Sunday, November 24, 2019

Vol. 3/2 Leviticus: The rules set by God in the Old Testament for the children of Israel


The rules set by God for the children of Israel concerning sins and trespasses and various offerings are complex.

I think it is very interesting to read the following scriptures concerning trying to follow the law of Moses, which was the law of God, for the Old Testament church.

Acts 15:4-12   And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church, and of the apostles and elders, and they declared all things that God had done with them. But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them (the Gentiles), and to command them to keep the law of Moses.

And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter.

And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe. And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.
10 Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?

But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.


Then all the multitude kept silence, and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them. 


***


In the following, I present enough of the text from Leviticus to give us an idea of what was involved in the offerings presented by the children of Israel.

Leviticus, Chapter 1, should be sufficient for us to see how difficult and complicated giving these offerings would be, and this should make us very glad that we live in a totally different covenant in the New Testament church today.

Blood had to be paid for sins.  So they had to sacrifice animals.  In the New Testament blood also pays for sins.  But in the New Testament it is Jesus who paid for our sins with His own blood so we no longer sacrifice animals for sins.

In Old Testament it was a complicated sacrifice for various types of animals with rules differing depending on the animal.

Here is a sample of those requirements:

***


Leviticus 1:1-17    And the Lord called unto Moses, and spake unto him out of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying,   Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man of you bring an offering unto the Lord, ye shall bring your offering of the cattle, even of the herd, and of the flock. 

If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish: he shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord. 

And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.  And he shall kill the bullock before the Lord: and the priests, Aaron's sons, shall bring the blood, and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

And he shall flay the burnt offering, and cut it into his pieces.  And the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire upon the altar, and lay the wood in order upon the fire:  And the priests, Aaron's sons, shall lay the parts, the head, and the fat, in order upon the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar:  

But his inwards and his legs shall he wash in water: and the priest shall burn all on the altar, to be a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord. 

And if his offering be of the flocks, namely, of the sheep, or of the goats, for a burnt sacrifice; he shall bring it a male without blemish. And he shall kill it on the side of the altar northward before the Lord: and the priests, Aaron's sons, shall sprinkle his blood round about upon the altar.

And he shall cut it into his pieces, with his head and his fat: and the priest shall lay them in order on the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar:  

But he shall wash the inwards and the legs with water: and the priest shall bring it all, and burn it upon the altar: it is a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord.

And if the burnt sacrifice for his offering to the Lord be of fowls, then he shall bring his offering of turtledoves, or of young pigeons. 

And the priest shall bring it unto the altar, and wring off his head, and burn it on the altar; and the blood thereof shall be wrung out at the side of the altar: 

And he shall pluck away his crop with his feathers, and cast it beside the altar on the east part, by the place of the ashes: 

And he shall cleave it with the wings thereof, but shall not divide it asunder: and the priest shall burn it upon the altar, upon the wood that is upon the fire: it is a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord. 


***

The tribe of Levi was appointed to serve God in the Old Testament.

Notice that the Old Testament priests, the sons of Aaron, had specific duties when a person brought an offering, an animal sacrifice.

Also when there were sins or leprosy, there were specific ways directed to these Old Testament priests to deal with such.  It is very specific and I find it to be complicated.

In the New Testament Bible, ministers are not called "priests".

Ministers in the New Testament Bible are called:  apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, teacher (Ephesians 4:8;11)


***

T
oday, Jesus is our sacrifice for sins and trespasses
.
  Jesus paid for our sins with HIS own blood.  He made a one time offering and by that we are perfected, though we are continually recreated in the image of Christ as we do scripture throughout our lifetimes.

Romans 12:1-2   I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

We renew our minds each time we read scripture and each time we do that which we see to do by the Bible, especially by the New Testament, although all scripture is inspired by God and is profitable to us in forming us into Christ's image.

We do have scriptures in the Old Testament which are still valid and beneficial but we no longer live by the "law of Moses" sacrificing animals for sins.

In the Old Testament, such scripture as Isaiah 54:17 is very faith building for the New Testament church today.

Isaiah 54:17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of ME, saith the Lord.

There are many wonderful scriptures and examples for us in the Old Testament and we can benefit greatly by reviewing these verses and applying them to our lives and our faith in God.


***

In this writing, which I am doing on Leviticus, I think each of us will benefit in our appreciation for the New Covenant which God gave us.

Here is an outline of a few of the types of offerings of the Old Testament church and also presented here will be many of the specific sins which had to be considered.

***

Offerings for sins and trespasses in the Old Covenant, The Old Testament:  (I have presented the scripture references but I don't suggest you have to read them in detail unless you care to do so.  We no longer use these rules since we have the New Testament.  And if we should think we have to do one of these laws, then we have to do all the Old Testament laws and we would end up denying the sacrifice Jesus paid for our sins.)

* And when any will offer a meat offering unto the Lord,   Leviticus 2:1

And if thou bring an oblation of a meat offering baken in the oven,  Leviticus 2:4

And if thy oblation be a meat offering baken in the fryingpan,  Leviticus 2:7

Leviticus 2:8-10   And thou shalt bring the meat offering that is made of these things unto the Lord: and when it is presented unto the priest, he shall bring it unto the altar. And the priest shall take from the meat offering a memorial thereof, and shall burn it upon the altar: it is an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord. And that which is left of the meat offering shall be Aaron's and his sons': it is a thing most holy of the offerings of the Lord made by fire.

***


 * As for the oblation of the firstfruits, Leviticus 2:12

And every oblation of thy meat offering shalt thou season with salt; Leviticus 2:13

And if thou offer a meat offering of thy firstfruits unto the Lord,  Leviticus 2:14

And if his oblation be a sacrifice of peace offering,  Leviticus 3:1

And if his offering for a sacrifice of peace offering unto the Lord be of the flock; Leviticus 3:6

And if his offering be a goat,  Leviticus 3:12

Leviticus 4:1-3   And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a soul shall sin through ignorance against any of the commandments of the Lord concerning things which ought not to be done, and shall do against any of them: If the priest that is anointed do sin according to the sin of the people; then let him bring for his sin, which he hath sinned, a young bullock without blemish unto the Lord for a sin offering.

The New Testament church:

Hebrews 9:11-28    But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;

Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by HIS own blood HE entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

And for this cause HE is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.

Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood.  For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people, Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you.  Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry.  

And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.

It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:

Nor yet that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others;  For then must HE often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath HE appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.
  And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall HE appear the second time without sin unto salvation.



***

In the Old Testament church: 

When I was a new Christian, I read, in the Old Testament, about anointing oil.  I wrote down the ingredients and set about to find these things and mix this oil.  But it was so complicated, I quickly gave up that project.

Thankfully, I learned soon that God's yoke is easy and HIS burden is light.  Matthew 11

If anyone reading this thinks to return to doing the Old Testament offerings and such, let me remind each of us that to do these sacrifices would deny the blood of Jesus and HIS sacrifice.  And if we turn our back on Jesus, there is no further sacrifice for our sins and there is no way back!  So don't do that!

Hebrews 4:6-9   For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.

For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.


But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak.

***

Other offerings for various types of sins, usually animal offerings:

*  If a soul touch any unclean thing:  Leviticus 5:2

*  If a soul swear, pronouncing with his lips to do evil, or to do good:  Leviticus 5:4

*  If a soul lies to his neighbor:  Leviticus 6:2

*  The law of the burnt offering:  Leviticus 6:8

*  The law of the meat offering: Leviticus 6:14

*  The anointing offering for Aaron and his sons:  Leviticus 6:19

*  The law of the trespass offering:  Leviticus 7:1

*  The law of the peace offering:  Leviticus 7:11

*  Concerning vows to God:  Leviticus 7:16

*  You shall eat no manner of blood: Leviticus 7:26

*  Wave offering:  Leviticus 7:30

*  Aaron and his sons:  Leviticus 8:6

(I'm not suggesting you try to read these.  This just shows some of the complexities of the various offerings of the Old Testament.)

***

The men who offered strange fire:

Leviticus 10:1-3   And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the Lord, which HE commanded them not. 

It is a very serious matter to add anything to the church which has not been commanded by God in the New Testament Bible.  There are serious consequences for the person who adds these things not commanded by God and also serious consequences for that person who chooses to live by things not commanded by God.  (Such things not in Bible which people do today:  crossing themselves; using candles as part of religion; dressing in religious garments: long robes, hats, ornaments; praying to dead people such as Mary; trusting in dead people to watch over you thereby taking the place of God; holy water, no such thing in New Testament Bible, Holy sections in church where only high priest can go, this is Old Testament and does not exist in New Testament church; using photographs to represent Jesus and other religious figures; setting up graven images for religious purposes.)

2 And there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, and they died before the Lord.

3 Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is it that the Lord spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh Me, and before all the people I will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace.

4-7   And Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel the uncle of Aaron, and said unto them, Come near, carry your brethren from before the sanctuary out of the camp. So they went near, and carried them in their coats out of the camp; as Moses had said.

And Moses said unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar and unto Ithamar, his sons, Uncover not your heads, neither rend your clothes
(in honor of these men who offered strange fire); lest ye die, and lest wrath come upon all the people: but let your brethren, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning which the Lord hath kindled.
  And ye shall not go out from the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: for the anointing oil of the Lord is upon you. And they did according to the word of Moses.

***


To Aaron and his sons, God said:

Leviticus 10:10-11   And that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean; And that ye may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the Lord hath spoken unto them by the hand of Moses.

***

(Again, I'm not suggesting you read these.  The list shown the complexities.) 

* Purification for women: Leviticus 12:1 

* Skin disease:  Leviticus 13:1 

* Leprosy:  Leviticus 13:12  

* Plague on head or beard:  Leviticus 13:29 

* Law of the leper in the day of his cleansing:  Leviticus 14:1 

* A running issue out of the flesh:  Leviticus 15:1

***

Leviticus 18:3-5 After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do: neither shall ye walk in their ordinances.

Ye shall do MY judgments, and keep Mine ordinances, to walk therein: I am the Lord your God.

Ye shall therefore keep MY statutes, and MY judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am the Lord.

New Testament church:  Jesus says

John 15:1-7 Jesus says:   I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in ME that beareth not fruit HE taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, HE purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.

Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.

Abide in  ME, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in ME.

I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in ME, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without ME ye can do nothing.  


If a man abide not in ME, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.

If ye abide in ME, and MY words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. 

In the church today, we abide in the Word of God, living in those concepts and instructions, doing that Word from the Spirit of God and the Holy Bible.

***

Old Testament:  Sexual sins

Start reading at Leviticus 18:6  (if you care to do so)

New Testament:  Sexual sins

I Corinthians 6:15-20   Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.

What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith HE, shall be one flesh.

But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.

Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.

What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

I Corinthians 7:2-3   Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband. Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband.

***


*  Sodomy:  Homosexual acts and sex with beasts

Leviticus 18:22-30    Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination Neither shalt thou lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto: it is confusion.  

Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you:  And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants.

Ye shall therefore keep MY statutes and MY judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations; neither any of your own nation, nor any stranger that sojourneth among you:

(For all these abominations have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the land is defiled;)

That the land spue not you out also, when ye defile it, as it spued out the nations that were before you.

For whosoever shall commit any of these abominations, even the souls that commit them shall be cut off from among their people.

Therefore shall ye keep Mine ordinance, that ye commit not any one of these abominable customs, which were committed before you, and that ye defile not yourselves therein: I am the Lord your God.

***

New Testament church concerning lesbians & homosexuals:

Romans 1:26-27    For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:  And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.

I Corinthians 6:9-10   Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate (homosexuals), nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

***


Leviticus 19:1-2   And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,  Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the Lord your God am holy. 


***

In the New Testament church, God put his laws into our hearts and into our minds that we could do them.

The following are some of the Old Testament laws of God. 

*  fear your father and mother:  Leviticus 19:10 

*  leave something for the poor:  Leviticus 19:11 

*  do not swear falsely:  Leviticus 19:12 

*  do not defraud your neighbor:  Leviticus 19:13  

*  do not curse the deaf nor put stumbling block in the path of the blind:  Leviticus 19:14 

*  judge righteously:  Leviticus 19:15 

*  talebearers: Leviticus 19:16  

*  do not hate your brother:  Leviticus 19:17 

*  vengance and grudges: Leviticus 19:18



***

Leviticus 19:26     Ye shall not eat any thing with the blood: neither shall ye use enchantment, nor observe times.

28-29   Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the Lord.  Do not prostitute thy daughter, to cause her to be a whore; lest the land fall to whoredom, and the land become full of wickedness.

31-37
  Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God.

Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I am the Lord.

And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him.  But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.

Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in meteyard, in weight, or in measure.  Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin, shall ye have: I am the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt.


Therefore shall ye observe all MY statutes, and all MY judgments, and do them: I am the Lord.


***


The new covenant:  the New Testament church

Hebrews 8:10-12    For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to ME a people:

And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know ME, from the least to the greatest.


For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.

***

Leviticus 20:6-8    And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people.

Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the Lord your God.

And ye shall keep MY statutes, and do them: I am the Lord which sanctify you.

Concerning fortunetellers and horoscopes:

As long as I can remember my mother followed after horoscopes.  Monthly she would buy the horoscope magazine and read my horoscope to me daily.

After I was born again, I was visiting my mother and I opened the kitchen cabinet and noticed a set of horoscope mugs I had given to my mother before I was born again.

Without saying a word, I took a garbage bag and began putting those horoscope mugs into the bag.  

My mother was watching me.  And when she realized what I was doing, she became agitated and said:  "Stop!  You gave those to me.  I want to keep them."

I didn't say a word.  I just kept filling the garbage bag with the horoscope mugs.

I took them to the dumpster in the alley and broke the mugs and threw them into the dumpster and returned to my mother's house.

Without a word, I took a Bible and read the following to my mother:

Deuteronomy 18:9-14    When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch. Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.

For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord: and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee.

Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God.


For these nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee, the Lord thy God hath not suffered thee so to do.

After I read this to my mother, she sat silently for a few moments, and then she said, "Well ... then I guess we'd better not do that any more."

I'm certain my mother was born again with those words.  She was completely changed after that.

***

Leviticus 20:10    And the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.

Other sexual sins:  Leviticus 20:11

Leviticus 20:15-16    And if a man lie with a beast, he shall surely be put to death: and ye shall slay the beast.  And if a woman approach unto any beast, and lie down thereto, thou shalt kill the woman, and the beast: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

Leviticus 20:23-24   And ye shall not walk in the manners of the nation, which I cast out before you: for they committed all these things, and therefore I abhorred them.

But I have said unto you, Ye shall inherit their land, and I will give it unto you to possess it, a land that floweth with milk and honey: I am the Lord your God, which have separated you from other people.

***


Leviticus 20:26 And ye shall be holy unto ME: for I the Lord am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be Mine.

***


*  marriage rules for the Old Testament priests:  Leviticus 21

Old Testament feasts:  Leviticus 23  (There are no New Testament feasts commanded by God in the Bible)

*  dealing with the land:  Leviticus 25

***


Leviticus 26:1   Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the Lord your God.

The early church shown to us in the New Testament often met in homes where there is no indication that any religious symbol such as a cross was visible.  The early church of the Bible had no need for things that you could see with the natural eye for the early church worshipping God in Spirit and focused on the Word of God, as we should do today.

***


For those who walk in the statutes of God:

Leviticus 26:9   For I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and establish my covenant with you.

12-13   And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be MY people.

I am the Lord your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made you go upright.

So it is with us who are born again.  God broke our yoke to this world and to our previous sin that we might be God's people and walk with God, through HIS Word.


***

Leviticus 26:13   But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments;
And if ye shall despise MY statutes, or if your soul abhor MY judgments, so that ye will not do all MY commandments, but that ye break MY covenant:

I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.


And I will set MY face against you, and ye shall be slain before your enemies: they that hate you shall reign over you; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you

Even when no one is after you, you will fear. 

And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto ME, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins.

***


Leviticus 26:22   I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, and destroy your cattle, and make you few in number; and your high ways shall be desolate.

When I think of the "wild beasts" today, I think of some of those people in the neighborhoods.

***

For those contrary to God:

Leviticus 26:25-28    And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall avenge the quarrel of MY covenant: and when ye are gathered together within your cities, I will send the pestilence among you; and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.

And when I have broken the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight: and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied.

And if ye will not for all this hearken unto ME, but walk contrary unto ME; Then I will walk contrary unto you also in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins.

***


Leviticus 26:30-33    And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your carcases upon the carcases of your idols, and MY soul shall abhor you. 

And I will make your cities waste, and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation, and I will not smell the savour of your sweet odours.

And I will bring the land into desolation: and your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished at it.

And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste.

***


Leviticus 26:36-39    And upon them that are left alive of you I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies; and the sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them; and they shall flee, as fleeing from a sword; and they shall fall when none pursueth.

And they shall fall one upon another, as it were before a sword, when none pursueth: and ye shall have no power to stand before your enemies.

And ye shall perish among the heathen, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up.


And they that are left of you shall pine away in their iniquity in your enemies' lands; and also in the iniquities of their fathers shall they pine away with them.


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Leviticus 26:41-42     if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity: Then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land.


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Leviticus 27:34     These are the commandments, which the Lord commanded Moses for the children of Israel in mount Sinai:


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The New Testament church: 

Hebrews 10:1-23 For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.  For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.

But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.

For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.

Wherefore when HE cometh into the world, HE saith, Sacrifice and offering THOU wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared ME:

In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin THOU hast had no pleasure.

Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of ME,) to do thy will, O God.

Above when HE said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law;


Then said HE, Lo, I come to do THY will, O God.  

HE taketh away the first, that HE may establish the second.

By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins:

But this man
(Jesus), after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;  From henceforth expecting till His enemies be made His footstool.

For by one offering HE hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.



Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that HE had said before,  This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;  And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.

Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.



Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,  By a new and living way, which HE hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, HIS flesh;

And having an high priest over the house of God;

Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.


Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for HE is faithful that promised;)



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