Leviticus 18:1-5, 26:3-19; 1 Peter 2:9-10

Leviticus gets a bad rap.

I’ve heard many a pastor advise that when counseling a new believer who wants to take on the Bible, telling them to start in Genesis and read straight through is a strategy destined to fail. “By the time they get partway through Leviticus, they will give up.” Don’t get me wrong, Leviticus is not one of my favorites, either.

Great stories captivate us – books, movies, video games. But alas, Leviticus is a narrative wasteland. No action – just lists and rules.  But step back and get a new perspective. Leviticus is a love letter from God. Yes, I said it – a love letter.

Stop and think of the relationships which cause you to invoke rules or guidelines. Only the most intimate relationships, or those designed to last a long time, warrant invoking rules and guidelines. Generally, we only commit to disciplinary restrictions for family, or quasi-family, relations. By quasi-family, I mean schools, work places, organizations, and teams (e. g., academic, sports, project). It was out of his deep love for his chosen family, and the nation which was emerging, that God begat Leviticus.

Additionally, I note there are two categories of guidance in Leviticus – rituals for worshiping God and others directed at promoting communal living. Only the Israelites (specifically chosen for this divine relationship) were expected to follow the ritual laws. In these ways they were to separate themselves from society at large. The intent of other tenets was to provide harmonious living wherein the needs of the community override the desires of the individual. So rather than view Leviticus as a buzz-kill downer, we should revere its dedication to harmony.

N. T. Wright espouses the view that the ritual laws were transitional. I can’t explain or expound it fully here, but he likens it to a boat utilized for a crossing. Once you reach the shore, you don’t carry the boat across land with you. It has accomplished its objective. Once Jesus provided the full and final sacrifice on the cross, Torah ritual laws had served their purpose – delivering the people safely to the shore. The laws directed towards harmonious communal living continue to guide us as we continue the journey.

One last closing observation. The Gospels are inarguably the most important part of the New Testament, as The Pentateuch is inarguably the most important part of the Old Testament. Leviticus could easily come after Numbers, maybe even merged with Deuteronomy in some manner, but it is intentionally positioned as the middle book of the Pentateuch. As such it is the capstone (see Capstone Musing) of the arch that is the Pentateuch. It provides the structural strength on which the other books rely.

In Leviticus, I hear God invoking the oft-repeated, yet sincere, words of every parent, “I’m doing this for your own good/protection. One day you will understand.” Leviticus is God’s loving message to us his children – tedious as it may appear.

Straining under his demanding love,

Robert