Leviticus; The Law of Holiness and Grace

The Bread of God

Professor: Dr. R.J. Rushdoony

Subject: Pentateuch

Genre: Lessons with Q & A

Lesson: 55

Track: 55

Dictation Name: RR172AD55

Date: Early 70s

Let us worship God. Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name. Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. God is a spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.

Let us pray.

Oh Lord our God, we come to Thee to worship and adore Thee. We thank Thee that by Thy grace, Thou hast made us Thy children and Thy people and members of the household of faith. We thank Thee that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is with us all the days of our life to surround us with Thy providential care. We thank Thee for the joy of our salvation, and we pray that the love of our Lord Jesus Christ and Thy protecting care may be with us all the days of our life, to make the way straight before us, to overthrow the powers of darkness, and to establish Thy kingdom in and through us. In Christ’s name, amen.

Our scripture this morning is Leviticus 22:26-33; our subject, “The Bread of God.” “The Bread of God,” Leviticus 22:26-33.

“26 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

27 When a bullock, or a sheep, or a goat, is brought forth, then it shall be seven days under the dam; and from the eighth day and thenceforth it shall be accepted for an offering made by fire unto the Lord.

28 And whether it be cow or ewe, ye shall not kill it and her young both in one day.

29 And when ye will offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving unto the Lord, offer it at your own will.

30 On the same day it shall be eaten up; ye shall leave none of it until the morrow: I am the Lord.

31 Therefore shall ye keep my commandments, and do them: I am the Lord.

32 Neither shall ye profane my holy name; but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel: I am the Lord which hallow you,

33 That brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the Lord.”

These laws are a repetition of laws given previously, and they are repeated again in some instances in Numbers and Deuteronomy. They are also repeated at times elsewhere in Leviticus, because of this fact, many commentators tend to pass over them with brief references to their previous citations or their forthcoming citations. And this is a very curious fact. Go to some commentators and look up the reference in Exodus and you’re referred to Leviticus, and in Leviticus you’re told it was in Exodus and will be in Numbers and Deuteronomy, all of which tells you nothing except that the laws are repeated.

Now, it is important to understand what this means. When we repeat ourselves, we do so for emphasis. We want to be then particularly heated, not ignored. And very often, we will repeat something three or four times or more often, because we want the person we’re telling this to, to say, ‘now be sure to pay attention. I regard this as important!’ Repetition thus is an important teaching device. It is an important aid to the memory. It is used by us constantly to provide emphasis, but when it occurs in the Bible, strangely, it is not heeded. But it is important.

Now, modern man finds what God has to say boring, unless it offers him some benefit. We are Humanistic as a result of the Fall in which every man seeks to be his own god, even when we are redeemed, our focus tends to be on ourselves so that what God says, that meets our needs, meets our concerns is very important to us. We think God is right on target at that point. But if God says something, no matter how often He says it, if it is not to our taste, not according to our interest, we bypass it.

These are not therefore to be bypassed, these laws. They are not sentimental laws, as some would have them, but theological. The calf or the lamb was not to be sacrificed on the same day as its mother. One was not to see as part of the same type of law, a kid and its mother’s milk. Again, we are told elsewhere, a bird and her young could not both be taken at the same time.

Parallel to these rules, trees could not be destroyed wantonly in wartime. Noah was required to preserve all animals in the Ark. There are many such laws that parallel part of this chapter. Porter, while somewhat modernistic, was still on the right track when he said, “Domestic animals were part of the community and so their birth was surrounded by the same taboos as with humans.” Paul expressed it far better when he said in Romans 8:19-22

“19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.

20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,

21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.”

Now, most commentators avoid the full meaning of Paul’s words. Calvin, however, was the best in this regard. He was insistent on two things in this passage in Romans 8:

1.      That beasts as well as the plants and metals, will all share in the great restoration of all things.

2.      Calvin, while holding fast to this meaning, made clear that we have no license for speculations about the details of the fact that all creation is going to be in the Great Resurrection.

He declared, “But He (God) means not that all creatures shall be partakers of the same glory with the Sons of God but that they according to their nature shall be participators of a better condition. For God will restore to a perfect state the World now fallen, together with mankind. Well what that perfection will be as to beasts as well as plants and metals, it is not meet or right in us to inquire more curiously, for the chief effect of corruption is decay. Some subtle men, but hardly sober-minded inquire whether all kinds of animals will be immortal. But if reins be given to speculations, where will they at length lead us? Let us be content with this simple doctrine. That such will be the constitution and complete order of things, that nothing will be deformed, or fading.”

Now there is another interesting aspect about this law, the law of circumcision required that the rite be performed on the eighth day. The law of sacrifice prohibited the sacrifice of animals before the eighth day, and the parallel is an obvious one. While man is created in the image of God, he is still a creature; he is still one part of creation.

But there is still another important aspect to these laws. In Leviticus 22:25, the verse preceding that which we read, all the sacrifices are called “The Bread of your God.” And this is a very telling phrase. Bread is used figuratively to mean ‘sustenance;’ the sustenance of life. Now the question then is what is sustained? Obviously it is not God. God does not grow weak from lack of sacrifice, but rather strong in His wrath and judgment. It is the covenant relationship of man with God that is sustained by sacrifice, by offering, by thanksgiving, by our day-by-day living.

The sacrificial system is at heart, atonement. This is basic to the Law. And it is the redeemed of God who are faithful and obedient to it. The reality of the covenant relationship which rests on atonement is demonstrated by obedience: the bread of God. Remember what Micah says in Micah 6:6-8,

“6 Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old?

7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

8 He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”

Offerings in general are called “The Bread of God” in Leviticus and Numbers, and there are references to it in Ezekiel and Malachi. Leviticus 3:11, 16 use the term for the thank offering. Leviticus 22:25 applies it to the burnt offering and the thank offering together. The term “The Bread of God” appears again in the New Testament, in John 6:32-35. Our Lord declares Himself to be the Bread of God come down from Heaven. The bread is a sacrifice which marks atonement and communion—communion with God. Bread is sustenance and Jesus Christ, the Bread of God is the sustenance of our covenant relationship with God. It is He who establishes it with His sacrifice. It is He who maintains it with His perfect obedience. It is Christ in His atonement and in His care for us and in His perfect obedience and in His responsibility as our head, who is our sacrifice of obedience. Paul, therefore summons us, as members of the body of Christ to be a ‘living sacrifice’ in our holiness and our service to God and His covenant community.

Now it is an interesting fact that while a very young animal cannot be used as a sacrifice, there is no age limit on the acceptable sacrifice, only the requirement of health—it must be an unblemished animal, there is no retirement in other words, in the service of God.

In verse 32, God declares, “I will be hallowed among the children of Israel. I am the Lord which hallow you.” Hallow appears in some versions as ‘sanctified.’ Its main usage now is in the Lord’s Prayer, “hallowed be Thy name.” It means, “To sanctify; to dedicate; to consecrate,” and much more. It is an interesting note that Jewish authorities at the time of Christ held that the highest form of hallowing God’s name is martyrdom. In Hadrian’s day, somewhat later, so many Jews were ready to be martyred, that for a time it imperiled the existence of the Jews. The rabbis then declared that only in respect to idolatry, incest and murder, should death be preferred to transgression.

Now this is an interesting point because historians have often remarked about the readiness of some of the early Christians to be martyred. Not all were ready to be martyred, but some were. And we can understand it when we understand the Jewish background of the Church, and how many of the early converts were Jewish. They died to hallow God’s name by their faithfulness. To hallow God’s name by refusing compromise with evil still goes on today.

This past week, I was at a trial in the State of Maine. It is interesting to me to note that in these trials, there is a curious fact that stands out. Back in the 20s it was the Communists who were seen as the great threat to the life of the United States. Now it’s the Christians who refuse to compromise to the State and its regulations. And they are treated as subversives, as a menace, as people who threaten the life of the State. It is ironic that in New England, where Thoreau made civil disobedience and article of faith, civil disobedience is permitted in the hands of environmentalists, anti-nuclear people, and radicals generally, but strongly resented on the part of Christians.

The sacrificial system begins with atonement. It is basic to the Law. It is the redeemed of God who are the faithful, who are the obedient. And therefore, the World hates them with an especial hatred, because they represent an obedience which goes beyond the present, beyond time, beyond anything these people can understand. So a Humanistic civil disobedience is to them understandable.

But a theological one is not, because it involves the sacred, it involves declaring in action, “Hallowed be Thy name.” The World rejects that premise, so that at the very beginning of the Lord’s Prayer, our Lord teaches us something that the World is intensely hostile to—a faith, a premise, a reality which transcends time and history, and which must govern time and history. Any other kind of civil disobedience and in time be absorbed into the life of the State. There can be an accommodation to it, but not this, because it is always at odds with the sovereignty of the State; it can never compromise with it. And therefore, the State’s hostility will not cease as long as the State is Humanistic.

Yet this is what scripture means by “The Bread of God.” Jesus Christ is supremely the Bread of our God. It is He who establishes that perfect link between God and Man, who sets the pattern of transcendence which must govern out lives. We are not governed by time and history, but by what comes from beyond time and history—the Word of God—the Truth of God. And the Bread of God is He who declares, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.” And at no point can we define the Way, the Truth, or the Life in terms of anything that comes from man. To hallow God’s name, therefore, means to live in terms of God, not in terms of time and history.

Let us pray.

Our Lord and our God, we thank Thee that our manna, Jesus Christ is come, that He is the Bread from Heaven, that for us He is eternal life, and that He gives us the power to stand up against the power of Humanistic Statism, to challenge this world order in terms of Thy Truth, and to become more than conquerors in Him who loved us. Make us strong in Him, and resolute in Thy service. In Christ’s name, amen.

Are there any questions now about our lesson?

Yes.

[Audience] What are the legitimate grounds for civil disobedience by Christians, and if there are some, are these also grounds for going beyond civil disobedience to revolution?

[Rushdoony] Yes; Christian civil disobedience must be God-centered. In other words, I do not believe that where our interests are concerned, we do have the right to disobey. For example, with regard to taxes; but if they interfere, for example, with the freedom to tithe, then we would have grounds for civil disobedience. It has to be God-centered. It has to involve obeying God rather than man in particular in those things that concern God and His work, the freedom of His kingdom, the freedom of His Church, the freedom of His Christian School—in these areas, not in what particularly concerns us.

Yes.

[Audience] This was the great argument—well, not argument, but a difference between Calvin and Knox. Calvin felt that you could outlast evil-doers and therefore we have no right to disobey, and Knox took the Old Testament view that it was an offense to God to serve under those who didn’t believe in Him.

[Rushdoony] Um-hm.

[Audience] And, uh, that was what lost the Scottish Revolution. That is the fundamental basic religion that led to the War of Independence. That is the basis of the American attitude toward revolution which has now been subverted and distorted. But that’s the reason that the Early Americans believed in revolution. It’s since been held up as a matter of taxes only—a tax rebellion instead of a religious rebellion against the Church of England.

[Rushdoony] One of the areas that, uh, Douglas Kelley has been working on is precisely this, the fact that Calvin did not differ from Knox except in degree. Namely, he felt that there was no readiness on the part of the people in Geneva to do more than to be instructed and prepared to make a stand. They were a long ways from that, and some of the translation that he’s been involved in has been sermons late in Calvin’s life that went into the scriptural premises for resistance, but it could not be a resistance apart from constituted authority; in other words, some branch of civil government, a civil magistrate had to say, ‘the State here is lawless, and therefore I raise the banner of the law.’

[Audience] Well, he was practical in that because revolutionists don’t come from the street, they always come from the offices of government.

[Rushdoony] Mm-hm. And Knox in a sense followed that premise because he worked with nobility.

Any oth--

[Audience] {?} Thought Knox regarded all of Scotland as the congregation, that’s {?}

[Rushdoony] Yes. Yes.

[Audience] But it’s..

[Audience] It’s those letters was translating {?} published, that would be a very important contribution.

[Rushdoony] Yes, a number of scholars have already borrowed his typed manuscripts to give lectures at historical meetings, and I don’t know why Douglas hasn’t pushed to get them published.

[Audience] And he’s letting people use his manuscript in advance of publication?

[Rushdoony] Yes. He wants in published under the auspices of some learned society.

[Audience] What difference does that make?

[Rushdoony] I don’t think it makes any.

Yes.

[Audience] Having been involved in the Pro-life movement, I can understand the frustrations of people who see nothing happening, and no progress—or very little progress being made. And I’m wondering what your feeling is about bombing of abortion clinics for example, and people just seeing no other alternative.

[Rushdoony] I cannot see bombing these abortion clinics. I can see what many are doing with their street picketing; it has cut abortions dramatically, and by setting up abortion counseling centers. Again, it has been very effective. Positive action is needed.

Now, we do have the legal grounds to prosecute according to some legal authorities, abortionists, because in those states having the common law still, it is punishable by death. And the Supreme Court decision did not affect Common Law, only Statutory Law. So there is a basis there.

Yes.

[Audience] I also have the feeling that they are violating the limits. You’re not supposed to abort beyond a certain period of time. And I’m not sure that they’re abiding by that.

[Rushdoony] They are not abiding by it.

[Audience] So that could be grounds for action on a statutory basis.

[Rushdoony] Yes. Yes. The problem thus far has been that district attorneys are not ready to do anything about it.

[Audience] Well, then you could set up a move to impeach the District Attorney.

[Rushdoony] Well, this is wha---

[Audience] If you make enough of a nuisance of yourself in the Courts,

[Rushdoony] Yes.

[Audience] You can change the situation.

[Rushdoony] We have not exhausted the available alternatives by any means. One of the problems has been that the Pro-life groups are so busy quarreling with each other.

Yes.

[Audience] They tried {?} with the Abolitionist Movement, and it’s a bad example because the Abolitionist Movement led to a tragedy all the way around.

[Rushdoony] Um-hm. Well, what they’re failing to recognize about this movement is that it is a resistance to Totalitarianism.

I received a packet of material this week from Washington, D.C., on how, uh, euthanasia is now regularly practiced, and the courts are even recognizing it as a necessity. They are obstructing efforts to prevent it, and in a number of instances, it is marked by dishonesty. In one instance, preparations were made to end the life of a patient on the grounds that he’d asked for it, and someone got to the man in the hospital and asked, “Did you ask for euthanasia?” And he said, “No.” So, this is the kind of thing that is now taking place. And as Charles Rice wrote in his book of a few years back, he anticipated by the 90s, or by the end of the 90s, healthy unwanted people would be executed because the definition of a person now is legal, not medical, and they can be declared to be non-persons. This is what we’re moving towards. It’s unfortunate that there has been very little attention paid to what Rice wrote in his book.

Well, if there are no further questions, let us bow our heads in prayer.

Our Lord and our God, we thank Thee that we live, move, and have our being in Thee, that it is Thy will that shall be done, and Thy kingdom, not that of man, that shall come. Therefore, Father, we work, we pray, we wait for Thy kingdom. Bless us day-by-day in Thy service. And now, go in peace. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost bless you and keep you, guide and protect you this day and always. Amen.