The Shed Blood Of Offering Purifies And Sanctifies What Needs Purification And Sanctification
Leviticus 8 reads,
8:1
Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 8:2"Take Aaron and his sons with him, and the garments, and the anointing oil, and the bull of the sin offering, and the two rams, and the basket of unleavened bread; 8:3and assemble all the congregation at the door of the Tent of Meeting."8:4
Moses did as Yahweh commanded him; and the congregation was assembled at the door of the Tent of Meeting. 8:5Moses said to the congregation, "This is the thing which Yahweh has commanded to be done." 8:6Moses brought Aaron and his sons, and washed them with water. 8:7He put the coat on him, tied the sash on him, clothed him with the robe, put the ephod on him, and he tied the skillfully woven band of the ephod on him, and fastened it to him with it. 8:8He placed the breastplate on him; and in the breastplate he put the Urim and the Thummim. 8:9He set the turban on his head; and on the turban, in front, he set the golden plate, the holy crown; as Yahweh commanded Moses. 8:10Moses took the anointing oil, and anointed the tabernacle and all that was in it, and sanctified them. 8:11He sprinkled it on the altar seven times, and anointed the altar and all its vessels, and the basin and its base, to sanctify them. 8:12He poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron’s head, and anointed him, to sanctify him. 8:13Moses brought Aaron’s sons, and clothed them with coats, and tied sashes on them, and put headbands on them; as Yahweh commanded Moses.8:14
He brought the bull of the sin offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the bull of the sin offering. 8:15He killed it; and Moses took the blood, and put it on the horns of the altar round about with his finger, and purified the altar, and poured out the blood at the base of the altar, and sanctified it, to make atonement for it. 8:16He took all the fat that was on the innards, and the cover of the liver, and the two kidneys, and their fat; and Moses burned it on the altar. 8:17But the bull, and its skin, and its flesh, and its dung, he burned with fire outside the camp; as Yahweh commanded Moses.8:18
He presented the ram of the burnt offering: and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram. 8:19He killed it; and Moses sprinkled the blood on the altar round about. 8:20He cut the ram into its pieces; and Moses burned the head, and the pieces, and the fat. 8:21He washed the innards and the legs with water; and Moses burned the whole ram on the altar. It was a burnt offering for a sweet savor. It was an offering made by fire to Yahweh; as Yahweh commanded Moses.8:22
He presented the other ram, the ram of consecration: and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram. 8:23He killed it; and Moses took some of its blood, and put it on the tip of Aaron’s right ear, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the great toe of his right foot. 8:24He brought Aaron’s sons; and Moses put some of the blood on the tip of their right ear, and on the thumb of their right hand, and on the great toe of their right foot; and Moses sprinkled the blood on the altar round about. 8:25He took the fat, and the fat tail, and all the fat that was on the innards, and the cover of the liver, and the two kidneys, and their fat, and the right thigh; 8:26and out of the basket of unleavened bread, that was before Yahweh, he took one unleavened cake, and one cake of oiled bread, and one wafer, and placed them on the fat, and on the right thigh. 8:27He put all these in Aaron’s hands and in his sons’ hands, and waved them for a wave offering before Yahweh. 8:28Moses took them from their hands, and burned them on the altar on the burnt offering. They were a consecration for a sweet savor. It was an offering made by fire to Yahweh.8:29
Moses took the breast, and waved it for a wave offering before Yahweh. It was Moses’ portion of the ram of consecration, as Yahweh commanded Moses. 8:30Moses took some of the anointing oil, and some of the blood which was on the altar, and sprinkled it on Aaron, on his garments, and on his sons, and on his sons’ garments with him, and sanctified Aaron, his garments, and his sons, and his sons’ garments with him.8:31
Moses said to Aaron and to his sons, "Boil the flesh at the door of the Tent of Meeting, and there eat it and the bread that is in the basket of consecration, as I commanded, saying, ‘Aaron and his sons shall eat it.’ 8:32What remains of the flesh and of the bread you shall burn with fire. 8:33You shall not go out from the door of The tent of Meeting seven days, until the days of your consecration are fulfilled: for he shall consecrate you seven days. 8:34What has been done this day, so Yahweh has commanded to do, to make atonement for you. 8:35At the door of the Tent of Meeting you shall stay day and night seven days, and keep the charge of Yahweh, that you don’t die: for so I am commanded." 8:36Aaron and his sons did all the things which Yahweh commanded by Moses.It should be noted from 8:14-15 that atonement is made for the altar through the shed blood of the bull of the sin offering. What quality does blood have that it is through blood that atonement is made?
Leviticus 16 reads,
16:1
Yahweh spoke to Moses, after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they drew near before Yahweh, and died; 16:2and Yahweh said to Moses, "Tell Aaron your brother, not to come at all times into the Most Holy Place within the veil, before the mercy seat which is on the ark; lest he die: for I will appear in the cloud on the mercy seat.16:3
"Herewith shall Aaron come into the sanctuary: with a young bull for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering. 16:4He shall put on the holy linen coat, and he shall have the linen breeches on his body, and shall put on the linen sash, and he shall be dressed with the linen turban. They are the holy garments. He shall bathe his body in water, and put them on. 16:5He shall take from the congregation of the children of Israel two male goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering16:6
"Aaron shall offer the bull of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house. 16:7He shall take the two goats, and set them before Yahweh at the door of the Tent of Meeting. 16:8Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats; one lot for Yahweh, and the other lot for the scapegoat. 16:9Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for Yahweh, and offer him for a sin offering. 16:10But the goat, on which the lot fell for the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before Yahweh, to make atonement for him, to send him away for the scapegoat into the wilderness.The Shed Blood Of Sin Offering Atones For Sin - Uncleanness And Transgression
16:11
"Aaron shall present the bull of the sin offering, which is for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house, and shall kill the bull of the sin offering which is for himself. 16:12He shall take a censer full of coals of fire from off the altar before Yahweh, and two handfuls of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the veil: 16:13and he shall put the incense on the fire before Yahweh, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is on the testimony, so that he will not die. 16:14He shall take some of the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy seat on the east; and before the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.16:15
"Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the veil, and do with his blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat: 16:16and he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions, even all their sins; and so he shall do for the Tent of Meeting, that dwells with them in the midst of their uncleanness. 16:17There shall be no one in the Tent of Meeting when he enters to make atonement in the Holy Place, until he comes out, and has made atonement for himself and for his household, and for all the assembly of Israel.16:18
"He shall go out to the altar that is before Yahweh and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the bull's blood, and some of the goat's blood, and put it on the horns of the altar round about. 16:19He shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and make it holy from the uncleanness of the children of Israel.16:20
"When he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place, the Tent of Meeting, and the altar, he shall present the live goat. 16:21Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, even all their sins; and he shall put them on the head of the goat, and shall send him away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness. 16:22The goat shall carry all their iniquities on himself to a solitary land, and he shall let the goat go in the wilderness.16:23
"Aaron shall come into the Tent of Meeting, and shall take off the linen garments, which he put on when he went into the Holy Place, and shall leave them there. 16:24Then he shall bathe himself in water in a holy place, and put on his garments, and come out and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people, and make atonement for himself and for the people. 16:25The fat of the sin offering he shall burn on the altar.16:26
"He who lets the goat go for the scapegoat shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp. 16:27The bull for the sin offering, and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the Holy Place, shall be carried forth outside the camp; and they shall burn their skins, their flesh, and their dung with fire. 16:28He who burns them shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp.Atonement Is Equivalent To One Being Cleansed Of All Of One's Sins
16:29
"It shall be a statute to you forever: in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and shall do no manner of work, the native-born, or the stranger who sojourns among you: 16:30for on this day shall atonement be made for you, to cleanse you; from all your sins you shall be clean before Yahweh. 16:31It is a Sabbath of solemn rest to you, and you shall afflict your souls; it is a statute forever. 16:32The priest, who is anointed and who is consecrated to be priest in his father's place, shall make the atonement, and shall put on the linen garments, even the holy garments. 16:33Then he shall make atonement for the Holy Sanctuary; and he shall make atonement for the Tent of Meeting and for the altar; and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly.16:34
"This shall be an everlasting statute for you, to make atonement for the children of Israel once in the year because of all their sins."It was done as Yahweh commanded Moses.
How Does The Scapegoat Make Atonement?
16:10 shows that the scapegoat also makes atonement, but not by its shed blood, as it is not killed. How does it make atonement, or cleanse from sin, without having its blood shed?
16:16 notes that the uncleanness of the children of Israel is their transgressions, even all their sins. In other words, sin is uncleanness.
16:20-22 shows that the manner the scapegoat made atonement was by the sins of the children of Israel being metaphorically transferred to it. By the scapegoat carrying all the sins of the children of Israel it had freed the children of Israel from carrying all their sins.
It Is Sin To Hate Your Brother In Your Heart
Leviticus 19:17-18 reads,
19:17
You shall not hate your brother in your heart: you shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him. 19:18You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people; but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am Yahweh.One bears sin when one hates one's brother IN ONE'S HEART! Yahweh's word to us is that we love our neighbours FROM OUR HEARTS. When we do not love our neighbours from our hearts we bear sin, as we go against Yahweh's word to us!
Not Rebuking A Brother Is Hatred For The Brother
19:17 shows that when we do not rebuke our brother, when we have cause to rebuke our brother, we manifest our hatred for him! In other words, Yahweh imposes upon us an obligation to rebuke our brethren whenever our brethren have done something meriting rebuke.
19:18 shows that bearing a grudge against our brethren is not loving them, but is, in truth, hating them from the heart.
A Bondwoman Who Violates Her Betrothal Commits Sin
Leviticus 19:20-22 reads,
19:20
Whoever lies carnally with a woman, who is a bondmaid, pledged to be married to a husband, and not at all redeemed, nor freedom given her; they shall be punished; they shall not be put to death, because she was not free. 19:21He shall bring his trespass-offering to Yahweh, to the door of the tent of meeting, even a ram for a trespass-offering. 19:22The priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the trespass-offering before Yahweh for his sin which he has sinned: and the sin which he has sinned shall be forgiven him.Why Is The Sin Of A Bondwoman Treated Less Severely Than That Of A Free Woman?
It is sin to sexually lie with a bondmaid pledged to be married to a husband. The penalty for this sin is punishment that does not involve death. The reason it does not involve death is the woman concerned was not a free woman, but a bondmaid.
It should therefore be clear that the status of a free woman in Yahweh's eyes is higher than that of a bondwoman. Adultery committed by a bondwoman incurs lesser penalty than when committed by a free woman.
Why does Yahweh accord, in his law, a bondwoman lesser status than a free woman?
Leviticus 20 reads,
20:1
Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 20:2Moreover, you shall tell the children of Israel, Whoever he be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel, who gives of his seed to Molech; he shall surely be put to death: the people of the land shall stone him with stones. 20:3I also will set my face against that man, and will cut him off from among his people; because he has given of his seed to Molech, to defile my sanctuary, and to profane my holy name. 20:4If the people at the land do at all hide their eyes from that man, when he gives of his seed to Molech, and don’t put him to death; 20:5then I will set my face against that man, and against his family, and will cut him off, and all who play the prostitute after him, to play the prostitute with Molech, from among their people. 20:6The soul that turns to those who have familiar spirits, and to the wizards, to play the prostitute after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people. 20:7Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am Yahweh your God. 20:8You shall keep my statutes, and do them: I am Yahweh who sanctifies you. 20:9For everyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death: he has cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be on him. 20:10The man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, even he who commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. 20:11The man who lies with his father’s wife has uncovered his father’s nakedness: both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be on them. 20:12If a man lie with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death: they have created confusion; their blood shall be on them. 20:13If a man lie with mankind, as with womankind, both of them have committed abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be on them. 20:14If a man take a wife and her mother, it is wickedness: they shall be burnt with fire, both he and they; that there be no wickedness among you. 20:15If a man lie with a animal, he shall surely be put to death: and you shall kill the animal. 20:16If a woman approach to any animal, and lie down thereto, you shall kill the woman, and the animal: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be on them. 20:17If a man shall take his sister, his father’s daughter, or his mother’s daughter, and see her nakedness, and she see his nakedness; it is a shameful thing; and they shall be cut off in the sight of the children of their people: he has uncovered his sister’s nakedness; he shall bear his iniquity. 20:18If a man shall lie with a woman having her sickness, and shall uncover her nakedness; he has made naked her fountain, and she has uncovered the fountain of her blood: and both of them shall be cut off from among their people. 20:19You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister, nor of your father’s sister; for he has made naked his close relative: they shall bear their iniquity. 20:20If a man shall lie with his uncle’s wife, he has uncovered his uncle’s nakedness: they shall bear their sin; they shall die childless. 20:21If a man shall take his brother’s wife, it is impurity: he has uncovered his brother’s nakedness; they shall be childless. 20:22You shall therefore keep all my statutes, and all my ordinances, and do them; that the land, where I bring you to dwell therein, not vomit you out. 20:23You shall not walk in the customs of the nation, which I cast out before you: for they did all these things, and therefore I abhorred them. 20:24But I have said to you, You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess it, a land flowing with milk and honey: I am Yahweh your God, who has separated you from the peoples. 20:25You shall therefore make a distinction between the clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean fowl and the clean: and you shall not make your souls abominable by animal, or by bird, or by anything with which the ground teems, which I have separated from you as unclean. 20:26You shall be holy to me: for I, Yahweh, am holy, and have set you apart from the peoples, that you should be mine. 20:27A man also or a woman that has a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones; their blood shall be on them.You Sin Against Yahweh When You Do Not Keep His Charge To You
Leviticus 22:1-9 reads,
22:1
Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 22:2Speak to Aaron and to his sons, that they separate themselves from the holy things of the children of Israel, which they make holy to me, and that they not profane my holy name: I am Yahweh. 22:3Tell them, Whoever he be of all your seed throughout your generations, that approaches to the holy things, which the children of Israel make holy to Yahweh, having his uncleanness on him, that soul shall be cut off from before me: I am Yahweh. 22:4Whatever man of the seed of Aaron is a leper, or has an issue; he shall not eat of the holy things, until he is clean. Whoever touches anything that is unclean by the dead, or a man whose seed goes from him; 22:5or whoever touches any creeping thing, whereby he may be made unclean, or a man of whom he may take uncleanness, whatever uncleanness he has; 22:6the soul that touches any such shall be unclean until the even, and shall not eat of the holy things, unless he bathe his flesh in water. 22:7When the sun is down, he shall be clean; and afterward he shall eat of the holy things, because it is his bread. 22:8That which dies of itself, or is torn by animals, he shall not eat, to defile himself therewith: I am Yahweh. 22:9They shall therefore keep my charge, lest they bear sin for it, and die therein, if they profane it: I am Yahweh who sanctifies them.It should be noted that when Yahweh charges a person to undertake particular works, that person should undertake those works. If the person does not the person bears sin for not obeying Yahweh's charge, and may die for that disobedience.
Leviticus 24:15-22 reads,
24:15
You shall speak to the children of Israel, saying, Whoever curses his God shall bear his sin. 24:16He who blasphemes the name of Yahweh, he shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall certainly stone him: as well the sojourner, as the home-born, when he blasphemes the name of Yahweh, shall be put to death. 24:17He who strikes any man mortally shall surely be put to death. 24:18He who strikes an animal mortally shall make it good, life for life. 24:19If a man cause a blemish in his neighbor; as he has done, so shall it be done to him: 24:20breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; as he has caused a blemish in a man, so shall it be rendered to him. 24:21He who kills an animal shall make it good: and he who kills a man shall be put to death. 24:22You shall have one kind of law, as well for the sojourner, as for the home-born: for I am Yahweh your God.Leviticus 26:13-45 reads,
26:13
I am Yahweh your God, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their bondservants; and I have broken the bars of your yoke, and made you go upright. 26:14But if you will not listen to me, and will not do all these commandments; 26:15and if you shall reject my statutes, and if your soul abhor my ordinances, so that you will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant; 26:16I also will do this to you: I will appoint terror over you, even consumption and fever, that shall consume the eyes, and make the soul to pine away; and you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. 26:17I will set my face against you, and you shall be struck before your enemies: those who hate you shall rule over you; and you shall flee when none pursues you. 26:18If you will not yet for these things listen to me, then I will chastise you seven times more for your sins. 26:19I will break the pride of your power: and I will make your sky as iron, and your earth as brass; 26:20and your strength shall be spent in vain; for your land shall not yield its increase, neither shall the trees of the land yield their fruit. 26:21If you walk contrary to me, and won’t listen to me, I will bring seven times more plagues on you according to your sins. 26:22I will send the animal of the field among you, which shall rob you of your children, and destroy your cattle, and make you few in number; and your ways shall become desolate. 26:23If by these things you won’t be reformed to me, but will walk contrary to me; 26:24then will I also walk contrary to you; and I will strike you, even I, seven times for your sins. 26:25I will bring a sword on you, that shall execute the vengeance of the covenant; and you shall be gathered together within your cities: and I will send the pestilence among you; and you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy. 26:26When I break your staff of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver your bread again by weight: and you shall eat, and not be satisfied. 26:27If you won’t for all this listen to me, but walk contrary to me; 26:28then I will walk contrary to you in wrath; and I also will chastise you seven times for your sins. 26:29You shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall you eat. 26:30I will destroy your high places, and cut down your sun-images, and cast your dead bodies on the bodies of your idols; and my soul shall abhor you. 26:31I will make your cities a waste, and will bring your sanctuaries to desolation, and I won’t smell the savor of your sweet odors. 26:32I will bring the land into desolation; and your enemies that dwell therein shall be astonished at it. 26:33You will I scatter among the nations, and I will draw out the sword after you: and your land shall be a desolation, and your cities shall be a waste. 26:34Then shall the land enjoy its Sabbaths, as long as it lies desolate, and you are in your enemies’ land; even then shall the land rest, and enjoy its Sabbaths. 26:35As long as it lies desolate it shall have rest, even the rest which it didn’t have in your Sabbaths, when you lived on it. 26:36As for those who are left of you, I will send a faintness into their heart in the lands of their enemies: and the sound of a driven leaf shall chase them; and they shall flee, as one flees from the sword; and they shall fall when none pursues. 26:37They shall stumble one on another, as it were before the sword, when none pursues: and you shall have no power to stand before your enemies. 26:38You shall perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up. 26:39Those who are left of you shall pine away in their iniquity in your enemies’ lands; and also in the iniquities of their fathers shall they pine away with them. 26:40They shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, in their trespass which they trespassed against me, and also that, because they walked contrary to me, 26:41I also walked contrary to them, and brought them into the land of their enemies: if then their uncircumcised heart be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity; 26:42then will I remember my covenant with Jacob; and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land. 26:43The land also shall be left by them, and shall enjoy its Sabbaths, while it lies desolate without them: and they shall accept of the punishment of their iniquity; because, even because they rejected my ordinances, and their soul abhorred my statutes. 26:44Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them; for I am Yahweh their God; 26:45but I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God: I am Yahweh.Yahweh chastises sinners when they sin against him.
Why does he do so?
That they may listen to him, that they may stop sinning, and thereby be reformed to him. It should therefore be clear that Yahweh chastises us that we may listen to him, that we may not walk in the way of sin.
26:40-41 shows that being reformed to Yahweh entails confessing one's iniquity or sin, one's trespass against Yahweh. It also entails the humbling of one's uncircumcised heart, implying that hearts that sin against Yahweh are not humble or circumcised. It also entails accepting punishment from Yahweh for one's iniquity.
How To Make Restitution For Your Guilt
Numbers 5:5-7 reads,
5:5
Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 5:6"Speak to the children of Israel: When a man or woman commits any sin that men commit, so as to trespass against Yahweh, and that soul is guilty; 5:7then he shall confess his sin which he has done, and he shall make restitution for his guilt in full, and add to it the fifth part of it, and give it to him in respect of whom he has been guilty.Atonement Is Purification And Cleansing From Sin
Numbers 8:20-22 reads,
8:20
Thus did Moses, and Aaron, and all the congregation of the children of Israel, to the Levites. According to all that Yahweh commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so the children of Israel did to them. 8:21The Levites purified themselves from sin, and they washed their clothes; and Aaron offered them for a wave offering before Yahweh; and Aaron made atonement for them to cleanse them. 8:22After that, the Levites went in to do their service in the Tent of Meeting before Aaron, and before his sons: as Yahweh had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them.Those Serving Yahweh Should Be Purified And Cleansed From Their Sin
Prior to entering their service in Yahweh's Tent of Meeting the Levites had to be purified and cleansed of their sins. This implies that those called to serve Yahweh should be cleansed of their sins at the time they commence their service to Yahweh. They should also strive to remain without sin as they continue to serve Yahweh. When they sin they should quickly acknowledge their sin, confess it, repent of it, and seek Yahweh's forgiveness or cleansing of the sin.
Those Who Presumptuously Sin Against Yahweh Bear The Consequences For Their Sin
Numbers 9:9-14 reads,
9:9
Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 9:10"Say to the children of Israel, ‘If any man of you or of your generations is unclean by reason of a dead body, or is on a journey far away, he shall still keep the Passover to Yahweh. 9:11In the second month, on the fourteenth day at evening they shall keep it; they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 9:12They shall leave none of it until the morning, nor break a bone of it. According to all the statute of the Passover they shall keep it. 9:13But the man who is clean, and is not on a journey, and fails to keep the Passover, that soul shall be cut off from his people. Because he didn’t offer the offering of Yahweh in its appointed season, that man shall bear his sin. 9:14If a foreigner lives among you, and desires to keep the Passover to Yahweh; according to the statute of the Passover, and according to its ordinance, so shall he do. You shall have one statute, both for the sojourner, and for him who is born in the land.’"When Yahweh has issued a command, and it is possible for one to follow that command, that one should follow that command. If the one does not listen to Yahweh, to follow Yahweh's command, that one sins against Yahweh and bears the consequences for his sin.
Did Moses Sin In Marrying A Cushite Woman?
Numbers 12:1-15 reads,
12:1
Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married; for he had married a Cushite woman. 12:2They said, Has Yahweh indeed spoken only with Moses? Hasn’t he spoken also with us? Yahweh heard it.12:3
Now the man Moses was very humble, above all the men who were on the surface of the earth. 12:4Yahweh spoke suddenly to Moses, and to Aaron, and to Miriam, Come out you three to the tent of meeting. They three came out. 12:5Yahweh came down in a pillar of cloud, and stood at the door of the Tent, and called Aaron and Miriam; and they both came forth. 12:6He said, Hear now my words: if there be a prophet among you, I Yahweh will make myself known to him in a vision, I will speak with him in a dream. 12:7My servant Moses is not so; he is faithful in all my house: 12:8with him will I speak mouth to mouth, even manifestly, and not in dark speeches; and the form of Yahweh shall he see: why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant, against Moses? 12:9The anger of Yahweh was kindled against them; and he departed.12:10
The cloud removed from over the Tent; and, behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow: and Aaron looked at Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous. 12:11Aaron said to Moses, Oh, my lord, please don’t lay sin on us, for that we have done foolishly, and for that we have sinned. 12:12Let her not, I pray, be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed when he comes out of his mother’s womb. 12:13Moses cried to Yahweh, saying, Heal her, God, I beg you. 12:14Yahweh said to Moses, If her father had but spit in her face, shouldn’t she be ashamed seven days? Let her be shut up outside of the camp seven days, and after that she shall be brought in again. 12:15Miriam was shut up outside of the camp seven days: and the people didn’t travel until Miriam was brought in again.Do Not Speak Against Yahweh's Servants Without Cause
Miriam and Aaron's sin involved speaking against Yahweh's servant without cause, for there was nothing wrong in Moses marrying a Cushite woman, in addition to the Midianite woman already his wife. They also did not give Moses due respect on account of the office he occupied, being a prophet of a rank superior to other prophets.
It Is Sin To Speak Against A Superior Without Cause
It appears that it is sin for one to speak without cause against a superior, for by so speaking against a superior one is not giving due respect and honour to that superior. It therefore appears to be Yahweh's word that superiors must be honoured and accorded due respect, and should not be spoken against without due cause.
Those Who Lead In Sin Bear Greater Punishment
It appears that Miriam bore the brunt of Yahweh's punishment as she was the one who led in the sin that both she and Aaron committed. Those who lead in sin therefore bear the greater responsibility for the sin committed.
Disobeying Yahweh Does Not Bring About Prosperity
Numbers 14:39-45 reads,
14:39
Moses told these words to all the children of Israel: and the people mourned greatly. 14:40They rose up early in the morning, and got them up to the top of the mountain, saying, Behold, we are here, and will go up to the place which Yahweh has promised: for we have sinned. 14:41Moses said, Why now do you disobey the commandment of Yahweh, seeing it shall not prosper? 14:42Don’t go up, for Yahweh isn’t among you; that you not be struck down before your enemies. 14:43For there the Amalekite and the Canaanite are before you, and you shall fall by the sword: because you are turned back from following Yahweh, therefore Yahweh will not be with you. 14:44But they presumed to go up to the top of the mountain: nevertheless the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, and Moses, didn’t depart out of the camp. 14:45Then the Amalekite came down, and the Canaanite who lived in that mountain, and struck them and beat them down, even to Hormah.Just as Yahweh prophesied to the children of Israel, when they would not listen to his voice he would set his face against them, causing them to be defeated before their enemies!
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