Leviticus 11/12/13/14/15/16 Bible Study (Clean and Unclean Misc. Laws) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

If you were here with us in the beginning of the the series in Leviticus, we decided that we're not gonna go verse by verse with this book, but section by section. And sections in the book of Leviticus. And we covered two already. We covered the first five chapters of the book of Leviticus with deal with that deals with the offerings that the people and the priests were to offer the Lord in worship and as a way to deal with their sin. But a specific type of sin with unintentional sin.

Then we came to chapter eight to chapter 10, which deals with the consecration of Aaron and the priests. And really that was last week. It was meditating upon how in great detail the Lord required a certain posture of heart relating to his priests and how they should conduct themselves in character and motive and discipline before they enter into the ministry. So that provided us a very, very clear picture of whether you are serving the Lord in full time ministry or not, there is a certain prescription that we have to follow. And oh, how quickly things fell apart in just a matter of one chapter when Nadab and Abihu came into the presence of the Lord very casually and flippantly and paid a great price.

And now we come to the third section of Leviticus, which is chapters 11, arguably either ending at 15 and I would say 16, which deal with various laws of uncleanness. So there are different things here that are being addressed. And again, like Leviticus as a whole, some of us might be taken back saying, what does this have to do with me as a Christian? What do these things have to do with me as a believer? And so if we look here in Leviticus chapter 11, we see that there are laws, If you just scan through your Bibles, there are laws determining clean and unclean animals and what they were to eat and touch.

Then you come to Leviticus chapter 12, and you see that there are laws concerning purification after one would give birth to a child. Then from 13 to 14, we see laws concerning how to diagnose, in chapter 13, leprosy, and how to deal with it and and cleanse it ceremonially in chapter 14. Chapter 15 deals with different cleansing concerning discharges of the body, and then chapter 16 deals with cleansing, but for the nation as a whole. So what do we see here? We're not going to go and cover all these chapters.

We're gonna focus mainly on thirteen, fourteen, and chapter 16. But we come to chapter 11 and we see these various laws, great detail about what they were to eat and not eat. Talking about animals in the air, creatures crawling on the ground, animals in the water, all these different things pertaining to pertaining to their diet. And we have to ask ourselves the very practical question. If there's any question we can ask to any text, it is, god, what is your heart behind this?

What is your heart behind this? Yes. We are under a new covenant, and, yes, these things don't necessarily bind. We're not bind to these things, but bound to these things. But what do they have to do with your heart?

I'm curious to know what you think about these food laws. If you had the chance to read them, is there any idea that comes to your mind concerning what it reveals about God's character? Yes?

Eleven forty four and forty five give an idea. It says, for I am the Lord your God, consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. And then 45, you shall therefore be holy, I am holy.

So there's an aspect of just pure holiness that comes through this. So is there a reason why that there is an element of holiness to eating some things and not eating other things? Yes. So this is one main point point here concerning Leviticus 11. If there's anything that we can take out of this, because there's so many reasons why some people believe that God gave these instructions.

Some believe that it was a different way of eating because the pagan nations, the neighboring nations would eat these animals or or regard these animals in a way where they have deified them. Some have worshiped their gods through how they were to eat certain animals and certain meals. And so God was just making a distinction that you are not going to be like the neighboring nations. But on the very practical sense, you know what this shows us? God cares about our bodies.

Jesus is not just Lord of your spirit, my soul, your soul. He's lord of our bodies. And there's a very, very I know this isn't very deep, but this is very good. Very, very practical. God cares about our health because there is an obvious element here where he he he wants them to be sustained in their wilderness journey.

Yes. He is a God that can heal. Yes. He's a God that can provide healing and and miracles, but he's a God of practicality. And he's saying, listen.

Just avoid this. K? It's not good for you. And if you see the list of animals that he's mentioning, scientifically, it's proven. That there is greater benefit to what he is prescribing here and what to avoid.

And so God is a God of our health. He cares how we take care of this. He's a God of hygiene too. He he cares about those things as well. There's there's things about being clean and unclean.

I know this is like, really? God really cares about that? Well, unfortunately, some Christians don't, and it's a bad testimony. And God cares about the little details in our lives. Now we're not bound to this recipe in Leviticus 11.

We see that all over the New Testament. We see that all over the New Testament. But the principle here, the heart behind it is that God truly cares about the very things even concerning our body. We come to Leviticus 12, and we won't touch on that. What I really want us to focus our attention on is Leviticus 13.

Laws about leprosy. These laws in Leviticus 13, and if there's any part of Leviticus in which they're gonna require you to really pay attention, because if you let your mind drift for one second, you'll get lost. The these texts are so dense. You have to you have to read literally verse by verse with so much of energy, or else you'll miss the points here that God wants to give. Leviticus 13 deals with various laws of leprosy, and really there's a physical reason why.

What's the reason why? If anybody understands what leprosy can or cannot do. Yes. It spreads. It spreads.

It's infectious. And what kind of day are we living in at this point?

What kind of day?

Yeah. Well, I mean, do they have medicine like we have medicine?

You know, they don't have any medicine, and it's a disease that essentially tears apart different limbs. So, like, you're not only unclean and contagious, but you're also your livelihood is at stake.

Does anybody know what leprosy really does to a body? Does anybody have an idea they can share with us?

So essentially, what leprosy does is that tear like, basically, eats away at your own flesh. Mhmm. It allow it allows for different appendages on either your hands or under your feet to be taken away through the infection.

So it damages the nervous system, really. And you can come to a place in which you don't feel anything. You don't feel pain. You don't you're numb. And that's where infection can come in, and that's where the skin and different limbs begin to rot and they begin to stink.

And and and the flesh begins to eat itself almost. This infection begins to really deteriorate the body. It's a vicious disease. It's a it's a terrible one. And so really the the principle here in the law is that because they didn't have means like we do today to deal with these specific diseases, there are various type of skin diseases that are mentioned here.

There was one main way of treating it, and that was the law of separation. Let's just put you over outside the camp and make sure that you don't touch or or get in, you know, in contact with anybody else. You just hang out with your type of people. If there's a bunch of lepers, just make a little camp for them and make sure that they don't come in here and and ruin everybody else's lives. That was really how they dealt with it.

And we know what leprosy is a picture of. We know that it's a picture of sin. It's so obvious throughout the scriptures. And so we have to read this not just in in in the surface level. We gotta see it spiritually.

And it is so rich when we realize that leprosy is a picture of sin and that there is a way to deal with sin just like how these people were dealing with leprosy, with leprosy. There is no known there's no knowledge really to the extent of what leprosy can do to a person's life. It could accomplish so much disaster and destruction to a single individual and to the corporate body itself. But God wants to teach his people, not just back then but today, of how we ought to identify it, deal with it, and provide some kind of melody for it, remedy for it. Let's read the first few verses.

The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron saying, when a person has on his skin of his body a swelling or an eruption or a spot, and it turns into a case of leprous disease on the skin of his body, then he shall be brought to Aaron and the priest or to one of the sons of the priests, and the priest shall examine the diseased area on the skin of his body. I want us to notice a certain word here. From two to 46, from verse two to verse 46 of this chapter, all it is is instruction of how to carefully identify and diagnose this disease. And there's a common word there are actually two words that reoccur all the time in this chapter. And if you look here in verse two verse three rather, it's right there.

And the priest shall do what? Examine. Examine and look. Examine and look. Examine and look.

You read these chapter, and you'll see those two words coming up all the time. But let's not go there right away. Let's see what the people did immediately. Whenever somebody was in suspicion of leprosy, they were to do what? Yes.

Being

brought to

the priest. Being brought to the priest. If there is anything that could potentially affect the entire camp, it was their responsibility to bring this person to the leaders so that they can directly deal with the issue before it gets out of hand. And you know what? That's true of sin as well.

We have our own protocol in Matthew chapter 18 of how when a person is living in a sin, unrepentant sin, that there is a measure of how to face it and deal with it and to the point where they have to come to the leaders and make sure that leaders deal with it before it spreads, before it spreads in the camp, before it affects everybody else, before other people pay for that punishment that they afflicted upon themselves. And so they brought them to the leaders, and that's a beautiful picture because it would have avoided so many disasters. There's just some things in the church that should not be dealt with on the congregational level and should be involving leaders, lest it gets crazy. Not all of those things, and that's why Jesus provides that protocol because leaders would be bombarded with the littlest things, but pertaining to leprosy, something that would be so dangerous to the congregation. They brought them to Aaron and the priest to deal with it.

That's a very important principle. God has given authority to certain leaders to deal with these certain things. But I come back to the next point, how they would examine and look once that was done. So somebody would come up under suspicion, and you know what the priest need to be so careful to do? Examine, study, analyze, and take time before they make any judgments or any acts of discipline.

We see it throughout this entire chapter, and this is something that every believer needs to know what to do. Every believer needs to understand that you in this life will hear things and see things that might cause you to bring judgment or criticism against another. And we have to be very careful of doing that both on a congregational level and a leadership level. This is what it's teaching us here that every, especially leaders, needs to be very discerning and how to deal with those that are under suspicion and are brought even to their attention. This is a very serious thing and a very real thing.

And so for the layman, we have to understand that again, even if you see somebody and you see some behavior that is questionable or you hear something from another layman that is questionable concerning another person, develop the ability to know how to not make an immediate judgment before you analyze and study and wait until it reveals itself. Maybe you've experienced this where somebody has come up to you and said something about somebody else, and you did not know that about that person. You did not see what that person told you they saw. You did not hear what that person told you they heard. And you know what happens to you immediately?

Your perspective on that person changes. Is it not? Your perception on that person now you have this giant question mark on that individual. And sometimes that's okay. Sometimes there is need for warning, but it can get very scary very quickly In which you indict somebody even internally and you treat them differently, yet nothing has been proven yet.

Nothing has been brought to the surface yet. And this is even more important like the priests for the leaders. Leaders hear things all the time. Leaders hear accusations all the time. Leaders are brought situations before them all the time.

And leaders need to be able to develop the maturity and the ability not to jump to any conclusions nor treat anybody any differently unless proven guilty. I remember hearing this sermon once and when just studying this passage, this just rushed into my mind of a preacher, of a preacher who at one point in his ministry who knew all these other pastors, had a pastor come up to him and tell him that he saw another pastor doing something completely out of line of who he was to be as a Christian and as a minister. He just told them. He just whispered it to him. And from that moment on, this pastor saw that man differently.

And then every time they would go to worship services, he would look at this man and he had his hands lifted up, and he had tears streaming down his face. And you know what he was thinking? This hypocrite. Who does this guy think he is? And it was eating him up inside because he trusted this guy's testimony.

And and instead of guarding his heart, instead of just allowing that to be just some kind of a way to just maybe even just, okay, just have a little bit of discernment and attention on this person. He allowed it to consume him to the point where he was so boiled up inside because this man was he stood for holiness. He stood for righteousness. That one day after a service, he took this pastor, brought him into his office and said, confess it. Come on.

Let it up. It's already out. God sees it. God knows it. God revealed it to us.

The guy said, what are you talking about? And he names the sin, and he tells him this is what happened. This is what you did. Is it not true? Person looked at him and says, you've lost your mind.

And from that moment on, that relationship was shattered. And in the end, what he was told was not true. That person had a personal problem with the other one and just spread a lie. And that person bit into it and did not examine carefully enough to the point where it destroyed a relationship. You and I will hear things from different people.

You and I might even see things on social media. As you're driving by, you see that person probably walking by a store that you're like, what? Where is that person? You never know. You never know.

This is a principle even in the book of Deuteronomy. Turn to Deuteronomy thirteen thirteen thirteen. Deuteronomy thirteen thirteen to 14. If you hear in one of your cities, which the Lord your God has given you to dwell there, that certain worthless fellows have gone out among you and have drawn away the inhabitants of their city saying, let us go and serve other gods which you have not known, then you shall what? Go and invade the city, burn it to the ground?

No. Then you shall inquire and make search and ask diligently. Why is this important for us to understand? Do you realize that the enemy will use this in spiritual warfare? That this is a tactic of the enemy, to come to a place in which your misunderstanding or you and I our lack of discernment can play against us can play against us and turn out against us.

And so we see this throughout the scriptures, even into the New Testament, that there must be evaluation. There must be our hearts guarded as we walk with other believers and are walking at a different pace and are stumbling through different hurdles to not jump to conclusions and wield the sword too quickly and damage relationships. Pray for your leaders, whatever church you represent. Pray for your group of friends. We see it happen.

We don't have to turn there in Joshua twenty two ten, where those two tribes and the half tribe of Manasseh after they went to war came back to their own land and they built an altar, and they heard it. The rest of the tribes heard it. They said they built another altar. They built another altar, and they they did the right thing. They obeyed.

They sent Phineas and a group of men to go see what they did, and as they went there, they realized that they weren't worshiping a false god, or they were not trying to set up their own tabernacle. No. They just built a memorial unto the Lord, and it says that they were going there ready to make war. And so we see these little hints here and there of the scripture, and the Bible just wants to whisper to us, hey, Be wise in dealing with other people's walks with the Lord. Be observant.

Be patient. Be discerning. Don't be quick to speak. Don't be quick to receive anything and just agree with it immediately. Protect your mind.

Protect your heart. Protect your emotions. Be slow to speak. Be slow to judge. Would you have learned that from Leviticus?

Are we seeing in Leviticus? Let's see with some principles about sin even in Leviticus, even in this chapter right here. Now we see in verse seven to eight different bullet points about what sin is like. Verse seven. But if the eruption spreads in the skin after he has shown himself to the priest for his cleansing, he shall appear again before the priest, and the priest shall look.

And if the eruption has spread in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is a leprous disease. What does this teach you about sin? It spreads. So it begins as a spot, as an eruption, little rash, little raw flesh.

But very quickly can it spread. Very quickly, that little thing that seems so harmless, that seem like a little scab that you can just put a band aid over, could literally deteriorate your entire being very quickly, consume you from the head down. This teaches us that sin spreads, as leprosy consumes skin, so does sin consume the soul. Then we come down to verse 15. And the priest shall examine the raw flesh and pronounce him unclean.

Raw flesh is unclean, for it is a leprous disease. But if the raw flesh recovers so if it recovers and turns white again, then he shall come to the priest and the priest shall examine him. And if the disease has turned white, then the priest shall pronounce the diseased person clean. He is clean. What do you learn about sin from that?

Redemption. Redemption? Yes. It turns white to some degree, but there's one word there. There's one little insight there that teaches something about the little bit.

It starts with an r. Yeah. So I I the the the fact that it would turn white would mean that it goes to normal skin. But we see here what sin is capable of doing. Look here carefully.

But if the raw flesh recovers, so this raw flesh, when it was initially there, meant that this person was unclean. But if that raw flesh would recover, but then again turn white, in other words, if that suspicion came again, he would have to go to the priest and examine it. In other words, just because a sin has been dealt with in the past, we have to be careful because it can reappear. Just because you've had victory over, you know, years and years ago, doesn't mean that it's not there creeping waiting for you to come and have dominion over your life again. And so we have to see here that there's a law here that, yes, even leprosy, it can be recovered for a season of time, but at any moment it can come up again.

And when we see it at its infant stage, we go to the priest and we deal with it. We we we cut it at the lava stage lava stage. We don't just let it we don't just let it spread. It's just say, oh, I think this is fine because I've seen this recovered before. No.

Kill it. Deal with it immediately. You see those thoughts popping up in your head? You're like, oh, man. I thought I dealt with those thoughts.

I haven't I haven't clicked on that website in months. Kill it. Don't meditate on it. It's not just a thought. It's a no.

No. No. No. Go to war with it. It's a white spot.

It might be harmless now, but it will destroy you in a matter of seconds, in a matter of days. All it takes is one night. And so this was the rule here. Hey. It recovered in the past, but it might appear again.

And once you begin to smell that flesh again, do something about it. We see here in verse forty five and forty six the ultimate consequence of leprosy. The leprous person who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose. He shall cover his upper lip and cry out, unclean, unclean. He shall remain unclean as long as he has a disease.

He is unclean. He shall live alone. His dwelling shall be outside the camp. What do we see there? Sin separates us from God.

Sin separates us from God because God is in the camp. Not just from God, from who else? In light of the new covenant, even in light of the church age, the body. That's true in Matthew 18. That if a person is unrepentant, if a person is consumed with sin, if a person can't deal with it, then in order to protect the rest of the body, which this is an unpopular, this is very rare to talk about church discipline, it's so foreign to us in these days, but it's a necessity.

It is so vital. And we see here look at this. Look at the description of this person. What a description of a person who's living in sin. The leprous person who has the disease shall wear torn clothes, miserable, Let the hair of his head hang loose, and shall cover his upper lip and cry out unclean, unclean.

He is isolated. He is miserable. And really, this is brokenness. Brokenness. And so this is a vivid picture of what it looks like when a person has allowed leprosy in the soul to consume them.

Brings them to a place in which they are isolated. And we see here an important symbolism of shame, mourning, and hopelessness, and ridicule. Now we come to Leviticus 14, and now we're dealing with the cleansing of the lepers. So we have ideas here about what leprosy can do. Verse one, it says, the lord spoke to Moses saying, this shall be the law of the leprous person for the day of his cleansing.

He shall be brought to the priest, and the priest shall go out to the camp, and the priest shall look. Then if the case of the leper's disease is healed in the leper's person, the priest shall command them to take for him who is to be cleansed two live clean birds, and cedarwood, and scarlet yarn, and hyssop, and then go on with the ritual cleansing. Now read that very carefully and notice something in the first few verses. The Lord spoke to Moses saying, this shall be the law of the leprous person for the day of his cleansing. He shall be brought to the priest, and the priest shall go out to the camp, and the priest shall look.

Then if the case of the leprosy person disease is healed in the leprosy person so hold on. So this is not dealing with the person's cure then. These rituals do not deal with healing the person. The priest is going out to see if that person was healed and then would bring him in to do these rituals, which was what? For what purpose?

It's a ceremonial cleansing. It was to bring reconciliation with this person back with his family and back to the community. And so really, the leprous person was out there, and if it just happened that he were to be healed, and we don't see how this person would be healed, only then would the priest go out to bring that person in, to examine him again, and then to go through the ritual cleansing for this person to be reconciled back into community and back into relationship, close proximity with God. That's an important truth as well. What's the important truth?

That even if a person, let's say in the church discipline setting, has been exiled, has been excommunicated, that if that person has come to a place of being cleansed, if that person has come to a place of repentance, look at the heart of the priest. The priest went out and to bring him in. In other words, our heart, even for those who have fallen in sin, our heart is always for restoration. Always. Always to bring that person back.

No matter how much of their flesh has been eaten up, no matter how long they've been out there, our heart posture is always we wanna see this brother, this sister restored. Galatians six one gives us the test of what true spirituality looks like. I pray that you and I would never forget what the scriptures reveal, what true spirituality is. Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual anybody wanna be spiritual, should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Man, you know what we have a lot of these days, especially on YouTube?

We have a lot of people who feel like it's their calling to tear people down. It is unbelievable how people have seemed to receive this prophetic mandate to upload videos to simply tear down their brothers and sisters, and they think that they're more spiritual than others. I appreciate people who are discerning. I don't appreciate when people do it in a way in which you can smell the spirit of arrogance all over it. This is so prevalent in our day.

It's becoming more of the norm because now we have the ability to set up our own platform and give ourselves our own voices and things can get viral. It's pathetic. If you're really spiritual, brother, I would close down that YouTube channel and I would email those people directly. Spiritual. I would do everything in my own power to go up to that person and and contact them and and and bring their sin before them.

Now I understand. I understand that some things need to be rebuked publicly. I'm not against that. I'm talking about the smugness where people feel like instead of preaching the gospel, they need to preach people down. That's dangerous.

Even if you do see a person in sin, even if you do see a person in wrong, even if it is a false teacher, you realize second Timothy two says do it in the spirit of gentleness. Right? You who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. In a spirit of gentleness, tenderness, love, compassion. Why is that?

Why do you think that is? Lest you too be tempted. Because you're human too. And look at this. I know we're not supposed to go there right away, but I want us to see it.

Look at verse 14 of Leviticus 14. The priest shall take some of the blood of the guilt offering. Now this is the person when he comes in. This is the person when now he's he's been cleansed, the leprosy is gone, and now they wanna restore him. They wanna reconcile him.

Look at this. The priest shall take some of the blood of the guilt offering, and the priest shall put it on the lobe of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed and on the thumb of his right hand, on the big toe of his right foot. So he brings him in, and what is a priest supposed to do? Give me your right ear. Put it on the right ear.

Give me your big your big, your big toe and your right thumb. Let me put some blood on it. Now who was here last week? Does this sound familiar? Look at Leviticus eight twenty four.

This is when the priests were ordained into the ministry. And when they brought that ram of ordination look what it says here. Then he presented Aaron's sons, and Moses put some of the blood on the lobes of the right ears and on the thumbs of the right hands and on the big toes of the right feet. And Moses threw the blood against the sides of the altar. The priest had the same treatment as the leper.

How how humbling is that for the priest whenever he brought in a leper and was to cleanse him ceremony? He was supposed to bring that blood and goes, Oh man, I went through the same thing. I went through the same process. It brought him to that same place realizing that even if my office is different, even if I have this type of calling, I am no greater than this leper. I'm just as much in need of the blood.

So this is a very humbling process even for the the one who is to bring the person back to be used to restore this person. He would do so, hopefully remembering that this is how the Lord had brought him in. And our perception and ministry to others must come from a place where we realize our own nature and where the Lord has brought us from as well. Remember that. Remember that.

And what happens here? He was to bring him in, put the blood, which speaks of obviously the blood of Christ and how it cleanses us holistically, completely from head to toe. From your mind to your hands to your feet. Whatever you've thought, whatever you've done with these hands, wherever your feet have gone, he cleanses you. And that blood, once it is applied, look at verse 17.

And some of the oil that remains in his hand, the priest shall put on the lobe of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, on the big toe of his right foot, on top of the blood of the guilt offering. And when that blood is applied, the spirit also is applied for sanctification. So we're not just justified and all those things are now taken care of concerning the record and what it brings concerning our position before God. But now the oil, which is symbolic of the Holy Spirit, enables us to continue in that state of holiness by his power. And so this speaks of the Holy Spirit now, the blood brought Christian that receives the indwelling.

But I love this part here, verse 18. And the rest of the oil that is in the priest's hand, he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed. So he deals with the the ear, the thumb, and the the big toe, then whatever oil is left, he pours it on his head. We need more of the Holy Spirit. We need his power.

I'm not satisfied just knowing that he sealed me. I praise God for that. I want more. I want greater measures of him. I need him.

I need him. I need power from on high. And this is a picture of that, that there are greater measures for us to continually be filled, to be drenched, so to speak. It's right there in Leviticus. And so after all of this, we come to a specific chapter, but I want us to think back to this.

Look at this. Back in verse one, the Lord spoke to Moses saying, this shall be the law of the leprous person for the day of his cleansing. He shall be brought to the priest. And it goes on to describe how he was to be cleansed outside, And that was to be recognized by the priest, bring him in, and we don't know how he was cleansed. We don't know how it happened.

Was it an act of God? Was it just something of the flesh that just reversed? But there is a scene in the New Testament where we know very well who was the one that cleansed. Go to Luke chapter 17 very quickly. Verse 11.

On the way to Jerusalem, he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered a village, he was met by 10 lepers who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices saying, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. 10 lepers outside stood at a distance, and they recognized Jesus. And here they are in their heart of desperation. You know, in reality, they were supposed to say unclean, unclean.

They see Jesus and say, Lord Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. What does he do? When he saw them, he said to them, go and show yourself to the priest. That was an act of faith. That was an act of faith.

The priest was to go out, but here he says, you go walk towards them, and on the way you will be cleansed. And as they were walking, they would have been cleansed. Now look at it in light of what we just read in Leviticus 14. Imagine you had 10 lepers show up to the temple, and the priest said, where'd you guys come from? We were cleansed.

All of you 10 were cleansed? Well, we know one goes back. And what would they all said? Jesus cleansed us. What a testimony.

What a testimony that would have been to the ears of these priests. There's somebody that took care of their leprosy. And what happens? Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back praising God with a loud voice, and he fell on his face at Jesus' feet giving him thanks. And he was a Samaritan.

And Jesus answered, were not 10 cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner? And he said to him, rise and go your way. Your faith has made you well.

You know, this text teaches us something about when God does something in our lives, we have to make sure that we give just as much energy in thanking him than we did when we asked him. Right? Yeah. How many of us can can testify that we failed to do that? That we've given ourselves an intercession and prayer and crying out to God for intervention, all these different things.

And once God does it, perhaps we're so overjoyed, whatever it may be, but we forget to go back and give him what is due unto him. Lord, thank you. You answered me. I challenge you the next time God answers any type of prayer in your life, that you make it a conscious effort to go back before him. Because you know what that shows me?

The Lord was there waiting to some degree, and this one came back. That shows that the ratio of people who understand this principle, that out of 10, only one came back to give thanks. And we see here even before, Leviticus 14, if you turn back there, look at verse 47 of chapter 13. When there is a case of leprous disease in a garment, whether a woolen or a linen garment, and then it goes on for the rest of the chapter to describe what to do if there is mildew or some rotting factor in the clothing of these people. And so it went beyond now just the individual who was infected with leprosy.

It was with whatever they possess, which is a very valuable lesson to you and I in a very practical way that, yes, we have to be aware of our own sinful nature and what's possible of producing because of our old man. But not just that, the influences of things outside of us that can infect us, The things that we allow to be into our lives and the things that we put on as the New Testament always speaks of. Put on this kind of attitude. Put on this kind of habit. Put off this one.

See these garments, if they were leprous, if they were a danger to their health. You know what they were to do? Let's see here in verse 51. If this was a persistent leprous disease on the garment, verse 52, he shall burn the garment. Burn it.

Get rid of it. It shall be burned in the fire. Don't keep it. Don't try to justify it. If it is an element of danger to your health and holiness is health for the soul, If it's a danger to that, and I heard one preacher say this when I thought it was so great, that holiness, as some of you already heard this, holiness is like health.

Is anybody in here afraid of perfect health? So why are we afraid of holiness? It's health to the soul. It's for your benefit. And we spend so much energy trying to take care of this flesh, and we avoid this, and we absorb this, and we say yes to this, and we plan our diets, and we plan for this, but we don't do that and we don't give the same energy to our spirit.

There's a spiritual implication here. If the garment is infected, get rid of it completely. And not only that, we see it later on. Go to Leviticus 16. We see here rather 14, excuse me, verse 48.

But if the priest comes and looks and if the disease has not spread in the house, so now it comes to the household, the physical house. That if it were to come into the walls and there was mildew and all these different things, somebody was to identify it and come to the priest say, I think there's something in my home that is putting my family at risk. That's another picture again of the household. I believe of the the head of the household that must make continual discerning and analyzing what he is allowing or what he sees in the home that could be a potential threat to his home and his family. And bringing it continually before the Lord and making sure that whatever he needs to get rid of to do and to bring this place into a place of sanctifying atmosphere, he must do it.

And I know we're jumping around a lot here, but that's just the nature of these chapters. Now we come to Leviticus 16. This is where we're ending. We all know this. This speaks of cleansing not just for a house, not just for a garment, not just for a leper.

This speaks of cleansing for the entire nation. It's called the Day of Atonement. We're familiar with this. If you grew up in church, you understand what this feast is all about, but let's look at it in detail. Look at verse one.

The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron when they drew near before the Lord and died. And the Lord said to Moses, tell Aaron your brother not to come at any time into the holy place inside the veil before the mercy seat that is on the ark, and that he may not die. For I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat. So he takes Nadab and Abihu as an object lesson because they came into the presence of God. I believe they were intoxicated as we read there in Leviticus 10, because he gives a strange instruction that you shall not drink wine when you come into the service of the tabernacle.

So perhaps they were under the influence and they're coming in there and they're just doing whatever offering strange fire. And he goes, listen. You can't just waltz into my presence whenever you want. You can't just enter into this ville whenever you want. And we talked about this when we were back in Exodus.

Think about the heart of the priest over time that knew that they were called to be in the very courts of God, but they knew that there was more. They knew that just across that veil, just a few steps away, they could be in the very shekinah glory of God. And perhaps they've entertained the thought. Perhaps their hearts yearned for and longed for. Perhaps they were curious, but there is this veil before them continually reminding them that you cannot come in and it's all your fault.

It's your sin. It's your corruption. You can't come near to me unless I destroy you. And that was the unfortunate restriction concerning all people, especially priests in the old covenant. That was the the hindrance in their relationship with the Lord, this veil that stood before them, constant reminder of their fallen state.

And every time I come to Leviticus and I read this verse, every time, does my mind rebound and go all the way to Hebrews ten nineteen? Always. And if there's a verse that you wanna mark right beside Leviticus one, Leviticus sixteen one and two, it is Hebrews ten nineteen. Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place It's right there. You don't have confidence in Leviticus 16.

You have fear. You have crippling fear to even come close. Yet in the new covenant, Hebrews tells us you have confidence. You have boldness. You have every right.

You remember Esther when she was asked by Mordecai to go to the king to inquire for some help concerning what was gonna happen to the people, the Jewish people in that day? And she said, Listen, do you understand that I cannot go into the presence of the king lest he extends his scepter? I cannot go into his presence nor inquire of him unless that scepter is extended. And it has been a month since that's happened. But our King always extends his scepter.

It's always extended. It's always made available. We can come into his presence and inquire and lay before him anything at any time. We have confidence. That's the difference.

And so I know we are tempted to think about how you know this. You probably said it yourself. I've been there. All to be in the old covenant. No.

I can go in now. I can enter in, and I can stay as long as I want. Praise be to God. This is the difference. And we see here now that the instruction moves forward in great detail.

In verse eight, Aaron shall cast lots over two goats. So he was supposed to do something in verse six. He was supposed to bring cleansing for himself with a bull offering. So verse six says that he was to bring a bull offering as a sinner offering for himself and for his household. But then he was supposed to bring two goats, and these two goats were for the people.

Who has the ESV translation? Lift up your hand. ESV, my fellow ESV translation people. It's good to see you. We see here in verse eight that it says that Aaron shall cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other for Azazel.

Now if you don't have the ESV, it doesn't say that, does it? What does it say in your versions? Scapegoat. Who who has scapegoat in their bible? Scapegoat.

Does anybody have anything else in their bible? So if you have ESV, is it Azazel? Yeah. Yeah. If it's another translation and King James included, it is scapegoat.

Now why is that? The Hebrew word is Azazel. That is the Hebrew word. And really the understanding here is that there is some myths behind this understanding that this scapegoat was to be one of them was to be given into the wilderness because there was a demon named Azazel that was waiting to consume it. It's just it's just myths, and there's no biblical, evidence for that.

Really what Azazel means and one of its various meanings is that it speaks of complete removal. Complete removal. And so let's not get caught up in in what that is other than what the scriptures reveal, that this scapegoat has a purpose more than does have a name. And so they were so supposed to bring this in verse 15 after he would kill this one goat. There's two goats.

He would kill one of them, bring the blood inside of the veil, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat. And we come to verse 20, and when he has made an end of atoning for the holy place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall present the live goat. So now he has this live goat. He dealt with his own sin and the sin of his own household with the bull. Now for the people, he has two goats and he cast lots of which one's gonna live.

This one's gonna die. This one's gonna live. Takes this one, kills it, sprinkles the blood. Now he takes this live goat. And what does he do?

Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel and all their transgressions, all their sins, and he shall put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness. The goat shall bail all their iniquities on itself to a remote area, and he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness. We always think of Christ as the Passover lamb, and rightfully so, But I wonder if any of us identify him as the scapegoat. What's the implication with this live goat here?

It's all the iniquities.

All the iniquities of the people, yes, being laid upon this goat. Think about yourself as a modern Israelite in that day, that as the priest was performing, he would lay his hands on that goat and pronounce all the iniquities of the people, all the sins that they've committed. And then he would bring that goat, that beast, and he would place him out in the wilderness and let him go, and that goat would waddle away into the horizon. And there's all those people looking at that goal and realizing, there's all my sin. There's all the things that I've done in the past year.

There's all the things that I've thought, all the things that I've done, whether unintentional, intentional. And as that goat would disappear into the horizon and was clear of their sight, so their consciences were clear. Here's the difference. It only lasted a year. In Christ, it's forever.

It's forever. Here's the understanding. Where is your burden of sin? Is it laying on your own bosom? Is it upon your own shoulders?

Or have you by faith transferred everything that you've ever done upon him, upon Christ? And are you resting in the truth that as far as the East is from the West, so far does he remove our transgressions from us? Isaiah 50 three:six that he has bore the iniquity of us all. All of us. And this scapegoat speaks of something, and I love what Matthew Henry says.

That the scapegoat here, the one that died represents the death of Christ and the one that lived represents his resurrection. It's an interesting thought. That the blood paid in a tone, but the the live goat represents his the payment coming to pass. It's an interesting thought. And we see here that this live goat would move on and it was a beautiful picture to them that there goes my burden.

There goes my record. There goes my shame. And God does the same with us. He throws it to the deepest depths of the sea. He separates as far as possible from us and we need to take confidence in that.

And Leviticus 16, brothers and sisters, is all Christ. Christ is the priest who makes and initiates the reconciliation. He's also the sacrifice to provide the blood for it. He's everywhere. He's everywhere.

Meaning what? That it is all him pertaining to our redemption. It's all him. His fingerprint is all over it, not yours or mine. And we rest in that truth, which comes to the final point we see here.

Look at their heart posture during this day, the day of atonement. Verse 30. For on this day shall atonement be made for you, to cleanse you. You shall be clean before the Lord from all your sins. It is a Sabbath of solemn rest to you, and you shall afflict yourselves.

It is a statute forever. There's this interesting blend of affliction and rest. That your sin and mine, yes, should bring a sense of affliction and brokenness and repentance, but at the same time, it should result in some rest. They were to be in a posture of rest on this day. And we've been granted rest not just for a day because Christ, his sacrifice doesn't deal just for a year.

It's for the rest of our days. So these people, year after year, would have to rehearse and do this like a play because a goat never satisfied God. But Christ did. Christ did. And this here proves to us something, that it's possible to experience a rest.

My question at this Bible study is that if you have it or not. Because there are some people here that we haven't seen before. Where is the burden of your sin? Christ makes the invitation and says, Lay it on me. Place it on my life.

Place on what I've done for you and you can receive my rest and my peace. Have you come to that place, that blessed assurance? Do you realize that he longs to be the scapegoat for your sins? It's available to you and me. So what we see in these chapters is that cleanliness in the physical sense here is true for us spiritually.

That we are to deal with sin in other people's lives with so much care, with a desire for restoration, with examination, and a humility like these priests were to do. And we are to see that whether it's in the home or whether in the garments, whatever possession we have or whatever atmosphere we're in, that we are to cleanse ourselves from all possible infection. And we see here in Leviticus 16 the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel of Jesus Christ. Next time we're together, we're gonna be examining the feasts and the picture that these feasts have concerning our walk with the Lord.

Just thank him how through every thread in scripture and every book, Christ is seen, the gospel is to be heard and proclaimed. Just in your own heart, whether you are saved or not, especially if you're saved, realize what he's done for you. If you're not saved, you can realize tonight what he's done for you and you can receive it as a reality in your heart. So I would encourage you, maybe you've been exploring or flirting with the idea of Christianity, but you have not given your heart completely over to Him. But He wants to take away not only the record of sin but the burden it has on your life, the power it has on your life, that he wants to put blood on your ear, your thumb, and your big toe, your feet.

And he wants to apply his spirit to your life and bring you to a place in which you can live something that was only a thought prior to you giving yourself to Jesus, and that is a holy sanctified spirit filled existence. Father, we thank you for the gospel in Leviticus. We thank you for practical steps to holiness in Leviticus. We thank you that through this book you speak still to us. Lord, we just reflect and we ask that Christ would be all the more perceived and received.

We ask, Lord, that your people would realize what this is all about. And, Lord, that we would rest in the knowledge that you sent your son as a scapegoat to take our burden away. And, Father, if there's anybody in here that has not received Jesus Christ as Lord, that their hearts may be opened even now, what a testimony it would be to say it it was through the book of Leviticus that my life has changed. It's through this book that I saw Jesus. Lord, may you do it for your name's sake.