Thursday 11 April 2013

What I learned from Leviticus

At the beginning of the year, I started a reading plan that would take me chronologically through the bible. I've read the whole bible before and I wonder if it isn't a test of our endurance that the books of the law and the genealogies come right at the beginning. The narratives of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph are so fresh and alive compared to the weight of the rest of the Pentateuch.

However, one of my main goals this reading is to understand the character of God and how he relates to his people throughout the Old Testament. I therefore find it very important to be aware of the laws and what they might say about God.

I got pretty animated and asked God about the verses where Hebrew slave men are released on the seventh year, but a Hebrew daughter that is sold is not released. How is that fair? What does that say about how God values women? I think about the culture and wonder if that wasn't God taking extra care for the women. If a woman was released, would she have anywhere to go? Would there be any way for her to care for herself?

I think about the rules God put in place and wonder, because mankind has free will, is some of what God was doing about management more than his final word on how we must live? Would anyone in our day and age think that God was giving the go-ahead to slavery? To polygamy? I actually haven't found any verses where God commands people to take slaves (or extra wives), but he gives rules on how to treat them. I must admit that the fact God commands that slaves be let free if the master beat them and they lost an eye or tooth seems a little bit loose. Really God? They only get free if they loose a tooth or eye? There's a whole lot of pain to be had without loosing a tooth or eye. I definitely don't understand all of what God meant through the laws.

I listened to the repetitive verses in Leviticus 1-4 on sacrifices and burnt offerings and wondered about whether God set up so many rules around sacrifices so that the Israelites wouldn't start sacrificing as per the customs of other nations. I don't know how prevalent it was, but some of them likely did human/child sacrifices. God doesn't allow for that or temple prostitutes. I wondered if that was part of his design.

As I meditated on what the laws and sacrifices said about God's character it occurred to me that God is probably more multifaceted than we give him credit for. When I do almost anything, I'm thinking about how that action affects things and people around me and the future. For example: when I pick something up to move it, I think about where I might put it down so that it doesn't have to be moved again or so that it will have the most potential to be ready next time someone needs it. I'm sure it sounds exhausting to some (Chris included), but it's so a part of my person that I do it sub-consciously most of the time.

Suddenly, the realization came that God's like me, but WAY better at it. (Or rather, I'm like God, but not anywhere near as proficient.) When God does something, none of the outcomes from his action or inaction surprise him. I think he does the perfect thing for the given situation. I think the laws were structured for the good of the people - even if I can't always see it or understand it from my limited vantage point.

I have difficulty with some of the harsh stuff that happens in the Old Testament - I have difficulty with some stuff in the New Testament too. I always come back to the basic belief that God is good. All the time. One day I'll understand the difficult parts, but I am thankful for the little glimpses I get now. Those glimpses get me through what I have historically found to be the drudgery of the Pentateuch. This time around, it's been much more lively.

Jesus spoke about how Moses allowed divorce because their hearts were hard. The Old Testament law was harsh, but did God really pull out all the stops and set out the full law, the full way to righteousness? I think of the Sermon on the Mount and Jesus talking about how looking lustfully is as adultery and anger as murder. From Jesus' words, I don't think God did. God did not crush the Israelites with the law, though they (and we) still could not measure up. Only through Jesus are we made right with God.