About a week ago, I was watching the movie, “I Can Only Imagine.” It portrays the biography of Bart Willard, the lead singer of the band “Mercy Me.” Early in his career, Bart realized that he had to deal with his troubled upbringing. So, he decided to temporarily leave the group and return home. Almost immediately upon arriving, there was an exchange with his recently converted father. It caught my attention.
Father: I’ve been reading the Bible.
That resonated. I’ve been a Christian for many years. Yet, I could still see myself saying: “Leviticus; what is that?” I remember when, as a new believer, I determined that I would read through the Bible, front to back. Then came Leviticus. What a shock. I don’t remember what I did next. One thing is sure; my trip through the 66 books of scripture stopped right there. I had questions, but no answers were forthcoming. I could have concluded: “This is ridiculous,” and then dismissed Christianity altogether? I didn’t. Thank God for that. Others could, though.
So, what is up with this book. The words, “love,” “grace,” and “forgiveness” don’t exist. These are replaced with “holy,” “clean,” and “unclean” Sin and retribution are emphasized. There is atonement, but never mercy. It seems so harsh. We might ask, “How does Jesus fit with all of this?” It seems so unlike Christ.
This is a difficult topic, and there is no way that I can do it justice in one short article. The book of Leviticus contains about half of the 613 laws of Moses, along with jarring punishments. I’ll skip those here. That is a topic for another day.
Wrestling with Leviticus is not a new issue. The church fathers struggled as well. Some might say: “It’s a Jewish problem. Let them deal with it.” Unfortunately, at least for me, that is a cop out. First, because it is in our Bible, I can’t simply ignore it. Second, Jewish theology changed significantly after the Romans destroyed their temple. Their approaches to Leviticus can shed light and inform our understandings.
Early Christians, starting with Paul, read the Old Testament figuratively. Consider the following verses in Corinthians’:
And do not let us test the Lord too far, as some of them tested Him and were destroyed by the serpents. And do not be discontented, as some of them were, and they were destroyed by the Destroyer. All this kept happening to them with a figurative meaning; but it was put on record by way of admonition to us upon whom the ends of the Ages have come (1 Cor 10:9-11 – Weymouth translation)
Paul does not read his Old Testament literally. Rather, he views troubling Old Testament accounts to be patterns of illustration. From these, we derive practical insights that help as we strive to grow spiritually. The church father, Origen, goes even further than Paul. He wrote a book called “Homilies on Leviticus.” There he tediously goes line by line showing how each verse points to Jesus. Apparently, he was unconcerned with the historical setting. He cared only about what the book meant spiritually.
Modern Jews do the same thing. Of course, they don’t seek to understand how Jesus shines through. Instead, they uncover symbolic interpretations which are relevant to our time. I recently read a Jewish teaching from the website, aish.com . It discusses the several chapters of Leviticus dealing with leprosy. Those sections heavily describe processes where priests diagnose disorders, and prescribe steps necessary for a person to be restored to the community. The aish.com article posits that skin disorders are akin to gossip, an infection of the soul. Biblical leprosy produces a foul, possibly contagious appearance which is visible to all. Similarly, gossip is an open display of an infected soul. Both are deadly. The rabbi’s interpretation is symbolic, not literal.
I find these explanations interesting and helpful, but incomplete. There seems to me to be too much leeway. With a creative imagination, one can make anything mean anything. I need to go further.
A good starting point is to ask, “What did this book mean to those who wrote it? What needs did it address? Do we today have similar needs? How do we deal with those? Do the early Israelites have anything important to say to us?” It is easy for us moderns to think: “The ancients were primitive and stupid. They didn’t even know about germs and how disease spreads. Their primitive minds blamed everything on the gods. In contrast, we are sophisticated, rational, and scientific. We have microscopes. Aren’t we so smart?” Well, maybe not so much.
So, with this in mind, let’s take another look at the chapters dealing with leprosy. Why spend multiple chapters dealing with a disorder that is comparatively rare in today’s world? Who cares? First of all, the Bible is not concerned with the disease presently called by that name (Leprosy came to the Middle East from India much later). Instead, it refers to any skin disorder. It is true, that biblical peoples did not understand about how disease spreads from person to person. Nevertheless, they knew very well that ailments could be contagious. In the modern world, we don’t think much about diseases like measles, smallpox, chicken pox, or other similar outbreaks. In the ancient world, these were plagues that could and did from time to time wipe out a quarter to a third of the population. Just consider if the corona virus killed 100 million Americans. You bet it would be a major topic. Few are aware that we owe the principles of quarantining those who are infected, cleanliness, and dealing with mold to the book of Leviticus.
Let’s turn to animal sacrifice. Those descriptions of bloody sacrifices are (there is no other way to describe it) gruesome. Perhaps this is because most of us don’t participate in the slaughtering process. In fact, I never even saw a live cow until I was eighteen (I grew up in New York City — no farms there). When I want to eat meat, I simply go to the supermarket, pick out a nicely packaged roast, and bring it home. There is no connection with the animal (or animals in the case of chopped meat). On the few occasions where TV programs demonstrated slaughter house procedures, I quickly turned the channel. I thought, “Ugh!” One such program sticks in my mind, though. Farm workers were beating sickly livestock to get them to stand-up and force them to go through the line. It was horrifying.
Agricultural societies are very different. Animals chosen are the best, unblemished. There is a direct cost and close connection to each living being. Putting hands on it intensifies the link. Most indigenous peoples to this day, have well-defined rituals honoring the living creatures who give-up life so we can eat. The book of Leviticus provides one example of this. Ancient peoples had a respect for life that many of us lack in our day.
I still have to ask: “Why is this part of the Bible?” The answer is: “It was a necessary part of the drama of redemption.” You might ask: “Why necessary?” The incident of the golden calf provides the answer. At the time of Moses, animal sacrifice was universal. Every culture did it. It was so ingrained that the practice was not even questioned. It was not surprising that after Moses vanished for 40 days, the people felt the need to take matters into their own hands. And so, they did. They picked the Egyptian cow god Aris. It was a logical choice, since it functioned as an intermediary between humanity and other powerful deities. They were stranded in the wilderness, vulnerable, and lost. I understand why they did what they did.
Before we judge them harshly, perhaps we should reflect. There are many things we do within our cultural context that are automatic and assumed. Consider gay marriage for example. The first time I heard that people wanted to legalize men marrying men, I was in disbelief. I thought: “No way.” Now it is the law of the land, and we are adjusting to the new reality. How will a sophisticated society, thousands of years from now evaluate us? Will they be repulsed by things we do? Each culture swims in the ocean of its assumptions and conventions. Ancient civilizations were no different.
God met the Israelites where they were at, and little-by-little, he moved them forward. Those Levitical rituals, foreign to us, were quite familiar to the surrounding peoples. They too had their categories of clean/unclean animals, priestly classes with sacred garb, carefully designed temples and altars, burnt offerings, etc. Yet, there were differences. I’ve listed a few of these below.
Offerings must only be performed at the tabernacle, nowhere else.
All offerings were dedicated exclusively to the single God of the Universe.
Burnt offerings did not feed this God. Consider the following psalm.
Every animal in the forest belongs to me, and so do the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds in the mountains, and every wild creature is in my care. If I were hungry, I wouldn’t tell you, because I own the world and everything in it. I don’t eat the meat of bulls or drink the blood of goats. I am God Most High! The only sacrifice I want is for you to be thankful and to keep your word (Ps 50:10-14).
God was pure and holy, unlike pagan gods who were scary, moody, selfish, and unpredictable. His desire was for the Israelites to be holy as well, and in so doing, bless the nations.
The system brought awareness to the problem of sin and the need for atonement. In the fullness of time, the messiah would replace the repeated sacrifices once and for all.
Unlike other rituals, there was an emphasis on the shedding and sprinkling of blood. This sounds weird; why? It anticipated God himself entering into creation, and humanity shedding his blood. But then, he would rise again to conquer the curse of death and sprinkle the promise of eternal life to all nations to the ends of the earth.
The purpose was to maintain a covenant relationship with the Creator. Other systems were bargains for benefits. We still do this today. I recall times saying: “God, if only you will do this for me, then I’ll do that for you.” Most of the time, he didn’t take the bait.
It is important to note that the Levitical system was always meant to be temporary. Once the tabernacle disappeared, the sacrificial requirements could no longer be observed as prescribed. According to the Jewish sage Maimonides, God worked to wean the people away from the atoning offerings. Prayer and repentance bring us into relationship with God, not ritual procedures. The prophetic books of the Bible confirm Maimonides’ view in many places.
I’ve only scratched the surface in this article. There is much more to learn. I hope I’ve managed to illustrate a few ways in which reading the book of Leviticus can be beneficial. Let’s summarize:
Seek to uncover the hidden spiritual meanings and apply them appropriately.
Understand ancient cultural contexts and then recognize that we are not so different.
Appreciate and experience the whole drama of salvation. Jesus did not come in a vacuum. He arrived when the soil was prepared and ready for the mustard seed of his kingdom to be planted.
Thanks for listening,secondlooknow.com
DAn,
This is very clarifying and insightful! I am glad to have a reason to read Leviticus with much better understanding….I will check out the Aish.com link too!
Thanks for working this really intense article topic ; and for your dedication to bring understanding! This Is a big deal!
You’re a braver man than I am, Gunga Din. To tackle such a ginormous question.
You’ll be happy to learn, however, that in the chapter I’m editing, Elijah and Nathan are building a booth per Leviticus 23:42-43. “You shall live in temporary shelters for seven days…”
http://elijahblog.com/kerith-ravine/
Thanks for your comment Dave. My passion is for the million who are leaving the Church each year. I’m hoping to directly address the questions for which they are not getting answers. I don’t think that we believers can afford to circle the wagons as we see the circles getting smaller and smaller. So, I’m always threading a needle. On one hand remaining true to the faith. On the other hand searching for answers within the maze of possible interpretations.
One of these days, with fear and trembling, I’ll go after the harsh punishments: stoning, fire, hand amputation, cut off from the people.