Bro. Bruce's commentary for the book of Genesis is
now available in hard copy for $7.50. Just mail your request for COMMENTARY ON GENESIS to the address above.

LEVITICUS
CHAPTER 22

1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Speak unto Aaron and to his sons, that they separate themselves from the holy things of the children of Israel, and that they profane not my holy name in those things which they hallow unto me: I am the LORD. 3 Say unto them, Whosoever he be of all your seed among your generations, that goeth unto the holy things, which the children of Israel hallow unto the LORD, having his uncleanness upon him, that soul shall be cut off from my presence: I am the LORD. 4 What man soever of the seed of Aaron is a leper, or hath a running issue; he shall not eat of the holy things, until he be clean. And whoso toucheth any thing that is unclean by the dead, or a man whose seed goeth from him; 5 Or whosoever toucheth any creeping thing, whereby he may be made unclean, or a man of whom he may take uncleanness, whatsoever uncleanness he hath; 6 The soul which hath touched any such shall be unclean until even, and shall not eat of the holy things, unless he wash his flesh with water. 7 And when the sun is down, he shall be clean, and shall afterward eat of the holy things; because it is his food.

We are all sinners; indeed we are all unclean before God. Therefore, He cautioned the priests
not to eat (or even touch) the "holy things" with uncleanness. That which is sanctified by the Lord God
is sacred, and not to be shared with unclean men. In fact the penalty of death is upon those who would
be presumptuous enough to do so (verse 3 "cut off").
Of course we don't observe such things as they did today. But the spiritual truth still prevails today.
That's why Paul admonishes us in 1Corinthians 11:27-28 not to partake of the Lord's Supper "unworthily".
Friends, when we come to the Lord to worship, we are coming to a HOLY GOD! We need to be reverent, humble,
and approach God with FIRST - a plea of forgiveness for our SINS!
We should commit ourselves to self-examination before we participate in worship.
The Lord's Supper is a reminder of that. The Lord's Supper reminds us that Christ died for us, and that we
are baptized by His Holy Spirit into His body. It is a feast which we take to give thanks to God for
His ATONEMENT of our sins.
The Lord's Supper also looks forward to His return! It is a reminder that HE is our ONLY hope!
But there are OTHER "holy things" about which we should be repentant before we participate. Things like
prayer, Bible study, teaching, witnessing, preaching, visiting, etc.
Are you approaching God IRREVERENTLY? We ALL touch SIN every day. Let us be SURE to go to God REVERENTLY!

8 That which dieth of itself, or is torn with beasts, he shall not eat to defile himself therewith: I am the LORD. 9 They shall therefore keep mine ordinance, lest they bear sin for it, and die therefore, if they profane it: I the LORD do sanctify them.

This was the "ordinance" (verse 9): "Don't eat of the unclean thing...."
Of course today, God has sanctified ALL things and made them available for use. That doesn't mean that we
should necessarily USE them (See Acts 10:15, 1Corinthians 10:23).
Everything should be used in "moderation" (Philippians 4:5), and in consideration of our
"brother" (1Corinthians 8:13).

10 There shall no stranger eat of the holy thing: a sojourner of the priest, or an hired servant, shall not eat of the holy thing. 11 But if the priest buy any soul with his money, he shall eat of it, and he that is born in his house: they shall eat of his meat. 12 If the priest's daughter also be married unto a stranger, she may not eat of an offering of the holy things. 13 But if the priest's daughter be a widow, or divorced, and have no child, and is returned unto her father's house, as in her youth, she shall eat of her father's meat: but there shall no stranger eat thereof.

"Stranger" refers to anyone who is not a Jew in this instance. And today it would pertain to anyone who is not a
Christian. If a person does not KNOW God, he should not partake of the "holy things" of God. For instance, an unsaved
person should not participate in the Lord's Supper.
Note that if a woman married a lost person she was considered "unclean" and unable to participate in the "holy things."
We Christian parents need to teach this to our children.

14 And if a man eat of the holy thing unwittingly, then he shall put the fifth part thereof unto it, and shall give it unto the priest with the holy thing. 15 And they shall not profane the holy things of the children of Israel, which they offer unto the LORD; 16 Or suffer them to bear the iniquity of trespass, when they eat their holy things: for I the LORD do sanctify them.

Perhaps one of the reasons that Job prayed for his children everyday (Job 1:5) was because of "unwitting" sins.
How often do we approach Bible study or prayer with an insincere attitude?

17 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 18 Speak unto Aaron, and to his sons, and unto all the children of Israel, and say unto them, Whatsoever he be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers in Israel, that will offer his oblation for all his vows, and for all his freewill offerings, which they will offer unto the LORD for a burnt offering; 19 Ye shall offer at your own will a male without blemish, of the beeves, of the sheep, or of the goats. 20 But whatsoever hath a blemish, that shall ye not offer: for it shall not be acceptable for you. 21 And whosoever offereth a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the LORD to accomplish his vow, or a freewill offering in beeves or sheep, it shall be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no blemish therein. 22 Blind, or broken, or maimed, or having a wen, or scurvy, or scabbed, ye shall not offer these unto the LORD, nor make an offering by fire of them upon the altar unto the LORD. 23 Either a bullock or a lamb that hath any thing superfluous or lacking in his parts, that mayest thou offer for a freewill offering; but for a vow it shall not be accepted. 24 Ye shall not offer unto the LORD that which is bruised, or crushed, or broken, or cut; neither shall ye make any offering thereof in your land. 25 Neither from a stranger's hand shall ye offer the bread of your God of any of these; because their corruption is in them, and blemishes be in them: they shall not be accepted for you.

God gives Moses a special word concerning the sacrifices. The animals must be "inspected" and no blemished animal is
to be offered. Take a good look at verse 22, then read Malachi 1:8.
"And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil?
offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the LORD of hosts."
((You might also want to read the story in Acts 5:1-10.))
Just imagine someone taking an old blind cow for a sacrifice to God! But that would be no worse than tithing less
than 10%!!

26 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 27 When a bullock, or a sheep, or a goat, is brought forth, then it shall be seven days under the dam; and from the eighth day and thenceforth it shall be accepted for an offering made by fire unto the LORD. 28 And whether it be cow or ewe, ye shall not kill it and her young both in one day. 29 And when ye will offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving unto the LORD, offer it at your own will. 30 On the same day it shall be eaten up; ye shall leave none of it until the morrow: I am the LORD.

Another special word about sacrifices: No animal should be offered until it is at least 8 days old.
We should never offer to God something we wouldn't want.
Secondly, he says don't kill the mother and the young in the same day. First, this was a practice of
the heathen in the land of Canaan at that time. And God wanted the Jewish nation to be DIFFERENT.
Secondly, it just seems wrong to kill two generations at once. Third, God says a "thanksgiving"
offering should first come out of the person's free will. That means they have determined to
give thanks to God not as a means of show, nor out of a sense of DUTY; but rather out of LOVE
and ADORATION.
See how many times God says to the people of Israel in this book "I AM THE LORD!"
We willingly follow God's commands when we are in a RIGHT RELATIONSHIP with Him: when we
let GOD be GOD, and we see ourselves as His SERVANTS!
To forsake the commandments of God Who saved us would be to make His Name USELESS!
((See also Chapter 18:1-4))

Please continue to follow along with us in Bible study.