What is the significance of being "cut off" in Leviticus 7:21? Text and Immediate Context “‘But the person who eats the meat of the sacrifice of peace offerings belonging to the LORD while that person is unclean shall be cut off from his people. If anyone touches something unclean—whether human uncleanness or an unclean animal or any unclean, detestable thing—and then eats the meat of the sacrifice of peace offerings belonging to the LORD, that person shall be cut off from his people.’” (Leviticus 7:20–21) Leviticus 7 regulates the šĕlāmîm (“peace/ fellowship offerings”). Because the sacrifice symbolizes communion with God, eating it in a defiled state desecrates the covenant meal and violates God’s holiness. The punishment is “to be cut off” (Hebrew: kârēt). Legal-Judicial Dimension Civil courts executed stoning for crimes like blasphemy (Leviticus 24:16); but kârēt is a sentence God Himself carries out (Numbers 15:30–31). No human tribunal is necessary. The offender forfeits both citizenship and life; Yahweh administers the penalty in His timing—often interpreted as sudden death (cf. Nadab and Abihu, Leviticus 10:1–2). Spiritual Dimension Because Israel’s national life is covenantal, “cutting off” equals disinheritance from the blessings promised to Abraham (Genesis 17:14). The person loses access to tabernacle worship, communal land rights, and, most seriously, fellowship with God. Rabbinic sources (m. Ker. 1:1) later distinguished between earthly karet (premature death) and “spiritual karet” (loss of the world to come). Eschatological Dimension Old Testament theology increasingly links kârēt with ultimate judgment (Isaiah 53:8; Daniel 9:26). Being “cut off” foreshadows eternal separation—what the New Testament calls “second death” (Revelation 20:14). Thus Leviticus 7:21 carries eternal weight, not mere temporary banishment. Ritual Purity and Holiness Contact with corpse, unclean animal, or genital emission (Leviticus 5:2–3; 11:24) rendered a person ṭāmēʾ. Eating a holy offering in that state transgressed two principles: 1. God’s holiness requires purity in His presence (Leviticus 10:3). 2. Sacrificial meals represent covenant fellowship; to pollute them is to mock God’s table (1 Corinthians 10:21 cites the same logic). Intertextual Survey • Genesis 17:14 — uncircumcised male “cut off” from his people. • Exodus 12:15 — leaven during Passover brings karet. • Leviticus 18:29; 20:17 — sexual abominations threaten cutting off. • Numbers 19:13 — neglecting purification after corpse contact. • Psalm 37:9 — eschatological promise: evildoers will be “cut off,” righteous inherit the land. The breadth of offenses shows kârēt protects both ritual and moral realms, underscoring God’s indivisible holiness. Typological Fulfillment in Christ Isaiah 53:8 prophesies Messiah would be “cut off from the land of the living.” Jesus fulfilled this when He bore sin’s penalty, experiencing covenantal severance so believers never will (Galatians 3:13). The veil tearing (Matthew 27:51) demonstrates that His temporary “cutting off” opened perpetual access to God (Hebrews 10:19–22). Theological Synthesis 1. God’s holiness is absolute; proximity demands purity. 2. Sin’s wages are death (Romans 6:23); kârēt concretizes this reality. 3. Grace provides substitution: sacrifices temporally, Christ ultimately. 4. Covenant membership is a privilege, not right; it can be forfeited by willful defilement. Application for Believers Today 1. Examine the Lord’s Supper reverently (1 Corinthians 11:27–30). 2. Maintain moral and doctrinal purity within the church (Matthew 18; 1 Corinthians 5). 3. Recognize the seriousness of sin; flee impurity (2 Timothy 2:22). 4. Rest in Christ’s atonement—He was “cut off” so we could be “grafted in” (Romans 11:17). Evangelistic Connection If kârêt shows what we deserve, Christ’s resurrection proves the penalty is paid. Historical evidence—including the empty tomb attested by enemy testimony (Matthew 28:11–15), early creedal reports (1 Corinthians 15:3–7), and transformative appearances—confirms that He conquered death. Therefore, whoever trusts Him will never be “cut off” but have everlasting life (John 3:16). Summary “Cut off” in Leviticus 7:21 is a multifaceted covenant penalty: divine-imposed death, communal expulsion, and foreshadow of eternal judgment. It protects God’s holiness, underscores sin’s gravity, and points forward to the Messiah who would Himself be “cut off” for our transgressions, securing permanent reconciliation for all who believe. |
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