Consider This Question!
Let me pose a question to you to consider: “Are we supposed to obey every command of the Bible?” The quick answer, and without giving it any thought, you might blurt out ‘Yes, of course!’ But with some consideration, the answer is ‘no.’ Not every commandment of the Bible is intended for every person to obey. Remember our mantra: All the Bible is written to you, but not all the Bible is written for you. All scripture is profitable. Some passages are for doctrine, others are for rebuke, others for correction, and still others are for instruction in righteousness. Why? That you might be perfect and throughly furnished to good works (2 Tim 3:16). I would not normally look for doctrine in Leviticus, but I can certainly read it and be rebuked, corrected, or instructed. In fact, the accounts in the Old Testament are written and preserved for our learning (Romans 15:4).
Suppose the next time you go to pick up your mail at the mailbox there is within all your mail a letter addressed to someone else. What would you do with it? You might put it back in the box and put the flag up so the mail carrier could deliver it. If it belonged to your neighbor and was sorted wrong, you could walk it next door and give it to them, but one thing you would not do is open it! It isn’t your mail.
When it comes to Bible reading, too often people make the mistake of reading someone else’s “mail” as though it was written to them. God does not intend for you in the Church Age to obey all the laws of the Old Testament. We do not keep all the 10 commandments. The fourth commandment, “Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8) is not applicable to Christians. The Hebrews kept the 7th day as commandment because it was a sign between God and the nation of Israel (Ezekiel 20:12).
Let’s consider some passages of Scripture with the question posed at the front of our minds. Am I to obey these commandments?
Genesis 6:14 Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. Of course, no one obeys this command. It was a once-in-a-lifetime command given to Noah. He obeyed and saved his house (Hebrews 11:7). You try that and you will die and go to hell. You are reading someone else’s mail in Genesis 6.
Leviticus 4:20 And he shall do with the bullock as he did with the bullock for a sin offering, so shall he do with this: and the priest shall make an atonement for them, and it shall be forgiven them.
No one in the age of grace, the Church Age, obeys this command. It was written under the law for people living under the law - “But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law” (Galatians 5:18). The book of Galatians is in your mailbox. It is written to you and for you. Leviticus 4 is for you (spiritual lessons) but not written to you (to put the commandment into practice).
Mark 1:44 “And (Jesus) saith unto him, See thou say nothing to any man: but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing those things which Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them. This command was (as far as any Biblical record) going to be put into practice. For 1500 years the command for cleansing of a leper had been lying dormant since God gave the Law to Moses. This command is found in Leviticus, but no one had ever shown up to the priest for the cleansing ritual. Can you imagine the priest’s reaction when this guy shows up at the Temple to be cleansed? The priests, though they had learned the law, had never performed the ritual! I imagine one of them said, “Quick, does anyone remember Leviticus 14 and what we are required to do?” It would be like a doctor who has all the ‘book learning’ on preforming a surgery but had never operated on anyone! While this law is in the word of God, it is not presently active. It is not your mail.
To summarize this point:
· Noah was commanded to build an ark, we are not.
· The priest was commanded to preform cleansing rituals, but we are not.
Our mail is easy to discern because it is written by the Apostle Paul to the Gentiles. All his letters begin with the same first word: “Paul” (Romans – Philemon).
Be sure and watch the videos being posted in the video section of this website for more details and additional study.
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