Continuing a plan to get through the entire Bible in a year, follow as I journal through the reading. I have chosen a straightforward approach that begins in Genesis and ends in Revelation. This will not be an in-depth study or a comprehensive commentary. There are plenty of sources for such material. This is stage one Bible reading, taking the text at face value and sharing impressions.
Today’s reading comes from the book of Leviticus, chapters 19 through 21, listing additional crimes and punishments. Some impressions from the text:
- “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.” In order for us to commune with God, we must be made holy. He cannot approach that which is less than himself, or which falls short of his standard. The whole point of the gospel is to reconcile sinners to God, to make us holy like Him, so that we can approach Him.
- “You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.” What a beautiful expression of justice. Partiality toward the poor is as unjust as deference to the great.
- God’s condemnation of child sacrifice pulls no punches, and remains applicable to the modern practice of abortion. “And if the people of the land do at all close their eyes to that man when he gives one of his children to Molech, and do not put him to death, then I will set my face against that man and against his clan and will cut them off from among their people…” Clearly, there is corporate responsibility for the protection of children. If we tolerate the sacrifice of children, we share in accountability for it.
- God isn’t messing around when it comes to sexual morality. The penalty for all forms of sexual perversion is death. “If a man takes a woman and her mother also, it is depravity; he and they shall be burned with fire, that there may be no depravity among you.” Burned with fire. Wow. No safe spaces or trigger warnings in ancient Israel.
Return soon as we continue our year-long journey through the text of the Bible.
Catch up on the previous entries:
Archived Genesis posts (scroll down in link).
Archived Exodus posts (scroll down in link) .
Laws for sacrificial offerings, and their relevance today. – Leviticus 1-4
Feeling sorry for sin does not absolve you of it. – Leviticus 5-7
God will not be trifled with. – Leviticus 8-10
God’s holy medicine. – Leviticus 11-13
God continues to emphasize cleanliness. – Leviticus 14 and 15
God on sex, incest, and homosexuality. – Leviticus 16-18
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