A Work in Progress….

Leviticus 21:1-3 The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them: ‘A priest must not make himself ceremonially unclean for any of his people who die, except for a close relative, such as his mother or father, his son or daughter, his brother, or an unmarried sister who is dependent on him since she has no husband—for her he may make himself unclean.

In trying to understand these verses, I turned once again to GoogleAI to get some cultural background I was clearly missing. I found the following: “When the Book of Leviticus was written, the Israelites were surrounded by complex, deeply ingrained Ancient Near Eastern ‘cults of the dead’ …. practiced by the Canaanites, Egyptians, and Mesopotamians.”

Leviticus 21:4 He must not make himself unclean for people related to him by marriage, and so defile himself.

Even the definition of a cult in this instance has changed from what it was in that context, but this information reaffirms that God was reestablishing for His newly freed Israelites what was acceptable to Him and that it was very different than what was acceptable to so many of those surrounding them culturally.

Leviticus 21:5 “ ‘Priests must not shave their heads or shave off the edges of their beards or cut their bodies.

Precious Savior, It just occurred to me that now as then You are calling us to live differently, to live according to a higher standard, Your standard. Thank You for the reminder that You are now calling us to radical love of Your people. Help me to draw closer to You. Amen.

Leviticus 21:6 They must be holy to their God and must not profane the name of their God. Because they present the food offerings to the Lord, the food of their God, they are to be holy.

Have a blessed day.

Leviticus 20:10 “ ‘If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress are to be put to death.

If there’s one thing I have picked up in my time reading and rereading the Bible it is that God loves us UNCONDITIONALLY. Jesus left the 99 to chase my misguided, sinning self. And yours. And that person you truly can’t stand’s. (Yep. That person, too.) 

Leviticus 20:11 “ ‘If a man has sexual relations with his father’s wife, he has dishonored his father. Both the man and the woman are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.

Because here’s the thing with God’s love [and here’s my frustration with these verses and how man has co-opted them]–We don’t get to pick and choose who God loves. He loves us all. He wants us all to be in relationship with Him. Jesus will leave us all in God’s tender care to go after even one lost soul. So the hate and intolerance that is often preached on Sunday? That’s 100% man. Not God.

Leviticus 20:12 “ ‘If a man has sexual relations with his daughter-in-law, both of them are to be put to death. What they have done is a perversion; their blood will be on their own heads.

Precious Savior, You are love. Period. Help us as Your deeply loved children to stop putting up barriers to Your love and instead to be Your hands and feet and heart in this broken and weary world. Help me, Jesus. Amen.

Leviticus 20:13 “ ‘If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.

Have a blessed day. 

Leviticus 20:6 “ ‘I will set my face against anyone who turns to mediums and spiritists to prostitute themselves by following them, and I will cut them off from their people.

Commentary says about verse 9, “Virtually all commentators agree…”, which is the crux of my issue with scripture and commentary. Commentators don’t know much more than I do. They may have religious background that I do not (which could prove useful or could simply bias their viewpoint), but in the end, commentators are humans trying to intuit God’s will. 

Leviticus 20:7 “ ‘Consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am the Lord your God. 

As I understand it, Jesus removed the need for a human intermediary between man and God. However, humans have their fingerprints all over the Bible. Most, maybe all, of us have never read the Bible in its original language, meaning someone else translated it for us into English. And even for those who have read it in the original, it was hundreds of years before some stories went from oral to written tradition, passing through human lives in the interim.. 

Leviticus 20:8 Keep my decrees and follow them. I am the Lord, who makes you holy.

Precious Savior, My point is that human interpretation is all over Your word. I don’t think You want us to take anyone else’s ideas about what Your word says and call it gospel. I think You want us to read and study and ponder so that we can know You more and better for ourselves. Help me, Jesus. Amen.

Leviticus 20:9 “ ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death. Because they have cursed their father or mother, their blood will be on their own head.

Have a blessed day. 

Leviticus 20:1-2 The Lord said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites: ‘Any Israelite or any foreigner residing in Israel who sacrifices any of his children to Molek is to be put to death. The members of the community are to stone him.

Reminder to self: These laws were handed down because the Israelites had just survived 400 years in Egyptian captivity. Entire generations were exposed to Egyptian beliefs. God is reestablishing what He wants for the Israelites, reminding them of His will.

Leviticus 20:3 I myself will set my face against him and will cut him off from his people; for by sacrificing his children to Molek, he has defiled my sanctuary and profaned my holy name.

This chapter details the punishments for those sins, sins that the Egyptians routinely practiced (as I understand it). Sins that God did not want His people to partake of. These chapters are very time and place specific, handed down for a very specific reason.

Leviticus 20:4 If the members of the community close their eyes when that man sacrifices one of his children to Molek and if they fail to put him to death,

Precious Savior, My caveats are not because I think You want us lawless and full of sin. My caveats are because so many of Your people use Your word to exclude, punish, and exile. I don’t think that is what You call us to do. I think You are calling us to love others–radically, completely, fiercely, eternally–just as You love us. Help me, Jesus. Amen.

Leviticus 20:5 I myself will set my face against him and his family and will cut them off from their people together with all who follow him in prostituting themselves to Molek.

Have a blessed day.

Leviticus 19:28 “ ‘Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the Lord.

Commentary posits about verses 28-30 that “Part of this message to us today is that what our culture thinks and how they perceive things is important.” I think “what our culture thinks” is a slippery slope, leading us into some pretty dangerous territory.

Leviticus 19:29-30 “ ‘Do not degrade your daughter by making her a prostitute, or the land will turn to prostitution and be filled with wickedness. “ ‘Observe my Sabbaths and have reverence for my sanctuary. I am the Lord.

To try to engage in conversations about topics that our culture has deemed religiously unacceptable or inappropriate will get you stonewalled or ostracized, even if your entire purpose in having the conversation is to try to understand or try to clear up confusion about your own position or God’s on a matter. 

Leviticus 19:31 “ ‘Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists, for you will be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God.

Precious Savior, I grew up with the idea that I was not supposed to question You. Period. At this point in my life, I truly think that You welcome my questions because my questions help me to learn and grow and understand. Help me to be unafraid to question in a spirit of getting to know You more and better. Help me, Jesus. Amen.

Leviticus 19:32 “ ‘Stand up in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God. I am the Lord.

Have a blessed day. 

Leviticus 19:23 “ ‘When you enter the land and plant any kind of fruit tree, regard its fruit as forbidden. b For three years you are to consider it forbidden; it must not be eaten. 

This morning I’m still struggling with the verses that folks pick and choose to follow, loudly protesting when those they have chosen as sacred are broken, silently doing as they wish when it comes to verses they no longer see as relevant. For instance, Leviticus 26 says “Do not eat any meat with blood still in it,” which includes organ meat from animals. 

Leviticus 19:24 In the fourth year all its fruit will be holy, an offering of praise to the Lord. 

The reason behind this verse at the time was because there were pagans who participated in cult ceremonies involving blood. However, as I was growing up, my mom often served us liver and onions, one of my least favorite meals EVER. For clarification, my mother just enjoyed liver and onions. She was not a pagan and no one thought she was, even though she did not follow verse 26.

Leviticus 19:25 But in the fifth year you may eat its fruit. In this way your harvest will be increased. I am the Lord your God.

Precious Savior, Thank You for the reminder that common sense must come into play as we read Your word. Our humanity also gets tangled up in all that we do. Help me to know how to navigate this minefield of what You decreed for the Israelites and what You want for me, personally, so that I can honor You in my reading, studying, and living. Amen.

Leviticus 19:26-27 “ ‘Do not eat any meat with the blood still in it. “ ‘Do not practice divination or seek omens. “ ‘Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard. 

Have a blessed day.