Hi! Trekker
I'm jus' hurriedly droppin' in to add this comment concerning your question:
The Old Testament saints lived with a veil cast over their eyes because the Gospel of the invisible Kingdom was not pronounced until the arrival of Jesus. They lived and walked before God within shadows of reality. By that I mean, they expressed their walk with God in and through activities centered on earthly matters and within earthly forms.
For instance, in the Old Testament days capital punishment was the single option within the shadows. But when Jesus appeared, He revealed the true origin of evil; that man himself was not the evil one; rather it was the devil. Therefore, Jesus delivered men from their oppressors and set the captives free.
For instance, Jesus simply told the adulterous woman to sin no more; even though it was a capital offence under the Law. In this way Jesus caused the realities of the Gospel of the Kingdom to make obsolete the dispensation of shadows.
The nation states (governments) of our day have insufficient Spirit to deliver men from their evil inspirations; they are unable to deal with the powers instigating man. The only option remaining is to imprison the offenders.
However, some governments insist on something more excessive than pursuing necessary community protections (imprisonment) and choose to execute the sinner/criminal. This is more in keeping with revenge than community safety.
Concerning the difference between "burnt with fire" and "stoned to death":
There were particular sins/activities in Old Testament times which were so utterly grievous to the well-being of God's people and community that the offenders had to be executed. There was no other effectual measure by which to remove them from the community.
Both these punishments are visible images of invisible realities. We could perhaps call them symbols of what was occurring in the unseen world ... or a 'parable'.
When fire is the means of execution, this is an image pointing to the consuming powers of darkness. Example of New Testament equivalent: "So when you are assembled and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord", (1Cor 5:5).
Death by stoning is an image of the wrathful powers from the realm of Death. Example of New Testament equivalent: "Then they will say to the mountains, 'Fall on us!' and to the hills, 'Cover us!'", (Luke 23:30). Revelation also alludes to this: "And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sits on the throne", 6:16.
Speaking of shadow and reality:
You would agree that, when God created the world and everything in it, He declared that everything was good. This pronouncement of God no doubt included the animal world.
So, the question arises:
What happened to cause the situation of the Old Testament peoples having to differentiate between clean and unclean animals? Didn't God create and pronounce all His creation as good/clean in His sight?
Here again is an illustration of shadows and reality.
In the Old Testament, clean and unclean animals were a visible image to reveal/depict the invisible reality ... of good and evil angels. The people of the Old Testament were following after the earthly shadow of having no contact with unclean powers/angels.
"And the voice [spake] unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, [that] call not thou common", (Acts 10:15).
In the previous verse of 11 the "heavens were opened"; meaning to say that Peter's faith was activated to perceive "the evidence of things unseen" which removed the remnant of the Old Testament thought-world which had been as a veil covering his 'spiritual' eyes.
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by Trekker on 2012/6/1 22:20:43
Tonight, reading in Leviticus again. And can't figure out the discrepancy in judgement as prescribed in Leviticus 20:14and Leviticus 20:27 just for an example.
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