You know, the last time I went through the entire Bible, I remember just steamrolling through these parts of the Pentateuch, only because I found them boring, honestly.
So many rules. So many statutes – and sure, they are important, but I guess I’m being led to understand that because of their being statutes, especially statutes coming directly from no less than God Himself, they had to be redundant, for the sake of leaving nothing to speculation.
Reading through Leviticus especially, you see a lot of instances that were spelled out to the detail, which define when a person is rendered ‘unclean’. In other words, if you do an unclean action, if you have an unclean discharge, or if you touch an unclean person – You do something unclean, you are unclean, and there are sacrifices, baths, and/or waiting you need to do before the ‘uncleanness’ is removed, or, well, before you are proclaimed as ‘clean’ again.
And, note to self, this isn’t going away for a while. I could expect more of these rules covering all sorts of other situations for the rest of the first 5 books of the Bible – sure, there’ll be a lot of stories of the Israelites making their way through the wilderness, but there will also definitely be a lot of rules squeezed in there along the way.
I don’t think it’s an accident that, while I’m being led by the good folks behind Our Daily Bread to read through the Old Testament, they’re having us read through the New Testament at the same time. And one thing I noticed – We’re reading through the first 5 books of the Bible, which mainly contain said rules beyond the 10 Commandments… but at the same time, we’re also reading through the first 5 books of the New Testament – The Gospels, and Acts: Covering the birth, death, and resurrection of Christ, and the move of the apostles after His ascension.
It’s as if we’re being given a side-by-side perspective of the establishment of the Old and New Covenants.
I thought that was interesting. Anyway, going back, yes, I’ve been reading through the Commandments and the rules, and am now in Leviticus. So many commands, so many statutes, so many things that the Israelites had to be mindful of. To point out what Joseph Prince once shared, in Exodus 19 the Israelites were so confident, saying, ‘All that the Lord says to do, we will do’… and, boom – God didn’t waste any time, because in Exodus 20 we read the 10 Commandments, preceding the rest of the Law of Moses.
Fast forward to the New Testament. In Matthew 3, it was the Lord’s Spirit that descended upon Christ as a dove, and God spoke: ‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’… and, boom – the devil didn’t waste any time, because in Matthew 4, we read of his attempts to tempt Christ in the wilderness.
But here’s the thing – Jesus rebuked him at every turn, and we in the ministry always love to point out that each of his 3 rebukes to the 3 temptations started off with, ‘it is written‘, a call for all of us to read the Scripture. And while I definitely agree that we ought to be reading the Word as often and as much as we can, just so we would have a good grasp of all of it, I think we should also acknowledge something else – that Jesus was THAT adept in the Scriptures, much so that He met the greatest temptations that any man can face, not only with resistance, but outright rebuke.
And another thing – He didn’t stop there. See, in Matthew 5, in what’s known as the Sermon of the Mount, Christ delivers some choice, profound words to the multitude – I say profound because among other things, Andrew Farley loves to point out that in the beatitudes and in those times where Jesus says that we cut off our body parts when it causes us to sin, or the mere thought of sin counts as sin – He’s also saying that this Law that the Israelites have been following for so long… meticulous and strenuous as it is, it is a PERFECT Law reflecting the character of a PERFECT God, and we simply CANNOT follow it completely and consistently!
For the longest time, since Exodus 19, the Israelites were essentially being The Little Engine The Could, saying ‘I think I can’… but here in Matthew 5 through 7, Jesus, with all love and respect, is saying: ‘You can’t.’
Here’s something that I had on my mind since yesterday. It was more of a confirmation of sorts, of something that I’ve actually been thinking about for the longest time… that being, sin isn’t defined as action, more than it is a state. And as I’m going through all of this, I’m considering that at the Sermon on the Mount, Christ was telling the multitude that it wasn’t enough for them to avoid doing unclean things, and to avoid sinning… They still could not adhere to the Law completely, because they were unclean to begin with.
This backs up a claim we’ve made time and time again – It’s not that you sin to be a sinner, it’s that you were a sinner to begin with, which is why you sin. And on top of that, all your righteous acts don’t change the fact that you are a sinner. So with that in mind, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus wasn’t simply saying ‘You can’t’; More like ‘You never could have to begin with.’
Quite the discouraging message, don’t you think? But, well, it’s all a build up for us to appreciate the Good News, so we would see it as the BEST News we could ever receive!
And what, pray tell, is this great, best news?
Friends, if you read through Leviticus, you’ll see how most, if not all chapters cover all the bases, so to speak. Chapter 11 is where we read of unclean and clean animals fit for consumption. Chapter 12 talks of purification after childbirth. Chapter 16 covers details regarding the observance of the Day of Atonement.
With that pointed out, it is of note for us to observe that there is not just one, but there are TWO whole chapters in the book dedicated to the handling of the specific disease of leprosy… a total of 115 verses between Chapter 13 and 14 which provide details regarding the specifics of what to do upon the first observance of a possible leprous wound, up to what sacrifices to offer even after the leprosy has been healed.
I also want to point out, that through the entire process, it doesn’t really go well for the leper:
“The leprous person who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, Unclean, unclean.’ He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease.
He is unclean.
He shall live alone.
His dwelling shall be outside the camp.”
Leviticus 13:45-46 (with emphasis)
Although we’ve already established that sin is sin, and it’s not a question of how much we sin, but whether we are sinners or not, I could imagine that if we WERE to place lepers in a ‘hierarchy’ of sinners, or even just in a ranking of social status in Israel, the leper would be in the very bottom of the list.
Consider everything we’ve brought to mind so far – We’ve talked about the Law, and how it is uncompromising. Then, generations later, Jesus speaks to the multitudes, saying that the Law isn’t JUST uncompromising… it’s PERFECT, and this means that in the long run, we who have been made imperfect by sin, Jew and Gentile, could not HOPE to achieve the requirements of the perfect Law.
Oh, and it has to be said: Contrary to what most religions (with or without acknowledgement to Christianity) imply, you don’t get points for trying. James clearly says that if you break one Law, you’re breaking them ALL (“For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it” James 2:10)
And as we just saw, when it comes to being made imperfect, there was no one more ‘imperfect’, than the leper.
Matthew 7 is followed by Matthew 8 (genius), and the first verses of Matthew 8 are as follows:
When Jesus came down from the mountain, large crowds followed Him. And a leper came up to Him and bowed down before Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You are able to make me clean (well).” Jesus reached out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
Matthew 8:1-3 (AMP)
Friends, this is the good news. Jesus Christ is the Pinnacle of the Word – the One whom God proclaimed as His beloved Son, the One who resisted and rebuked the devil with the Word, the One who, by way of preaching of the Kingdom, pointed out the absolute perfection of the Law, and our own imperfection.
The Good News is this Jesus Christ, the Living Word, encountered the leper, lowest of the low, unclean and alone, telling him, “I am willing; be cleansed.”
The conclusion to the uncompromising Law of the Old Covenant (spanning 5 books), and the perfection of God (spanning 3 chapters), who established the Law, is seen in ONE verse, that states:
For all who are unclean, Christ is willing and able to clean.
As I navigate through the intricacies of laws and statutes outlined in the first five books of the Old Testament, I am reminded of something we’ve known for years: That is, Creator over all Creation; Or, the perfection of God’s standards and the impossibility of humanity meeting them.
Yet, in the midst of our imperfection, Jesus Christ emerges as the ultimate solution.
To those who are caught up in the Law in all its intricacies, Christ says He came to fulfill the Law (Matthew 5:17)… and through faith in Him for righteousness, He ended it (Romans 10:4).
To those who are tired of proving themselves and always falling short, Christ calls to us to come to Him, and He will give us rest (Matthew 11:28-30).
And for all of us who are unclean… Christ tells us, “I am willing; be cleansed.”
There’s so much more to uncover as we continue going through the Word. While I encourage all of us to give the Word a once-over (especially through the lens of Christ and His finished work), I am honored you walk with me this far, to see what I have seen in my own walk.
I will keep on reading. God bless us all.
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