Lists. Notes. References.
Make patterns visible.
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You Can’t Make This Stuff Up: Leviticus
Some weird stuff happens in the Bible, no lie, and I’m makin’ a list! Here is what I’m finding in Leviticus. Here we have houses that can get skin diseases, lots of fire and bodily discharges. Oh – and the Jubilee! Leviticus only gets eight entries because Leviticus woke up this morning and chose “gross”.
Now THAT’S a burnt Offering
Aaron finishes making the offerings, Moses and Aaron bless the people, and the glory of the LORD appears. Then fire comes out from before the LORD and consumes the burnt offering and the fat on the altar.
The people shout and fall facedown. Which seems like a pretty reasonable reaction.
Strange Fire Was Apparently a Bad Idea
Nadab and Abihu, two of Aaron’s sons, offer what Scripture calls “strange fire” before the LORD, something He had not commanded them to do.
Fire comes out from the presence of the LORD and consumes them. They gone.
Chew the Cud and Check the Hooves
Leviticus gives Israel a detailed system for determining which land animals are clean enough to eat. The basic test involves two things: whether the animal chews the cud and whether it has a divided hoof.
Camels fail one test. Pigs fail the other. And that is only the beginning of the list. Maybe just eat nuts and fruit…
Dead Lizard, New Bowl
If certain small crawling creatures die and fall into an earthenware vessel, whatever is inside becomes unclean.
And the vessel itself does not get washed. It gets broken, and I’m okay with all of the above. I did drink an ant that was in my coffee creamer once, though.
In Case Nobody Noticed
A person diagnosed with the specified skin disease has to wear torn clothes, leave the hair of the head uncovered, cover the mustache, and cry out, “Unclean! Unclean!”
They also have to live outside the camp while the condition remains.
Your House Has What Now?
Leviticus does not stop with skin disease in people. A house can develop suspicious greenish or reddish marks in its walls and be inspected by a priest.
If the problem keeps coming back, the stones are removed. If that still does not solve it, the entire house is torn down and carried outside the city.
Leviticus 15 Has Entered the Chat
There is an entire chapter devoted to bodily discharges and the ritual uncleanness associated with them.
And we’re just going to leave it at that.
Everybody Gets Their Land Back
Every fiftieth year is the Year of Jubilee. Liberty is proclaimed throughout the land, hereditary property returns to the family that originally held it, and Israelite servants are released.
It is an enormous economic reset built directly into the law.