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There’s Seriously a Law for That? Why is Leviticus So Weird? Leviticus 11:1-23

There’s Seriously a Law for That? Why is Leviticus So Weird? Leviticus 11:1-23. Setting the Scene. General Law in the OT. General Law in the NT. Specific Law in Lev. 11. Setting the Scene. What is the Old Testament Law, and why is it important (if it is at all)?

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There’s Seriously a Law for That? Why is Leviticus So Weird? Leviticus 11:1-23

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  1. There’s Seriously a Law for That?Why is Leviticus So Weird?Leviticus 11:1-23

  2. Setting the Scene General Law in the OT General Law in the NT Specific Law in Lev. 11

  3. Setting the Scene • What is the Old Testament Law, and why is it important (if it is at all)? • Is the Old Testament Law still binding on Christians today?

  4. A Drama of Redemption Act 1: Creation (Genesis 1-2) Act 2: Fall (Genesis 3-11) Act 3: Israel (Abraham – Jesus) Act 4: Jesus (Gospels) Act 5: Church (Acts – Revelation)

  5. Other Law Codes of the Ancient Near East Laws of Ur-Nammu (2100 BC) Laws Lipit-Ishtar (1925 BC) Laws of Eshnunna (1800 BC) Laws of Hammurabi (1750 BC) Laws of Asia Minor (1650-1200 BC)

  6. Wrestling with the Law • The Law was given to Israel to restore them to and realign them with, as much as possible, creation ideals. • The Law emphasized three intimately connected angles: theological (God), social (covenant people/Israel), and economic (land).

  7. Leviticus 11:1-23

  8. 1 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, 2 “Say to the Israelites: ‘Of all the animals that live on land, these are the ones you may eat: 3 You may eat any animal that has a divided hoof and that chews the cud. 4 “‘There are some that only chew the cud or only have a divided hoof, but you must not eat them. The camel, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is ceremonially unclean for you. 5 The hyrax, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean for you. 6 The rabbit, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean for you. 7 And the pig, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean for you. 8 You must not eat their meet or touch their carcasses; they are unclean for you.

  9. 9 “‘Of all the creatures living in the water of the seas and the streams you may eat any that have fins and scales. 10 But all creatures in the seas or streams that do not have fins and scales—whether among all the swarming things or among all the other living creatures in the water—you are to regard as unclean. 11 And since you are to regard them as unclean, you must not eat their meat; you must regard their carcasses as unclean. 12 Anything living in the water that does not have fins and scales is to be regarded as unclean for you.

  10. 13 “‘These are the birds you are to regard as unclean and not clean because they are unclean: the eagle, the vulture, the black vulture, 14 the red kite, any kind of black kite, 15 any kind of raven, the 16 horned owl, the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk, 17 the little owl, the cormorant, the great owl, 18 the white owl, the desert owl, the osprey, 19 the stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe and the bat.

  11. 20 “‘All flying insects that walk on all fours are to be regarded as unclean by you. 21 There are, however, some flying insects that walk on all fours that you may eat: those that have jointed legs for hopping on the ground. 22 Of these you may eat any kind of locust, katydid, cricket or grasshopper. 23 But all other flying insects that have four legs you are to regard as unclean.’”

  12. Two Approaches • Creation (Genesis 1) • Animals that walk on the land (Lev. 11:2-8) • Animals that swim in the water (Lev. 11:9-12) • Animals that fly in the air (Lev. 11:13-23)

  13. Two Approaches Creation (Genesis 1) Fall, Death, and Abnormality (Genesis 3)

  14. Two Approaches • Fall, Death, and Abnormality (Genesis 3) • Similar language • Food symbolism • Animal’s appearance • Categories for community

  15. Categories for Community

  16. Two Approaches • Fall, Death, and Abnormality (Genesis 3) • Similar language • Food symbolism • Animal’s appearance • Categories for community • Creation’s order (predatory and vulnerable)

  17. Summing Things Up

  18. Summing Things Up Textual Symbolism Cultural Separation

  19. What All This Means… • God meets us where we are and transforms us, by His Spirit, into His image as we seek him. • God takes holiness very, very, very seriously. • God demands that we look radically different from the culture around us. • God has given us a major part to play in advancing His kingdom as He unfolds His drama of redemption.

  20. The Law and the New Testament

  21. Three Essentials to Interpreting the Law • Progressive Revelation

  22. A Drama of Redemption Act 1: Creation (Genesis 1-2) Act 2: Fall (Genesis 3-11) Act 3: Israel (Abraham – Jesus) Act 4: Jesus (Gospels) Act 5: Church (Acts – Revelation)

  23. Three Essentials to Interpreting the Law • Progressive Revelation • The New Testament’s Use of the Old Testament • If an OT command concerning moral actions and character is affirmed in the NT, keep it. • If an OT law or practice goes contrary to or is eclipsed by the NT, the NT takes priority. • If an OT law or practice isn’t mentioned in the NT, weight it against the broader NT teaching.

  24. Three Essentials to Interpreting the Law • Progressive Revelation • The New Testament’s Use of the Old Testament • Description (“is”) vs. Prescription (“ought”)

  25. Two Ways to Look at the Law • Jesus/Messiah • Paul

  26. Two Ways to Look at the Law Jesus/Messiah

  27. Matthew 5:17-18 “Don’t suppose that I came to destroy the law and the prophets. I didn’t come to destroy them; I came to fulfill them! I’m telling you the truth: until heaven and earth disappear, not one stroke, not one dot, is going to disappear from the law, until it’s all come true.”

  28. Matthew 5:17-18 “Don’t suppose that I came to destroy the law and the prophets…”

  29. Matthew 5:17-18 “…I didn’t come to destroy them; I came to fulfill them!”

  30. Matthew 5:17-18 • Jesus completes the Law. • Jesus completes the Prophets.

  31. Matthew 5:17-18 “I’m telling you the truth: until heaven and earth disappear, not one stroke, not one dot, is going to disappear from the law, until it’s all come true.”

  32. Whoa, Whoa, Whoa…Stop • For Jesus and the Jews, the Law and the Prophets pointed to a future type of perfection, purity, holiness, and hope. • Israel was unable to fulfill these expectations. • But, what Israel failed to do, Jesus, the Messiah, did.

  33. Whoa, Whoa, Whoa…Stop • Jesus’ death and resurrection covered the disobedience and conquered evil of the present, thus bringing about the beginning of the new creation. • As a result, all that the Law and the Prophets pointed to and were designed to do has now “all come true” (Mt. 5:18). • The Law, then, ultimately that pointed to God becoming King in His Son, and His ushering in of the new creation.

  34. Two Ways to Look at the Law Paul

  35. Romans 8:1-4 So, therefore, there is no condemnation for those in the Messiah, Jesus! Why not? Because the law of the spirit of life in the Messiah, Jesus, released you from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law (being weak because of human flesh) was incapable of doing. God sent his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and as a sin-offering; and, right there in the flesh, he condemned sin. This was in order that the right and proper verdict of the law could be fulfilled in us, as we live not according to the flesh but according to the spirit.

  36. So, what? • Read the Bible as God’s unfolding of His grand story: Creation, Fall, Israel, Jesus, Church. • Read the Bible in light of the new covenant age that Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection has inaugurated. • Read the Bible in light of the moral improvements for God’s people. • Read the Bible in light of the principles that may be applied to our lives today.

  37. Where We Go from Here… • Do you take your holiness as seriously as God takes it? • Does your life look any different from the practices and beliefs of the culture around you? • Do you realize the breath-taking significance and eternal weight of the role God has called you to play in His redemption of the universe?

  38. Where We Go from Here… • Thank God for His good and holy, perfect and life-transforming Word. • Marvel at the breath-taking reality that the one, true, Creator God became King in and through Jesus, the Messiah.

  39. Where We Go from Here… • Live in the freedom from sin’s power and death’s victory that Jesus’ initiated, and that He will soon complete when He returns. • Play your part in God’s grand, redemptive story by declaring that the true God has become King in Jesus, and that the hope of new creation is finally here.

  40. There’s Seriously a Law for That?Making Sense of Old Testament Weirdness (Pt. 1)Leviticus 11:1-23

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