The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 42: Moral Laws (2023)

Episode Date: February 11, 2023

Fr. Mike breaks down the three types of law we find in Leviticus, including moral laws regarding sexuality. Today's readings are Exodus 24, Leviticus 17-18, and Psalm 78. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of Scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using the Great Adventure Bible Timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today. This is day 42. Let's keep on rolling. Today, we're going to be reading from Exodus chapter 24. That's Exodus 24, then Leviticus 17 and 18, and then Psalm 78. As always, I'm reading from the Revised Standard Version,

Second Catholic Edition, actually from the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension. You can get that at ascensionpress.com or wherever you buy your Bibles. Also, if you want to be able to follow along, I know we're on day 42 already. And one of the great things that I find is I look at this sheet that I printed out. Actually, it's sheets because it's more than one piece of paper of all of the days and all the readings for all the days. And I get to cross out one reading a day.

And it's great to be able to see, like, I'm making progress. Sometimes when we're just kind of hitting play on our podcast, it's great to be able to see like I'm making progress. Sometimes when we're just kind of hitting play on our podcast, it's like, well, I don't know. I mean, am I really getting anywhere? And the answer is yes, you are. You're on day 42 right now. Sometimes it's really helpful to have though that sheet of paper printed off at that Bible India reading plan. And then I take a marker. It is a blue marker because I like that color. And I just cross off the day as I've completed the reading for the day. And it just makes me feel like I'm going somewhere. Obviously, moving through the Bible makes you feel like you're going somewhere too. But that's my tip

and little practice that I have. So you can get that Bible in a Year reading plan by visiting ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a Year. I also realize I've been speaking a little quickly right now. I apologize for that. I'm going to slow it down. You can subscribe in your podcast app if you haven't yet done that. It is one of the things that I like being able to see how every day here is the podcast. It pops up and just bam. It's a reminder for me of, yeah, let's read through, let's listen through the Bible. But as I said today today we're reading Exodus 24, Leviticus 17 and 18, and then Psalm 78. Exodus chapter 24, the blood of the covenant. And he said to Moses, come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and 70 of

the elders of Israel and worship afar off. Moses alone shall come near to the Lord, but the others shall not come near, and the people shall not come up with him. Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the ordinances, and all the people answered with one voice and said, All the words which the Lord has spoken we will do. And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord. And he rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain and twelve pillars according to the twelve tribes of Israel. And he sent young men of the sons of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord.

And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half the blood he threw against the altar. Then he took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people, and they said, All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient. And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people, and said, Behold, the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words. On the mountain of God, then Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, and they saw the God of Israel. And there was under his feet, as it were, a pavement of sapphire stone, like a very heaven for clearness. And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel. They beheld God and ate and drank. The Lord said to Moses, Come up to me on the mountain and wait there, and I will give you the tables of stone with the law and the commandment,

which I have written for their instruction. So Moses rose with his servant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God. And he said to the elders, Wait here for us, until we come to you again. And behold, Aaron and Hur are with you. Whoever has a cause, let him go to them. Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. The glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was

like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the sons of Israel. And Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights. The Book of Leviticus, Chapters 17 and 18. The Slaughter of Animals. And the Lord said to Moses, Say to Aaron and his sons, and to all the sons of Israel, This is the thing which the Lord has commanded. If any man of the house of Israel kills an ox or a lamb or a goat in the camp, or kills it outside the camp, and does not bring it to the door of the tent of meeting to offer it as a gift to the Lord before the tabernacle of the Lord, blood guilt shall be imputed to that man. He has shed blood, and that man shall be cut off from among his people.

This is to the end that the sons of Israel may bring their sacrifices, which they slay in the open field, but they may bring them to the Lord, to the priest at the door of the tent of meeting, and slay them as a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord. And the priest shall sprinkle the blood on the altar of the Lord at the door of the tent of meeting, and burn the fat for a pleasing odor to the Lord. So they shall no more slay their sacrifices for satyrs, after whom they play the harlot. This shall be a statute forever to them throughout their generations. And you shall say to them,

Any man of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among them, who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice, and does not bring it to the door of the tent of meeting, to sacrifice it to the Lord, that man shall be cut off from his people. Eating of blood forbidden. If any man of the house of Israel,

or of the strangers that sojourn among them, eats any blood, I will set my face against that person who eats blood, and will cut him off from among his people. For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement, by reason of the life. Therefore I have said to the sons of Israel, No person among you shall eat blood,

neither shall any stranger who sojourns among you eat blood. Any man also of the sons of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among them who takes. Any man also of the sons of Israel or of the strangers that sojourn among them who takes in hunting any beast or bird that may be eaten shall pour out its blood and cover it with dust. For the life of every creature is the blood of it. Therefore I have said to the sons of Israel, you shall not eat the blood of any creature, for the life of every creature is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off. And every person that eats what dies of itself or what is torn by beasts, whether he is a native or a sojourner, shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be

unclean until the evening, and he shall be clean. But if he does not wash them or bathe his flesh, he shall bear his iniquity. And the Lord said to Moses, Say to the sons of Israel, I am the Lord your God. You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt where you dwelt, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes. You shall do my ordinances and keep my statutes and walk in them. I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore keep my statutes. You shall do my ordinances and keep my statutes and walk in them. I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore keep my statutes and my ordinances by doing which a man shall live. I am the Lord. Laws concerning sexual relations. None of you shall approach anyone near of kin to him to uncover nakedness. I am the Lord. You shall not

uncover the nakedness of your father, which is the nakedness of your mother. She is your mother. You shall not uncover her nakedness. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's wife. It is your father's nakedness. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your sister, the daughter of your father, or the daughter of your mother, whether born at home or born abroad. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your son's daughter or of your daughter's daughter, for their nakedness is your own nakedness. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's wife's daughter, begotten by your father, since she is your sister. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's sister, she is your father's near kinswoman. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother's sister,

for she is your mother's near kinswoman. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's brother, that is, you shall not approach his wife, she is your aunt. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law, she is your son's wife, you shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law. She is your son's wife. You shall not uncover her nakedness. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother's wife. She is your brother's nakedness. You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and of her daughter, and you shall not take her son's daughter or her daughter's daughter to uncover her nakedness. They are your near kinswoman.

It is wickedness. And you shall not take a woman as a rival wife to her sister, They are your near kinswoman. verse 5. Neither shall any woman give herself to a beast to lie with it. It is perversion. Do not defile yourselves by any of these things, for by all these the nations I am casting out before you defiled themselves, and the land became defiled, so that I punished its iniquity, and the land vomited out its inhabitants. But you shall keep my statutes and my ordinances, and do none of these abominations either to the native or the stranger who sojourns among you. For all these abominations the men of the land did who were before you so that the land became defiled. Lest the land vomit you out when you defile it,

as it vomited out the nation that was before you. For whoever shall do any of these abominations, the persons that do them shall be cut off from among their people. So keep my charge never to practice any of these abominable customs which were practiced before you, and never to defile yourselves by them. I am the Lord your God. Psalm 78 God's goodness and Israel's ingratitude Imaskil of Asaph

Give ear, O my people, to my teaching. Incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable. I will utter dark sayings from of old, things that we have heard and known that our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord and his might, the wonders which he has wrought. He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers

to teach to their children that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments, and that they should not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation,

a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God. The Ephraimites, armed with a bow, turned back on the day of battle. They did not keep God's covenant, but refused to walk according to his law. They forgot what he had done and the miracles that he had shown them. In the sight of their fathers, he wrought marvels in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan. He divided the sea and let them pass through it. He made the waters stand like a heap. In the daytime he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a fiery light. He cleft rocks in the wilderness and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep. He made streams come out of the rock

and caused waters to flow down like the rivers. Yet they sinned still more against him, rebelling against the Most High in the desert. They tested God in their heart by demanding the food they craved. They spoke against God, saying, Can God spread a table in the wilderness? He struck the rock, so that the water gushed out, and streams overflowed.

Can he also give bread or provide meat for his people? Therefore, when the Lord heard, he was full of wrath. A fire was kindled against Jacob. His anger mounted against Israel, because they had no faith in God and did not trust his saving power. Yet he commanded the skies above and opened the doors of heaven, and he rained down upon them manna to eat, and gave them the bread of heaven. Man ate of the bread of the angels. He sent them food in abundance. He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens, and by his power he let out the south wind. He rained down flesh upon them like dust, winged birds like the sand of the seas.

He let them fall in the midst of their camp and all around their habitations. And they ate, and were well filled, for he gave them what they craved. But before they had sated their craving, while the food was still in their mouths, the anger of God rose against them, and he slew the strongest of them and laid low the picked men of Israel. In spite of all this, they still sinned. Despite his wonders, they did not believe. So he made their days vanish like a breath and their years in terror. When he slew them, they sought for him.

They repented and sought God earnestly. They remembered that God was their rock, the Most High was their Redeemer. But they flattered him with their mouths. They lied to him with their tongues. Their heart was not steadfast toward him. They were not true to his covenant yet he being compassionate forgave their iniquity and did not destroy them he restrained his anger often and did not stir up all his wrath he remembered that they were but flesh a wind

that passes and comes not again. How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness and grieved him in the desert. They tested him again and again and provoked the Holy One of Israel. They did not keep in mind his power or the day when he redeemed them from the foe, when he wrought his signs in Egypt and his miracles in the fields of Zoan. He turned their rivers to blood so that they could not drink of their streams. He sent among them swarms of flies which devoured them and frogs which destroyed them. He gave their crops to the caterpillar and the fruit of their labors to the locust.

He destroyed their vines with hail and their sycamores with frost. He gave over their cattle to the hail and their flocks to thunderbolts. He let loose on them his fierce anger, wrath, indignation, and distress, a company of destroying angels. He made a path for his anger. He did not spare them from death, but gave their lives over to the plague. He struck all the firstborn of Egypt, the first issue of their strength in the tents of Ham. Then he led forth his people like sheep and guided them in the wilderness like a flock. He led them to safety so that they were not afraid,

but the sea overwhelmed their enemies. And he brought them to his holy land, to the mountain, which his right hand had won. He drove out nations before them. He apportioned them for a possession and settled the tribes of Israel in their tents. Yet they tested and rebelled against the Most High and did not observe his decrees, but turned away and acted treacherously like their fathers. They twisted like a deceitful bow, for they provoked him to anger with their high places and moved him to jealousy with their graven images. When God heard he was full of wrath and he utterly rejected Israel, he forsook his dwelling at Shiloh,

the tent where he dwelt among people, and delivered his power to captivity, his glory to the hand of the foe. He gave his people over to the sword and vented his wrath on his heritage. Fire devoured their young men and their maidens had no marriage song. Their priests fell by the sword and their widows made no lamentation. Then the Lord awoke as from sleep, like a strong man shouting because of wine, and he put his adversaries to rout, he put them to everlasting shame. He rejected the tent of Joseph, he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim, but he chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which he loves. He built his sanctuary like the high heavens,

like the earth, which he has founded forever. He chose David his servant and took him from the sheepfolds, from tending the ewes that had young he brought him to be the shepherd of Jacob his people, of Israel his inheritance. With upright heart he tended them and guided them with skillful hand. Father in heaven, we thank you for your word.

We thank you for this great prayer that reminds us of all that you have done in our lives. Lord God, one of the big temptations we all have is to forget what you have done, to forget your might, to forget your goodness, to forget your love for us, to forget that you have fought for us. That in so many ways and at so many times, you remind us that the Lord will fight for us. All we have to do is keep still. Lord God, this Psalm, Psalm 78, reminds us of the need for us to remember how good you are and to remember how fickle we can be. Lord God, please help us. If we have been false to you, help us to be true to you now. If we have

strayed, please find us and bring us back to your heart. If we have run away from you, we give you permission right now to take hold of our hands, take hold of our hearts and bring us back to you. Bring us back home. Bring us back to you who are good, who fight for us, who love us. Lord God, make this prayer in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Okay, so this is a big day, not only because we had massively long Psalm 78. I don't know if you guys got lost in that prayer, but it's a good one to go back and pray with whenever you get the chance, just because, again, it's that prayer that reminds us, and it reminds us to remember, and it reminds us of the great things that God has done for his people, Israel. But also, gosh, Exodus chapter 24 and Leviticus chapters 17 and 18 are super important for a number of reasons. Let's just take a little bit of time. So Exodus chapter 24 on the mountain of God and the blood of the covenant. My goodness, this is critical.

What happens? Moses takes the people and he offers up a sacrifice, takes half of the blood, places it on the altar. The other half of the blood, the people say, everything the Lord has said we will do. And they get splashed, sprinkled with that same blood. You guys, this is, again, like I said yesterday, this is not distant from us. This is exactly what happens to us around a regular basis. Whenever we have a group of people who come into the church as adults through a process like RCIA, right? Whenever we have this, people who are not raised Catholic, but are saying yes to the Catholic faith. One of the things they say is they say,

I profess and believe all that the Catholic church believes, professes, and proclaims to be revealed by God. Basically, they're saying what the people of Israel said in Exodus 24. Everything that the Lord has said, we will do. All the Lord has spoken, we will do. We will be obedient. Basically, it's almost like a proposal. Not a proposal. It is like the actual wedding vows, right? So there's two parts to every wedding. There's the male who offers himself. There's the female who offers herself. And then another way to say it is there's the male who offers himself and the female receives and the female then offers herself and the male receives. And something similar is happening in Exodus 24. Something similar

happens every Easter vigil or whenever someone becomes Catholic. The people say all that the Lord has said we will do. They're offering themselves. And then they're received. They're received by Moses and they are sprinkled with the blood of the sacrifice. And same thing happens when it comes to RCIA. The people come forward and either the bishop or the pastor who's been delegated by the bishop receives their offer and receives them. And it's just, it's this incredible thing. It's all about relationship.

And here's what happened is, is incredible thing. It's all about relationship. And here's what happened is, is then what seals that relationship is the blood of the covenant. As Moses said, behold, the blood of the covenant, which the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words, my goodness, what happens at every mass? We say, this is the blood of the new and eternal covenant. And what happens is that that blood is there on the altar and then we get to take it and receive it and that establishes that confirms the the covenant confirms our place every time not just the people who are coming into the church at easter vigil but every time you and i walk forward to be able to receive the body and blood of jesus christ in the mass we're I don't want to say reenacting this because reenacting is less than. We are participating in the fullness of it. That's what we're doing. And not only that, but then what

happens is then Moses, Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu with 70 elders of Israel, they go up and they're able to eat and drink in the presence of the Lord. What happens at every mass? Not only do we have the blood of the Lord on the altar and on us, we also get to eat and drink in his presence, which is truly his real presence, the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. That's one of the reasons why it is so critically important that those of us who are Catholic Christians understand that the Old Testament is not dead. The Old Testament is very alive, and we need to know the Old Testament in order to truly appreciate the New Testament, because we participate in this every single time we come to the Mass.

I know that this is one of the longer podcasts of the day, but we do have to talk about Leviticus chapters 17 and 18. One of the things that's important is because, gosh, and you don't have to bang a drum about this, but it's there. It's in the scriptures today. And in Leviticus chapter 18, we have laws regarding sexual morality. And this is going to be very important because not only does it have some boundaries, right? It's a list of sexual relationships that may not be engaged in by the people of Israel.

Now, one of the things that we need to understand is there are some things in the Bible that are temporary, right? There's some things, there's some laws of Leviticus that have been surpassed basically because they were conditional. They were set in time. And those are things like here are rules with regard to your being distinct from other peoples. This is how you're going to remain separate from the people amongst whom you are living, right? Okay, so it's establishing community for Israel. Second are rules when it comes to worship,

right? Temple rules. And the third are rules that are across the board, always and everywhere wrong. And so you have people who will be kind of smart. And when I say smart, I mean somewhat sarcastic. And they'll say, well, how come you have to follow these particular rules in the Bible, but you don't follow all of them? For example, can I sell my daughter to you for three goats or so-and-so violated the Sabbath? When should we get together and stone them? And so, right, so there's a misunderstanding or a lack of understanding that there are three kinds of laws throughout the Old Testament, particularly here in Exodus, Deuteronomy, Numbers, and Leviticus. The three kind are laws that establish a particular kind of society of people of Israel in the kingdom

of Israel, right? Second, temple worship. And third is morality for always. Now we don't do all of them now. Why? Because well, Israel doesn't exist anymore. The people of Israel don't exist when it comes to having these kinds of laws with regard to say things like not mixing fibers in the clothing that you make. Okay. So that, that law is passed away because Israel has passed away. Secondly, when it comes to temple worship, we don't have all those laws still. Why? Because the temple has ceased to exist. But the third kinds of laws with regard to morality are still in effect because why? Because they were not conditional. They were not merely for Israel to get along. They were for everyone. Now, how do

we know that these laws with regard to sexual morality are the kinds that didn't just pass away with the people of Israel, didn't just pass away with the temple? Well, we know this because it's clearly spelled out in Leviticus chapter 18. This is so important for us to understand just because there are a number of people who want to kind of rewrite scripture. They want to rewrite the context. But in Leviticus chapter 18, one of the things that the Lord God says in verse 24, he says, Do not defile yourselves by any of these things, for by all these, the nations I'm casting out before you had defiled themselves. What that does is it reminds us, actually doesn't remind us, just makes it absolutely clear that those laws concerning sexual relations are not merely for Israel.

But God is saying, no, actually the Canaanites, the land you're going into, they defiled themselves by these things. So this isn't simply conditional. It's not simply, again, like don't cut the hair on your sideburns. It's not simply don't mix match fibers when you're wearing clothes. This is not the same kind of level. That was specifically for Israel. Here God is very clearly saying in chapter 18, verses 24 and following, that other nations did this, and that was an abomination to me. Those things were abominable.

They were perversions. They were wrong. They were evil. And that's one of the reasons why we know absolutely clearly that this wasn't merely a conditional commandment, but this is a universal or absolute commandment. Okay. So, well, this is a long podcast today. I apologize for the time it took, but what a gift that the Lord God has given us his word and given us himself because he loves us. So he loves you and he loves you. And this is maybe the last word here, at least for today. We'll be back tomorrow. But that word is, there are so many things that

the Bible brings up, things that are close to our hearts, some things that are part of our lives. And whether those things be, you know, again, laws concerning sexual morality, sometimes those things could be like, wow, I'm a victim of someone who had abused me, had violated these laws, or I'm someone who's attracted to these kinds of things. What does that mean for me? What it means for you is that you are one of God's beloved. But this is what I desire. Yeah. And you're one of God's beloved. This happened to me. Where was he then? You're one of God's beloved. And whether that was someone doing violence to you, someone stealing something from you, or that's right now, even just feeling that experiencing that brokenness, that woundedness, know this, you are one of God's beloved. And all of us, all the people listening

to this podcast, we experience brokenness in one way or another. This is one of the reasons why God has given us his law. It is the reason why God gives us his grace because you are one of God's beloved and all of us, and you need God's grace. All of us need God's grace. And so today, let that be the takeaway, the walk away from this, not experiencing condemnation, but experiencing hope. You are one of God's beloved. That's why he gave the commandments. That's why he's giving us his grace, is because your story is not over.

We are simply at the very beginning of the story. My name is Father Mike. I'm praying for you. I can't wait to see you again tomorrow. God bless.