I’ve been on a mission to read through the Bible. A goal I made for myself last fall. I’ve gotten through 6 books of the Bible so far but I’m just now deciding to share my progress here. I am reading in no particular order so bare with me! Leviticus is the first book I’ve decided to write about. I will go back and write about the other books I’ve read as well.

So let’s kick this series off with Leviticus…

And man, Leviticus is a tough book to read through. I found myself skimming and had to back track quite a few times…all the rules and regulations that literally do not apply to us in this generation seemed like a waste. But, I caught myself, or maybe God caught me…and I changed my thoughts on this book.

Who am I to have a sour attitude about the history of the Bible? Who am I to overlook and skim the details when God has not once had that attitude about me or the rest of the world? So I kept going. Reading the details as I should. Now do I remember what I read??? LOL nope. Sure don’t. This is most definitely one of those times when I am soooo thankful God did not create me during the Biblical days. I would not have made it! Dead on arrival for sure, due to the fact that I can’t remember all this stuff. I can see it now, being stoned & facing death while looking confused and pleading my case because it’s so much to know. God knew what He was doing having me be alive and well in the 21st century.

So as I’m reading along, trying to retain this information and be respectful to God, a couple points did stand out to me.

The first one is the Day of Atonement. This is one day the Lord gave the Israelites as a day of reconciliation and forgiveness. A day that you would be washed of all your sins. One day to make things right and to get back on track with God and all the mistakes you have made so far that year. I see this as a get out of jail free card for those Israelites who have broken some of the many laws but had not been caught! So this is God giving you an opportunity to confess to Him and to spare you the public punishing since no one knows about your wrong doing, yet. A sacred day for you and God to come together and wipe your slate clean.

For those who lived during that time - 1440’s BC, it was such a blessing to have this day. I’m sure all of them who were harboring secrets and regret and internal shame couldn’t wait for this day to come. But on the other side, for those living in the new testament and beyond…what a miracle it is that we don’t have to wait for one day a year to clean our palate with God. How amazing is it that God gives us the opportunity to come to Him each and every day. That’s what Jesus’ birth did for us. That’s what His death and his resurrection allotted us the power to do.

Imagine sinning in January but having to wait until July to pray and ask God for forgiveness. The sins would pile up. Do we make a list of our sins (not sure if they had paper and pens…), do we remember them all when the day of atonement arrives? What if we forget a sin or two??? And lets not mention the emotional state this could have a person. It’s hard to picture how life was for the Israelites carrying such a heavy burden.

The weight of our sins is enough to carry on it’s own, I can’t imagine having to live with it for months and months because of one rule. But, because of the rebirth of Christ, God now sees his people as holy, granting us the authority to speak to Him and come to Him whenever we need to. A clean slate, an opportunity to try again and be forgiven every single day if need be. Thank you God for sending Jesus to die for us so that we would be made clean and free of all sin.

The other point that stood out to me is that God eventually decided to send Jesus here because He realized that only being able to go to Him once a year to be forgiven was in fact a very heavy burden for His people to carry. He saw all the suffering and condemnation that was taking place and Jesus’ death was the solution. Again, it had to have been impossible for the Israelites to follow all those rules and keep track of their sins. God saw the need to redeem us in a way that gave us our own free will but also the opportunity to be forgiven on demand, as needed. All we have to do is go to Him. God saw our imperfection and knew that we could not do this on our own.

God saw fit to make us Holy like Him, so that we could be free. He sent Jesus and Jesus took on the job of dying for our holiness, for our unending access to the Lord, and for everlasting love and forgiveness.

So, if you can get past the rules, you will see the bigger picture of Leviticus. You will see that those rules were put in place to teach Gods people how to live in an upright way, but after God sees the burden these rules put on His people, He knows a change has to be made. His mercy and love for us cancels these rules out. God sees His people and He is here to get us through all situations. The ultimate solution to save His children from feeling burdened and to feel free. A long time passes still before the solution is put into action and Jesus is born. But Leviticus is a book that secretly tells us the solution is coming.

Here are few scriptures from Leviticus to keep in mind:

I’m reading Esther next! I love this story and can’t wait to write my two cents about it when I’m done. Stay tuned 🤎

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