Autor: eabrazil

Staunch atheists have been known to cry to God when faced by death. So too people make vows to God under extenuating circumstances and then sometimes once delivered want to go back on their vow. But vows of people, property or animals are serious before God and can only be taken back or redeemed when done properly. This chapter thus gives detailed instructions of the redeemable value of people such as a man between 20 and 60 @ 50 shekels whereas a woman of the same age was only valued at 30 shekels.

If a person vows an animal that animal cannot be substituted for another of inferior quality to pay the vow, and any questions of relevant values will be refereed by the priest. So too the priest will be judge of vowed houses and if a person vows his house and redeems it he will pay a 20% additional fine. So too the priest will act as judge regarding vowed land with the judge adjudicating respective values taking into consideration the proximity of the year of Jubilee.

It was finally reminded that firstborn animals were automatically the Lord’s as were the tithe of farming and livestock produce.

Now God says that if the Israelites refrain from idolatry, observe the sabbath, and obey his decrees and commands then they will receive regular rains, abundant harvests, peace, protection from wild beasts, security, protection from enemies, and fertility, and he would walk amongst them as their God.

However if they disobey God and abandon the covenant then exactly the opposite will happen. They will experience famine, disease and defeat by their enemies, and if they continue stubbornly to disobey then things will steadily get worse for them and they will even end up eating their own children out of desperation! The Israelites’ enemies will end up dominating their land and many will go into exile.

Yet God still called his people to repent of their evil ways so that he could renew the covenant of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and restore peace and prosperity to Israel.

This chapter starts by saying that every 7th year will be a year of rest for the land and the livestock. Every 7th year was a farming sabbatical.

Then it says that every 50th year will be a year of Jubilee (the year after 7 times 7 years) when all leased land was to be returned to its original owners because Canaan was divided up into sections and distributed by casting lots for each family. This Jubilee system was excellent for avoiding an accumulation of wealth by a few. The year of Jubilee was also a year of rest for farmers, land and livestock with no planting or harvesting.

The trumpets sound announcing the year of Jubilee – a year of liberty for all and a year of redemption of lost property in previous years.

Laws concerning houses were decreed in a further example of late intromissions in the text. For some reason the rules for houses in walled cities were different to those affecting houses in non-walled villages. In walled cities if a house was sold it could be redeemed during one year, but after this year of grace the house would become the permanent property of the buyer and would not be subject to the law of return in the year of Jubilee. However in the villages the Jubilee rules apply. In the case of Levites their houses are always redeemable and are to be returned in the Jubilee.

It then says that if a person slips into poverty then those that are better off are to help him out. They are not to sell him food for a profit or lend him money with interest. And if a poor Israelite sells himself because of his great need he should not be treat as a slave but as a hired worker to be freed in the year of Jubilee. Slave were to be bought from other nations but Israelites were not to be slaves.

If an Israelite became impoverished and sold himself to a foreigner in Canaan he could be redeemed based on his value linked to the number of years to the next Jubilee, but if he was not redeemed he would be freed at the Jubilee.

God commanded the people to bring olive oil for the golden lampstand to be burning every evening and through the night. The priests were to light them every evening and dress them the following morning. The ensuing light was a symbol of the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit. Then too every sabbath 12 loaves were to be placed on the golden table for the priests.

Then a fight broke out in which one of the men blasphemed the name of the Lord and God said to Moses that anyone who blasphemes the name of the Lord must be put to death. So the people took the man outside the camp and stoned him to death.

God set out the principle of lex talionis with “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” – which states that punishment should be proportionate to the offense.

This chapter lays out the annual religious calendar for the Israelites describing their 7 annual feasts or sacred assemblies. However the chapter starts by reminding them of the day of rest on the sabbath which is itself a day of sacred assembly.

The first annual feast is that of the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread commemorating the deliverance from Egypt. It starts at twilight on the 14th day of the first month with the Passover and on the 15th day the Feast of Unleavened Bread commences and lasts for 7 days.

Next comes the Feast of the Sheaf of the Firstfruits when the Israelites were to bring sheafs of the firstfruits of their harvest to the priest. This Feast was interwoven with the feasts previously mentioned. The priest waves the sheaf on the day after the sabbath and then sacrifices a lamb as a burnt offering together with 4.4 litres of fine flour mixed with oil, plus a drink offering of a litre of wine.

Following this comes the Feast of Weeks also known as Pentecost, which was celebrated 50 days after the previous feast. On the 50th day the Feast of Pentecost was celebrated in mammoth style! No less than 7 lambs, 1 bull and 2 rams were offered as burnt offerings, and 1 male goat was offered as a sin offering plus 2 male lambs were offered as a peace offering making a total of 13 animals slaughtered. Pentecost was a very big feast!

Next came the Feast of Trumpets on the 1st day of the 7th month which was a holiday heralded by the blast of trumpets.

Then on the 10th day of the 7th month was the all important day of Atonement with prayer and fasting, being observed as a sabbath, when the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies to sacrifice for his own sins and the sins of the people.

Finally came the Feast of Tabernacles or booths which were temporary structures covered by the foliage of trees and bushes and in which the people stayed for the feast from the 15th day of the 7th month for 7 days to remind them of their wilderness travels. On the 1st day was a day of rest as was the 8th day and on each of the 8 days the people were to bring food offerings.

This chapter firstly deals with how consecrated food in the tabernacle must be administered. Such food, derived from the people’s sacrifices, could only be consumed by the priests their families. However if the priest bought a slave he could also partake, but if a daughter married a non-priest she would loose her right to the sacred food. Nevertheless, if she got divorced or became a childless widow and returned home to her father then she could eat again of her father’s food.

It was also stressed that the priests and their families had to be ceremonially clean to be able to partake of the tabernacle’s sacred food. Such uncleanliness was classified as anyone with a skin disease, a bodily discharge, had touched a corpse, had had sex, had touched creepy crawlies or eaten something found dead. Such unclean people would need to bathe and would be unclean until the evening.

In the case of someone eating sacred food whilst unclean by mistake then he must replace the consumed part plus a 20% fine.

It was again stressed that any sacrificed animal had to be without defect. No animal which was blind, injured, had warts or sores was fit for sacrifice, but strangely a stunted or deformed cow or sheep would be alright as a freewill offering, though it would not be able to fulfill a vow. Animals were not fit for slaughter prior to being 8 days old but mother and offspring should not be killed on the same day.

This chapter lays out the holiness standards required of priests and the high priest. Priests could only go to the wake of close relatives but the high priest could not even go to these as entering a place where there is a dead body would make him ceremonially unclean. Priests could not shave their heads, trim their beards or cut themselves when mourning. Priests could not marry divorcees or prostitutes, and if a priest’s daughter got involved in prostitution she would have to be burnt alive!

The high priest must not have his hair in a mess or wear torn clothes (signs of mourning), and he must marry a virgin. He cannot marry a divorcee, a widow or a prostitute.

The sons of Aaron with disabilities such as those who were blind, lame, disfigured, deformed, had a crippled hand or foot, was a hunchback, dwarf, or who had an eye defect, festering or running sores, or damaged testicles, could not exercise the priesthood. They could eat food from the tabernacle but could not exercise the priesthood.

God said to Moses that any Israelite, or any foreigner living in Israel, must be stoned to death by the community if they sacrifice any of their children to the Canaanite god Molech. God would also excommunicate anyone who failed to report any such practice. People who resort to mediums and spiritists will also be excommunicated. The chapter then goes on to say:

If anyone curses his parents they must be put to death. So too if a man commits adultery with another man’s wife both of them must die. If a man has sex with his father’s wife both of them must be killed. So too if a man has sex with his daughter-in-law both must die. Those practicing homosexual sex will also be put to death but if a man marries a woman and her mother then they shall be burnt alive! Anyone who has sex with an animal must be put to death and the animal must have the same fate! (a bit hard on the animal!)

If a man has sex with his sister they will be excommunicated, and so too excommunication will be applied to a couple who have sex whilst the woman has a period. Sex was also banned with an aunt as was sex between a man and his sister-in-law. The chapter draws to an end stressing that Israelites are required to be people set apart from the customs of other nations and must touch nothing unclean, seeking to be holy as God is holy, and stoning to death anyone who is a medium or a spiritist.

This chapter starts by exhorting the people to be holy as the Lord is holy, before giving examples of how this could be done. It starts by requiring respect for parents and the need for sabbath day observance before going on to say: do not practice idolatry, carry out the fellowship/peace offering correctly, at harvest time leave the left-overs for the poor, don’t steal, don’t lie, don’t deceive, don’t swear by God’s name, don’t defraud, don’t hold back workers’ wages, don’t ill-treat the deaf and blind, don’t pervert justice, don’t spread malicious gossip, don’t endanger your neighbour’s life, don’t hate your brother, rebuke your neighbour frankly, don’t harbour grudges but love your neighbour as yourself, don’t interbreed different races of cattle, don’t plant two crops in the same field, and don’t wear clothes made from two kinds of material.

If a man has sex with a slave girl engaged to another man he must be punished and must offer a ram as a guilt offering. Newly planted fruit trees must only be picked in the 4th year and given to God, and then the fruit can be the owner’s from the 5th year onwards.

It was also stressed to not eat meat with blood in it, don’t practice divination or sorcery, don’t cut your hair on the sides of your head or trim your beard, don’t carry out pagan mourning practices like cutting the body or tattooing yourself, don’t make your daughter a prostitute, observe the sabbath and reverence God’s house, don’t resort to mediums or spiritists, stand up for the aged and respect the elderly, treat foreigners kindly, and use honest scales and measurements. These are God’s decrees for his people to follow.

This chapter gives a list of unlawful sexual relations as practiced by Egyptians and Canaanites but banned for Israelites. The list starts by prohibiting sex with close relatives and then says: do not have sex with your mother, do not have sex with your father’s wife, do not have sex with your sister, do not have sex with your granddaughter, do not have sex with your niece, do not have sex with your aunt, do not have sex with your daughter-in-law, do not have sex with your sister-in-law, do not have sex with both a woman and her daughter, do not take your sister-in-law as a rival wife, do not have sex with a woman who has a period, do not have sex with your neighbour’s wife, do not sacrifice your children, do not have same-sex relations, and do not have sex with animals. Anyone who practices these things will be excommunicated.

Some of the Israelites were offering sacrifices to goat idols or demons so God prohibited sacrifices outside the tabernacle which would be punishable by excommunication. The same punishment would be given to those who eat blood. Any hunted game must have its blood drained and then covered by earth. And anyone who eats an animal killed or torn by a wild animal must wash his clothes and bathe being unclean until the evening.

The Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) was to be celebrated with a fasting holiday, on the 10th day of the 7th month, and it was to be an annual atonement for the sins of the people. The sacrifices and ceremony were to be carried out by Aaron the high priest, though it was stressed that he needed to be very cautious about how and when he entered in to the Holy of Holies.

First of all on this day Aaron was to bring a bull, a ram and 2 male goats, and wash himself prior to dressing with his full priestly regalia. He was then to sacrifice the bull for his sin and that of his household. He would then cast lots over the 2 goats resulting in one being sacrificed as a sin offering and the other being released as a scapegoat. Aaron was to take burning coals before the Lord, put incense on the fire and sprinkle the bull’s blood seven times before the atonement cover.

Aaron shall then atone for the Holy of Holies and the Tabernacle using the goat’s blood and in so doing he will atone for himself, his household and the whole community of Israel. He will then lay both hands on the head of the live goat before sending it into the desert where it will symbolically carry everyone’s sin.

In this chapter it says that male discharges render a man unclean. Many commentators identify the problem here as gonorrhea and anywhere the man lies or sits will become unclean, and just touching such locations would render the person as unclean. In that case the contaminated person would need to wash his clothes and bathe, and he or she would be classified as unclean until the evening. A similar cleansing process would be necessary if someone touches the man with a discharge or if he spits on someone. If the unclean man just touches a clay pot then it has to be broken! But when the man is cured of his discharge he goes through seven days of ceremonial cleansing, washes his clothes and bathes before taking 2 doves or pigeons to the priest as sacrifices.

When a man has an emission of semen he must bathe his whole body and he will remain unclean until the evening. The same applies to a couple that have sex.

In the case of a woman’s menstruation she will be classed as unclean for 7 days and anyone that just touches her will be unclean until the evening. Where she lies or sits will be unclean and anyone that touches such objects will be unclean until evening. If a couple have sex when the woman has a period then the man will be unclean for a week.

In the case of a woman having a discharge other than menstruation the woman will be unclean for as long as it continues, and once cured she will offer 2 doves/pigeons as sacrificial atonement.

If a person is reported to have recovered from their skin disease then a priest should go outside the camp to check. With the person’s cure confirmed the priest will require 2 live birds together with cedar wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop so as to confirm the cleansing. The priest will kill one bird over fresh water and dip the other bird and other ingredients in the dead bird’s blood. The priest will then sprinkle the blood mixture on the cured person 7 times, pronouncing him clean, and release the live bird into the wild. Then the person shaves off all his hair, washes his clothes and bathes, but stays outside of his tent for 7 days.

On the 8th day he must go to the tabernacle taking 2 male lambs and 1 ewe lamb, together with fine flour and oil, to offer as sacrifices before God. The priest should put some blood from the guilt offering on the right ear, right thumb and right big toe of the person being cleansed, before putting oil on the person in the same places. If the person is poor their cleansing sacrifices can be replaced with one lamb plus 2 doves or pigeons. Their sacrifices will make atonement before the Lord on behalf of the one being cleansed.

Finally the cleansing of dreaded mildew is prescribed when a priest goes to an affected house for inspection. If he sees that the mildew is greenish and reddish going deep then he will have the house shut up for 7 days. He then will re-inspect and scrape and remove stones as necessary (this is clearly a later addition to the text as the Israelites were living in tents) but if this doesn’t fix it the house is unclean and must be destroyed. However if a house clears up the mildew returning it to normal and clean then the same 2-bird ritual will be carried out as a cleansing right seen earlier in the chapter, killing one bird and releasing the other one into the wild. It is a beautiful symbol of freedom and new life away from uncleanliness.

At the time that Leviticus was written the matter of skin diseases was clearly a great concern as can be seen by the dedication of two long chapters to them. I am sure dermatologists must be delighted. It is also interesting to note that it is the priests who coordinate the skin disease control. It was previously mistakenly thought that this chapter was a discussion of leprosy as can be seen in older translations such as that of Almeida Revista e Atualizada in Portuguese. However as G. J. Wenham points out this is incorrect, as the more modern translations reflect such as NIV. So in this chapter 21 different cases of skin diseases are distinguished as are 3 cases of “diseased” garments with mildew.

This short chapter of just 8 verses again transmits contrasting cultural concepts difficult to handle in our day and age. For if a woman gives birth to a son she will be considered ceremonially unclean for 7 days plus an extra 33 days before she can go to church (tabernacle). However if she has a daughter then she will be unclean for an initial 14 days plus an extra 66 days before she can go to church (tabernacle)! This chapter also makes it quite clear that the normal woman’s monthly period was considered to be a time of impurity.

When the mother’s period of purification was completed (7 + 33 days in the case of a boy or 14 + 66 days in the case of a girl) then the mother needed to offer sacrifices at the tabernacle of a lamb plus a pigeon or dove, but if she was poor she could offer just 2 pigeons or doves.

This is a chapter that at times makes strange reading being from a culture separated by millenniums. Upon defining clean and unclean animals the defining factors were its hoofs and its digestive system. For if an animal had a split hoof and chewed the cud it was deemed eatable, but if it only came under one of these categories, such as the coney, rabbit or pig, then it was classed as unclean.

In the case of aquatic creatures the defining factors were fins and scales so that any creature without these was defined as detestable.

Understandably birds of prey and scavengers were classed as unclean such as eagles, vultures, kites, owls, cormorant, osprey, hawks, stork, heron, hoopoe and bat.

I personally would not be partial to eating insects, but locusts, crickets and grasshoppers were said to be alright to eat, whereas other winged insects with 4 legs were taboo.

In all the cases of unclean creatures even contact with their carcasses rendered the person unclean until the evening and they had to wash their clothes.

Animals that move close to the ground were also deemed unclean such as the weasel, rat, mouse, lizards and chameleon, as were creatures that moved on their bellies such as snakes and worms.

God therefore requested strict obedience to this food code because the Israelites had to be holy as God is holy.

Aaron’s elder sons Nadab and Abihu went into the tabernacle and offered an incense offering before God, but in some way they introduced fire in the wrong way which infuriated God and cost them their lives. The details of the exact nature of this sin are not clear, but the message of the utter ruthlessness of God’s holiness is only too transparent.  Aaron and his remaining sons Eleazar and Ithamar were prohibited from mourning and they were also prohibited from consuming fermented drink when they were going to enter the tabernacle. As priests they had to set a clear example of holiness and teach all the decrees of the Lord.

Moses reminded Aaron and his sons to carry out their duties as decreed by God because he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar for not having eaten as required the meat from the sin offering, but Aaron explained that they had omitted this under the sad circumstances of the day, and Moses accepted this explanation.

After the priests had completed their 7 days of ordination they started out into their ministry. Aaron brought a bull calf as a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering, and the people brought a male goat as a sin offering, a calf and a lamb as a burnt offering, and a cow and a ram as a fellowship/peace offering.

Aaron and his sons first of all sacrificed their animals before the Lord, put the blood on the horns of the altar and burnt them as appropriate. They then did the same with the people’s sin, burnt and grain offerings, prior to slaughtering the cow and ram as the fellowship/peace offering. Aaron then waved the breasts before the Lord as a wave offering.

After all the sacrifices were completed Aaron stepped outside where the people were gathered and blessed them. Then Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle and when they came out there was an intense sense of the presence of the Lord and the glory of God appeared to all the people. Fire came down from God and consumed the burnt offering on the altar and the people shouted for joy and bowed down before God.

God told Moses to gather all the Israelites in front of the tabernacle and prepare to ordain Aaron and his sons, bringing a bull, 2 rams and a basket of bread ready for the ceremony. Then Moses washed Aaron and his sons before dressing Aaron with the full high priestly regalia.

Then Moses anointed the tabernacle and everything in it and anointed Aaron too representing the Holy Spirit giving power for service. He also brought Aaron’s sons forward and dressed them with tunics, sashes and headbands.

Aaron and his sons then put their hands on the bulls head before slaughtering it as a sin offering, and put some of its blood on the horns of the altar. They then burnt the kidneys, liver and fat on the altar before burning the rest of the bull outside the camp.

Aaron and his sons then put their hands on one of the ram’s heads before killing it and sprinkling its blood on the altar. He then burnt the ram as a burnt offering unto the Lord.

Moses then took the other ram to offer it as the ordination sacrifice and Aaron and his sons put their hands on its head before Moses killed it. He put some of the animal’s blood on the right ear lobes of Aaron and his son’s, plus on their right thumbs and right big toes! Then they waved parts of this ram as a wave offering to God before burning it on the altar.

Then Moses anointed Aaron and his sons and consecrated them to the priestly ministry. They then cooked the outstanding meat and ate it with the bread, and they remained in the tabernacle for 7 days of consecration.

This chapter starts by presenting regulations for the guilt offering stating that the animal’s blood was to be sprinkled on all sides of the altar and all the fat was to be burnt. The priest may keep the hide and eat the meat with the other priests in the holy place. A part of a grain offering would be kept by the offering priest and if flour was brought as a grain offering the priest’s part would be shared by all of Aaron’s sons.

In the case of fellowship or peace offerings expressing thankfulness the animal to be sacrificed should be brought together with bread, wafers or cakes made without yeast mixed with oil. The meat should be eaten on the day of the sacrifice. However if the offering is the result of a vow or is a freewill offering then in this case the meat can be eaten up to the day following the sacrifice. The fellowship/peace offering could not come into contact with anything or person unclean.

It was stressed that nobody should eat fat (a very healthy recommendation) nor blood. Anyone consuming blood would be excommunicated, banished and ostracized.

The person offering an animal as a fellowship/peace offering should separate the fat, breast and thighs. He should burn the fat, wave the breast as a wave offering before the Lord and then give it to the priest, and following this he should give the right thigh to the priest too.

This chapter starts by adding instructions for guilt offerings in the case of theft, deception, cheating, lying and false oaths. In such cases restitution must occur, plus 20%, on the day of the guilt offering, which should be a ram without defect, and which will lead to the offender’s forgiveness.

Then come further instructions concerning the burnt offering and it is stressed 5 times that the fire must be perpetual and must never go out. (full of spiritual implications for us) Animals burnt on the bronze altar were to burn all night and then the ashes were to be disposed of outside the camp in a ceremonially clean location.

This is followed by regulations of grain offerings when a handful of fine flour would be burnt and the rest of the offering be kept by the priest to be eaten as baked yeast-free bread.

On the day Aaron was anointed high priest he and his priestly sons were to offer about 200 ml of fine flour as a grain offering with half in the morning and half in the evening. This offering was to be prepared by the son chosen to eventually succeed Aaron as high priest, and the offering was to be completely burnt with nothing eaten.

In the case of sin offerings the priests who sacrifice the animal should eat the meat in the tabernacle’s courtyard. If it was cooked in a clay pot this should subsequently be broken, but in the case of a bronze pot it should be washed.

This chapter helps the Israelite to handle guilt, sin and the question of restitution. It says that if a person sins by failing to testify about a wrongdoing that he witnessed, or by touching unclean things even though he does so unknowingly, or by thoughtlessly swearing to do something, then he was to bring a female lamb or goat to the priest as an atoning sin offering.

However if the person couldn’t afford a sheep or goat he was to bring 2 doves or 2 young pigeons. The priest would wring one bird’s neck as a sin offering and then burn the other one as a burnt offering.

But if the person could not even afford this then he should bring fine flour as his sin offering and the priest would burn a small part of it and keep the rest.

However in the case of unintentional sin which affects God’s holy things, such as the withholding of tithes, offerings, firstlings etc. then the sinner must bring a ram as a guilt offering. He must also make restitution for his mistake adding 20% to its value and give it to the priest.

This chapter contains instructions concerning the atonement for unintentional sin practiced by the following categories of Israelites:

First of all in the case of a priest sinning he should sacrifice a young bull without defect, lay his hand on its head and slaughter it at the entrance to the tabernacle. He should then dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of it 7 times in front of the curtain of the sanctuary, put blood on the horns of the altar of incense and pour the rest at the base of the altar of burnt offering. He shall then burn the fat of the kidneys, liver and loins on the altar of burnt offering before burning the rest outside of the camp.

Similarly in the case of the nation of Israel sinning a young bull should be brought to the tabernacle and all the elders of Israel should put their hand on its head prior to its slaughter. The same ritual as previous would then ensue.

In the case of a leader of Israel sinning he would need to bring a male goat as a sacrifice and would need to follow the same ritual as previously prescribed for the priest and nation.

In the case of a common Israelite citizen they should bring as a sacrifice a female sheep or goat and then follow the same ritual as previously prescribed.

There is no consensus amongst theologians on the correct meaning of this offering which can either be translated ‘peace’ or ‘fellowship’ offering. It would seem to be a sacrifice for peace (shalom) and fellowship with God and one’s fellow man, who would be present to eat the resultant barbecue with the one offering the sacrifice.

The sacrifice could either be a bull, cow, sheep or goat without defect. The owner would put his hand on the animal’s head prior to slaughtering it at the entrance to the tabernacle and then its blood would be sprinkled on the sides of the altar. Following this the fat around the kidneys, liver and loins would be burnt on the altar. All the fat is the Lord’s. As I understand it this ritual would then be followed by a good ‘fellowship’ barbecue with the sacrifice’s proponent’s invited guests and families. (See further G. J. Wenham further on this)