10-21-2023 Leviticus & the Cleansing
I’ve
mentioned a Spiritual Explosion in which we are currently in the beginning
stages.
It’s a time
where the Holy Ghost will truly rise up in God’s Children and be evidenced in
the world, more so than in a very long time.
Let’s draw a
connection here for what we are going to present. Jesus asks us a question: Don’t you believe
that I am in the Father and that the Father is in Me? The words I speak are the Father’s, who
dwells in Me and it is He who does the works.
Believe that I am in the Father and that He is in Me, or at least,
believe because of the works. Believe
Me, that he who believes in Me shall do the same works that I have done and
greater because I go to My Father (John 14:10-12). So what did Jesus do? He healed a leper (Matt. 8:1-3), Peter’s
mother-in-law from a fever (Matt. 8:14-15),the man with palsy(Matt. 9:1-7) or the
woman with the issue of blood (Matt. 9:20-22).
He raised Jairus’ daughter from the dead (Mark 5:22-24, 35-43) as well
as Lazarus (John 11:34-44. He even cast
out demons from those possessed as with the wild man in Gadarenes (Luke 26:39)
or the man with the unclean spirit in the synagogue (Mark 1:23-26). These is just some of what Jesus did. So what about us? Jesus sent out His apostles and disciples giving
them power to heal the sick and diseased, raise the dead and cast out devils
(Matt. 10:1-8, Luk3 10:10-17). Consider
Peter and John and the lame man at the beautiful gate (Acts 3:1-10) or even
Paul’s healing from the bite of a poisonous snake (Acts 28:1-6) or the man with
the bloody flux (dusenteria G 1420 - yep,
the bowels)(Acts 28:8-9). Peter raises
Dorcas from the dead (Acts 9:36-41) and Paul raised Eutichus, who died from a
fall (Acts 20: 9-12). And devils? Paul cast out a spirit of divination from a
damsel who was ‘pestering’ him (Acts 16:16-18) or Philip (this Philip was most
likely one of the seven men appointed to handle affairs Acts 6:1-4) in Samaria
(Acts 8:5-7).
Jesus sent
out His apostles, then His disciples.
What this means to us is that not only do apostles have authority over
the enemy, but so do all disciples.
All of us who believe on Jesus are disciples, not just the likes of Ken Copelands, Joyce Meyer or Benny Hinn, as
well as all the other ministers of healing but we all can do what Jesus did. It’s a matter of faith! I’m talking about the ‘average Joe’, like us! Jesus said that if we believe in Him, even we
can do what He did! And this will be
evidenced as this Spiritual Explosion progresses!
For us to
experience this, we need to be living and operating in God’s love – AGAPE –
love! Agape (G26), that is to hold affection or benevolence for or be
totally engulfed with charity for others, to care for in a social and moral
sense. This includes to ‘be kind’ and do
good’. To consider another person’s
well-being. The apostle Paul suggests
that we can do this by blessing and edifying those around us (1 Thess.
5:11-15).
Now, as we
abide and grow in Christ Jesus, these things will come to pass. It is our
Christian growth. The closer we walk
with our Lord, the more we desire to read His Word (the bible) so we can learn
how to walk even closer with Him. This
also includes better quality as our prayer times also grow. But in order for these things to happen we
need to take care of basics first.
As with Job,
we need to understand just who God is, who we are and what that relationship
with Him can and should be. Job declares
that he knew about God, but came to know
Him (Job 42:5).
When we
first accepted Jesus into our heart, He cleansed us from all our
unrighteousness, our iniquity, our sin (1 John 1:7-10). That is He freed us from that nature of sin
into which we were born (thank you Adam and Eve). However, our prayer for salvation is just the
beginning of our relationship with our creator.
The greatest
commandment is to love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength, then
our neighbor as ourselves (Mark 12:29-31).
Jesus tells us that if we love Him, we’ll keep His commandments (John 14:15). The apostle John tells us that if we say that
we love God and don’t love our neighbor, we are lying (1 John 4:20) for we
reflect the love of God, who dwells in us (1 John 4:8-11). So we love because God first loved us.
Staying
clean then means confessing our sin as soon as we realized that we have
sinned. Leviticus tells that if we are
unaware of any wrong doing, as soon as we realize it, we ‘take care of
business’ (Lev. 5:2-4). Remember Nathan
and David. Nathan reminded David of his
sin with Bathsheba and that’s when David repented his sin (2 Sam.
12:1-14). As we walk in His light, we
have fellowship with one another because the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us
from all sin (1 John 1:7). If we say we
have no sin, the truth is not in us (1 John 1:8) but when we confess our sins,
Jesus is faithful and just to forgive us those sins and our unrighteousness (1
John 1:9). Jesus stands the gap for us
and becomes our advocate with the Father (1 John 2:2) so we don’t have to face
eternal separation, but our life in Jesus has been restored.
Jesus didn’t
come to destroy (get rid of) the law but He has fulfilled the Law (Matt. 5:17).
So let’s see
what Leviticus means to us – if anything.
Before
entering the Holy of Holies, the high priest had to go through a cleansing
process (Lev. 16:3-4) so they would be pure and clean before the Lord.
Let’s look
at what Aaron did before entering the Holy of Holies. First, he takes two goats, one for a sin
offering (Lev. 16:9) and the other goat is freed into the wilderness as
atonement (Lev. 16:10), carrying sins away.
For all offerings for the sin of the people, the sacrifices are slain. There is an allowance for this sacrifice to
be grain. The sacrifice is then prepared
for the sacrifice by fire. Blood from the sacrifice is put on each horn on the
four corners of the altar. Then the
priest would dip his finger in the blood and shake his finger seven times over
the people for their sins (cleansed through the blood). Read Leviticus and note that blood is
essential for each sacrifice to cleanse everything involved. Not just the people. Before entering the Holy of Holies, the
priest must then wash himself with water, put on a linen coat and britches (pants
to cover the hip area), a linen girdle (belt) and a linen miter (hat or head
covering)(Lev. 16:4). The priest has to
cleanse himself as well as purify himself (Lev. 4:3-12). Then the priest can enter the Holy of Holies,
ministering for the people, before the Lord.
Okay, so how
does this apply to us today? Every time
we approach Father, we too need to be clean.
Remember that no one comes unto the Father but through Jesus (John
14:6). We know that the veil to the Holy
of Holies was torn the moment Jesus died on the cross (Matt. 27:50-51). This gives us direct access to the Father
through Jesus Christ. Note, that in the
Old Testament, the people had to go through the high priest for none were
allowed into the second tabernacle (Holy of Holies). Only the high priest (Heb. 9:7). The high priest interceded for the people then
and Jesus intercedes for us now, giving us a more perfect access to the Father
(Heb. 4:14-16).
We are a
royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9), so as followers of Jesus Christ we have that
direct access with the Father through Jesus.
Jesus replaced the temple with Himself and the need for further blood
sacrifices by shedding His blood on Calvary for you and me.
So when we pray – in our closet or in the
congregation – we cleanse ourselves first.
That is examine ourselves for any unconfessed sin. Then repent of that sin(s) (H5162 nacham repent G3840 pantothen
thoroughly turn about repent), that is turn away from what we had been doing
and then press forward, keeping our eye on the goal (Phil. 3:14). And our goal is eternal fellowship with the
God Almighty (John 5:24).
When we
truly repent, God forgives us our sin and puts them behind His back (Isa.
38:17) and lets them slide OFF into the sea of forgetfulness (Micah 7:18-19). So, as we repent, we determine not to do
‘whatever’ WE DID again. And we need to
remember that when we pray, we pray with all out heart (Jer. 29:13, Col.
3:23). That is to be sincere in our
repentance.
Whenever we
go before the Lord, it is good to make sure our heart is clean (no open
sin). In past times, people had to take
bulls, sheep or goats and go to the high priest and let him offer sacrifices
for sin. But today we have that High
Priest to whom we can go for cleansing of our sin (Heb. 2:9-18). It was Jesus who gave His life shedding His blood
on Calvary for us so that we can approach Father, through Him (Jesus). Without the shedding of blood, there is no
forgiveness (Heb. 9:22). Thank You
Jesus!
I pray
seeing some things from Leviticus help us understand better what Jesus has done
for us.
So,
again. What can we learn from Leviticus? Instead of making physical sacrifices (works)
we are cleansed from our sin through Jesus (faith). Yet, faith without works is dead (James
2:1-26). Because of our faith, we bless
and edify those around us.
And, yet,
our task is to always be clean before our Lord, Jesus Christ
Amen
Again, for those
who may not be familiar with my Greek & Hebrew references, I use ‘Strong’s
Exhaustive Concordance’. Neither am I nor
do I claim to be a scholar in Greek and Hebrew so I do rely on Strong’s to help
me to understand word meanings.
