Leviticus Reading Party

Tonight, me and some of my friends decided to read the book of Leviticus out loud to one another. Now, reading the Old Testament is required for my current school, SOMD, and I thought what better way to get through a seemingly dull book than to make a party out of it! I invited my two other SOMDers, Rebekah and Corey, and Lori, one of my roommates who just recently moved back to YWAM Orlando after 9 months studying at YWAM Taiwan's School of Biblical Studies. She provided alot of background and great contextual information on Leviticus. We made brownies and coffee and dove into a book all about the Law.

I've never actually read Leviticus all the way through before, and I must say I judged it poorly. While God is extremely detailed in His instructions for the Israelites, it's not without purpose. This generation was coming out of slavery in Egypt, where they had lived for 430 years. All they've known is oppression and Egyptian customs. They never lived as their own people. God gave them these specific and detailed laws to set them apart from the Egyptians from which they came, and the surrounding peoples. Over and over again throughout Leviticus, God tells the Israelites they are to "distinguish between the holy and the common" [Lev. 10:10], He separated them from the peoples because they are His [Lev. 20:26], and He is the one who sanctifies [Lev. 22:31-33]. His laws were a beautiful picture of the distinction between the sacred and the ordinary, and the standard to which God calls us to. There is incredible foreshadowing of Jesus' role through both the Azazel scapegoat [Lev. 16] and how only life-giving blood can be accepted a sacrifice for sin [Lev 17:11]. Pretty much I was blown away with how much truth I walked away from this book. I love how alive and active His Word truly is, and every book and every verse is written for a reason. Plus, it was a good reason for a party!