Why Leviticus?

This is a blog post that got away. I really, really thought I wrote this last year. I went back and looked even, thinking that I wrote it already. And it wasn't there. So much like you think of a really good retort a day later to someone who catches you off guard, this is my, not NO really, I thought that LAST YEAR!

  Oh well! It doesn't matter, really. But, I do realize that I need to get these suckers out when I first feel them writing themselves in my head. Now the two other posts I have rolling around in my head are going to have to come out too! woo hoo!

  So anyway, last January, 2009, God impressed upon me to start reading the Bible through. No problem. I got my little "read through the Bible in a year" Bible and got started. It was all good, until I got through Exodus. God again impressed to me that this was great. Now I should study through the Bible. 

  Um, yeah. Okay. I got LOTS of free time. I actually do love to study God's Word, but I'll admit, it's not always the very first priority of my day. I got a little stressed, wondering when I was going to find this time. I knew I was supposed to get up at 6am and study the Word. 

  Um, okay. I'm trying to obey happily, but I was still dealing with Zane at various times during the night at that time, and sleep was something I longed for and dreamed about. God asking me to give more of that up seemed a little harsh. But I obeyed. And boy was I blessed. So here I go, studying in my own non-theologically educated way. And I was good during Genesis and Exodus. I learned things I never knew, meditated on what I learned, and was just steeping in God's goodness through His Word.

  And I then I get to Leviticus.

  Good grief.

  I skimmed through it, shaking my head, wondering WHY in the HECK I needed to know all this stuff. I reread it, trying not to skim through it. I would read a passage, realized I day dreamed all the way though it, then reread it. Ugh. It was hard.

  So I was walking one morning, after reading it yet again. I came to love my early morning walks, because they because a time of reflection and conversation with God about His Word. So really, honestly, I was just asking Him "Why Leviticus?" There is so much detail. The detail. Oh the detail. I see the Bible as precious real estate. It just seemed like a lot of time and space was dedicated to this book when I would have liked to have seen some other stuff in there more than this book of Leviticus. I mean REALLY.

  So God, in His infinite grace and patience with me, listens to me rail on and on about this book. About my frustrations with this book. All my why's and good griefs and UGH's. Then, I hear it. I hear God say, "You want to know why Leviticus? You want to know why? I'll tell you why..."

  So I started to get a little nervous. As I imagine Moses realized, once he asked God to show him His glory, when He realized God was going to actually do it, though, "Uh oh." I thought, "Uh, maybe I shouldn't have questioned God, the creator of the Universe, about what He decided to put into His Word."

  But God was kind. He said, "You want to know why Leviticus? I'll tell you why. You read it. You read every word. You think about what it was like to live under that law. You think about the people that lived under that law. You think about the priests that obeyed that law to the letter. About the people that needed that law. Think long and hard. Then, think more...

  Then. Think. About. Jesus."

  I do think I literally stopped in the middle of the street. Paused in the middle of life. 

  Jesus, in one fell swoop, wiped out the book of Leviticus. Much like the curtain was torn, so was the book of Leviticus. He. Wiped. It. Out.

  I was blown away. That's why Leviticus. So that while read in the shadow of the cross, the book of Leviticus takes on a whole new meaning. It means a lot to me now. Jesus died, in part, to wipe all of it away.

  And that's why it remains, planted firmly in the Old Testament that I adore so very much. To always remind me of not only why Jesus died, but of what he wiped away when He did. Much like my God, the crucifixion is much deeper, much more complicated that I make it. It's not just "Jesus died so I could go to heaven." I cheapen it when I reduce it to that level. There's so SO much to it. What Jesus gave up, what He washed away, what He wiped out. How He did it and why. It's just so much. So heavy and precious.

So as we study the book of Leviticus in church now, am reminded of these amazing precious things that God revealed to me over a year ago. I am so thankful for God's teaching me through His Word. I stand in awe of Him and His Word.