Thoughts on the Levitical Laws

We'll be looking more at the Day of Atonement (ch16) and Israel's Festival Year (ch23) at the Biblical Thinking Forum Sessions in March and April respectively, so will not repeat myself here.

We must be wary not to fall into the trap of thinking that all these laws are drawn up by God for Israel on the basis that they are the best or most efficient way to do life. This often true, but not always. There's nothing wrong with eating pork, and it's no worse/better for you than lamb (so long as you cook it properly).

The point of these laws was that God wanted to keep before the eyes of his people 1) their calling to be his treasured possession and to be separate and distinct from all the other nations on the earth. and 2) to show them what Messiah would do when he came to redeem the whole creation.

Here are some thoughts on the Levitical Laws (mostly from James Jordan) for you to have a chew on:

Bad Priests & Blasphemers

Whilst trying to slash our way through the legal jungle that is Leviticus, we come across two “clearings” that give our shoulders a bit of relief – kind of. I say kind of, because whilst the death of Aaron’s sons (ch 10) and the stoning of the blasphemer (ch24) are hardly palatable to our 21 cent Western mindset, they are more interesting and easier for us to think about than the lists of laws thus far.

So what do we make of these two incidents? Do we go with the pop psychology view that says God is like a Col. Kaddafi, unpredictably destroying others as a way of covering up his own acute sense of inadequacy? Or is there more going on here?

Four "Interesting" Things From Web

Have been away/busy with other things, will make some more general comments on Leviticus soon, I hope! :-S  In the mean time, here are four pearls mined from the murky sea of banality that is the world wide web.

Drawing Near Through Christ

David & Mephibosheth

Observations on Leviticus 1-4

Chronologically, Leviticus appears to start before the end of Exodus, because the Tent of Meeting is still in operation and the Tabernacle has not been set up.

God's people, once a family, is now a nation and so there is specialisation of roles (judges and priests) amongst the people to help make things clear and enable them to run more smoothly and efficiently. Leviticus is the book that enables that transition.

From Slavery to Sabbath

Observations on Exodus 38-40

For more on the High Priest's breastplate, click here.

Exodus began with God's people in bondage to slavery, it ends with God's people enjoying God's Sabbath rest - his gracious presence in their midst, gathered around a new creation (the Tabernacle).

The Father will not go up with them from here to the land of promise due to the incident with the golden calf, but the Son, the Angel of the LORD, the one in whom is the eternal name of the Father, the one who is the Glory of the Father, will go with them and he comes to dwell in the midst of the camp above the Most Holy Place in the Tabernacle.

Sabbath and Spoils

Observations on Exodus 35-37

Jordan says that given that the Israelites are on the move and not at home, it's unlikely that this somewhat extreme prohibition (capital punishment) on work during the Sabbath referred to a bit of DIY, or even their jobs as that most of them weren't able to practice their trade during the trek up to the land of promise anyway!

Mediation

Taking two days worth of readings today with observations on Exodus 32-34. There's a lot here and this will by no means be comprehensive.

In the garden of Eden, God withdrew from Adam and Eve to see if they would follow him wholeheartedly. When he came back, he found them scratching around trying to cover their shame. So here, God and Moses withdraw up the mountain. The people decide that Moses is spending too long up there with God and so decide to take matters into their own hands. They ask Aaron to make them gods to go before them, just like Moses and the Angel in the Cloud had before.