Take That, Old Testament (Leviticus 17-18, Acts 10)

Leviticus 18 begins similarly to something I posted about previously, where it seems that all these rules are God’s way of separating the Jews out from everyone else as a deliberate establishment of a new religion.

“The LORD said to Moses, ² Speak to the Israelites and say to them: I am the LORD your God. ³ You must not do things like they are done in the land of Egypt, where you used to live. And you must not do things like they are done in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. You must not follow the practices^q of those places. ⁴ No, my regulations and my rules are the ones you must keep by following them: I am the LORD your God. ⁵ You must keep my rules and my regulations; by doing them one will live; I am the LORD.” (Leviticus 18: 1-5)

But then it takes a turn for the awkward and unsettling–discussions about sexual practices. While for the most part, it covers incest, adultery and bestiality, it also has a problematic verse that many have taken to mean something broader than what it sounds like:

²² You must not have sexual intercourse with a man as you would with a woman; it is a detestable practice. (Leviticus 18: 22)

Not sure what to say about that. In the context of the rest of the chapter, it’s not as harsh as it sounds. I’ve heard an explanation that the rules in Leviticus just have to do with things God doesn’t want the Israelites to do, so as to make them different. And if you are to look later in similar chapters, you’ll see long lists of things that today are not considered bad, like in Leviticus 19 (wearing clothes of two materials, eating things with blood, mixing plants on a field, crossbreeding livestock). Also, I’ve heard the explanation that men treated women as property, even in intimate relations, so it could be saying that when two men have sex, the one shouldn’t treat the other like property. Then there’s the explanation that all these rules are purity laws about being “unclean” and not fit for worship time specifically, not necessarily everyday life. There’s also the explanation that many of the rules found in the Old Testament have more to do with the propagation of a brand new nation (and not wasting procreation opportunities), than with actual delineations of right versus wrong.

But then, the beauty of reading the Old and New Testaments in parallel becomes apparent, as does the beauty of Jesus and the New Testament, in Acts 10. It tells the story of Peter learning what exactly Jesus’ message was about love, and basically it’s a direct rejection of the concepts of “cleanliness” and favoritism found in the Old Testament, particularly in this day’s Leviticus chapters. The Fourth Church Youth video describes it a bit, but I’ll let the text speak for itself:

⁹ At noon on the following day, as their journey brought them close to the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. ¹⁰ He became hungry and wanted to eat. While others were preparing the meal, he had a visionary experience. ¹¹ He saw heaven opened up and something like a large linen sheet being lowered to the earth by its four corners. ¹² Inside the sheet were all kinds of four-legged animals, reptiles, and wild birds.^b13 A voice told him, “ Get up, Peter! Kill and eat! ”

¹⁴ Peter exclaimed, “ Absolutely not, Lord! I have never eaten anything impure or unclean. ”

¹⁵ The voice spoke a second time, “ Never consider unclean what God has made pure. ” ¹⁶ This happened three times, then the object was suddenly pulled back into heaven.

…

²⁷ As they continued to talk, Peter went inside and found a large gathering of people. ²⁸ He said to them, “ You all realize that it is forbidden for a Jew to associate or visit with outsiders. However, God has shown me that I should never call a person impure or unclean. ²⁹ For this reason, when you sent for me, I came without objection. I want to know, then, why you sent for me. ”

³⁰ Cornelius answered, “ Four days ago at this same time, three o’clock in the afternoon, I was praying at home. Suddenly a man in radiant clothing stood before me. ³¹ He said, ‘Cornelius, God has heard your prayers, and your compassionate acts are like a memorial offering to him. ³² Therefore, send someone to Joppa and summon Simon, who is known as Peter. He is a guest in the home of Simon the tanner, located near the seacoast.’ ³³ I sent for you right away, and you were kind enough to come. Now, here we are, gathered in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has directed you to say. ”

³⁴ Peter said, “ I really am learning that God doesn’t show partiality to one group of people over another. ³⁵ Rather, in every nation, whoever worships him and does what is right is acceptable to him. ³⁶ This is the message of peace he sent to the Israelites by proclaiming the good news through Jesus Christ: He is Lord of all! (Acts 10: 9-16, 27-36) (emphasis mine)

How awesome is that? Right there in the New Testament, it explains that we’re not supposed to be following the rules from the Old Testament. I never realized that it said it this directly, and oh, how it changes everything!

The Gospel At Its Heart is Counter-Cultural (Acts 7)

Acts 7 is the story of Stephen, who was brought before the Jerusalem Council to defend himself and his spreading of the word of God against accusations from people who were opposed to it. The chapter is basically him retelling the whole Old Testament in a nutshell to the council, the council doesn’t like what they hear (basically because they’re being told they are hypocrites…which they are), so they kill him. Great. Unfortunately, we haven’t really come very far from that. No stoning here anymore (not in the U.S., at least), but there are a lot of people who don’t like to hear things they don’t agree with and will do anything to stop it. Ugh.

I’m going to keep this post short, but I’d recommend watching John Vest’s Fourth Church Youth video, in which he says:

“The gospel at its heart is counter-cultural. It’s subversive, it’s radical.”

And implores us to have the courage to speak up with the truth.

Compassion for Others and for Ourselves (Leviticus 6-7, Acts 6)

The first part of the assigned reading was Leviticus 6-7. When I read through this, all I could think of was “more boring rules.” It wasn’t until I watched the Fourth Church Youth video that I noticed what a big deal the first part is:

^“2 If you sin: 

by acting unfaithfully against the LORD ; 

by deceiving a fellow citizen concerning a deposit or pledged property;

by cheating a fellow citizen through robbery;

³ or, though you’ve found lost property, you lie about it;

or by swearing falsely about anything that someone might do and so sin,

⁴ at that point, once you have sinned and become guilty of sin, you must return the property you took by robbery or fraud, or the deposit that was left with you for safekeeping, or the lost property that you found, ⁵ or whatever it was that you swore falsely about. You must make amends for the principal amount and add one-fifth to it. You must give it to the owner on the day you become guilty. ⁶ You must bring to the priest as your compensation to the LORD a flawless ram from the flock at the standard value as a compensation offering. ⁷ The priest will make reconciliation for you before the LORD , and you will be forgiven for anything you may have done that made you guilty.” (Leviticus 6: 2-7)

So, basically, even though Leviticus is just a huge list of all the things you’re not supposed to do and the rituals you are supposed to do, even if you screw up, if you make amends, you will be forgiven. And that amends is generally directly related to the crime. None of this vindictive, punitive incarceration perpetuation industry discussed in a recent New Yorker article by Adam Gopnik that this all makes me think of.

And to continue the theme of compassion, the second half of the assigned reading was Acts 6. Again, I didn’t think a lot of the reading until after I read the daily devotion by John Boyle (Feb. 16) and then noticed the very first part:

“About that time, while the number of disciples continued to increase, a complaint arose. Greek-speaking disciples accused the Aramaic-speaking disciples because their widows were being overlooked in the daily food service.” (Acts 6: 1)

The gist of John Boyle’s point is that when we discriminate against people who are “other” or get caught up in petty, prejudiced squabbles (ahem… politicians…), the most vulnerable among us are the ones that suffer the most. We need to look past that and have compassion.

It’s Basically Socialism, Right? (Acts 4)

It’s passages like Acts 4 that make me so confused about why the fundamentalist Christians and people who are anti-“Socialism” are on the same side of the political spectrum. I mean, come on:

^“32 The community of believers was one in heart and mind. None of them would say, “ This is mine! ” about any of their possessions, but held everything in common. ³³ The apostles continued to bear powerful witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and an abundance of grace was at work among them all. ³⁴There were no needy persons among them. Those who owned properties or houses would sell them, bring the proceeds from the sales, ³⁵ and place them in the care and under the authority of the apostles. Then it was distributed to anyone who was in need.” (Acts 4: 32-35)

If that isn’t an extremely compelling argument for using a social safety net to support those with the greatest need, then, I don’t know really understand their reasoning. I think the Fourth Church Youth did a good job with their video for this reading, so I’ll keep it short and leave you with that video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCCe-bZWmy0&feature=uploademail.