Life in the Desert - Leviticus 11-16 - Cleanness and Atonement For the outline and all the posts in this series, click on the label, “Life in the Desert.” To subscribe to this blog, enter your email address at the bottom left of this page.
Leviticus: A Holy God, Therefore a Holy People
Lev 11:45 For I am the LORD who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God; thus you shall be holy, for I am holy.
Life in the Desert – Leviticus 11-16 – Cleanness and Atonement
Lev 11: Clean and Unclean Creatures
11:1-8 Land animals
11:9-12 Fish
11:13-19 Birds
11:20-23 Winged insects
11:24-40 Carcasses
11:41-43 Swarming things
11:44-45 “For I am the LORD.”
Lev 12: Childbearing Mothers
Unclean (not sinful) due to the loss of blood.
1. The woman is to remain unclean for 7 days (for a male child) or 14 days (for a female);
2. She then enters a time of 33 days (male) to 66 days (female) as she is being purified; and
3. Finally, she brings a burnt offering and a sin offering. The priest makes atonement for her.
No sin. Ritually unclean. So needing atonement.
Lev 12:8 If poor … Cf. re: Jesus in Luke 2:21-24.
Lev 13: Leprous Diseases: Diagnosis
Heb. ‏צָרָעַת‎, ṣārāʿath - any eruptive skin disease, such as psoriasis, urticaria (hives), favus (which produces honeycomb-shaped crusts), and leukoderma (white patches on the skin).
13:1-8 Basic symptoms; exam. Hair white? How deep? Spreading? “Unclean” ritually (no sin).
13:9–17 Severe, chronic skin condition. Raw flesh, oozing, red, and active. Easily recognized. No quarantine needed. Priest declares unclean.
13:18-23 A boil
13:24-28 A burn
13:29-37 Itching
13:38-39 Leukoderma
13:40-44 Baldness
13:45-46 So - torn clothes, unadorned head, beard and mouth covered. OT signs of mourning (Ezek 24:17, 22; Mic 3:7). Here: one is ritually dead. Cf. Luke 17:12–13, where lepers “stood at a distance” and called for help from Jesus.
13:47-59 Leprous garments
Causes include various molds or fungi.
Symptoms: greenish or reddish color.
Isolate it 7 days. Recheck.
If it has spread, burn it.
If it has not spread, wash it. Isolate. Recheck.
If no change, burn it.
If faded, tear that part out.
If gone, wash it again. Now it is clean.
Lev 14: Leprous Diseases: Readmission
Steps taken to restore and resolve uncleanness.
14:1-9 Two live birds, cedar, scarlet yarn, hyssop.
Kill 1st, sprinkle blood, release 2nd, wash, shave.
14:10-20 Offerings: sin, burnt, grain. Restored.
14:21–32 Concessions to the poor. Birds rather than expensive large animals. 2/3 less grain.
14:33–57 Infected houses. Mold, mildew, fungus.
Lev 15: Bodily Discharges
15:1-18 Male Discharges
Abnormal, from diseased male organs.
Contagious: bed, seat, body, spit, saddle.
7 days. Bathe, wash. Sin offering, burnt offering.
Normal male emission: unclean until evening.
15:19-30 Female Discharges
Normal monthly flow: unclean 7 days.
Abnormal: unclean as long as it lasts. Then 7 …
15:31-33 Conclusion / Purpose: “Lest they die …”
Lev 16: The Day of Atonement
16:1-10 The High Priest’s Preparation
16:11-14 The High Priest’s Sin Offering
16:15-19 The People’s Sin Offering
16:20-22 The People’s Scapegoat
16:23-28 The Rest of the Ceremony
16:29-34 Additional Instructions
Procedures on the Day of Atonement
This list is taken from the MacArthur Study Bible.
1) The High-Priest (HP) washed at the basin in the courtyard and dressed in the tabernacle (v. 4).
2) The HP offered the bull as a sin offering for himself and his family (vv. 3, 6, 11).
3) The HP entered the Holy of Holies (HH) with the bull’s blood, incense, and burning coals from the altar of burnt offering (vv. 12, 13).
4) The HP sprinkled the bull’s blood on the mercy seat 7 times (v. 14).
5) The HP went back to the courtyard and cast lots for the two goats (vv. 7, 8).
6) The HP sacrificed one goat as a sin offering for the people (vv. 5, 9, 15).
7) The HP reentered the HH to sprinkle blood on the mercy seat and also the Holy Place (cf. Ex 30:10; vv. 15–17).
8) The HP returned to the altar of burnt offering and cleansed it with the blood of the bull and goat (vv. 11, 15, 18, 19).
9) The scapegoat was dispatched to the wilderness (vv. 20–22).
10) Afterward, the goatkeeper cleansed himself (v. 26).
11) The HP removed his special Day of Atonement clothing, rewashed, and put on the regular HP clothing (vv. 23, 24).
12) The HP offered two rams as burnt offerings for himself and the people (vv. 3, 5, 24).
13) The fat of the sin offering was burned (v. 25).
14) The bull-and-goat sin offerings were carried outside the camp to be burned (v. 27).
15) The one who burned the sin offering cleansed himself (v. 28).
Fulfilled in Christ: Hebrews 7:23-10:39
Lev: many priests.
Lev: repeated sacrifices, not really removing sin.
Lev: mortal priests, had to be replaced.
Lev: priests took blood not their own.
Lev: priests needed sacrifice for their own sin.
Lev: merely outward cleansing.
Lev: reminder of sins daily, annually.
Lev: shadow or facsimile of the real thing.
Lev: tabernacle just an earthly copy.
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