“This is how you will guard the people of Israel from ceremonial uncleanness. Otherwise they would die, for their impurity would defile my Tabernacle that stands among them. [Leviticus 15.31]
First and foremost, it must be remembered that Jesus is what this is all about. Every detail of the law, the sacrifices and offerings, and every protocol all point to Him. None of it has purpose or meaning except in Him.
“Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose. [Matthew 5.17]
For before John came, all the prophets and the law of Moses looked forward to this present time. [Matthew 11.13]
Then Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. [Luke 24.27]
Then he said, “When I was with you before, I told you that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and in the Psalms must be fulfilled.” [Luke 24.44]
If you really believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about me. [John 5.46]
“You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me! [John 5.39]
At risk, if the priests and/or people failed to "get it right" concerning the sacrifices, offerings and rituals, was their life. Sickness, disease and death were all various results of maladministering Levitical protocol. This is common knowledge to even the most casual reader of the Old Testament: disobedience (whether in Levitical protocol or obedience to the law) was a deal-breaker with God resulting in all manner of undesirable outcomes for the offender (Deuteronomy 28.15-68).
Look at Deuteronomy 28.15 in particular:
“But if you refuse to listen to the LORD your God and do not obey all the commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come and overwhelm you: [Deuteronomy 28.15]
Life and well-being were at stake when God's people sinned. So, where does Jesus factor in? The prophet Isaiah summed it up best:
Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. [Isaiah 53.4-5]
These are not just "faith healing" scriptures taken out of context as some suppose; they are the essence of God's story of Redemption! Had Jesus not undeniably associated Himself with everything Moses and the prophets wrote, it would indeed be different, but that simply is not the case! Jesus drove the point home that all of the Scriptures that had been written up to His Advent were about Him!
The fact that Jesus healed the sick, raised the dead and performed mighty miracles should have come as no surprise to anyone familiar with the Scriptures!
The severity of punishment for disobedience glorifies the extravagant measure of God's love in sending His Son to suffer on behalf of all who would simply believe.
“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. [John 3.16-17]
The more we understand the inflexibility of God's demand for obedience as found in the Old Testament, the more we can understand God's amazing love in the life and sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ.
Life, and every disintegration thereof to the point of death and eternal separation from God, is at stake resting upon the balance of our decision to fully accept or reject Jesus Christ not only as He was revealed in the New Testament, but also very much as He was revealed in all the Old Testament.
Father, I pray these words inspire every reader to believe in Jesus, whether for the first time or in further depth, today. As we read Your Word, may we find Jesus, and every reason to believe in Him more, in every word and on every page. May we more fully understand the scope of Redemption as we see the direct correlation of health and well-being to full-on obedience to You - as can only be fulfilled in Jesus Christ as we believe. So be it!
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