Leviticus: What the Heck Did I Just Read?

     When my son was around 3 years old one of his favorite movies was Lady and the Tramp 2. In this movie, the son of the the title dogs was a rambunctious little guy and he would get into all sorts of trouble. At one point in the film the puppy exclaimed, "Are there are is rules, rules, rules" and then he ran away from home. Funnily enough my son parroted the line at me when he got in trouble one day, needless to say I didn't let him watch the movie as much after that.

The Situation in Leviticus

    
      Imagine yourself among a massive expanse of people, so massive that the ruler of the foreign land you just left feared your people's number so much that he had all of the youngest offspring killed. Now your nation is traveling the desert towards a land that was promised to you by God. The logistics of this whole exodus are mind-numbingly incomprehensible to you and people are getting sick, people are getting tired, people are getting lawless. To top it off, you've got this ever present, omniscient, all powerful being with you, he says that you're one of his creations, but that you've fallen and it has created a chasm between you and him, how do you relate to this God?

     In essence, the book of Leviticus is meant to cover the scenarios just mentioned. The answers, viewed in our present day minds, are odd. Ceremonial, civic, and moral laws were introduced so that the Israelites could become holy in the presence of their holy God. Certain ceremonies were required before they could have the priest sacrifice their animal or grain offerings, similarly the priest also had to perform ceremonies to become "clean," or be holy in order to preform the sacrifices. While such rituals could make one ceremonially clean, the purpose of doing them was for one to examine their heart and have an authentic, repentant, or thankful attitude. Eventually, that concept was lost over time to where the ceremony was placed above what was in one's heart, thus the need for Jesus to come and address it.

     

 "Clean" and "Unclean"

   
      Today we wouldn't go to a priest if we had a possibly contagious skin condition, but back then the field of medicine was virtually non-existent and people (these people at least) didn't really know what to do. In order for the Israel to keep healthy, God gave the priests instructions on how to handle these situations, which was then passed onto the common Israelite. Sometimes if the illness was serious enough people were kept isolated from the rest of the group, considered "unclean," after a distinct period of time and a cleansing ritual they could rejoin the fold. While to some that might label a stigma on people, it was done for the benefit of the whole group so that sickness didn't spread. To me that shows us that God definitely cared about the Israelites health and wanted as many of them as possible to survive. I wonder what it would have been like without all of those guidelines...? Mild language warning.

The Practice of Sacrificial Offerings

      If you paid attention in history class than you might know that a lot of ancient near eastern culture, as well as others, practiced ritual sacrifice either to appease or give thanks to their god(s). The Israelites were another culture to do so. Here's one thing people might not realize though, God never required it in the first place. Even though we see the first sacrificial offering by Cain and Abel in Genesis, God never specifically inaugurated it. For proof of what God actually requires of us over sacrifice look up these verses in your Bible, or Google; Isaiah 1:11-14, 66:1-3, Psalm 40:6, Micah 6:7-8, Matthew 9:13, Hebrews 8:13, and Hosea 6:6. With that being said, humans still practiced it anyway, so God met us where we were and used it to His glorification. Because the fight against sin was so important to Him, God used these animal and food sacrifices as a way to remove sin and reconcile His people back to Him. The animals and grain had to be without defect and blemish so symbolize God's perfect nature and foreshadow Christ's sinless life.

  

Importance of Getting it Right

       
     Take a look at what a priest had to do to preform an offering, "You are to slaughter the young bull before the Lord, and then Aaron’s sons the priests shall bring the blood and splash it against the sides of the altar at the entrance to the tent of meeting," now imagine another 10 verses of more procedure being added on top of that. Like I said, the Israelites were called to be different from the societies around them so that they could be a positive influence in the world. This meant that even their sacrificial rituals had to be different, so different in fact that failure to fully comply with the rules of the ritual, or introducing something that didn't belong, could mean the death of the priest. For example, Aaron's (the brother of Moses) sons met with that kind of end, "Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, contrary to his command. So fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD" (Lev 10:1-2). Seems a little harsh, but that's how important the fight against sin is/was to God.

The Tabernacle

Learning: Then vs Now

    
       In the Old Testament we see God performing physical acts such as when he lead the Israelites out of Egypt, flooding the Earth, talking to people in an audible voice. There is a theory gaining momentum that the people of this age learned on a instant gratification scale, maybe it was just the psychological stage humans were at at that time. Of course with instant gratification, on the other end comes instant punishment. In a way this makes sense because it was a way for God to show that he wasn't playing games when it comes to sin and salvation. When you have a world that is largely superstitious, theatrical acts are going to get their attention and perhaps get people to hold themselves accountable. With this, the foundation of God's continuing faithfulness was set up during this period of learning in spite of our unfaithfulness.

 

The Controversy in Leviticus: Homosexuality

      
     Now we get into the alarming part of this Old Testament book that irks so many atheists, humanists and other religions in the word today, "You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination' (Lev 18:22) " 'if a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them,' " (Lev 20:13). Abomination is a harsh word, other translations say "detestable," but what is harsher is the stated punishment for practicing homosexuality and this command comes from God. 

     Where is the God of John I spoke of in my last entry? Isn't God suppose to be love? How can Christians worship a god that commands this sort of thing? This doesn't seem very loving, it's like the Bible is contradicting itself... I'll answer as best as I can. Being born attracted to the same gender wasn't actually considered the sin, giving in and actively pursuing same sex relationships was. God was very aware of the homosexual activity going on in the pagan cultures surrounding Israel and saw what it was doing to their societies. Maybe there was something happening on a level we don't understand today, maybe things involving homosexuality were far more different then, I don't know, I don't want to build a straw-man. Leviticus constantly stresses that Israel needs to be different, needs to have morals, it wasn't like today where clear morals have been established. I don't know what would have warranted death, but there must have been very serious things going on with it if God deemed it necessary for that kind of punishment. Another theory suggests that if homosexuality was allowed than it could have possibly interfered with the family line of Christ, it's possible, but all we really have to go on is just theories when we try to make sense out of this. I'd also like to point out that adultery in and of itself was punishable by death too because of how destructive it is/was to one's family.
    
     For a lot of people they just deal with it. God commanded it, it's in the Bible, it's good enough for them, whereas others like me, are searching for a deeper understanding. I may not find it in my life, but that doesn't mean I'll stop looking, and ultimately the situation is not enough for me to reject God, or think that the God of the Old Testament isn't the same as the God of the New Testament because I know there's more to it than just what's on the page.

  

Controversy: Slavery

    
     When I think of what the word slavery, I akin it to images of America's pre-Civil War era. Men and women violently captured in their homeland, auctioned off and made to work the fields and live in deplorable conditions, having the constant fear of getting whipped, or raped. In Leviticus 25:44, God  permits the Israelites to have slaves, but don't think the slaves were to be treated like savage animals like African Americans were, or many other slaves throughout history. Again we see that the Israelites were to be unique, not like the rest of the nations. The slaves were to be treated with dignity, "... but you must not rule over your fellow Israelites ruthlessly," (Lev 25:46) and slaves often got to participate in the festivals and did not work on the Sabbath. Also, noted in Deuteronomy, a person could only be a slave for 6 years and then the master would have to "liberally furnish" them. This isn't God condoning slavery, but recognizing it's existence and laying down guidelines of how to treat people like humans. 

     Slavery is a wall to built up between people and it was one that eventually had to come down, especially in the Judea-Christian world. The apostle Paul eloquently addresses the subject of slavery to his friend Philemon when Onesimus, Philemon's slave, ran away to Paul, suggesting that Onesimus was more than just a slave, but greater, a co-laborer in Christ. Instead of breaking down slavery politically, which Christians could not do at the time, Paul appealed to changing the relationship between slave and master to transform it into something else entirely where the practice would not be needed anymore, instead the two roles were now both slaves or servants together in Christ (Gal 3:28). In my opinion, the laws in Leviticus concerning the treatment of slaves is the same approach Paul used. God appealed to a person's heart hoping to transform the relationship.

 

Today's Covenant and the Call to Holy Living

     
      Today we are not living under the ceremonial or civil laws set up by a theocratic government, instead the law is written on our hearts. We do not have to kill people with an alternative lifestyle. Women do not have to separate from other people when they are experiencing their period (though I kind of like that idea :-P). More importantly we do not have to have priests make sacrifices for us because Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice that ransomed us from sin, he dissolved the Mosaic covenant that was relevant during Leviticus (Heb 8:13). That does not mean that we are exempt from the moral laws of Leviticus though, like loving your neighbor as yourself and not committing adultery and helping the poor, etc. We are still called to be holy in our conduct in this life because our God is holy, (1 Pet 1:15). 

     What is Holiness?

    Think of holiness as perfection, which is kind of a daunting thought, is it not? C.S. Lewis tells us in his book "Mere Christianity" that we should not be discourage by this thought since God knows our own efforts alone couldn't possibly make us perfect, but we should know that every time we fall, God will pick us back up again. That's why God gave us helpers like Jesus and the Holy spirit. Lewis also states though that when we become believers that perfection is God's the ultimate goal for us and no power in the universe can stop God bringing you to perfection except for yourself. In my personal opinion, holiness should be like a light, drawing people towards it and towards you, not away as we see it happen so often.

 

 Closing Thoughts  

     Morality is important, separating yourself from some of the stuff in this world isn't a bad thing, there's a lot of garbage in the world, even non spiritual people can admit to that fact. With that being said, I get worried about Christians who cling so tightly onto this particular book of the Bible because their world seems to become nothing but legalism and that can counteract what the cross has done. There are things you can learn from Leviticus, like how serious God is about keeping us from sin and reconciling us back to him, but a large majority fit a certain time and a certain place.

    

Resources

"Jewish Concepts: Slavery." Slavery in Judaism. Jewish Virtual Library, Web. 04 Sept. 2014.

Lewis, C. S., and Patricia Klein. A Year with C.S. Lewis: Daily Readings from His Classic Works. San Francisco, CA: Harper San Francisco, 2003. Print.

House, Zondervan Publishing. Life Application Study Bible: New International Version. S.l.: Zondervan, 2012. Print.