“Lessons for Life from the Book of Leviticus”: Are you kidding? Wasn’t Leviticus an ancient book from the Old Testament intended for the Jewish people in their Wilderness Wanderings? And isn’t it full of ancient liturgical, medicinal and judicial laws hardly relevant for today?
Those are good questions. Nonetheless, judging by the way Jesus, Paul, and James all referred to the book and quoted from it, we might wonder if it doesn’t contain some important teachings for us as well.
Take Jesus, for example. When asked about the greatest commandment he quoted from Deuteronomy 6:5, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.” As for the second commandment, Jesus said it was, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself” But where does that commandment come from? From the book of Leviticus, Lev. 19:18, to be precise! Moreover, according to the apostle Paul, the second command sums up all the commands (see Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14), while James, Jesus’s brother, calls this command the “royal law” of Scripture (James 2:8).
So, if Jesus, Paul, and James all found the book of Leviticus to contain such important teachings, might there be more things in the book useful even for us in the 21st century? In the conviction that that is indeed the case, let’s consider three principles for living.
1. A “Place of Meeting” with God
The book opens with the statement, “The Lord summoned Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting” (Leviticus 1:1). What was this “tent of meeting” often referred to in the book?
The “Tent of Meeting” was the central structure within the larger Tabernacle court. It contained the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place. In front of the Holy Place was the space where people would bring their offerings and where God communicated his will to the people.
For us, the Tent of Meeting could represent a place where we meet with God on a daily basis. This could be a special place at a regular time. The idea is to have a quiet time of meditation and reflection where God can speak to us through scripture and prayer. Ideally this could become a long lasting and life-giving practice.
2. Offering Our Best to God
The book of Leviticus also gives frequent instructions on how people should bring their sacrifices to the Tent of Meeting. These sacrifices could be a lamb or a young bull, or different types of grain offerings. But common to both types of offerings is the expectation that all such offerings should be the best that a worshiper could bring, whether an animal “without defect” (e.g., Leviticus 1:3) or some highly prized first fruits from the land (e.g., Leviticus 2:14-16).
This reminds us of the importance of offering to the Lord the best that we have, not the discards. It does not matter whether what we offer is a masterpiece in its own right or something simple. The only expectation is that it represents a person’s best effort. Martin Luther King once made this point in a famous quote:
If a man is called to be street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michaelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, “Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.”
By honouring the Lord with the best that we have—whether of time, talents or resources—we make a statement about how much we value God’s input and grace in our lives.
3. Pursuing Holiness
What does it mean to pursue holiness? Some of us growing up last century thought it meant not smoking, drinking, going to shows, nor dancing or playing pool. But those kinds of prohibitions soon wore thin, and most people eventually realized that a holy life must mean more than a life of abstention. But what, precisely?
The book of Leviticus has quite a bit to say about holiness, though mostly in relation to various liturgical and hygienic regulations. However, there are four key places in the book that record God saying, “Be holy as I am holy” (11:44-45; 19:2; 20:7-8; 20:20; repeated in 1 Peter 1:14-16).
But what does this mean, to be holy as God is holy? How could anyone aspire to that kind of holiness? And yet the apostle Paul reinforces the point when he says, “Be imitators of God” (Ephesians 5:1). The same question applies: How can we imitate God?
Thankfully, the apostle elaborates what this means. It means putting off falsehood and speaking truthfully. It means not stealing but doing something useful with one’s own hands. It means not letting any unwholesome talk come out of one’s mouth. It means getting rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, brawling, slander and malice. On the positive side, it means being kind and compassionate, forgiving each other (Ephesians 4:25-32). A list like that is surely more accessible and inviting than the old list of do’s and don’ts.
In short, if we ask what holiness or godliness could look liκe in our daily life, it might include a daily time alone with God, always giving him the best, and certainly abstaining from all kinds of evil while pursuing the good. This reminds us that even an ancient biblical book like Leviticus can still speak to our situation in a post-modern 21st century.
