Leviticus 13
Book of Leviticus #13
What is the real purpose of the Law?
What did God intend when he gave the Israelites the law?
It is tempting to read Leviticus as a litany of obscure tribal laws that may have made sense in antiquity but are as irrelevant to our daily lives as Hammurabi's Laws ...
Unlike the Babylonian legal code, Leviticus is inspired and guided by the Holy Spirit who is its ultimate author. As such, Leviticus holds an image of the Word of God, the Alpha, and the Omega and, as such, Leviticus is not about a series of laws but about Love.
Love is a word and is dead if it remains a word. It is alive in deeds, hidden and visible. Therefore any Israelite sincerely seeking the Lord will find Him in Leviticus.
Chapter 19 of Leviticus is about the Practice of Holiness. Now that the Law is given, what are the fruits that demonstrate it is alive in the hearts of the believer?
Suddenly, Leviticus, and in particular Chapter 19, is no longer a boring list of obscure laws, but God revealing to his children how they should act in his presence if they Love him. Indeed, Chapter 19 is directed to believers who long to see the face of God, and while the text of Leviticus does not speak to the experience of faith; it assumes it the reader to be reading scripture with one goal in mind: Lord I believe, strength my unbelief."
