God as Dictator? (Leviticus 15-16, Acts 9)

Leviticus 15 is pretty awkward. Regulations on sexual emissions! The February 20th Daily Devotion for this reading tries to make the argument that passages like this prove that God isn’t a dictator. Basically, Sarah Bennett is saying that the ridiculousness of these laws prove that we need to examine our laws regularly in a two-sided relationship with God. She uses A.J. Jacob’ The Year of Living Biblically to support that argument, and further states that,

“Israel’s laws were given by God to provide structure to an ever-changing community on a journey. But they were meant to be revised, changed, or even thrown out. Change can be difficult to handle, but it is important to remember that just because something is a law does not mean it is or should be permanent.” (Sarah Bennett, Feb. 20th)

I’d say that with a passage like this, that view of the laws seems strengthened when you consider context and history, as I mentioned in my post about laws regarding skin disease. At the time, they didn’t understand bodily fluids, their purposes, their origins, etc., and well, if you don’t understand it, it’s pretty scary and distressing (as everyone probably remembers from puberty), so it’s no wonder that they would make such strict rules about this thing they didn’t understand.

On the one hand, I feel like it’s a stretch to use a passage like this to make an argument for God not being a dictator, but on the other hand, I ultimately agree and I do think that to take passages like this literally goes against the spirit of the message of the bible and Jesus.

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.

So Many Rules (Leviticus 1-3)

While Leviticus 1-3 wasn’t quite as dull as some parts of Exodus were, it’s still difficult to read through these long lists of rules that really don’t seem to apply at all today. Like, what exactly is an entirely burned offering (Leviticus 1: 3-17)? So much time is spent, not just here, throughout the Old Testament even, talking about them…what are they? I understand that the phrase is translated differently in other versions of the bible, but if this version is supposed to be such plain language, what is it supposed to mean?

The Fourth Church Youth video by John Vest that went with this reading talks about the way physicality can play a role in faith, as shown through Leviticus. And the daily devotion by Judith Watt that went with this reading addresses the fact that because of Jesus, we don’t follow all these tedious rules anymore. Instead, the gist of what we’re supposed to take from all these rules of lists is that we should try to do our best.

“The first three chapters of Leviticus are instructions given to the Israelites about proper worship. Proper worship in the earliest days of the formation of God’s people was centered around sacrifice at the altar and the centrality of the temple. We find ourselves reading these lists, quickly dismissing them. I can’t imagine how many of us could have met the obligations of proper worship in that day. And yet the theme that jumps out at me in reading all of these lists and also in reading the Acts story about Ananias and Sapphira [Acts 5] is the idea that God deserves our best. Thankfully, Jesus has given us a message that turns all of these former lists upside down. Our best is the best we have to offer in how we live and how we love. We don’t have to be perfect or unblemished or rich or smart to please God. We simply have to offer our best.” (Judith Watt, Feb. 14)