In Leviticus 10, Aharon (Aaron) and his sons were ordained as priests. In Leviticus 11-12, they are charged with teaching the people of God to distinguish holy from unholy, “clean” from “unclean.” Once we have been taught by our High Priest, Yeshua the Mashiakh (Jesus the Christ), about what is holy and clean, we need to live in that truth. From this we learn how holiness can be just skin-deep if the heart doesn’t change.
The laws in Leviticus 12 about the “purification” of mother and newborns after delivery are perplexing. How could giving birth make the mother and babies so “unclean” before God they would need a sin offering for restoration and be separated from God’s House for so long? In the Torah, the physical requirements are a window into what God is doing to restore the world to the way it was at Creation. And these purification laws are a window into a prophecy God gave “the mother of all the living” and “the father of lies.”
Leviticus 11-16 are about how to discern “cleanliness” vs. “uncleanliness.” God is giving us these instructions because He is holy — literally, set apart or distinct — and wants us to be holy, i.e., set apart for God’s purpose. God does not say that we will never be in a situation where we will be exposed to “uncleanliness.” Exposure to “uncleanliness” is a part of being in this world. God is giving us a simple object lesson about how to go from unclean to clean, from unholy to holy.
Uncleanness is not a sin in and of itself. It’s a temporary state, not a permanent state. God shows here how to go from unclean to clean, not only of ourselves but of household items, clothing, etc. God is showing us how clean He is and how we are to become like him. This isn’t about “dos and don’ts” but because He wants us to be holy and to be His people.
We pause before studying Yeshua’s Passover meal with the 12 to consider an account (Mt. 26:1–16; Mk. 14:1–11; Jn. 12:1–11; Lk. 7:36–50) so important that Yeshua said it must be recounted wherever the good news of the Kingdom of God and the role of God’s Mashiakh (Messiah) in healing the gulf between mankind and God is proclaimed.
We’re taking an excursus from our exploration of Yeshua’s “apocalyptic discourse” in Matthew 24-25, Luke 21 and Mark 13 to explore one of the most pervasive sins among God’s people today. It’s not the Sabbath. It’s not sexual deviance. This is a study about kosher — distinguishing between “clean” and “unclean” — and God’s judgment on the Day of the Lord.
There is a deeper meaning of kosher and what God considers “clean.” Many are very concerned about Moses’ commands about eating kosher, but little concern about Yeshua’s command to speak kosher.
Apostle Ya’akov (James) wrote a lot about the essential matter of keeping control of what comes out of one’s mouth.
There are certain Bible passages — Mark 7; Acts 10; Romans 14; Colossians 2 — that without a grasp of the history, language and culture are easy to misinterpret.