February 8, 2022: Day 30 – Leviticus 24-27 and Psalm 17 and 19
February 8, 2022We finish up the book of Leviticus with more requirements for sacrifices, as well as an introduction to the year of Jubilee. Chapter 24 gives us a story of a young man who is the product of an Egyptian dad and an Israelite mom, not something that was addresses as wrong, but who blasphemed and took the Lord’s name in vain. As a result he was stoned to death.
We then are introduced to the year of jubilee. I’ll never forget living in Italy and the Roman Catholic Church preparing itself for the jubilee year which took place in 2000. Every 50 years there is the year of jubilee and the great door leading into the Vatican which is sealed up is broken down by the pope. It is very exciting. But here the Scripture describes a year when all the slaves are set free, when debts are zeroed out, where property is returned, where fields lay fallow. It is really a year of Sabbath and an opportunity for the people and the land to recover and heal. Sounds like something we need right about now as well.
From there 26 discusses what the Lord will do to those who are obedient…and what he will do to those who are disobedient. It is all connected to being able to enter the land that is promised to the people of Israel or not. If you obey you will enter without fear, if you disobey you will always be fearful. Then 27 closes out with more regulations that must be followed in order to please God, and just like that we are done with Leviticus.
We see two psalms that are assigned. Let’s focus just a bit on 19. I really hope that vs.14 sounds familiar. I say these words every Sunday before I am about to preach. Psalm 19 is a Psalm that I say could be called a Psalm of Providence (I just made that up), which means that the entirety of the Psalm brings the reader to the realization that all things are under God’s control and under God’s loving guiding hand.
You can’t draw near to God if you have a blemish so why penalize someone that has a handicap that they didn’t ask for such as blindness, lame, mutilated face, limb too long, broken foot, or hand, hunchback or dwarf, itching eyes, crushed testacles, or scabs. These people with blemishes can’t eat the food of God. God is supposed to love everyone why not blemished people?
The priests are only the sons of Aaron. What makes Aaron’s sons so special? Who would be the priests if Aaron didn’t have any sons?
I had this question asked in regards to those who have blemishes and I have copied my response below, but I will amplify after the text: “What I will provide is an explanation, not a justification. Let me say to start that this was part of the old covenant that God had established with the Israelites which required actions and tasks and sacrifices and really was limited to its fullness with men who were circumcised. That covenant did not fully included women.
The part that you are reading refers to those who were allowed to be priests who offered the sacrifices to the Lord. Those sacrifices had to be physically perfect in every way, could not have blemishes, in order for them to be acceptable to the Lord. The law of the old covenant also required that those offering the sacrifices on behalf of the Lord, the priests, had to be perfect physically as well. Here is the good news which we heard this past Sunday. When Jesus came he brought a new covenant and part of that new covenant is an inclusion of all people into that covenant, physically perfect or not, male or female, etc. We no longer serve the old covenant which was incredibly exclusive, but rather have an open inclusive covenant where all people can not only come before God but can also serve God in a variety of ways, either as priests (pastors) or lay people.
Hope this helps.”
God chose each tribe of Jacob (Israel) to serve a specific function. Aaron and his children were Levites and so chosen for the priestly duties. Similar to today, they are not any more special than the responsibilities that other tribes had, just different. We don’t believe today that a pastor has a closer relationship with God, or is consider any more special to God, but rather that they are given a specific calling. We believe in the priesthood of all believers which means that not only can everyone approach God equally, but every person has a specific vocation that is their duty to carry out either as pastor, or mechanic, or teacher, or housewife, stay at home dad or you fill in the blank.