Getting through the maze . . .

 

 

READ:  Leviticus 21-24

We are sitting in an airport waiting for our flight. A taxi brought us here, wearing masks because of our city’s bylaws. They stay in place until we reach our destination due to airport and flight rules. When we arrived, a self-serve kiosk took our information and printed out luggage tags. The conveyer belt was not working so we had to take our suitcases to the oversize check-in where they were scanned before allowed on the plane. Our Nexus cards got us through the inspection area a bit quicker but because of my pacemaker, I didn’t go through the scanner and had a thorough pat-down before retrieving my belongings from the conveyer belt. We found our gate and now relax until our flight is called.

I read the above chapters earlier and cannot help but compare the rituals of the OT sacrificial system with our morning’s experience. What if I had to go through the same travel routine every time I wanted to go out of my home, even to the grocery store or to visit a neighbor?

For the people of God, these Leviticus laws and regulations applied to all of life and to everyone, priests and lay persons as well, every day and for every part of their lives. Just an example or two:

Say to them (the priests), ‘If any one of all your offspring throughout your generations approaches the holy things that the people of Israel dedicate to the Lord, while he has an uncleanness, that person shall be cut off from my presence: I am the Lord. (Leviticus 22:3)

A lay person shall not eat of a holy thing; no foreign guest of the priest or hired worker shall eat of a holy thing, but if a priest buys a slave as his property for money, the slave may eat of it, and anyone born in his house may eat of his food. If a priest’s daughter marries a layman, she shall not eat of the contribution of the holy things. But if a priest’s daughter is widowed or divorced and has no child and returns to her father’s house, as in her youth, she may eat of her father’s food; yet no lay person shall eat of it. And if anyone eats of a holy thing unintentionally, he shall add the fifth of its value to it and give the holy thing to the priest. They shall not profane the holy things of the people of Israel, which they contribute to the Lord, and so cause them to bear iniquity and guilt, by eating their holy things: for I am the Lord who sanctifies them. (Leviticus 22:10–16)

There were various rules for various people. Some were the same; some varied according to that person’s status or position in the community. Some people have their bags searched; others don’t. All are carefully inspected including their identity and fitness to travel.

Adding another stipulation, what was offered as a sacrifice had to be perfect. How tempting to slaughter the worst of the flock or herd, culling them out and keeping the best but God did not ask for that:

And when anyone offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering from the herd or from the flock, to be accepted it must be perfect; there shall be no blemish in it. (Leviticus 22:21)

I try to imagine life then, with these complex and onerous rules. It must have been much more demanding than getting on an airplane to travel these days, even considering the complications added by Covid.

Of course the freedom we have to go where we want to go has been affected by the pandemic, but no longer do the people of God go through scanners, examinations, questions and searches before travel nor do we need to experience the same spiritual rituals and sacrifices for sin that God’s OT people experienced. Jesus Christ died once for all, setting us free from the laws that no one could keep anyway. Not only did He die in our place, He lived through the same temptations we do. We would like to bail out, escape the rules, just do what we want, but He said, “Not my will but thine be done.”

Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. (Hebrews 2:17–18)

Some chaff under the rules and will not wear a mask and express impatience continually. If our lives were about OT rules, we would all die young. But now, because of Jesus who is perfect and without sin,  our lives can be about living in the freedom of forgiveness and never-ending love. Again, I am so thankful!