God’s distinctions:
Lev.10:10 “...a distinction between the holy and the profane, and between the unclean and the clean...”
Lev.11:47 “...a distinction between the unclean and the clean, and between the edible creature and the creature which is not to be eaten...”
Lev.12:2-5 - Distinction between males and females.
Lev.13 - Distinction between healthy and unhealthy.
Lev.20:25 “...You are therefore to make a distinction between the clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean bird and the clean; and you shall not make yourselves detestable by animal or by bird or by anything that creeps on the ground, which I have separated for you as unclean...”
What’s the big deal with clean/unclean? Lev.15:31 “...Thus you shall keep the sons of Israel separated from their uncleanness, so that they will not die in their uncleanness by their defiling My tabernacle that is among them..."
Relationship requires it. What dies? Relationship.
What was the fix for this problem? Lev.16:29-30 “...This shall be a permanent statute for you: in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall humble your souls and not do any work, whether the native, or the alien who sojourns among you; for it is on this day that atonement shall be made for you to cleanse you; you will be clean from all your sins before the Lord...”
How clean?
Lev.18:3-5 “...You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes. 'You are to perform My judgments and keep My statutes, to live in accord with them; I am the Lord your God. 'So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which a man may live if he does them; I am the Lord...”
God continues to request a set apart people.
Lev.18. Nakedness, abominations, perversions, defiling. Any of that in America? Hollywood? The American Family Room?
Lev.19:2 “...Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, 'You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy...”
If He is our God and we are His people, holiness isn’t optional, it’s a requirement.
What does it look like?
3 - reverence for parents, keeping the Sabbath.
4 - no idols.
5 - proper sacrifice.
10 - purposing to help the needy and strangers.
11 - don’t steal or lie
15 - no partiality.
16 - no slander.
17 - no hate.
18 - no vengence.
19 - no mixtures.
26 - no divinatin or soothsaying.
27 - no trimming the edge of your beard.
28 - no cuts in body or tattoos.
30 - keeping Sabbaths, revering sanctuary.
31 - no mediums or spiritists.
32 - honor the aged.
36 - just balances.
What does God think of people who do these things? Lev.20:23 “...Moreover, you shall not follow the customs of the nation which I will drive out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I have abhorred them...”
What is He looking for instead?
Lev.20:26 “...Thus you are to be holy to Me, for I the Lord am holy; and I have set you apart from the peoples to be Mine...”
God appointed holy days:
Sabbath: Lev.23:3 “...For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation. You shall not do any work; it is a sabbath to the Lord in all your dwellings...”
Passover: Lev.23:5 “...In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight is the Lord's Passover...” Remembering? God’s deliverance from death.
Feast of Unleavened Bread: Lev.23:6 “...Then on the fifteenth day of the same month there is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread...” Remembering? Leaving the old, embracing the new.
Firstfruits: Lev.23:10 “...Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, 'When you enter the land which I am going to give to you and reap its harvest, then you shall bring in the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest...” Remembering? God’s provision.
Feast of Weeks: Lev.23:16 “...You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh sabbath; then you shall present a new grain offering to the Lord...” Thankful for? God’s bounty
Feast of Trumpets: Lev.23:23-25 “...Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, 'In the seventh month on the first of the month you shall have a rest, a reminder by blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. 'You shall not do any laborious work, but you shall present an offering by fire to the Lord...” Thankful for? Upcoming Atonement.
Day of Atonement: Lev.23:27 “...On exactly the tenth day of this seventh month is the day of atonement; it shall be a holy convocation for you, and you shall humble your souls and present an offering by fire to the Lord...” Thankful for? Restored Fellowship
Feast of Booths:Lev.23:34 “...Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, 'On the fifteenth of this seventh month is the Feast of Booths for seven days to the Lord...” Remembering? The Exodus
Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits: Fulfilled at Christ's first coming?
Feast of Weeks: Outpouring of Holy Spirit at Pentecost, Church Age.
Trumpets, Atonement, Booths: Will be fulfilled at Christ's second coming?
Who owns the Middle East? Who owns the U.S. of A.?
Lev.25:23 “...'The land, moreover, shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; for you are but aliens and sojourners with Me...”
Lev.25:2-4 “..."Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, 'When you come into the land which I shall give you, then the land shall have a sabbath to the Lord. 'Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its crop, but during the seventh year the land shall have a sabbath rest, a sabbath to the Lord; you shall not sow your field nor prune your vineyard...”
Lev.25:10 “...'You shall thus consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim a release through the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, and each of you shall return to his own property, and each of you shall return to his family...”
Was God serious about this?
Lev.25:18-22 “...'You shall thus observe My statutes and keep My judgments, so as to carry them out, that you may live securely on the land. 'Then the land will yield its produce, so that you can eat your fill and live securely on it. 'But if you say, "What are we going to eat on the seventh year if we do not sow or gather in our crops?" then I will so order My blessing for you in the sixth year that it will bring forth the crop for three years. 'When you are sowing the eighth year, you can still eat old things from the crop, eating the old until the ninth year when its crop comes in...”
Their Part, His Part? [observe,keep. security,blessing]
Lev.26:34-35 “...'Then the land will enjoy its sabbaths all the days of the desolation, while you are in your enemies' land; then the land will rest and enjoy its sabbaths. 'All the days of its desolation it will observe the rest which it did not observe on your sabbaths, while you were living on it...”
Fascinating verses. What are they saying? God gets His way, one way or the other. Do we truly understand that?
Lev.26
1-13: Blessings for Obedience
14-33: Penalties for Disobedience: 3 strikes: 14-17,18-22,23-32
Cause and Effect
Have you seen any of these things. Are they random events.
40-46: scattered, land rest, repent, covenant remains.
Lev.27 Valuations of people
|
| 1mo-5yr | 5yr-20yr | 20yr-60yr | >60yr |
| Male | 5 | 20 | 50 | 15 |
| Female | 3 | 10 | 30 | 10 |
|
| v.6 | v.5 | v.3,4 | v.7 |
1 Sam.1:11 “...She made a vow and said, "O Lord of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and a razor shall never come on his head..."
A special vow to dedicate persons to the Lord could be fulfilled directly with actual service in the sanctuary, or by monetary payment to the sanctuary treasury.
Lev.27:30-32 “...'Thus all the tithe of the land, of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord's; it is holy to the Lord. 'If, therefore, a man wishes to redeem part of his tithe, he shall add to it one-fifth of it. 'For every tenth part of herd or flock, whatever passes under the rod, the tenth one shall be holy to the Lord...”
What is the tithe? [10 percent.]
Who does it belong to? [God]
Why the 10% plus 1/5 (12%)? When not giving actual produce. Can’t do for livestock.
Our society has already become monetized regarding everything.
Numbers
Num.1:2-3 “...Take a census of all the congregation of the sons of Israel, by their families, by their fathers' households, according to the number of names, every male, head by head from twenty years old and upward, whoever is able to go out to war in Israel, you and Aaron shall number them by their armies...”
Does God condone war?
Interesting discussion coming up later about the Nephilim.
Num.2 - Army
3-9 Sunrise side, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun (186,400)
10-16 South side, Reuben, Simeon, Gad (151,450)
18-24 West side, Ephraim, Manasseh, Benjamin (108,100)
25-31 North side, Dan, Asher, Naphtali (157,600)
Num.3 - Priests
21-23 Behind the tabernacle, west, Gershon
27-29 South, Kohath
33-35 North, Merari
38 In front, before, Moses, Aaron and sons
Symbols of tribes:
Judah:lion, Reuben:man, Ephraim:ox, Dan:eagle
Dan (scales, eagle, dragon, snake, lion)
Ezekiel 1:4-10 “...As I looked, behold, a storm wind was coming from the north, a great cloud with fire flashing forth continually and a bright light around it, and in its midst something like glowing metal in the midst of the fire. Within it there were figures resembling four living beings. And this was their appearance: they had human form. Each of them had four faces and four wings. Their legs were straight and their feet were like a calf's hoof, and they gleamed like burnished bronze. Under their wings on their four sides were human hands. As for the faces and wings of the four of them, their wings touched one another; their faces did not turn when they moved, each went straight forward. As for the form of their faces, each had the face of a man; all four had the face of a lion on the right and the face of a bull on the left, and all four had the face of an eagle...”
Rev.4:6-7 “...and before the throne there was something like a sea of glass, like crystal; and in the center and around the throne, four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind. The first creature was like a lion, and the second creature like a calf, and the third creature had a face like that of a man, and the fourth creature was like a flying eagle...”
There is an amazing consistency in the message of scripture.
Num.3:11-13 “...Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "Now, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the sons of Israel instead of every firstborn, the first issue of the womb among the sons of Israel. So the Levites shall be Mine. "For all the firstborn are Mine; on the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified to Myself all the firstborn in Israel, from man to beast. They shall be Mine; I am the Lord..."
Why did God have rights to all the firstborn?
He took the Levites instead. For what?
How many firstborn? 3:43 22,273
How many Levites? 3:39 22,000
Close enough? NO! God is specific. 3:46-48 Ransom for 273
How many 30-50 year Levites did it take to pack up and move the tabernacle? [4:47-49 8,580]
Num.5
Spirit of Jealousy
Water of bitterness
Adultery is ... WRONG!
Num.6
Nazirite vow of dedication
No wine, no haircuts
No touching dead people
Num.6:24-26
The Lord bless you, and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace.'
Num.7
Cartloads of offerings presented by leaders over 12 days
12 dishes, 12 bowls, 12 pans, 24 oxen, 60 rams, 60 lambs, 60 goats
Num.8
Levites separated unto God
25 -50 then retirement (8:25)
They could then assist, but not really work
Num.9
9:5 Passover: 1st month, 14th day
9:11 2nd month, 14th day if unclean
Num.9:21-23 ‘...If sometimes the cloud remained from evening until morning, when the cloud was lifted in the morning, they would move out; or if it remained in the daytime and at night, whenever the cloud was lifted, they would set out. Whether it was two days or a month or a year that the cloud lingered over the tabernacle, staying above it, the sons of Israel remained camped and did not set out; but when it was lifted, they did set out. At the command of the Lord they camped, and at the command of the Lord they set out; they kept the Lord's charge, according to the command of the Lord through Moses...”
Absolute dependence?
Do we, should we, have this kind of guidance?
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