Leviticus - Both the book, and specific passages

[Doug Melven]

I do know that for certain feasts the Bible says they needed to be clean to partake in them. So I don't think they were. I would be interested to know if they could and why or not.

Not sure about the rest of the feasts, but this passage in Numbers is about the Passover.
I am pretty sure that if God still wanted them to keep this feast, He wanted them to keep the other feasts as well.
9:6 And there were certain men, who were defiled by the dead body of a man, that they could not keep the passover on that day: and they came before Moses and before Aaron on that day:
9:7 And those men said unto him, We are defiled by the dead body of a man: wherefore are we kept back, that we may not offer an offering of the LORD in his appointed season among the children of Israel?
9:8 And Moses said unto them, Stand still, and I will hear what the LORD will command concerning you.
9:9 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
9:10 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If any man of you or of your posterity shall be unclean by reason of a dead body, or be in a journey afar off, yet he shall keep the passover unto the LORD.

 

[KaieraAi]

Not sure about the rest of the feasts, but this passage in Numbers is about the Passover.
I am pretty sure that if God still wanted them to keep this feast, He wanted them to keep the other feasts as well.
9:6 And there were certain men, who were defiled by the dead body of a man, that they could not keep the passover on that day: and they came before Moses and before Aaron on that day:
9:7 And those men said unto him, We are defiled by the dead body of a man: wherefore are we kept back, that we may not offer an offering of the LORD in his appointed season among the children of Israel?
9:8 And Moses said unto them, Stand still, and I will hear what the LORD will command concerning you.
9:9 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
9:10 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If any man of you or of your posterity shall be unclean by reason of a dead body, or be in a journey afar off, yet he shall keep the passover unto the LORD.

This is awesome and just what I was looking for! See, that was one of the things I wasn't sure about - Because uncleanness shouldn't be punished on it's own, it's about what you do with it, but that also, as a natural part of life, shouldn't be getting in the way of worshiping God. Thanks for this!

 

[KaieraAi]

Hey guys - this is in Numbers, and so perhaps a tiny bit off the main idea, but follows the same type of discussion we were having here, so I thought I'd just post this additional question here instead of making a new thread. Can someone help me interpret this passage in Numbers?

While the Israelites were in the wilderness, a man was found gathering wood on the Sabbath day. Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and the whole assembly, and they kept him in custody, because it was not clear what should be done to him. The LORD said to Moses, "The man must die. The whole assembly must stone him outside the camp." So the assembly took him outside the camp and stoned him to death, as the LORD commanded Moses. (Numbers 15:32-36)

So, as stated prior, I understand that the sentence for some sins being death was to prove how severe sin was, but up until this point these sins we have discussed have been primarily those which the people in question were slandering God's name by doing. I know that obviously we are not held by all these laws today, but for the most part, no one really follows the law of resting on the Sabbath - We just can't do it and survive in current culture. So why would a sin like this, that was seemingly someone breaking God's law in order to better provide for themselves dealt with so violently, and why would God command literally all of his people to get blood on their hands by stoning someone to death - a form of execution that was likely long and rather terrible?

The devotional I read that accompanies the passage chooses to gloss over this part, and tells us to focus on the parts of scripture we can understand, meaning I suppose that they couldn't come up with a good justification, perhaps? But I'm interested in understanding the bible in its entirety, and this is just another one of those spots that's coming up difficult for me.

 

[Doug Melven]

Can someone help me interpret this passage in Numbers?

While the Israelites were in the wilderness, a man was found gathering wood on the Sabbath day. Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and the whole assembly, and they kept him in custody, because it was not clear what should be done to him. The LORD said to Moses, "The man must die. The whole assembly must stone him outside the camp." So the assembly took him outside the camp and stoned him to death, as the LORD commanded Moses. (Numbers 15:32-36)

Sabbath breaking was one of the sins that God took very seriously.
The Sabbath was given to show that people could trust God for there provision.
While everybody else worked 7 days a week to provide, God showed He would provide better than the other nations that worked more.
For instance the manna was given in the same amount on days 1-5, but on the 6th day there was double.
And they could save it till the next day. If they tried doing this any other day the manna would grow worms and stink.
And every 6th year God would bless triple so they could rest for an entire year without planting and harvesting.

So this man picking up sticks was showing he did not trust God, but he wanted to provide for himself.
That is a serious offense to God.

 

[KaieraAi]

Sabbath breaking was one of the sins that God took very seriously.
The Sabbath was given to show that people could trust God for there provision.
While everybody else worked 7 days a week to provide, God showed He would provide better than the other nations that worked more.
For instance the manna was given in the same amount on days 1-5, but on the 6th day there was double.
And they could save it till the next day. If they tried doing this any other day the manna would grow worms and stink.
And every 6th year God would bless triple so they could rest for an entire year without planting and harvesting.

So this man picking up sticks was showing he did not trust God, but he wanted to provide for himself.
That is a serious offense to God.

Worth killing him for though? Once again, I think one of my issues is that I'm not sure how people can be lead to repent with such steep punishments. How is someone ever going to see the error of their ways or trust in God if half of their violations lead to being killed? And by the entire assembly?

To add on to this, a little bit later in Numbers, after some people questioned Moses and Aaron's leadership, a number of the people were completely devoured by flames as they tried to bring an offering to the Lord. I understand that this was because they were just trying to gain influence and power, and work against the leaders God had chosen for His people, but later, after God has Aaron's staff bud in order to confirm for the people that Aaron is the anointed priest He chose, the people begin to panic.

The Israelites said to Moses, "We will die! We are lost, we are all lost! Anyone who even comes near the tabernacle of the LORD will die. Are we all going to die?" (Numbers 17:12-13)

It seems here that the punishments of death have just frightened the people, not made them fall in reverence.

( P.S. - Do you think I should move this to it's own thread, since I'm primarily getting into scripture discussion of Numbers? Because I totally will. )

 

[Doug Melven]

Worth killing him for though? Once again, I think one of my issues is that I'm not sure how people can be lead to repent with such steep punishments. How is someone ever going to see the error of their ways or trust in God if half of their violations lead to being killed? And by the entire assembly?

He had to die for his not trusting God, just as we will die if we don't trust God.
And by the time this happened, they had the law for a little while so they knew what the punishment would be, this man chose to ignore the fact that they served a Holy God who took sin seriously.

To add on to this, a little bit later in Numbers, after some people questioned Moses and Aaron's leadership, a number of the people were completely devoured by flames as they tried to bring an offering to the Lord. I understand that this was because they were just trying to gain influence and power, and work against the leaders God had chosen for His people, but later, after God has Aaron's staff bud in order to confirm for the people that Aaron is the anointed priest He chose, the people begin to panic.

Are you referring to Korah where the Earth swallowed them? (Numbers 16:30-32)
Jude 11 says this was rebellion.

The Israelites said to Moses, "We will die! We are lost, we are all lost! Anyone who even comes near the tabernacle of the LORD will die. Are we all going to die?" (Numbers 17:12-13)

It seems here that the punishments of death have just frightened the people, not made them fall in reverence.

When the people rejected God in Exodus 19:8 by declaring there self-righteousness, God gave them the law and told them the penalty for breaking it was death.
They did not want God Himself, they just wanted what He could give them. They were stiffnecked and kept dying for there stubbornness. But, they still did not desire Him.
Not wanting God's best, Himself, always results in bad side effects.
The law was not God's best, Christ was, but they weren't ready for that, so God gave them something less, the law with its side effect of death.

( P.S. - Do you think I should move this to it's own thread, since I'm primarily getting into scripture discussion of Numbers? Because I totally will. )

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