LEVITICUS 14, 15 and 16
Yesterday’s readings talked about the diagnosis of infectious skin diseases and their treatment. Today follows on to outline the purification rites when the individual was declared ‘clean’ again. There were regulations for cleansing in the first week – outside the camp; and regulations for cleansing in the second week – inside the camp. Also, there were special dispensations for those too poor to afford all the animal sacrifices they had to bring.
Similar regulations were set in place for fabrics and entire buildings that had previously been contaminated by mould. The combination of bird’s blood, a live bird, cedar wood, hyssop and scarlet yarn were clearly a potent combination for cleansing. The hyssop plant with its brush-like branches was good for sprinkling and ‘painting’ liquids onto the objects to be cleansed. It is interesting that King David, in Psalm 51:7 says: “Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean” when confessing his sin of adultery to the Lord. Whilst these Old Covenant rituals had no real effect on the heart and conscience of the sinner, and they did not genuinely earn legal forgiveness from God, yet they foreshadowed a greater sacrifice that would be all-sufficient for all time, after which no further sacrifice for sin would ever be required again. “For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy” (Hebrews 10:11-14.)
The following chapter is all about bodily discharges! These included everything from a violent stomach upset to normal sexual activity. There is no suggestion that any of this is sinful – and in any case it is all involuntary – but there were still certain ritual cleansings to be undertaken for the remainder of the day. The rituals included hand washing and bathing – things revolutionary in their day – that have a good basis in hygiene even now. It is also interesting that a woman’s monthly period made her unclean for the same duration afterwards, and her ritual cleansing ended at just the point at which she would be at maximum fertility in her monthly cycle; very useful if you wished a population to grow quickly!
Adherence to these regulations ensured that God’s holiness was reinforced in the eyes of Israel, and that they were shielded from many of the diseases that ravaged those nations around them. See the promise in Exodus 15:26. Some of these regulations must have made sense to the people, and other regulations were incomprehensible, yet the wholehearted obedience to all that the Lord commanded was the basis of a healthy nation and a healthy relationship with God.
The Day of Atonement was arguably the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. It signifies forgiveness, reconciliation, and redemption. The word ‘Atonement’ in English can be recast as AT-ONE-MENT; in other words, it is a process designed to reconcile enemies and to weld them back together as family. Man’s sinfulness is more of a barrier between man and God than any other thing in the whole world; this is symbolised by the curtain in the Tabernacle between the Covenant Ark in the Holy of Holies, and the priests in the Holy Place. The reason for that barrier is that a Holy God cannot co-exist with sin, and neither can his justice ignore it. Once a year, that curtain could be breached by an already-purified man carrying the blood of a goat behind the curtain and sprinkling it onto the Atonement Cover, thereby symbolically placating the wrath of God by paying the penalty for Israel’s collective sin that year. Let’s remind ourselves that the purpose of atonement is to re-join us with the love, the power, and the glory of God. It is a means to an end. When Christ much later died on the cross, the heavy curtain in the Jerusalem temple was torn completely in half, from top to bottom!
Romans 3:25 describes Christ as the “sacrifice of atonement” and it uses the exact Greek word that is used here in Leviticus. The difference in New Testament terms is that Christ was not only the priest, but also the sacrifices and the presence of God all rolled into one! Two separate images are required in Leviticus – both featuring goats – to help us see the different aspects of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross so many years later. The goat that was killed symbolises the penalty paid for our sins by the loss of life – just as Christ died on the Cross for our sins. The goat that had hands laid on it and that was then sent out of the camp lonely into the wilderness symbolises that fact that Christ was separated from God in order to carry our sins away from us. Isaiah 53:5 and Isaiah 53:8 comment on each type of goat.
In verses 8, 10, and 26 of Leviticus Chapter 16, in some versions of the Bible (e.g. the ESV), the name ‘Azazel’ is substituted for the English ‘scapegoat’. In Hebrew tradition, Azazel was the ringleader of the fallen rebellious angels who featured in Genesis 6:1-4, when they left their proper places in heaven and mated with human women – producing Nephilim (giants) as offspring. The ‘Goat for Azazel’ literally signified that the live goat was evicted from the camp of Israel, carrying all their sins away, and taking them all to the realm of darkness and death. The term ‘Scapegoat’ is also valid – in terms of its operation – and is still used today to indicate someone who takes more than their share of the blame for a wrongdoing. Jesus took the full blame, despite being perfectly innocent. The good news is that his death and separation was for a finite time only, after which he was restored to glory.
The Big Picture 