Leviticus, the crown jewel of the Pentateuch, recounts Israel’s journey into the presence of God through the ministry of the tabernacle.
This final section of Leviticus is about holiness. God is holy. His holiness is a big problem for people who would enter his presence. How could we ever walk with God? The deaths of Nadab and Abihu are of monumental importance for understanding the God to whom we draw near.
The idea of holiness among the people of God was first brought up in 11:44-45. There the people of God are commanded not once but twice to be holy because God is holy. Let that command cast its long shadow over your soul for a moment.
As Israel journeyed deeper and deeper into the Presence of God though the Levitical way, they would encounter a deeper and deeper experience of the holiness of God. In the Presence of the Holy, Israel would know something must be done about their sin. Moreover something must be done for them that they have no hope of doing for themselves, or they will die.
The deeper the Presence of God we experience, the nearer we draw to him, the more we see and feel his holiness. This is why as we draw near to God we can become self-conscious, more acutely aware of our sin and shortcomings. This was Peter’s experience on the boat, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord (Lk. 5:8). The tendency is to withdraw, retreat to the darkness, but we should instinctively move to the light. If we walk in the light as he is in the light we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:7). There is atoning blood between us and God. In the light of his Presence, we are cleansed
The goal laid out in Leviticus of walking with God will not be fully accomplished until the consummation of all things in Christ.
The movement of Leviticus is from Israel’s status as clean to holy for the goal of God dwelling among them.
Leviticus has been a journey deeper and deeper into the Presence of God. The nearer one approached God in the tabernacle, the holier the things and the spaces of the tabernacle became. To transgress too closely to the holy was a death sentence, as we saw in the two sons of Aaron.
The whole mystery of God’s being that Israel had been experiencing was the mystery of holiness. In the command to be holy for he is holy (Lv. 19:2; 20:7,26; 21:8), God revealed that he is holy.
When God says He is holy, what does He mean? He is revealing something about his divine nature. What kind of being is God? God is holy. God’s holiness is revealed in this section in the various formulas used to describe him: I am the LORD (eg. 18:4, repeated 18 times in chs 18-22)1, I am the LORD you God (eg. 18:2, repeated 12 times in chs 18-22)2, Be holy, for I LORD your God am holy (eg. 19:2; 4 times)3, and I am the LORD who sanctifies you (eg. 20:8; 8 times)4. Also there are repeated warnings regarding profaning the Name5, profane the name of your God (eg.18:21; 6 times)6.
One of the problems in defining the word holy is the Bible uses the word in two basic ways: the idea of moral perfection and the idea of being separate, other, or in a class of its own. Most probably think of moral purity. In Scripture, moral purity is a secondary meaning at best. When the seraphim sang, they did not say, moral perfection, moral perfection, moral perfection. Rather, they said, Holy, holy, holy, the whole earth is full of your glory.7 The primary meaning of holiness in relation to God is he is separate, uncreated, in a class of his own, eternal. He is mystery. He is holy.
The whole matter of holiness is complicated by the fact that God commanded Israel and commands us to be holy because he is holy (Lv. 11:44,45, 19:2; 20:7,26; cf. Matt 5:48; 1 Peter 1:15,16). We should feel the weight of that command because it is something we cannot do. Yet the reason we are commanded to be holy is because God is holy. Unholy things that come into God’s Presence must be destroyed and unholy people are destroyed by God’s Presence. The writer of Hebrews reminds us, Without [holiness] no one will see the Lord (Heb. 12:14).
We have seen the primary meaning of holy as it relates to God. The people of God were, also, commanded to be holy (19:2; 20:7,26).
In what since are the people of God to be holy? We obviously have no attribute of deity. We are not in a class all our own and our essential nature is not holy.
If the primary biblical meaning of holy is the idea of separate, rather than moral purity, why does the mandate for Israel to be holy, for God is Holy (19:2; 20:7,26; 21:8) come in a section of text that is full of ethical/moral instruction (chs 18-20)?
A. The LORD sanctifies his people
22:26 helps define what it means for us to by holy: You shall be holy to me, for I the LORD am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine. Primarily, to be holy is to be separated by God so that you belong to him.
We are not to think that we are made holy by our behavior. You can be made unholy by your behavior but not holy.
This section of ethical instruction is emphatically clear that it is God who makes us holy: I am the LORD who sanctifies you (20:8); I am the LORD who has separated you (20:24, 26). Of the priests, the text says, For I, the LORD, who sanctify you, am holy (21:8); For I am the LORD who sanctifies him (21:15, 23; 22:9, 16). Of the priests and the people this section closes with, I am the LORD who sanctifies you (22:32).
C.S. Lewis said that there are 3 kinds of people, not two. Most think there are two kinds of people: the disobedient who disregard all the rules and the obedient who keep all the rules; Neither, Lewis says, is New Testament Christianity. There is a third kind of person, one who belongs to Christ and finds the will of Christ has become his own will. Christianity is not so much doing what Christ says, but loving and enjoying Christ.8 The more you experience Christ the more like him you become.
By gathering Sabbath by Sabbath in the Presence of God Israel would become holy and live out that derived holiness in community with those around them.
So in this section that addresses ethical/moral instruction, we are repeatedly told the LORD makes his people holy.9
B. Love regulates behavior
What of the ethical/moral commands in chapters 18-20? The flow of the text shows God makes his people holy by separating them as his special possession. They are then to live out their holiness in love to their neighbor (19:18, 34). Love regulates the behavior of the people of God.
God brought Israel into the wilderness between Egypt and Canaan to rid them of the ways of Egypt and Canaan (18:3; 20:26). Chapters 18 and 20 deal with the ethical/moral/religious practices of both Egypt and Canaan. Between chapters 18 and 20, chapter 19 is exposition of the 10 commandants. So on either side of chapter 19, the pagan practices of Egypt and Canaan are named and forbidden. Israel is not to live according to pagan moral and religious practices of Egypt and Canaan but according to revealed Word of God summarized as love your neighbor (19:18). What a novel concept!
It is interesting that chapters 18 and 20 both deal with sexual and religious disorder. The one feeds the other. They become so intertwined that the one is used to justify the other. God warned Israel not to participate in the sexual and religious disorder of the nations. That perversion was why He was driving the nations out of the land and would result in the same for Israel (18:24-30).
Some want to argue today that the laws regulating human sexuality in Leviticus 18 and 20 have no application for today. The New Testament’s use of the law is our guide for understanding what has application in the New Covenant. If the laws of the Old Covenant are reiterated in the New Testament, they have New Covenant application.
Dear Friend, the New Testament is clear: But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death (Rev. 21:8).
It is revealed religion, not pagan religion that says, Love your neighbor. If you love your neighbor you will not sexually abuse him or her. You will not behave in a sexually disordered way. That you are capable of a sexually disordered life style does not make it right. That you desire a sexually disordered lifestyle does not make it right. Holiness is being separate, set apart from this world to belong to God both body and soul, and that includes how you express yourself sexually, ethically, and religiously (cf. 1Cor. 6:13b,17-20).
If the people of God are to be holy as God is holy, we have to ask how then are they made holy?
Chapters 23-25 deal with the Sabbaths: the weekly Sabbath (23:3), the yearly Sabbaths in 7 appointed feasts (23:4-44), the Sabbath year (25:1-7), and the Jubilee (25:8-55). The heart of this text that helps us understand the meaning of the Sabbaths is chapter 24.
Right in the middle of Sabbath instruction, we have instructions about the lamps (24:1-4), the bread (5-9), and the blasphemer (10-23). The lamps and the bread were in the holy place before the veil of the holiest place. The blasphemer was in the community. Every evening and morning the lamps were tended (24:3). Sabbath by Sabbath the bread was changed (24:8).
The bread was brought into the tent of meeting and positioned on the table before the lamps (24:8). The lamps were adjusted so that their light beamed directly on the bread. The bread represents Israel gathered Sabbath by Sabbath in the Presence of God. This is the drama of the Sabbath. What is symbolized in the tent of meeting with lamps and the bread is the reality of what took place as Israel gathered to worship.
A few things need to be pointed out.
A. Echoes of God’s purpose in creation
This scene harkens back to creation. There is a message here about God’s purpose in creating the world. In the Pentateuch, the word light (ma’or, 24:2) is used only of the lamps in the tent of meeting and the lights God made on the 4th day of creation: Let there lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night (Gen. 1:14). The purpose of the lights is stated: Let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years (Gen. 1:14). The word seasons (mo’ed) is the same word translated appointed feasts in Leviticus 23 (2, 4, 44).10 The creation account ends with Adam participating in God’s Sabbath rest.
The point is clear: the cosmos was created to be the meeting place between God and his people, specifically, every Sabbath. The aim of the tabernacle then is to be the holy space where God’s people gather in the light of his glorious presence. The point of the Sabbath was not to have a break from work. The purpose of the Sabbath was to gather in the sanctifying Presence of God. Holiness is contagious. You cannot be in his Presence without becoming holy, without becoming like Him!
B. The Name that sanctifies
Second, the drama of the bread on the lamps visible representation of the priestly benediction. The LORD bless you and keep you; The LORD make his face to shine upon you; The LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace (Numbers 6:24-26). The purpose of this benediction is given in Numbers 6:27: So shall they [the priests] put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them (Num. 6:27).
In gathering in the Presence of God, God was putting his name on his people. This is why the story of the blasphemer is placed here. The emphasis in the story is on the Name. Name is used in verse 11 and 2 times in verse 16. A man who had an Israelite mother and an Egyptian father fought with an Israelite. In the course of the fight the man with the Israelite mother and Egyptian father blasphemed the Name (24:11). The point of the emphasis on the man’s parentage is to note an Egypt like disregard for God. In chapters 18-20, the warning against profaning the Name is given repeatedly (18:21; 19:12; 20:3; 21:6; 22:2, 31-32).
The repetition of I am the LORD in this final section of Leviticus is a revelation of who He is, a revelation of the Name. To reveal his Name is to reveal himself. To put his Name on us is to claim us for his own and himself to us. Rather than giving Israel an image,11 He gave them his Name and his Presence. He gave us his Name that we might call on him.12 In gathering in his Presence and calling on him we are made holy.
C.Christ the fulfillment of the Sabbaths13
The Sabbath rest that Adam enjoyed in the Garden was disrupted by the fall. We hear nothing of in Scripture of the Sabbath until God establishes it as the sign of the Mosaic covenant (Ex. 31:17). The Sabbath was prophetic. It pointed to a rest to come. It is not without significance that when Jesus came on the scene he said in answer to accusations of being a Sabbath breaker, The Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath (Mark 2:28).
The New Testament does not reiterate the Sabbath command, but presents Christ as the fulfillment of all the Sabbath promised. When Jesus began his public ministry, He announced the Jubilee, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captive and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor (Lk 4:18-19). He called on all who labor and are heaven laden, to come to him, and he would give them rest (Mt. 11:28).
Jesus is the fulfillment of the Sabbath, so Christians gather on the first day of the week, the eighth day, resurrection day, as testimony to the inauguration of the new creation. The church is the visible present and experience of the new creation.
In the movement of Leviticus, Israel is brought deeper and deeper into the Presence of God through the way God established in the tabernacle. They are being sanctified by this gathering. Is the goal, however, simply to gather Sabbath by Sabbath in worship at the tabernacle? Or is there something the Old Covenant with its tabernacle is aiming toward?
Chapter 26 gives us the first the blessings of covenant obedience (26:1-13) and then the curses for disobedience (26:14ff). Remarkably, verses 11-13 show us the goal God has in his sanctifying work. Notice specifically verse 12, I will walk among you and will be you God, and you shall be my people. This text echoes the life of Eden with God walking with Adam in the garden (Gen. 3:8).
In the tabernacle and later the temple, God dwelled among his people but He did not walk with them. They gathered in his Presence on the Sabbaths but not his unveiled Presence. The prophets assigned this promise to the later days (Jer. 30:22; Eze. 36:28). Then Christ came to tabernacle among us (Jn. 1). When he died, the veil was torn from top to bottom (Mt 27:51).
We have Christ. We are all priests. The church is a holy nation a royal priesthood proclaiming the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once we were not a people but now we are God’s people, once we had not received mercy but now we have received mercy (1 Pet. 2:9-10).
Yet, dear friends, we are still in the wilderness gathering week by week with God’s people being sanctified by Holy Spirit. We are not what we will be. We are plagued in this wilderness by sin and sorrow and death. But there is a goal, a destination, that God is bringing us to.
One day we will hear his voice saying, Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. he will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away. And he who was seated on the throne said, Behold, I am making all things new.
God is making us holy for that day.
Conclusion:
You may think, I’m nowhere close. There is no hope for me. But there is redemption. I believe in redemption. I believe it because I’ve been redeemed. In Leviticus 25 and 27 redemption is mention 29 times. Although the word is not used in chapter 26, the concept is (26:11-13).
God is the God who redeems. He reclaims. He reminded Israel that he brought them out of the land of Egypt, that they should not be slaves. He broke the bars of their yoke and made them walk erect. God is the God of redemption.