Learning About Leviticus

If I were to take a poll of least favorite books of the Bible, Leviticus would be at the top with the genealogies found in Numbers & Chronicles. Leviticus, unlike the other books of the Pentateuch, is lacking in narrative stories and is heavy in instructions. An easy question for 21st century Christians to ask is: What do all of these instructions about dietary restrictions, Israelite religious ceremonies, and unclean & clean animals, have to do with me?

In the men’s Bible study I’ve been leading in Tigmandru, we’ve been studying the Old Testament – and we’ve arrived in Leviticus. These guys have never read Leviticus before. It would be tempting for some to simply skip over this book to something “more important.” But Leviticus is in our Christian Bible for a reason – and this is the time to tell them what it’s all about.

We actually ended up spending 2 weeks in Leviticus. (I found too much good stuff to contain it to just one week!) We focused more on why such instructions were given to the Israelites than on what the actual content of the instructions is. “Holiness,” we learned, is the key word of Leviticus. The contents of Leviticus tell the ancient Israelites how to live holy lives.

By the end of the first week, I had an idea. It would either be a great way to illustrate what I wanted to teach them or it would bore them to tears. I decided that the following week, in addition to studying the second half of Leviticus, we would look at the Manual of the Church of the Nazarene, specifically the Covenants of Christian Character and Christian Conduct. In other words, after we saw how the Israelites understood holiness, we would look at how we as a denomination understand holiness today.

Thankfully, they weren’t bored. In fact, they were exactly the opposite—completely engaged with the subject. (I’ve never seen anyone listen to the Manual being read with such attention!) It really brought the concept of holiness from the strangeness of Israelite festivals and dietary restrictions to something applicable for us today.