The Jubilee

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Lev 25: 8-22, “And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years. Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubile to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land. And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family. A jubile shall that fiftieth year be unto you: ye shall not sow, neither reap that which groweth of itself in it, nor gather the grapes in it of thy vine undressed. For it is the jubile; it shall be holy unto you: ye shall eat the increase thereof out of the field. In the year of this jubile ye shall return every man unto his possession. And if thou sell ought unto thy neighbour, or buyest ought of thy neighbour’s hand, ye shall not oppress one another: According to the number of years after the jubile thou shalt buy of thy neighbour, and according unto the number of years of the fruits he shall sell unto thee: According to the multitude of years thou shalt increase the price thereof, and according to the fewness of years thou shalt diminish the price of it: for according to the number of the years of the fruits doth he sell unto thee. Ye shall not therefore oppress one another; but thou shalt fear thy God: for I am the LORD your God. Wherefore ye shall do my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them; and ye shall dwell in the land in safety. And the land shall yield her fruit, and ye shall eat your fill, and dwell therein in safety.  And if ye shall say, What shall we eat the seventh year? behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase: Then I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years. And ye shall sow the eighth year, and eat yet of old fruit until the ninth year; until her fruits come in ye shall eat of the old store.”

The Land was given to Israel in perpetuity but they had to keep the Law to maintain their tenure. However, as time went by some people would prosper more than other people. Sometimes there would be a death in the family and a person might have to sell their land to live. The land was given to each individual family in Israel and not just the nation as a whole. This land was divided by landmarks (we would call them survey marks today) and it was forbidden to move these landmarks (see Deut 19: 14, “Thou shalt not remove thy neighbour’s landmark, which they of old time have set in thine inheritance, which thou shalt inherit in the land that the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it.”) This was so that a family could have access to their land as long as they were alive. In order to stop the land from being bought up by a small group and forcing the rest of the people away from their heritage the Lord established a system whereby all the land would go back to the original owners every fifty years. This was called the year of Jubilee and was a very important part of Israel’s tenure of the Land. Every family was protected against destitution because the Lord had established this system. The year of Jubilee was governed by rules and regulations to stop unscrupulous people from taking advantage of their poorer neighbours.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

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The year of rest

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Leviticus 25: 1-7, “And the LORD spake unto Moses in mount Sinai, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the LORD. Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof; But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the LORD: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard. That which groweth of its own accord of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed: for it is a year of rest unto the land. And the sabbath of the land shall be meat for you; for thee, and for thy servant, and for thy maid, and for thy hired servant, and for thy stranger that sojourneth with thee, And for thy cattle, and for the beast that are in thy land, shall all the increase thereof be meat.”

When the Lord created the heavens and the earth He established a pattern that would cover all creation. He rested on the seventh day because the work was finished. When Adam sinned he was cursed but even the earth was cursed (Gen 3: 17-19, “And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”) Even the ground suffers from the pain of the curse and needs to have a rest from this struggle. In order to preserve the ground and allow it to produce food in the long term, the Lord established a pattern where the earth could rest every seventh year. We may ask why the earth had to wait for six years before it could rest in the seventh while man was able to wait for six days and rest on the seventh. This is because the earth produces its fruit in the long term taking whole seasons to be fruitful. So that the earth can be productive before it has a chance to rest it was only allowed to rest in the seventh year. However, the earth would be extra productive in the sixth year because the people needed to eat every day and could not do without food for more than a year while the earth was having a rest.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

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Blasphemy

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Leviticus 24: 10-23, “And the son of an Israelitish woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the children of Israel: and this son of the Israelitish woman and a man of Israel strove together in the camp; And the Israelitish woman’s son blasphemed the name of the LORD, and cursed. And they brought him unto Moses: (and his mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan:) And they put him in ward, that the mind of the LORD might be shewed them. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Bring forth him that hath cursed without the camp; and let all that heard him lay their hands upon his head, and let all the congregation stone him. And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, Whosoever curseth his God shall bear his sin. And he that blasphemeth the name of the LORD, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him: as well the stranger, as he that is born in the land, when he blasphemeth the name of the LORD, shall be put to death. And he that killeth any man shall surely be put to death. And he that killeth a beast shall make it good; beast for beast. And if a man cause a blemish in his neighbour; as he hath done, so shall it be done to him; Breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth: as he hath caused a blemish in a man, so shall it be done to him again. And he that killeth a beast, he shall restore it: and he that killeth a man, he shall be put to death. Ye shall have one manner of law, as well for the stranger, as for one of your own country: for I am the LORD your God. And Moses spake to the children of Israel, that they should bring forth him that had cursed out of the camp, and stone him with stones. And the children of Israel did as the LORD commanded Moses.”

It is good for us to remember that the accounts in the Bible are there to establish patterns and show us that the Lord God is consistent in everything that He does. We read about history in these books and they give help us to understand Who God is and how God acts. In this case we find that a particular man acted in a way that was contrary to the written Law. The third commandment is quite straight forward, “Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.” (Ex 20: 7) How was the Lord to act when this offence occurred in such a public way? If the Lord did not act with integrity and justice then the Lord’s reputation would have been harmed in an irreparable way. The man, who was not a full member of the nation but had to be treated in accordance with the Lord’s injunction (“One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you.” (Ex 12: 49) However, rather than act hastily, Moses kept the man in custody and waited to hear from the Lord as to how he should act. The man was to be punished in accordance with the penalties of the Law, however, each witness was to identify himself with the punishment so that the witness would understand the enormity of his accusation and the action consequent on his witness. In order to further show the importance of this issue the Lord made sure that the underlying regulations were recited so that everyone would be reminded again that the Lord is holy and does not tolerate sin.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

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Pure olive oil

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Leviticus 24: 1-9, “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Command the children of Israel, that they bring unto thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamps to burn continually. Without the vail of the testimony, in the tabernacle of the congregation, shall Aaron order it from the evening unto the morning before the LORD continually: it shall be a statute for ever in your generations. He shall order the lamps upon the pure candlestick before the LORD continually.And thou shalt take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes thereof: two tenth deals shall be in one cake. And thou shalt set them in two rows, six on a row, upon the pure table before the LORD. And thou shalt put pure frankincense upon each row, that it may be on the bread for a memorial, even an offering made by fire unto the LORD. Every sabbath he shall set it in order before the LORD continually, being taken from the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant. And it shall be Aaron’s and his sons’; and they shall eat it in the holy place: for it is most holy unto him of the offerings of the LORD made by fire by a perpetual statute.”

The Tabernacle was part of the nomadic lifestyle in the desert and everything had to be ready to be transported when the Lord told Israel to move. In order to provide light for the Tabernacle they had to use oil and wicks. The Tabernacle was dedicated to the Lord’s service and they had to use the best that was available. In order to give the Lord the best for light in the Tabernacle they used the best olive oil that was available. These lights were kept burning at all times, not because the Lord couldn’t see in the dark but so that the people would always be aware of the Lord’s presence. They were also asked to prepare cakes of bread so that the people could remember that the Lord gave them the best and they needed to give their best back to Him. Frankincense was the best incense that they could make as well. The Lord didn’t actually need to eat the bread because He is God, however, the people gave the bread to the Lord and the Lord’s representatives, the priests, were to eat it on His behalf.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

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Booths

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Leviticus 23: 33-44, “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the LORD. On the first day shall be an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein. These are the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD, a burnt offering, and a meat offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, every thing upon his day: Beside the sabbaths of the LORD, and beside your gifts, and beside all your vows, and beside all your freewill offerings, which ye give unto the LORD. Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the LORD seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath. And ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days. And ye shall keep it a feast unto the LORD seven days in the year. It shall be a statute for ever in your generations: ye shall celebrate it in the seventh month. Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths: That your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God. And Moses declared unto the children of Israel the feasts of the LORD.”

The day of Atonement was celebrated on tenth day of the seventh month and then on the fifteenth day of that month Israel was called upon to live in tents for seven days. When they came out of Egypt they lived in tents as they travelled towards the Promised Land. This festival was another reminder of all that the Lord had done for Israel. When they established their national identity they were slaves. Then they became a nomadic nation travelling for many years and living in tents. Finally, the Lord brought them into a Land of their own where they became settled, lived in houses and had land of their own to farm. On the first day of this feast they were to have a complete day of rest and then on the eighth day there were to have a day of rest as well. On each of those days they offered sacrifices to show gratitude to the Lord and help them to remember His goodness towards them. People who live in tents as nomads don’t have a chance to plant their own trees and have an assured supply of fruit from them. When Israel celebrated this feast they would take branches from various trees to celebrate the fact that they were now living the settled life and they could grow their own trees and farm the fruit.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

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Trumpets

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Leviticus 23: 23-32, “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation. Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD. And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the LORD your God. For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people. And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people. Ye shall do no manner of work: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath.”

The first festival occurred during the first month, that is the Passover. The second festival occurred fifty days later, that is in the third month and this festival occurred on the first day of the seventh month. The Jewish calendar has two new years, the first in September and is based on the time of creation while the second, religious new year, is in April and is based on the Passover.If April is the first month then the seventh month is October. This feast comes in the fall or autumn time. This celebration is accompanied by blowing trumpets and having a holiday. This feast was the beginning of a holy month for on the tenth day of this month the Day of Atonement was celebrated. This is also known as “Yom Kippur” (Hebrew for the “Day of Atonement”) This day was sacred for all Israel were to remember their sins. This was the day that the High Priest entered the Holiest place of the Tabernacle and the scapegoat was taken away to Azazel (see Lev 16). This day was holy that they began the celebration on the ninth day.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

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Fifty days

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Leviticus 23: 15-22, “And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD. Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the LORD. And ye shall offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish of the first year, and one young bullock, and two rams: they shall be for a burnt offering unto the LORD, with their meat offering, and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of sweet savour unto the LORD. Then ye shall sacrifice one kid of the goats for a sin offering, and two lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of peace offerings. And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits for a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs: they shall be holy to the LORD for the priest. And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may be an holy convocation unto you: ye shall do no servile work therein: it shall be a statute for ever in all your dwellings throughout your generations. And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest, neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of thy harvest: thou shalt leave them unto the poor, and to the stranger: I am the LORD your God.”

The Passover festival came at the beginning of spring, this meant that many of the new season’s crops were beginning to grow. The Lord told Israel to wait for fifty days for the spring crops to grow and be harvested then they could celebrate the harvest. Anyone who has worked on a farm knows that the harvest season is hard work. The crops have to be brought in quickly and when the harvest is finished everyone on the farm is ready for a break. The Lord, in His wisdom and grace, gave Israel an opportunity to thank Him for the harvest and have a really good break after the busy time. When they were harvesting their crops they were to remember the poor and the needy. They were not allowed to take everything from their fields or fruit trees but make sure that they left some behind for the poor people, who couldn’t afford to plant crops themselves, to come and enjoy the goodness of the Lord as well. After all, even the richest person in Israel was descended from slaves.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

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Do no servile work

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Leviticus 23: 4-14, “These are the feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons. In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD’S passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread. In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD seven days: in the seventh day is an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest: And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf an he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the LORD. And the meat offering thereof shall be two tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto the LORD for a sweet savour: and the drink offering thereof shall be of wine, the fourth part of an hin. And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto your God: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.”

The Lord called Abram when he lived in a pagan land and Abram went, just as the Lord called him. At that stage Abram was just another man but the Lord gave him special promises and, eventually in the Lord’s perfect time, his descendants became a mighty nation. These people were delivered from slavery and given a precise, formal, ceremonial religion so that they could worship the Lord God and be the means of passing His blessing on to all the families of the earth. It was important for these people to remember that the Lord God chose them and gave them everything they possessed. In order for them to remember this the Lord gave them a weekly reminder of His grace and mercy by asking them to celebrate His rest of completion on the seventh day. However, this was not enough and the Lord asked them to further rest for seven days during the time of the Passover. This was a time for them to reflect and rejoice in all that the Lord had done for them. The contract Israel made with the Lord involved prosperity and success with their crops so they were asked to celebrate at harvest time as well. These days were days of rest to give them respite from their labours as well. The Lord in the abundance of His wisdom had a dual purpose in establishing these feasts. Firstly for the people to remember what He had done and secondly for them to have rest and recreation to enjoy the good things that He had done for them.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

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The Sabbath

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Leviticus 23: 1-3, “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts. Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings.”

There are some people who question the wisdom of having holidays but the Lord taught Israel that they needed to have holidays. The first of the holidays was the Sabbath. They were to rest one day in seven. Have you ever wondered why the week is seven days long? Why not ten or five? Well it’s because the Lord God created the heavens and the earth in six days and He rested on the seventh day. The Lord God didn’t need to take six days and He didn’t rest on the seventh day because He was tired. The Lord God was finished on the sixth day and everything was very good so He rested on the seventh day because there was nothing left to do. The Lord Jesus Christ said, “It is finished!” just before He died on the cross. He said this before He died because He couldn’t say it after He died but He knew that He was going to die (Compare John 18: 4, “Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth, and said unto them, Whom seek ye?”). The salvation that He purchased with His life is finished and perfect, there is nothing that we need to do.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

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Without blemish

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Leviticus 22: 17-33, “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto Aaron, and to his sons, and unto all the children of Israel, and say unto them, Whatsoever he be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers in Israel, that will offer his oblation for all his vows, and for all his freewill offerings, which they will offer unto the LORD for a burnt offering; Ye shall offer at your own will a male without blemish, of the beeves, of the sheep, or of the goats. But whatsoever hath a blemish, that shall ye not offer: for it shall not be acceptable for you. And whosoever offereth a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the LORD to accomplish his vow, or a freewill offering in beeves or sheep, it shall be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no blemish therein. Blind, or broken, or maimed, or having a wen, or scurvy, or scabbed, ye shall not offer these unto the LORD, nor make an offering by fire of them upon the altar unto the LORD. Either a bullock or a lamb that hath any thing superfluous or lacking in his parts, that mayest thou offer for a freewill offering; but for a vow it shall not be accepted. Ye shall not offer unto the LORD that which is bruised, or crushed, or broken, or cut; neither shall ye make any offering thereof in your land. Neither from a stranger’s hand shall ye offer the bread of your God of any of these; because their corruption is in them, and blemishes be in them: they shall not be accepted for you. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, When a bullock, or a sheep, or a goat, is brought forth, then it shall be seven days under the dam; and from the eighth day and thenceforth it shall be accepted for an offering made by fire unto the LORD. And whether it be cow or ewe, ye shall not kill it and her young both in one day. And when ye will offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving unto the LORD, offer it at your own will. On the same day it shall be eaten up; ye shall leave none of it until the morrow: I am the LORD. Therefore shall ye keep my commandments, and do them: I am the LORD. Neither shall ye profane my holy name; but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel: I am the LORD which hallow you, That brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the LORD.”

An oblation is simply an offering made to the Lord voluntarily and burnt offerings are offerings that are consumed on the altar. When a person wants to bring an offering to the Lord it is important for that person to bring an offering that has no blemish. An animal or other offering that has a blemish is less valuable than ab offering without any blemish. To offer something that is of lesser value is treating the Lord with contempt and is insulting to Him. On the other hand, before there was sin in the world everything was very good. This tells us that blemishes are the fruit of sin. We also know that God cannot look on iniquity (Hab 1: 13, “Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity:”) This means that a person bringing something that is stained by sin to the Lord as a gift is provoking the Lord. Only a fool would provoke the Lord but the Lord was gracious and made sure that the people would understand what they were doing so that they would not provoke Him.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

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No stranger

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Leviticus 22: 10-16, “There shall no stranger eat of the holy thing: a sojourner of the priest, or an hired servant, shall not eat of the holy thing. But if the priest buy any soul with his money, he shall eat of it, and he that is born in his house: they shall eat of his meat. If the priest’s daughter also be married unto a stranger, she may not eat of an offering of the holy things. But if the priest’s daughter be a widow, or divorced, and have no child, and is returned unto her father’s house, as in her youth, she shall eat of her father’s meat: but there shall no stranger eat thereof. And if a man eat of the holy thing unwittingly, then he shall put the fifth part thereof unto it, and shall give it unto the priest with the holy thing. And they shall not profane the holy things of the children of Israel, which they offer unto the LORD; Or suffer them to bear the iniquity of trespass, when they eat their holy things: for I the LORD do sanctify them.”

The Lord had, first and foremost, made a contract with Israel, the line of promise descendants of Abraham. His plan was to use these people and their descendants as the source of blessing for all the families of the earth. However, the Lord doesn’t use bad people to achieve His own good purposes. He does use evil nations, like Babylon or Assyria, to bring His people to their knees when they have chosen to ignore Him and the conditions of the contract they made with Him when they came into the Land. It was for this reason the priests had to remain separate in their service for the Lord. They could not further His good purposes unless they devoted themselves to the Lord and His service and not worship other gods. We can compare this with the words of the Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 6: 24, “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

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Profane not my holy name

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Leviticus 22: 1-9, “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto Aaron and to his sons, that they separate themselves from the holy things of the children of Israel, and that they profane not my holy name in those things which they hallow unto me: I am the LORD. Say unto them, Whosoever he be of all your seed among your generations, that goeth unto the holy things, which the children of Israel hallow unto the LORD, having his uncleanness upon him, that soul shall be cut off from my presence: I am the LORD. What man soever of the seed of Aaron is a leper, or hath a running issue; he shall not eat of the holy things, until he be clean. And whoso toucheth any thing that is unclean by the dead, or a man whose seed goeth from him; Or whosoever toucheth any creeping thing, whereby he may be made unclean, or a man of whom he may take uncleanness, whatsoever uncleanness he hath; The soul which hath touched any such shall be unclean until even, and shall not eat of the holy things, unless he wash his flesh with water. And when the sun is down, he shall be clean, and shall afterward eat of the holy things; because it is his food. That which dieth of itself, or is torn with beasts, he shall not eat to defile himself therewith: I am the LORD. They shall therefore keep mine ordinance, lest they bear sin for it, and die therefore, if they profane it: I the LORD do sanctify them.”

If the high priest was profane then what chance did the rest of the nation have in their ceremonial system? We discovered just a few chapters ago that a profane person gave the things that belonged to God to other gods (see Lev 18: 21, “And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.”) If the high priest’s first task was to represent the people to the Lord then he had no business having any allegiance to other gods. If any of the priests became ceremonially unclean then that person was not qualified to perform any ceremonial function. This wasn’t necessarily a permanent problem; if a person became unclean then, in most cases, there were ceremonial procedures that person could follow to become clean agains. However, that person wasn’t able to be clean until the next day meaning that there was some time for reflection and repentance over the problem that made the priest unclean.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

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That hath any blemish

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Leviticus 21: 16-24, “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto Aaron, saying, Whosoever he be of thy seed in their generations that hath any blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of his God. For whatsoever man he be that hath a blemish, he shall not approach: a blind man, or a lame, or he that hath a flat nose, or any thing superfluous, Or a man that is brokenfooted, or brokenhanded, Or crookbackt, or a dwarf, or that hath a blemish in his eye, or be scurvy, or scabbed, or hath his stones broken; No man that hath a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest shall come nigh to offer the offerings of the LORD made by fire: he hath a blemish; he shall not come nigh to offer the bread of his God. He shall eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy, and of the holy. Only he shall not go in unto the vail, nor come nigh unto the altar, because he hath a blemish; that he profane not my sanctuaries: for I the LORD do sanctify them. And Moses told it unto Aaron, and to his sons, and unto all the children of Israel.”

Before Adam and Eve sinned in the garden there was no death, disease or disability for we read “And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.” (Gen 1: 31) When Adam and Eve interacted with the Lord, as friends, every day, they were perfect as the Lord God had made them. After they sinned they began the long slow process of physical decay and death. They also experienced immediate spiritual death. Even though the Lord God was the offended party in this scenario, He was also the One Who sought to effect reconciliation. The process of reconciliation proceeded through the giving of the Law and was finally realised when the Lord Jesus Christ, the One promised from the day that sin entered the world, finally paid the full price of redemption with His own sinless life. In order for this process to proceed, it was essential that the priests be without blemish, just like the passover lamb had to be without blemish as well. These regulations were not about discriminating against a person’s human rights, they were about showing that the Lord God is perfect, pure and holy.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

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The high priest

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Leviticus 21: 10-15, “And he that is the high priest among his brethren, upon whose head the anointing oil was poured, and that is consecrated to put on the garments, shall not uncover his head, nor rend his clothes; Neither shall he go in to any dead body, nor defile himself for his father, or for his mother; Neither shall he go out of the sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of his God; for the crown of the anointing oil of his God is upon him: I am the LORD.  And he shall take a wife in her virginity. A widow, or a divorced woman, or profane, or an harlot, these shall he not take: but he shall take a virgin of his own people to wife. Neither shall he profane his seed among his people: for I the LORD do sanctify him.”

The high priest had the most important role in representing the Lord to the people and representing the people to the Lord. His special place in the ceremonial rituals of Israel required that he abide by a very high standard in his personal life. Death was the primary result of sin and hence could cause ceremonial defilement if someone came in contact with a dead person. However, death also leads to separation, for the present at least, from loved ones. In this way death could lead to a state of hopelessness among those who are left behind. Every year the high priest went right into the most holy place and came face to face with the Lord so he was expected to show proper respect for eternal issues when confronted by temporal issues. He also had to make sure that he didn’t pollute his office by marrying an unsuitable wife.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

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None be defiled

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Leviticus 21: 1-9, “And the LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto the priests the sons of Aaron, and say unto them, There shall none be defiled for the dead among his people: But for his kin, that is near unto him, that is, for his mother, and for his father, and for his son, and for his daughter, and for his brother, And for his sister a virgin, that is nigh unto him, which hath had no husband; for her may he be defiled. But he shall not defile himself, being a chief man among his people, to profane himself. They shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in their flesh. They shall be holy unto their God, and not profane the name of their God: for the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and the bread of their God, they do offer: therefore they shall be holy. They shall not take a wife that is a whore, or profane; neither shall they take a woman put away from her husband: for he is holy unto his God. Thou shalt sanctify him therefore; for he offereth the bread of thy God: he shall be holy unto thee: for I the LORD, which sanctify you, am holy. And the daughter of any priest, if she profane herself by playing the whore, she profaneth her father: she shall be burnt with fire.”

The priests had an important role to play because they represented the Lord to the people and the people to the Lord. They had to take care that they didn’t pollute the office by their behaviour. The priests were not allowed to come in contact with the dead and, hence, become ritually unclean. If they became unclean they were not allowed to carry out their duties. This is the main reason that they had to keep away from dead bodies except for close relatives. The priests were not to show signs of despair when a person died. The heathen, who lived in the Land before Israel, would often show signs of extreme distress by cutting themselves or doing other things when a person died. The priests were regularly in contact with the Lord of heaven and earth in the process of their duties. If a person was in the presence of the Lord then they had not real reason to show despair for the Lord is always in control of our circumstances (compare Deut 8: 16, “Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end;”) The older religions of the Land were fertility religions and the people would participate in these religions by using prostitutes as part of their religious devotion. The priests of the Lord, and their families, were to be very careful not to show any kind of behaviour that might take them back to those times. It was these fertility religions that debased the Land before Israel came and caused the people to be destroyed. Every priest had a duty to be holy to the Lord during his time of service and this included taking care in marriage. At a much later date, king Solomon worshipped other gods because he married wives from other places. (1 Kings 11: 4, “For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.”)

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

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All my statutes

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Leviticus 20: 22-27, “Ye shall therefore keep all my statutes, and all my judgments, and do them: that the land, whither I bring you to dwell therein, spue you not out. And ye shall not walk in the manners of the nation, which I cast out before you: for they committed all these things, and therefore I abhorred them. But I have said unto you, Ye shall inherit their land, and I will give it unto you to possess it, a land that floweth with milk and honey: I am the LORD your God, which have separated you from other people. Ye shall therefore put difference between clean beasts and unclean, and between unclean fowls and clean: and ye shall not make your souls abominable by beast, or by fowl, or by any manner of living thing that creepeth on the ground, which I have separated from you as unclean. And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the LORD am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine. A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them.”

The foundation of the contract between the Lord and Israel when they went into the Land was that they were to keep His commandments. We know that statutes are the same as commandments when we read Gen 26: 5 (“Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”) Hebrew poetry uses parallelism to make a point. That is, the poetry often repeats a phrase using similar language, having a similar meaning. Israel needed to be reminded that they were in a contractual relationship with the Lord as long as they had sovereignty over the Land. They were there to be a shining example to all the other nations of the fact that the Lord God is loving, gracious, merciful and generous. As long as Israel were living in the context of their relationship with the Lord they would act as beacon to the rest of the world, drawing others to the Lord. As long as Israel were in the Land it was a Land flowing with milk and honey but when they were forced out of the Land it became barren and largely uninhabited while it waited for the Israelis to return. Later the Lord would say, “Even all nations shall say, Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this land? what meaneth the heat of this great anger? Then men shall say, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them forth out of the land of Egypt: For they went and served other gods, and worshipped them, gods whom they knew not, and whom he had not given unto them: And the anger of the LORD was kindled against this land, to bring upon it all the curses that are written in this book: And the LORD rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as it is this day. The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law” (Deut 29: 24-29) During the church age there are people from every nation on the earth who say that the Lord has driven Israel from the Land because they have sinned against the Lord. However, one day, the Lord will give Israel complete sovereignty over the Land again and they will look to the Lord and no one else.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

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Uncovering nakedness

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Leviticus 20: 10-21, “And the man that committeth adultery with another man’s wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. And the man that lieth with his father’s wife hath uncovered his father’s nakedness: both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them. And if a man lie with his daughter in law, both of them shall surely be put to death: they have wrought confusion; their blood shall be upon them. f a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them. And if a man take a wife and her mother, it is wickedness: they shall be burnt with fire, both he and they; that there be no wickedness among you. And if a man lie with a beast, he shall surely be put to death: and ye shall slay the beast. And if a woman approach unto any beast, and lie down thereto, thou shalt kill the woman, and the beast: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them. And if a man shall take his sister, his father’s daughter, or his mother’s daughter, and see her nakedness, and she see his nakedness; it is a wicked thing; and they shall be cut off in the sight of their people: he hath uncovered his sister’s nakedness; he shall bear his iniquity. And if a man shall lie with a woman having her sickness, and shall uncover her nakedness; he hath discovered her fountain, and she hath uncovered the fountain of her blood: and both of them shall be cut off from among their people. And thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother’s sister, nor of thy father’s sister: for he uncovereth his near kin: they shall bear their iniquity. And if a man shall lie with his uncle’s wife, he hath uncovered his uncle’s nakedness: they shall bear their sin; they shall die childless. And if a man shall take his brother’s wife, it is an unclean thing: he hath uncovered his brother’s nakedness; they shall be childless.”

It is important to put this section into context. When the Lord created Adam and Eve, He created them to be in partnership so that they could be complementary and help each other. The purpose of their sexual relationship was to obey the Lord’s command to be fruitful, multiply and fill the earth. When they came together they were joined in their souls. If two people are joined in their souls they will be emotionally damaged if they are forced apart. At least one person will badly hurt in the process. If a person is involved in a sexual relationship purely for pleasure and not for a relationship of mutual support then that person becomes very self centred and unable to form proper relationships. They look only to the satisfaction of their lust and they become debased with selfishness. This will happen to a whole nations that tolerates this kind of behaviour. This was one of the major reasons why the people of the Land lost their possession of the Land to Israel. They had completely debased the Land. Sexual relationships with close relatives will also lead to inbreeding and disabled children. The Lord said that all these things should be banned because He didn’t want Israel to be debased but to remain a shining light of the Lord’s goodness to all the nations so that they would be drawn to Him.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

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Molech

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Leviticus 20: 1-9, “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Again, thou shalt say to the children of Israel, Whosoever he be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, that giveth any of his seed unto Molech; he shall surely be put to death: the people of the land shall stone him with stones. And I will set my face against that man, and will cut him off from among his people; because he hath given of his seed unto Molech, to defile my sanctuary, and to profane my holy name. And if the people of the land do any ways hide their eyes from the man, when he giveth of his seed unto Molech, and kill him not: Then I will set my face against that man, and against his family, and will cut him off, and all that go a whoring after him, to commit whoredom with Molech, from among their people. And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people. Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the LORD your God. And ye shall keep my statutes, and do them: I am the LORD which sanctify you. For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death: he hath cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be upon him.”

Molech was one of the heathen gods of the Ammonites (see 1 Kings 11: 7, “Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon.”) and the Canaanites (See Deut 12: 31, “Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.”). This god was know to be worshipped by the offering of children in a fire (2 Kings 17: 17, “And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.”). Every child is a gift from the Lord and it is an abomination for a parent to offer their child as a sacrifice, this was forbidden. If anyone did this they were to be executed themselves for a person who is willing to kill their own child has forfeited their own right to live. Israel were given the correct means to discover the Lord will by using the sacred stones, Urim and Thummim (compare Num 27: 21, “And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall ask counsel for him after the judgment of Urim before the LORD: at his word shall they go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he, and all the children of Israel with him, even all the congregation.”) If there was a legitimate way of discovering the Lord’s will then there was no need to consult ghosts, spirits of mediums. There is also a danger for people who try to enter the spirit world that the spirits may come and attack them (compare Luke 11: 24-26, “When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out. And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first.”) Evil spirits can take control of an entire society and destroy it from within. This is why it was good to avoid all these evil practices. It is also important for everyone who trusts in the Lord to understand that He had made an ordered world and accept that by showing honour to their parents.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

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Keep my Sabbaths

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Leviticus 19: 30-37, “Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD. Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God. Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I am the LORD. And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him. But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God. Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in meteyard, in weight, or in measure. Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin, shall ye have: I am the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt. Therefore shall ye observe all my statutes, and all my judgments, and do them: I am the LORD.”

The Lord created the heavens and the earth in six days and He rested on the seventh day, not because He was tired but because He was finished. This established a principle that the Lord finishes what He starts and when He is finished the work is perfect. The Lord also understood that the people He created in His own image would get tired and would need a rest so He established the day of rest. The Sanctuary was an earthly picture of God’s dwelling place in the heaven and needed to be treated with respect because God should always be treated with respect. Because the Lord’s people had direct access to the Lord through the ceremonial system that He established there was no need for them to have to contact ghosts, spirits or anything like that. After all, the knew exactly what the Lord required of them because it was carefully written in the book of the Law. As soon as they tried to contact ghosts or spirits they were replacing the Lord with something else and were breaking the Law. The Lord also established an ordered world and older people, as well as parents, are evidence of this ordered world so they should be treated with respect because the Lord is worthy of respect. Israel also were told to remember that they were strangers in the Land of Egypt so they were to treat all strangers with compassion. The Lord has integrity and always deals with His people in ways that demonstrate this integrity. For this reason His people were not to use false measures to cheat other people and so enrich themselves. After all, the Lord promised them prosperity if they kept the Law and lived in a way that showed the Lord’s perfect integrity on earth. They were not to have a measuring stick that was less than a yard or weights or measures that were too heavy or too light. This was one way that the profane people of their day conducted business to cheat their clients. The Lord told them that they had a contract with Him and if they didn’t keep to the conditions of the contract He would invoke the penalty clauses of the contract and drive them out of the Land after a long period of hardship.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

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Mingled seeds

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Leviticus 19: 19-29, “Ye shall keep my statutes. Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse kind: thou shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed: neither shall a garment mingled of linen and woollen come upon thee. And whosoever lieth carnally with a woman, that is a bondmaid, betrothed to an husband, and not at all redeemed, nor freedom given her; she shall be scourged; they shall not be put to death, because she was not free. And he shall bring his trespass offering unto the LORD, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, even a ram for a trespass offering. And the priest shall make an atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering before the LORD for his sin which he hath done: and the sin which he hath done shall be forgiven him. And when ye shall come into the land, and shall have planted all manner of trees for food, then ye shall count the fruit thereof as uncircumcised: three years shall it be as uncircumcised unto you: it shall not be eaten of. But in the fourth year all the fruit thereof shall be holy to praise the LORD withal. And in the fifth year shall ye eat of the fruit thereof, that it may yield unto you the increase thereof: I am the LORD your God. Ye shall not eat any thing with the blood: neither shall ye use enchantment, nor observe times. Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard. Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD. Do not prostitute thy daughter, to cause her to be a whore; lest the land fall to whoredom, and the land become full of wickedness.”

If Israel was to perform the task that the Lord had given them then they had to distinct from the surrounding nations. When the Lord first promised Abraham that his descendants would go to Egypt and then return to their Land He told Abraham that He was giving the Amorites time to repent (Gen 15: 12-16, “And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him. And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.”). The Amorites didn’t repent and the Lord eventually forced them out of the Land because they were debased and were polluting the Land. The Lord made sure that Israel understood that they were not to follow any of the evil practices of the people who lived in the Land before they did. The rules against mixing crops and animals was to remind Israel that they were holy to the Lord and were not to mix with other nations. This was not a racist theme but because they would tend to follow the gods of the people they mixed with and stop following the Lord. Fruit trees were placed there for them to eat but a young tree would not stand having fruit taken too soon so they were told to leave the fruit and give the first crop to the Lord to remind them that they were the Lord’s firstborn.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

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Curse the deaf

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Leviticus 19: 11-18, “Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another. And ye shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD. Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning. Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumblingblock before the blind, but shalt fear thy God: I am the LORD. Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour. Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbour: I am the LORD. Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him.  Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.”

It was important that the Israelis were reminded, from time to time, of their rules and regulations. They were called on to celebrate their regular festivals so that they would be reminded of their past and the miraculous way in which God had intervened. They were also to do this so that their children would ask why and they would be able to explain the reasons. Not only this they were to make sure that they didn’t treat other people with disrespect. This was the major reason behind not cursing the deaf. If a person was to curse a deaf man then that person would soon think that the deaf person was in some way inferior and that attitude would invade all his dealings with that man and others who were deaf as well. If we treat those who are worse off than we are without respect then we will soon debase ourselves. If Israel became debased they would soon find that they were unworthy to live in the Land that the Lord God had given them.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

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