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Hello there. If you're streaming from home, you have sound. Sorry about that. Um, so these three again the land is a little bit different in that it's not
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peppered throughout the text but it's it's it's clearly uh significant in chapter 18 and in chapter 20 and we talked about that two weeks ago.
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sense it it what it yes what it means you don't have to go and do the etmology and and and find the you know that's not that's not what I'm saying what it means becomes fairly evident in the context
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right the for example um uncovering nakedness In fact, it's Leviticus 18 and 20 that basically defines what that process,
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what that crime is. Okay? Um, and so that sheds light backward onto passages in Genesis that we'll
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discuss this evening. But that passage in Genesis actually sheds light forward to the nature of the people of the land
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that Israel is about to conquer. So it it all kind of ties together and it it is these phrases are what tie it together. Okay. Um and so what I'm
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advocating is not that you you necessarily have a concordance or gassinius Hebrew English, you know. Um no, you don't need all of that. I don't
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think we were meant to need that. I think our our English Bibles are faithful enough to the original to where a phrase like
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uncovering nakedness is is it's the same phrase translated the same way in the English enough times that we can recognize all right this is this is something that the
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author had in mind and then we ask the question what is yes what does this mean but the meaning actually comes from the context
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and then we begin to see if we look back and and and frankly I think as we read the Bible those echoes we talked about this in biblical theology the more we
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read the Bible the more the echoes come to us as we're reading okay so for example if you think of just the phrase
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uncovering your father's nakedness your mind should actually go to Noah's son Ham
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and Genesis 9. And it should and it does because that is a definite illusion from Leviticus 18
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and 20 back to that very strange story in Genesis 9. And it's linked by the concept of
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uncovering your father's nakedness. Okay. So, one sheds light back, but the other one sheds light forward. And that's the reciprocal nature of
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scripture, okay? That it it's not entirely that we couldn't understand anything until we had the New Testament shining light backward. No, that that's not the right perspective because what
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that does is it pretty much says the Old Testament is a mystery and why bother? Because the New Testament also sheds light forward. light forward. Maybe it's dim, maybe it is shadows, and
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they become clearer when the later revelation comes, but it's back and forth. And I've tried to point that out in biblical theology that that it's not just reading the Old Testament in the
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light of the New Testament. It's reading the New Testament in the light of the Old. And it goes back and forth. And this is a great example of that going from Leviticus 18 and 20 back to Genesis
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9 and Genesis 15 and then from Genesis 9 and Genesis 15 back to Leviticus 18 and 20. And the meaning begins to come clearer as the echoes become clearer.
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Does that does that make sense? Yeah. So it's not an academic exercise. It's a literary exercise. Okay. And I and it's something that we
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we do naturally whenever we read or for example watch a movie multiple times.
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We get something out of it the second time that we missed the first time. That that's just the way it is. And so that's the way it is with scripture if we know what we're looking for or
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listening for. Okay. Any other questions? That was an excellent question.
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Yes. Yes. there there are paral there's parallelism that's kind of essential to Hebrew poetry Hebrew poetry and if if it does nothing more and I think Erin made a very good point during
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Sunday school that you can overwork kayazm you know x marks the spot um a little bit too often but one thing it does do if you have that sort of parallelism it
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at least tells you that what you're reading is poetic and just like in English or any other language you don't read poetry the way you read pros, the way you read
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history. So, at the very least, that kind of structure may not necessarily echo something else, but it tells you at least what you're reading is poetry,
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which means it probably either builds or contrasts whatever concept is being discussed. Okay, that's what that does. um the repetition is usually within a
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book or a set of chapters as opposed to throughout the scripture. So the repetition is a is a exegetical guide for a particular context.
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That's why I mentioned the the headings, the first verses of 17 and 21, 18 and 20, and then 19 tell us that in those
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five books, we're dealing with one one sub corpus of Leviticus. Okay? Not to the exclusion of the others before and
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after, but the writer is telling us by these little markers, this is a section. And while while you're interpreting it, try to try to
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keep this whole section in mind. Don't get too much in the weeds, but also don't go to 36,000 ft. You know, keep 17 through 21. And we'll deal with that
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more when we get to 21. We'll deal with the the outer brackets of this section. Um hopefully we'll we'll finish 19 and 20 today and then the next couple weeks
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we'll be in LA I'm sorry 18 and 20 and the next couple weeks we'll be in 19. 19 is indeed the it's it's considered to be the ten commandments of the holiness code. Although I only count nine
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but some people count 10. Um I guess that's the problem with the ten commandments isn't it? How we count them. Um, but some people consider it, most people consider it the heart of the
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holiness code. Uh, and it it's kind of I mentioned this two weeks ago. It's kind of disappointing to get to the heart of the matter so early. We still have chapter 27 to get to. Um, I hope it's
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not anticlimactic. not anticlimactic. So, um, So, um, Nick, you're you're right. These are these are actually hermeneutical devices. Like any reading, this the
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style of reading is poetic. Okay, I'll deal with it. It's prophecy. Okay, I I think of it that way. It's apocalyptic. Okay, I I think in that ve vein. Um the problem that we have in those and we
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touched upon this I touched upon this a little two weeks ago is that we're so far removed from both the culture and the writing of that ancient world that we don't necessarily know immediately
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what an apocalyptic is. And I do think that's where external study aids help us. In our generation, we have resources that our forefathers never dreamed of
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having and we can pull them up on our phones. Okay? So, you don't have to have a huge library. You don't have to you don't have to know Hebrew. You don't have to know Greek. You can access
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scholars who do. And archaeology, we talked about that two weeks ago. The fact of the matter is is that we're thousands of years removed from this world, from that world. And so even if
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we do recognize a particular style of poetry, for example, the poetry is is not roses or red, violets or blue. I mean it's it's not it doesn't rhyme.
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Okay? And so we we might recognize technically that's kayaism. Okay, it's poetry, but it doesn't rhyme. You know, we don't necessarily know what to do with it once we recognize it, but it's still a step in the right direction to
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recognize that it's different than a historical narrative. Okay, that that's a good step. But then I think you should avail yourself of some some maybe some
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good um good um uh popularly written hermeneutics. Um Gordon Fee has written one. I think his
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is called How to Read the Bible for All It's Worth. Yeah, there are a number of of books that are that are very accessible um and and they don't get into the nitty-gritty of the of the Hebrew or the
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Greek, but they they just talk about the the genre and especially in the ancient near east. And we've even talked about that um in biblical theology and I'm going to mention it tonight in terms of
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the Suzaranti treaty that archaeology has uncovered from the Hittite Empire um and is also discovered from both Babylon and Egypt as well. This idea of a
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structured treaty between the great king and his vassel or his people and seeing that the format of that treaty um superimposes
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um superimposes very cleanly very cleanly on the Torah, on the Hebrew law. Now, that does not mean that Moses borrowed. It just simply means that in that time,
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this was a fairly standard way of representing a relationship between a sovereign king and a subject people. Does that make sense? You know, I don't
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know how it would be done today. It might be done more in a constitutional format. Okay? But even Paul says, I I I speak as in human terms that the
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scripture was mediated to human beings living in a particular time. Okay, it was not written on reformed Egyptian. Okay, it was so we we do in a
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sense I say we gain a lot from the more modern discoveries of that ancient time. We're not indebted to it, but I think
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our our understanding of scripture is deepened by it. Any other comments or questions?
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Have at it. I don't want to force anything down anybody's throats. And we do have a somewhat difficult topic this evening. I want you to at least try to understand
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where I'm coming from in terms of of touching upon it. Well, then let me um let me go. Did you have No. Okay. All right. So, these this one right here I'm
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going to deal with briefly because I think we'll have more to say about it in uh chapter 19 when he adds
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holiness. You shall be holy for I the Lord your God am holy. That's right in the middle. Okay. Of the holiness code. So if we look at
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I've already touched upon this a few weeks ago um by saying that the f the first thing I think we should uh well in in my opinion
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the whole period of time during which Israel was at the foot of Mount Si that month that they're receiving the Paul building the
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tabernacle, consecrating it, receiving the holiness code. That's all one month between Exodus 40 and Numbers chapter 1. Okay? And I think that entire period
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has as its preamble Exodus 19 verses 3-6. And I want to read that.
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Okay. And Moses went up to God. And the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, "Thus you shall say to
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the house of Jacob, and tell the sons of Israel, you yourself have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagle's
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wings and brought you to myself." All right, that is the expanded version of I am the Lord your God.
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And from the Suzaranti treaty, this is the prologue. the prologue. This is what establishes the basis of the relationship between the great king and his subjects. This is the format of
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these treaties where they begin, I am the king who did this for you, who delivered you from this enemy, who established you on your throne, and all
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these different things that it's the the great king did for you. Now, on the basis of that, here's our agreement.
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Here's what you shall do. Here's what you shall not do. Here are the blessings if you continue to do what you should do. Here are the curses if you fail to do what you should do. So the the
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exclusive relationship between the great king and the subjects that is common in the suzaranti treaty is all based on the
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prologue the preamble. the preamble. He goes on in in this passage in verse five and six. Now then, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my
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covenant, then you shall be my own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is mine, and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy
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nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel. That to me is the overall preamble to the
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law. and from that. So we have Exodus. Okay. And this is the
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It's my opinion that then when we read I am the Lord or I am the Lord your God, we should think I am the Lord who brought you out of Egypt and bore you on eles eagle's wings and brought you to myself. Now if you will keep my
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commandments, well here's one of them. Okay? And so instead of repeating that entire preamble every time we have a statute given, all Moses has to do is repeat, I am the Lord your God. I am the
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Lord. Now it's very significant because in the in the light of liberal theology that wants to see Judaism as an
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evolutionary historical development in the ancient world. It's it's important to realize and again this comes from archaeology but it's important to
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realize that the other law codes like Hammurabis that's probably the most familiar to most people. Hammurabi's code was about the 17th century, 16th,
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something like that BC. Um, but the ancient law codes are all predicated upon the authority and the person of the
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not Torah. And yet, yes, Torah, the law is predicated entirely and on Yahweh and his authority and never on
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Moses's. In fact, the one time Moses takes it upon himself to do something, he guarantees his non-admission to the promised land.
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promised land. This is not about Moses. Moses is called the lawgiver. That's not a very good title for him. He's more the
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transfer. He's the vessel and the voice of Yahweh. But the law is consistently predicated on the person and the authority of God, not the king. And yet the ancient treaty
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format does hold. What does that say about God in relationship to Israel?
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He is king. Right? So when we get to Samuel and God saying you go ahead and do what they want because they're not rejecting you as king, they're rejecting me. That's
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what we're dealing with. So in in a sense it does mimic the ancient world and culture in which it was given in that the king was was the d the
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autodictat. His word was law. But in a biblical sense and contrary to all of the other law codes, the king is
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God. Okay? The the king in Babylon, the king in Egypt was a representation. He was the vicer of God. Okay? He was he was God was God's name was often in his
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name. The the name of their god would be somehow worked into the name of the king or Pharaoh. But he was not God. He was not the almighty God. They had many.
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Obviously, they weren't monotheists. The the point being is that the laws were not predicated upon their gods. They were predicated upon their king. Well, the same is true for Israel, but in Israel, God is their king. So, this is
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all wrapped up. It's all kind of in this this phrase, I am the Lord. There there's no other justification given for many of these statutes. And this is
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troubled um readers, not just scholars, not just commentators, but we you know when we went through the clean and unclean animals unclean animals the only reason is given for many of
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these is I am the Lord. I am the Lord your God your God and that's sufficient that it should be. Obedience is predicated not on understanding but on
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faith and faith is predicated on relationship on what God has done. And that's the susaranti treaty that you
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are to give your loyalty only to this susarin this great king. Why? Because of what he's done for you. I think that continues to hold. Now,
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that doesn't mean that we go blindly through life and don't seek to understand the mind of God. We've been given in the Holy Spirit. We've been given the mind of Christ. So, I don't think it's I just do it
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because the Bible tells me so. But fundamentally, we do it because the Bible tells me so. Because God said so. But there are many things that God said to do that we're not to do anymore. So,
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you can't really get far with that if that is your only logic is I just do what the Bible says. Well, there are a lot of things the Bible says that we we don't do or that we should not do. So,
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we have to have discernment. But that discernment is not to uh to create a foundation upon which we obey. We obey because it's the word of God. We
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obey because it's the person of God and we understand because we believe, not the other way around. That was Anelm's great one of his great contributions is
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I I I do not I do not know that I might believe I believe that I might know that's what comes first. Are you saying that even for the people
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his works on their behalf? Yes. which they received that. I believe that and I believe they were they were fundamentally to do what they did because God said so. But they were
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to constantly search to understand the mind of God. And I do think to to a large extent it was revealed to them to the prophets to the psalmists. And I
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know and I think that because of the amazing interconnectivity of the Old Testament and how the later writers
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were oftentimes were oftentimes commentaries on the early writings. They were constantly learning from what God had done for their people starting all
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the way back with Abraham. So yeah, I think they had the same paradigm of walking in faith because the just shall walk by faith. That's that's a principle
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of divine salvation from time from the beginning of time but not blindly. And as to what they could understand,
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I frankly think from what um Jesus said about Bethada and Capernium, they were judged by what had been revealed.
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Does that make sense? That the measure of their understanding was measured against what had been revealed because they could not be expected to
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understand beyond what was revealed. Just as we cannot be expected to understand the full consummation of the ages because it has not been revealed.
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Does that make sense? Anybody object to that? Now I also do not think that they had the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Again I think John 7 is the is the point of
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contact there. The spirit had not yet been given because Jesus had not yet been glorified. So whatever they were unders understood they could only understood stand to the point of
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revelation and they could only understand under the rubric that they did not have the indwelling of the holy spirit. We have much more revelation and we have the indwelling of the holy spirit. So I
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think the phrase that Jesus uses to whom much is given much is required you know I don't think we should ever look back at the old testament and say why didn't you understand? I think we should rather look in a mirror and say, "Why don't you
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understand?" Okay. But I do think that we both obey because it is written. That's the obedience of faith Paul writes about in Romans. But I don't
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think we stop there because there are there are so many things that are that are revealed that just seem to be arbitrary. And we're going to talk about that. Not tonight. But the idea of
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pollution, we've already talked about the idea of taboo things you just don't
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the rabbis, especially modern rabbis will freely admit that rabbitic Judaism has no relationship to biblical Judaism. And that's where evangelical Christians
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go way wrong. And that is they try to understand their Bibles by reading what Jews have written about it over the past 2,000 years 2,000 years or commentary or commentary or comment or comment Christian or
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Jewish. Yeah, they've written about it. But rabbis, especially after the destruction of the temple, they went off the reservation and they haven't been back to the
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reservation for 2,000 years. But they were bad before that too. Well, not as bad. Not as bad. Paul was essentially a rabbi. Galial was a rabbi.
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And so Hillel um uh what's the other guy's name? guy's name? Sorry. Starts with an S, but I can't. She Yes. Hel and Shmi. The two schools
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of If you read their writings, you No, they weren't they weren't so bad. They weren't so bad. But when the temple was destroyed, Torah became the temple and the life of
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Judaism became basically picking apart, counting the letters, finding the middle letter, uh, enumerating all the letters, figuring out what the letters meant in numbers, and they went off ren
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reservation. So, and so do Christians. So have Christians. So I mean we we we are called upon to study to show ourselves approved a skilled craftsman
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able to handle the word of God properly. So it's not just willy-nilly what do you think now there there are that's why we teach hermeneutics and and that's why we
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we emphasize the whole council of scripture and how scripture interprets scripture because we must stay on reservation and reservation is the revelation of God in the Bible. That's
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no matter what anyone else says, no matter what John Calvin says it or or Sinclair Ferguson says it or DA Carson says it, it doesn't matter if it doesn't comport with the word. And by and I
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don't mean chapter and verse. I mean the word, the whole council that Paul gave to the elders at Ephesus, you know, uh not holding back any part of it. So I I
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think there yes, there is always the danger, but you know, that's the problem with all education. There's always the danger of people going off reser reservation.
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It is. So, so do we stop learning because of that? I don't think so. You have to be very care. Of course, you're you're handling the word of God.
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If you have to be careful in teaching chemistry, you know, to try to make sure that you're teaching it correctly and that you're up to date as much as you can be, although I never did understand
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Schroinger, but you know that you have that responsibility. how much more the scriptures. So you have to be very careful and like the Bereans we should
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all be in the word but we should be in the word not just in Paul Paul or in the gospels or something like that. We have to be in the word. So these markers it
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really just links back to biblical theology. The these are simply literary uh markers, literary methods by which the writer himself is guiding us through
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what he has written. And that means both Moses and the Holy Spirit. So when we look at these uh this one is
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is kind of a a more a broader overview marker showing that the authority of all these commands rest solely in the authority of Yahweh the and so when we look at the meaning
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of these things like why should I not sew a garment with two different fabrics? Have you ever wondered that? Or have you ever thought that you should
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wear pure cotton? If you do, buy one size larger. Okay? Otherwise, Okay? Otherwise, t-shirts will become a second skin. I
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mean, we we have I mean, we've added now we got wool, linen, rayon, nylon, you know, we've now made our own. um should and there are of course there have been Christians who believe that you should
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not mix fibers in a garment because the Bible says so. Right? Uh my and I'm getting ahead of myself by at least a week. Um
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week. Um I think they did this. I'm sure I'm sure I'm remembering this correctly, but my father-in-law, a dairy farmer, um when they bred a heer for the first time,
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they they inseminated. They didn't have a bull. They would use Angus seed because the Angus is a small Is that I'm
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remembering that correctly? Okay. Sometimes, you know, you get older and you think, did I make this up? It come to me in a dream. um they would use Angus because the Angus
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were a smaller breed of cattle and therefore it was easier for the heer to bear the first calf. Well, that's interesting. Oh, but the Bible says you
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don't do that. Okay, so this, you know, we read this and we have to know, all right, why why do we no longer do this? What what did it mean? Why did they have
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to do it and we didn't? And we come up with things like you don't eat pork because they didn't know how to cook it. You know, we come up with we come up with reasons. Now, the fundamental reason is because God said so. And I think there are some things that we
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really can't go much beyond that. That God, according to his wisdom and for his purpose, made these things taboo in order to emphasize in daytoday living
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the separatedness of holiness. Okay? that you can't really be holy if you look exactly like everyone around you. Now in the Old Testament it was
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very visible very visible but I don't think it's any less true now because we still have the commandment both in the biatitudes and then in 2 Corinthians 6 and 7 we have the
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commandment to be holy because the Lord our God is holy. And so Israel provides us with kind of a visible living uh social orientation of this separatedness
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that now by the the wisdom of the Holy Spirit and the revelation of the New Testament having Christ having come and accomplished his work, we need to incorporate the truths that were present
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in that law into our lives in the church. Does that make sense? We don't necessarily do. In fact, we often do not do it by simply repeating
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what they did. That's not getting it. If you just do it because they did it and because it's written, that that's not the point. And I don't even think it was the point for
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them. That's what to your point. I don't think at least the faithful among Israel especially in the prophets because in the prophets the prophets you get the interpretation of the law
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through its violation by Israel and the prophets say oh this is what it meant. Okay. And and again that that second phrase uncovering
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nakedness does show up again in the prophets. not exactly the same way, but the the idea of nakedness and the and the exposure
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the exposure is is um is a form of judgment in the prophets. And the context metaphorically
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in the prophets is the same as the cont context literally in Leviticus 18 and 20. And that is sexual sins. It's the nation, however, now that plays
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the harlot. the harlot. Whereas in Leviticus 18 and 20, especially in Canaan, it was the people. So the the this Exodus 19 as a prologue
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the book of Leviticus. So you shall be a holy nation. That's Exodus 19:6. You shall be a holy nation. Well, what is Leviticus all about? If there's a word that summarizes the
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theme of Leviticus, it's holiness. Now, there are many other things in there, but the holiness has a a a two-sided or a two-pronged impact on the
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camp, on the life of Israel. It's not just the priests,
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but it is the priesthood and the tabernacle and the sanctuary. Okay. So the first se the first 16 chapters at least of Leviticus deal with that as aspect of community holiness focusing on
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that that holiness spectrum the center of which is the holy of holies where Yahweh dwells where his presence dwells. But that's that's not it. You can't
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simply say well we have a priesthood. They do it for us. We don't worry about it except when we go to confession and then they tell us what to do.
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That is one of the greatest crimes of Roman Catholicism Roman Catholicism is assigning holiness to a specific vocation within the church. If they had
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understood Leviticus better, they would understand the second half of Leviticus, the holiness code, not as a later redaction of different sources, not as an attempt of po post exilic priests to
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control the people, but rather this the flip side of the same coin that it is not enough simply for the holy men to be holy in order for Israel
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to be a holy nation. He says, "You will be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." So we we have to look past the fact that
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Levi was separated, which was both both judgment and grace, by the way, but separated from the rest of the tribes under service to Yahweh.
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Yeah, that's that's true. That's important. But we can't repeat that. And that's why clericalism is such a a horrible crime against the genius of the church of the body of Christ because it
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repeats as if we're supposed to do it the same way they had a priesthood. We should have a priesthood. Now the logic is there if you totally discount the
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work of Jesus Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Okay? If you if you want to go back into the shadows where Christ has not fulfilled the mission that God has given to him and the Holy Spirit has not yet been given, then
47:19
fine, join the Roman Catholic Church, go back to the priests, but you won't find redemption there. You won't find enlightenment there. You will find bondage. So the other half of the
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coin is critical, preamble. They're tied together by the very
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identity of the people of God at the foot of Mount Si. They do not do this these two things in order to attain that.
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They have been given this in order to do this. And that's the same way with
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regeneration. We don't obey Christ and believe in Christ in order to be regenerated. We are regenerated. We are born again in order to believe and to obey. So the
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pattern hasn't changed. And I've mentioned this many times before, but this is one of the major dangers of dispensationalism is that it doesn't recognize the
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consistency between the way God deals with fallen man. And that his plan of redemption and redemption not only of man, but of all of creation has never changed. Okay? So, we're still on the
48:39
same trajectory. same trajectory. We're in the same story, but we can't live as if we're in the earlier chapters. we learn from those chapters and those
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chapters help us live in our chapters more with more integrity to the word. Okay. So that that's what we're all about. That's what we're trying to do in these classes is to is to tie it all
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together little by little so that we can walk in in brighter light because we've been given great light.
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The second one, uncovering nakedness, is the difficult one. And I'm going to try to tread carefully because, as I've said before, I don't think there's any reason to get into the weeds as to the nature of the sins that we read in Leviticus 18
49:28
and 20. We all see them, read them, and think, "Duh, you don't do that stuff." So, there's no reason. I mean, and it's all very self-explanatory,
49:38
okay? You you just don't do this stuff. So there's no reason commentators do it like but there is an interesting aspect that I want to touch upon
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Okay, this phrase as I said is repeated more often than anything else in these these two chapters 18 and 20 of Leviticus. And then they come back in the prophets
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both to describe Israel when God was walking by and and Israel was wallowing in her nakedness. It describes Babylon
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that God will expose her nakedness. And then it describes Israel. And as I said it, as in Leviticus 18 and 20, the whole
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concept is is is inseparably related to sexual sins. sexual sins. In the prophets, it's metaphorically
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related. So the idea of illicit relations illicit relations is at the core of this concept.
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But why is it called uncovering nakedness? What is the meaning of that phrase? I mean we can easily see that there is a
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consistency in Leviticus 18 and 20 as to the nature of these sins. But why this particular phrase?
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Now this is where I think see how I do this. I'm I haven't done
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This is where biblical theology and reading the Bible as literature I think helps us understand the un the underlying meaning of these uh strictures in Leviticus 18 and 20.
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Beyond the fact that they are obvious abhorrent sins abhorrent sins there's a deeper significance to them.
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One is very social and the other is actually redemptive actually redemptive and I want to I hope to get to that this
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evening. I touched upon this earlier that the the little known phrase or well-known but little treated phrase in that that dark vision that God gives
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Abram in Genesis 15 when he promises the land but he says not to you and not to your descendants for 400 years. He says because the iniquity of the Amorites is
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not yet complete. And I mentioned that archaeology has helped us out a lot there in understanding that the Amorites were not actually a separate tribe. They they
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were in fact kind of synonymous with the Canaanites. So, this does not actually shed immediate light immediate light on the phrase because it's not used
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there in Genesis 15, but it does bring up this iniquity
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and that there's a there's a measure of that iniquity that is accumulating. Now to look ahead a little bit,
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what is the container in which this iniquity is being collected? The land.
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The land. And when it's full, the land will vomit them out. them out. And so the conquest under Joshua is not just the children of Abraham receiving
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their promised inheritance. It very much is that part of Genesis 15. It's also the children of Israel being the instruments of the expulsion of the
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Canaanites. So the the the the positive and the negative are going together there. But what is the iniquity of the Canaanites or the Amorites? Well, that takes us back here,
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back here, which directly links by phrase or at least by least by by evident action. Now, I think you're all familiar with with the story, the
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narrative in Genesis 9, um that after uh the flood and and apparently some time has passed because Noah becomes a farmer and he plants a vineyard and he drinks
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too much, okay? and he's in his tent. Um, and he doesn't have his clothes on. His son Ham, uh, who is actually the
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youngest, that's that's elsewhere, sees him in this condition and tells his brothers. His brothers then place a blanket upon their backs. They back into
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the tent and they cover their father. Um, on the surface it it looks like um just a very embarrassing incident
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where a son sees his father without his clothes on. clothes on. However, the the actual text is is a little bit uh more explicit
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fairly demands a deeper explanation. First of all, we're told that when Noah woke up, he realized what Ham had done to him.
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The the verb is actually a very very active verb that signifies some physical
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so it strongly indicates that more is involved than simply
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Noah then curses Ham by cursing Canaan Ham's son. Ham's son. Now, one argument that I do think is valid but not complete is that in the ancient near east and actually in the
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Middle East today, the nature of a son reflects directly on that of the father. So, a curse that was leveled at Ham
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could not be leveled directly at Ham or it would rebound to Noah himself. The reason this is incomplete is twofold. First, Noah had other sons, including
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Mitzraim, Egypt, Mitzraim, Egypt, um, Kush and Put Libya and, uh, Ethiopia. They they were the children of
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Ham, Canaan is singled out. And the other thing that is odd is that throughout this passage, uh, really even before the
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event, Ham is referred to consistently, Ham, the father of Canaan. Never Ham, the father of Mitzim.
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And neither Shem nor Japheth are ever referred to in terms of any of their sons. So you have a very strange little phrase whereby Ham and Canaan are
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Okay. The curse is leveled on Canaan. Now I think it is entirely providential and not accidental that they would be the tribe that would
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settle in the land promised to Abram in chapter 12 and through 15. That it was none of the other. Now they would spend time in Egypt
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which is kind of a reverse of the curse or not really a reverse. The curse was a blessing also on Shem and Japheth where Japheth is said he will dwell in the
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tents of Shem. Well for a time Shem dwelt in the tents of Ham for 400 years living in the land of
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But Egypt wasn't the enemy of God's people, of Abraham's descendants. In fact, when you get on into the promises of of universal salvation, especially in the prophets, the prophets, the three nations that are most
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frequently referenced as coming to the Lord are Egypt, Libya, and Ethiopia, and Ethiopia, the other three sons of Ham,
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but not Canaan. Now, we saw a couple weeks ago that they were Canaanites who settled in the land of Sodom and Gomorrah, Zeoim and and
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Admma, the valley that Lot saw so um attractive and of course as I think a precursor.
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So, in Genesis 15, God says to Abram, "The iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete, but come on over here in Genesis 18, and let me show you what's
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eventually going to happen to all of them." And he destroys Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities and the people. So, that's the prefulfillment of the longer term prophecy. And Abraham, Abram
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sees with his eyes, he's Abraham at that point, he sees with his eyes the destruction of these people. These people are Canaanites. Whatever happened in Genesis 9 set one
1:00:12
tribe as the absolute polar opposite, the other side of the spectrum from the descendants of Abraham. They would live in the land that Abraham
1:00:24
was promised. was promised. And when their iniquity reached its capacity, they would be the children of Abraham who would expel them. Now, they were to expel them completely.
1:00:38
They didn't. They didn't. And what happened was the influence that remained in the land would eventually corrupt the Israelites and they too
1:00:49
would be vomited from the land. So there's an there's a there's not just a story, oh these Canaanites, you know, they're bad people and God will get rid of them. The story of judgment is
1:01:00
intimately integrated with the story of redemption. Does that does that make sense? Now, as to the actual offense of Genesis 9, I'm going to leave that to your own
1:01:13
reading. Okay? There are different opinions. I have opinion. The opinion's in the notes. You can read it there or not read it there, but I don't see any reason to get into it because
1:01:23
what's what what's what just an opinion. Um, yeah, but all opinions are not created equal. created equal. I mean, they're they remain opinions because it doesn't say so. Yeah. Okay. If it doesn't say so, it's an opinion,
1:01:34
but I don't believe all opinions are created equally. Some have greater weight because of other texts. Um, and and so yeah, I think my opinion is is is for me me the best solution. little East
1:01:46
duct tape. Um, but I don't see any reason to to die on that battlefield. Okay. I think it was more than just voyerism. And and I think that what we're seeing in that narrative is is another piece of
1:02:00
the background the background against which God's redemption of Israel out of Egypt into Canaan will play out. that God is not just redeeming but at
1:02:13
the same time and this is this is the essential part of a nature of the gospel it is not just saving it is also condemning that's when when Jesus says to Capernium
1:02:24
and to Bethada and Chisian if if they had seen if Sodom and Gomorrah had seen what you see had heard what you hear they would have repented and he says woe unto you it will be
1:02:35
better for Sodom and Gomorrah than it will be for you and so The gospel is a two-edged sword and and these narratives show us that God's redemption
1:02:47
goes handinhand with God's condemnation and it is it is all to the glory of God and and it's according to the will of God, but it manifests itself.
1:03:00
Now, I think I'm going to give a little bit of a of a oblique view of my opinion. I think the sins that are listed in
1:03:12
Leviticus 18 Leviticus 18 are descriptive of the iniquity of the Amorites and as such shed light on the nature of
1:03:45
They're related. Okay. The redemption of Israel is the instrument of the condemnation of Canaan. So immediately after the passage that deals with Canaan, we have the call of
1:03:59
Abram. Canaan represents Canaan represents the worst that humanity will become during this period of time. Just as the descendants of Cain represented the worst that humanity could become in the
1:04:12
era before the flood. Now we have another distinction made that one tribe because of the action is
1:04:24
cursed and these people do become remarkably wicked among the nations. Sodom and Gomorrah their sins cried out
1:04:34
to heaven. God could no longer ignore it but had to intervene and wipe them out. So clearly they were really nasty. The iniquity of the Amorites is a phrase
1:04:46
that's not used. It does indicate, I think, a a kind of a philosophy of history. People people can,
1:04:57
I think, store up against themsel judgment. We'll talk about that when we talk about the land. So, we have redemption. I'm not saying that he redeemed the Canaanites. He redeemed Israel. But at
1:05:10
the same time he's redeeming, he's condemning. At the same time he's giving Abraham's descendants the land that he promised. He's also executing judgment on the iniquity of the Amorites.
1:05:22
That's what redemption is. Some have chosen themselves. chosen themselves. Well, yes, but the redemption is is one side of the coin. Okay. What I'm arguing against is the modern often modern view
1:05:35
that the gospel is good news only good news and good news for everybody. In fact, it is very good news. But as the writer of Hebrews makes clear in Hebrews
1:05:46
3 and 4, it's only good news to those who hear it with faith. To those who don't, it's really bad news. Okay? So, it's really good news to the Israelites
1:05:57
that the finally the land that was promised to their forefather will become theirs. That's really good news. It's not good news for the Canaanites. So, that that's what I'm saying. I mean, you already understand that. But there
1:06:09
is a pervasive idea within modern Christianity that it's all good news that somehow God will eventually save everybody because that's who God is. He's love. That's not the true gospel.
1:06:21
That's a false gospel. And this is a narrative that illustrates that point that whereas God does choose, he chooses Seth over Cain. He chooses Abel first,
1:06:32
but of course Cain kills Abel. He chooses the lineage of Seth and not the lineage of Cain. He chooses the lineage of Shem and not the lineage of Ham. And especially not the lineage of Canaan.
1:06:45
And then providentially when the nations are dispersed, where does Canaan go? exactly to the land that would be promised to Abraham and his descendants.
1:06:56
Now, don't misunderstand me. I do not think that the modern Arabs or if you want to call them Palestinians or whatever you want to call them, I do not
1:07:08
believe, first of all, that they are the descendants of Canaan. And secondly, I don't think any of this pertains anymore. I think the the point I'm trying to make is that this
1:07:20
historical and then geographical biblical reality helps us understand the nature of the prohibitions in Leviticus 18.
1:07:30
And again, we don't have to get into the weeds. We can see that it it kind of it kind of came down. All men are sinners. anybody from any ancestry is capable of
1:07:43
any of the sins that are mentioned in Leviticus 18 and 20. I'm not saying that they were the monopoly of of the Canaanites. I'm just saying that the Canaanites seem to have raised this
1:07:54
wickedness to an art form. In fact, they had raised it to a religious form. And in doing so, they had highlighted in
1:08:04
in in one tribe the degenerative nature of sin that it got worse. That their iniquity filled up
1:08:15
the full measure. It didn't eb and flow. There's no valve that is opened and some of it is let out and then it picks up again. No, it was just for 400 and
1:08:26
probably longer than 400 years. for however long they were in that land, it was just filling up, filling up, generation after generation until finally the land itself spews them out.
1:08:39
So there's judgment, but the judgment is in the light of the redemption that God is bringing to Israel.
1:09:38
So it's like the the the the sin of the earth is still filling up its full Patience and his his patience was toward his patience was toward the Amorites during those 400 years. I I we don't know.
1:09:50
There's no way of knowing, but that we do know that there was there was a witness to Nineveh. Um, and we know from Romans 1 that God's own creation bears witness. And yet, he gives them time to
1:10:03
continue to sin against that witness until finally until finally their their wickedness had reached a point that the earth could literally bear it no longer. Okay? Um, and and so
1:10:17
that to me sheds light on the the reason why what we're reading in Leviticus 18, as I said earlier, um, these sins are
1:10:28
obvious to us because they're in the Bible and because by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the church has carried these precepts
1:10:40
throughout the Western world and much of the rest of the world. They were by no means obvious to the ancient near east that these things were wicked. So again,
1:10:50
that's where cultural and time differences between us and them make us think, why is this even here? Of course, this is sin. What I'm trying to show is that it it's part of redemptive history
1:11:02
that the Israelites absolutely must not do what these people do because to do so would be to put them into the place of Canaan. cursed instead of the place of
1:11:16
Abram blessed. Abram blessed. And there there's kind of the the the the dichotomy of the gospel. Will you be blessed or will you be cursed? And now
1:11:26
the person that makes that differentiation of course is the person of Jesus Christ. Peter goes in that passage
1:11:40
of holiness and godliness. and hasting coming. Yeah. So, it it's a principle that we're seeing lived out in real historical events, but it's a principle that we
1:11:52
also see consistently portrayed in scripture in different real historical events and that we will see if we were to go through the the history of Israel
1:12:02
and the prophets, we'll see that it does sadly play itself out in Israel. that perhaps their their greatest
1:12:14
primal sin primal sin was not having the faith to drive out the people as they should have been driven out. Um and and and they were a
1:12:26
thorn then in the in the sides of the Israelites for the rest of their duration. But but again, I'm trying to I'm trying to look at Exodus or Leviticus 18 and 19 20 in more of a
1:12:38
global view. global view. and ask, well, why why are these even here when we know that these things shouldn't be done, but why are they here? Well, they're
1:12:48
again, they're here redemptively. As I mentioned two weeks ago, Leviticus 18 is retrospective because of these sins which were religious to these people. They were the
1:13:00
they were the statutes of their their religion to do this thing these things. The land is vomiting them out. Leviticus 20 is prospective.
1:13:11
If you do these things, you must deal with it. And that's where we have punishments. We don't have them in Leviticus 18. So in 18, we're talking about the Canaanites. Don't do it. But it's really the
1:13:22
Canaanites we're focusing on. And then the land vomits them out. In 20, it's the Israelites we're focusing on. If you do these things, then you must deal with it. If you don't
1:13:32
deal with it, I'm going to deal with it. And if you keep doing it and not dealing with it, the land will vomit you out. So those two chapters are in parallel, but one is retrospective and the other
1:13:44
is prospective. One says, "This is what I am doing." The other says, "If you do not walk in my commandments, this is what I will do." I'm giving you an example of what I will do so that you
1:13:54
take me seriously. 19 becomes kind of the gem in the setting because it focuses mostly on positive things. Not entirely, but
1:14:04
mostly on positive acts of holiness that the community is to practice to show themselves a holy nation.
1:14:31
Oh, I think I think that echo of the flood is is again echoed in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, which then again is echoed in the conquest of the land of Canaan. So, there are
1:14:42
echoes. I think it's interesting that the echoes are growing fainter. They're not nearly as universal. They're not nearly as comprehensive.
1:14:52
Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities of the plain are destroyed, but the rest of the land of Canaan is not. Exactly. It's where it was headed. So he he he won't do it again. And in fact,
1:15:04
he's his long suffering is doing each time he's doing less. Okay. But we should not by that think him unawares that we read about it in the Psalms and
1:15:14
and even in Peter again you know from the beginning people have said where where are the you know where is he coming everything's been the same where where where is he when is he coming and he says Peter says they don't understand
1:15:24
that for the Lord a day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as a day and that kind of leads into the passage you read that we look at things and say oh you know God's God's pay he doesn't care
1:15:35
anymore he's gotten old no The faith doesn't see things that way. Faith sees what God has done and sees what he's promised to do. And no matter whether he
1:15:48
does it immediately or where we think he should, you know, like why is San Francisco still there? You know, we might think, well, because
1:15:58
he is long-suffering, not willing that any should perish. And I and I don't want to get into that because it doesn't mean what people think it means. Um, but there are one thing I think we can be
1:16:08
assured of is that God, as long as God holds back the promised judgment of fire upon the earth, there are yet elect who have not received the call.
1:16:19
There are still, and we don't know where they are, and we don't know who they are, and they might even be in San
1:16:42
Yeah. Because that chapter is predominantly for the priests just like 21. Israel. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Yes. U he's transitioning and that what that what that's showing
1:17:09
there's no wall. There's no wall. The priests are members of the people and the people are a kingdom of priests.
1:17:19
The priests have specific duties, okay, that the people do not have and must not have, but that doesn't make them it really the priests are are only
1:17:32
holier within those duties. Just like a vessel or even incense is holy when it is consecrated to the
1:17:43
sanctuary. Okay? and it is not to be used for common use. But when the priest took off his garments, he was an Israelite. Okay? He
1:17:55
him walk around like the Pharisees did, you know, in their robes and tassels and bells as if they were all the time holy. No. When he took off his garments, he
1:18:06
was just an Israelite. Just like he talks a lot about
1:18:26
Right. Well, I think I make a a point in the notes and I I think I mentioned a couple weeks ago that when when he says in 19 especially, speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel,
1:18:42
he is completely removing the possibility that he's not talking to the priests. So when he's talking to the priests, he's not talking to the people.
1:18:53
And in those chapters, the people only enter in relationship to the priests. They bring their offerings to the gate
1:19:03
and to the priest. Okay? But when he says, "Speak to the sons of Israel or speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel," the priests are included. That they're not exempt from
1:19:17
this. All right. Um, but I think the more important point because we do tend to gravitate toward the idea of a special class of society being holier.
1:19:30
Now I think the important point out of the second half of Leviticus is to realize that that's not so that the the priest by virtue of his
1:19:43
vocation within that vocation is holy but beyond that vocation he's no different from the rest of the nation
1:19:54
and yet is also holy. Remember the the holiness zones we are we're not moving out in kind. We're moving out in degree.
1:20:04
The closer we get to the holy of holies, the higher the degree of separatedness, which is why they had special garments and why, for example, a priest
1:20:17
was uh not allowed to contact a corpse unless it was a fairly immediate family member. and the high priest wasn't even allowed at that point. So the the the
1:20:30
strictctures now if if an average Israelite touches a corpse even inadvertently he is unclean right and there is a
1:20:41
purification process. Okay. You get to the next level the priest. No you don't even do that unless it's a family member. Get to the high priest. Nope. Nobody. Under no circumstances may the
1:20:53
high priest touch a corpse. You see how it it's the same kind in degrees. Okay. The the important thing I think to realize in the second half of Leviticus, especially for the church, is that it
1:21:05
completely destroys the idea of a separated clergy and ley. It completely destroys the idea that any class of Christians are inherently or even by
1:21:16
vocation holier than any other class of Christians. And it emphasizes the point that we must all pursue holiness because the Lord our God is holy. And that's
1:21:29
again the message of of the biatitudes. It's the message of 2 Corinthians 6 and the early verses of chapter 7. Does that answer your question Abe? I
1:21:40
think from 17 to 18 he is transitioning in in the topic.
1:22:01
I think you're right. I I think I mean sometimes I wonder what what did what did the priests teach? What did the Levites teach? Levites teach? What what what they do on what was their plumline class? What did they what were they talking about?
1:22:12
Uh and and I think the the the largest curriculum would have been holiness. holiness, how to live separated unto Yahweh. And and that's what we're going
1:22:23
to get into in a positive sense in chapter 19 when when he actually says, "These are the things you do." Okay? And especially right at the heart of it, you
1:22:33
shall love your neighbor as yourself. Which I think interestingly pops up in the New Testament, especially in Romans 13 where Paul says it is actually the fulfillment of the whole law.
1:22:46
So Jesus links it with uh you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and strength and might. And he says the second commandment is like unto it. You shall love your neighbor as
1:22:56
yourself. So we're seeing that here. We're we're at that epicenter of the the manifestation of a right relationship with God is a right
1:23:07
relationship with one's neighbor. Not the other way around. We can't just why can't we all just get along? That doesn't, you know, wherever there's love, there's God. No, that you can't do it the other way. First, he must deliver
1:23:19
you as on eagle's wings. Then you walk in holiness.
1:23:32
Any other comments or questions? Well, let's close in prayer. Father, we do ask that you would shed light on these passages and and especially upon holiness because we know that without it
1:23:43
no no one can see you. And yet we know that there is no native holiness in our fallen nature. But you had made us the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ. And we give you great thanks and praise
1:23:55
for that salvation. And so we ask that you would teach us by your Holy Spirit through your word how to walk in a right manner as people who have indeed been
1:24:06
carried as on eagle's wings out of bondage, the bondage to sin, out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of your beloved son. We give you all the
1:24:17
glory and the praise for this great salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord.
