Good morning! The end of Exodus described the tabernacle and its “furniture” set up, but only passingly references the priests who begin their duties. What that might actually have looked liked is presented here in Leviticus 8-9. Today’s two chapters are largely enactments of instructions already given to Moses in Exodus for the inauguration of the priesthood and the first sacrifices. While there is much ritual to read through, we have heard most of this already. To give it a different feel, this time try to imagine these rituals from the perspective of priests who are going through them for the first time.
Month: February 2016
Leviticus 4-7
Good morning! Today’s reading from Leviticus (chapters 4-7) continues instructions about various kinds of sacrifices for the priests and people to offer before God. Its instructions give us a window into the worldview and experience of ancient Israel.
Leviticus 1-3
Good morning! Today we start Leviticus, the third book of the Torah. We modern readers find this a daunting book to make sense of, since it presumes and further shapes a highly sacrificial culture. The “book of the Levites” focuses on holiness as that which sets God (with faithful Hebrews and their priests by extension) apart from other human communities. Remember that the zeal of these descendants of Levi led them to kill thousands of their kin who had worshipped the golden calves in Exodus 32. Thereafter, the Levites have a reputation for rigorously following the laws of God, because human happiness consists of obeying God, no matter what God commands. While I mostly find the Levitical tradition alienating and inflexible, it should be said that strict observance of Jewish practices is one of the reasons that this very small faith has persisted, despite millennia of intermingling with other cultures. Let’s look for other positive elements as we make our way through Leviticus, and if that seems impossible take comfort in the fact that we’ll be through the book in less than two weeks. We got this!
Pastor Oby Ballinger 