Ready for Worship
Ready for Worship
Leviticus 11-15
“Alright kids, it’s time to get ready for church!” How many times have moms and dads uttered those words? We may remember the Saturday ritual instilled by our parents of laying out your clothes for the next morning, going to bed early and saying your prayers. Or it may remember the frantic struggle as parents to find the matching pairs of our children’s shoes and a decent pair of clean pants. It can be a challenge for many on a Sunday morning to arrive only a few minutes late with your children bathed and wearing matching clothing. Why does it feel like the Sunday morning ritual of getting ready for church is a chaotic, frantic struggle? It seems like the Devil works overtime on frustrating families as they prepare to worship.
And yet, we all have said or heard, “It’s time to get ready for church.” It is so common or may overlook its significance. We intrinsically know there is something special about the Lord’s Day gathering of the saints. And we know “being ready” is not merely about having on matching shoes and our deodorant. Question 160 of the Westminster Catechism asks, “What is required of those who heard the Word preached?”
It is required of those that hear the Word preached, that they attend upon it with diligence, preparation, and prayer; examine: What they hear by the Scriptures; receive the truth with faith, love, meekness, and readiness of mind, as the Word of God; meditate, and confer of it; hide it in their hearts, and bring forth the fruit of it in their lives.
Getting ready for church means we prepare our hearts to hear, receive and obey the Word of God. And to be ready to hear, receive and obey the Word of God is merely a Saturday night or a Sunday morning ritual, but a lifestyle dedicated to the Lord. We can’t expect to receive all the Lord has for us on Sunday when we have been giving ourselves to world things Monday-Saturday. The Lord does not merely want you to “get ready for church” but live as the church.
For ancient Israel, Leviticus 11-15, were their marching orders in how to “get ready” for worship. At first glance, we may not see a connection on how dietary laws, childbirth, skin diseases and bodily discharges have to do with being ready to worship, but for ancient Israel it was how they were to “get ready for church.” And although it may seem disconnected from our lives, I pray these chapters will help you not just “get ready for church” but to live as the church.
The commands of Leviticus 11-15 are given in the context of Nadab and Abihu approaching the Lord in an unworthy manner. And they are clarifying the role of the priests as given to Aaron in Leviticus 10:10-11,
You are to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean, and you are to teach the people of Israel all the statutes that the LORD has spoken to them by Moses.
Leviticus 11-15 are in the context of approaching the Lord with appropriate worship. The reason the commands are given is to ensure that unclean things will never come in contact with holy things. Things are broken down into two categories: Holy and Common. And within the common category, things are either clean or unclean. Being unclean does not mean sinful, but it does mean that it has to move to the clean category before it can move to the holy category. Gordon Wenham explains,
Cleanness is a state of intermediate between holiness and uncleanness. Cleanness is a condition of most things and persons. Sanctification can elevate the clean into the holy, while pollution degrades the clean into the unclean…Anything that is not clean is unclean…uncleanness is contagious and incompatible with holiness.
Morales adds,
To be clean means to be fit for the Presence of God, wily to be holy means that one belongs to God…To be unclean is understood fundamentally as being excluded from the Presence of YHWH, while being made clean means becoming fit for his Presence.
The Lord is giving instruction on what is holy and common and in the common category what is clean and unclean so that people can ‘get ready’ to enter God’s presence. It is important to remember that everything in Leviticus is about preparing to enter God’s holy presence. And for ancient Israel it was not just one day a week but everything in their lives was preparing them for that very thing.
Clean Bellies and Clean Hearts
It is helpful to remember that God is creating a new Eden in the Tabernacle. As you read Leviticus 11, you see lots of similarities to Genesis 1 and Genesis 9. As God created the land, the sea and the sky and then filled them with animals in Genesis 1, God now gives distinction of what should be eaten in the land, the sea and the sky. Leviticus 11:1–2,
And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying to them, “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, These are the living things that you may eat among all the animals that are on the earth.
Leviticus 11:9–10
“These you may eat, of all that are in the waters. Everything in the waters that has fins and scales, whether in the seas or in the rivers, you may eat. But anything in the seas or the rivers that does not have fins and scales, of the swarming creatures in the waters and of the living creatures that are in the waters, is detestable to you.
Leviticus 11:13–20,
“And these you shall detest among the birds; they shall not be eaten; they are detestable: the eagle, the bearded vulture, the black vulture, the kite, the falcon of any kind, every raven of any kind, the ostrich, the nighthawk, the sea gull, the hawk of any kind, the little owl, the cormorant, the short-eared owl, the barn owl, the tawny owl, the carrion vulture, the stork, the heron of any kind, the hoopoe, and the bat. “All winged insects that go on all fours are detestable to you.”
Although we can’t be absolutely certain on why God declares some animals clean and others unclean, it seems the animals that mostly conform to pure types are declared clean. For example, the fish that have scales are clean, and the ones that do not are unclean. The birds with wings and two legs are clean, the ones with four legs are not. Therefore, when animals did not conform to pure creation they were deemed unclean.
Similarly, animals that were associated with life were clean but animals that were associated with death and filth were unclean. Scavenger birds that eat dead carcasses are unclean. Animals that live close to the ground like the ancient serpent are also unclean as well as those animals associated with living in filth like the pig are unclean. The Lord gives his rationale in the conclusion of the chapter, Leviticus 11:42–45,
Whatever goes on its belly, and whatever goes on all fours, or whatever has many feet, any swarming thing that swarms on the ground, you shall not eat, for they are detestable. You shall not make yourselves detestable with any swarming thing that swarms, and you shall not defile yourselves with them, and become unclean through them. For I am the LORD your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. You shall not defile yourselves with any swarming thing that crawls on the ground. For I am the LORD who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.” (ESV)
By giving restrictions on what can and cannot be eaten, the Lord is distinguishing Israel from the surrounding nations. He wants them to be holy. He makes this even more explicit in Leviticus 20:23–26,
And you shall not walk in the customs of the nation that I am driving out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I detested them. But I have said to you, ‘You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey.’ I am the LORD your God, who has separated you from the peoples. You shall therefore separate the clean beast from the unclean, and the unclean bird from the clean. You shall not make yourselves detestable by beast or by bird or by anything with which the ground crawls, which I have set apart for you to hold unclean. You shall be holy to me, for I the LORD am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.
As Morales notes, “Every meal served as a reminder of God’s election of Israel out of the nations, but also of Israel’s call to keep themselves separate from the uncleanness of those nations–to be a holy people.”
The dietary laws were designed to show the holiness of Israel as distinct from the nations. When Jesus arrived, he wanted his people to be holy from the inside out. Mark 7:14–19,
And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.)
Jesus declared all foods clean. And so we can now eat bacon. But the reason we can now eat bacon is because we no longer need dietary restrictions to show our holiness, because we have received new hearts. Mark 7:20–23
And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
Jesus is not concerned with what you eat, he is concerned with your heart. We now get ready to worship by purifying our hearts for the Lord and not our diets. We get ready to enter God’s presence by confessing our evil thoughts and our sexual lusts, our greed, and anger, our coveting and lives, our pride and foolishness.
We distinguish ourselves from the world not by eating and drinking, but by living holy lives. We cleanse ourselves from what is dishonorable and live honorable lives for our Savior. And this is only possible because of the gospel. Jesus came and lived a perfect life, completely fulfilling the righteous demands of the law. And although Jesus was perfect and innocent of all transgressions, he still chose to die as our ransom. He died in our place so that we could be forgiven. He was dead and buried, but God raised him from the dead and he ascended to heaven and sent the Holy Spirit to make our dead, unclean hearts alive in him. So now if anyone repents of their sins and trusts in Jesus Christ, we are given new hearts. We are literally born again. 2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
Hebrews 10:22
let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
Jesus did not merely declare all foods clean, but he declared us clean. We have been sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and given new hearts that can truly worship the Lord.
In Acts 10-11, the Apostle Peter has a vision from the Lord which reveals how the food one ate which once distinguished Israel as holy, now is open to all people, Jew and Gentile. Acts 10:10–16,
And he became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance and saw the heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth. In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air. And there came a voice to him: “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.” And the voice came to him again a second time, “What God has made clean, do not call common.” This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once to heaven.
Peter didn’t understand the vision at first, but a few verses later Peter says, Acts 10:28,
You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean.
Salvation is no longer merely to ethnic Israel but for all people who repent and believe. This is confirmed after Peter shares this story with the rest of the church, Acts 11:18,
When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”
The Gentiles can be holy too because the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. (Romans 14:17)
When God wanted to show his holiness is now open to all people, he used food to make his point. Leviticus 11 is establishing the holiness requirements of ancient Israel as they prepared to worship, and Jesus takes the principles established in Leviticus 11 and extends them to the heart and opens them up to all people who believe. The ancient world was categorized by Jew and Gentile, by clean and unclean regarding food, but now the world is categorized by clean and unclean regarding the heart Now because of the gospel, all people can be clean. If you are in Christ, you are clean. If you are not in Christ, you are unclean. And if you are unclean, you cannot approach the Lord. You need to be cleansed. The Bible says, 1 John 1:8–9,
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Friend, admit you are a sinner, confess your sins to God and he will forgive and cleanse you from your unrighteousness and give you a new heart.
Children and Conscrecation
Leviticus 12 outlines the process of purification following childbirth. Childbirth is natural and normal but having a child would still involve the loss of life liquids requiring a recovery before entering the presence of God. Wenham notes,
God, who is perfect life and perfect holiness, can only be approached by clean men who enjoy the fullness of life themselves. The unclean are those in some way have an aura of death about them in that they manifest less than physical wholeness.
Since pain and the process of childbirth was one of the results of the fall seen in Genesis 3, the purification would have been a reminder of fall and therefore their need for forgiveness.
Skin Diseases and Savior’s Delight
If Leviticus 11-12 focuses more on the interior of the body, Leviticus 13-14 addresses the exterior of the body. We do not have time to unpack every detail of skin diseases here, but want to put out how isolating skin diseases were for those who had them. This was not a small issue in the life of Israel. Many of the skin diseases showed how those who had them were no longer clean and therefore could not approach the Lord. Ongoing leprous skin diseases would isolate them from the community. They were not able to be with God’s people. Leviticus 13:45–46,
“The leprous person who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean.’ He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease. He is unclean. He shall live alone. His dwelling shall be outside the camp.
They lived outside the camp. Away from God’s people.
When Jesus came into the world, he was able to do what the priest could not. The priest could not make an unclean person holy, but this is exactly what Jesus does. Before Jesus, anything that touched an unclean person became unclean. But Jesus does something remarkable. He makes the unclean holy. Mark 1:40–45
And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. And Jesus sternly charged him and sent him away at once, and said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to them.” But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places, and people were coming to him from every quarter.
The leper came to Jesus imploring him to make him clean. Imagine the years of isolation and loneliness, the agony of desperation that would have filled his voice. This leper was begging Jesus to be made whole so that he could worship. Jesus was moved with pity or compassion when seeing his agony, reached out and touched him.
Jesus showed no partiality. He came to the weakest, the vilest, the poor, and touched them. Jesus is willing to make you clean. You may not be a leper but you have sins that have isolated you from people which require cleansing. It does not matter what you have done or how far gone you think yourself to be, if you cry out to Jesus, he will reach out and touch you. He is willing and able to make you clean. The gospel shows those twin truths. Jesus went to the cross to show you and I that he is willing to purify us. Jesus rose from the dead to show you and I he is able to purify us. If we only have the cross, we can see his heart. But since we have the resurrection, we have his heart and his power. Jesus is willing and able to make you clean.
Bodily Discharges and Being Set Apart
Leviticus 15 deals with all sorts of different bodily discharges. I believe one of the functions of Leviticus 15 is similar to Leviticus 11, it is meant to distinguish God’s people from the rest of the world. I believe that uncleannesses that develop due to these various bodily discharges were meant to stigmatize irregular and immoral sexual behavior and to encourage self-control among those who are not married. Sexual behavior was a mark of holiness in the ancient world as it is today. We see this throughout the New Testament: Hebrews 13:4
Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.
Ephesians 5:1–5
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
1 Thessalonians 4:3–5,
For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God;
1 Corinthians 6:9–11,
Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
As in the ancient world, how we carry ourselves in regards to our sexual morality is vital to show we belong to God. How can we approach the Lord and enter his presence, if our hearts are filled with sexual immorality and covetousness?
If any of you are giving yourselves to immorality, I plead with you to repent. Remember Jesus is willing and able to forgive you of your sins and to make you clean. Leviticus 15:31 is a good summation of this entire section, Leviticus 15:31,
“Thus you shall keep the people of Israel separate from their uncleanness, lest they die in their uncleanness by defiling my tabernacle that is in their midst.”
If you do not deal with your uncleanness in all its various forms, you will die in your uncleanness. Paul makes an application on the distinctness of the people of God in 2 Corinthians 6:14–18,
Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said,
“I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them,
and I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.
Therefore go out from their midst,
and be separate from them, says the Lord,
and touch no unclean thing;
then I will welcome you,
and I will be a father to you,
and you shall be sons and daughters to me,
says the Lord Almighty.”
Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.
The Lord is holy therefore we must deal with our uncleanness before entering his presence.
Let me off 5 diagnostic questions a Christian can use to discern whether they are living a clean and holy life before God:
Is there any unconfessed sin in my life that I am tolerating or hiding?
Am I consistently seeking God through prayer, Scripture, and obedience, or just coasting spiritually? Holiness isn’t passive; it's pursued.
Do my thoughts, speech, and actions reflect the purity and character of Christ?
We need to search the internal life—not just behavior, but the heart behind it.
Am I quick to repent when convicted, or do I justify or ignore my sin? A clean life isn't a perfect one, but a repentant one.
Am I pursuing holiness out of love for God, or out of duty, fear, or to appear righteous before others? Motives matter. True holiness flows from a heart that loves and desires God above all else.
How do you get ready for church? How do you prepare to enter God’s presence? We get ready through diligence, prayer, and preparation. We examine our lives to make sure there is nothing unclean in us.
But we will see uncleanness in ourselves, because we are sinners. And this is why we mark days like today in our church calendar. Palm Sunday when Jesus entered Jerusalem in preparation for his final week on his journey to the cross. They shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” It was the triumphal procession of the King of kings and Lord of lords ready to die and be raised to unite all things together in him. Jesus was ready for his death and his burial and therefore he was raised from the dead. Friends, we also must be ready to meet the Lord. It is only when we are ready for our death by recognizing our uncleanness and our need for cleaning that we will be ready for our resurrection. Jesus entered Jerusalem as the Son of Man who was willing to die for sins and was ready to be declared Son of God in his resurrection to be able to forgive sins.
We can’t be afraid of our uncleanness, but take our uncleanness to the only One who is willing and able to effectively deal with our uncleanness by taking it for us. Getting ready for the Lord’s Day gathering is merely a weekly reminder to get ready for the ultimate Lord’s Day gathering where all people who have washed through robes in the blood of the Lamb will enter the Lord’s presence forever. Beloved, let’s get ready for that Day!