Ep. 42. Leviticus 1-27 | The Condemning Law

EPISODE 42

THE CONDEMNING LAW: LEVITICUS

Leviticus is exhausting. These 27 chapters are overwhelming, and a part of me believes that might just be the point. The book starts with a detailed list of offerings and how they should be offered. The Hebrew people needed to bring their burnt offerings, grain, peace, sin, and guilt offerings. There are tedious chapters over which foods can be eaten and those to be avoided. Pages are dedicated to methods for cleansing a leper and a house with mold. If you were trying to read through the Bible cover to cover, you would likely begin to stall in Leviticus.

God's thematic messages are often overlooked in the drudgery of the Law of Moses. God requires his people to "Be holy as [he] is holy." That is repeated throughout Leviticus, beginning in chapter 11. More than thirty times, he told his people, "I am the LORD." God wanted to make himself known and have his people walk in his holiness.

The burden of the Law was so heavy that it was impossible to fulfill. If we aren't careful, we will fall into the trap of thinking the Law of Moses and the "Laws of Moses" are beneficial for godliness. We miss the idea that if we hold to the Law, we must keep to it all. There is no grading on a curve. The Law is a pass-fail prospect. Do it all perfectly, or you fail.

So we thank God for Jesus, who did what we could not do in our weakness. We thank God that we can come to him, weary of the responsibility of holiness, and we can now receive his holiness, which comes by faith. We will talk more about this in the coming days and weeks.

ADDITIONAL READING: Philippians 3:9; Leviticus 11:44-45; 19:1; 20:7; 20:26; 21:8; Matthew 11: 28-30; 2 Corinthians 3:7-11; Galatians 3 (might as well read it all)