Leviticus 22 – 23

Leviticus 22 – 23

In chapter 11, the Lord explains to Moses that Aaron and his sons must be very careful with the sacred gifts the Israelites set apart for Him. He then lists a number of ways they could bring shame on His holy name:

• Approaching the sacred offerings while ceremonially unclean
• Having a skin disease or some discharge that makes him ceremonially unclean
• Touching a corpse or having an emission of semen or touching a small animal that is unclean
• Touching someone who is ceremonially unclean for any reason

He also gave instructions about who could NOT eat the sacred offerings:

• People outside the priest’s family
• Guest or hired workers in a priest’s home
• A daughter who marries someone outside the priestly family (unless she becomes a widow or is divorced and has no children to support her and returns to her father’s home

He also made it clear that only the best was to be offered to the Lord; it had to be a perfect animal. It seems many would have been tempted to offer an animal they knew had some kind of defect to help them strengthen their flock or herd. The animal had to be at least eight days old and could not be offered on the same day as the mother animal.

Chapter 23 discusses the Lord’s appointed festivals as well as the Sabbath Day. Did you notice that during the celebration of the first harvest (or firstfruits), no bread or roasted grain or fresh kernels was to be eaten until they brought their offering to their God.

We also learn of a new festival, the Festival of Shelters, which was to take place five days after the Day of Atonement and last for seven days. The purpose was to remind the Israelites that their ancestors had to live in shelters when God rescued them from the land of Egypt.

On the day after tomorrow, we will finish the book of Leviticus and start the book of Numbers. Wow! We have almost completed four books of the 66 that comprise the Bible.

Tomorrow, it’s Leviticus 24 – 25.

Until next time…