Leviticus 22:26

"And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, When a bullock, or a sheep, or a goat, is brought forth, then it shall be seven days under the dam; and from the eighth day and thenceforth it shall be accepted for the oblation of an offering made by fire unto Jehovah. And whether it be cow or ewe, ye shall not kill it and its young both in one day. And when ye sacrifice a sacrifice of thanksgiving unto Jehovah, ye shall sacrifice it that ye may be accepted. On the same day it shall be eaten; ye shall leave none of it until the morning: I am Jehovah. Therefore shall ye keep my commandments, and do them: I am Jehovah. And ye shall not profane my holy name; but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel: I am Jehovah who halloweth you, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am Jehovah."

Note the reiteration of "I am Jehovah" in each of the last four verses. This paragraph gives further instructions regarding the sacrifices.

An alleged `contradiction' is sometimes claimed with reference to Leviticus 22:30, where the sacrifice was commanded to be eaten "on the same day"; whereas, in Leviticus 19:6, two days were allowed for eating it.[11] The explanation is simple enough. The rules for the priests were MORE STRICT than those for all the people, and it was "the congregation of Israel" (Leviticus 19:2) who were allowed two days, but here "Aaron and his sons," the priests, were the principal persons addressed (Leviticus 22:17).

"Ye shall not kill it and its young both in one day ..." There appears to be built into this law a sentimental respect for all the creation of God. Other possible reasons are:

(1) "During the young creature's first week of existence, it had not arrived at the perfection of its individual and separate life."[12]

(2) "The refusal to permit the offering of a cow or a ewe and its young on the same day may be in opposition to a Canaanite ritual in which this was practiced."[13] The custom of boiling a kid in its mother's milk, mentioned earlier, was also forbidden, and it seems certain that God's reason for prohibiting that lay in the fact that it was a prominent pagan rite. This may be another example of the same thing.

(3) Dummelow thought that, "This prohibition probably rests, on humanitarian grounds. The Mosaic law enjoins kindness to animals."[14]

(4) Jamieson wrote that there lay back of this law, "A feeling of humanity and tenderness for the dam (mother), as well as the purpose of securing the sacrifices from all appearance of unfeeling cruelty."[15] Such varied comments indicate how intrigued the human mind is by this prohibition.

PERFECTION

The typical meaning of these chapters with their constant reiteration of "it shall be perfect," thunders the message from God that nothing short of absolute perfection can be pleasing to God. And, from this, it must be inferred that only those who are perfect in the ultimate sense shall at last share the presence and fellowship of God in heaven. Did not Jesus our Lord make it a part of the Magna Carta of our holy religion? "Ye therefore shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matthew 5:48). Our version (the ASV) blundered in softening this from the imperative of the KJV, "Be ye therefore perfect." This is not a prophecy of what we shall be, but an order for us to "be perfect." Many versions and translations have likewise diminished the impact of this by rendering the Greek word of our N.T. as "full grown," "mature," "complete," "finished," etc. But as Vine expressed it, in the passage in Matthew 5:48, where people are commanded to "be perfect," the word is used "carrying the idea of goodness without reference to maturity."[16] Note that people are to be perfect in the SAME sense that God is perfect.

There is an extensive theology connected with this, and we can only summarize it here. First, the absolute and holy perfection required by God is simply not achievable by human beings. How then shall anyone ever receive the inheritance of the saints in light? The answer is found in Colossians 1:28,29 where Paul speaks of presenting every man "PERFECT IN CHRIST." Ah, there is the SECRET of eternal life. Christ indeed was perfect, and is perfect. Those who are baptized into him, having confessed him, and having denied themselves, are thus united with Christ. And they are in Christ, and, in a sense, are Christ, being a portion of his spiritual body, and thus attaining "in him" the required holiness and perfection without which no man shall see God (Hebrews 12:14). No one shall ever be saved as John Doe, for all who will ever be saved shall be saved "as Christ." (See the full discussion of this in my commentary on Ephesians 1:4.)