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Dr. Manny Arango
Hey, Bible nerds. This is Dr. Manny Arango and I'm your host for the Bible department podcast powered by Arma. This podcast follows a Bible reading plan we created to help you read the entire Bible in a year. You can head to the show notes or thebibledepartment.com to download our reading plan and join the journey. To all my fellow pastors, I've got a question for you. Does your city know that your church exists? Listen, I get it. You're preaching, you're leading, you're discipling, you're doing ministry. We are in the same boat. And let's be honest, social media and marketing, not your strong suit. Not mine either. And that's probably the last thing on your mind. And that's why we chose to partner with Church Candy Marketing for our church Plant the garden. We out here, y'all. They help churches get more actual guests walking through the doors on Sunday without your eye having to stress over ads or algorithms or trying to crack the social media code. Right now, Church Candy is helping nearly 400 churches reach their communities with simple invite ads. And it works. It's super effective. I can tell you from firsthand experience. So if you're tired of being your city's best kept secret, how about you do this? Go to churchcandy.com Manny and book a free consultation book a discovery call. Their team will break it all down and show you how to start seeing new faces at your church this Sunday. I'm in the trenches with you trying to grow the church. And how about we just start a whole campaign? No more empty churches. So let's partner with Church Candy and get our churches full. The glory of Jesus. Let's go. We've got chapters 21 and 22 to cover today. If you've already done the reading, then you already know the. The Bible's going to be talking about crushed testicles today. All right? So just, you know, we're going to get into it. We're going to talk about these crushed testicles. Why? Why is that important? For those of you who have not done the reading today, hopefully what I just said encourages you to do the reading. I would say that, you know, if you're. I pray that honestly, this is the one time you actually make it through Leviticus. Every Christian gets hung up on the book of Leviticus. This is not, like, entertaining material to read. It's not in story or narrative form. But God has some really, really, really amazing things to communicate to us through this book. And so I would say I've grown to enjoy the book of Leviticus because I've been able to interpret it. And so I want to help you along that journey. Chapter 21 and 22 is more instructions about the priesthood. Remember, you've got a chiasm in the book of Leviticus. And Israel's priests are one of the ways in which they are going to maintain holiness, okay, three ways that they're going to be holy. That's through rituals, that's through purity laws, and that's through their priesthood. And so we've got information about the priests on either side of the day of atonement, and this is the mirroring or parallel side on the other side of the day of atonement, okay? So we got instructions about the priest, okay? Couple of things that we need to highlight. So that's like. That's all the context clues that we really need. Let's kind of get into some nerdy nuggets, all right? The priests cannot marry whoever they want to marry. Now, it was very, very common, okay, in the ancient world for immoral sexual activity to coincide with religious practice. All right? So when you read in the Old Testament and the New Testament, okay, these things go together. The way that you worship the gods is by having sex with temple prostitutes, is by, you know, the Bible says the people of Israel would defile themselves at asherah poles, okay? These are ancient phallic symbols. They believe that if you have symbols had sex while worshiping one of these gods, it would create fertility. And so there's all types of just perverse sexual practice that's completely intertwined with religious fervor and religious beliefs in the ancient world. And so it actually makes sense that God wants to say, well, for the people of Israel, you're going to be completely set apart from that kind of secular culture. Therefore, the people who the priest marries is going to be really, really, really important. So the priest can't marry a prostitute because in this culture, a priest being married to a prostitute looks a whole lot like secular culture, okay, where a religious priest would be engaging with temple prostitutes. And so Yahweh, through the Bible, wants to separate Israelite religious practice from. From secular religious practice as much as humanly possible. The Levitical priests also cannot marry a divorced woman. They actually have to marry a virgin. So who they marry is really, really important. I'll just skip ahead and just kind of get into a timeless truth. Okay? I remember when I started preaching at the age of 12 years old, okay, I knew I was going to be in ministry really, really young and so I just knew, man, I'm set apart for service in God's church. I, I am dedicated to God to serve in, in a, in a way that is vocational in nature. And I remember one of the first things I'm just thinking about as a teenager, as a college student was then I need to marry someone with that information in mind. I, I need to, I need to marry someone who's okay with my lifestyle, that I'm not, I'm not a lawyer, I'm not a doctor. Like I don't have a normal lifestyle when it comes to vocation. And that, that is going to be reflected and that's going to impact my spouse. And I have to be thinking about, man, is, is the person I'm going to marry, are they going to be somebody I can build church with? Are they somebody that I can do ministry alongside of? Are they somebody who can partner with me in the work of the ministry? And I'm not saying that people have to do this. I really am not. I just know for me it was, it was appealing to marry a worship leader. And I did. My wife's, my wife sings and plays guitar and can write songs. And I married someone that I could do ministry with. I married someone with ministry skills. So although I'm not a Levitical priest, although, you know, I think that there are mandates here that aren't applicable in terms of the specificity. I think that God's giving wisdom here that can be applied. And I think that if you are the equivalent of a Levitical priest, which would be a pastor, a minister, someone who gets a check from a church, okay. Because that's the situation. The Levites are being financially supported by the other tribes. So if you're being financially supported by the congregation of a church, then I think you should be mindful, like, you know what, my family is set apart now. Can that be too extreme? Yes. If that pendulum goes the other way and people feel like, oh, we don't have to pay your wife because we essentially got a 2 for 1 deal and we get to, you know, we get to be all up in your kids business. Look, I know enough PKs and enough pastors wives to know when things go too far, we want to manage attention, okay? We want to hold two truths, intention. We don't want to abuse anything and slip into extremes. So I think that the Bible's actually giving some really, really good insight here on, hey, if you're going to be dedicated to the Lord for ministerial service, then your family's a part of that there's no way that your family is not impacted. So there's even gonna be laws here about who can eat the food. Okay. When somebody brings an offering, that's how the Levites are gonna eat. Okay. And it gets down into details. Hey, if your daughter marries somebody and they're not a priest, then she can no longer eat the food at your house. Cause God's people gave that food and that food belongs to. To Yahweh. But if she gets divorced and she comes back to live at your house, then she can eat the food again. And when you're in, like I lived in Uganda for a while. I remember taking up, when the pastor would take up the tithes and the offerings, people would bring chickens and people would bring animals. Like, because if you're living in a really rural community, it's normal to support the pastor or support the church with the fruit of the land, with the fat of the land. So are there certain things that can't be applied? Of course. But are there, Is there general wisdom that still can be applied to anyone who's called to ministry? I think absolutely, yes. Bible department family, it's Dr. Manny Arango. And first thing I want to say is that I'm proud of you for completing the New Testament. You did it. And now that we're in the Old Testament, I hope that looking at Genesis and Exodus from an ancient perspective and worldview has kind of like opened your eyes. Well, I got news for you. If you've enjoyed some of the interpretations that I've brought to the table from Genesis, then that's just the tip of the iceberg. This entire book, Crushing Chaos, was written from an ancient hermeneutic. I'm looking at stories like the Flood, Adam and Eve from the perspective of an ancient person. And we've got an event coming up on April 26th where I'll take a lot of the content from this book and I'll turn that content into live lectures. You don't want to miss it. You can actually register for that event right now. The link is in the description. And more than content, I think what you'll find as we gather together in Nashville are like minded believers and friends and a community of people that you don't just watch content with online that you can get to know in person. I'd love to see you in Nashville. I'd love to hug you. High five you. And I'd love to nerd out together for one day as we come together in Nashville to learn about how to crush chaos. I'LL see you in Nashville. Peace. All right, let's kind of get into this next part. I want to compare two passages, one from Leviticus 21 and one from Leviticus 22. Here's what it says in Leviticus 21. Leviticus, chapter 21, verse 16. It says, the Lord said to Moses, say to Aaron, for the generations to come, none of your descendants who has a defect may come near to offer the food of his God. No man who has any defect may come near. No man who is blind or lame, disfigured or deformed. No man with a crippled foot or hand, or who is a hunchback or a dwarf, or who has an eye defect, or who has festering or running sores or damaged testicles. No descendant of Aaron, priest who has any defect is to come near to present the food offerings to the Lord. So no one with that kind of defect can offer sacrifices as a priest. There's still things that they can do to serve the tabernacle, but they can't offer sacrifice. He may eat the most holy food of his God as well as as the holy food. Yet because of his defect, he must not go near the curtain or approach the altar and so desecrate my sanctuary. I am the Lord who makes them holy. So this can seem cruel. Like, this can kind of seem like, dang God. Like, why are you prejudiced against handicapped people? Like, what's going on? Okay, until you get to Leviticus 22, and you're gonna hear some of the exact same descriptions, and here's what the descriptions are gonna say. Okay? This is Leviticus chapter 22, just one chapter later. And this entire chapter is gonna outline acceptable versus unacceptable sacrifices. So what kind of animal is acceptable? What kind of animal is unacceptable? And it says this in verse 17 of chapter 22, speak to Aaron and his sons and all the Israelites, say to them, if any of you, whether an Israelite or a foreigner residing in Israel, presenting a gift for a burnt offering to the Lord either to fulfill a vow or free will offering. Verse 19. You must present a male without defect from the cattle, sheep, or goats in order that it may be accepted on your behalf. Do not bring anything with a defect, okay? No defects, because it will not be accepted on your behalf. When anyone brings from the herd or flock to fellowship offering to the Lord to fulfill a special vow or a free will offering, it must be without defect or blemish to be acceptable. Do not offer to the Lord the blind. Okay, we've seen that already. Okay? The priest can't be blind. The priest's eyes can't be damaged in any way. The injured or the maimed or anything with warts or festering and running sores. We saw festering and running sores. Do not place any of these on the altar as food offerings presented to the Lord. You may, however, present as a free will offering an altar sheet that is deformed or stunned, but it will not be accepted in fulfillment of a vow. You must not offer to the Lord an animal whose testicles are bruised. So this sounds familiar. Priests can't have deformed testicles. Okay. Or crushed testicles or damaged testicles. So here we go. Verse 24 of chapter 22. Verse 24 of chapter 22. You must not offer to the Lord an animal whose testicles are bruised, crushed, torn, or cut. You must not do this in your own land. And you must not accept such animals from the hand of a foreigner and offer them as food to your God. They will not be accepted on your behalf because they are deformed and have defects. Wow. So I think that the text is drawing a link between the priests and the offerings. The priests can't have deforms, deformities, or defects. The animals can't have deformities or defects. Why? That's the key question. Why? And this is the reason. Because the priests are also a form of an offering. The priests are placed on a proverbial or metaphorical altar and are offered to God. The Bible's gonna say this, that the Levites are essentially the firstborn amongst all the Israelites. And what happens in the Plague of the Passover? God claims the firstborn as his own. And the only way to save the life of the firstborn would be to offer an animal in its place. So there's a relationship between the firstborn belongs to God and animals belong to God. Sacrifice belong to God. And that same relationship is going to exist with the priests and the animals that they offer. That in a real sense, the priest doesn't belong to himself, but the priest belongs to the Lord. The priest has been offered unto God as a sacrifice. Now we're going to get the same idea when we talk about Nazarite vows in the Book of Numbers. Okay, when we get to the Book of Numbers, if an Israelite who's not a Levite wants to live essentially like a high priest, they can take a Nazarite vow. And when you think about Samuel, who has a Nazarite vow, Hannah, his mother offers him to God, says, lord, this boy's yours. And so Samuel doesn't grow up in. At Hannah's house, Samuel grows up. Or Elkinah's house, he grows up with Eli, the priest. Samuel is dedicated to God as a Nazarite, which means he grows up in God's house, he grows up with Eli. So in a real way, the entire Levitical tribe, they are offered to God. You are offered to the Lord. Now, when I think about my own personal call, my parents, you know, couldn't get pregnant for years. And so my mother, she was a heathen, not saved, prayed God, if you give me a son, I'll give him back to you. She miraculously got pregnant with me and decided to put me in a Catholic school, taught me how to read using the Bible, sent me to an African Methodist, Episcopal church every Sunday in a Pentecostal youth group on Fridays. To her, it was all just Jesus. You know, she didn't know the difference between African Methodist, Episcopal, Catholic, Pentecostal. She didn't know the difference between any of those things, but she genuinely fulfilled that vow. She said, lord, if you get me pregnant, I'll give them back to you. Now, my mom didn't become a Christian until I was a teenager, but she taught me how to read using the Bible. She, she offered me back to God in a very, very real way that this child's mind and his gift and his, and his, his vocabulary and his voice is to be offered back to God in service to ministry. And so I like, as, as someone who's experienced, like, just being offered to God, my mother allowed my youth pastor to discipline me the same way that Samuel grew up with Eli. I, I, because my dad was on drugs, because my house was chaotic, I was raised just as much by my church as I was by my mother. And so I can rock with this as like, yeah, in the same way that the animals are offered to God, the priesthood is also offered to God. The priesthood is the firstborn that God takes for himself. This is why the priests don't get land. The priests don't fight in the army. So it's a give and take. There's pros and cons, and we're going to see in the Book of Numbers, they're going to be. Korah and his crew wants the privileges that come along with being a priest, but they don't want the weight or the burden that comes along with being a priest. And so the priesthood is a very holy and serious thing. And so the reason that the priest can't have crushed testicles or, or damaged eyes or any kind of Deformity or defect, because the offerings can't have that. And why now? Now we get into our timeless truth, and here's the bigger why. Why? Well, because the priests and the sacrifices are both a type and shadow of Jesus. Jesus is both priest and sacrifice. And Jesus has no blemish, no sin, no spot, no deformity, no defect. He has to be a perfect sacrifice to eliminate or to cleanse humanity of sin. Okay, so Hebrews is going to make it clear the life of Jesus was offered once and for all. He was a perfect sacrifice. When we get into the New Testament. Well, we did the New Testament first on this reading plan, but maybe you remember this from the New Testament. When the angels go out to talk to the shepherds in the book of Luke, they tell them, this will be a sign to you. You're gonna go see this baby, he's gonna be wrapped in swaddling clothes. Why is that a sign for these shepherds? Well, because these were Levitical shepherds. These shepherds were raising sheep in Bethlehem, which is six miles from Jerusalem. And these shepherds had one job, to raise lambs that were born for one thing, to die. They were supplying lambs. They were providing offerings for the temple in Jerusalem. How do you keep a baby lamb from getting bruised, from getting damaged, from getting. For getting defected? You have to wrap it in swaddling clothes. You can't just let it run and roam free. You have to wrap it up in swaddling clothes to keep it from getting injured, scratched, cut, or anything else that would disqualify it from actually being a spotless sacrifice, a spotless lamb. So because they had been wrapping up lambs that were born to die in swaddling clothes, the minute they walk into the manger, which was probably a cave, the moment they walked in and saw a baby wrapped up in the same kind of clothes that lambs were wrapped in, they knew, oh, that child is born to die. That is the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. It was a sign to the Levitical shepherds because they'd been raising sheep that were born for one purpose, to die in the temple in Jerusalem, six miles away. And Jesus is born to die in Jerusalem as a sacrifice for your sins and mine six miles away. So obviously. So talking about Levitical shepherds in the book of Luke seems fitting. And that's our timeless truth for the day. So we got context clues, we got some dirty nuggets, and we got a timeless truth that Jesus is the blemish free sacrifice, the sinless sacrifice for you and for me. This passage here in Leviticus, chapter 22 says that the priests have to inspect the sacrifice to make sure that it's acceptable to God. And when we get to Luke, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, well, the chief priests are doing the same thing. They're interrogating Jesus. They're examining the sacrifice to make sure that he is actually a spotless lamb. They don't know that that's what they're doing. They're actually the antagonists in the storyline. They are the. But they're also the ones that are offering him up as a sacrifice. So many themes come together when you understand the book of Leviticus and can then apply it to what's happening in the Gospels, especially in the Jesus story. All right, family, that's day 114. I'll see you right here tomorrow for day one 15. Tomorrow we've got Leviticus chapters 23 to 27. We're going to continue our trek through the book of Leviticus. We're, we're. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. We're almost done. I hope Leviticus has been fun for you so far. If you're on a streak, don't break it. If you're not on a streak, all you need is two days in a row, homie. You can get on the streak. So let. Let's start one, okay? Let's start a streak. Let's get this habit of getting the Bible, getting the word of God into our hearts and minds every day. I love you. I'm so proud of you. I'll see you right here tomorrow for day one 15. Peace. Thanks so much for joining us on the Bible Department podcast. You can find us online and learn more about the show at thebibledepartment.com and on Instagram hebible department. If you enjoyed this episode and want to dive deeper into the Bible, you can get free access to our library of courses@thebibledepartment.com Come, we'll see you back here tomorrow.