Drowning In Leviticus

From "The Wall Chart of World History"

Several people I know have taken up the pursuit of reading through the Bible in a year…chronologically. 

Most of the time people attend to this endeavor with little fanfare.  Goals like this don’t need to be worn on the outside.  Boasting in spiritual disciplines always feels a little slimy anyway.  Plus, keeping it on the down-low leaves for some wiggle room in the event one falls behind.  But this time of year people get to talking.  Whether reading through the Bible chronologically or otherwise, when February and March hit, enthusiasm can fade, tedium can bulge, and stall out can loom. 

Not because this is the season most of us throw in the towel on our first-of-the-year resolutions (be honest, how is that exercise resolve working for you).  Rather, by February or March the reading plan generally lands the reader in Leviticus…then Numbers, a minimally compelling title…then Deuteronomy, which means “a copy of the law”.  All three are often viewed as yawners, full of laws and regulations and meticulous details about clothes and buildings and diet and relationships and countless other apparently time trapped and culturally distant facts and figures.  And then let’s go around again with Deuteronomy. 

I know.  It’s hard.  It feels like hitting the wall in a road race and you’re only a mile in.  You’re probably missing days and skimming to catch up.  Audio Bible apps sound pretty good right now.  Well, maybe I can bless you with this.  Maybe not.  I don’t know.  But below are a few things I learned from smarter guys then me that have encouraged me in the past when I have come to Lev-umber-onomy (I had to do something to make them sound fun, right?).  So put down the towel.  Read through these points.  Then pick up that Bible and press on.  Who knows, you may even favor this section of Hebrew Scripture when all is said and done?

1.       These were the sacred writings of the Jewish people…and still are!  Jesus read these Scriptures!  In fact, He probably memorized them when he was younger than some of our kids.  Isn’t there something in you that wants to read the same books as Jesus?

2.       The meticulous detail and legislation is not without rich and deep meaning.  You don’t have to catch it all.  That’s not the point of a Bible read through.  But, like the narrative, slow down and zoom in a bit, and just soak in the remembrance that these words are meaning-full.

3.       This is a privileged peak into history.  Google some of the stuff described on the pages.  Learn a bit more about them.  Try searching online for a timeline of world history.  What else was going on in the world that may have hit the headlines?  Maybe there was a reason God insisted on certain cloths and garments and diets and cleanliness? 

4.       God has preserved His Bible for millennia on end.  Primarily because it is His Word.  It lives and breathes in a sense.  As well, though, the Bible is just good literature.  I know it doesn’t feel like it when you’re reading about how to arrange the camp and the retirement plan for priests.  But you’re holding the bestselling book in history. 

5.       Try looking for Jesus, Messiah.  I don’t think He’s in every word or phrase on the page.  But much of what you’ll read in Lev-umber-onomy points to Messiah, or at least captures characteristic glimpses of who the people of Israel would be looking for as God’s chosen One; the promised Redeemer.

I’ll leave it there.  I don’t want to take too much of your time.  Off you go.  You’ll make it…