By now you've probably realized there is A LOT to cover in these chapters! So in this post I am going to give you three things to notice that will hopefully help sort all the rest.
1. Don't defile the land!
In the first 16 chapters of Leviticus our primary concern was to keep the Tabernacle pure. In the second half of Leviticus our primary concern is to keep the land pure. There is a connection here: the Tabernacle is to the land of Israel (the holy place) what the land of Israel is to be to the world (that's an analogy . . . which we'll see more of shortly!). Notice in 18:1-5 God tells Moses that Israel should be distinct from Egypt and Canaan. If Israel is not distinct, and follows in the ways of the nations then the land itself will be defiled (18:24-28) and Israel will be "vomited" out of the land. THIS IS A MAJOR POINT in the the theology of Leviticus- do not forget this! Sin defiles the land, and this is God's special land, therefore the future of the Israelites depends upon keeping the land holy and pure. (By the way, this should remind you of Genesis 3 and Adam and Eve's expulsion from the Garden . . . but more on that later!)
2. Holiness by Analogy
Leviticus 19 is a tremendously important chapter in the Old Testament, if for nothing else than it provides the second greatest commandment of Christ ("love your neighbor as yourself", Mark 12:31). Unfortunately, Bible translators frequently label chapter 19 as “miscellaneous” laws or something similar, which implies that it is not an important chapter. This is a big error! This whole chapter is an analogy about holiness. You can think about the analogy in this manner:
To be holy is to be like God (19:2 . . . “be holy for I am holy”)
To be like God is to __________ (fill in the laws from the rest of the chapter)
The big point of this chapter is that holiness touches on all aspects of life. Holiness has to do with family relationships, proper rituals and worship, caring for the poor, sexuality, administering justice . . . and whatever else from life we can name. This is an absolutely critical lesson for us to learn! There is no aspect of life which God is not concerned about, and no area where we can just live as we please without considering how our faith in God should impact it. Holiness is for the "whole" life!
3. Another Big "Chiasm"
When you read chapter 20 you might think, "Didn't we just read this in chapter 18?!" Yes you did, but there's a reason you are reading it again! In our last class we talked about "chiasm", which is an ancient literary device in which we see a parallel structure which points to the center. Leviticus 18-20 more or less forms a giant chiasm that looks like this:
A: I am the Lord your God (18:1-5)
B: Sexual purity laws (18:6-20)
C: Molech sacrifice (18:21)
D: Holiness (19:1-35)
C: Molech Sacrifice (20:1-5)
B: Sexual Purity (20:10-21)
A: I am the Lord your God (20:22-26)
The point of this is to highlight chapter 19; it sits at the center of the chiasm because it is the critical piece. If you take care of what chapter 19 says, 18 and 20 fall into place. Chiasm was used (and is used) primarily by oral cultures. You can imagine a village story-teller or priest using vocal tones and volume to bring out the chiasm, and the repetition makes it easy to remember what is different. You might think about some nursery rhymes like "Hickory Dickory Dock" or "Old McDonald" that teach children by changing one detail in each stanza . . . they are essentially chiasms.
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