1. Leviticus 11 – 15: Sanctification Sanctification: Set apart for religious purpose; to free from sin

2. Levitical Sanctification 11: Food 12: Child Birth & Menustration 13 – 14: Leprosy 15: Bodily Discharges 2

3. Sanctification Animals are divided into the same categories in the Creation account, Genesis 1: 20 – 30 Exodus 13: 2; 13 and 34: 12 – 15 Laws of the Living God are not arbitrary but reflects structure and truth in natural world Unclean: occurs over 100 times in Lev 11 – 15 Failure to obey God’s Law = sin The Laws: – Reflect God’s holiness – Keep the Israelites “set apart” from idolatrous peoples – Help maintain good physical health 3

4. READ Leviticus 11: Clean and Unclean Animals 1-8: Mammals 9-12: Water Animals 13-19: Birds 20-23: Insects 24-30: More on Clean and Unclean Animals 31-38: Transmission of Uncleanness by Unclean Animals 39-40: Carcasses of Clean Animals 41-43: Creeping Animals 44-47: Purpose of God’s Dietary laws 4

5. Leviticus 11: 1-8 Mammals Can eat animals with cloven hooves and chew the cud, except – Camels: cud – Rock Hyrax: cud – The Hare: cud – Swine: cloven hoof – All above are unclean Not Kosher: Paws; single hoof; no cud Not new Rules for Israel: Gen 7:2; 8:20 – 21 Rock Hyrax; MENA region 5

6. Leviticus 11: 9 – 12 Water Animals May eat if in water, has fins and scales, whether in rivers, seas All others are an abomination to the Hebrews So…catfish, crayfish, clams, crabs, oysters, lobsters are unclean – Bottom Dwellers: Function as filters in cleaning the filth out of water 6

7. Leviticus 11: 13 – 19 Birds Unclean: eagle, vulture, buzzard, kite, falcon, raven, ostrich, short-eared owl, sea gull, hawk, little owl, fisher owl, screech owl, white owl, jackdaw, carrion vulture, stork, heron, hoopoe, bat What is the Common Thread? – Predators or scavengers Jackdaw Hoopoe 7

8. Leviticus 11: 20 – 23 Insects All flying insects that creep on all fours are an abomination May eat flying insects that creep on all fours that have jointed legs above their feet and leap – EX: locust, cricket, grasshopper Desert Locust Desert Cricket 8

9. Leviticus 11: 24 – 28 Unclean Carcasses Become unclean til evening if touch any animal with: – Divided foot but not cloven or does not chew the cud – Whatever goes on paws – Animals that go on all fours Whoever carries unclean carcass must wash clothes Ceremonial impurity vice sin In A Nut Shell: A wash and a brief quarantine 9

10. Leviticus 11: 29 - 30 More Unclean Animals Creeping Things: – Mouse – Mole – Large Lizards – Geckos – Monitor Lizard – Sand Reptile – Sand Lizard – Chameleon Mole Mediterranean House Gecko Nile Monitor Lizard Namib Chameleon 10

11. Leviticus 11: 31 – 38 Transmission of Uncleanness From a hygienic standpoint, laws were very important: – If rodent crawled into a bowl, bowl had to be broken; any disease carried such as bubonic plaque could not be passed by use of bowl – Promoted health & welfare of the family and home 11

12. Leviticus 11: 39 – 40 Carcasses of Clean Animals If any clean animal dies, whoever touches carcass is unclean until evening Whoever eats or carries the carcass shall wash clothes and be unclean until evening Seems to apply to natural death of clean animals; ceremonially unclean and requires a washing and quarantine 12

13. Leviticus 11: 41 – 43 Unclean Creeping Animals Every creeping thing that creeps is an abomination; shall not be eaten 13

14. Purpose of Dietary Laws Make an unholy, unclean people able to commune with a holy and clean God Set the Hebrews apart by distinguishing from the clean and the unclean and the animal that may and may not be eaten Sanctify: set apart as in Daniel 1: 8 – 21 God has sovereignty over every aspect of our lives to include what we eat Unclean defiled you spiritually and hygienically; Israel/Jews spared many diseases, plagues READ: Acts 10: 9 – 16; Acts 15: 28 – 29; 1 Corinthians 8 1 Tim 4: 1, 3-5 Eat whatever you want Christians free to eat or not eat as they please; however no one should think themselves “holier than thou” because of what you eat or don’t eat 14

15. Leviticus 12 Child Birth

16. Leviticus 12 Childbirth Read Genesis 3: 15 – 19 1-4: Son – Circumcised on 8 th day, the mother is unclean for 40 days 5: Daughter: Unclean two weeks plus 60 days more Menstruation: Concern is not strictly related to children but flow of woman’s blood; seen as unclean 6-7: Mother bring yearling lamb to priest as burnt offering or young pigeon, turtledove – Lk 2: 22 – 24 Jesus’ family offered pair of turtle doves at birth; family not wealthy 16

17. Leviticus 12 Why the difference in length of impurity for boy vs girl birth? Read Genesis 3:15 What is the cost of losing the spirituality of our physical bodies? Now visualize that you have a chronic disease in the Wilderness. You are outside the camp, separated from your people; same ranking as Gentiles, the dead. – How would this effect your relationship with God? – Read Hebrews 13: 12 17

18. Leviticus 13 Instructions for Diagnosing Leprosy

19. Leviticus 13: 1 - 8 1-8: Swelling, scab or bright spot; bring to Aaron or his sons – Priest examine sore, if hair on sour turned white and sore appears deeper than skin of body – Is a leprous sore; Priest announce him unclean – Conversely if not white or deeper than skin, quarantine for 7 days – Re-examined by priest: If sore same as was, quarantine additional week – If smaller after 2 nd week, priest pronounce him clean; wash clothes and be clean If scab spreads over the skin, priest pronounce it is leprosy Priest: Not doctor is the public health official diagnosing with carefully defined criteria 19

20. Leviticus 13: 9 – 44 More on Diagnosis of Leprosy Person with leprous sore, be brought to the priest Priest examine; if swelling on skin is white, it is old leprosy; pronounced as unclean, quarantine If sores from head to foot and all turned white = clean If sores from head to foot and raw flesh appears = Unclean – If turns white = Clean 20

21. Leviticus 13: 45 – 46 Result of Leprosy Once diagnosis of leprosy confirmed: – Leper in perpetual state of mourning, disgrace and isolation Later, Jewish took this further: – Walking dead; Result of God’s punishment – Stay at least six feet away from leper – Do not even greet leper Jesus’ response: – Matthew 8: 1 – 4 – Luke 17: 11 - 19 21

22. Leviticus 13: 47 – 49 Leprosy In a Garment If garment has a leprous plague in it: – Allegedly, in O.T. times, term leprosy could include some forms of mold or fungi – Some clothes made of flax; became moldy The priest shall examine the plague: – Had to carefully determine if might transmit a contagious disease or if garment could still be used 22

23. Leviticus 14 Rituals on Cleansing a Leaper

24. Leviticus 14: 1 – 9 Sacrifice for a Cleansed Leper 1 – 3: Why was the examination performed by a priest rather than a doctor? What does this tell us about the deeper meaning of the skin disease? 4 – 7: What happens to the two birds? Which one represents the healed person? 8 – 9: Why does the healed person need to get ride of old hair as well as washing body & clothes? 10 – 11: Why does new life begin on the eighth day? What offerings had to be brought before the LORD. 12 – 13, 19 – 20: Why does guilt offering need to be made because of physical disease? Why does disease need atonement? What has disease got to do with sin? Do we only become ill when we do things wrong? 14 – 18: Why are both blood and oil required to cleanse the person? Why do you think the blood and oil are applied to those body parts? 1 – 20: What does Lev 14 teach us about hos cleansing must be done? What is required to cleanse the world from disease? 24

25. Mikveh Hebrew: collection; collection of water Bath; fully body immersion for the purpose of conversion to Judaism 25

26. Lev 14: Symbols of Jesus? Two Birds: Jesus died, was resurrected, ascended into heaven and crucified outside the city Cedar Wood: Acts 5: 30 Scarlet: Bounds cedar and hyssop together; color Isaiah 1: 18 Hyssop: Used to spread lamb’s blood on doorposts of Egyptian Passover; traditional source of healing/cleansing oil Unclean One (metzora): Sprinkled by water and blood, bathes and washes clothes – 1 Jn 1: 7 – Romans 6: 3 Clay Pot and Living Water: – Jesus born as man (earthen vessel) – Living water flowed from Jesus (John 4: 10) 26

27. Leviticus 14: 10 – 20 On the Eighth Day On the 8 th day he shall take two male lambs without blemish: – Offerings were made – Sacrificial blood was applied to the right ear, the right thumb, and the right big toe, to sanctify and consecrate the cleansed leper. – Q: Who else was consecrated in this way? And of the rest of the oil in his hand, the priest shall put some on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed: – Oil also applied to the cleansed leper. Sprinkled on his body; then applied to the ear, thumb, and toe just as the blood was – Therefore, a cleansed leper had a special calling and a special anointing – L eprosy: a picture of sin, see how this ritual has spiritual application to every sinner set free by Jesus – Leprosy: no natural cure; when ritual was performed at the command of Jesus (Luke 5:12-14), must have been a great testimony to the priests at the temple 27

28. Leviticus 14: 21 – 32 Provisions for the Poor to Fulfill Ritual for Cleansed Leper One male lamb as Trespass Offering; one- tenth of an ephah 28

29. Leviticus 14: 33 – 57 Leprosy in a House & Summation 33 – 42: Diagnosis of Leprosy in a House 45 – 53: Cleansing the Infested House 54 – 57: Summation of the Laws of Leprosy 29

30. Leviticus 15 Laws Concerning Bodily Discharges

31. Leviticus 15 Laws Concerning Bodily Discharges 1 -18: From a Man 19 – 33: From a Woman 31

32. Leviticus 15: 1 – 18 Bodily Discharges for a Man When any man has discharge from his body, his discharge is unclean – One reference: abnormal genital discharge indicating some disease; man be isolated to not infect anyone else – After discharge stops, make sacrifice for atonement If man has emission of semen by himself or with wife: – Had to cleanse himself/themselves and observe brief period of ceremonial impurity Discharges did not make man (or woman) sinful, only ceremonially unclean Promoted hygiene 32

33. Leviticus 15: 19 – 33 Bodily Discharges for a Woman Any linkage to blood, redemption? Separation between sex and the worship of God – Mark 7: 1 – 9 – Acts 15 – John 15:3 – 1 John 1: 7 – 9 33

34. Thoughts on Leviticus 11 - 15 The whole of created life is subject to the bondage of decay We live in a fallen world; our spiritual condition is seen in the physical world and in the community of man Romans 3: 23, “ all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” 1 John 3: 4 “ Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.” Sin of mankind has implications for creation – Genesis 3: 17 – 18; 6: 11 – 13 – Deuteronomy 28: 24 – Amos 4: 6 – 8 – Romans 8: 20 34