After a 50 year window of disciplined annual reads through scripture, something seems to have changed. Insights long missed strike me as I read.
Anyone who has ever read through the Book of Leviticus knows the difficulty and struggle required. Yet this morning seemed to provide a grace for understanding its purpose.
Yes, I am likely just as dense as the priesthood in Moses' day!
This ritual-like discipline of mine was first taken on in my early years after coming to Christ. The Bible, always had been recommended as a prescription for my spiritual health. Not only did I buy into such phrases as, "Seven days without the Word, makes one weak!", but as well, observing the lives of near saints who patterned their lives accordingly.
I'm not speaking of the many hard line, uber evangelical religious in my life, but those whose lives were laden with compassion, exhibiting an aged wisdom, moral purity and sure evidence of impact upon their world by way of both the fruit and gifts of the Spirit.
My over-riding takeaway after 50 years, my big picture perspective is still the same. The book is obviously inspired given the science of their day, but framed such that this ancient text and its role in the canon per se, serves purpose in guiding its readers toward the reality of God's love, becoming flesh by way of the Christ, the Living Word.
Once that "hope of heaven" is achieved, which is "Christ in us", the "mind of Christ" our schoolmaster, affords daily companionship with the true Word. The text then becomes secondary, in fact, even damaging if read apart from the Spirit.
At this point, the disciplined reader begins to better understand the "why" behind such verses as found in Leviticus 12-15.
Though laden with gender bias and ritual moreso than remedy, the verses do add an element of grace and a wisdom otherwise lost to this multitude, now having fled Egypt, predicted to be around two million.
The Spirit of God seemed intent upon providing a means of healthcare to these relatively primitive, while also framing a priesthood and future infrastructure for the Ecclesia, at least until the Priesthood of believers was made probable by the Christ himself.
This ancient healthcare system though forged by way of rituals administered by a priesthood only decades away from the idolatry of pre-Abrahamic days, likely seasoned among the magicians of the Pharoahs, would require divine intervention. Imagine leading a fleeing multitude, solely dependant at times upon manna, the occasional stream in the desert, and a few wind blown quail!
Naturally it would even appear today as biased, even ridiculous given our exploding awareness of science, but at least it gave women a brief rest after the bloodletting experienced during ancient child birth. Then as well, protecting the multitudes by way of occasional isolation from skin diseases such as leprosy, long before they knew of bacterial infection.
Maybe the value of Leviticus today is for us to comprehend just how difficult it is to convince superstitious, overly religious humans that they are deeply loved.
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