When You Get Stuck In Leviticus
My mom inspires me. She’s one of those women who reads the Bible from cover to cover every year. She enthusiastically reads in the morning when she wakes up and in the evening before she goes to bed.
I would love to be that woman. But I’m not.
When Reading Your Bible Is Hard
Sometimes I get into a really great groove, but then life changes and I have struggle to get back to reading my Bible daily. The last year has been especially hard for me. When I do read, it’s usually an epistle or prophet. However, I have read through Genesis multiple times in the past 12 months.
In April, I finally cracked down and decided I was going to read through the whole Bible this year. I purchased a copy of The Books of the Bible based off another bloggers recommendation (the things you find on Pinterest are unending).
I love it because it is organized the way it was written and doesn’t have chapter and verse numbers. If you ever wanted to read the Bible like a normal book, this book helps you do that.
And I am loving it. Really I am.
Or I was… until I got to Leviticus.
Leviticus is just hard for me.
If all Scripture is profitable… what do we do with Leviticus? Click To TweetThe Trouble With Leviticus
All the instructions for the Israelites’. The sacrifices. The outdated cultural details… it can be hard to see how it is relevant to life in the 21st century.
But Paul wrote that “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
That means the book of Leviticus.
So what can we learn from the book of Leviticus?
3 Things We Can Learn From The Book of Leviticus
After pondering that question, I came up with three things the book of Leviticus can teach us about God.
1) God Cares About The Details
This one seems obvious, but God cared about the details of the sacrifices, down to the blood and the fat. Yet He also cared about the people who couldn’t afford a costly sacrifice. He made a plan for them. It wasn’t just the details of His plan He cared about, it was His people. Which brings me to the second point…
2) God Cares About His People
While most of the rules about our health written in the book of Leviticus seem antiquated, they are there for a purpose. God cared about the health of the Israelite’s. We all know mold can make us sick. Especially black mold. Back then, their only option was to wash it or replace it.
Leviticus also talks about not deceiving our neighbors, or staying silent when someone else is in trouble. It’s not just our healthy and finances God cares about. He cares about wrong and right and our relationships with one another.
God simply cares about His people.
3) God Cares About Our Relationship With Him
The entire theme of the book of Leviticus is how God’s people, who are separated from Him by our sinfulness, can draw near to Him. How they could gain a right standing before a holy God. All the sacrifices and rituals were there to reunite God and His people. To forge a relationship between the two.
God didn’t simply want to coexist with His people, He wanted to be intimately involved with them.
.@_HeatherHart gets bogged down in Leviticus every time she tries to read through the Bible. Can you relate? Click To TweetThankfully, today we know we get that right standing through Jesus. We don’t have to earn it. And that’s why Leviticus points to Jesus. It’s not just about how God cared for us in the past, it’s about how He cared enough to send His Son to save us and restore our relationship with Him for all eternity.
Those three things really helped me get through Leviticus this time through. And it wasn’t even as long as it seemed when I first started reading.
So What About You?
Do you have trouble being consistent in your Bible reading? What book of the Bible to you struggle with the most? Or do you have any insights on the book of Leviticus you’d like to share? We would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
Books for Related Reading
(Reminder: We participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program)
I loved those insights, Heather! When seen in light of God’s longing to connect with His people, Leviticus becomes bearable, doesn’t it!? My Bible reading plan had me in 1 and 2 Kings recently, and I found it to be a little hard to get through… all those kings coming and going and “doing evil in the eyes of the Lord” gets a little depressing and repetitive. But then, I imagine if we chronicled ALL the leaders of history to present day, the story would read much the same! It reminded me how fleeting earthly power is–and thankful that God has always been on His throne!!
Amen! That’s a great insight on Kings. I’m sure I’ll appreciate it when I get there.
I have to be honest and say that I struggle with Old Testament in general. I love the New Testament and can read that over and over, but I’m a half-full cup kind of girl! I know History is important and I have read it and studied in seminary, but I prefer knowing what is coming !
Knowing the big picture certainly does help, doesn’t it, Sheila? I can’t imagine how hard it would have been to live with just the Old Testament. Or even to live as God’s people before they had any of it.
Check out Jacob Milgrom’s book on Leviticus. He changes from one of the most boring to the most fascinating books in the Bible.
I haven’t heard of Jacob Milgrom, but I will certainly look it up!
I started chuckling to myself this morning because my Bible reading plan took me to 1 Chronicles. It starts with chapter after chapter of genealogies. Yikes! Made me think about your post again… nice to know I’m not the only one who stumbles a bit when I get to these places in the Word. 🙂
It is good to know we aren’t alone, isn’t it, Amy? There are some parts of the Bible that are just plain hard.
Yep, Leviticus gets me every time. The details are so boring (dare I say that about God’s Word.) I fall into mindless reading….
Love the 3 takeaways you’ve drawn from Leviticus. It helps to change my perspective on this book! Thank you!
I know! I hate saying God’s Word is boring, but there are just some parts that seem drawn out and yes, boring. Mindless reading is exactly where I found myself before writing this post.
God have a purpose for every wor from his book
He sure does.
Oh man, Heather, this is good. Seriously, soo good. I totally relate to everything you just said and what we can learn from Leviticus- wow! That is great insight- honestly! Because like you said, we can wonder what the purpose of it is- but it all has purpose. God caring about the details is always a great reminder.
Thanks for your encouragement, Heather!
Good points! And I’m excited to look into the book you suggested. Visiting you today from the grace and truth link up.
Wonderful, Lauren! I found that book recommended on Pinterest, and I’m so glad I got a copy! Thanks for stopping in.