 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Dr.
Michael - The Bible Guy
MEDIUMS – STONING – BURNT OFFERINGS
Dear Bible Guy:
Question: Does the Bible have anything to say about mediums?
Response: Yes, the Bible does in the 20th chapter of Leviticus:
Lev 20:27 And a man or woman, when there is among them a medium, or a spirit-knower, dying shall die/ they shall stone them with stones; their blood is on them.
The Book of Leviticus is one of the books of The Law. And I must admit to some degree of ignorance when it comes to this stuff. Some of the things I do know:
This book of Leviticus is just chock-full of judgments to punish wrongdoers, as well as potions (hundreds of different types of offerings and sacrifices), ostensibly designed by God, for the purpose of eschewing the wrath of God. Basically, the way I read it is something akin to, “Now that you have sinned you will live out the rest of your days outside My good graces or, (as is the case of the burnt offering) you can barbecue Me a couple of nice fat lamb chops and all is forgiven.” You recall the story of Cain and Able, right? Cain was a tiller of the ground, Abel a shepherd of flocks. Cain brought his offering of fruit to God, while Able brought a young fatling as his sacrifice to God. You know the rest of the story’ God looked favorably upon Abel’s sacrifice, but ignored Cain’s. Seems to me that God, or whoever wrote these stories, certainly must not have been a vegetarian. In all fairness, there were bread offerings and grain offerings to atone for lesser transgressions, (They had to fill out their menus somehow I suppose.)
I guess what I am saying here is that there is one school of thought that ascribes the writing of the laws, judgments, and sacrifices of Leviticus to the Levitical priests themselves. Seems a logical conclusion. I’m not sure, maybe a bit too simple and cynical.
In the book of Deuteronomy you will also find the mandate, as given by God,
Deu 21:18-21 Lamsa
(18) If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son, who will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and who, when they have chastised him, will not hearken to them’
(19) Then his father and his mother shall lay hold on him, and bring him out to the elders of the city, at the gate of his place’
(20) And they shall say to the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he does not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.
(1) Then all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shall you put evil away then from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear.Can you believe that?
There’s even a law given in Leviticus that says that if a man is caught “lying” with an animal, kill the man and then stone the animal. There’s some quite amazing stuff in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. Have a look at Leviticus 21:16-24, God tells Moses if a man has any blemish, be he blind, have a broken foot or hand, or if he’s a dwarf, or has “a fallen eyebrow” whatever that means, the man can not approach God. I say all this because this is the same conversation Moses is purportedly having with God one chapter earlier regarding the fate of mediums.
Moving along, really, Leviticus 20:10 says that any adulterer shall be taken outside the camp and put to death. It is made clear both in Leviticus and in the eighth chapter of the Gospel of John, (with the woman caught in adultery) that God’s prescribed method of retribution is to come by means of stoning. Now Jesus does not condemn the woman caught in adultery. He rather admonishers her to “Go and sin no more.” I suppose it could be argued that Jesus was simply making the point of ‘Judge no, lest ye be judged’ by His challenging the crowd with, “He who is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone.” While it is true that all present did, one by one, drop their stones and turn away, it is also true that Jesus Himself was without sin and therefore, by his own ground rules, perfectly qualified, if not obligated, to carry out the will of His Father, as given in Leviticus. Perhaps Jesus had decided on His own to overlook these transgressions of the “Law” in preference to showing love and compassion. But that would not be consistent with John 5:30 where He states, “I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear I judge; and my judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.”
Many Evangelicals will tell you that, with the death and resurrection of Jesus, we are somehow no longer under the Law, but are now under Grace. But, as Jesus Himself said in Matthew 4:17, “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law…I did not come to abolish, but fulfill.” To put an exclamation point to this, while giving His Sermon On The Mount He said, “…until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass away from the Law until all is accomplished.”
Just as Jesus did not condemn the woman caught in adultery, He also chastised the Pharisees in Matthew 9:13 and 12:7 by telling them that, had they understood what the Prophet Hosea meant when he, speaking for God said “I want compassion, not sacrifice” the Pharisees would not have condemned the innocent’
So why then didn’t He put to death by stoning the woman caught in adultery? The Law as given by God through Moses states that anyone who is guilty of adultery, along with a multitude of other sins, “shall be taken outside the camp and put to dearth by stoning.” As I mentioned earlier, there are also numerous transgressions that must be atoned for through the process of offering up burnt offerings. Up to this point we have the Law apparently demanding death by stoning or giving burnt offering sacrifices, (as well as a multitude of other sacrifices), in order to atone for our sins, both of which Jesus denounces. Yet He steadfastly maintains that He has not come to abolish the Law but to fulfill it.
Well, since the Law was given to the Hebrews by God in the ancient Hebrew language and not modern or even King James English, perhaps there is something Jesus, being a Hebrew, understood of the original language that isn’t readily transferable from the ancient Hebrew to King James or modern English. Indeed a looking into the language of the Hebrews throws an entirely new light on this issue.
Let’s have a closer look at the word LAW, or TORAH. I think it’s fascinating that the Hebrew root of this word means to flow as water. (Remember when Jesus is speaking to the woman at the well in John 4:10? “Jesus answered and said to her, If you only knew the gift of God and who is the man who said to you, Give me a drink, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” LAW also finds in its root the ideas of pointing out the way, instruction, and the concept of an Archer taking aim and sending forth his arrow toward his target.
Understanding then the original and ancient derivation of the word “LAW” I believe gives a much clearer picture of its original intent. Embracing the Hebraic concept rather than whatever our present day conceptions may be, the actions and teachings of Jesus suddenly do not appear to be at such odds with Old Testament Law; more clarity is revealed as the filtering effects of time, culture and language are reduced.
God, through Moses, has given us the Law, which we are to obey. If we do not obey the Law then we are told the consequence, in many cases is to be death, death by stoning, In truth God has said to us, ‘There is a natural flow to life; I have laid out for you how you can live in harmony with this flow of the unseeable life force so as to let it bless and benefit you in all that you do. I have also shown you what types of actions and attitudes will cause you to wind up in opposition to that flow.’ Viewed in this way, as the original language testifies, the Law is no longer a set of shackles tying us down and restricting our freedom, but quite the opposite. Adherence to the Law, the natural flow of life, frees us from the struggles and fights of life. In the language of today, God was simply telling Moses how to ‘Go With The Flow’, so to speak.
Now we all know that to transgress the Law is to sin. And this is true. Just as the Law has the concept of the archer sending forth his arrows towards his target or objective, so the original concept behind the term SIN is “to miss the mark”, another archer term. This word SIN also embodies the ideas of wandering or stumbling about, or in any way not reaching the objective.
How interesting. Now anyone who misses the mark, stumbles along the way, or in anywise does not reach his objective is, by God, to be…stoned to death? Absolutely! For just as LAW and SIN held quite different connotations in the language of the ancients, so too does the word STONE. Stone, in the Hebrew, eben, is defined as: “to build; begin to build; make; repair’ build up”. The term used for the act of stoning is ragam’ and has a very similar definition: “to cast together; bring together, build up or heap up.” In Aramaic, Stone is also an idiom connotating “Truth”. The Apostle Peter seems to enjoy using this metaphor as well as reviving its use from the Old Testament;
1 Peter 2:5-6 You also, as living stones, build up yourselves and become
spiritual temples and holy priests to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable
to God by Jesus Christ. (6) For as it is said in the scriptures: “Behold,
I lay in Zion, a chief cornerstone, approved, precious; and he who believe
on him shall not be ashamed” Isa.28:16I’m sure Peter, often referred to as Simon Peter, whose name prior to meeting Jesus was simply Simon, or Simon bar Jonah, (Simon son of Jonah) came to especially appreciate this particular metaphor. For it was Jesus who gave him the name of Peter, meaning rock or stone, while speaking to Simon, said:
Matthew 16:18 And I tell you also that you are the stone (Peter), and upon
this stone I will build my church; and the doors of Sheol shall not shut upon it.Therefore Gods judgment on anyone who transgresses the Law, or sins, who stumbles along his way and fails to meet the objective, by whatever means misses the mark, by not allowing God to flow freely in and through him or her, “is to be taken outside the camp and stoned with stones to death.” In other words, the person is to be taken aside and built up, repaired, taught where and how he has erred, brought together and back into God’s flow. That ego or personality which is not living in harmony with Divine Nature is to be put to death by building up that which is of God. In this manner the true child of God may blossom. Jesus put it this way. “Anyone who wishes to save his life will loose it; Anyone who looses his life for My sake will gain it.” Jesus also taught this principle in His parable of the mustard seed that is buried in the ground. Once the seed dies to its old nature the natural flow of God’s current of life transforms that hardened crusty seed into a magnificent tree, giving refuge and comfort to many. The mustard seed does not, indeed cannot, work at becoming the magnificent tree it was created to be. But once the seed’s outer shell falls away, its true inner identity begins to take form. In the same way Jesus is asking us to give up, let die what we have been so that God may develop through us that which we were created to be.
Levitical Law also teaches that burnt offerings are another method of removing the stigma of sin. How does the slaughter and torching of helpless, blameless living beings of Gods own creation please God? Perhaps it does so in this respect. The derivation of the Hebrew “Burnt Offering” – Ulah’ is - a step; stairs (as in the process of ascending); i.e.: going up in smoke. In this respect the idea of offering up our burnt offerings fits right in with the old concept of helping us return to the harmonious flow of God’s life energies. As we are spiritual beings habitating in a material environment, we are to have dominion over it, not the other way round. When we find ourselves becoming so attached and thus enslaved to the material, we are to give up, release our attachment to things and circumstances material, that our spirit may ascend, climb the stairs to greater levels of awareness.
After looking at all of this the question I have is. “What then is so new about the New Testament?” I see noting in the message Jesus preached that is contradictory to the wisdom of the Ancients. I have found no new promises or commandments that were not already given. So what is new about His New Testament? It is the way in which He communicated so perfectly, so dramatically, clearly, and simply, the message God has been giving since the beginning. The message? Return to God. Do you want a good life? A prosperous life? A joyous life? Do you feel you are a slave to your circumstances? Does life seem to be one struggle after another? Jesus says “Come to Me, all who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My load is light.” In other words, ‘I have a law, a principle, that is as flowing water.
John 6:38 – “He who believes in Me, as the scriptures said, ‘From his
innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.’
On a personal note: To answer your question about the “sin” of being a trance medium. Personally, I think the Levitical priests put that one in there because they didn’t want the competition.
Forgive Them Father
The Number 40
Mediums - Stoning - Burnt Offerings
Is The Bible The Word of God