Week 6 Leviticus 18-27
In chapters 18-27 I found 10 separate passages/sections that contained rules – there were 214 individual rules by my count.
I wasn’t all that interested in the 214 specific rules. I was more interested in looking for underlying ideas – core explanatory values – that gave me some kind of sense of what’s behind the rules – what’s determining the rules. If the rule says that I can’t have sexual intercourse with my sister I might wonder: why not? What are my 214 rules resting on?
I found seven generic comments:
1. You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy
2. Keep my statutes and do them; I am the Lord who sanctifies you
3. You shall be holy to me, for I the Lord am holy
4. Speak to Aaron and his sons…so that they do not profane my holy name: I am the Lord
5. Keep my commandments and do them: I am the Lord
6. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to…be your God
7. The people of Israel are…my servants: I am the Lord your God.
So I’ve got my set of 214 rules. And I’ve got the requirement to do them. But the second half of Leviticus has this repeater-idea giving a foundational idea – this lifting-the-curtain principle – I am the Lord.
There might be other practical and down-to-earth reasons for abiding by the rules. But in the end the rule are the way they are because the Lord is holy.
Note: quotes from Leviticus 19:2 20:7-8 20:26 22:2 22:31-33 25:38 25:55 (ESV)