Leviticus Full of Grace: Why I Love the OT

‘I’m glad I don’t have to worry about doing those anymore.’ Let me guess, if you could even get THROUGH the book of Leviticus that last sentence sums up most of what you learned from reading it. I mean, exempting a few bits here and there of narrative where some died, the book is an eye-lid closing 27 chapters of seemingly worthless, old, Eastern regulations for worship. You may second guess if you still WANT to know the God who would ‘inspire’ such writing!
Well, as seems the normal case, after reading the book over and over, consulting smarter people who can give historical, cultural, and Biblical context, and praying—often in confused frustration—I have come to appreciate and even . . . yes . . . genuinely ENJOY this ridiculous book.

We must first understand that Leviticus is part of a story: it is squished between Exodus—which ends with the glory of God descending on the tent of meeting, showing God’s presence with the people—and is succeeded by Numbers—which has more regulations and laws, some narrative of astounding things and people wildly and frequently complaining… and a huge census. So Leviticus is not a Maverick book sitting alone at the bar of the Bible smoking a cigarette with a half-empty pint in front of it; it is no rogue, but a thread in the fabric of, not only the first 5 books of the Bible (called the Pentateuch), nor the whole Bible, but a glimpse into the character of God Himself.

So we should conclude, then, that God is full of rules and is killer at making us bored? No. Prior to Leviticus God approached people, and not many of them it seems. He CAME to Noah, Abram, Jacob, Joseph, Moses; no mega-churches by this time in the Bible. Culturally at this juncture in history such lack of interaction between the common man and the divine was not abnormal. If you can remember some Egyptian history or maybe the movie Stargate, the ruler of a people either considered himself entirely or in part divine but he was the mouth, the between-man of the normal people and the divine entity. So when God, who created everything, decides to not only dwell among His people, but give direction on how the poor bum who’s always asking for change can worship Him, as well as everyone else in Israel, this would have blown everyone away; this is like Steve jobs saying, ‘But wait, there’s one more thing’ near the end of his keynote speech of new Apple products, when that ridiculously crazy thing comes out; this was beyond tweet worthy info, beyond really our understanding: it was brand new on the Earth and it was historically and culturally and socially and personally new and different and counter. Now the people, the everyman, can GO to God and worship Him.

Along this same thread, Leviticus is rigorous about social equality in worship; as the New Testament (NT) book of James points out, it is easy to say, ‘oh, that guy with lots of money gives more, he must be a better person.’ Leviticus says no; we see that if people are not able to give a bull, they can give a goat, if not that then something less expensive all the way down to some grain. We see this played out as Jesus’ parents in the NT were only able to give 2 birds for an offering—they did not have much money. So not only was worship not exclusive to the rich, but standing with and before God was not for the wealthy, it was for all who joined God. Interestingly enough too God did not order the people to go into debt, asking always for the most lavish of gifts from everyone. He wanted worship not things.

Leviticus also teaches that sin is costly. We find it very hard, but we must understand that for many people—and those who grew up on farms have a leg up here—giving their lamb or bull or any of their animals for sacrifice was almost equivalent to giving up your pet dog or cat. When you went to offer gifts to God, it would be sad and hard; this would be a reminder to the people of Israel that sin not only meant something, it took away life, it caused pain and made you uncomfortable; there is a price to sin, namely death. Making it even more clear—and as my generation would say, ‘real’-- In Leviticus God lays it out that the person who gives will himself participate in the act of worship, which was again, not normal for the time—it was always the priest who would perform the sacrificing. The farmer literally had a hand in worship.

It is easy to read the section where God says, ‘Be holy for I am holy’ as a negative and impossible claim; but again, it was not an impossible hoop to jump through to get to God, rather it is a GRACE that GOD HAS MADE A WAY TO HIMSELF WHERE PREVIOUSLY THERE WAS NO WAY. When He says be holy, we should hear: join in doing what I do, come along WITH me.

Leviticus gives a context for understanding what is going on in the NT. Without Leviticus and other regulations and laws we miss how significant and outlandish many of Jesus’ acts were, from the lady who was hemorrhaging, to Jesus’ interaction with unclean lepers, to, as mentioned already, Jesus’ parents. Without understanding Leviticus, much of the NT is a dark room which we can only get a vague sense of what is present in it.

There is SO much in this book that is admittedly hard to understand and can be boring. But it is the Christian’s book to know: it further substantiates and reveals the character of the Almighty to us. We cannot sell the book short by saying it is outdated and all we can glean is that Christ fulfills this stuff. LEVITICUS IS ABOUT THE GOOD NEWS, THE GOSPEL WHICH HAS BEEN AROUND FOR CENTURIES: God chooses to love and allows Himself to be worshipped by those who will follow Him and love Him with their all. He makes a way where there is no way, He tumbles the wall of previous impossibilities, so that we may know Him.

Much more can be helpfully said but hopefully this will draw you into curiosity for this great book, and will lead you further into understanding the character and heart of the God of the Bible.

I was greatly helped by John Milgrom’s commentary and Gordon Wenham’s commentary and Mark Dever’s manuscript found in this book, as well as by audio from Jay Sklar; but AS ALWAYS, nothing can trump constantly reading the book of focus and praying for understanding.

With every post I hope that if you have questions, concerns, complaints, caveats, or anything else that starts with a ‘c’ you can feel welcome to pose them.

Don't Forget the Salt!

Salt. In the ancient times when the Old Testament was being formed it is well documented that salt was seen and used for various reasons; primarily it was used as a preservative therefore in some cultures it was understood to be a holy product as it seemed to extend life as it were. Salt was frequently used in this time when a covenant was struck between two or more parties. This latter use should be placed in the context of Leviticus 2.13; Numbers 18.19; and 2 Chronicles 13.5 to better comprehend what in the world they are referring to. The Israelites—and anyone really--of the time, upon hearing the relationship of salt and the covenant, did not think it strange but understood the speaker’s words. Those involved in a covenant during this time were even known to consume salt to show and symbolize the eternality of the covenant being made.

In the context of Leviticus 2.13 it is important to understand what the LORD was doing. The offering in this context is a grain offering, one that was frequently brought to the place where the LORD dwelled; this offering could be brought in conjunction with other offerings or simply in its own; the grain or cereal offering was also an offering which could and was presented both by the richest of the people of Israel and the poorest. This offering is probably the easiest—financially and time wise—to bring to the LORD and all could do it! It is an interesting insertion then that the LORD says this offering should ALWAYS be accompanied with salt. As referenced before salt was used as a known symbol to remember and recognize covenants; not least of these was the covenant God made with the people of Israel: that God would be the god of the Israelites forever and that the Israelites would be forever God’s people.

It is on purpose that God says this and that the people of Israel followed His words. An offering that could be given daily by any class of people, perhaps the most COMMON and MUNDANE offering, was to carry with it a symbol and reminder of the eternal and most extraordinary covenant ever to exist on the Earth: the perfect divine Ruler, Creator and God relationally loving a highly insignificant and helpless creature, calling them His very own!

Bloody Mercy: Leviticus 15.25-30

Imagine: according to the laws of your day you have a physical infirmity that renders you socially outcast. The very chair you sit in, the bed you lie in, the cloths you wear are all deemed unclean and therefore unusable by anyone else. You cannot host friends or family in your home, none the less go visit others, lest you mar them and their home as well. Who would marry someone unclean? No one should or maybe even could. If you had children they might be given to another for care while you were ill. Normally this infirmity only lasts a few days but you have possessed this disgrace for 12 years!

For 12 years you have been this outcast, unclean even to go offer sacrifices to the God of your people. You have no possessions because you have tried every known treatment to heal you, you have done everything humanly possible to make yourself well . . . but to no avail.

With the background of Leviticus 15.25-33 we find this very individual in Mark 5.25. This very woman who has suffered so hears of him who can heal. She, after exhausting all medical resources and probably praying every day to be relieved of her disease, hears that Jesus is in town. In hope she rushes out her door forgetting who she is, but for a moment. She finds a crowd of people surrounds Jesus but 12 years of misery shoves her to him. Forgetting who she is, she reaches out and touches Jesus’ jacket. 12 years of people unclean and suddenly, miraculously she is healed of her now gone bleeding. Immediately she can become clean, presentable in the temple to worship YHWH, the God of her forefathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; immediately she can become normal again.

As Jesus stopped in his tracks, her heart, struck by the realization of what she just did, stopped as well. Jesus looked on her and saw her faith in him; her faith that said, ‘HE can heal me!’ She confessed she had a disease and that is why she touched him. The crowd around them was on edge. Remember how Aaron’s sons approached God wrongly and were killed? Or how Uzzah touched the ark and died? she thought to herself, what have I done? But she did not die. Jesus’ holiness did not divide the woman and he, and his holiness did not kill her; rather, Jesus’ holiness made her holy. Her Jubilee had come.