Podcast

We must not take God’s mercy for granted. He is generous with His mercy, but He is still a Holy and all-powerful God, not a mere friend.

Celebratory meals of fellowship are done with others and with God, foreshadowing the Eucharistic sacrifice. However, they require one to be ritually clean and unstained by sin, similar to how the Eucharist requires us to be in a state of grace. Yet God is eager for us to seek that forgiveness.

In this episode we begin discussing the basic structure of burnt offerings and cereal offerings.

Sacrifice commonly has a connotation as a loss to Westerners, but in Leviticus it can be done for all the reasons of prayer: for thanksgiving, for mourning, for please for forgiveness or help. Sacrifice makes prayer concrete.

By the way, last week I accidentally reposted the same content as a new episode. I’m sorry for the mistake!

Just like how Jesus was divinity clothed in flesh, so also is Leviticus the love of God clothed in the letter of the law.

The book is divided into parts: It describes a mechanism God gives to heal our brokenness through sacrifice. It describes a priesthood provided to the people as a buffer between humanity and God’s awesome holiness. Finally it oultines a standard for how we can know what is true or false, helpful or hurtful even today.

Metaphors of holiness are discussed, especialy the relationship between whole and holiness. God is calling us back to holiness and wholeness. The main theme of Leviticus is that God is holy: that is, separated from evil and all defect. His holiness is not mere supreme ethics but supreme divinity. Finally there are some notes on skeptical critical scholars who suggest Leviticus was written long after Moses.

Leviticus is a difficult book. It is seemingly a tedious book of regulations. However, each rule is an example of how we are called to holiness. It is concrete guidance from God that is still relevant to Christians today.