What I learned: Leviticus
Spiritual conclusions
I’ve learned that there is learning about the process of studying the Bible, which inspires spiritual conclusions, and there is learning about the plans and purposes of God, which also inspires spiritual conclusions. This essay, written after the first time I outlined Leviticus in 2023, demonstrates lessons learned in the process of dedicated reading of Leviticus. I’ve written a separate essay about where Leviticus fits in God’s story and plan that He has revealed through His word, and what it teaches us about our relationship to a holy God. Please see also the outline of Leviticus and wrestling with hard stuff.
The Holy Spirit can teach even through the most unexpected passages. I was most impacted by learning about burnt offerings, as I wrote in a recent medical mission report.
Sin offerings were sometimes required for things for which a person had no control i.e. in the declaration of being clean from leprosy. Sin offerings seem to be a simple acknowledgement of what is, in fact, true, whether we know it or not or whether we are culpable in a particular instance or not: we are sinners. That is who we are. God required this offering whether one knew they had violated the Law or not. We can violate the law and be ignorant of it. Once enlightened, however, repentance, a guilt offering, and restitution was required. “Now if a person sins and does any of the things which the LORD has commanded not to be done, though he was unaware, still he is guilty and shall bear his punishment” (Leviticus 5:17).
Peace offerings could be given out of free will or gratitude. It was an acknowledgment of peace with God and those who offered it could celebrate by eating of it.
God will be treated as holy. Full stop.
If you can explain it, you understand it. Outlining has been a discipline, incredibly difficult on some days, that has increased my understanding exponentially over probably the first forty times I’ve simply read this book.
A lot of the details repeat: maybe God knew our eyes would glaze over regarding it. Repetition helps with understanding.
God intersperses teaching with stories that recount implementation of His teaching. Yet more repetition increases understanding.
“it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement” (Leviticus 17:11). This helps us understand the perfect atonement of Jesus Christ. Human priests had to have their sins atoned for before they could serve the people with their offerings for their atonement. Jesus did not.
“You shall thus observe all My statutes and all My ordinances and do them; I am the Lord” (Leviticus 19:37). I counted some 50 times that the Lord declared, “I am the Lord” in Leviticus. It is because God is God that we obey Him. We do not need any other reasons.
Some of the Old Testament sounds like the New Testament: “You shall not hate your fellow countryman in your heart; you may surely reprove your neighbor, but shall not incur sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD” (Leviticus 19:17-19). We don’t throw away God’s expectations of us because we are now under grace and no longer need continual animal sacrifices for our sins, given that Jesus’ perfect sacrifice atoned for us once and for all. We thank Him that now that we are under grace and He has filled us with His Holy Spirit, we are enabled to follow and please Him, and fulfill His expectations, by His power and transformation of us.
“Sanctified means “set apart”: Some of God’s laws are not understandable to us, but He’s declared that He is the Lord. His chosen people, the Israelites, the descendants of Abraham, were set apart, different than the culture around them. We, as American Christians, have not been used to that. We need to get used to that as our culture changes. We need to get used to being “different,” strange even, to the culture around us.
Weekly sabbaths, a sabbath for land every 7 years, and a year of jubilee every 50 years were means to demonstrate faith and trust in God’s provision, as well as to acknowledge everything we have is His. They also demonstrate different seasons are temporary. We can endure because we know a Sabbath is coming.
Obedience means blessing. Disobedience means consequence. But God is merciful and faithful, longing for His children to repent.