THE subject of this fourth section of Leviticus, the law of clean and unclean, is one which has always been a kind of test of the state of God’s people. On the one hand the command, “Come ye out from among them and be ye separate, touch not the unclean thing,” is one which must forever be binding upon the people of God in any age. On the other, nothing is more liable to abuse, nothing so easily crystallizes into a mechanical observance of certain rules, leaving the soul without any sense of the holiness of God, and of the grace which has brought the soul into relationship with God.
When we come to examine the details of this law we find that it contains certain principles which are unchanging because they belong to the nature of God. When we trace out the history of the application of these ordinances we find that while the principles remain unchanged, the form in which they are expressed may change in the course of the development of God’s ways. We find, further, that the history only proves the invariable tendency of man to turn the fear of God into a commandment taught of men, and to make void the commandment of God by tradition.
From Leviticus 11 to 15 this subject is taken up in four different aspects:
1. The law of uncleanness in food (chap. 11).
2. The law of uncleanness in birth (chap. 12).
3. The law of uncleanness of leprosy (chap. 13, 14).
4. The law of uncleanness of issue (chap. 15).
The connection between all these minute instructions and the previous subject of the priesthood is shown in chap. 10:8-11. It was a most important part of the priest’s work, as representing God amongst His people, to teach those differences between holy and unholy, clean and unclean, which depended upon the character of God so far as He had revealed Himself. Hence the whole law of chaps. 11-15 is, in the first place, for the priests. Hence also the solemn responsibility of those who had the mind of God, and the need that they should abstain from anything that would hinder them from discerning the presence and holiness of God in its power over their own souls. This was the failure of Nadab and Abihu.
Tracing out the history of these things we find first of all that in Leviticus 22:22-2622Blind, 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. 23Either 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. 24Ye 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. 25Neither 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. 26And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, (Leviticus 22:22‑26), the principle underlying these directions as to clean and unclean things is plainly stated:
“I, Jehovah, am holy, and have separated you from the peoples to be mine.”
By obeying these directions as to abstaining from what was unclean, the children of Israel would be recognizing the great fact that God had separated them to Himself, and that He who was “fearful in holiness,” dwelt among them.
If He was pleased for His own purposes to separate certain things as unclean, it was the place of the priests to teach these things to the people, and the duty of God’s people to follow these directions without question. In Deuteronomy 14 we find the other side of the wonderful fact of what God had done for them brought out and given as the reason for the observance of these directions:
“Ye are the sons of Jehovah your God.”
The son should be like the father. These two great principles underlie these minute details about ceremonial cleanness, and only the continual sense in the soul of the holiness of God, of the fact that He had redeemed them, dwelt among them, and that they were His sons, could prevent these directions from becoming a mere code of ritual to be observed in a mechanical way, and from being ultimately overlaid with a mass of tradition. When we come to the time of the prophets we find that this has actually taken place. In Isaiah 28:77But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment. (Isaiah 28:7) we find that the first condition, given in Leviticus 10:8-118And the Lord spake unto Aaron, saying, 9Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations: 10And that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean; 11And that ye may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the Lord hath spoken unto them by the hand of Moses. (Leviticus 10:8‑11), for the preservation of a sense of God’s holiness in the soul of the priest, has been discarded, priest and prophet alike have erred through strong drink. In Isaiah 29:1313Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men: (Isaiah 29:13) we find that the resulting state of things is that which the Lord Himself takes up in Matthew 15:8, 98This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoreth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. 9But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. (Matthew 15:8‑9). That holy fear of God which was the underlying motive for the right observance of these ordinances had become a commandment taught of men, a mere matter of ceremonial washings. Again, in Ezekiel 22:2626Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they showed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. (Ezekiel 22:26), the failure of the priests to make known the difference between holy and profane, unclean and clean, is dwelt on as the cause of the national apostasy.
This state of things, to which all the prophets bear witness directly or indirectly, existed when the Lord was on earth. The Gospels take up the history of God’s ways and the state of things at the point where the prophets leave them. There is no break in the continuity of Scripture. Hence we find the Lord in Matthew 15. using the words of Isaiah 29:1313Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men: (Isaiah 29:13), to describe the way in which holiness had become a mere matter of ritual and observance of tradition. He declares to Peter that it is the things that come out of the heart, and not the things eaten, that defile a man. It was the inward parts that needed cleansing, the heart, and all the inward springs and motives of action. The presence of the Lord brought to light what was in the heart, but those who received His word were cleansed.
“Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.”
In Acts 10, Peter learns by the vision of a great sheet let down from the opened heavens, and containing all kinds of animals that were ceremonially unclean, that he was henceforth to call nothing common or unclean.
“God hath shewed me that I should call no man common or unclean,”
says Peter to Cornelius, and explains later, in Acts 15:99And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. (Acts 15:9), that God had purified the hearts of those Gentiles by faith.
We find, further, that strictest of Pharisees, the former Saul of Tarsus, saying―
“I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself.”
And again―
The principle that now governed him with regard to such things was “faith working by love,” “the faith of the Son of God” who had loved him and given Himself for him. He abstained from anything of this kind, not for his conscience’ sake, but out of love, lest he should offend or stumble his weaker brother for whom Christ had died.
In Hebrews we find that God’s character has not changed, He is still a consuming fire; it is still true that without holiness no man can see the Lord. But now the word is,
“Let us have grace whereby we may serve Him acceptably with reverence and godly fear.”
It is good that the heart be established with grace, and not with meats. But it is in Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever, that this is to be found; He is on the throne of grace.
Finally, in John, the fundamental principle of Christian separation comes out, and we find that it is what we started with.
“Now are we the children of God.”
“Love not the world, either the things that are in the world; if any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”
The antithesis for us, as children, is between what is of the Father and what is of the world. It is not a question of legal abstaining from certain things traditionally held to be wrong, but of having the heart set, like the Lord’s heart was, to do the will of the Father. Then the motives of the world cannot find a place in the heart. On the other hand, self-will making personal holiness an object in itself, creates a system of monasticism.
So God teaches the priest first, and then His people as a whole, to look upon the four divisions of created things, with His eyes.
Whatever of animals has cloven hoofs, and chews the cud, is clean in God’s sight. Whatever of fishes has fins and scales is clean in God’s sight. Everything having the likeness of the serpent, and crawling, even though it may possess wings and seem to be an inhabitant of the heavens, is unclean in God’s sight. Twenty-one kinds of birds, mostly if not all, eaters of carrion, are unclean in God’s sight.
The fear of God would cause a man to observe these distinctions without knowing any hygienic or spiritual reasons for doing so.
But obedience leads to the immense blessing of further knowledge of God. That is the great lesson of these things.
Whatever of animals has cloven hoofs, and chews the cud, is clean in God’s sight. Whatever of fishes has fins and scales is clean in God’s sight. Everything having the likeness of the serpent, and crawling, even though it may possess wings and seem to be an inhabitant of the heavens, is unclean in God’s sight. Twenty-one kinds of birds, mostly if not all, eaters of carrion, are unclean in God’s sight.
The fear of God would cause a man to observe these distinctions without knowing any hygienic or spiritual reasons for doing so.
But obedience leads to the immense blessing of further knowledge of God. That is the great lesson of these things.
Answers to Questions―
1. These may be seen in the table given above. The great point to notice is the motive assigned in Deuteronomy 14:11Ye are the children of the Lord your God: ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead. (Deuteronomy 14:1). It is also interesting to note that seven clean animals are named in the first class in Deuteronomy while none are named in Leviticus. In general, the differences point to the fact that the law in Leviticus is intended for the guidance of the priests, and gives more detailed information as to what is unclean, how it may be known, and under what circumstances persons and things are defiled by contact with what is unclean. The code in Deuteronomy is much briefer, and is clearly intended as a practical guide for the people as to what may be eaten.
2. The main points are mentioned above. The following passages should be referred to as well: —
Isa. 1:16, 4:4, 4:5, 35:8, 52:11, 64:6, 65:5, 66:17; Jer. 13:27, 15:19; Ezek. 4:13, 14, 8:10, 36:24-32; 43: 12, 44:23; Dan. 1:88But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. (Daniel 1:8); Hos. 9:44They shall not offer wine offerings to the Lord, neither shall they be pleasing unto him: their sacrifices shall be unto them as the bread of mourners; all that eat thereof shall be polluted: for their bread for their soul shall not come into the house of the Lord. (Hosea 9:4); Haggai 2:10-1410In the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet, saying, 11Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Ask now the priests concerning the law, saying, 12If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt do touch bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any meat, shall it be holy? And the priests answered and said, No. 13Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean. 14Then answered Haggai, and said, So is this people, and so is this nation before me, saith the Lord; and so is every work of their hands; and that which they offer there is unclean. (Haggai 2:10‑14); Zech. 13:1, 9, 14:20, 21. The whole of Malachi is occupied with the fundamental principles of the priest’s work in connection with cleanness and uncleanness, and their failure, with the announcement of the coming of the Lord to purify.
3 and 4. Answered above.
Subject for September
―the Law of Leprosy, and the Cleansing of the Leper (Lev. 13, 14).
The following questions may be answered:
1. Trace out briefly the history of leprosy in Scripture.
2. What are the various stages of the cleansing of the leper?
3. In what three cases might the plague of leprosy appear, and what do they seem to point to?
B. S. ED.