Leviticus 11:24-13:59 - 2012 - Skip Heitzig

[Music] welcome to expound our weekly worship and verse by verse study of the Bible our goal is to expand your knowledge of the truth of God as we explore the Word of God in a way that is interactive enjoyable and congregational [Music] it's so good to be with you tonight and share this Wednesday night turn in your Bibles to the Book of Leviticus chapter 11 a perfect book for the holiday season as you will see let's pray father we still our hearts before you we're told in your word to be still and to know that you are God so we become at this moment very cognizant of the fact that we're reading your revelation in your presence among your people and so we come with all of the knowledge of the accountability that the knowledge we receive brings too much is given much is required thank you that you've given us so much thank you that you've invested so much into us and I pray father that as responsible stewards we would share what we have learned with others help us Lord as you disciple us to become disciples of others to train them up to train our children our families our friends to be those who influence the people around us that look at us and that know us father I pray for a great measure of your grace give your servant Lord the ability to say what you want to be said and to hold back what need not be said even though the weakness of the vessel is clear we pray that there would be the overshadowing power of God to feed his people not only those who are gathered here but so many that are listening via radio or on the internet we're grateful father that and I especially that there's a hunger to know all the Bible every verse all the principles that this is a church a flock that loves line upon line verse by verse the whole Council of God for those who find it difficult and there may be some we pray father you would develop an app night for your word in Jesus name Amen the first ten chapters of Leviticus have as the theme the worship of the Lord now in Chapter 11 it's walking with the Lord so we leave the altar we leave the sacrifices we leave the priesthood that is very prominent in the first 10 chapters and it's all about what we do here now on earth among people from the worshipping of the Lord to walking with the Lord that is the focus of these chapters somebody said it well it's not how high you jump it's how straight you walk when you hit the ground a person can get all excited in their worship of the Lord oh it's exciting I loved it the lights were great the music was good the key changes and it just it got me into the mood of worship I just really felt the presence of the Lord none of that there's nothing wrong with that but it's not how high you jump it's not how excited you get in worship it's how straight you walk after the worship is over and now your worship of the Lord you might say really begins as who you really are is evidenced by how you live so worshiping of the worship of the Lord to walking with the Lord that's the focus and we're dealing with physicality in these chapters our bodies are the focus the physical act of what we do with these vessels in our worship of God and walking with the Lord there was a man who came to an evangelist the Evangelist was passing out tracts and wanted to give it to this one man and the man put up his hand he goes I don't want to read your tracts I want to watch your tracks I don't want to read the tract tra CT that you have with the words in it I want to watch the tracts tra CKS that your feet leaves I want to watch your walk I want to see how you live and so I love the emphasis on worship and then on walking with the Lord now we notice something we didn't finish chapter 11 last time but we noticed something that God gave to his people a menu here's what you can eat here's what you cannot eat which makes us wonder if we have any depth at all why on earth would the god of the universe care what we have for dinner you would certainly think that the Lord has much more important things to occupy his attention or heftier commands that he could come up with instead of don't eat that don't eat that you can eat this you can eat that why would God care about giving us an intricate menu in it simple every single detail of our lives the Lord wants to be a part of now you think about that thought for a moment every aspect of your life the Lord wants to be a part and partner with you pray without ceasing the Bible says imagine if you just made the Lord your partner and included him in your everyday life well I'll tell you it would please him many years ago when I was still single I had a ritual I would get up early in the morning and I would first spend time in the Bible and then I would spend time at the beach it was my daily ritual because I didn't go to work till noon I worked part-time and I pulled call in the evenings it was all by design it's the way I wanted it so the ritual was the Bible first the second everyday I would spend time and talk to the Lord about his word then I would be out of my surfboard talking to the Lord about his world the waves praying for a big set to come in and I loved the combination and I always felt that the worship was the same I didn't need to just worship when I was in church or with the Bible open I could carry that worship with me when I was paddling out through the waves praying for a perfect glassy big set so including the world walking with the Lord in the world that he gave us chapter 11 the emphasis is what's placed in the body what you eat what's placed on the body what you touch that's chapter 11 chapter 12 is what is produced by the body children are produced childbirth is in view in that very short chapter the shortest chapter in Leviticus then in chapter 13 it's what's produced upon the body sores blemishes discharges etc and again God is being very detailed and very specific because the principle is he wants to be part of every aspect of our lives so we cut off around verse 24 last time we met so we pick it up verse 24 Leviticus 11 by these you shall become unclean whoever touches the carcass of any of them shall be unclean until evening whoever carries part of the carcass of any of them shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening the carcass of any beast which divides the foot but is not cloven hoofed or does not chew the cud is unclean to you everyone who touches it shall be unclean and whatever goes on its paws among all kinds of animals that go on all fours those are unclean to you whoever touches any such carcass shall be unclean until evening whoever carries any such carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean till evening it is unclean to you now we have a very important and interesting principle and that is defilement by contact if you touched something you could become defiled now here's here's what's interesting here's what's wild you couldn't become holy by touching something holy but you could become defiled by touching certain things that were defiled so it's not like I'm really defiled I need to touch something holy no you would only defile that which is holy holiness doesn't come by contact sin however does we have to watch what we touch what we come in contact with lest we become defiled now that concept is not just a spiritual concept it's true in life it's true in the physical world if you took a gallon of water that was clean and you added just a little bit just a couple ounces of dirty water you'll pollute the entire gallon but if you take a gallon of dirty water and add a few ounces of clean water you won't make that dirty water clean you can become defiled by contact but you can't be made pure by contact or take a child a child that is sick if the child that is sick touches a child that is not sick the sick child won't be cured but the child that is not sick because he's exposed to the one that is sick could come down with the disease so the principle is don't mess with being contaminated with sinful things watch what you come in contact with lest you become defiled verse 29 these also shall be unclean to you among the creeping things that creep on the earth the mole the mouse and the large lizard after its kind the gecko the monitor lizard the sand reptile the sand lizard and the chameleon so all the creeps verse 33 any earthen vessel into which any of them falls you shall break in whatever is in it shall be unclean in such a vessel any edible food upon which water falls becomes unclean and any drink may be drunk from it becomes unclean and everything on which a part of any such carcass falls shall be unclean whether it is an oven or a cooking stove it shall be broken down for they are unclean and shall be unclean to you now go down to verse 44 for I am the Lord your God you shall therefore sanctify yourselves and you shall be holy for I am holy neither shall you defile yourself with any creeping thing that creeps on the earth now we're dealing with dietary restrictions in chapter 11 as well as touching the carcass of any of these forbidden creatures you could become defile but now beginning in verse 40 44 we understand the reason for these commands the reason for these dietary restrictions are twofold reason number one separation reason number two sanitation look at the 45th verse for I am the Lord who brings you out of the land of Egypt I'm separating you from them to be your God you shall therefore be holy for I am holy separation number one he wants to sanctify them he's bringing them out and separating them from all of the other peoples that's the idea that's the concept behind holiness God is saying you are different than all of the other nations I am your and I am supreme I am unique I am different I am holy I want you to have that characteristic of being separated from them don't be like them but be like me because I'm holy you shall be holy that's an important verse it's so important that it's going to be repeated another eight times in the Book of Leviticus and another 60 times in 18 Old Testament books it's a common refrain because it's one of the central characteristics of the God we serve he is holy and we want to be like him so we should be holy so personal holiness flows from personal relationship if I know God and I follow God and I love God I have a relationship with God a personal relationship the result of that ought to be personal holiness personal holiness flows out of personal relationship so in their case if somebody came along some person from another nation and said hey Israelite why don't you eat that yummy lizard right there on the rock first of all I wouldn't be tempted but the Israelite would say I'm not gonna eat that lizard because I love God and God told me not to do it and I want to do what he told me to do said that I should do I want to be holy for he is holy that was the first reason there was the second reason and that was for sanitation this is the law of the beasts and the birds and the living creature that moves in the waters of every creature that creeps on the earth to distinguish between the unclean and the clean between the animal that may not be even or may be eaten in the animal that may not be in ancient times there was no FDA Food and Drug Administration there was only g.o.d Moses didn't understand things about bacteria e.coli but God did so God just said Moses rather than saying because the bacteria is high in certain times of the year were when mollusks are on the seashore he just says just don't eat them stay away from them so for sanitary reasons God gave these laws to the Jews kosher law was given for health purposes several years ago I took a buddy and we went over seas to do ministry in India and I'm adventurous when it comes to food but we got some food in India that didn't set well with my friend in fact he got dysentery while he was there and she was just a couple of bites of the wrong food and that's all it takes after he was cured of that and we left India we went to Egypt for a couple days he was very skittish about what he was going to eat then we went to Greece again he was very skittish then we went to Israel and he was really nervous in Israel I said dude Harry it's not a problem they have kosher law here they have high standards of cleanliness the chief rabbi of the land has to make sure everything is kosher that it's done according to Levitical law so he the restraints that you had in India or in Greece or in Egypt you don't need the same here in the Jewish quarter of Jerusalem find what you want and go for it and so for cleanliness purposes for separation and for Sanitation God gave these laws I'm gonna read a little a quote from a dr. Kellogg not from Kellogg serial corporation this is dr. SH Kellogg who studied Old Testament law and he said one of the greatest discoveries of modern science is the fact that a large number of diseases to which animals are liable are due to the presence of low forms of parasitic life to such diseases those which are unclean and their feeding will be especially exposed and he went on to show how that diseases can be communicated from animals to man he continues long ago in the days when the plague was desolating Europe the Jews universally escaped infection which in turn brought suspicion the other people's thinking that the Jews were poisoning the wells and the springs close quote in other words you have a group of people historically that have kept kosher law and have made the distinction between what is clean and unclean they were spared the great plagues the great diseases and so much so that people noticed this whole ethnic group this whole Jewish population is unaffected while we're dropping off light flies they must be poisoning the wells and one of the reasons for the great persecutions of the past were accusations like such so for separation and for sanitation God gave this law ok we're not living under the Old Testament we live in the New Testament as New Testament believers we are not under the same dietary restrictions so if you want to eat that camel you look at that lizard on the rock and you go wow I'm just salivating looking at that reptile again neither of those tempt me they're considered unclean in the Old Testament but as a New Testament believer you're welcome to eat anything there are no dietary restrictions Paul the Apostle said I am convinced before the Lord that nothing is unclean of itself and another scripture whatever you do whether it's whatever you eat or drink or whatever you do do it all to the glory of God you don't have the same dietary restrictions now Peter learned that lesson in Acts chapter 10 and Leviticus 11 is a great chapter to compare with Acts chapter 10 you know the story Peter staying with a buddy in Joppa and he sees a vision around lunchtime huge sheet is being dropped out of heaven with four-footed beasts and creeping things and fowls of the air all this unco sure stuff and then the Lord speaks and says Peter get up man eat what's on the sheet and he goes not so Lord he was always the compliant one no way god I have never eaten anything that is unclean God said what I have cleansed don't you call unclean now here's what's interesting about that story Peter was steeped in Levitical dietary regulations he knew what was unco sure when he saw it he knew this was forbidden by the Old Testament customs and by Old Testament law he wouldn't dare touch something that is unco sure he's a kosher Jewish man and yet God was speaking to him saying he did so he's in a dilemma he knows according to Leviticus he can't eat it but the author of Leviticus is speaking directly to him saying you're not under the same regulations anymore and I can do what no kosher law could ever do and that is I can make even Gentiles clean and it's not by what you eat or don't eat it's by the blood of my son Jesus Christ and all of that was an important lesson that would weigh heavily upon Peter now we get into chapter 12 and you'll notice there's only eight verses in this chapter it's a shortest chapter but it's it's filled with great lessons then the Lord spoke to Moses saying speak to the children of Israel saying if a woman has conceived and born a male child then she shall be unclean seven days as in the days of her customary impurity she shall be unclean and on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised she shall then continue in the blood of her purification 39 days we enter into a principle in this chapter and here it is when we're born we are born needy and helpless and that comes very clear by reading this chapter in Psalm 51 David said I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me I was born in sin I was born a sinner I was born defiled I was born unclean David said from infancy I came forth from my womb said David speaking lies uttering lies even job when he was lamenting his condition said how can a man be clean who is born of woman the Bible universally consigns all mankind under sin from the moment they are born now you got to understand this this is out rightly denied in this culture oh look at that beautiful perfect innocent little baby not so quick oh it looks so cute and innocent but just watch it on its own as she grows up you never have to teach a child to do bad you never have to train a child to light no Johnny come here you're just way too honest let me tell you how you can use manipulation as you get older for your benefit no that comes natural to a child were born that way Paul said we were by nature children of Wrath even as others but our modern world modern psychology says that everybody's born innocent and we learn evil were products of our own environment it's cultural conditioning the Bible says no we are sinners by nature and sinners by choice were born that way and then we make choices that are in line with our own nature and so we need to be cleansed now look at verse three on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised just in case you're thinking that circumcision was from the law of Moses and purely Jewish you need to understand that is not the case the circumcision goes all the way back to the time of Genesis when God called Abraham and I'll just read it to you this is Genesis chapter 17 this is my covenant which you shall keep now this is before the children of Israel existed this is before there was Moses or the law and you shall keep the covenant between me and your descendants after you every male child among you shall be circumcised and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins and it shall be a sign of the Covenant between me and you notice that a sign of the Covenant he who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised every male child in your generations he who is born in your house or bought with money from any stranger who is not your descendant he who is born in your house and he who is bought with money must be circumcised and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an ever lasting covenant the question most people ask is what's up with the eighth day and you could you can bring all sorts of symbolism well eight is the number of new beginning that's after the seventh day then next day or the first day of the week is the eighth day so it's a number of newness new beginning but there's something even more fundamental than that it's not until the eighth day in a baby's body that the coagulation reaches its perfect rate blood clotting is at its rapid as its most rapid rate and so the eighth day would be the safest day to circumcise a male child now today we have vitamin D excuse me vitamin K injections which can mitigate against anticoagulants in the blood up till the 8th today but it was up until the 8th day it wasn't safe the eighth day it certainly was here's what you need to know about circumcision circumcision was practiced by other nations and I bring that up not because it's necessarily important to the text but you might come across somebody in your class at college who says you know the Jews did a lot of things that every other nation did they really weren't that holy there were a lot of Nations that circumcise their baby boys when they were born the Moabites the ammonites the romans the sons of roman priests were circumcised so they were simply following ancient customs that many people did well perhaps that is true and it is historically however God took something that was an ancient custom and gave it spiritual significance the circumcision was God's mark of ownership upon the male children it was the sign of a covenant you'll notice that when God makes deals with people throughout the Bible there is often an outward sign of the inward covenant with the Jews it was circumcision with Noah it was a rainbow something was beautiful and colorful invisible with Moses and the children of Israel it was the Sabbath day something was peaceful and restful in the New Testament what's the corollary to circumcision baptism you're immersed under the waters it speaks of cleansing it's an outward sign of an inward reality I have a wedding ring this is simply an outward sign of the inward reality I made a covenant vow with my wife Lenya now you would suppose that everyone having a wedding ring would be married but I could be single and put a ring on and make you think that I'm married or I could be married and take my ring off so that somebody thinks I'm single the reality is I have a covenant with my wife and so I wear the ring as the outward token of the reality that exists the problem with circumcision is the ritual became a substitute for the reality the there was with so many of them not the reality of a repentant lifestyle which is what circumcision speaks of God is saying you're mine I own you every male child will be circumcised the eighth day but that is a symbol outwardly of the reality of a changed life he has cut away not the foreskin of his flesh but the foreskin of his heart he has cut away evil desires he is separated unto me that's what the reality was behind the ritual but as time went on the Jews began to substitute the ritual for the reality thinking if I've gone through the ritual that's all I need I don't even need the reality it's much like a person today will say if I get baptized I'm gonna go to heaven no you'll go to hell as a baptized person if you don't have the reality of a relationship with God through Jesus Christ his son if that's not part of your reality you just had the outward symbol that's why in Deuteronomy chapter 10 God said circumcise the foreskin of your hearts saith the Lord cut away the flesh get behind the ritual to the reality of the relationship that's what it was about it predated the law God said it will be an everlasting covenant and so it's brought up when a child is born on the 8th day leviticus 12 verse 3 the flesh of his foreskin will be circumcised then she shall continue in the blood of her purification 33 days she shall not touch any hollow thing or come into the sanctuary until the days of her purification are fulfilled if she bears a female child she shall be unclean 2 weeks as in her customary impurity and she shall continue in the blood of her purification 66 days so you have if it's a male child a total period of 40 days of uncleanness if it's a girl total of 80 days altogether it's doubled when the days of her purification are fulfilled whether for son or a daughter she shall bring to the priest a lamb of the first year as a burnt offering and a young pigeon or a turtle dove is the sin offering to the door of the tabernacle of meeting let's stop and ask a question why is it that a woman could be considered ceremonially and that's the idea here not morally but ceremonially unclean just because she has children I mean she's doing what God told her to do in Genesis be fruitful multiply fill the earth so she's fulfilling the commandment of God with her husband having babies but as soon as she has a baby she's considered unclean and has to go through this ritual of purification unclean I mean if you were today to go into the maternity ward of a friend or a loved one who just had a baby and you were to say cute baby but you're unclean like for a month or so do you think you would ingratiate yourself to that person no what do you do when somebody has a baby you send flowers you send balloons you have a party it's congratulations it's awesome and it is awesome and they are to be congratulated but the woman becomes unclean and the question is why and the best answer I can come up with in line with all of the rest of the scripture is simply because in having a baby you've added another sinner into the world and we are born David said in iniquity we're born in sin again it is politically incorrect to say that it's politically incorrect but it happens to be biblically correct we are by nature the children of Wrath and we are as David said born in sin and this is the reason behind it it's called the depravity of man that every single human being is born a sinner and needs Redemption we don't come into the world with a clean slate it's not all a perfect little infant but it's gonna be subject to all these bad things around then become bad and we have to correct it no a child naturally I've shared with you the little report from the Minnesota Crime Commission which says that every baby if left unchecked would become a murderer a thief and a rapist if if allowed in its childish tendencies all throughout life without restraint of law or parent would cause great damage so unclean the need for redemption I'm a sinner now let me explain something I'm a sinner not because I sin I sin because I'm a sinner it's my nature to sin a dog barks when a dog barks is it a dog because it barks or does a bark because it's a dog it's not a dog because it barks listen I can bark sometimes I can sound like a pretty good dog I've even freaked dogs out before but because I bark doesn't make me a dog dogs bark because that's their nature it's not like anything that barks now becomes a dog no dogs bark because it is their nature to do so I sin because I have a sin nature so the choices that I make that are sinful choices committing individual sins are all due to the base fact that I am by nature by birth conceived in iniquity and thus I need Redemption from the day I was born I am by nature the children of Wrath when the day's verse six of her purification are fulfilled whether for a son or a daughter she shall bring to the priest a lamb of the first year as a burnt offering and a young pigeon her turtle dove as a sin offering to the door of the meeting of the tabernacle then he shall offer it before the Lord to make atonement for her and she shall be cleaned from the flow of her blood this is the law for her who has borne email or a female and if she's not able to bring a lamb then she may bring two turtle doves or two young pigeons one is a burnt offering the other is a sin offering so the priest shall make atonement for her and she will be clean here's what's cool about this God is making atonement within reach of everyone rich or poor if you are absolutely destitute you don't have flocks you don't have lambs you don't have herds that you can get your animals from to offer a lamb and so you could say I've had a child but we can't bring a sacrifice to the tabernacle I'm don't have enough money I don't have any flocks I don't own any herds no lambs all you got to do is catch a couple birds man even the poorest of the poor so God was making atonement available for everyone that's part of the principle God makes salvation and redemption accessible one of my favorite promises is Isaiah chapter 55 verse 1 ho everyone that thirsts come to the water and drink freely he that has no money come by and eat yes common buy wine and milk without money without price in other words I'm offering free of charge this blessing so God puts it close enough that if you believe in your heart that God raised his son from the dead and confess it with your mouth you shall be saved now the 12th chapter of Leviticus makes the second chapter of Luke very very interesting because it has to do with what we're about to celebrate this time of the year the Christmas story after Jesus was born in Bethlehem I'm gonna read it to you in Luke chapter 2 Jesus is brought to the temple listen to what it says verse 21 Luke chapter 2 and when eight days were completed for the circumcision of the child his name was called Jesus the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb now in the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were completed they brought him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord as it is written in the law of the Lord every male child who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord now quoting Leviticus a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons why is it interesting it's interesting because it shows us that Joseph and Mary were too poor and couldn't afford a lamb because they were in the poverty class they brought two birds now I want you to think about this it shows you how low God stooped when he sent Jesus into this world here is the Lord of glory here is the owner and operator of the universe here is the one who owns a cattle on a Thousand Hills being born into a poverty-stricken family and understand Jesus lived his life by and large as a poor man changing the lives bringing healing and salvation and redemption to all classes of people 2nd corinthians 8 though he was rich yet for our sakes he became poor so here's Mary and Joseph and they're bringing because they can't afford a lamb they're bringing the birds into the temple and yet they did bring a lamb didn't they they brought the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world but when it came for the redemption they brought the birds as Leviticus 12 tells us a side note if Mary were sinless as some have taught that she is she wouldn't have needed to bring the burnt offering in the sin offering for purification she would not be unclean she would be sinless and I grew up being taught that Mary was sinless but Mary and Jesus were the only two sinless individual and that Mary's to be called the mother of God because she was sinless immaculately conceived assumed into heaven etc but Mary didn't think so otherwise Mary wouldn't have brought the sacrifice otherwise Mary wouldn't have prayed the prayer she did a chapter before in Luke chapter 1 when she said my soul doth magnify the Lord and my spirit exalts in God my Savior Savior last time I checked only sinners require saviors how could he be your Savior Mary if you're sinless if you're perfect because Mary knew she wasn't perfect wasn't sinless she needed a savior he has looked upon the lowliest state of his handmaid and she says and so the law of cleansing and Leviticus 12 makes that very interesting now back to Leviticus 13 and just look ahead and notice how long the chapter is and look at the time that we have left and I just want you to rest assured that there's going to be no problem at all in getting through the rest of the chapter because of the way it's going to be done verse 1 the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron saying when a man has on the skin of his body a swelling a scab a bright spot like a blemish and it becomes on the skin of his body like a leprous sore then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons the priest shall look at the sore on his skin of his body and if the hair on the sore has turned white and the sore appears to be deeper than the skin of his body it is a leprous or now just about now you're going gag this is in the Bible uh-huh then the priest shall look at him and pronounce him unclean but if the bright spot is white on the skin of his body and does not appear to be deeper than the skin and its hair has not turned white then the priest shall isolate the one who has the sore for seven days now there's a word that is used in this chapter repeatedly it's leprous or leprosy and it's a Hebrew word that includes a variety of dermatological conditions that may include what we know as leprosy it could be anything short of that from a blemish to an allergy to psoriasis to eczema to full-blown leprosy it covers all of them Hansen's disease elephantiasis some define it as so the priest would sort of act as the clinician or the doctor you see your buddy scratching his arm a what are you scratching there dude oh man you got a bad sore there come on we're going to the priest priest checks it out says doesn't look good I need to isolate you for a week so you're kept in isolation after a week you're examined if it goes away you're pronounced clean if it persists if it spread if it has certain conditions that are outlined in this chapter and we're not going to go through every one I'll sum them up he's kept another week and if it persists and follows a whole other course that is also outlined then he is pronounced leprous and there are some very stiff ramifications for that including being ostracized from the community now there's two basic kinds of leprosy I'm going to divide chapter 13 into everything that is a skin problem with all the conditions that I mentioned just a moment ago number one that's the mild kind because you don't know what it could turn into and then something that is known as living death elephantiasis the numbing of the limbs the distorting of the limbs and sometimes the limbs even falling off it's called a living death it comes from a bacterium known as my Oh bacterium and it starts small but it spreads and it renders the nerves insensate so that you could have your limb by a fire and you wouldn't even know you're being burned it's a very dangerous condition and limbs have been known to fall off I'm gonna read you what William Barclay describes from his experience with this disease he says it might begin with little nodules which go on to ulcerate the ulcers develop a foul discharge the eyebrows fall out the eyes become staring the vocal cords become ulcerated the voice becomes hoarse the breath wheezes the hands and the feet always all serrate slowly the sufferer becomes a mass of ulcerated growths the average course of that kind of leprosy is nine years and it ends in mental decay coma and ultimately death leprosy might begin with the loss of all sensation in some part of the body the nerve trunks are affected the muscles waste away the tendons contract until the hands are like claws there follows ulcerations of the hands and feet then comes the progressive loss of fingers and toes until in the end the whole hand or the whole foot may drop off the duration of that kind of leprosy is anything from twenty to thirty years it is a kind of terrible progressive death in which a man dies by inches so here is God wanting to be involved remember in every aspect of human life of their walk in this world on the earth he's living amongst his people in that tabernacle and so he wants a purity throughout he doesn't do this to punish those who are affected but to purify and preserve those who are not so verse six the priest shall look at him again on the seventh day indeed if the sword has darkened the sword is not spread on the skin the priest shall pronounce him clean it is only a scab he shall wash his clothes and be clean you can imagine sweating it out during that week and when he goes you're okay just the relief that you would be overcome by because the alternative you will see is far worse if the priest verse eight sees the scab is indeed spread on the skin the priest shall pronounce him unclean it is leprosy now the remaining parts of the chapter give you the various dermatological conditions that various scenarios if the skin turns white or if the hair turns white within the scab or if this scab is lower than the surface of the skin or if it appears to be burned or raw and infected there's criterion that you follow what's the principle every form of weakness that you and I have needs to be watched there's hundreds of things which may be perfectly okay but in and of themselves they there may be nothing wrong with it but they can become sin you need to watch how you deal how you contact all things and monitor that and you need the accountability of the community around you saying I've watched her life you're getting into some areas that I think are not healthy I've examined you and you need that examination and I need that examination we have to be very careful because what may be in and of itself okay may actually turn in and spread into sinful activity now go down to verse 45 now the leper on whom the sore is his clothes shall be torn that denotes grief his head shaved bare he shall and he shall cover his mustache and cry unclean unclean so you're a leper and if you see a crowd of people coming toward you go unclean unclean stay away he shall be unclean verse 46 all the days he has the sore he shall be unclean he is unclean and he shall dwell alone his habitation shall be outside the camp now you're getting a little bit of insight into the social implications of leprosy if a person is indeed unclean and his pronounced such he is ostracized from the communities kept outside the camp thousands of years ago if you were to walk into a synagogue there would be a separation the separation was known as the met he saw say that Mehcad saw which is fun to say it denotes a separating wall and the separating wall separated men from women you wouldn't have men and women in an ancient synagogue sitting together like you do tonight there would be a separation men on one side woman in another side but there was a special Mehcad saw toward the back of these ancient synagogues where lepers were brought in through a separate entrance they could peek through a lattice and they would exit with having no communication at all with the people inside they were allowed to worship but they were kept sort of in a in a penalty box I'll use the family room as an illustration we love all you guys over there but there is this separation between us it's glass you can see us we can see you we're up on the screen you have the sound in there but it's reserved especially for those who want to be with their children god bless you if you do that's why it's there it's a family room but there was this meth heat saw for the leper he was ostracized from the community no contact at all that's why it is so remarkable when we come to the Gospels and we already saw it in Matthew chapter 8 when Jesus is teaching a man with leprosy comes to Jesus that must have made the whole crowd go I can't believe he's coming because they had to not be around people and say unclean unclean but he comes to Jesus and he says master if you're willing you can make me clean and he remember what it says next before Jesus even spoke a word he reached out his hand and he touched the leper touched him that's against the law you can't touch a leper it's unlawful to touch a leper why because you might contract the leprosy but this is Jesus when he touches lepers he doesn't contract leprosy he heals the leper this is the one time when the principle of contact with someone who is holy works Jesus touches him and says I'm willing be cleansed immediately the leprosy left him can you imagine what it felt like for that leper to have the hand of Jesus course across his face he hadn't felt a human touch probably for years he touched him the ministry of touch I'm willing be cleansed the man walked away completely whole the rest of the chapter speaks about the clothing of the leper how it is to be treated how it is to be burned once again the dehumanizing feeling of being ostracized from the community and why was it dehumanizing because there was this belief that developed it's just what people do it's unfortunate but people often see those who are diseased or going through a tough time and people will say well I don't know what's going on in their life but there must be under the judgment of God they just inferred that if you're going through a tough time or you have a disease that God is judging them so the stigma of having leprosy being ostracized emotionally physically and being consigned a place of judgment one ancient rabbi in the mission has said every time I see a leper I throw stones at them so they don't come close to me another rabbi in the Mishnah wrote and he said I would never eat an egg that was sold on the street where a man with leprosy had even walked so you can understand if the priest pronounces you unclean what that would do to you emotionally you're separated from your children you don't see your wife or your husband depending if you're male or female you're ostracized from the community no touch no communication except you yell out unclean very isolating verse 59 the last verse this is the law of the leprous plague in a garment of wool or linen either in the rap or the wolf or in anything made of leather to pronounce it clean or to pronounce it unclean we cannot close this chapter without remarking on how sin is a type of leprosy in the Bible or put it this way leprosy is a perfect example or analogy of how sin works number 1 leprosy begins in significantly just a little spot that's all something so small you look at it go no big deal but what is not a big deal today can become a big deal later sin starts in significantly but it can lead to greater things number 2 leprosy spreads quickly it was very contagious highly contagious that's why you had to be separated that's why you had to be kept from people because it spreads so quickly in James chapter 2 regarding sin says we can't be tempted by God but every man is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust and enticed and lust when it's full-grown gives birth to sin and later on when it's fully developed brings forth death it spreads quickly number three leprosy affects deeply you see a skin disease if it's pronounced as leprosy the problem isn't just skin deep the problem is systemic it's beneath the skin it's in your body it's the infection it's the bacteria that's ravaging your body sin is like that sin isn't just skin deep it has a problem that goes way way down it's a problem of the heart in 18th century England if you were caught stealing they would cut your right hand off if you were caught stealing a second time they could cut your left hand off there was a man who had eventually both of his hands cut off but he managed to become a very adept thief by stealing with his teeth now let's suppose they would have not only cut both his hands off but knocked out all of his teeth would they have solved the problem no because the problem is in the heart the problem isn't his teeth or his hands it's his heart Jesus said from the heart come evil desires evil thoughts blasphemies murders adulteries thefts number four leprosy ruins extensively you're physically ravaged you're emotionally ostracized number five leprosy destroys sensitivity they say that after a while the nerves are so ruined in the limbs that you can't feel you are insensate what you were sensitive to at one point you don't even notice now sin is like that the things that you used to recoil against if you continue in send long enough you can become oblivious to them doesn't faze you doesn't affect you number six leprosy is always deadly it's incurable it was death by the inch but eventually you would die from it it would take your life it was incurable apart from a miraculous touch by God now there's the hope and we're not going to get to it tonight but the first verse in chapter 14 is the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing God anticipated there could be a miraculous cure for something that was incurable and the only time we see that law enacted is in the New Testament when Jesus heals the leper he fulfills the 14th chapter of Leviticus incurable sin is incurable you and I require a touch by Almighty God his hand his mercy His grace intervening for our lives to be different so leprosy is a perfect type and analogy of sin if you find herself tonight in the condition of being a spiritual leper you're being consumed by sin it's your ruler it's your master Christ is not it's time to give your life to Christ he can touch you and make you clean and if you would say Lord if you're willing make me clean he would say I'm willing be clean he's willing are you Father we thank you for this hour we've spent together over your word we've considered the worship of God and now the walking with God you are interested in worship you were also very interested in the physical bodies of your people in what they ate what they touched the children they bore or any development upon even the skin of their bodies because you loved your people you wanted to be involved in every aspect as you want to be involved in every aspect of our lives verse the pops into my mind father is proverbs five the ways of a man are before the eyes of the Lord and he ponders all his goings I pray Lord that we would be those who allow you entrance when we're in the word in our quiet time when we're in the world and are not so quiet time you would be a part of every moment of our day and I pray for those who are here tonight who have not yet been cleansed by Jesus Christ or they come to church or they come sporadically or they come because they're invited by a friend or there's a cute girl or guy there whatever reason honestly Lord we don't care why they're there we're glad that they're here we pray Lord that you would bring them deeper and bring them to a place of salvation trust in your son who would say I am willing be thou clean if you're here tonight and you've never given your life to Christ or if you look back to a time where you felt spiritual or inclined toward God or had pre disposed good feelings when you were young toward God or a creator or a heavenly entity but you're not walking with Jesus today maybe you've just back slid and fallen away completely from him but you want to come home to him whether it's for the first time or returning to him and you're wondering Lord if you're willing make me clean he would say to you I'm willing come and be clean and he wants to touch her life he's willing are you willing if you are if you've gathered tonight while our heads are closed while we're praying I want you to raise your hand up and sing yeah tonight I want to give my life to Christ or I want to return back to the fold just raise it up high enough so I can notice it god bless you in the family room a couple of you right up here toward the front I saw a young lady anybody else whether the first time commitment or you're returning to the Lord right in the middle toward the eye anybody else raise your hand up [Music] father for those who have indicated that they know their need by that raised hand we all pray for them right now our prayers for their lives specifically strengthen their resolve firm that commitment help them Lord as they put feet on their faith to walk with you from this night on I pray that they would experience such change such peace such joy and such resolve would be theirs in Jesus name Amen would you stand please we're gonna sing a final song and if you raise your hand I saw some hands go up in the family room I saw hands right up here close in the front in the middle toward the back even in the balcony I didn't catch your hand as we sing this final song I'm gonna ask you to get up out of your seat and come while you're standing get up at you're already out of your seat get it from where you're standing find the nearest aisle and just stand right up here in the front I'm going to lead you publicly in a prayer to receive Christ Jesus called people publicly and I'm calling you as Jesus did publicly to make a stand for him to say yes to him it's gonna do something in your own heart to cement the decision you're now making as we sing you come anybody else [Applause] [Music] we can world second sore and Jesus [Music] you [Music] I talk to people who have come to church for years and years but that's that's as far as they get they come to church but they don't come to Christ come to him tonight come to the Lord personally tonight we're only gonna wait another moment you come and take advantage of it come all the way up front anybody else become easy [Music] the Jesus [Applause] [Music] before [Music] everybody you know - Jesus [Music] Oh since I see those of you who have come forward I'm so glad that you made this choice or making this choice and now I'm gonna now lead you in a prayer it's the best way I know how to do this I'm gonna pray out loud I'd like you to pray out loud after me say these words from your heart say them to the Lord this is you giving your life to Him let's pray lord I give you my life I know I'm a sinner please forgive me I believe that Jesus died that He shed his blood for me and that he rose from the dead for me I turn from my sin I turn to you as my savior I want to follow you as my Lord every day in Jesus name Amen [Applause]

Channel: Calvary Church with Skip Heitzig

Views: 4,290

Rating: 4.7777777 out of 5

Keywords: Calvary, Albuquerque, Skip, Heitzig, Jesus, Leviticus, Sermon

Id: Hw6LwfBBFIc

Length: 70min 9sec (4209 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 19 2018