The Hidden Meaning Within Levitical Laws

     It takes most Christians half their lives or more to realize who Jesus really is. Yes, He is the Son of God, but that is more of a way for babes in Christ to see Divinity. Jesus is the walking, talking embodiment of God the Father. His Virgin Birth in Bethlehem was a way for a very unscientific population to understand a God so Wise and Omniscient, so Powerful, so Omnipotent and Far Reaching that He could go back in time (or forward as it were, in concept) and be born at a time of His choosing, to fulfill a plan of Salvation only His great mind could begin to comprehend. He separated His Three Parts, Mind, Body, and Shekinah Glory (Soul or Holy Spirit) so His Body could be "born again" as an actual Human, to experience and better understand the temptations and trials we humans go through. Born a new Adam to conquer and overcome those temptations, death, hell, and the grave, where the first Adam had failed.

     So Who is God? He is of course our Creator, Lord, Master, King, Savior, Friend, Brother, and our Kinsman Redeemer. James told us simply, "God is Love". Again, God as Jesus is the Walking, Talking Embodiment of all that Love and the Wisdom it took to bring it all down here as Immanuel "God with us".

Jesus tells us in Deuteronomy:  For the Lord thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee; therefore shall thy camp be holy: that he see no unclean thing
Deut 23:14 (KJV)

     This verse tells us several things:
 1.  The Lord Loves enough to walk among us, protect us, fight for us and make daily checks on our well being.
 2. The Lord who walks is Jesus because God the Father is a Spirit and doesn't walk.
 3. The Lord is Holy and doesn't want to see uncleanness in our lives.
 4. The Lord won't let our enemies succeed in destroying us.

     This verse is often overlooked in today's Pulpit, perhaps because of the reason it came up. God commanded a shovel like apparatus (or paddle) be included on the swords of the Israeli Army so when they went without the camp to relieve themselves, they could bury the excrement. Not the kind of thing a preacher would normally talk about, but look at what we would miss without this lesson. God wants His People to be clean:

"But it shall be, when evening cometh on, he shall wash himself with water: and when the sun is down, he shall come into the camp again. 12 Thou shalt have a place also without the camp, whither thou shalt go forth abroad: 13 And thou shalt have a paddle upon thy weapon; and it shall be, when thou wilt ease thyself abroad, thou shalt dig therewith, and shalt turn back and cover that which cometh from thee: 14 For the Lord thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee; therefore shall thy camp be holy: that he see no unclean thing in thee, and turn away from thee.
Deut 23:11-14 (KJV)

      Wow! A bath every day! Every time we get dirty. So many of the verses in Leviticus and Deuteronomy refer to being clean and healthy. I always get a kick out of poor Atheists trying to make jokes about not eating Shellfish, when there was a very Logical and Life-Saving reason. Shellfish of that region were carriers of dangerous internal parasites which devastated opposing armies, but spared the better trained Israeli Army. Swine carried Trichinosis and a dozen other illnesses, Rabbits transmitted Tularemia, etc.  Levitical laws protected God's People from these dangers. Personal cleanness and healthy daily living made the Army of God's Chosen People the strongest and mightiest as well as most feared in the entire region. Jesus walked up and down the many rows of tents in the Israeli camp each night, healing cuts and bruises, praying for the troops, and allowing peaceful sleep free from interruption by raiders. Jesus Himself guarded the camp. His Holy Spirit controlled swarms of wasps and bees, earthquakes, storms, and yes disease. Jesus did not favor the sin and idolatry He witnessed in the other camps; the sexual depravity and homosexuality associated with Baal worship, the sacrifice of living babies on the white hot arms of Molech, moon (Allah) and sun worship, and just plain filthiness and treachery.
     But Jesus loved Israel, He chose them, He fostered them, as He does us today. Jesus Loves you, He desires to have a Personal Relationship with you, to walk in your personal camp at night and all day too. Jesus loves and protects Israel to this very day. He has also given His Angels charge over you, to protect and defend you so, and until, that Personal Relationship can be fully established. He waits in the camp ready to forgive your sin, heal your cuts and bruises, and mend your heart from whatever has befell it. The Levitical Laws are a testament to it. Accept Him today as your Personal Savior.