Study Book for Our Life and Preaching Meeting
DECEMBER 7-13
FINE-FINE LESSON FROM BIBLE | LEVITICUS 10-11
“We Must Love Jehovah Pass Our Family”
(Leviticus 10:1, 2) Later Aaron’s sons Naʹdab and A·biʹhu each took his fire holder and put fire in it and placed incense on it. Then they began offering before Jehovah unauthorized fire, which he had not commanded them to do. 2 At this a fire came out from before Jehovah and consumed them, so that they died before Jehovah.
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Illegitimate
Illegitimate Fire and Incense. At Leviticus 10:1 the Hebrew word zar (feminine, za·rahʹ; literally, strange) is used with regard to “illegitimate fire, which [God] had not prescribed for them” but which Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu presented before Jehovah and for which he executed them by fire. (Le 10:2; Nu 3:4; 26:61) Subsequently, Jehovah said to Aaron: “Do not drink wine or intoxicating liquor, you and your sons with you, when you come into the tent of meeting, that you may not die. It is a statute to time indefinite for your generations, both in order to make a distinction between the holy thing and the profane and between the unclean thing and the clean, and in order to teach the sons of Israel all the regulations that Jehovah has spoken to them by means of Moses.” (Le 10:8-11) This seems to indicate that Nadab and Abihu were in a state of intoxication, which condition emboldened them to offer fire not prescribed. Such fire was likely illegal as to its time, place, or manner of offering, or it could have been incense other than of the composition described at Exodus 30:34, 35. Their inebriated condition did not excuse their sin.
(Leviticus 10:4, 5) So Moses called Mishʹa·el and El·zaʹphan, the sons of Uzʹzi·el, Aaron’s uncle, and said to them: “Come here, carry your brothers from in front of the holy place to a place outside the camp.” 5 So they came forward and carried the men away in their robes to a place outside the camp, just as Moses had told them.
(Leviticus 10:6, 7) Moses then said to Aaron and his other sons El·e·aʹzar and Ithʹa·mar: “Do not let your heads go ungroomed or tear your garments, so that you may not die and that God may not become indignant against all the assembly. Your brothers of the whole house of Israel will weep over those whom Jehovah has killed by the fire. 7 You must not go out from the entrance of the tent of meeting or you will die, for Jehovah’s anointing oil is upon you.” So they did according to Moses’ word.
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God’s Rest—Have You Entered Into It?
16 Moses’ brother, Aaron, faced a difficult situation with regard to two of his sons. Think of how he must have felt when his sons Nadab and Abihu offered illegitimate fire to Jehovah and He struck them dead. Of course, that ended any association those men could have had with their parents. But there is more. Jehovah instructed Aaron and his faithful sons: “Do not let your heads go ungroomed, and you must not tear your garments [in mourning], that you may not die and that [Jehovah] may not become indignant against all the assembly.” (Lev. 10:1-6) The message is clear. Our love for Jehovah must be stronger than our love for unfaithful family members.
Fine-Fine Things Wey You See for Bible
(Leviticus 10:8-11) Then Jehovah said to Aaron: 9 “Do not drink wine or other alcoholic beverages, you and your sons with you, when you come into the tent of meeting, so that you will not die. It is a permanent statute for your generations. 10 This is to distinguish between the holy thing and the profane and between the unclean thing and the clean, 11 and to teach the Israelites all the regulations that Jehovah has spoken to them through Moses.”
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We Must Be Holy in All Our Conduct
18 To be holy, we must weigh the Scriptures carefully and do what God asks of us. Consider Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu, who were executed for offering “unauthorized fire,” perhaps while inebriated. (Lev. 10:1, 2) Note what God then told Aaron. (Read Leviticus 10:8-11.) Does that passage mean that we must not drink anything alcoholic before going to a Christian meeting? Think about these points: We are not under the Law. (Rom. 10:4) In some lands, our fellow believers use alcoholic beverages in moderation at meals before attending meetings. Four cups of wine were used at the Passover. When instituting the Memorial, Jesus had his apostles drink wine that represented his blood. (Matt. 26:27) The Bible condemns heavy drinking and drunkenness. (1 Cor. 6:10; 1 Tim. 3:8) And many Christians would feel impelled by their conscience to abstain completely from alcoholic beverages before engaging in any form of sacred service. However, circumstances vary from one country to another, and the important thing is for Christians to “distinguish between the holy thing and the profane” so as to conduct themselves with holiness that pleases God.
(Leviticus 11:8) You must not eat any of their flesh or touch their dead body. They are unclean for you.
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Animals
These dietary limitations applied only to those who were under the Mosaic Law, for the statement of Leviticus 11:8 is: “They are unclean for you,” that is, for the Israelites. With the abrogation of the Law on the basis of the sacrificial death of Christ Jesus, the prohibitions were canceled, and once more all humans could consider themselves under the same broad provision announced to Noah following the Deluge.—Col 2:13-17; Ge 9:3, 4.
DECEMBER 14-20
FINE-FINE LESSON FROM BIBLE | LEVITICUS 12-13
“Learn From the Laws Wey Jehovah Give About Leprosy”
(Leviticus 13:4, 5) But if the blotch on his skin is white and its appearance is not deeper than the skin and the hair has not turned white, the priest will then quarantine the infected person for seven days. 5 The priest will then examine him on the seventh day, and if it appears that the infection has stopped and has not spread on the skin, the priest will quarantine him for another seven days.
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Outdated or Ahead of Its Time?
• Isolating sick people.
The Mosaic Law prescribed keeping people with leprosy separate from others. Not until the plagues of the Middle Ages did medical doctors learn to apply this principle, which is still deemed effective.—Leviticus, chapters 13 and 14.
(Leviticus 13:45, 46) As for the leper who has the disease, his garments should be torn and his head should be left ungroomed and he should cover over his mustache and call out, ‘Unclean, unclean!’ 46 He will be unclean the whole time that he has the disease. Since he is unclean, he should live in isolation. His dwelling place will be outside the camp.
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Did You Know?
The ancient Jews had a fear of the form of leprosy common in Bible times. That dreaded disease could attack the sufferer’s nerve endings and lead to permanent damage and disfigurement. There was no known cure for leprosy. Rather, those afflicted by it were quarantined and were obliged to warn others of their condition.—Leviticus 13:45, 46.
(Leviticus 13:52) He should burn the garment or the warp or the woof in the wool or in the linen or any article of skin in which the disease has developed, for it is malignant leprosy. It should be burned in the fire.
(Leviticus 13:57) However, if it still appears in another part of the garment or in the warp or in the woof or in any article of skin, it is spreading, and you should burn any contaminated item in the fire.
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Leprosy
In garments and houses. Leprosy could also affect woolen or linen garments, or an article of skin. The plague might disappear with washing, and there were arrangements for quarantining the article. But where this yellowish-green or reddish plague persisted, malignant leprosy was present and the article was to be burned. (Le 13:47-59) If yellowish-green or reddish depressions appeared in the wall of a house, the priest imposed a quarantine. It might be necessary to tear out affected stones and have the house scraped off inside, the stones and scraped-off mortar being disposed of in an unclean place outside the city. If the plague returned, the house was declared unclean and was pulled down, and the materials were disposed of in an unclean place. But for the house pronounced clean there was an arrangement for purification. (Le 14:33-57) It has been suggested that the leprosy affecting garments or houses was a type of mildew or mold; however, about this there is uncertainty.
Fine-Fine Things Wey You See for Bible
(Leviticus 12:2) “Tell the Israelites, ‘If a woman becomes pregnant and gives birth to a male, she will be unclean for seven days, just as she is in the days of the impurity when she is menstruating.
(Leviticus 12:5) “‘If she should give birth to a female, she will then be unclean for 14 days, just as she would be during her menstruation. She will continue cleansing herself from the blood for the next 66 days.
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Highlights From the Book of Leviticus
12:2, 5—Why did childbirth make a woman “unclean”? The reproductive organs were made to pass on perfect human life. However, because of the inherited effects of sin, imperfect and sinful life was passed on to the offspring. The temporary periods of ‘uncleanness’ associated with childbirth, as well as other matters, such as menstruation and seminal emissions, called this hereditary sinfulness to mind. (Leviticus 15:16-24; Psalm 51:5; Romans 5:12) The required purification regulations would help the Israelites to appreciate the need for a ransom sacrifice to cover mankind’s sinfulness and restore human perfection. Thus the Law became their “tutor leading to Christ.”—Galatians 3:24.
(Leviticus 12:3) On the eighth day, the flesh of his foreskin will be circumcised.
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Outdated or Ahead of Its Time?
• Timing of circumcision.
God’s Law stipulated that a male child should be circumcised on the eighth day of life. (Leviticus 12:3) In newborn babies, the blood’s ability to clot is understood to reach normal levels after the first week. In Bible times, before advanced medical treatments were available, waiting for over a week before circumcision was a wise protection.
DECEMBER 21-27
FINE-FINE LESSON FROM BIBLE | LEVITICUS 14-15
“Servants of Jehovah Must Dey Clean”
(Leviticus 15:13-15) “‘When the discharge stops and the person becomes clean from it, he will then count seven days for his purification, and he must wash his garments, bathe himself in running water, and he will be clean. 14 On the eighth day, he should take two turtledoves or two young pigeons and come before Jehovah at the entrance of the tent of meeting and give them to the priest. 15 And the priest will offer them, the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, and the priest will make atonement for him before Jehovah concerning his discharge.
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Bathing
Ceremonial bathing on the part of the Israelites in general was required for various reasons. Anyone who recovered from leprosy, anyone who contacted things touched by those with “a running discharge,” a man who had an emission of semen, a woman after menstruation or hemorrhaging, or anyone having sexual intercourse was “unclean” and had to bathe. (Le 14:8, 9; 15:4-27) One in a tent with, or touching, a human corpse was “unclean” and had to be purified with cleansing water. If anyone refused to comply with this regulation, he “must be cut off from the midst of the congregation, because it is Jehovah’s sanctuary that he has defiled.” (Nu 19:20) Appropriately, then, washing is used figuratively to denote a clean standing before Jehovah. (Ps 26:6; 73:13; Isa 1:16; Eze 16:9) Bathing with Jehovah’s word of truth, symbolized by water, has power to cleanse.—Eph 5:26.
(Leviticus 15:28-30) “‘However, when she is clean from her discharge, she will count for herself seven days, and afterward she will be clean. 29 On the eighth day, she should take two turtledoves or two young pigeons, and she will bring them to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 30 The priest will make the one a sin offering and the other a burnt offering, and the priest will make atonement for her before Jehovah concerning her unclean discharge.
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Menstruation
The woman was also viewed as unclean for the duration of an irregular running discharge of blood or “a flow longer than her menstrual impurity,” at which time she made the articles on which she lay or sat as well as persons touching these items unclean. After the abnormal discharge ceased, she was to count seven days, and she then became clean. On the eighth day the woman brought two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest, who made atonement for her, presenting one of these creatures to Jehovah as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering.—Le 15:19-30; see CLEAN, CLEANNESS.
(Leviticus 15:31) “‘Thus you must keep the Israelites separate from their uncleanness, so that they do not die in their uncleanness by defiling my tabernacle, which is in their midst.
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Holy Place
2. The tent of meeting and, later, the temple. The entire arrangement, including the courtyard of the tabernacle and the temple courts, was a holy place. (Ex 38:24; 2Ch 29:5; Ac 21:28) The primary items located in the courtyard were the altar of sacrifice and the copper basin. These were holy objects. Only those persons ceremonially clean could enter into the tabernacle courtyard at any time; likewise, no one could go into the temple courts in an unclean state. For example, a woman in the unclean state could not touch any holy thing or come into the holy place. (Le 12:2-4) Evidently even a state of continued uncleanness on the part of the Israelites was considered to be a defiling of the tabernacle. (Le 15:31) Those presenting offerings for cleansing from leprosy brought their sacrifice only as far as the gate of the courtyard. (Le 14:11) No unclean person could partake of a communion sacrifice at the tabernacle or the temple, on pain of death.—Le 7:20, 21.
Fine-Fine Things Wey You See for Bible
(Leviticus 14:14) “Then the priest will take some of the blood of the guilt offering, and the priest will put it on the right earlobe of the one cleansing himself and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot.
(Leviticus 14:17) Then the priest will put some of the remaining oil in his palm on the right earlobe of the one cleansing himself and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot over the blood of the guilt offering.
(Leviticus 14:25) He will then slaughter the young ram of the guilt offering, and the priest will take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the right earlobe of the one cleansing himself and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot.
(Leviticus 14:28) And the priest will put some of the oil that is in his palm on the right earlobe of the one cleansing himself and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot on the same places that he put the blood of the guilt offering.
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Ear
At the installation of the priesthood in Israel, Moses was commanded to take some of the blood of the ram of the installation and put it on the lobe of the right ear of Aaron and of each of his sons, as well as on the right hand and right foot, indicating that what they listened to, the work they did, and the way they walked should be directly affected by what was there taking place. (Le 8:22-24) Similarly, in the case of the cleansed leper, the Law said that the priest was to put some of the blood of the ram offered as a guilt offering, as well as some of the oil offered, on the lobe of the leper’s right ear. (Le 14:14, 17, 25, 28) An arrangement of comparable nature was found in the provision made for the man who wished to continue in slavery to his master to time indefinite. In such case the slave was to be brought to the doorpost, and his master was to pierce his ear through with an awl. This prominent mark, being made on the organ for hearing, evidently represented the slave’s desire to continue in obedient attention to his master.—Ex 21:5, 6.
(Leviticus 14:43-45) “If, though, the contamination returns and breaks out in the house after the stones were torn out and the house was scraped and replastered, 44 the priest will then go in and inspect it. If the contamination has spread in the house, it is malignant leprosy in the house. The house is unclean. 45 He will then have the house pulled down—its stones, its timbers, and all the plaster and mortar of the house—and carried outside the city to an unclean place.
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Mold—Friend and Foe!
MOLD IN BIBLE TIMES?
The Bible mentions “the plague of leprosy in a house,” meaning in the building itself. (Leviticus 14:34-48) It has been suggested that this phenomenon, also called “malignant leprosy,” was a form of mildew or mold, but about this there is uncertainty. Whatever the case, God’s Law instructed homeowners to remove infected stones, scrape out the entire inside of the house, and discard all the suspect matter outside the city in “an unclean place.” If the plague returned, the whole house was to be declared unclean, pulled down, and disposed of. Jehovah’s detailed instructions reflected his deep love for his people and for their physical welfare.
DECEMBER 28–JANUARY 3
FINE-FINE LESSON FROM BIBLE | LEVITICUS 16-17
“Wetin You Learn From Atonement Day?”
(Leviticus 16:12) “He will then take the fire holder full of burning coals from the altar before Jehovah and two handfuls of fine perfumed incense, and he will bring them inside the curtain.
Wetin We Fit Learn From the Book of Leviticus?
4 Read Leviticus 16:12, 13. Think-am for your mind how them de do that sacrifice for sin every year. The high priest go enter the tabernacle, or house of worship, and enter inside one big room wey them de call Most Holy. Na this one be the first time, out of the three times, wey the high priest go enter the room for that day. For one of e hand, e go hold container wey incense dey inside. The incense get fine smell. For the other hand, e go hold one thing wey hot charcoal dey inside. The thing be like small shovel and na gold they use make-am. But before e enter the Most Holy, e go wait small for front of the curtain. Na this curtain cover front of the Most Holy. And with deep respect, e go enter this room. Then e go stand for front of one box wey they make image of two angels ontop. This one just be like say the high priest de stand for front of Jehovah! Na now e go pour the holy incense sofri-sofri for inside the hot charcoal. And then one kind fine smell go cover the whole room.* After this one, e go enter the Most Holy again with the blood of the animals wey they sacrifice for sin. But notice say, the high priest go burn the incense before e carry the blood of the sacrifice enter the room.
(Leviticus 16:13) He will also put the incense on the fire before Jehovah, and the cloud of the incense will envelop the Ark cover, which is on the Testimony, so that he may not die.
Wetin We Fit Learn From the Book of Leviticus?
5 Wetin we fit learn from the incense wey the high priest de burn every year? Bible show say when we pray and Jehovah accept-am, the prayer be like incense. (Ps. 141:2; Rev. 5:8) Remember say, the high priest go show deep respect before e take the incense enter the Most Holy. For the same way, when we want pray to Jehovah, make we show deep respect. Na God make heaven and earth. But even with that one, we fit pray to God and be e friend, just like papa and e pikin. This one de really make us glad. (Jas. 4:8) True-true, we fit be tight friend with God! (Ps. 25:14) We really glad for this special chance wey we get, so we no want do anything to make God vex at all.
(Leviticus 16:14, 15) “He will take some of the bull’s blood and spatter it with his finger in front of the cover on the east side, and he will spatter some of the blood with his finger seven times before the cover. 15 “He will then slaughter the goat of the sin offering, which is for the people, and bring its blood inside the curtain and do with its blood the same as he did with the bull’s blood; he is to spatter it toward the cover and before the cover.
Wetin We Fit Learn From the Book of Leviticus?
6 Remember say the high priest go need to burn the incense before e fit sacrifice the animals to Jehovah. E de do this one to make sure say God go accept the sacrifice. Wetin we fit learn from that one? The time wey Jesus dey for this earth, e do one important thing before e give e life as sacrifice. This thing wey e do dey important pass the life wey we go enjoy because of e sacrifice. Wetin be that? Jesus obey Jehovah go reach the end of e life for this earth, so that Jehovah go accept e sacrifice. E use this one show say, the correct way to live our life na to do the things wey Jehovah want. Jesus show say the way God de rule na the right way and na God suppose to rule us.
Fine-Fine Things Wey You See for Bible
(Leviticus 16:10) But the goat designated by lot for A·zaʹzel should be brought alive to stand before Jehovah in order to perform the atonement upon it, so that it may be sent away for A·zaʹzel into the wilderness.
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Azazel
As the apostle Paul explained, by Jesus’ offering of his own perfect human life as a sacrifice for the sins of mankind, he accomplished far more than had been achieved by “the blood of bulls and of goats.” (Heb 10:4, 11, 12) He thus served as “the scapegoat,” being the ‘carrier of our sicknesses,’ the one “pierced for our transgression.” (Isa 53:4, 5; Mt 8:17; 1Pe 2:24) He ‘carried away’ the sins of all who exercise faith in the value of his sacrifice. He demonstrated the provision of God to take sinfulness into complete oblivion. In these ways the goat “for Azazel” pictures the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
(Leviticus 17:10, 11) “‘If any man of the house of Israel or any foreigner who is residing in your midst eats any sort of blood, I will certainly set my face against the one who is eating the blood, and I will cut him off from among his people. 11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I myself have given it on the altar for you to make atonement for yourselves, because it is the blood that makes atonement by means of the life in it.
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Why We Must Be Holy
10 Read Leviticus 17:10. Jehovah commanded the Israelites not to eat “any sort of blood.” Abstaining from blood—animal or human—is a Christian requirement as well. (Acts 15:28, 29) We shudder at the very thought of having God ‘set his face against us’ and cut us off from his congregation. We love him and want to obey him. Even when confronted with a life-threatening situation, we are determined not to cave in to the pleas and demands of those who do not know Jehovah and who do not care to obey him. Yes, we expect to be ridiculed for abstaining from blood, but we choose to be obedient to God. (Jude 17, 18) What view on this subject will strengthen us to “be firmly resolved” not to eat blood or accept a blood transfusion?—Deut. 12:23.