Walking Set Apart Pt 1

If you would open up your Bibles to the book of Leviticus, chapter 11.

Leviticus, chapter 11. We're going to be covering chapters 11 and 12 tonight as we continue our journey through the book of Leviticus. And tonight we move into a new section within the book of Leviticus. We said that there's probably a lot of ways you could break the book down, but I've broken it down two ways because I like to stay kind of simple with it. Chapters 1 through 10 are sacrifice, the way to God.

Chapters 11 through 27 are sacrifice, the way to God. And so as we move into chapter 11 tonight, we move into more of the aspect of walking with God through sanctification. And the part that we're going to look at in chapters 11 through 15 is we're going to look at walking set apart. Walking set apart. We're going to look at dietary laws. We're going to look at rituals after childbirth.

We're going to look at laws about leprosy. It really is truly the most exciting part of the Bible. To me, it's the most... I'm just kidding. But listen, there is a lot of stuff to be learned from it. It was interesting. I was reading Chuck Smith on this today, and every commentator that I read started off the same way. Most of us would like to just skip past these chapters in the book of Leviticus.

But Chuck Smith pointed out something really interesting. He said, you know, at the end of the book of Deuteronomy, when the children of Israel were just finishing up their time in the wilderness and about to move into the promised land, they were supposed to do something. They were supposed to read the law, and then there was a group that would stand on one mountain and a group that would stand on another mountain, and they would pronounce blessings and cursings. The blessings were for those who not only heard the law, but obeyed the law.

And as a matter of fact, as you go throughout Scripture, you see the exact same thing, that it's important that we read the law and know what the law has to say because it has a purifying effect on our lives. And while some of these things don't have an incredible amount of application for us, as New Testament believers, at least we would think, there is still a lot to be learned from some of these dietary laws. So as we move into this section, there's three things I would like for us to pay attention to because it really is important, not only for the nation of Israel, because there was direct application for the nation of Israel, but it's also important for us because there's going to be application for us.

So as we move into these things, there's three things that we're going to pay attention to. We're going to see that, number one, I think I had to put these up there. I can't remember. Look at me go. It provides physical protection. So some of these laws that God has given to the nation of Israel, some of these statutes about dietary things, he gives to them for their own physical protection,

for their own health and well-being, because they are now starting to live as a nation with a whole lot of people, with millions of people. And if they're going to do that, they need to set up ways that they can do so in the healthiest, safest way possible. And so some of these dietary laws, laws of health are things that God has established for the nation of Israel. For the physical protection of the people.

But not only that, there's also an aspect of distinction and separation. You see, many of the things that God is going to have them do are very different from the nations around them, very different from the peoples around them, including the way that they ate food. And so it's important for them to do this because not only were there physical aspects, but it provided a distinction from the other nations around them because in every way, the nation of Israel was to be set apart. As a matter of fact, as we get to the end of chapter 11, we see a verse that I believe provides for us the entire purpose of this particular section, and it's about holiness.

And then the third thing that we pay attention to is that these things actually provide an illustration for believers. Now, I'm going to be honest with you. Some of the illustrations that I present to you, I did not come up with myself. I received them from some of the commentaries that I read, in particular a guy by the name of John Corson. But it was so fascinating to read some of these things

and to see the application that there is for us as New Testament believers. And so I'm going to be honest with you. I'm going to be honest with you. I'm going to be honest with you. I'm going to be honest with you. So with that as a backdrop, we move into chapter 11, verse 1, and we start looking at the dietary laws. The Lord spoke again to Moses and to Aaron, saying to them,

Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, These are the creatures which you may eat from all the animals that are on the earth, whatever divides a hoof, thus making split hoofs, and choose the cud among the animals that you may eat. Nevertheless, you are not to eat these among those which chew the cud or among those which divide the hoof. The camel, for though it chews the cud, it does not divide the hoof. It is unclean to you.

Likewise, the chafan, I have no idea what that is. For though it chews the cud, but apparently it chews the cud, but does not divide the hoof, and it's unclean to you. The rabbit also, for though it chews the cud, it does not divide the hoof. It is unclean to you. And the pig, remember our conversation from Sunday? For though it divides the hoof, thus making a split hoof,

it does not chew the cud. It is unclean to you. You shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch their carcasses, they are unclean to you. Now, as we start off chapter 11, I would like for you to take note of who this particular section is addressed to. It's both addressed to Moses and to Aaron. Now, why is it addressed to both of them? Well, because it was going to be important for,

first of all, the priesthood to know. Do you remember the last chapter when the sons of Aaron screwed up so much and God said, when you and your sons approach me, you must do so without having consumed alcohol because part of what you are to do is not only to be able to decipher that which is holy and that which is unclean, but you also are to teach the people that which is holy and that which is unclean. Well, it was important for this to be addressed to Aaron and his sons because as the priestly group, they needed to be able to enforce and teach the people what was holy and what wasn't holy. But not only that, it was addressed to Moses.

Why do we care about that? Because it was also addressed to the common people. In other words, just because it was addressed to the priesthood didn't mean that the common people, you and I, the average person living in the nation of Israel, didn't bear the responsibility for knowing this for ourselves. It was addressed to everyone. And so as we see that, we see that he's supposed to speak to the sons of Israel

and tell them, these are the things that you may eat. Now, I don't know about you, but when somebody tells me the menu, I pay attention, right? When you go to a restaurant and they say, what do you want? What would you like to order? What's the first thing that you ask? Well, what's good here? God is going to tell them what's good here. This is what you can eat.

And did you notice there was basically one principle that was given? Good, because there were within this one principle, two things that always had to be true of an animal that roamed the earth that you could eat. It had to be an animal which, number one, divides the hoof, and number two, choose the cud. I can promise you, I will have said, choose the cud more tonight than I will have said, have for the last year of my life.

Because I don't use this phrase very much. But that was what they were supposed to use as the line of demarcation for animals that they were to be able to eat. Now again, there was an aspect of physical protection for this. How? I'm not totally sure. I didn't read enough about why it's important to not eat some of the animals that God said not to eat. But for whatever reason,

we know that as God laid this out, these were the two things that it was supposed to do. These were the two, the two markers that you were supposed to look for because these were the animals that were going to be the healthiest if cooked properly. Now, within this, there is, of course, an illustration for us to pay attention to. And this is the one I didn't get myself.

I read this in John Corson, and I thought, what a fascinating thought. I've never paid attention to this. Because this is a little bit of an application for us. If you think about it, the two things that they had to pay attention to were, number one, the way that they walked, and number two, the way that they ate. Because they were supposed to walk on split hooves,

and they were supposed to chew the cud. Now, why do we care about that? Well, because what are we as believers supposed to pay attention to in our own lives? The way that we walk, and the way that we eat. And I'm not talking about physical food here. So, it's important, first of all, that we live a life that is divided from the world. Our walk should have a specific division in it,

so that we have a divided life from the things of the world. Now, I never thought about this with this application until John Corson pointed this out. And then I thought, oh, is he just being over-spiritual about this? And then I read two other commentaries that pointed out the same thing. I thought, this must be a really important point to be made. Our lives should be divided from the world that is around us.

Do you know what I think's kind of happening in the church right now? With all of the things happening in our world, and with all of the things happening globally, economically, health-wise, you know what I think God's doing? I think God is separating within the church those who are living a life divided from the world and those who are living a life influenced by the world. Is it just me, or are we starting to see a real distinct difference in churches as to which churches are churches that are pointing out the truth of the word, living divided from the world, and the churches which are not pointing to the word and living a life compromised by the world?

Well, if you think about it, in order for us to be ceremonially clean, in order for us to be as spiritual, spiritually set apart, and as spiritually healthy as we possibly can be, we must first of all live a life divided from the world. Now, I have a question for you. What does the division in your life look like? How separate is your life from the world that is around you?

You see, it's really easy to sort of blend into the world. As a matter of fact, we kind of want to blend into the world, don't we? Don't tell me you don't. We all do. I always get, no offense, I love you all, but I always get upset with adults that are like, kids are too worried about what people think. Listen, I know everybody has many adults that are worried about what people think of them

as anybody else. It was the adults in the nation of Israel who wanted a king, right? Because they wanted to be like all of the other nations of the world. This is not a young people problem. This is a people problem. And because of it, especially in the world that we live in now, it's very hard to be divided from the world. And so I'll ask you again, how far is your life divided

from the world that's around you? Well, not only were they supposed to not eat or only eat of animals that divide the hoof, but they were supposed to eat of the animals which chew the cud. Now, I'm not a farmer, nor am I a rancher, nor do I play one of those on TV. However, I've read enough J. Vernon McGee to know exact, who was a rancher. I've read enough J. Vernon McGee

to know exactly what takes place when a cow chews the cud. And it's the most disgusting thing in the world, but it's the perfect picture of what we're supposed to do with the word of God. You see, when a cow eats grass, it chews on that grass and chews on that grass and chews on that grass. Now, I wish I could do this with J. Vernon McGee's voice because he says it better than anybody.

He says, then that old cow, he swallows that big old lump of grass he's been chewing on. And it kind of works its way around in his stomach. And then he belches that thing back up and he chews on it some more. That old cow's chewing on the cud because he wants to get as much out of that grass as he possibly can. That process happens two or three times. Do you know why that's important for the cow?

Because he, first of all, needs to get as many nutrients out of it as possible. But second of all, there's a cleansing aspect for his stomach. Now, you and I are supposed to treat the word of God that exact same way. We are supposed to allow the word of God into our lives and then we chew on it. Perhaps you spent a little bit of time first thing this morning, like I did.

You spent a little bit of time reading the word of God. You felt pretty good about 15 or 20 minutes of reading the word of God. But I wonder, did you pick that thing up later and think about it a little bit more? That sounds pretty gross, doesn't it? But I'm kind of serious. Did you allow yourself to mull over that a little bit later and think about it a little bit more

so that you were getting as much out of it as you possibly could? Maybe bringing it up two or three times because we are supposed to live a life of taking in all of God's word. And do you know what's absolutely true? You cannot take in all of God's word in one sitting. You must meditate on it day, and night. I taught a study one time called Soaking in the Word of God

because I believe that our entire day should be spent doing that. You say, Ryan, it's impossible for me to be reading the Bible all day long. I know. Me too. Oddly enough, as much as I spend a lot of time studying, there are days where I don't actually get to do any studying. I know that sounds really weird as a pastor, but I have a lot of responsibilities and a lot of things that I have to do.

And it's kind of interesting to go through a day and go, I didn't even study the word once today. I did my devotional time in the morning because I always try to get that done. But I went, I was running around, running errands, visiting people, talking to people on the phone, sending text messages. I never actually got to study the word of God. So it really doesn't matter even if it's your job.

It's still hard to do sometimes. So you're right. You probably cannot spend your entire day doing this. Not only because it's impractical, but because you'll fall down and you'll run into things, right? I can do that without a book in my hand, let alone if I have a book in my hand. You know what that tells me? That tells me we need to do something. We need to hide God's word in our heart.

And you say, Ryan, I can't, there's a lot there. I know. Take it one verse at a time. Why don't you, as you do your devotional time, pick out one verse that really sticks out to you. One verse that really ministers to you. Now, I always like to tell people to write it down because that's what I like to do. I've only never been able to convince one person to do it.

I'm married to her. But everybody else, I love you, sweetie. She's in the nursery. She can't hear me. But most everybody that I tell to do this, I say, listen, if you'll just write it down, you don't even need to get deep and theological, but you'll start thinking about it. And then if you just decide that one verse is what you're going to meditate on throughout the day,

put it in your mind. Even if you just take the principle of the verse, put it in your mind and think about it throughout your day. Tell somebody else about this verse that you read. But as you do so, it's just like that cow chewing that cud. You're taking in as much as you possibly can. You can. Now, right now in my daily reading, I'm in the book of Genesis and I'm in the book of Matthew.

Now, obviously, I'm teaching the book of Matthew on Sunday morning, so I'm already in the book of Matthew a lot. You don't know this, but I'm teaching my Bible class, the book of Genesis. So I'm in the book of Genesis a lot. And I really was almost like, do I really start reading in the places where I'm reading all the time? But do you know what I found? I get something new out of it every time.

You know why? Because you can never exhaust all of the nutrients. You can get out of God's word. I've shared this story lots of times. And if you've heard it before, please forgive me. I'm going to share it one more time. But one of my favorite stories about J. Vernon McGee was actually told by David Hawking. He said, I got to hear J. Vernon McGee teach one of the last times that he ever taught.

For those who don't know, J. Vernon McGee passed away in 1987. He died of cancer. He'd fought the battle for quite some time, won the battle at one point in time, but the cancer came back. And then when it came back, it took him. He said, I saw him teach. He said, I saw him teach for the very last time. He said, I had to help him up on stage because he was so weak from the cancer.

He said, but he got up on stage and he taught from a psalm. And he said, friends, I can't even begin to tell you how many times I've taught this psalm. But you know what's amazing? God showed me something brand new this time out of this psalm. And he went on to teach this brand new thing that God had shown him. Even after all those years of teaching through the Bible,

God still showed him something brand new. He said, I can't even begin to tell you how many times I've taught this psalm. He said, I can't even begin to tell you how many times I've taught this psalm. You see, we've got to take in God's word for everything that it's worth. Amen? And so, he says, these are your dietary laws. This is how you're always going to know what you can eat.

He says, nevertheless, you are not to eat of these. And then he lists several different animals. The camel, which can you ever imagine eating a camel? That feels like the wrong thing. Take a drink from the camel, maybe. But it feels wrong to eat a camel. That's a cool looking animal. He needs to live, not be eaten anyway. So, he says, I can't even begin to tell you how many times I've taught this psalm.

They weren't supposed to eat a camel. And, of course, the chafan, which I've never been tempted to eat one because I have no idea what that is. Or a rabbit. I've kind of wanted to eat a rabbit a few times. Although, there's a really good... No, never mind. I've got a really good story about rabbit stew, I'll tell you, at some point in time. And then, of course, the pig.

Now, why were these animals not supposed to be eaten? If you look at each of these animals, these exceptions, you'll notice that they only do one thing. Some of them, they had divided hoofs. Perfect. But they didn't chew the cud. Some of them chewed the cud, but they didn't have divided hoofs. Now, what does that mean? It means that in our lives, there can be no compromise.

Isn't it interesting how we can say, oh, you don't understand, I live a divided life. I don't necessarily need to be in the Word all the time because I'm living my life pretty much the way I'm supposed to. I'm living separate from the world. You're still missing out on relationship. You're still missing out on... on taking everything from God's Word that you need.

Therefore, you're missing an aspect of your walk with the Lord. Some people are like, I spend a lot of time in the Word. Yeah, but you never put it into practice because you don't live a divided life. You don't live a life separated from the things of the world. Yeah, but I'm in the Word all the time. It doesn't do you any good if you never put it into practice.

You see, those are areas of compromise in our lives. And what God is telling them is that even with what you eat, there can be no compromise. So he goes on from there. Down in verse 9, he says, These you may eat, whatever is in the water, all that have fins and scales. Those in the water, in the seas, or in the rivers, you may eat. But whatever is in the seas and in the rivers

that does not have fins and scales among all the teeming life of the water, among all the living creatures that are in the water, they are detested. So in the same way with the land animals, there were two distinctions that had to be made. They had to have little fins and they had to have little scales. I don't know how to do that with my hands other than this.

It just, it feels right, okay? That's what they had to have. Now, why is that important? Well, because what does the fin do for the fish? It helps it work its way through the water. You need to be able to not only navigate your way through the waters of the world, but you need to be able to navigate your way through the waters of the word. But the second thing that it was supposed to have

is the fish was supposed to have scales. Why? What do fish that don't have scales do? We know that they are bottom feeders. In other words, they eat all of the impurities. Have you ever heard of that? Have you ever heard of that? Have you ever heard of that? Have you ever eaten catfish? Only if it's fried really, really well to where you can't taste all of the garbage in the catfish

does it taste really good, right? And that's because all you can taste is that sweet, sweet breading, right? Because those are bottom feeders. They eat all of the impurities off of everything. So in the same way that we should use, be able to navigate our way through the world and the word, our life should be free from impurities. Our life should be free from impurities.

And that's what those scales allow the fish to do, to be free from those impurities. And so that was to be their regulations for the fish that they were to be able to eat. Anyone that didn't have both, they are to be abhorrent to you. These, moreover, you shall detest among the birds. They are abhorrent and not to be eaten. The eagle and the vulture and the buzzard and the kite

and the falcon and its kind, every raven and its kind, every raven and its kind, and the ostrich and the owl and the seagull and the hawk and its kind, and the little owl and the cormorant and the great owl and the white owl and the pelican and the carry-on vulture and the stork, the heron and its kinds, and the hoopoe and the bat. That's a fun word, isn't it? All the winged insects that walk on all fours are detestable to you. Yet these you may eat.

Bummer. Among all the winged insects which walk on all fours, those which have above their feet joined legs with which to jump on the earth. These of them you may eat, the locust and its kind, the devastating locust and its kind, the cricket and its kind, and the grasshopper and its kind. All other winged insects which are four-footed are detestable to you.

Now, he then goes on to talk about the things that fly. You may have taken note of the fact that the things that fly that they weren't supposed to eat of the animals all eat dead stuff. Did you notice that? They're all meat eaters that tend to eat on the dead things. God wants life, not death. And then, of course, there was a whole litany of insects that you were not allowed to eat,

but there was a handful that you were. Now, I don't know about you, but I've never once been tempted to eat an insect. I've never once looked at a locust and thought, hmm, lunch, right? John B. did. Right? Old John the Baptist, he was like, locust, dip it in honey, hmm, like candy, right? And then I've also seen that they sell chocolate-covered grasshoppers,

which I also can't imagine eating. It would be the crunch I would never be able to get past. Right? That crunch would just be like, that's too much. But there were a handful of them that you were able to eat, and so those were the things of the winged things that you were and were not allowed to eat. Now, he goes on to deal with what happens when you take part in this.

He says, By these, moreover, you will be made unclean. Whoever touches their carcasses becomes unclean until evening. Whoever picks up any of their carcasses shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening. Concerning all the animals which divide the hoof, but do not make a split hoof, or which do not chew the cud, they are unclean to you. Whoever touches them, you guessed it,

becomes unclean. Also, whatever walks on its paws among all the creatures that walk on all fours are unclean to you. Whoever touches their carcasses becomes unclean until evening. And the one who picks up their carcasses shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening. They are unclean to you. Now, these are to you the unclean among the swarming things which swarm on the earth,

the mole, the mouse, the great lizard in its kinds, and the gecko, and the crocodile, and the lizard, and the sand reptile, and the chameleon. All of those just make sense to me. These are to you the unclean among all the swarming things. Whoever touches them when they are dead becomes unclean until evening. Also, anything on which one of them may fall when they are dead becomes unclean,

including any wooden article, or clothing, or a skin, or a sack, any article which use is made, it shall be put in the water and be unclean until evening. Until evening, then it becomes unclean. Do you notice with each of these, each of these things that they were not supposed to touch, they all had one thing in common. What would they cause you to become? Did you pick up on the word?

Unclean, right? Because even in the things that you did, food-wise and carcass-wise, if you touched it, it caused you to be unclean. It's a good reminder to us. And that's that even the things of the world, they cause us to become unclean. It may not even be on purpose that you are around these things, but it still causes you to become unclean. I wonder how often we realize

just how much the things of the earth stick to us, not physically speaking, but emotionally, spiritually, mentally speaking, how much the things of the world stick to us throughout an entire day. But did you notice what they were supposed to do? They were supposed to first of all wash themselves, and then they were to remain unclean, until the evening. Now what does that tell us that we should probably do as we take in all of the unclean things of the world and sometimes it leaves its residue on us?

Well, we should wash ourselves with water. Only we don't need to actually wash ourselves with water. What do we need to do? Gosh, it's almost like I'm going to say the same thing over and over again. We need to wash ourselves with the water of the word and allow it to cleanse us so that the next day we're ready to go. So that the next day, we're ready to approach the Lord.

Jesus with his disciples did kind of a similar thing. We've talked about the importance of washing feet. Remember what would happen? Before they would go to their ceremonial dinner, before they would go to a great feast such as the Passover, what would they do? They would go to the bath house and they would get completely clean. They would get ceremonially cleansed

so that they were ready to go for the meal for that night. But on their way to the meal, what would happen to them? Well, they'd be walking in their sweet, sweet sandals, and as they would walk in those sandals with those wet feet from the shower as well as the sweat that was building up, dust would begin to cake itself on their feet. So when they would get to the feast, what would they need to do?

Well, they wouldn't need to take a whole other shower again. What would they need to do? They would need to wash their feet. Same principle is true. We need that continual washing of the word of God. You know, it's a beautiful truth about what it says in the book of 1 John. It says that it says that as we wash our feet, as we wash our feet, as if we walk in the light, as he is in the light,

then the blood of Jesus Christ continually cleanses us from all sin. Isn't that the great truth of who God is? Is that though we may get contaminated by the things of the world, and I don't know about you, but I see it happen in me, though we get contaminated by those things of the world, if we continue to walk in his light, and the only way I know to walk in his light is to walk in his word, and his blood continues to cleanse us from all of those sins. So then it goes on in verse 33 to say this.

As for any earthenware vessel into which one of them may fall, whatever is in it becomes unclean, and you shall break the vessel. Now, this is an interesting point to be made. Again, I didn't make this myself. One of the commentaries that I read today made it, but I think it's one that needs to be enforced. We are known as earthenware vessels. We have to be clean, to be clean with the body.

Matter of fact, in the book of Corinthians, it says that we have this treasure in an earthen jar, the treasure of the gospel in an earthen jar. And in this earthen jar, sometimes it's not just that the things of the world, the uncleanness of the world attaches to the outside of us. Sometimes the uncleanness of the world gets inside of us. Do you know when it gets inside of us?

When we begin to commit those sins that we see around us for ourselves. You see, sometimes that sin becomes a part of who I am. And as that sin becomes a part of who I am, as I begin to not only fall into sin, but sin begins to fall into me, there's only one thing that God can do with me at that point in time. He has to break me. Now, this doesn't mean broken forever,

nor does it mean broken beyond repair. But when God does that in us, he brings a breaking into our lives that need to happen. A breaking in our lives that is so important. As a matter of fact, we're told in the book of Hebrews that, whom God loves, he chastens. And we shouldn't despise the chastening of the Lord because that means that we're his child. That means that we're his sons and daughters

because that's what God does for us. And when a little sin falls into our lives where it becomes a part of us, God does a beautiful breaking inside of us. And when God does that beautiful breaking inside of us, he then puts us back together and makes us brand new so that we can be used. Yeah. And so, we go on from there. In verse 34, it says, Any of the food which may be eaten

on which water comes shall become unclean, and any liquid which may be drunk in any vessel shall become unclean. Everything, moreover, on which part of their carcasses may fall becomes unclean. An oven or a stove shall be smashed. They are unclean and shall continue as unclean to you. Nevertheless, a spring or a cistern collecting water shall be clean, though the one who is unclean

and the one who touches the carcass shall be unclean. If a part of their carcass falls on any seed for sowing, which is to be sown, it is clean. Though if water is put on the seed and a part of their carcass falls on it, it is unclean to you. Also, if one of the animals dies, which you have for food, the one who touches its carcass becomes unclean until evening.

He too who eats some of its carcasses shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening. And the one who picks up its carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening. Now every swarming thing that swarms on the earth is detestable not to be eaten. Whatever crawls on its belly, whatever walks on all fours, whatever has many feet in respect to a swarming thing that swarms on the earth, you shall not eat them for they are detestable.

Do not render yourselves detestable through any of the swarming things that swarm and you shall not make yourselves unclean with them so that you become unclean. Now, as we get to verses 44 and 45, we see the point of the whole thing. Take note of what it says. For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore and be holy for I am holy. You shall not make yourselves unclean

with any of the swarming things that swarm on the earth. So he kind of sums it all up. He says the important thing is is that you be holy as I am holy. Therefore, don't take part in any of these things which are unclean. But then he really gets to the point of this entire section, not just chapter 11, but this next group of chapters that we covered. In verse 45, he says,

For I am the Lord who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God. Thus, you shall be holy for I am holy. Now, how does God encourage them to be holy? Well, he reminds them, first of all, of what he has done in them. He says, I want to remind you of something. I am the God who brought you up out of Egypt. We could exchange this for a line as New Testament believers.

We could say, I am the God who saved you. Therefore, your life should match the God who saved you. Therefore, you are to be holy as I am holy. And when we look at that word holy, it's an interesting word because we could substitute a phrase there. We could substitute it with the phrase set apart. He says, therefore, you are to be set apart as I am set apart.

Therefore, our lives, as we've mentioned before, should be set apart. Therefore, our lives, should be set apart in every way possible. In every way that we possibly can, our lives should be set apart from the things of the world. He says, because even in these things, even in the way that your diet looks, it should be set apart from the way that the world around you does things.

And so, he sums it up, sums up chapter 11 in verse 46 when he says, this is the law regarding the animal and the bird and every living thing that moves in the waters and everything that swarms on the earth to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean and between the edible creature and the creature which is not to be eaten. And now we move into another very exciting chapter in chapter 12, the ritual after childbirth. I appreciate John Corson on this. He goes, I always know that if I wrote the Bible, there are certain things I would have included more of and there are certain things that I would have included less of.

I would have given a lot more stories of the miracles that Jesus, I would have left chapter 12 out of the Bible. So it's just one of those chapters. However, there are still some things that we can learn from it. Then the Lord spoke to Moses saying, speak to the sons of Israel saying, when a woman gives birth and bears a male child, then she shall be unclean for seven days as in the days of her menstruation she shall be unclean.

On the eighth day, the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. Then she shall remain in the blood of her purification for seven days. For 33 days, she shall not touch any consecrated thing nor enter the sanctuary until the days of her purification are completed. So if a male child was born, she goes that seven days, eighth day circumcision takes place. Now, just to answer

a couple of questions on this, why is he circumcised the eighth day? Well, the eighth day, as we pointed out last week, is the day of new beginnings. And so it was a new beginning in the life of this child. Not only that, but on the eighth day is physically when his body could handle it the best because at that point in time, blood is able to clot. So it was physically

the right time for him. So those are kind of the reasonings behind the eighth day. The other thing to pay attention to is that if you were to jump into the New Testament right after the birth of Jesus, if we were to look at the book of Luke, we would see that Jesus was presented in the temple on the eighth day. Why is that important? Because even before Jesus

could come, keep the law himself, God provided him with the right parents who would keep the law for him. So on the eighth day, the male was to be circumcised and then she was to be unclean for another 33 days. So in all 41 days, if you will, of maternity leave after a male child was born. However, it's a little bit different if a female child is born. But if she bears a female child,

honey, it's a girl, then she shall be unclean for two weeks, as in her menstruation. And she shall remain in the blood of her purification for 66 days. So in all, twice as long as with the male child. When the days of her purification are completed for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring the priest to the doorway of the tent of meeting a one-year-old lamb for a burnt offering and a young pigeon or a turtle dove for a sin offering.

We'll get into those offerings in just a minute. Now, I don't know about you, but I've asked the question here, why so long? And why are there two different times? One for it's a boy, one for it's a girl. Well, first of all, let me explain why it's so long. Why does she have to have this time of being unclean? Well, if we think about it, she has just produced what?

She has just produced a little baby. Oh, we can bask in the glow of that little baby, right? We've got them all over this church right now. They're so fun. I love holding time. I love doing baby dedications because I get to hold tiny people, but I also love doing baby dedications. I only get to hold them when they're at their happiest because for whatever reason,

God puts a special little blessing on babies when they come up here to get dedicated. He's like, be happy, and they're like. I make them fart. That's okay. I've always had the ability to bring out the bowels of a child, right? Every time I hold children, they have to poop. I'm used to that by now. It's so fun seeing those tiny little people and you get to hold them,

and of course, when I do baby dedications, the moment they get upset, I go, oh, look, I give them back to you. That's the great thing about being at the stage I am of parenthood is that I hold a baby when they're happy, and when they're not, I find a parent, and I say, oh, look, they want you. So a sweet little baby, but deep down, what is that little child? That little child's a sinner.

Isn't that, that's the sad truth about what little babies are. Matter of fact, there's two places in Scripture I want you to go with me. Go first of all to the book of Psalms. I want you to look at Psalm 51. Psalm 51. Verse five.

In Psalm 51, verse five, the psalmist David writes this. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity and in sin my mother conceived me. Now, that doesn't mean that there was anything wrong with the conception of the child. It just means when that child is born, he's a little sinner. Well, let's go a little bit further with that and look at Romans chapter five. Turn over to Romans chapter five

and I want you to look at verse 12.

In Romans five, verse 12, it says this. Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world and death through sin, so death spread to all men because all sinned. What made the mother so unclean when this child was born? Yes, there's physical aspects to it and that's important to pay attention to. It was partially for her physical protection. Listen, I've been through this.

I've been through this thing twice and I know that moms, they need some time because they just went through a train wreck to bring that child about, right? Like when God told Eve, he's like, hey, listen, childbirth, that's gonna be a bummer, right? Ultimately worth it. That day, bad day, right? Because that's gonna hurt, right? Like God knew what he was talking about.

I've seen that situation firsthand twice. I know that's what God meant. I remember when my sister had her oldest daughter who goes to church here now. She's gonna love when I tell this story. When my sister had Lily, I showed up at the hospital. Of course, I'm fresh out of Bible college so I got lots of verses in my head. And you know, there's that verse that basically says

that though childbirth is painful, it's kind of worth it in the end because of the joy of a new child. There's a verse that says something along those lines. So I show up and I look at my sister and I say, hey, the Bible says that ultimately you really don't feel the pain anymore because of the joy of a brand new child being born. Is that true? And she goes, not yet.

So it's kind of for the mom's protection but there's a spiritual aspect too and that's because when a child is born, that child is born a little sinner and they are doubly unclean because you not only have the fact that the mom has a sin nature but she just produced a child with a sin nature. Now, why? Why is it twice as long for a girl than a boy? Well, when a little boy is born, what's the first thing that happens to him when he's eight days old?

He is born. He is born. He is born. He is born. He is circumcised. What does that circumcision represent? Separation from the flesh. So he has a physical reminder of being separated from the flesh. So if you will, there's that picture of that separation. There's that picture of the cutting off of sin. But for the female child, that doesn't take place. And so the picture there is

she waits that much longer in her uncleanness because the sin was never cut off. So that's the idea behind the separation. Behind the fact that it takes that much longer for a girl than a boy. The question is, how do we apply this truth to our lives? Because I think it's important for us to pay attention to the fact that there was this aspect of uncleanness.

This knowledge of the fact that we are born sinners kind of has a little bit of an effect on our lives. And through some of the commentaries that I read, I think there's three things that we can apply about the truth of the fact that we're born as sinners. Number one, it affects the way I see my kids. I think the understanding that there is that uncleanness because of the sin nature should affect the way that we view our children.

First of all, it takes away any sort of aspect of us going, my perfect little child. Right? Because we understand that that's not a perfect little child. I never had to teach either one of my girls how to say no. I never had to teach either one of them how to throw a fit. I never had to teach either one of them to be selfish or to take toys from other children.

No, I had to do the very opposite of that. Why? Because they have a sin nature. And so when I look at them and I see their sin nature, it strips from me the idea that that is a perfect child that can do no wrong. I think that that's something that we could use in the world today. Because right now it seems like when a kid gets in trouble, who gets blamed? The teacher gets blamed.

Well, clearly, because it's the teacher's fault for getting that child in trouble. It's society's fault because society was the one that put undue restrictions on them. It's the police's fault because they don't know how to police properly. It's the school system's fault because the school system doesn't have the right kind of things in place to really deal with children.

No. It's because they're a sinner. And sin comes very naturally to them. And it should strip from us the idea that little Johnny's perfect because little Johnny is not perfect. Little Johnny and little Janie, they're sinners in need of a Savior. But not only does it strip from me the idea that that's a perfect little child, it also instills in me a great deal of patience

with that child. Because I have the distinct understanding that they have the exact sin nature that I do. Therefore, as I see them screw up and I go, oh, why? God's really good at going. Do you remember that one time when you were 13? And I'm like, oh, that's right. Or sometimes it's like, do you remember that one time earlier today? Those are the ones that really hurt, right?

If it's something I did when I was a teenager, I'm like, of course, teenager, they've done it before. They're going to do that because I had that struggle. It's a whole other thing when it's like, 30 minutes ago, that's why, because I had that struggle. Right? And so it affects the way that I see my kids. Not only that, but it affects the way that I see myself.

It affects how I see myself because you see, I have to come to grips with that. It affects the fact that I am born with a sin nature. And so it strips me of any idea that I'm perfect. Of any idea that I can ever be perfect because I never will be because as long as, as old Jane Verna McGee would say, as long as I live on the top side of old planet Earth, I'm always going to deal with this flesh because I have a sin nature.

And it affects the way that I see myself. It strips away any undue reality, but it also hopefully instills a little bit of patience in me because you know who I find I'm the least patient with in my life? Me. Why? Because my pride says I should be better than that. And so it affects how I see myself. But not only does it affect how I see my kids and how I see myself,

it affects how I see others. Kind of easy to get mad at people in the world today, isn't it? Doesn't it seem like we're all just mad at each other? The Democrats are mad at the Republicans because they're idiots and the Republicans are mad at the Democrats because they're idiots and the people in this country are mad at the people in this country because we can't take them over.

The people in this country are mad at this country because they're trying to take us over. And we're all just mad at each other. Why are we all mad at each other? Because we all think one thing. I'm perfect and they're not. But as we begin to understand the sin nature, we all of a sudden go, hey, I should be patient with them too. Because, we all struggle with sin.

We all struggle with issues in our lives. That impurity, that uncleanness, it's inside of all of us. Completely the opposite of what Sarah McLachlan says. We are not born innocent. Believe me, Adia, right? We're not. That's just all that there is to it. And so it changes the way that we see other people and hopefully instills in us a patience with other people.

So I'm not sure which of those situations needs to work on your heart tonight, whether you've got some kiddos that you need to learn to be a little bit patient with because, hey, they're sinners and you need to stop thinking they're perfect. It's not the teacher's fault. It's their fault because they're sinners. Or whether you need to change the way that you view yourself because you're way too hard on yourself for getting that you're just simply a sinner saved by grace.

Or whether you need to be patient with somebody else and remember they've got that same sin nature that you do and in the same way that you want God to be patient and gracious with you, you need to be patient and gracious with them. Either way, kind of an interesting thing to learn out of Leviticus chapter 12. So after the child was born and after she waits her time for purification, what's she supposed to do? She brings a sacrifice.

She comes to the priest at the door, middle of verse six, at the doorway of the tent of meeting and brings either a one-year-old lamb as a burnt offering or a young pigeon or a turtle dove as a sin offering. And so she brings this offering to the Lord. Why? Because she's making atonement for that sin that she just brought. And then in verse seven it says this,

Then he shall offer it before the Lord and make atonement for her and she shall be cleansed from the flow of her blood. This is the law for her who bears a child, whether a male or a female. She can't afford a lamb and she shall take two turtle doves or two young pigeons, the one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. And the priest shall make atonement for her and she will be clean.

One last thing to point out and then we'll wrap up there. When Jesus was taken to the temple at eight o'clock in the morning, at eight o'clock in the morning, at eight o'clock in the morning, at eight days old, do you remember what Mary and Joseph presented to the Lord as their offering? They presented a turtle dove and a young pigeon. Why? Because Jesus was born

to two of the most common people you can imagine. He relates to us. So, a lot to learn out of chapters 11 and 12 in the book of Leviticus. Maybe not the most interesting reading, but still a lot to be learned from God's word. Amen? Let's pray. Lord, I just ask that you would continue to be faithful in our lives. And Lord, whether it's learning to be patient

with ourselves or others, whether it's learning to take the word of God for all that it's worth, living a life separated from the world and unto you, whatever it is, Lord, may we take the truths that we've learned tonight, apply them to our lives, and be the men and women you've called for us to be. In Jesus' name. Amen. Be blessed.