If, Then: Rethinking Leviticus in Today's World

The book of Leviticus is often viewed as a set of if-then rules regarding blessings and curses. However, what happens when these results are not immediate or automatic? Chris Frankie, senior pastor of HFF church in Oklahoma City, invites listeners to explore topics about the Bible, church, and family through the HHP podcast. He reflects on parenting methods that emphasize clear expectations for children’s behavior and how this relates to the teachings in the Torah. Over the years, the messianic movement has shifted its focus, becoming more centered on people rather than on the Messiah.

Chris points out that while the Leviticus guidelines are relevant, they should be interpreted with care and spiritual insight. Modern understandings of slavery differ significantly from the past, and blessings or curses are not always tied directly to obedience. Many people misunderstand God's judgment, thinking He is waiting to punish them for their mistakes, akin to a courtroom scenario. The movement should remember that all are guilty, but they can find grace through Jesus, regardless of their denominational background.

True love for God leads to obedience and integrity, making it simpler to follow commandments. People struggle with various issues, but basic moral principles can be straightforward. God’s discipline is meant to help us align with Him, not to make us feel inadequate. Ultimately, God's purpose is restoration through Christ, which cannot be achieved through our efforts alone. For further support, listeners are encouraged to visit the church's website or attend services.

#podcast #faith #hope #grace #christiantheology #jesus #family #christianpodcast #podcastlife #podcastersofinstagram #podcastaddict #podcasting #podcaster #applepodcast #podcasts #healing #family #parenting #trauma #healingadvice #churchpodcast #selfcare 

 

Subscribe to the newsletter: https://hff.church/the-hopeful-heretic-podcast For merch: https://hff.church/messianic-christian-clothing-apparel-merch

To support the work of the Podcast, donate via the website: https://hff.church/the-hopeful-heretic-podcast

If you would like to collaborate please email us at [e-mail] (mailto:[e-mail]) 

The Hopeful Heretic Podcast is sponsored by: hff.church (https://hff.church/)

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
The book of Leviticus has been taught by many to be a book of if,
then if you do this, boom, blessings.
If you don't boom curses,
kind of like the chart I used to help raise my kids.
But what do we do when neither the blessings or the curses are automatic or

(00:25):
immediate?
Welcome to the HHP podcast.
My name is Chris Frankie and I am the senior pastor of HFF church in Oklahoma
city.
Join me and others from around the country as we talk all things Bible,
church and family. We may be right. We may be heretical,
but that's for you to decide. Drop a like a share, a comment,

(00:48):
subscribe and let's get to it.
When my children were younger,
I watched a parenting class on how to train a child.
After all a child who grows up yelling in church without correction has a higher
chance of becoming an adult who is disruptive in a church.
This isn't relegated to a church and there are always exceptions to the rules,

(01:12):
but a child who doesn't grow up a part of a healthy community traditionally
becomes an adult who doesn't participate in a healthy community.
Yet the if then chart would show our younger children.
If you hit then you get a 10 minute timeout
or whatever that punishment might be.

(01:33):
It's kind of like having a clear expectation of if you do this,
this is the punishment that will follow over the last 40 to 50 years of the
growing Torah movements.
They have approached the old Testament through this very manner.
You hear the Torah portions taught if you did this,

(01:55):
you should bring this if you fall. If you stumble,
you must do this. And again, there is always exceptions to the rules.
Yet the problem is each teacher air quotes parents have a different
interpretation for the violation of the rule.
There's chaos and confusion and it has ensued for the last 40 to 50 years and

(02:19):
the movements became more about the people than the Messiah.
Think of that for a second.
The messianic movement was to be a shift of different Christian denominations on
the messianic King. And here I sit almost 20 years into it.

(02:39):
I've had the beauty of sitting at the feet and listening of many,
many wise individuals, male and female.
Yet here I sit and the movement has become about the messianics.
It's become about the people,
become about what they do and what they don't do. Very little is about the Messiah.
Very little actually has anything to do with how Messiah walked.

(03:02):
Very little has anything to do about the integrity of the character of Messiah,
but there is a lot of pharisaical Judaism and prideful American Christians in our
current walk. A lot of if, then.
The lists of blessings and curses that we find in the book of Leviticus need to be

(03:24):
applied with great care and with the Holy Spirit insight. You see,
we can't go back and act like somehow we were sitting in a wilderness,
just coming out of the slavery from Egypt. None of us are slaves.
We might be slaves to the fact that we can't eat in and out and we have to eat
what a burger, but that's not true slavery and that's not true bondage.
No American knows what true bondage is and the blessings and the curses of the

(03:49):
Lord and the curses don't immediately come with an automatic reward or an
automatic harm just based upon our obedience alone.
That's why there's terminology like malicious obedience.
It doesn't give us a license to wield a weapon against other Christians either.
The main messages that we find is that if we want to have harmony with God,

(04:12):
there are practices and lifestyle choices we need to make.
The amount of peace or chaos one has in their life is somewhat tied to their walk
with God. Even if they don't believe in God,
God gives us guidelines that produce an atmosphere and a life of peace.
He also gives us guidelines on what an atmosphere of chaos looks like.

(04:35):
Some of us like the chaos cause we fear the unknown on the other side of the
chaos that we know. He is not however,
God storing up judgments of all of our missteps to make sure that we receive each
curse that we are owed.
And then when we get to some checkpoint at the gates of heaven,
we will be read the riot acts and found guilty and serve our punishment.

(04:59):
This is kind of like the courtroom when you are guilty.
There's no doubt about it. You can play innocent. You complete insanity.
You complete ignorance. Most people are not ignorant.
Most people just choose to be ignorant.
It's not because it's not readily available.
And yet the people who are stuck in the same broken record,

(05:24):
the same calendar, zeteat, dietary,
the same things over and over and over and over for 40 years,
50 years, forget what the pioneers of this movement fought, bled,
died for so that we would get past those things.
They fought to understand that in the courtroom, all of us were found guilty.

(05:49):
And yet there's one who stands up and says,
they are with me. It's through that integrity, that character,
that blood, that name by which you can be sealed.
It really doesn't matter whether you're a Baptist, a Pentecostal,
it doesn't matter what denomination you're from. What matters is,

(06:11):
are you marked by the blood of the lamb?
Do you burn for the lamb and what you do?
If you love me, you will obey my commandments. If you love me,
you will have my integrity.
You will have my character and that will help you to obey my
commandments. It's easy to make sure that you don't kill.

(06:34):
It's easy to make sure that you don't rob.
It's easy to make sure that you don't sleep with somebody else's spouse.
Those aren't really that hard to stay away from.
And the other ones that align with it, they're really not that hard.
I understand that all of us have struggles and all of us have had things that
have happened to us in our life. I understand that that's it.

(06:56):
And everybody has a different cross to bear.
But in the reality of all of that,
it's very easy to uphold the letter of the law.
Just don't do stupid stuff. It's that simple.
And so do we have this evil abuse of God sitting up there just waiting to point
out every inadequacy you have? No,

(07:19):
that would be, that would be absolutely insane.
God knows you have inadequacies. Remember, he created you.
He formed you. He knew you. You have a loving father.
You see, God uses discipline and trials not to harm us,
but for us to make adjustments, to be closer to him and more like him.

(07:42):
The humility we walk in allows those course adjustments to happen
quicker or slower in our life. We do have some involvement in that.
The heart of God is not in making sure that you understand how inadequate
or how poor you are. It's in restoring you.

(08:03):
He's the only one who can. You cannot.
Nothing you do with your feet or your hands can make you adequate for God.
That's part of the humility of understanding the sacrifice of Christ.
God's heart has always been about restoration.
And it's something that you cannot do apart from Jesus.

(08:25):
It's something that you can do. You can be restored with him.
If this podcast has blessed you, please consider supporting
by visiting our website and making a donation.
For more resources, blogs, podcasts, please visit us at hff.church.

(08:45):
Looking for a church home?
Join us for Saturday Church in OKC every Saturday morning, starting at 1030.