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Chapter 15: Secondary Laws
The Israelites spent about ten months at Mt. Sinai. They spent the next thirty-eight years wandering in the desert wilderness until the Exodus generation of fighting age adult males died out with the exception of Joshua and Caleb. The Israelites began the transition period in Chapter 15, which will continue to Chapter 25. Yet, no dates or historical information is given in these years as the old Exodus generation who had known slavery in Egypt died out and the vital and rugged wilderness generation grew to adulthood.
Chapter 15 is divided into three parts:
- Laws that will take effect when the people live in Canaan (verses 1-21)
- Laws concerning unintentional and intentional sins-sins of defiance that show a willful disregard of God's laws, and a judgment for the intentional sin of working on the Sabbath (verses 22-36)
- A reminder of the need for obedience to the Law and separateness from the Gentile world (verses 37-41)
In the first two sections we return to the pattern of seven found in the laws of the Holiness Code in Leviticus. Numbers 15:1-31 records Yahweh's list of seven laws that will become part of the ritual of sacrifice and obedience to the Law upon entering the Promised Land.
Numbers 15:1-12 The Laws Regarding the Offering of Animal Sacrifices in the Promised Land
It is absent from the instructions for sin offerings or for sin of reparation sacrifices and is found only once in the instructions for purification offerings in Leviticus 4:31 (JPS Torah Commentary: Numbers, pages 118, 311-12). The "pleasing smell" was the self-surrender of the people as a community or as an individual offerer.
Question: What three additional laws will become part of the sacrificial ritual when the Israelites worship Yahweh in the Promised Land?
Answer:
- The law for grain offerings and wine libations with each lamb (verses 3-5).
- The law for grain offerings and wine libations with a ram (verse 6).
- The law for grain offerings and wine libations with a young bull (verses 7-9).
The laws requiring gain offerings and wine libations to accompany all animal sacrifices and not just the Tamid morning and afternoon sacrifice (Ex 29:38-42) were probably not part of the ritual of sacrifice in the desert Sanctuary because gain and wine are not produced by nomadic peoples but must be purchased from caravans. God did not want worship to be a burden. Once the people took possession of the Promised Land, they gave up their nomadic existence to become farmers who grew both grains and grapes-worship expressed as sacrifice and communion with Yahweh was to be a joyful experience.
Numbers 15:13-16 To Whom the Laws Apply
For the entire history of the people of God, they had been resident aliens in a foreign land: Abraham was a resident alien in a Canaan (Gen 23:4), as were the Israelites in Egypt (Gen 15:13; 46:1, 8; 47:1-12; Ex 2:22). When the Israelites conquer Canaan they will become the ruling power, but they are called by God to remember their history and to behave with kindness to resident aliens by bringing them into the community, treating them justly and even welcoming them into the covenant.
Numbers 15:17-21: The First-fruits of bread
Question: What is the fourth additional law that will be observed when the Israelites are living in the Promised Land?
Answer: The law for offering the first-fruits of the bread dough to God (verses 17-21).
Just as the first-born of man and beast belong to God (Ex 13:11), the first-fruits of the soil are consecrated to Yahweh (Ex 22:28; 23:19; 34:26; Lev 2:12; 23:10-17; Dt 18:4; 26:1-2).
This is the last law in this section that will not be observed until the Israelites are in possession of the Promised Land.
Numbers 15:22-31 Expiation for Unintentional Sins and the Penalty for Intentional Sins
The ritual of sacrifice for the sins of the community and community leaders is found in Leviticus 4:13-26. The next three laws are a clarification of those previous instructions. The important point is that expiation and forgiveness can only be offered for unintentional sins and not for sins of outright rebellion against the Law of God.
Question: What are the last three laws included in this section?
Answer:
- The law for the unintentional sin offering of the whole community (verses 22-26)
- The law for the unintentional sin offering of an individual (verses 27-29)
- The law for imposing exile as the penalty for a defiant sin (verses 30-31).
A Summary of the Seven Laws (Num 15:1-31):
- The law for grain offerings and wine libations with each lamb (verses 3-5).
- The law for grain offerings and wine libations with a ram (verse 6).
- The law for grain offerings and wine libations with a young bull (verses 7-9).
- The law for offering the first-fruits of the bread dough to God (verses 17-21).
- The law for the unintentional sin offering of the whole community (verses 22-26).
- The law for the unintentional sin offering of an individual (verses 27-29).
- The law for imposing exile as the penalty for a defiant sin (verses 30-31).
Numbers 15:32-36 Case Law: Violation of the Sabbath
Question: What command of the Law had the man broken by collecting wood on the Sabbath. See Ex 20:8; 31:12-17; 35:1-3; Lev 24:12.
Answer: There was to be no servile work on the Sabbath. The covenant people were to rest as God rested from His work of Creation. The Sabbath obligation was a "sign" of the covenant.
The seventh day Sabbath was consecrated at Creation (Gen 2:2-3), but the observance of the Sabbath obligation was not a command until the Sinai covenant when the Sabbath became a sign of Israel's relationship with God. Since God consecrated the Sabbath to Himself (Gen 2:3), the Sabbath must also be holy to Israel as a sign of the covenant between God and Israel (Ex 31:13, 15) in the same way that the Sanctuary, its Tabernacle and the sacred furniture were consecrated and were holy to Israel (Ex 30:25-29). The Sabbath commemorated God's actions in the Creation event and in the creation of the nation of Israel. In observing the Sabbath, Israel followed Yahweh's example-emulating God as living images of the eternal God (Gen 1:27). Therefore, profaning the Sabbath and treating it as unholy or common was no less a capital offense than encroaching on/profaning the Sanctuary (Ex 28:35)
Numbers 15:37-41 The Command to Wear Tassels with Blue Threads
Question: Why are the people commanded to wear tassels with a blue wool thread/cord on the hems of their garments? See verses 39-41.
Answer: The tassels with the blue wool threads/cords were to serve as reminders to keep all the commandments of the Law and to put them into practice in order to maintain the sacred character of the community.
Most "reminders" in the Old Testament are to remind God to remember Israel:
- The high priest's breastplate in Ex 28:12
- The silver ransom in Ex 30:16
- The jealousy offering of a suspicious husband in Num 5:18
- The blowing of the trumpets in Num 10:9
- The gold booty offering from the commanders in Num 31:54
However, four reminders are not directed to God but to Israel:
- The Passover sacrifice in Ex 12:14
- The wearing of prayers on the foreheads, right arms and doorposts in Ex 13:9, 16 and Dt 6:8-9, 11:18
- The bronze plating that covered the altar in Num 17:4-5/16:40
- The pillars erected after crossing the Jordan River in Josh 4:6-7, 21-24.
Question: What part of the high priest's garments had a blue cord attached to it? Is there a connection to the blue cord on the tzitzit? See Ex 28:36-38.
Answer: The blue wool cord that must be attached to the tassels/tzitzit is identical to the blue cord that attaches the golden diadem that reads "Consecrated to YHWH" to the high priest's headdress/miter. The blue cord that attaches the diadem to the high priest's miter is a sign of his holiness and consecration just as the tzitzit on the garments of the Israelites identifies them as separated from the Gentile world and as being holy to the one true God.
In antiquity, fringes on the hems of Mesopotamian and Canaanite garments were common and are often depicted in the art of these ancient cultures. The tzitziot (plural) were worn on an Israelite man's outer garment (called a talit) to be a sign that was an important part of the normal daily clothes of the covenant people, unlike the common daily dress of the pagan neighbors, and identifying the Israelites as Yahweh's servants. Ancient reproductions of this practice show tassels handing from all around the hem of a large cloak or blanket that covered the whole body, but in the Jewish period when the covenant was maintained with Yahweh through the state of Judah/Judea, tassels were almost always confined to the outer garment's four corners (Dt 22:12), and this was undoubtedly the practice in Jesus' time. The command to wear tassels is repeated in Deuteronomy 6:4.(7)
Question: Do you recall a story in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark where the tzitzit of Jesus' garment played an important role in a healing miracle? See Mt 9:20-22; Mk 5:25-34.
Answer: The woman who was suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years was healed when she touched the tzitzit of Jesus' talit.
Modern Jews no longer wear the blue cord in the tassels of the tzitziot of their prayer shawls. That commandment of the Law was lifted by the rabbis after the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD. The sacred blue dye was produced in the Temple, but the recipe was lost when the Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.
Chapter 13:2-19/18 Moses' Appeal to Avoid the Enticements of Idolatry
Chapter 13 is divided into three units, each of which deals with the temptation of straying away from Yahweh to worship false idols:
- enticed by false teachers/prophets claiming prophetic authority
- enticed by family members and friends
- enticed by fellow citizens
Each section repeats the same terminology:
- "come let us worship other gods" ... "unknown to you" (verses 3, 7 and 14)
- "lead you astray" (verses 6, 11 and 14)
- "hear/listen" (4, 9, 13 and 19)
Deuteronomy 13:2/1-6/5 Temptation to being led Astray by False Prophets
Question: Can you give any examples where false prophets/visionaries have introduced new religions?
Answer: An example of a modern day false prophet is the visionary L. Ron Hubbard. His ideas have spawned the modern Scientology religion where he is virtually worshiped as a god in a religion that promises its members a godlike present and future existence.
Jesus warned His followers against listening to false prophets (Mt 7:15-20). He said in the last days may false prophets would arise (Mt 24:11-13) with may claiming to offer salvation as false christs and even showing impressive signs (Mt 24:24; Mk 13:22).
Question: What can we do to protect ourselves and our children from false prophets?
Answer: We must read and study Sacred Scripture; we must also understand our faith, apply the Sacraments to our lives, and obediently follow the teachings of Mother Church. The Church founded by Jesus Christ through His Apostles is the only vehicle Christ has given us to lead us to salvation. The Church contains the fullness of faith and truth. We can protect our children by teaching them the doctrine of faith and salvation passed on to us by Jesus and to be obedient to the teachings of His Church.
Deuteronomy 13:7/6-12/11 Temptation to be led Away from Yahweh by Family Members and Friends
Verses 10-11 do not suggest disregarding the rule of law but emphasize that one must not protect a family member of friend from justice-such an act makes one an accomplice to the sin of apostasy. Deuteronomy 17:2-7 outlines the procedure for a legal court case against someone accused of idolatry.
Question: Read Deuteronomy 17:2-7. What are the legal procedures for such a case?
Answer: The accused is brought to trial before the elders of Israel. If the person is convicted, after being legally brought to trial with a minimum of two witnesses, the family member or the one who brought the charge against the person is to cast the first stone, but the whole community is also to take part in the execution.
Deuteronomy 13:13/12-19/18 Dangers in being led Away from Yahweh by Fellow Citizens
Question: How are the Israelites to treat the Israelite town that has forsaken the covenant with Yahweh by turning to idol worship? See Dt 7:1-2, 21-24; 20:17-18; Josh 6:17.
Answer: The Israelites are to treat the town as though it was a Canaanite town during the conquest and utterly destroy it and everything in it.
The accusers and those who legally condemned the offending town could not profit from the verdict rendered against it. Chapter 13 establishes that the Israelites, individuals and as a covenant community, owed their first allegiance to Yahweh and not to family, friends, or fellow citizens at the expense of their covenant relationship with Yahweh.
Question: What is the definition of "apostasy" for a Christian? What is heresy? See CCC 465, 675, 817, 2089, 2577.
Answer: Apostasy is the "falling away" or total rejection by a baptized person of the Christian faith he once professed. Heresy refers to a doctrinal belief held in opposition to the recognized standards of belief of the Church. A heretic is a baptized Christian who while remaining nominally a Christian pertinaciously denies or persistently doubts any of the truths that must be believed through divine revelation passed on by Jesus Christ to His Apostles and from the Apostles to the Church (i.e., doubting the death, burial and Resurrection of Jesus Christ).
For a Catholic to be declared a heretic, four elements must be verified:
- Previous valid baptism (which need not have been in a Catholic Church)
- External profession of still being a Christian (otherwise the person becomes an apostate).
- Outright denial or positive doubt voiced regarding a truth that the Catholic Church has actually proposed as revealed by God (i.e., the Immaculate Conception).
- The disbelief must be morally culpable, where a nominal Christian refuses to accept what he knows is a doctrinal imperative (i.e., the virgin birth and Resurrection of Jesus Christ).
Question: What should be your response to anyone who attempts to lurk you into apostatizing from the faith and/or serving another god-whether in a false religion or the false gods of materialism and self-interest?
Answer: Your answer should be the same answer Jesus gave Satan when the fallen angel invited Jesus to worship him: Then Jesus replied, 'Away with you, Satan! For scripture says: The Lord your God is the one to whom you must do homage, him alone you must serve' (Mt 4:10).
God permits us to be tested by sin for our benefit. Such temptations remind us that we must depend not on our own power but on divine power to keep God's commandments. Some temptations may lead us to fail and to fall into sin, while other temptations when resisted strengthen the quality of our faith.
| Theme | Book of the Covenant | Holiness Code | Deuteronomic Code |
| Prologue: right worship | Ex 20:19-23:9 | Lev 17:1-16 | Dt 12:1-19 |
| Duties toward the Land | Ex 23:10-11 | Lev 19:9-37; 25:23-34 | Dt 15:1-11; 24:19-22; 26:1-15 |
| Liturgical Calendar | Ex 23:12-19 | Lev 23:1-44; 25:1-22 | Dt 16:1-7 |
| Epilogue: covenant blessings and curses | Ex 23:20-33 | Lev 26:3-46 | Dt 28:1-69/29:1 |
| Michal Hunt, Copyright © 2011 Agape Bible Study. Permissions All Rights Reserved. | |||
Chapter 14: The Laws of Holiness
The ritual purity laws forbade the Israelites and the foreigners living among them to participate in pagan practices (Lev 19:27-28; 21:1-9) and to abstain from eating certain kinds of foods (Ex 22:20; Lev 11:1-47 and 17:15). These prohibitions were established to train the people in the practice of self-discipline in holiness and to separate them from their pagan neighbors. Deuteronomy 14:1-21 is a repeat of laws already listed in the Holiness Code (Lev 17-26), but they are repeated in the Deuteronomic Code so that the new generation will understand that the ritual purity laws that guided Israel in the wilderness years will also be in effect for them while living in the Promised Land and wherever their descendants may live in the future.
Deuteronomy 14:1-21 addresses four laws of Ritual Holiness:
- Prohibitions against pagan mourning practices (verse 1).
- Defining clean animals fit to eat and unclean animals that are unfit for food (verses 3-20).
- Prohibition against eating any animal that has died a natural death (verse 21a).
- Prohibition against boiling a kid in its mother's milk (verse 21b).
Deuteronomy 14:1 You are children [sons] of Yahweh your God.
In the Bible the title "son(s) of God" is given to three different groups:
- Angels of the heavenly court (Ps 29:1; Ps 89:6; Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7)
- the divinely elected children of Israel (Dt 14:1;Wis 2:13; Hos 2:1; Jn 1:10; Rom 8:14, 19; Gal4:5, 6; Phil 2:15; Heb 12:7; Jn 1:12)
- the Davidic kings (2 Sam 7:14; 1 Chr 17:13; 22:10; Ps 2:7; 89:28)
Also see CCC 441.
The first prohibition in verse 1 is a repeat from the Holiness Code in Leviticus 19:27-28. The practices of self mutilation, head shaving, and making offerings of food and material goods for the dead were part of pagan mourning rituals (Dt 26:14) and cultic worship (1 Kng 18:28). These practices were probably also demonstrated at the annual commemoration of the "death" of pagan gods like Baal and Tammuz at the beginning of the summer when vegetation withered from the heat of the sun (Ez 8:14). As "children of Yahweh your God," the Israelites were to be obedient to their kingly God-Father and to image Him in the lives. They were not to become associated in any ways with pagan practices because the Israelites have been chosen through divine election to be God's holy people.
Deuteronomy 14:3-20 Clean and unclean animals
In many ways this list in the second set of prohibitions is a summary and an explanation of the list in Leviticus 11:1-45 in the section of "Purity Laws" (Lev chapters 11-16). Clean and unclean animals are first defined in Genesis 7:2; the unclean animals were those that pagan peoples regarded as sacred or animals that were unpleasant to humans and were considered therefore not suitable for human consumption. For the people of the Sinai Covenant, the animal kingdom was divided into four classes of "clean" animals that can be eaten and "unclean" animals that were not edible.
Question: What were those four classes or animals? See verses 4-20.
Answer: Land animals, water animals, birds and insects.
Clean animals represented the Israelites while unclean animals, unfit for eating or sacrifice, represented the pagan peoples who did not acknowledge Yahweh as God. The list in Deuteronomy chapter 14 compliments the list in Leviticus chapter 11. Where the Leviticus list describes only the kinds of clean animals that can be eaten, without giving examples (see Lev 11:3), the list in Deuteronomy gives specific examples including both domesticated and wild horned animals (Dt 14:4-5), and where Leviticus gives examples (see Lev 11:21-23), the list in Deuteronomy lists only the general prohibition (Dt 14:20).
The List of Clean and Unclean from Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14
- Land animals:
- Clean: animals which ruminate and have cloven hooves were classified as clean and edible. These animals included the domesticated cattle, sheep and goats; wild animals including deer, gazelles, antelopes, oryx, and mountain sheep (all horned animals)
- Unclean: Camels, hares, coneys (badger-like animal), all reptiles and pigs
- Sea/fresh water animals:
- Clean: fish with fins and scales
- Unclean: shellfish and other sea creatures without fins and scales
- Birds:
- Clean: turtle doves and pigeons.
- Unclean: nineteen kinds are named in Leviticus and twenty-one kinds are named in Deuteronomy
- Insects
- Clean: four species of locusts
- Unclean: all other insects
All "clean" animals could be eaten, but not all "clean" animals could be offered to Yahweh in sacrifice. Only five kinds of "clean" land animals were acceptable for sacrifice: cattle, sheep, goats, turtledoves and pigeons. It was a religious duty to only eat "clean" animals.
Question: What did Jesus teach about the covenant prohibition against unclean foods? See Mk 7:14-23.
Answer: Jesus did away with the ritual purity laws associated with eating certain foods. Jesus came to purify His covenant people internally. He told them that it wasn't what they ate that made them acceptable to God, but it was instead the condition of their hearts that make them pure or impure ... Thus he pronounced all foods clean (Mk 7:19)
Deuteronomy 14:22-27 The Second Tithe
The Patriarchs gave Yahweh voluntary tithes (Gen 14:20; 28:22). Tithing to the great king and giving offerings to the sanctuary of the regional god was a common practice in the ancient Near East.
The Instructions for tithing were given in Leviticus 27:30-33 and Numbers 18:21-32. The tithe in Numbers 18:21-32 is identified as the "first tithe." Leviticus 27:30-31 and verses 21-27 of this passage refer to the "second tithe," taken from the remaining ninety percent of the produce. The second tithe is to be used in making pilgrimages to the Temple and in providing for food at the sacred festivals as part of their communion sacrifices. The "second tithe" on produce is replaced in the third and sixth years by a "third tithe" or "tithe for the poor" (Dt 14:28-29).
In this section Moses gives additional details on the procedures the people were to follow concerning their tithes.
Question: When the first tithe and the firstfruits were taken to God's Sanctuary (or the equivalent in money), who was to receive the tithe? See Ex 22:28-29; 34:19-20; Num 18:21-32.
Answer: The "first tithes," a tenth of all produce and the firstfruits of produce and domesticated animals were given for the support of the Levites, who in turn gave a tenth of it to the chief priests.
All the first-born males of humans and domesticated animals became God's property. The first-born of the humans were dedicated to God, but a redemption tax was paid by their parents for their "return" (Ex 13:13; 34:19-20; Num 3:46-47). The first-born of the "clean" male animals: cattle, sheep, and goats were offered in sacrifice (Dt 15:19-20).
Question: Why did all the first-born of men and animals become God's property? See Ex 13:14; Num 3:13 and 8:17. Why were the first-born males redeemed with a tax instead of serving God in His Sanctuary? See Num 3:12, 40-51; 8:16-18.
Answer: Their dedication was associated with the redemption of the first-born males of Israel and male animals on the night of the tenth plague in Egypt. In place of the first-born males who were spared in that event and who were intended to serve God in His Sanctuary, the Levites replaced the first-born males and were consecrated to God after their heroism in putting down the Revolt of the Golden Calf. Because of the unfitness of the first-born males in the failure to rally to Moses in the Revolt of the Golden Calf, they became "unfit for service" like the unclean donkey was "unfit for sacrifice."
Deuteronomy 14:28-29 The Third Year Tithe
Question: What happened every third year? Why?
Answer: Every third year the tithe was to be given to the poor. The Israelites were to be as generous to the poor and disadvantaged as Yahweh had been to them when they were poor, disadvantaged slaved in Egypt. There were to be no poor in God's Holy Land.
Every third and sixth year in a seven year cycle, the Israelites were not to bring the tithe to the Sanctuary but must deposit it within their communities to feed the poor. The Levites living among the people were not deprived of the third year tithes. Deuteronomy 26:12-15 prescribes a declaration of obedience the Israelites must recite in the presence of God at the Sanctuary after having given their allotted amount of the third year tithe.
Coronation of the Virgin (Peter Paul Rubens)
A Daily Defense
Day 64 Mary Queen of Heaven
CHALLENGE: “There is no biblical basis for regarding Mary as the Queen of Heaven. The term is not found in the Bible, and Catholics shouldn’t use it.”
DEFENSE: Many terms are not found in the Bible, yet they have a biblical basis. The Marian title “Queen of Heaven” is one such term.
Just because a term is not found in the Bible does not mean it is “unbiblical” (contrary to Scripture). It can have a solid scriptural basis. For example, the terms “Trinity,” “original sin,” and even “Bible” are not found in Scripture, but each describes a biblical reality.
Mary’s role as queen is based on her Son’s role as king. Jesus serves both as David’s successor as king of Israel (Luke 1:32; John 1:49, etc.) and as the universal, spiritual king, whose “kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36), who sat down in heaven with his Father “on his throne” (Rev. 3:21), and who is thus the heavenly “king of kings” (Rev. 17:14, 19:16).
In view of Jesus’ kingship, Christians naturally reflected on what this had to say about the royal status of his mother. If Jesus is king, it is natural to view Mary in regal terms. This is particularly the case in light of the way the concept of queenship worked in ancient Israel. At the time, a king might have many wives (Solomon is said to have had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines; 1 Kings 11:3), but he only had one mother, and it was to her that royal authority accrued.
In the house of David the king’s mother was known as the gebirah (Hebrew for “lady” or “great lady”). This term is sometimes translated “queen” or “queen mother.” The gebirah had a distinct office that allowed her to exercise royal authority greater than that of the king’s wives.’
If Jesus is the new Davidic king, then it is natural to see Mary as the new Davidic gebirah. Since Jesus now exercises his kingship in heaven, and since Mary is also in heaven, it has been natural to apply the term “Queen of Heaven” to her.
Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist
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