It’s legalistic. It’s nothing more than a list of specifically detailed commands. The reality is the laws in Leviticus 11–15 seem to be downright “picky.” It’s sections of the Law of Moses like this that make us stand back, point, and say, “That Law was downright impossible to keep!” It’s also this type of text that bores us and tempts us to skim over and get past in our personal study. But it’s important! Don’t read past the “picky” commands of Leviticus and deem them unnecessary.
What was the purpose of these types of commands? Why did God take such time to be detailed in the organizing of the sacrifices? Why did He spend so much time outlining the dietary restrictions? Why did He deal with the uncomfortable subject of bodily fluids?
My friend Rick Healy shared a statement with me from a commentary. It said, “If Exodus is about getting Israel out of Egypt, then Leviticus is about getting Egypt out of Israel.” Wow! That’s profound. The laws and restrictions found in the Law of Moses were purposefully laid out with one goal in mind: take Israel from being a band of Egyptian slaves and mold them into being God’s Special People.
The sacrifices were different than any other culture of the time. They served as a stark contrast to the pagan multi-god worship practices of the day. They accomplished the goal of separating the Israelites out as a special people who were distinct in comparison to all other people. They also established God as a God that could be compared to none. Rather than imitating the worship of other cultures, Israel was worshipping in a distinct new way commanded by their God. No one could point and say, “You’re just copying us…”
The dietary restrictions also separated the Jews from the rest of the world. Perhaps that is one of the reasons Daniel and his friends refused to eat of the king’s table (Daniel 1). Daniel viewed the king’s food as a source of defilement (v. 8). The Jewish diet not only created a healthier lifestyle avoiding potential disease, it also sanctified a nation, or set them apart.
All of God’s Laws had a purpose. Often we focus in on the secondary purposes. We look at the healthy benefits of the laws concerning food and fluids. We discuss the benefits of the sacrifices and offerings providing for the priesthood. While those are benefits, perhaps we should consider they were not the greatest purpose of the Law. The greatest purpose of these Laws appears to be the sanctification of a nation. They set Israel apart as God’s chosen people. They established the children of Abraham as a nation who worshipped only Jehovah.
So what do we learn? After all, Paul said these things were recorded for us so that we could learn from them (Romans 15:4). God’s law today has a purpose. It cleanses us and sanctifies us. It is the Word of God that has separated us from the world. It was that “form of doctrine” that converted us from being servants of sin to being slaves of God (Romans 6:17–18). In other words, the Gospel of Christ is about getting the world out of Christians.
That’s why it is important to be obedient. It is a sign to the world around us that we serve a different God and we are a different people. It does matter what we do. That means we should approach the Gospel the same way the Israelites looked at the Law: Handle With Care.
