Leviticus 13-27

This will be your longest reading. As you can see, the great concern for cleanliness in such a large community as the migrating Israelites was huge. Everything from menstruation to nocturnal emissions to rashes to leprosy to mildew is included. Concern is for bodily cleanliness as well as ritual cleansing. The role of the priests is to declare people clean. Even now, it is the pastor who first says to the people in communion services,"In the name of Christ you are forgiven." Think about that, because then the people turn right around and tell the pastor that he is forgiven. What biblical right do members of the congregation have to declare forgiveness for anyone?

The 16th chapter of Leviticus gives the instructions for the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). On that day no work is to done in the community (including aliens). It is a yearly cleansing to be carried out on the 10th day of the seventh month. Notice the role of the scapegoat. Consider how we use that term today. I have used this idea for couples and groups so that they could find a way to let go of the things that are between them.

Note a little more carefully the regulations in Leviticus 18-20. In our day, most of them make sense for lots of reasons. But they were in direct opposition to the Canaanite religions around them. The beginning part of Leviticus 19 is a short commentary on some of the ten commandments. Notice the other laws. How are they different that what we have today and how are they the same? In chapter 20, we are given the punishments, many of them capital (sacrificing children, adultery, consulting with mediums or being a medium, cursing one's parents, homosexuality, beastiality, etc.). Other punishments include "being cut off from the people" (living outside the camp) and lifetime childlessness.

After giving special instructions for the priests in chapters 21 & 22, more discussions of feasts are given. While the book of Exodus commands only three feasts. What Leviticus calls the Feast of Weeks is the counterpart of Ingathering, and a civil feast, the Feast of Trumpets is added. Following the Day of Atonement, feasting is also held. The showbread is described in chapter 24, part of which goes to the Lord and sacrificed, while the other part is consumed by Aaron and his sons.
The chapter closes with an application of the third commandment in which a blasphemer is stoned to death.

Chapter 25 gives a broader application to the Sabbath, proclaiming a Sabbath year for the land. What grows naturally is to be food, not only for those who work the land, but also servants and aliens. Then, after seven sabbath years, there shall be a "year of Jubilee," beginning on the Day of Atonement. People can eat only what naturally yields in their fields. Also debts are forgiven and slaves are set free.
I can't help but notice how much the Sabbath rhythm is paramount in Jewish understanding and what a gift it is for everyone. In Jesus' day, they turned this gift into a legalism, but Jesus said, "Sabbath was made for Man, not Man for the Sabbath." Unfortunately, for most of us, we are not in Sabbath rhythm, and the result is burnout of many kinds.

Chapter 26 gives the rewards for obedience and the punishments for disobedience. Like an insistent parent the punishments are emphasized more with lots of fear involved. Notice the application of "seven times" a biblical device for getting the full load of what God has. When it's good, it's really good. When it's bad...(you get the drift). The theological difficulty is when we interpret this too literally, which Jesus argued against (e.g. Luke 13, John 9). When we are obedient to God's ways, life will be better. But there will still be difficulties. As James writes, "The rain falls on the just and the unjust." When we are disobedient there will be consequences. But that doesn't mean that the wicked always have it worse than the righteous. That's one of David's big beefs with God in the Psalms. It is common for people to blame the afflicted for their problems, justifying the blaming based on passages like Leviticus 26 or similar passages in Deuteronomy. As teachers, what do we do when there are apparent differences within the Bible on issues? One way is to look at the overall swing of how the Bible treats these issues. An overall look at this issue would reveal that living a holy life has major benefits over living a sinful life. A holy life is indeed blessed beyond words. But that does not mean our lives are protected from disease, persecution, unfairness, acts of nature,etc. Nor does it mean that when bad things happen that God is mad at us. I think God can be mad at us even when good things are happening.