Leviticus 10-15

We had the great luxury of having my Jewish neighbors join us for our study of Leviticus 10-15. They brought their authentic Pentateuch complete with Rabbinical interpretations. They also brought a loaf of challah (traditional Sabbath bread). Pretty cool. I tried to refrain from drilling them with questions, but it really was a great element to add to our study of the Book of the Law. Plus, it is just really great having our neighbors over for dinner. They were interested in the practice of us praying for each other, especially when we prayed for their dog which had just run away. At the end of our study, their dog had been found by a neighbor - they were quite surprised by the power of prayer.

Leviticus 10 tells the story of Aaron's sons (paraphrased by me): they improperly lit the incense in the Tabernacle and God burned them alive for their indiscretion. Moses then tells Aaron, "I told you so." And Aaron takes it like a man. Later, Moses accuses Aaron's two remaining sons of improperly handling sacrificial meat (cue ominous music), to which Aaron responds, "We were bummed out about my sons getting fried right in front of us and we didn't feel like eating a bunch of steaks." Personally, I'd have punched Moses in the face. He had it coming.

We then briefly discussed:

• clean and unclean animals for consumption


• bodily discharges - who knew semen was "dirty"?


• Childbirth - women were given a "stigma" because of Eve's inaugural sin in the garden. Paul tells us that Jesus lifted this stigma with his sacrifice.


• Mold and mildew in the home - this is highly appropriate for those of us living in South Florida.
  
• Contagious skin diseases. We noticed that infected people were consistently given the opportunity to be healed and subsequently declared clean. Notice that by the time of Jesus, people who were sick and marginalized were quickly shoved off to the brink of society with little chance for redemption.

In our next Dinner and Discussion, November 18, we'll pick up in Leviticus 16 - The Day of Atonement.