Not Imitating the World: Leviticus 16:27-18:30

From: Hands Full Of Christ: Bible Talks On Leviticus By: Gordon Henry Hayhoe

Leviticus 16:27‑18:30 • 4 min. read • grade level: 9

Leviticus 16:27-18:30²⁷And the bullock for the sin offering, and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, shall one carry forth without the camp; and they shall burn in the fire their skins, and their flesh, and their dung. ²⁸And he that burneth them shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp. ²⁹And this shall be a statute for ever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you: ³⁰For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the Lord. ³¹It shall be a sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever. ³²And the priest, whom he shall anoint, and whom he shall consecrate to minister in the priest's office in his father's stead, shall make the atonement, and shall put on the linen clothes, even the holy garments: ³³And he shall make an atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make an atonement for the tabernacle of the congregation, and for the altar, and he shall make an atonement for the priests, and for all the people of the congregation. ³⁴And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you, to make an atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year. And he did as the Lord commanded Moses. ¹And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, ²Speak unto Aaron, and unto his sons, and unto all the children of Israel, and say unto them; This is the thing which the Lord hath commanded, saying, ³What man soever there be of the house of Israel, that killeth an ox, or lamb, or goat, in the camp, or that killeth it out of the camp, ⁴And bringeth it not unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, to offer an offering unto the Lord before the tabernacle of the Lord; blood shall be imputed unto that man; he hath shed blood; and that man shall be cut off from among his people: ⁵To the end that the children of Israel may bring their sacrifices, which they offer in the open field, even that they may bring them unto the Lord, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, unto the priest, and offer them for peace offerings unto the Lord. ⁶And the priest shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar of the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and burn the fat for a sweet savor unto the Lord. ⁷And they shall no more offer their sacrifices unto devils, after whom they have gone a whoring. This shall be a statute for ever unto them throughout their generations. ⁸And thou shalt say unto them, Whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers which sojourn among you, that offereth a burnt offering or sacrifice, ⁹And bringeth it not unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, to offer it unto the Lord; even that man shall be cut off from among his people. ¹⁰And whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood; I will even set my face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people. ¹¹For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. ¹²Therefore I said unto the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger that sojourneth among you eat blood. ¹³And whatsoever man there be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, which hunteth and catcheth any beast or fowl that may be eaten; he shall even pour out the blood thereof, and cover it with dust. ¹⁴For it is the life of all flesh; the blood of it is for the life thereof: therefore I said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh: for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof: whosoever eateth it shall be cut off. ¹⁵And every soul that eateth that which died of itself, or that which was torn with beasts, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger, he shall both wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even: then shall he be clean. ¹⁶But if he wash them not, nor bathe his flesh; then he shall bear his iniquity. ¹And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, ²Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, I am the Lord your God. ³After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do: neither shall ye walk in their ordinances. ⁴Ye shall do my judgments, and keep mine ordinances, to walk therein: I am the Lord your God. ⁵Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am the Lord. ⁶None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, to uncover their nakedness: I am the Lord. ⁷The nakedness of thy father, or the nakedness of thy mother, shalt thou not uncover: she is thy mother; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness. ⁸The nakedness of thy father's wife shalt thou not uncover: it is thy father's nakedness. ⁹The nakedness of thy sister, the daughter of thy father, or daughter of thy mother, whether she be born at home, or born abroad, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover. ¹⁰The nakedness of thy son's daughter, or of thy daughter's daughter, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover: for theirs is thine own nakedness. ¹¹The nakedness of thy father's wife's daughter, begotten of thy father, she is thy sister, thou shalt not uncover her nakedness. ¹²Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father's sister: she is thy father's near kinswoman. ¹³Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother's sister: for she is thy mother's near kinswoman. ¹⁴Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father's brother, thou shalt not approach to his wife: she is thine aunt. ¹⁵Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy daughter in law: she is thy son's wife; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness. ¹⁶Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother's wife: it is thy brother's nakedness. ¹⁷Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter, neither shalt thou take her son's daughter, or her daughter's daughter, to uncover her nakedness; for they are her near kinswomen: it is wickedness. ¹⁸Neither shalt thou take a wife to her sister, to vex her, to uncover her nakedness, beside the other in her life time. ¹⁹Also thou shalt not approach unto a woman to uncover her nakedness, as long as she is put apart for her uncleanness. ²⁰Moreover thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbor's wife, to defile thyself with her. ²¹And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the Lord. ²²Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination. ²³Neither shalt thou lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto: it is confusion. ²⁴Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you: ²⁵And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants. ²⁶Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations; neither any of your own nation, nor any stranger that sojourneth among you: ²⁷(For all these abominations have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the land is defiled;) ²⁸That the land spue not you out also, when ye defile it, as it spued out the nations that were before you. ²⁹For whosoever shall commit any of these abominations, even the souls that commit them shall be cut off from among their people. ³⁰Therefore shall ye keep mine ordinance, that ye commit not any one of these abominable customs, which were committed before you, and that ye defile not yourselves therein: I am the Lord your God. (Leviticus 16:27‑18:30)

We noticed how the bodies of the animals whose blood had been brought into the sanctuary were burned outside the camp. We, who have entered into the value of that blessed, perfect sacrifice on Calvary, should recognize that our place is outside too. We are surrounded with organized, religious ceremony on every hand, but may we learn that our blessed Saviour was crucified outside of all this, and that He calls us to come out to Him, bearing His reproach. This the remnant of Israel will have to acknowledge in a coming day before they are brought into their place of earthly blessing in the millennial temple. May we, in this present dispensation, be satisfied to share the outside place with Him, knowing that He took it for us in wondrous grace.

A True Place Before God

On this day of atonement no work was to be done, but they were to afflict their souls. Surely this is the only way of blessing for the sinner. There is nothing his guilty hands can do, for the work has all been done by another — the blessed Son of God. He must, however, take his true place before God, “afflicting his soul” in repentance, and owning his guilt, and then believe in what the Lord Jesus has done — just as the guilty Israelite must learn that another, the high priest alone, could enter in to make an atonement for him. If the one who reads these lines is unsaved, may he learn today what Christ has done for him.

Watchfulness

The next chapter (Leviticus 17) tells us of that watchfulness which is necessary lest the heart should be turned away from the Lord. We have learned what grace has done to meet us in our need, but how easily the heart can forget the claims of God and act in independence. The life was in the blood, and the children of Israel were never to forget this, so that no offerings were to be made in the field but brought to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. There was always the danger of their secretly departing from the Lord, as there is with us, but if in all things we seek to remember His claims, we are kept and preserved. If in hunting they caught any beasts or birds, the blood was to be shed and covered with dust. This would remind us that at school, or even in our fun, we should never forget to put the Lord and His claims first.

Not Copying the World

The children of Israel were then warned not to copy the nations around them but to walk in obedience to the Word of God. This is another danger with us all: we are liable to do things because others do them, without first being sure that such things are pleasing to the Lord. Boys and girls will say “everybody does it,” and even older ones say this too. The Lord particularly told the children of Israel that they were not to copy the nations, for He wanted to bless them, but He could not bless them in the path of disobedience. In the rest of the chapter the people were warned against certain sins, for the Lord knows all the secrets of our lives. Everything done in the dark is known to Him just as though it were done in the light, and the day is coming “when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel” (Romans 2:16¹⁶In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel. (Romans 2:16)). Little do men and women realize the awful judgment that is soon to fall upon these favored lands of Christendom. As we see the darkness increasing and man’s evil coming more and more into the open, we know that the judgment is drawing nearer.

For Further Meditation

1. What does the blood being shed and covered with dust remind us of?

2. If we watch others around us to get an idea of how we ought to behave, we are likely to go wrong quickly. How would Joseph have acted in Genesis 39 had he behaved like others around him? What gave him the strength to resist? What were the consequences?

3. For an extensive commentary on this chapter you may want to spend a significant amount of time reading Israel Holy to Jehovah: Leviticus 17-22 by W. Kelly

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