regard to the laws being confusing, many of them were symbolic of new covenant truths. For instance, in Romans 7 Paul mentions the law against remarriage after divorce. Paul did not view that law as something for him to take literally, but as an illustration of a spiritual truth. He wrote in I Corinthians 10 "These things (the books of the law) are written for our admonition (the 1st century church) upon whom the end of the world (age) has come". Not to be taken literally, but to point them to Christ.

Jesus also said that the law and the prophets all pointed to Him. I believe there is a wealth on spiritual truth about Jesus, about our relationship with God, and about God's plan in the books of the law, but they have to be understood spiritually, as Paul understood them.

ACfixer · Posted: Wed Aug 28, 2002 4:16 pm Post subject: Book of Levitus

Zathrus, welcome and may I say "nicely put"! The mention of the destruction of the temple in 70 A.D. was excellent.

matdvd · Posted: Sat Aug 31, 2002 3:47 am Post subject: Book of Levitus

Agree.

Barnabas Bud · Posted: Sat Dec 21, 2002 12:27 am Post subject: Book of Levitus

It always helps to know the context. If you know when the information was written, to whom it was written, and why, it helps us understand what it means for us today. Our modern medical technology tells us that pork is not healthy for our hearts. Several thousand years ago God gave that same information to His people. Ronald Dart has a radio ministry and website, http://www.cemnetwork.com/, that might help. I had some of the same questions before listening to and reading Brother Dart's commentaries.