Day 25 – October 4, 2023: Leviticus 5-8 and Hebrews 3-4
October 4, 2023We find ourselves once again with the legalism of Leviticus which drives this section. It is interesting that the offerings were based upon how much you were able to afford. From a life animal, to a bird, to a wheat offering. Notice that when Mary and Joseph go to the temple they offer a bird which is kind of middle of the road. You can find that Scripture in Luke 2:24. It is curious how these Scriptures from the Old Testament have an impact on the New Testament and what we see happening in the life of people of faith.
When we get to Hebrews it once again is the depiction of the faith that we have in Jesus Christ. I love the fact that Jesus is consistenlty portrayed not just as one of many people who have had an impact on the Christian faith, like Moses, but goes far beyond anyone and is God himself. He is much more than Moses, he is the builder of the house while we are the houses. That is very different. You can’t read this Scripture without highlighting 4:12 which reminds us that the Word of God is sharper than a two edged sword. God’s Word strips us of pretension and the fake approach that we are beyond reproach. We are sinners in the hands of a loving God, but we are still sinners. No amount of grace will make us not be sinners. Now, our sin is washed clean, but we are still sinners in the hands of a God of grace. We can’t forget that or we risk inheriting cheap grace.
Would you agree that we are oftentimes blind to the weirdness that is sometimes in our own families? That those on the outside can recognize our family’s quirks, which we just don’t seem to see? I felt this when I read these Leviticus passages. If it were any other religion’s tenets that I was reading, I would say, “Uh, that’s just weird.” From the outside, God is pleased with the smell of burning animals that He created (and saved recently from the flood). And we are to wring the neck of the birds but not enough to decapitate it, but just enough to draw blood so that we can dab it on our earlobes. And I’m not being tongue-in-cheek. I mean no disrespect. I just don’t understand how we don’t see this as weird. Maybe it makes sense that we are more likely to read Hebrews in church and less likely to read Leviticus. Leviticus, for me, opens my eyes to how outsiders see my religion. And having someone open your eyes to some of its “weirdness” isn’t comfortable.
I think it’s also interesting that as we rarely read from Leviticus, there are some who read only from the first five books of the Bible. So what does their not reading Hebrews say about them? And what does my not reading Leviticus (even occasionally) say about me?
Sorry for the late reply. Yeah, we are not safe from weirdness that is on par with Leviticus. We eat bread and juice and say that it is the body and the blood of a person who died two thousand years ago. From the outside that is just plain weird, and not safer than the just right wringing of the neck. It is always helpful to us to understand how others may view us as we practice our faith, not necessarily for the sake of changing how we practice our faith, but how we can communicate effectively to those all whom we want to bring into the kingdom to love Jesus and live a life of freedom. We should never feel defensive because of our faith, and fully embrace its weirdness while recognizing that it is just something that is a big part of who we are.
There is a bit of a difference in not reading Leviticus and not reading Hebrews. We know that in Peter’s dream in Acts that the vast majority of Leviticus no longer holds sway on our faith, at least the part about dietary laws and the parts about keeping clean for a set period of time. That was enveloped into the New Covenant which we follow which is composed of just two laws: love God and love neighbor. But we also should not shy away from Leviticus.