This week all of my reading was in the book of Leviticus. It began with shocking story of the deaths of Aaron's oldest sons, Nadab and Abihu, before settling into a long list of the various laws, prohibitions, and requirements placed on the people of Israel.
I found myself doing a lot of cherry picking. "You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people but you shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Leviticus 19:18).Ooh, I like that. This is clearly God's timeless Word for us.
But right beside it might be a verse that I've glossed right on over: "You shall not breed together two kinds of cattle; you shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed, nor wear a garment upon you mixed of two kinds of material mixed together." (Leviticus 19:19). That one is certainly something from the Old Covenant--definitely not applicable anymore.
And another verse over, here's something I'm just not going to think about because. . .well, I can't see how that could ever be okay: "Now if a man lies carnally with a a woman who is a slave acquired for another man, but who has been in no way been redeemed, nor given her freedom, there shall be punishment; they shall not however be put to death because she was not free" (Leviticus 19:20). The New Living Translation sounds even worse, stating that the man must simply pay full compensation to her master and the case is closed.
And here the Bible Defenders will rush to explain how we need understand Leviticus 19:20 in the context of the culture and time. Or they will try to explain how Leviticus 19:19 does still apply, at least in principle, if not literally. We'll hear about how while we may no longer have to worry about mixing seeds or fabric, we do want to take the principle of not mixing truth with error. We may not take these commands literally but we can still learn from them.
But it doesn't make sense to do that does it? Or at least doesn't if we are going to insist that we are following the whole Bible and not just choosing the parts we like. But of course, that's exactly what we're doing. We all do it--even the fundamentalists (maybe especially the fundamentalists). It's not necessarily a bad thing--I think we do have to make the distinctions. The problem is when we casually pick "obvious" cherries that have damaging consequences to those it's easy to marginalize. Thus it's easy to grab the low-hanging fruit of Leviticus 18:22 (and it's attendant punishment in Leviticus 20:13). It seems "obviously" wrong, we may be personally repulsed by the thought of it, and especially in today's culture it's a great way to show that we are not in sync with "The World". But is that really the best way to determine this fruit should be picked? Over say, the legitimacy of slavery, to which quite a few verses are devoted (Leviticus 25:35-55, which it could be argued makes a horrifying case for "race" or at least "nationality" based lifelong slavery).
I think it's dishonest to suddenly claim we're all about the "plain Word of God" and "All Scripture is profitable" when the truth is we are not claiming all of the Levitical law is still applicable today. We (or our churches, or our culture, or tradition, or Biblical scholars) are deciding what still applies and what doesn't. Once we acknowledge that, then we can talk about how we make those decisions. For me, as a Christian, it comes down to what I know about the character of Jesus (and thus the character of God) and what the implications are for those we are most quick to marginalize in our society--not because of the "harm" they cause, but simply because they make us feel uncomfortable and disoriented.
Highlights of Leviticus 10-26
- Stuff that Makes You Unclean & What to Do About It
- Who You Should Not Have Sex with and The Consequences of Sex with Said Individuals
- Sins and Their Punishments
- Holidays
- The Year of Jubilee
Fun Facts
- Did you know how to get land real cheap in ancient Israel? Just wait until a few years before the Year of Jubilee and you can get that property you've been coveting (well not coveting. . .) for a song. The downside is you'll have to return it in the Year of Jubilee. Land sales in Israel were to follow a sliding scale, with sale prices dropping as you approached the year of Jubilee. There's much greater a value in land that you'll have for the next 49 years, as opposed to land you'll only get a harvest or two out of before it goes back to the original owner.
- Did you know God was really concerned about the Sabbath Year? We know all about the Sabbath day. But did you know there is a Sabbath year too? Every seven years, God decreed as a Sabbath year when no new crops were to be planted, so that the land could rest. And that year mattered to God. In Leviticus 26, God details the rewards that go with following His commands and the punishments that will fall upon His people if they don't follow His commands. After God's people are "scattered among the nations" and the land becomes desolate, the land will finally get the Sabbath rest which His people had not given it. The people are receiving the consequences of disobedience in general, but He mentioned specifically their failure to observe the Sabbath Year as being rectified by their dispersion.
What Stood Out to Me
The Burnt Goat
Nadab and Abihu can be an upsetting story. Aaron's two oldest sons grab some random incense from the kitchen drawer, strike a match on the bottom of their shoe and head off to offer incense to the Lord. Fire from heaven roars down and strikes them dead (Leviticus 10). Wow. That's rough. I did some reading from different theologians and Christian thinkers and found their apologetics way more upsetting than the story itself. There was much "there are no small sins" and "We must not take God's commands lightly." It was enough to make me feel like God might as well zap me now too; there's no way I can live up to His exacting demands. Instead of looking it that way, I see what happened to Nadab and Abihu as something akin to workers at a nuclear plant walking into a radioactive zone without proper protective gear. It wasn't that God "got mad" and lashed out, any more than a fire "gets mad" and lashes out when you stick your hand in it. God made it clear, "Here's what you need to do to be safe in My Presence." Nadab and Abihu didn't follow the safety protocols and that was the result. (I was always taught that they were also drunk when they approached the tabernacle. Leviticus doesn't say that, but it could be implied, because right after they died Moses warned Aaron that the priests should never drink alcohol before conducting their duties. It makes sense for Adventists to harp on that point given our traditional opposition to alcohol--and for other Christians to not to make it a central point. Of the various responses to the story I read, only the Jewish theologians brought up the fact that they may have been drunk).
This perspective also helps me understand the second, less well known part of the story--that of the burnt goat. The goat of the sin offering was supposed to be eaten by the priests, but Aaron let it burn up on the altar instead. Moses was furious and demanded to know why he hadn't followed the command to eat the goat. Aaron provided an explanation that I found a bit opaque, but apparently Moses (and God) accepted his excuse. At first, I wondered why Nadab and Abihu got executed, while Aaron who also disobeyed, was given a pass. Once I understood Nadab and Abihu, I also understood Aaron and the burnt goat. Yes, Aaron disobeyed, but his disobedience was more like eating the cookies I told you not to eat, not the disobedience of running out into a busy street.
The Year of Jubilee
I was really struck by the Year of Jubilee. I'm not sure that Israel ever actually celebrated it as God intended but the idea of it really fascinated me. Every fifty years, everyone got back the land that they had sold. The system seemed to really be built to prevent wealth and power from ever being concentrated in the hands of a few people. You couldn't really build generational wealth at the expense of others under this system. It also seemed to be built on the assumption that no one would want to sell their family land unless they were in dire straits. The year of Jubilee seemed to serve as a reminder that nothing is permanent and in the end, the land all belongs to God.
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