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The Lord called Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting, saying. . . (Leviticus 1:1, ESV)
In the Book of Leviticus, the Israelites didn’t travel or wander around the wilderness all the time; they stayed in one place for about one month while God, speaking to Moses daily, gave him 251 laws for God’s people.
These laws describe rituals to be practiced in the presence of God, the role of priests in Israel’s society, and Israel’s purity, especially having to do with sexual relations.
Because of the numerous laws in this book, most Christians never really read the Book of Leviticus, and even if they claim to have read it, they’ve probably only skimmed it. Let’s be honest, if you faithfully read a One-Year Bible, there’s an inner groan realizing that the day’s reading contains a sizable chunk of the Book of Leviticus.
In this blog, I typically write a “Reading the Book of ____” on Monday, providing an overview of a Book of the Bible to be used when reading it. But acquiescing to the current practice of believers, I’ve titled this Interruptions. . .
Skimming not reading the Book of Leviticus!
In prep for this blog, I’ve skimmed the Book of Leviticus and listed below some of the chapter headings I read in the NASB version:
The law of burnt offerings, the law of grain offerings, the law of peace offerings, the law of sin offerings, the law of guilt offerings, the priest’s part in the offerings, the law about animals for good, avoid the unclean, the test for leprosy, cleansing unhealthiness, law of atonement, the law of immoral relations, idolatry forbidden, sundry laws, rules for priests, laws of religious festivals, an eye for an eye, sabbath year laws, and various and sundry other laws.
Did you just skim the above list? It’s alright to skim the Book of Leviticus, but shame on you for skimming this Interruption paragraph.
And that’s the point with the 251 laws in the Book of Leviticus along with 362 laws found in the rest of the Old Testament (for a total of 613 laws). Who can even read them, let alone remember and practice all of them?
Fortunately for believers today, the Book of Leviticus points us to Christ as we read Paul’s summary of what Jesus did. . .
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:1-2).
Hallelujah — freedom!
We don’t have to religiously obey the 251 laws of Leviticus today, but there is one law in the Book of Leviticus that’s just as relevant now as the day in which it was given to Moses by God at the Tent of Meeting. . .
You shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord (Leviticus 19:18b).
Jesus considered this law so important that He repeated it when asked by a scribe to list the greatest commandment in the Bible. . .
Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:29-31).
Amen! Let’s not skim the greatest commandment given by our Lord.