Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Um, good morningville, church. Good morning. I want to ask you, open up your Bibles, leviticus, chapter twelve. And I want to I want to follow up on a few, I would say, expected pieces of feedback from our Leviticus series so far. Here's one. Pastor Michael these are strange subjects to discuss in our community group. I just want to look at you and say, I affirm you, and they're going to get weirder, so buckle up.
[00:00:30] Nobody actually said this, but it's sort of like an undercurrent that I just want to acknowledge. Pastor Michael, I come to church to hear how the Bible can apply to my life. Why should I care about Leviticus if it doesn't apply to me? Now, again, who's going to say that out loud? Nobody. But have you had the thought because at times I have. So we thought because the church was growing, this would be a way to thin the crowd a little bit.
[00:00:54] That is a joke. If that gets pulled and isolated and goes viral, I'm going to be upset. No, but for real, I want you to listen to a couple New Testament texts on what they say about the Old Testament. And they're not saying these things about the Old Testament except for the Book of Leviticus. All right? Romans 15 four. Paul says, for whatever was written in earlier times, he's referencing the Old Testament. It was written for our Christians instruction that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope. And so for the Apostle Paul, he looks at the Old Testament and he says, pick a book, any of them. And if you dig deep enough, you're going to find it will help you in perseverance, it will grant you encouragement and it will give you instruction and hope. Here's another one. First Corinthians 1011 says, now, these things, the stories of Israel and especially the Torah, they're written as an example. And they were written for whose instruction? Our instructions. So the whole story of the Old Testament is the story of Israel, and all of it is written so that we can look at this and we can say, all right, we need to be instructed by these. And it's written for us upon whom the end of the ages has come. Second. Timothy 316. All Scripture. Some Scripture. All scripture is inspired by God. Breathed out by God. It is profitable sometimes.
[00:02:19] There are some Scriptures that take a bit more work to find the profit, right? Some gold. It's a little bit deeper in the ground. But I just want to take a moment and say, as followers of Jesus, we are not just people of some of the Word, we are people of all of the Word and we are not a people. And this is why we continually want to open the Word of God and go as deep into it as we can, because we're not just people of the easy pieces of gold, the easy nuggets to find. But we also want to be people who go deeper and find the more challenging, difficult nuggets of gold. We want to be people who study the word of God. And so here's just my ask. I'll ask this every week in one way or another. Love God's word no matter what it says. Even if hear me, even if you don't walk away and say, I don't think that passage was directly about me today. Because it might be for future you or it might be wisdom that you need to give somebody else. Whatever it is, it will be relevant one time or another in our lives. One author wrote this. He wrote, Leviticus used to be the first book that Jewish children studied in the synagogue. Did you guys know that? Book number one, leviticus in the Modern Church. It tends to be the last part of the Bible anyone looks at seriously. In practice, Leviticus is treated as though it does not really belong to the canon of Scripture. Okay? So did God make a mistake by putting Leviticus in the Bible? The answer is no. Did God make a mistake when he put Leviticus twelve where we're going to be this morning about menstruation laws in the Bible? Now, some of you are like, jury's out. We're going to find out.
[00:03:56] We're going to see what's going to happen. All right, really funny. Last week, I want to say this.
[00:04:02] The amount of people who came to me and said I wanted to gag in that sermon, I did not feel great about some of the stories you told. We had a preaching prof in seminary and he always said this. He said, one of my goals is to help the listener feel the things that the author is feeling or the author wants them to feel. So when you're teaching on Levitical law and God talks about some things being abominable or detestable, that somehow when you are preaching this, you want people to feel this abomination. So I take it as a win when you tell me that eating vulture and camels were detestable to you and the thought of it makes you want to gag. I think I just did a really good job preaching. I'm going to tell myself that story. All right, so the Bible has a tendency to brazenly discuss subjects that make most people pretty uncomfortable.
[00:04:55] And I get it. Is that most preachers are going to skip these subjects, maybe because there's children in the room, or maybe the art of using bigger words so that moms and dads don't have to leave sermons and have unexpected conversations with their kids. I get it.
[00:05:11] But God is unafraid to address the most awkward, uncomfortable, personal and private parts of our lives.
[00:05:24] God does not blush. Amen.
[00:05:27] He is not embarrassed. I want you to think about this. Everything the human body can do, God designed it to do it. He designed it with that capacity.
[00:05:37] Here's, just like a highlight of the subjects. Leviticus twelve, brooches. And for moms and dads in the room, you're welcome. I'm going to use all multisyllabic words to confuse anybody who doesn't know them.
[00:05:52] Menstruation, blood, conception, circumcision, discharges, childbirth.
[00:06:00] For real? How many of you want to be me right now? Anybody?
[00:06:04] I don't want to be me. I've committed to teach the whole council of God's word. So here we go. But it's interesting, god's law actually regulates these things. And we have to ask a question before we get into this. Why does God's law regulate the private parts of our lives? And here are four big reasons. Because number one, he cares about the whole person. There's not one aspect of your life that he does not care about. The public and the private. And here's what we know. What happens to a person in private can destroy or define that person. And so we don't get to take different parts of our lives, emotionally, spiritually, relationally, anything physically, biologically, put them into a bucket and say, god, you can't touch these. That's not how the Bible works. Why does God regulate our private lives? Number two, because he created all of you. The scene, the unseen, the things that we rightly and appropriately hide. God created all of it, and none of it is off limits. Why does God regulate our private lives? Because not only did he create it, but he personally designed each part of you with intentionality and with purpose. Why does God regulate our private lives? Because, let's be straight, humanity had no idea what they were doing.
[00:07:16] There are some things that you can only know if God tells you. Now we have science is beginning to look at the microscopic world and telling us what's really going on, and germs and germs, all this kind of stuff and viruses. But there are some things, unless God tells you, you will die. And here's what we know. This world is a really dangerous place when you are just dropped into it and you don't know how things work, why they work, what to stay away from, and what to engage in. Especially if you are starving and you are hungry. You need to know what will kill you and what will help you thrive and flourish. So, Leviticus twelve, here's what's going on. The day of Atonement, it is the most sacred day in the Jewish calendar and it is quickly approaching. The day of Atonement is going to happen in the book of Leviticus. It's going to culminate in Leviticus 16. So all of the chapters between here and there are about cleanliness and purity laws. But this day, it is coming. And this is the day when annually the sins of the entire nation are cleansed or forgiven. But Leviticus 16, of all the days of Atonement, it is the very first one. It's also the day where for the very first time the presence of God is going to come down and dwell in the midst of his people. And so here's something interesting. There's a question that every single Jewish person needs to know as they get ready for the presence of God to come down. And it is this who can approach God's glorious presence and not be killed?
[00:08:49] Who can approach God's glorious presence and not be killed? If you consider for a moment the chapters and the way they are ordered in the Book of Leviticus, right before these cleanliness laws, we get a sneak peek into the first day of Atonement. And there are two priests, the sons of Aaron, their names are Nadab and who knows? It Abihu. And these guys, this is right before the cleanliness laws are given. These guys go in and there is something wrong with what they do and they are incinerated burnt to a crisp. And then right after that are the cleanliness and purity laws. Why is it structured this way? Because every single Jew for the rest of time who reads the Book of Leviticus is going to read about the incineration of Naidab and Abihu and they're going to ask a question, how can I avoid that? And then God's going to tell them these laws. This is how you can avoid entering into the presence of God and being incinerated. Old Testament cleanliness laws, they're written to make sure that every person who comes near to the presence of God doesn't just live but flourishes. And this is what everybody wants. We want proximity to God, relationship with God. It's what Israel wanted. It's what the priests want. It's what you and I want now in the new covenant. And it is what God wants. God does not want people to draw near to Him and then be required out of judgment and holiness to have their uncleanness destroyed by his holiness. Because this is what happens when uncleanness and holiness mix. And so God is trying to protect the people and grant proximity and help them prevent being killed. And it wasn't just the public things that could make you unclean, it was the private things. So chapter twelve, it's as personal as it gets. Look at verse one. The Lord, he spoke to Moses saying, speak to the people of Israel. Now this is funny, I think like now Moses has to get up and he has to say, hey everybody, we're going to talk about some really private things. Listen up. If a woman conceives and bears a male child, then she shall be unclean seven days as at the time of her menstruation, she shall be unclean. So one of the challenges of reading Old Testament law is that not every law tells you everything you need to know about a subject. And so what's interesting is Old Testament law here just kind of passes by the subject of menstruation. And so Leviticus 15 actually picks up this subject and guys pastor Dean. He gets to preach on Leviticus 15 in a few weeks. I'm so thankful for him. Dean, thank you. You're a hero to me personally, and I just want to honor you. But I do want to give a sneak peek into what you're going to be preaching on. So Leviticus 1519 says, when a woman has a discharge and the discharge in her body is blood, hypothetically, she shall be in her menstrual impurity for seven days, and whoever touches her shall be unclean until the evening. So just take a moment here. Okay, this is weird to us. I get it. It's the 21st century America. I got it. I want you to consider for a moment that the things that are private now were public matters previously because of their lack of hygienic products.
[00:12:10] So there are things that nobody can hide. And so what we now see as private were public. Everybody knew these things, and so it wasn't embarrassing because it was normal life.
[00:12:24] Now, I want to be crystal clear on something really unclean. I think it is something really unclean. No, I want to be crystal clear on something really confusing. For most people, it's a misunderstanding. And this idea that if something is unclean, it is sinful. And we've already established that there are some things that are unclean, that are sinful. But by and large, the majority of things that God calls unclean, like vultures and camels, et cetera, aren't inherently bad things. They're just things that we need to stay away from. And so touching an unclean woman or any unclean person was not sin. And I need you to catch this, by and large, not even forbidden.
[00:13:08] So if you were going to live in this world, are there going to be times when you are unclean? And the answer, of course, is absolutely. Unclean does not mean you're in a state of sin. And what you had to do is you had to pay very close attention to the days when you were going to approach the tabernacle or the presence of God to make sure you were clean on those. Somebody I could hear this. Somebody might ask, okay, well, if touching somebody that was unclean made you unclean, then why is it that Jesus could touch unclean people? And let's just be honest. Are you God? No. Good. Jesus is the exception. Because when Jesus touches unclean things in people, those things become clean. Right? But everyone else, when we touch unclean things, we become unclean. There's a major practical problem with demonstration laws and uncleanness and proximity to God or anybody who has a discharge of blood, male or female. So, new moms, do they or do they not need to touch their babies? We're going to go with it. Yeah, they need to feed their babies, which unfortunately makes the baby unclean, because the baby is touching somebody who is ceremonially, not sinfully unclean. Okay?
[00:14:31] So if you have a baby boy, what needs to happen on the 8th day, by law, circumcision. And if a priest is going to come do this, the priest has to go back to the tabernacle. The priest has to go fulfill his priestly duties and remain clean. So how does a priest go and fulfill, by law, the circumcision responsibilities when this baby is unclean and thereby making himself unclean? And so what I just love about this is that God creates in this entire season of uncleanness post having a baby, one day of exemption where they're all considered clean. And you know what day that is? It's the 8th day. Look at verse three. On the 8th day, the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. Now, that is not the point of this text. I'm going to tell you one thing about this and then we're going to get actually back to the major point. Why wait eight days?
[00:15:24] We can't know for sure the totality of reasons of why God said this, but let me just give you actually one really practical reason because of something called vitamin K. If you've had a baby, have you noticed that the majority of them get a vitamin K shot pretty quickly after they're born, waiting eight days? This is what one medical journal says allows a baby's vitamin K levels to rise to optimal blood clotting capacity and profoundly reduces the risk of bleeding out during the surgery. Isn't that amazing?
[00:15:49] Did the Israelites know what vitamin K was? They have no idea. But God knew. And so God creates an entire system that craves for optimal survivability in this circumstance. All right, go back to verse four now. Got to keep us on track. This is not about babies. First and foremost, it's about making sure that everybody who comes close to the proximity of God's presence is not incinerated. Okay, verse four then. She should continue for 33 days. This is about having a baby boy in the blood of her purifying. She shall not touch anything holy nor come into the sanctuary until the days of her purifying are completed. So if you have a baby boy, the days are eight plus 33 equals 41 days. When you have a baby, you are considered ceremonially unclean, except for the 8th day. Now here's, I think how people process this, maybe naturally, that is really misogynistic, that is really offensive. And I want to just flip this. So if you're a mother in the room and you've had a baby, I want you to just process, I want you to see the kindness of God, the tenderness of God to mothers in this moment after you give birth, what's the last thing you want to do? Don't answer that out loud.
[00:17:14] Dishes, serving your family, going to church. Some of you are like, your sermons are so good, I just wanted to be there. No.
[00:17:25] By making her unclean, god is freeing her from all the duties of home, husbands and worship.
[00:17:37] He is releasing her to do the most important thing post giving birth, and that is to bond with her child.
[00:17:49] And here's where, God knows, there'll be a gajillion threats to this experience. But there are few moments in a human's life that are more sacred, few seasons than the days, weeks and months after a mother gives birth. And so the husband, he might try to come in and be really practical. We've got stuff to do, honey. Let's go. The world doesn't just stop because you're having a baby. And God's like, listen, it's not how we treat people in one of the most sacred moments of their life.
[00:18:23] Leave her alone, serve her, tender her. What's happening with this mother and this baby on a spiritual and biological level is sacred. Verse five. But if she bears a female child, then she shall be unclean two weeks as in her menstruation, and shall continue in the blood of her purifying for 66 days. Okay, 66 plus 14 equals how many days?
[00:18:49] 80 days.
[00:18:52] Most moms that I know, if they're given an 80 day break are going to be like, bring it. This isn't oppressive. This is amazing. Unclean not sinful. Happily.
[00:19:05] Now, some people say, Why did God give 41 days for a boy and 80 days for a daughter?
[00:19:14] This is interesting. I'm not even going to begin to surmise all the reasons again, but I'll just give you one that I think could be helpful. The Scientific American was very interesting. Here's what they wrote when examining hormonal levels in women when pregnant with boys versus girls, three weeks into pregnancy, women carrying the girls exhibited hormone levels 18.5% higher than those of their boy carrying counterparts.
[00:19:39] Most dudes don't understand an 18.5% fluctuation in our hormones. God does.
[00:19:46] And maybe it's just possible that the female mind and body needs longer to recover in certain circumstances on a normal basis. And God, out of his kindness, says, you don't know about all this stuff. How could you? You haven't invented microscopes. You can't even figure out the stars yet. Like, maybe God, in his infinite love and tender care, is setting aside time to protect mothers and children. Maybe the very things that people look at and go, I can't believe this. This is so chauvinistic and misogynistic are actually signs of God's tender love and care for mothers and children. Verse six goes on.
[00:20:26] When the days of her purifying are completed, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting a lamb a year old for a burnt offering and a pigeon or a turtle dove for a sin offering. We've already talked about that in past sermons. And he verse seven. The priest shall offer before the Lord and make atonement for her. Then she shall be clean from the flow of her blood. This is the law. For who bears a child, either male or female. And just to make sure I appreciate the little verses that God just throws in here out of compassion, just in case you are broke as a joke and you can't afford a lamb. Verse eight says if she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtle doves or two pigeons, one for a burnt offering, the other for a sin offering and the priest shall make atonement for her and she shall be clean. You might not have a lamb, but anybody can catch a bird.
[00:21:19] All right, so what two? So what's? Number one god tenderly protects mothers and he cares for them.
[00:21:32] This chapter reveals God's heart in so many ways. For moms, I just want to highlight two god gives new mothers time to rest from their spouse, from worship, from extroverting, from travel to bond deeply with their child.
[00:21:51] And I just want you to understand this women and children matter deeply to God.
[00:21:58] But number two god is training men through laws to imitate his tender and thoughtful care of women.
[00:22:10] We have addressed this time and time again when men do not rise up to care for those that culture treats the most horribly, those who are objectively the most vulnerable, civilizations collapse.
[00:22:27] And this is not about being buff and physically strong.
[00:22:31] What God wants to raise up is spiritually strong men who lead, defend and protect those who are the most vulnerable.
[00:22:42] And what you see is that God is training generations through law of this is what it means in this circumstance. And there are so many other circumstances when it comes to foreigners, refugees, children, widows. There are all of these classes of people that are considered socially vulnerable and God instructs and demands via law that the men who are teaching and implementing these laws rise up and they protect those that the culture leaves most vulnerable. This is one of the privileges of being a Godly man. We are spiritually and emotionally strong and we are defenders of the weak.
[00:23:23] There's an implicit instruction for women here, by the way, which is women look for men who are spiritually strong and brave because you're going to need men who can rise above their impulses, their desires and their selfishness when you are in your most vulnerable place to tenderly love and serve you.
[00:23:48] Thousands of years removed. Chapter twelve. I think it seems weird, but for every woman who read these in their context for the first time, they would read these and go god loves me.
[00:24:02] Every other religion on the planet extorts and exploits women, mothers and children. But the God of Israel is fundamentally separating himself from all the other fake demon gods as the one who tenderly cares.
[00:24:20] So number two god desires his people to be safely in his presence.
[00:24:29] Cleanliness laws were about protection and proximity. When unholy things or unclean things come near a holy God, it's a disaster. And I just want to take a moment and say village church, we are no longer under the Old Testament cleanliness laws. But it doesn't mean that we don't still need to be clean when we come into the presence of God. And there is one singular way that humanity, every individual person, can be clean and enter into the proximity of God's presence with confidence. And it is not by being a good person, it is not by going to church, it is not by being better than the person next to you. Every human being is offered forever cleanness, forever forgiveness, forever capacity and ability to enter into the very presence of God if they would do one thing. And that is that we need to personally trust in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins as our God and Savior. There is no other name by which we can be saved, cleansed, forgiven, healed or given access to God. And there is no other way. We must individually, personally, everybody, all of humanity come to God and say I'm sorry, forgive me, I believe in Jesus Christ, that he died for my sins and was raised from the dead. You are not saved because you're here. You are not saved because your parents are awesome. You're not saved because your grandma prayed for you into church. You're not saved because you go to a Christian school. You're not clean because of any of these. But spiritual cleanness is offered to anyone who personally trusts in Christ. And if you have never done that, I just want to invite you personally today and here and now, you have the ability to receive total cleanness and forgiveness. And here's what I love about when you come to Christ I can't become unclean.
[00:26:31] It's permanent, it's forever. It's one of the perks of not being under the old covenant and being under the new covenant that the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all unrighteousness and gives us proximity and protection when we come near to God. So I want you to catch what this looks like. Believer when you sin, anybody sin this week, three of you, good job, amazing church.
[00:26:59] Even though you sinned, you have protection and proximity because of the blood of Christ. And you come to God and ask forgiveness again, even though objectively you're forgiven, et cetera. But relationally, you come to Him and you own this specifically extreme ownership. And you even have the ability to walk up to God to pray to Him. The Spirit can dwell in you, God's very presence and not obliterate you when you mess up, because you are forever clean when you trust in Jesus Christ. What incredible so for people who have never trusted in Christ, what these laws point to is that cleanliness and access to God and protection in all of these circumstances is found in Jesus. But for believers, we have this incredible reminder every single time you pray to God, despite what you have just done or the struggles that you have, praise God that you don't live under that old law. Amen. And we take for granted the total freedom and access that we have to God. So that even if, like I mean, just consider this for a moment. Not that any of you would ever do this. You're sitting there and you're having these judgmental thoughts. You're like, that Michael is such a he's preaching so long. I'm not interested. And, you know, I'm kind of frustrated because he's wearing sandals right now. And that Marina girl, I'm telling you, she's too young. I can't believe this. I'm just whatever. And then all of a sudden, you get up and you sing, and you mean it, even though she's leading you. And God's like, I still want you to have access to me. He doesn't obliterate you in that moment. Anybody else had a judgmental thought about a worship leader or a preacher? Anyone? I have. And I'm, like, judge me all the time.
[00:28:37] But the fact that we can be in worship and even still struggle with sin and be considered clean, and God still invites our worship even though our hearts are broken and being redeemed, it's just unbelievable. When I've been teaching to Leviticus, this is kind of the thought that I've been having in my brain is every time we sing, I can't believe God doesn't destroy us.
[00:28:58] Knowing what I know about myself and my heart and what has happened this week and this morning, right. The fact that I can stand here and I can preach God's word with all of the imperfections in my life and all of the ways that I don't live up even to the things that I preach like I want to, but I don't know any preacher who does. The fact that God doesn't destroy me right here and right now is a miracle any of us are alive. And I've just been thinking through these last few months as we preach to this like, God, thank you for the new covenants. Thank you for the blood of Christ. Thank you that it is better than the blood of bulls and goats. Thank you for this. And if you've never trusted in Jesus Christ, I'm telling you, the blood of Jesus has the power to cleanse you, forgive you once and for all and forever. Don't leave today without asking him to save you and forgive you. Billish, let's pray together. God, we love you.
[00:29:45] Thankful. I am thankful for the weird parts of your word. I am thankful that you invade every part, that you leave nothing untouched in our lives. I'm especially thankful that even as the Old covenant really did regulate our physical lives, I mean, Lord, your new covenant is even more nosy.
[00:30:04] It goes after our hearts. It goes after the invisible places. And so, God, I thank you that you are not content to leave us as people who have better behaviors, but you are seeking a. People who are transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit and Lord. As we still struggle in this transformation process, fill us with gratitude that our sins are once and for all and forever cleansed. And that any day, anytime, any moment, for all of the rest of history, for all of eternity, we now have forever access and proximity to you. And we are safe because of the blood of Jesus. We love you and we thank you and we pray all of this in Jesus name. Amen. Amen.
