cover of episode Day 050 (Leviticus 19-21) - Year 7

Day 050 (Leviticus 19-21) - Year 7

2025/2/19
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Tara Lee Cobble
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@Tara Lee Cobble : 在今天的利未记经文中,我主要分享了关于圣洁的律法,这些律法不仅关乎洁净,更涵盖了人与人之间的相处之道,以及人如何以荣耀的态度对待上帝。这些律法可以分为水平律法(人与人之间)和垂直律法(上帝与人之间)。上帝不断重复诫命,强调爱邻如己的重要性,这体现了祂对我们的心意。例如,上帝通过富人的盈余来供应穷人,禁止完全收割田地,这不仅是实际的帮助,也蕴含着更深层的关怀。此外,上帝反对利用他人的弱点,鼓励我们以理性和开放的态度沟通,避免产生隔阂。在DGroup,我们实践这一原则,确保负面言论在24小时内传达给当事人,以维护彼此的尊重和团体的和谐。理解利未记中哪些律法适用于今天可能令人困惑,但我们不能因此随意抛弃或曲解。律法可以分为民事律法、礼仪律法和道德律法。民事律法关乎社会行为和惩罚,礼仪律法涉及洁净和献祭,而道德律法则明确了是非对错。虽然耶稣已经应验了礼仪律法,但道德律法反映了上帝不变的品格,因此仍然适用。对于那些看似过时的规定,如不穿混纺衣物和不纹身,我们需要理解其背后的意义,即保持圣洁和与世俗分别。总而言之,理解律法的关键在于把握上帝的动机和心意,将道德原则应用于今天的处境。 Tara Lee Cobble: 此外,我个人从今天的经文中领悟到,上帝是使人成圣的那一位,祂洁净我们,使我们符合基督的形象。这对我来说是一个重要的提醒,因为在面对各种律法和规条时,我常常感到自己的不足和无力。但上帝的灵住在我们里面,祂在我们里面动工,使我们不断成长和改变。我们越认识到自己与上帝的完美之间的差距,就越会感恩基督在十字架上所完成的工作,以及圣灵在我们里面持续的工作。因此,我鼓励大家将目光放在基督的身上,信靠祂的恩典,因为祂才是我们真正的盼望和喜乐的源泉。

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This chapter explores the complexities of Leviticus 19-21, focusing on the distinction between civil, ceremonial, and moral laws. It emphasizes that while ceremonial laws were fulfilled by Christ, moral laws reflecting God's unchanging character remain relevant. The chapter encourages listeners to understand the heart behind God's laws.
  • Distinction between civil, ceremonial, and moral laws
  • Ceremonial laws fulfilled by Christ
  • Moral laws reflect God's unchanging character
  • Importance of understanding God's motive behind laws

Shownotes Transcript

Translations:
中文

Hey, Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for The Bible Recap. For most of this book, and in fact, for all of the rest of it, God is the only person who speaks. He's talking a lot about holiness, which includes but isn't limited to cleanliness. He gives laws about how people should live in community together in a way that is both civil toward each other—horizontal laws or man-to-man laws—and laws about how to live honorably toward God—vertical laws or God-to-man laws—

He starts out by restating a few of the Ten Commandments. If you ever wonder why God repeats himself so frequently, just stop for a second and think about how quickly the Israelites forget. Or honestly, it's probably just blatant rebellion. Then God dives into application of the horizontal laws, loving your neighbor as yourself. I'm just going to do a quick overview of some of the things he touches on because I think they really serve to reveal God's heart.

In 19.9-10, we see that God provides for the poor via the surplus of the rich, ordering the rich not to fully harvest their fields. He'll reiterate this again tomorrow. And by the way, this law is one of the ways God brought Ruth and Boaz together. We'll read that story in a few weeks.

In 1914, God speaks specifically against injuring people in the area of their weakness. The deaf can't hear your curses, and the blind can't see your stumbling blocks, so don't use people's wounds or vulnerabilities to your own advantage. In 1917, God encourages His people not to be ruled by selfish emotions. Instead, be reasonable and communicate openly to avoid a rift.

On DGroup staff, the way we seek to operate by this principle is, if someone says something negative about another person, they have 24 hours to bring it to that person. It helps us honor each other while also honoring God and not let these things fester in our hearts. God also emphasizes the importance of heart here. It's at the root of everything we do. Then God moves on to other specific laws about how to honor Him.

If this whole section is confusing to you, I can commiserate. This is a really confusing section to know how to parse today. We can't throw it all out. We can't assume that since Jesus came and fulfilled the law that God is okay with you making your daughter a prostitute now or to sacrifice your children to Molech. Even back then, this required a bit of discernment. For instance, could you make your son a prostitute? Could you sacrifice your children to a different false god besides Molech?

Even back then, they had to dig to the heart of these commands to see how to apply them. So how do we discern what still applies today? The easiest way I've heard it explained is there are three basic types of laws. Civil laws, which deal with society's behaviors and punishments. Ceremonial laws, which deal with being clean, making sacrifices, etc. And moral laws, where God declares what is right and wrong, like in the Ten Commandments. First, let's talk about why all three of these types of laws apply to Israel.

Israel was in a unique situation. They were a religious group that functioned as a nation, so all their laws overlapped. There was no separation of church and state in Leviticus. Today, God's people are from many nations, so the civil laws God set out for Israel as a nation-state no longer apply. However, some of the principles of the law still apply, but the actual breakdown of how they're walked out will vary widely.

The ceremonial laws were all fulfilled in Christ, so we no longer need those. There are no more sacrifices because He was the final and complete sacrifice covering our sins, past, present, and future. And while the moral laws were also fulfilled in Christ, the moral laws reflect God's character, so they're not going anywhere. We're stuck with those because God's character toward His people applies to people of all nations, and it never changes.

We even see Jesus not only emphasizing the moral laws, but digging even deeper on them. He pointed out that the heart behind our actions matters too, not just the action itself. If you want to read more about these laws and their distinctions, we'll link to a short article about this in today's show notes. It's really helpful. Definitely check that out. And as always, if you don't know how to find the show notes, try googling the name of the app or the platform where you're listening, along with the word show notes.

All that to say, since rules like not wearing blended garments and not getting tattoos were about staying ceremonially clean and about being set apart from the nations around them, those laws no longer apply. Jesus fulfilled all those ceremonial and civil requirements. If you don't know what kind of law you're dealing with and whether or not it still applies, try boiling it down to the reason behind it. What was God's motive and heart behind this law? Let's look at an example.

2010 says, if a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.

So what kind of law is this? On the surface, it's definitely a civil law because it doles out a specific punishment to be enacted. However, we know from the moral law that God hates adultery. So what do we do here? We keep the heart of it, the moral aspect, to not commit adultery because it's clear how much God hates it. But we lose the civil punishments attached to it, meaning we don't kill the adulterers. God commanded killing in that instance because he was preserving these people for the birth of the Messiah in the midst of a strong pagan culture.

In chapter 21, we saw some regulations for the priests and how they're supposed to be set apart. Levites with birth defects could receive the bread, but not offer it. This wasn't meant to point out the flaws of these priests. It was meant to point out God's perfection. Remember, there were even rules like this for the priests who didn't have birth defects. They had to wear certain things, enter at certain times. Everything had to be very specific. No priest got a pass on honoring God's perfection and holiness. So what did you see about God today?

My God shot is from 2115, where God says, I am the Lord who sanctifies him. We first saw this phrase in Exodus 31, 13, where it's actually one of God's names, Jehovah Mekadishkim, the Lord who sanctifies you. The Hebrew used here is a bit different than the proper name of God in Exodus 31, but it carries the same meaning. God is the one who cleans us up.

Honestly, after reading a bunch of civil and ceremonial and moral laws, that's exactly what my heart needed to be reminded of. He is the one who sanctifies me, who cleans me up. His Spirit lives within me and is conforming me to the image of Christ. I'm not left here to pull myself up by my spiritual bootstraps. That is not the gospel. If you're feeling the distance between His holiness and your uncleanness, take heart. He is at work in you.

It's good that you see how far you are from His perfection. That will make you all the more grateful when you fix your eyes on the finished work of Christ on the cross and on the continuing work of His Spirit within you. Praise God He cleans us up, because I can't do it myself, and I want to be near Him. He's where the joy is.

The Bible Recap is hitting the road again in 2025. That's right, TBR Live is back for even more stops this year. What is TBR Live? It's our chance to see and hang out with you in person. The TBR family has a big night of fun and Bible. We play games, give out prizes, host a Q&R, and dig into God's Word together. So get out your calendars. In June, you can find us in Houston and Dallas. In August, we're planning to be in Oklahoma City and Little Rock.

Then in October, I hope you'll meet me in Atlanta and upstate South Carolina. Get the details at thebiblerecap.com forward slash live or click the link in the show notes. See you on the road.