Last Sunday’s sermon dealt in part with the Law, the Torah, as a revelation of God’s character. Some in the congregation wondered how certain parts of the law, particularly the dietary laws, serve in this role. Ten years ago I was preaching through Leviticus at Community Bible Church in Williamstown, MA. Several of those sermons might be helpful: The overview, the sermon on the dietary laws and other issues of cleanness, and the first and second sermons on the “holiness code”. This week’s devotion is an excerpt – about 40% – of the sermon on cleanness and uncleanness. May we all see God’s character revealed in all His Word, and respond with wonder, awe, and love for the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Note that I preached this sermon on November 29, 1998, shortly after returning from a four-week trip to several African countries. – Coty

It’s a pleasure to be back after my long trip to Africa.

Whenever I return after a long trip, I am treated to a series of performances at home. Over the course of nearly a month, all of my six children develop new skills or new games that they want to share. So, last Wednesday evening about 6:15, the four youngest boys were presenting a show. The make-up was particularly interesting. All had some black marks on their faces, but the boy playing the Wild Man was the most extreme: dressed only in underwear and a loincloth, the Wild Man was covered from waist to hair with black face crayon. About 6:30, suddenly realizing that we had only twenty minutes to prepare for the Thanksgiving Eve service, I announced, “The show has to end in one minute. We’ve got to clean up and leave for the church by 6:50!” The Wild Man looked at me and said, “Can’t I go like this?”

Now, Community Bible Church has no dress code. Looking around this morning, I see some of us dressed in suits while others are dressed quite casually. But I think more than a few eyes would have turned had the Wild Man walked into church that evening.

Why did we tell the Wild Man to clean his face and arms and torso? Why shouldn’t my sons come to church dressed in loincloths?

Certainly the appearance of such a creature would have distracted some of you, and we don’t want to distract anyone’s attention from the service itself. But preparing one’s body and clothes for church is symbolic of the inner preparation that should go on prior to approaching God in worship. And all of us should be well-prepared in our hearts before coming to a worship service.

Chapters 11 to 15 of Leviticus are particularly challenging for modern readers, because they focus on the concepts of being clean and unclean.

The adjective, noun, and verb forms of the Hebrew word translated “unclean” appear about 250 times in the Bible. More than one-third of those occurrences are in the five chapters we consider today.

What are God’s purpose in making these distinctions. We will see that the central concept here is preparation for entering God’s presence. God is essentially holy. In the immediate context — chapters 9 and 10 — God has revealed himself to be like fire. At the end of chapter nine, fire shoots out from God’s presence and consumes the offering, showing His acceptance. Then, in chapter 10, fire comes from the presence of the Lord and kills two of his selected priests, right after their ordination, because they did not obey his prescribed method for burning incense. God is like fire: unapproachable, devouring — unless he grants us mercy.

Today’s section follows immediately after these events. What can we do to prepare ourselves to come into such a presence? That is the central message of Leviticus 11-15.

The theme of this section is found in 11:44-45:

For I am the LORD your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am holy. And you shall not make yourselves unclean with any of the swarming things that swarm on the earth. 45 For I am the LORD, who brought you up from the land of Egypt, to be your God; thus you shall be holy for I am holy.

The importance of the Israelites being clean when they come into God’s presence is detailed in 15:31:

Thus you shall keep the sons of Israel separated from their uncleanness, lest they die in their uncleanness by their defiling My tabernacle that is among them.

God is holy, and had revealed himself as dwelling in his tabernacle. Entering the tabernacle symbolized approaching God’s very presence.

Recall the story of Moses and the burning bush, found in Exodus 3. Moses sees a bush burning but not consumed by the flames. He draws near to examine it, but hears God’s voice:

“Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” (3:5)

God was telling Moses that His presence made the ground itself holy. God met Moses to reveal His plan for saving the people of Israel — but Moses had to approach God on His terms. We cannot simply, lightheartedly traipse onto holy ground. We need to consider the holiness of God, the purity of God, and our own standing before him. Otherwise, we defile his holiness.

Do you have holy ground in your house? In our house, a newly scrubbed kitchen floor is holy ground. Many times I have heard Beth say, “Do not come near here; remove your shoes from your feet, for I have just scrubbed the kitchen floor.”

Actually, the idea in Exodus and Leviticus is similar: This place is clean. You, right now, are dirty. I may welcome you as a person, but I don’t welcome your dirt. If you honor me, if you recognize my purity, prepare yourself prior to coming into my presence.

This is the general idea: the need to cleanse ourselves by God’s standards prior to entering his presence.

What lessons for Christians today are included in Leviticus 11-15?

The importance of Leviticus 11-15 for us today is in the pictures these chapters provide for us of God’s holiness, and the need for preparation prior to entering His presence. Let’s look at some New Testament passages that clarify this. In Mark 7, the Pharisees are complaining that Jesus’ disciples are not engaging in ceremonial washing prior to eating. Jesus responds:

18 Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him; 19 because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?” (Thus He declared all foods clean.) 20 And He was saying, “That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. 21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, 22 deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. 23 All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.”

Jesus here says that the pictures of the unclean foods and the need for ceremonial washing were pictures of forms of defilement from within. The questions are not, what have you touched, or what food have you eaten? The question for us is, What is in your heart? What is inside you?

Look at Jesus’ list again. I think it is easy for us to skim over it and to say, “Well, that doesn’t apply to me. I don’t engage in such behavior.” But look again at what is included: Evil thoughts. Murder — and Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount that if we are angry with our brother we are guilty of murder. Fornication and adultery — and Jesus says that he who lusts after a woman in his heart has committed adultery. Coveting. Envy. Pride. Deceitfulness — such as telling small lies that make you look better. Slander — such as telling an untruth about someone else, or telling a truth in a way that makes another person look bad. Can any of us honestly say that we lived this entire week without exhibiting in our thoughts at least one of these defilements?

These inner thoughts defile us. These inner thoughts make us impure. These sins make us unclean, and detestable to God. When we come to worship him full of such impure thoughts, we defile our house of worship, and show contempt for God himself. When we go through religious rituals of prayer, bible studies, or services of any type, and our hearts are full of such defilements, we show contempt for God. That is the meaning of clean and unclean.

“But hold it!” you might say, “Aren’t we made righteous once and for all when we are saved? Aren’t we covered by the blood of Jesus? Aren’t we made clean forever?”

To answer this question we need to distinguish between our salvation and our cleanness. This parallels the distinction between the leper’s healing and his becoming clean in Leviticus 14. The leper could be healed of his disease, and he was still not ready to be admitted to the tabernacle.

Consider the interaction between Jesus and Peter in the upper room, the night of Jesus’ arrest. Jesus is washing his disciples feet. He comes to Peter, who says:

8 “No, you shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” 9 “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!” 10 Jesus answered, “A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean.

Now, when we teach on this passage, we frequently emphasize the last clause: our whole body is clean, meaning that we are saved. But Jesus is also saying we need to have our feet washed — in our walk through this world we become defiled in many ways, some intentionally, some unintentionally; some defilements can be avoided, others cannot. There are times when we need to have our feet washed. It is important that we seek cleansing for those defilements — and then we are prepared to enter God’s presence.

Paul elaborates on this thought in 1 Corinthians 11:27-32. He is discussing the inappropriate attitude prevalent in Corinth towards the communion meal.

Paul’s command is: Examine yourself! What is your attitude? How are you approaching this act of worship? Are you defiled? Are you suffering from selfishness? Are you filled with pride? Are you lustful? Judge yourself! Don’t be foolish — seek cleansing! Then you can worship rightly!

Furthermore, then you can have complete confidence of your standing before God. Leviticus 11-15 tells the Israelites what is unacceptable, but also shows them how to become acceptable. Just so, Jesus tells us what defiles us, but also tells us how to be cleansed from those defilements.

So do you have a clear conscience? Are you sprinkled clean? Are you preparing yourself day by day by day, feeding on God’s word, letting it wash you and cleanse you? Are you controlling your thoughts, so that you are dwelling on what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy? Are you keeping short accounts with God, confessing your sins?

This is the message of Leviticus 11-15 to us today. Steer clear of the defilements of the heart that so easily enter our lives. Seek God’s cleansing forgiveness for those diseased emissions, those thoughtless words and cruel actions that we say or do even unintentionally; clear your heart of the infectious diseases of pride and hate and bitterness that, if unattended, will isolate you from God and man, leaving you excluded from the camp, isolated in your suffering.

God is holy, but this holy God invites you into his presence — on His terms. Won’t you accept those terms?