Aw, shoot, I really am not allowed to eat a camel?? (Lev. 11:4)
“Then the Lord said to Moses, 2 “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. I am the Lord your God. 3 So do not act like the people in Egypt, where you used to live, or like the people of Canaan, where I am taking you. You must not imitate their way of life. 4 You must obey all my regulations and be careful to obey my decrees, for I am the Lord your God. 5If you obey my decrees and my regulations, you will find life through them. I am the Lord.
6 “You must never have sexual relations with a close relative, for I am the Lord.
7 “Do not violate your father by having sexual relations with your mother. She is your mother; you must not have sexual relations with her.
8 “Do not have sexual relations with any of your father’s wives, for this would violate your father.
9 “Do not have sexual relations with your sister or half sister, whether she is your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether she was born into your household or someone else’s.” Leviticus 18:1-9
“Can we just STOP?!!” My 10-year-old son’s cry for relief rings in my ears over a decade after the famous Leviticus eruption. Our family had developed a practice of reading the One Year Bible together after dinner. We had been struggling through Leviticus until we reached chapter 18, and now we were squirming. My son’s irritation was two-fold. First, he didn’t want to be hearing the word ‘sexual’ aloud so many times with his parents at the dinner table, and second, weren’t the points being made OBVIOUS, even to his 4-year-old baby brother?!!
I was reminded of this story recently in the Sunday School class we help lead. Our group of Seniors wants to do a series on “Hard Questions” about the Bible, Christianity, life. One brave soul had written down Leviticus as his suggestion. At first we thought he was kidding. But he said, “No, I’d really like to know why it’s even in the Bible. It’s such a weird book, but it’s in there, so I know it must be there for a reason.”
How about you? When’s the last time you read Leviticus? This might be a good time. I’m going to be going back through it over the next few days, and I’ll share with you what I learn. If you have any questions, please send them. If you simply object to Leviticus 18, you’ll have to do what I told my son to do — take it up with God.
As a Messianic Jew we read through Torah every year, along with portions from the prophets and the B’rit Chadasha or the New Covenant. It is such a rich tradition that helps you see the Big Story that is still being lived out now. Here is a link to the portions: http://www.flamefoundation.org/parashiot.html
There is a great Messianic Devotional to help relate all the Torah Portions to modern day life and help one ponder these ancient texts anew: Creation to Completion by Rabbi Russell Resnik. He also has a practical commentary on Torah portions for believers in Messiah called
Gateways to Torah. So, so rich and relevant, and it reveals such depth and breadth about Messiah.
I so enjoy your writings. Bless you for bringing up Leviticus!
Lee Ann,
Thank you for these wonderful resources. I started with some study Bibles this morning, but I was bemoaning the lack of good resources. I can’t wait to check these out. Thank you for your encouragement.