We Christians have to guard against double standards. It is injustice unjust unless you've got some reason to To justify it. The double standards are Don't work in our favor. We don't like to be victims of double standards. Why would we subject someone else to that?
Love your neighbor as you love yourself. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. And that's a good rule for parenting, is it not? No double standards. This is Cross Reference Radio with our pastor and teacher, Rick Gaston.
Rick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel, Mechanicsville. Pastor Rick is currently teaching through the book of Leviticus. Please stay with us after today's message to hear more information about cross-reference radio. specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. Leviticus chapter 22 is where Pastor Rick will be teaching from today.
on this edition of Cross Reference Radio. Chapter 22 Now, the instructions already given are repeated with a little bit more detail, a little bit wider application. Then the Lord's But Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to Aaron. And his sons? And that they separate themselves from the holy things.
Of the children of Israel, and that they do not profane my holy name by what they do. dedicate to me I am Yahweh.
So they were not to casually handle holy things. Any work you do in the house, and we've got quite a few servants that understand that, and they don't need anybody to tell them that. It's just, you know. Even if they're just sweeping up and doing things, they know this is God's house and they're very serious about it. Separation of the sacred from the secular.
and compliance to God's will. That's what counts. It was not enough to be one of Aaron's sons. One had to be sensitive to God's purity and holiness, as Nadab and Abihu, unfortunately. found out the hard way.
Carelessness in ministry is unacceptable. I mean, we all make mistakes. do, but to be careless, that's another th That's another thing. That means you don't care. Verse 3, and God says he cares, and he wants his servants to care.
Say to them Whoever of all your descendants throughout your generation. Who goes near the holy things which the children of Israel dedicate to Yahweh, while he has uncleanness upon him, that person shall be cut off from my presence. I am Yahweh.
Well We do believe that some things are sacred, holiness to the Lord. This person presented here as careless at the altar, and he would suffer penalty. When the man gathered sticks in Israel, and was stoned to death, he was careless. He was brazen sin. He knew this was forbidden.
He had six days in a week where he could gather sticks, and this day he did it anyway, and he suffered the consequence. And Moses was careful. He took it right to God first. He didn't just go ahead and execute the man.
So that carelessness had to be dealt with, or else it would have just spread throughout. Israel. And same with Adam and Eve. They had all the other trees they could have eaten eaten from, but the one that they were forbidden to eat from. they chose to violate.
So from verses 3 through 9, unclean priest is the subject. then from ten to sixteen unqualified people. And then seventeen to thirty-three, unacceptable sacrifices. Remember, we are covering. restrictions and standards that are given by God, And we should not be intimidated by these things.
We should learn how. To best let them serve us and we serve them, learn how to use them.
Well, anyway, the priest would end up defiling himself The sacrifices and the altar, if he was permitted to just do whatever he wanted to. Verse 3, where it says he's cut off from my presence, probably defrocked. We've we've bounce that around a bit that it's not always clear if cut off means Executed, sometimes we know that it doesn't, but other times it's not all that clear. To so Anyway, now we come to verse 24. Unclean priest is what this is going to address.
Whatever man of the descendants of Aaron who is a leper or has a discharge shall not eat holy offerings until he is clean. And whoever touches anything made unclean by a corpse, and it lists some other things, verse 5. And who because it doesn't need to be read. Out loud. Or whoever touches any creeping thing by which he would be made unclean, or any person by whom he would become unclean.
Now listen here, it's very important, whatever his uncleanness may be. In case I forgot something. You know what I'm talking about. And so that's Paul has a similar thing, you know, and whatever else. And so that's a couple of those wise guys.
So well, mine's is not listed. It doesn't say I can't run over people with a car. Anyway. Whatever his uncleanness may be, verse 6, the people who has touched any such thing shall be unclean until evening, and shall not eat the holy offerings unless he washes his body with water. And when the sun goes down, he shall be clean.
And afterward, He may eat. The holy offerings. Because it is his food. I think one good thing about us reading this as New Testament Christians, we have so much grace, we can become sloppy and careless and lose the edge of holiness and say, oh, that was only for those Old Testament saints.
Well, not when it comes to the spirit of holiness, it's not, it's for us too. The details of many of them have have faded, but they have been replaced. by other New Testament. doctrines and teachings and examples of Christ. In verse four, Well, we covered that actually.
I'm glad you're glad I caught that before reading it again, aren't you? According to CHAPTER ten The priests were entitled to certain portions of certain sacrifices. For their own nourishment, so long as the proper precautions were taken.
Well, here, of course, they would not be allowed if they were unclean. Yeah. Whatever dies naturally or is torn by beasts, he shall not eat to defile himself. with I am Yahweh.
Well, because the blood was still in the animal, which was made the meat unclean. They couldn't partake in that, whatever died naturally. Deuteronomy 14. You shall not eat anything that dies of itself. You may give it to the alien who is within your gates, that he may eat it.
Or you may sell it to a foreigner, for you are a holy people. to Yahweh your God. This is a righteous standard. If you need something stolen, you ask an unbeliever to do it. They're already going to hell.
Yeah. That certainly isn't the case here.
Well, there was nothing wrong with the meat itself. It was fit for human cons consumption. But it was outside of God's protocols. And that's all the Jews needed to know. And so, you know, this would be helpful when you get to the New Testament.
There's nothing wrong with the meat. This is not poison.
Now If they ate this kind of meat unintentionally. You're going to come in and you grab a bite. Hey, don't eat that. It's too late. Then you'd have to go through a cleansing process until evening.
What may be acceptable for believers, this is the lesson, may not be acceptable. What may be acceptable for unbelievers may not be acceptable for believers. That's the lesson from Deuteronomy 14:21, and here also. When we come to Exodus, I think it's Exodus 21. If an animal kills something.
The Jews were not to eat that meat. and it specifies they were to give it to the dogs, the meat.
So again, Just because Something is harmless doesn't mean it's permitted. harmless within our sight. There are other things taking place. And in this case, one of the things taking place is God wants His people to be not only distinct, but very distinct. He wants it pronounced.
Is it any different with the Christian? Are we not supposed to let our light shine before men? Are we not the salt of the earth, the light of the world? Are not people? People aren't supposed to guess.
I wonder if he's a Christian. There's supposed to be no doubt. In the workplace. Not that we walk in with a placard or a sandwich board on, but we certainly just establish our territory very quickly. by what we do and what we do not do.
And this was the case with the Jews also. And I think all believers admire this. It's the charm of the Old Testament. Why do we love the Old Testament so much?
Some love it too much, so much so they lose their Christian identity. They say they're Christians, but they're living in the Old Testament.
Well, the charm of the Old Testament is the pursuit of holiness. We want that holiness. It does not fade in the New Testament. The apostles are so busy putting out brush fires and dealing with. Gentile culture, you might miss it if you're not careful.
Verse and Jesus constantly dealing with the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. For instance, he'd go into a synagogue on a Sabbath and provoke a fight. The scripture would say because he knew it was a Sabbath, he'd heal the guy. He said, Listen, I can hear you now. It's Friday night.
But I really want to do this tomorrow. No, you wouldn't do that, but... Exactly. Kind of makes the point, does it not? He He used these things.
to preach against evil. Verse 9, they shall therefore keep my ordinance. Lest they bear sin for it. and die thereby, if they profane it, I, Yahweh, sanctify them.
So This is an appeal to the conscious. The mind of the individual priest, how would anybody know? or some of these sins. If i if unless The priests Admitted it. It's internal, being his conscience.
And God appealed to that. He knew God would know. He knew. And so just do what is right.
Some laws are for the people and the priest. But the penalties We're not always the same. Again, Nadab and Bihu are an example. I the Lord sanctify them, it says at the bottom of verse 9. Um God Honored their calling Whatever you do in the house of the Lord, if you do it unto the Lord, He honors that ministry, that virtue.
vocation of of the Christian in the house of God. It's not just that you honor it. And you're delighted, and you see the privilege, and you work through the burdens, you should see the honor of it all. Also. Verse 10: No outsider shall eat the holy offering.
One who dwells with the priest or a hired servant shall not eat the holy thing.
Now we have unqualified people as far as eating. from the sacrificial animals that the priests were allowed to eat. The food designated for them. By the sacrifices, were prohibited from other people. having it.
The outsiders here, no outsider, are the non-priest. They're not qualified for the meal. The hired servant Those would either be could be Both. Or they could be A Jew who was a slave. who wasn't to be treated like a slave.
And this, of course, shows up in chapter 25 and elsewhere in the Old Testament. The Jews technically were slaves, but they weren't. Again, to repeat myself. Treated as such, and so if they are a hired servant in that sense, where they have, maybe they have indentured, they have sold themselves into slavery, they could not partake of that food. They had to eat other food if they were in that household.
So a lot of labels in the refrigerator on the food. Verse 11. But if the priest buys a person with his money, he may eat it. And one who is born in his house may eat his food. And again, that would not be.
a Jew because They could not and be the slaves like that. Verse 12. And again, slavery was, you know, we think of slavery and it we think of the Civil War and all that went into that. There's other types of slavery, and in many cases, the people who were slaves We're way better off Than before they were enslaved. Verse 12: If the priest's daughter is married to an outsider, she may not eat of the holy things.
Well, a priest's daughter Eight from The portion of food, unless she was married, then she would forfeit that, or if she married a priest. Verse thirteen. Which she couldn't do in the early days. The gene pool hadn't spread enough yet, but years later it would be. Verse 13, but if the priest's daughter is a widow or divorced or has no child and has returned to her father's house as in her youth, she may eat her father's food, but no outsider shall eat it.
Why am I reading all these verses to you? Because I'm vindictive. If I had to read them and study them, no, I do think. It's beneficial for us because these are the opportunities where the Lord will just point out something in the midst of what may appear to be minutiae. Here in verse twenty three, The expired privilege of a daughter who got married but comes back into the home.
If the priest's daughter is a widow or divorced and has no child and she returns, she can eat of the priest's food. Not much to us, but very helpful to them if they were in need. Verse 14: And if a man eats the holy offerings unintentionally, He shall restore a holy offering to the priest, and add one fifth.
So that was the penalty if he accidentally ate some of the The food Of the priest. Verse fifteen: They shall not profane the holy offerings. Of the children of Israel, which they offer to the Lord. What do I profane in service to God? Do I profane anything?
Well, I work hard not to. I'm sure I'm sure I know people who do get it wrong. Yeah. You thought I was going to say I'm sure I get something wrong.
Well, I'm getting something wrong right now by not admitting that. Verse 16, or allow them to bear the guilt of trespass when they eat their holy offerings. I, Yahweh, sanctify them.
Now we come to unacceptable sacrifices. You just couldn't bring anything to the house of God.
Some people think that it's okay to empty their garage and give it to the church.
Well, maybe if it's the items are needed and. worthwhile, but if they're junk, you might want to rethink that. Uh Verse 17, Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to Aaron and his sons, and to all the children of Israel, and say to them, Whatever man of the house of Israel, or Of the strangers in Israel who offers his sacrifice for any of his vows or for any of his free will offerings. Does that Change of tone help you? Does it help you a little bit?
Is to build up, giving you anticipation. He continues here in verse 18, which they offer to Yahweh as a burnt offering. Verse 19, you shall offer of your own free will. with a male Without blemish. From the cattle, from the sheep, or from the goats.
Whatever has a defect, you shall not offer. For it shall not be acceptable on your behalf. Do you know people have prayers that God's saying, you know, I'm not listening to that. And Peter the Apostle talks about, he's not the only one, but he really hits it pretty good, just a few verses. Verse twenty one And whoever offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to Yahweh to fulfill his vow or free will offering from the cattle or the sheep, It must be perfect to be accepted.
There shall be no defect in it. Verse twenty two. Those That are blind or broken or maimed or have an ulcer or eczema or scabs. You should not offer to Yahweh. nor make an offering by fire of them to the Lord.
And so he's dealing with this attitude of giving God what's defective.
Well, I don't want it, but maybe God Well, I'll just get rid of it there. Malachi has to hit this in chapter 1, verses 8 to 13. The people were doing this thing. Malachi says, Well, try to take that up to the governor, see what he does with you. In 2 Samuel, Aruna wanted to give David the field to make his offerings.
And David, you know, so he had two men looking to give sacrifice to the Lord. And David says, I have to pay. I have to give sacrifice. That in contrast to Someone who's trying to offer what is defective. In verse twenty, no defective animals were to be offered to the Lord, and no defective priests were to receive non-defective offerings.
And I think the reason why this is so is that You have a blemished priest officiating. At the altar, you might be suggesting there's a double standard. And we Christians have to guard against double standards. It is unjust, unless you've got some reason to. Two.
Justify it. The double standards don't work in our favor. We don't like to be victims of double standards. Why would we subject someone else to that? Love your neighbor as you love yourself.
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. And that's a good rule for parenting, is it not? No double standards. If a child, of course, becomes older, they have earned certain privileges that the younger ones won't have. That's not a double standard.
The other ones have to pay their dues like everybody else. Verse 23: Either a bull or a lamb that has any limb too long or too short. Uh you may offer as a free will offering, but For a vow, it shall not be accepted.
Well, since the free will offerings were optional sacrifices and they majored in Fellowship meal, they were excused. But the other sacrifices did not get this pardon.
So verse 24. You shall not offer to Yahweh what is bruised or crushed, nor torn, cut, nor shall you. Make any offering. of them in your land.
So again, back to what may be good for the dogs is not good for the people. It's Exodus 23. Yeah. And it's in verse 21. No, not twenty one.
thirty one. And you shall be holy men to me. You shall not eat meat torn by beasts in the field. You shall throw it to the dogs. See, that kind of language has to mean more than just, you know, just throw it to the dogs.
And again, we're supposed to be Special people of God, and the world is supposed to know that's what we want. We want to be like Christ. We fail at it, His mercy endures forever. But when we fail. We don't fail to continue going.
We continue, we get back up and go at it. And we suffer. I don't like, you know, James 5.11. We count them blest who endure I want to endure. I just want everything given to me.
Well, it will be when you get to heaven. But for now, it's war. Verse 25, nor from a foreigner's hand shall you offer any of these as bread of your God, because their corruption is in them. and defects are in them, they shall not be accepted on your behalf. You know, we do discourage unbelievers from giving to the church.
Until they give their hearts to Christ, we don't want their money. It's not what it's not in it for the money. We need the money, of course. There's no way around that, but we don't want it from unbelievers. And we don't want to abuse it and merchandise the people.
Either. There's a string of videos of these prosperity teachers. Holding up their Rolex watches and boasting how many jewels they got it right in front of the congregation, interacting. You see that watch? It's so disgusting.
How do people not see that? How do they not see that this is not holiness? Could you imagine the high priest saying, You see these jewels here in the breath of Ephot? You can't afford them. Hi, I'm sorry.
But anyway. Verse 26, and Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, When a bull or a sheep or a goat is born, it shall be seven days with its mother. And from its eighth day, and thereafter it shall be accepted as an offering made by fire to Yahweh. Verse 28: Whether it is a cow or a ewe. Do not kill both her and the young on the same day.
So here's a respect for the animal kingdom in the scriptures. in other places also in the Bible to not be malicious towards animals.
So, so some show some restraint in the context of a sacrificial system. Verse twenty-nine. And when you offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving to Yahweh, offer it of your own free will. On the same day it shall be eaten. You shall leave none of it until morning.
I'm Yahweh. That's what he's saying. I'm God. I'm calling the shots. Therefore, you shall keep my commandments and perform them.
I am Yahweh.
Yahweh Verse thirty two You shall not profane my holy name. I will be hallowed among the children of Israel. I am Yahweh who sanctifies you. Verse 33. Who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God?
I am Yahweh.
So, What's their motivation for obedience according to verses 30 through 33? What is the motivation to obey? I am Lord. I will be hollowed among the children of Israel. I am Lord.
I will hollow you. I am Lord, which brought you out of Egypt. I am God. That's the motivation. Many Jews have lost sight of this.
And when we say, Lord, Jesus. We're saying we haven't lost sight of this. We get it. That's the ideal. Thanks for tuning in to today's edition of Cross-Reference Radio.
Pastor Rick Gaston is currently going through the book of Leviticus. We're glad you joined us. We trust that you're gaining some valuable insights into God's Word as we go through this Old Testament book. Cross-reference radio comes to you from Calvary Chapel, Mechanicsville, in Virginia. If you'd like to subscribe to our podcast, you can do so by going to your favorite app store.
and downloading from there. For any additional information about this ministry, we invite you to visit our website, Crossreference Radio.com. Make sure to come back again for the upcoming edition in the book of Leviticus, as Pastor Rick has much more to share. We thank you for being with us right here on Cross Reference Radio.
