The Bible's Most Disrespected Book

Why "the boring stuff" matters

It’s a fairly common trope in Christian circles that yearly Bible reading plans often die in Leviticus.

Of course, it’s not hard to understand why. After the thrilling epic that is Genesis, and the miraculous first half of Exodus, the tabernacle plans and laws and regulations start rolling in and the reading gets rather technical.

For that reason, many of us struggle to trudge through the details that feel so irrelevant to our lives, and Leviticus is rarely completed. Relatedly, that’s also why you don’t hear many sermons on Leviticus, and a lot of congregations can go decades without studying the book.

I’ll concede up front that the material can be quite dry, and that a lot of it is not intended for us. Many of the priestly regulations weren’t even directly relevant to most Israelites, so of course it’s not going to connect well with us.

Still, what you gain from Leviticus is a perspective that influences the way you think about everything else in the Bible.

Let’s look at a few ways.

First, it gives you a deeper foundation for understanding the New Testament.

For one thing, your understanding of Hebrews and numerous other Scriptures goes to a whole new level when you understand the complexity of the system that was replaced.

Beyond that, so much NT terminology leans on Levitical understanding, drawing on concepts like priesthood, sacrifice, atonement, and holiness.

Paul didn’t pull these words out of Webster’s Dictionary when he penned verses like Romans 12:1-2 about presenting ourselves as living and holy sacrifices. His point is grounded deeply in Levitical thinking. The same can be said of 1 Peter 2:9, where we are called a royal priesthood and a holy nation. Knowing the theological weight behind such terms makes them come to life in a whole new way.

Second, you get a sense of both the love and the holiness of God.

Many believe that the Old Testament God was somehow different and that Jesus represented a softening of God’s temperament. They even use Leviticus as evidence for this—with so many rituals and offerings, Leviticus was just about rule keeping, the thinking goes. He used to be about religion, but now He’s about relationship, some might say.

A proper translation at the start of the book would relieve us of this misunderstanding. While the book begins with chapter after chapter on the sacrifices to be made, the term “offering” sets us off on the wrong foot. The literal translation is “near-bringing,” because these rituals were the way they could come near to Him. As a holy God, sinful man couldn’t just waltz right up and enjoy His presence. Eden taught us that.

At the same time, as a loving God, He desired a relationship with His people enough that He gave them all the details they needed to draw near to Him. All of the seemingly tedious steps involved in the sacrificial system, and all of the laws for ritual purity, as dry as they may read, told Israel exactly what they needed to do to enjoy God’s presence.

Third, you learn the cost of nearness to God.

While He wanted that relationship with them, and He wants one with us, He does not compromise His holiness to have it.

Looking at the system of burnt, grain, peace, sin, and guilt offerings, plus the Day of Atonement, the first two things you notice are that it was not cheap, and a whole lot of blood was spilled. Every year the Israelite was to raise their livestock and farm their land with the realization that the best of their labor would be going to God. And all of that allowed them to draw somewhat close to God.

Presented with these concepts from Leviticus, some counter that Jesus’ work essentially abolished all of it. God’s holiness and the steep cost of nearness to Him don’t matter anymore—again, “it’s a relationship, not a religion!”

Digging deeply in Leviticus makes you see how absurd that view is. He didn’t lower the cost—He paid an infinitely greater cost by becoming a human and laying down His life. And He did so in order that we could draw nearer than they ever could (Hebrews 4:14-16).

Imagine looking at the thorn-crowed Savior on the cross and thinking, “Great, we don’t have to be as reverent anymore!” Our takeaway shouldn’t be that we now need less reverence, or that we have to choose between reverence and a close relationship, but rather how greater reverence leads to greater gratitude, which leads to greater love.

With that understanding of the cost of nearness to God, and seeing how insulted God was by lesser offerings later on (as in Malachi), things like skipping worship for sports or other hobbies, or sitting through worship with Facebook open on your phone become all the more abhorrent. We also start to see why it’s so insulting when churches water down Christianity so the outsider feels comfortable, with the message that “More than anything, God just wants you.”

No, not more than anything. More than anything, God has to be God. Leviticus teaches us that.

So, I get why the book rarely tops anybody’s list of favorites. Still, it bears an important place in the canon of Scripture for teaching us God’s character and what it takes for man to be near to Him. Take the time to appreciate God’s holiness, His desire for our holiness, the blood required to draw us near, and the challenge of living in His presence.

---

A brief note about subscriptions…

Previously a number of my articles have been locked, available only to premium subscribers. But, I don’t like putting articles behind a paywall. Of the ones that do have a paywall, I typically unlock them within a few weeks of publication so they are available to everyone.

However, locking articles drives more premium subscriptions, and the added income from those has been a tremendous boost to give my family a little more financial breathing room.

So, I want to thank all those who are premium subscribers for your invaluable support. And I want to encourage non-premium subscribers to consider upgrading. If I can have a steady growth of premium subscribers without using the paywall, I won’t lock articles anymore. And, as I’ve done previously, I will send out occasional thank you gifts to paid subscribers.

Thanks for subscribing, and for your consideration!