Title Words of Healing (9) God Receives...
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Words of Healing (9) A healthy heart received by God (Leviticus 11:1-8) 2001.10.03.
The ordinary realm of man may include the clean and the unclean, but the holy realm must never be unclean. In other words, you cannot access the temple where God resides and the areas of sacrifice and worship in an unclean state. Therefore, denial means the state of being disqualified from participating in the offer. It refers to a state in which meeting with God is forbidden.
You will find that life is moving towards the clean side, and death is moving towards the unclean side. Therefore, the temple or tent of meeting where God resides and the community where God's chosen people reside must be clean and full of vitality. It is full of the idea of respect for life. But in the parable of the good Samaritan, the priest neglected to save lives. God's intention in uncleanness and purity is to respect life. It is a misinterpretation of God's will to not save a dying life for fear of becoming unclean.
In today's text, there is a scene where God Himself teaches people which animals can and cannot be eaten. What beasts can't be eaten?
1) You may not eat anything that is not a cider and cannot chew the cud (verse 3). 2) You cannot eat anything that chews the cud but does not have a split hoof (verse 4). For example, camels, savannahs, and rabbits are said to not be eaten. 3) You cannot eat anything that has a split hoof but cannot chew the cud (verse 7). For example, say something like a pig.
But what is the fundamental reason for not eating these animals? What is the most common word in today's text? That's the word "denial". It doesn't matter whether the cud is chewed or not, it's not the cud, and if you don't chew the cud, you can't eat it because it's unclean.
Why is it negative?
Is there a standard that is negligible and set? It is something you can ask questions. There are things that I think are unclean. It's not that you feel dirty in your heart with your conscience and it's not good. Camels, donkeys, and rabbits, for example, aren't really disgusting things. Snakes are disgusting things... When we use the word unclean, we don't mean dirty or disgusting as we normally think. Moreover, it does not mean hygienic that it is harmful to health. Pork is definitely not unhealthy. Although pork is still taboo in Adventism and Dr. Sang-gu Lee once said that vegetarian food is good and meat eating is bad for health, it has created a boom, but many scholars say that this is not necessarily the case.
There are things that are customary and socially taboo. It is said that God forbade what was said to be unclean in Leviticus, which was forbidden by the social custom at that time, and that he spoke uncleanly. There's a lot of truth to this, but it's not the only one. Also, it doesn't make sense to say that camels are expensive and useful for economic reasons, so you shouldn't eat them. Because , fish or birds do not fit this reason.
However, animals that humans cannot eat cannot be used as sacrifices. Therefore, none of the beasts mentioned in the text were used as sacrifices before God, but rather, such sacrifices were considered detestable in the sight of God. For example, the Jewish conquerors of old had sacrificed pigs, which God considered an abomination to blaspheme.
We can apply this principle to people as well. In the end, in order to receive God's grace, we must become a healthy heart worthy of God's acceptance. But today's text teaches us well what kind of heart is acceptable to God.
What is the lesson to be taught in today's text? What must we do to become a healthy heart worthy of God's acceptance?
1. Our hearts must be divided.
What does the side foot symbolize? It symbolizes our broken heart. In other words, it symbolizes the soul like a soft fertile field that has been plowed with the plow of the Holy Spirit. God accepts the humble, fertile spirit as pure and whole.
2. Our hearts must be those that chew the cud.
Why did you make them eat the plants that chew the cud? What does chewing the cud symbolize? You can think of it in four ways.
1) It refers to a kind and gentle spirit. The reason for chewing the cud is for herbivores to digest the grass.
Therefore, animals that chew the cud are gentle and kind animals. Apparently, gentle and good animals could be sacrificed on God's altar, and only those that could be offered on God's altar could be eaten by people.
2) It symbolizes the spirit of repeating good lessons, meditating and praying. We should not be too lightly swayed, and we should be serious when we are serious.
3) And chewing the cud is an act that symbolizes persistent efforts for digestion. So, make a persistent effort to try to digest any word or situation! God sees that persistent effort and will surely give you digestion. God is pleased with the attitude of trying to digest such indigestible things.
4) And it symbolizes faithful content rather than appearance. Look at the rabbit-like beast in verse 6. How pretty are you? However, although it looks pretty, it is an unclean beast. Because his heart is not pure. God is pleased with the heart that has content rather than the packaging, and also the heart that can see the content rather than the packaging.
3. Our hearts must become whole hearts.
Today's text symbolically shows that half faith is dangerous. The cud must be chewed, and the heel must be cracked. Not something that chews the cud like a rabbit but doesn't chew it, or has a cracked hoof like a pig but can't chew the cud.
But scientifically, rabbits don't chew the cud. The reason why the rabbit's mouth appears to be chewing the cud is because it constantly moves its mouth to grind its teeth. However, even though it is considered a cud-chewing animal, the rabbit does not have a split hoof, so it is considered an unclean animal and cannot be eaten.
True faith requires chewing the cud and breaking the hoof. A half-faith with only one of the two is not a healthy faith. God is pleased to receive our full faith.
4. Our hearts must become loyal to the end. Although there is a slight leap through the text, we can think of God's view of the rabbit as an unclean animal by relating it to an allegory.
Do you know the parable of the hare and the tortoise? What does the parable teach? We are taught not to indulge in laziness and indolence because of going out quickly at first. And what does it teach us in our religious life? Present faith, persistent faith, and persevering faith are taught.
It doesn't matter how fast you ran in the past. Having the best life in the present, present loyalty is important. We must keep the word "in the old days" from coming out of our mouths. When the word comes out, it means that the life has already withered. Faith is like an airplane. When you stop, you fall off the spot. It's like a bicycle. If you stop there, you will never be able to stand. Even if it lacks a little, it requires sincerity like a tortoise. It is important to show the present self silently and faithfully and faithfully without having to brag about the former self. When the past term "in the old days" begins to appear in the seasons of life, it means that a person's life has already withered and he is not working.
A man named Steyph said, "Faith is like a plane, because when it stops, it falls off the ground." We should refrain from saying "in old age" if possible. You need to become a running rabbit now and you need sincerity like a tortoise that crawls and runs without a word now. It is necessary to have the attitude of a believer who shows ?쐔he present me??without words and actions rather than ?쐔he past??
Politicians often use the term "interim evaluation". It's a very necessary term for us believers. We need the attitude to evaluate our own faith on a day-to-day basis.
There is a political term called "interim evaluation". The idea is to evaluate the performance of the president in the midst of the public. This strong political term is not a political term, but is actually a religious term that applies to us Christians. "Mid-Rate" Try to mid-evaluate yourself every day. Are we running well now? Or is it not a stagnation due to complacency? If the "mid-term evaluation" is given well, the "last evaluation" of my life will also receive good grades. When the rabbit woke up from a deep sleep, the tortoise was already crawling that far. I thought it was going to be a big deal, so I put on a gang gun and ran, but it was already too late. I was lazy in my religious life and I was grumpy at church. When I had to work hard at old age, I already had no money, no health, and there was a generation gap and it was too late. So, while listening to this sermon right now, I hope that you will be able to evaluate your current state during this week.
When we are prepared with the above four spirits, our God will see us as a pure, whole, and healthy heart to receive us, and will receive us and give us the blessings of heaven. I sincerely pray that you will always have a healthy and beautiful heart that is acceptable to God.