It Shall Be Unclean

2018-05-27

In the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying, (11) Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ask now the priests concerning the law, saying, (12) If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt do touch bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any meat, shall it be holy? And the priests answered and said, No. (13) Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean. (Haggai 2:10-13)

Haggai preached to the post-exilic priests to see if something clean can make something else unclean. The answer is no (Haggai 2:12). However, if something is unclean, and it touches something clean, the clean becomes unclean (Haggai 2:13).

When there is a little bit of sin in our lives, it affects everything else. One impurity will affect and destroy everything good that we do. Likewise, in a church, one false prophet or profane person affects the entire church, as we see that a little leaven leavens the whole lump. For the Corinthians, one vile person affected the entire congregation (1 Corinthians 5:1-7). In Galatia, someone preaching circumcision and the Old Testament feasts corrupted the thinking of the entire congregation (Galatians 5:7-10). What is the solution? “Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened” (1 Corinthians 5:7). Both our personal lives and our churches must be pure, and we must be ready to repent and remove everything that offends.