Author: Stephen Craven

The Bible in Year – 8 February

If this is your first viewing, please see my Introduction before reading this.

8 February. Leviticus chapters 22-23

Chapter 23 describes the rituals of the main Jewish seasonal festivals that eventually came to be established. Some of them have equivalents in modern Christian worship (Passover/Good Friday; Sabbath / Sunday; and with a different climate we just have one Harvest festival to their three of Weeks, Firstfruits and Sukkot). I commented on the Day of Atonement in a recent post. It does not mention Hannukah, as that comes from an even later historical development.  What all these have in common, even the solemnities of Atonement, is that they give thanks for God’s gracious presence in both the everyday life of a farmer, and the dramatic events that make history.

 

A post-religious age has nothing comparable to celebrate, and it is sad to see that “festivals” such as Black Friday and Halloween have taken their place alongside a secularised Christmas and Easter (Star Trek Advent calendar, anyone?) as the significant dates in the calendar. Even those ‘family festivals’ of Valentine’s, Mother’s and Father’s Day are more about commercialism than true love, and leave out those who through no fault of their own have no partner, parents or children alive. What can the church do to draw people back in to the celebrations of God’s goodness in which everyone can participate?

 

 

 

 

 

The Bible in a Year – 7 February

If this is your first viewing, please see my Introduction before reading this.

7 February. Leviticus chapters 19-21

Despite what some more fundamentalist Christians will tell you (including the people at Bible Gateway whose plan I am following) the whole of the first 5 chapters of the Bible (the Torah) was not written all at one go before any of the rest of it.  Most modern commentaries reckon there are at least four sources for this material from various times in Israel’s history.

 

That this section (from here to the end of Leviticus) was written well after the time of Moses is evidenced by many references to a settled agricultural life rather than a nomadic desert existence.  For example chapter 19 has rules for harvesting crops in a way that the very poorest can get a share of them, paying hired workers fairly, and planting of orchards.

 

Sadly, many agricultural workers (or even farm owners) don’t get a fair share even now. Not only in developing countries where  the Fairtrade system and similar ‘trade marks’ are needed to evidence that workers are paid well and able to improve their standards of living, but also in the UK where gangs of overseas workers live in inhumane conditions, and dairy and sheep farmers can hardly make a living for themselves, let alone a profitable business.

 

Turning from one still very relevant issue to another, chapter 20 refers to the sacrifice of children to Molech. Not that I’m suggesting there is child sacrifice in Britain, but the injunction not to ignore any suspected child abuse is still a message that needs teaching in safeguarding courses..

The Bible in a Year – 6 February

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6 February. Leviticus chapters 16-18

The day of atonement (Yom Kippur) was originated in this desert period and is still observed by Jews to this day as a day of fasting, prayer and confession of sin.  For those not part of a religious tradition such practices may seem strange, but to those who do belong to such a tradition, they are essential elements of it, although various religions express them differently.  For Christians, the fasting element is generally less important than it is for Jews and muslims, although many Christians do observe some kind of fasting during the period of Lent (40 days before Easter).  Confession, though, is still important, for although we believe that Christ died “once for all for the forgiveness of sin” thereby putting to an end the need for any animal sacrifice, as individuals we do still keep turning away from God and need to come back to him to renew our relationship by recalling his loving mercy and seeking his pardon.

 

The Bible in a Year – 3-5 February

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3-5 February. Leviticus chapters 8-15

I have combined three days’ readings here as they form a consistent block. Before going on, I should perhaps point out that I am using two short commentaries to aid my own understanding of this part of the Bible – Martin Goldsmith’s study notes on Leviticus and Deuteronomy from the Christian Literature Crusade, and David Edward’s helpful overview “A Key to the Old Testament” (Collins, 1989).

 

Like most of this book these chapters consist of rituals and regulations that were actually written long after the time of Moses and reflect the more settled nature of life in the writer’s age (hence the references to stone houses rather than tents, for example). And like most of the book, its rituals, especially those of sacrifice, seem arcane to us. But if we remember that the whole point of “The Law” was to keep the Jewish people in covenant with God, it may help us to see the point of them.

 

In the story of Abihu and Nadab, two of Aaron’s four sons who were killed by “fire from the Lord” for using unauthorised religious ritual, we see a rare touch of humanity, as Aaron in his grief is unable to speak, until later he refers to “such things as have befallen me”.  Even God’s anointed high priest has feelings, and cannot ignore human tragedy on his doorstep. I deliberately use that last phrase as a Christian priest I know recently found an abandoned baby left on his own doorstep; the baby did not live, and the mother has not been found. It has been a shock to the whole community, and not least the man of God who found it.

 

The many dietary laws and other provisions here do seem (mostly!) to have a sensible origin in terms of hygiene, safe eating and avoidance of contagious disease spreading.  And interestingly, they are to be administered by priests – there is no separate reference to doctors (let alone food inspectors!), and the priests, as among the only literate people in the community, had the welfare of the people as much of their role as performing religious rituals.

The Bible in a Year – 2 February

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2 February. Leviticus chapters 5-7

There were many kinds of “offering” (animal or grain sacrifices) in this Levitical law.  Mainly the sin and guilt offerings (seemingly two different things, perhaps depending on whether the sin was deliberate or not).  For those the priest “made atonement” and could assure the guilty person of God’s forgiveness – although that did not mean they had no other obligations, for if there was any actual loss that could be put right or given a monetary value, the guilty person had to pay it to the wronged party with an additional one fifth. In modern law that would be described as both compensation to the victim and a fine. The ritual law of religion is not intended to replace a secular liability, but is additional to it and might just help the guilty to “go straight” in future.

 

But the passage also lists other kinds of offering: votive, freewill and the “thanksgiving offering for well-being”.  These could presumably be offered at any time rather than as an obligation. We tend to forget that.  God is not only a lawgiver who demands that someone makes atonement for sin and puts wrongs right, he is also the source of all goodness and deserving of our genuinely voluntary thanks, backed up by gifts of money or possessions.  As a well known Christian song puts it, “Freely, freely, you have received: Freely, freely give”.

 

Today is the Christian celebration of Candlemas when we remember Jesus being ceremonially “redeemed” by his parents by way of a small sacrifice of two turtle doves (as mentioned in today’s reading). This was because all firstborn sons were considered to belong to God and had to be “bought back”.  But it could also be seen as an act of thanksgiving for the child. Mary and Joseph made an offering on behalf of Jesus, who would go on to become an offering for us all. Thank God!

The Bible in a Year – 1 February

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1 February. Leviticus chapters 1-4

These detailed regulations concern animal and grain offerings. Although such matters are of no direct concern to our religion (Christianity) which has moved beyond making sacrifices in this sense, there are a couple of points worth noting:

 

One is that the offering always has to be an animal “without blemish” or the “first fruits” of the grain. The principle is that we give God the best – of our time, talents, income and possessions.

 

The other is that any grain offerings (flour or bread of whatever kind) are to be without leaven (yeast). That ties in with the ‘festival of unleavened bread’ at Passover, a reminder that the Israelites had to leave Egypt in a hurry with no time for their bread to rise. When God calls, sometimes we need to drop everything to respond, and quickly offer him whatever we have.

The Bible in a Year – 30/31 January

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30/31 January. Exodus chapters 36-40

I’m combining two days readings into one here. These last five chapters of the book are mostly a record in great detail of the construction and furnishing of the tabernacle.  It’s easy to get lost in the detail, and although there is no doubt a lot of symbolism in the way it was constructed, I am not going to try and understand it all.  But taking the making of the tabernacle as a whole, three things occur to me.

 

Firstly, the image one might have, from the world today, of hundreds of thousands of refugees in a semi-arid country is that of hopeless people sitting in tents provided by aid agencies, with nothing to do.   In fact, those who have had the privilege to work in such camps tell of the way in which the people work together to make the most of their situation. If you want inspiring refugee stories, try the UNHCR website. Under God’s leadership through Moses and Aaron, the Israelites managed to pull together to build a large place of worship at the heart of their ‘tent city’.

 

Secondly, the amount of wealth shown here is simply stunning.  The outer shell of the tent is leather (for waterproofing) but inside all is gold and other metals, coloured textiles and acacia wood.  Some of this they would have brought with them out of Egypt, some they may have gained by trading (for they seem to have brought large flocks of animals with them). But the main thing to note is that all the people gave sacrificially to the construction of the tabernacle – whatever precious objects they had, were offered to the community as a whole for its place of worship and meeting.  Too often I come across church communities where members of the church expect all the money for their projects to come from outside, whereas in fact God expects his people, then as now, to show their love for him in generous giving – “all things come from you, O Lord, and of your own do we give you” is part of the liturgy, but also needs to be an attitude for life.

 

Thirdly, when all was finished there was a grand opening.  The lamps were lit, incense burned, sacrifices made, no doubt there was much singing as well, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle (as it did the Temple in Isaiah’s day).  You can feel the excitement of the people as they awaited this climax of their giving and hard work, and the reward for it is to experience the very presence of God, in a way that few people ever have.  Thus ends the book of Exodus, which (if the timings are to be taken literally) covers just the first year of what was to be a generation-long trek in the wilderness.  But throughout that time, we are told, the presence of God would be with them and lead them on from one stage to the next.

 

The Bible in a Year – 29 January

If this is your first viewing, please see my Introduction before reading this.

29 January. Exodus chapters 33-35

At the end of what may have been many years in the desert at or around the holy mountain of Horeb/Sinai, Moses is now told that his people have to move on.  The land of Canaan will be given to Abraham’s descendants, as God had always promised, but not to this generation, whose place in salvation history had been to accomplish the Exodus and receive the law, a task that had been beset by many difficulties and setbacks.  For now on the people of Israel would have to journey without God’s visible presence for a long time.

 

The first lesson for us here is that we cannot expect to continue one particular form of relationship with God indefinitely. In church today we marked the festival of Candlemas, which celebrates the dedication of Jesus in the Temple but also marks the end of the long Christmas/Epiphany season with its teaching about God’s light and revelation in Jesus, and starts to look forward to the ‘darker’ days of self denial in Lent.

 

The second lesson is that our experiences and our work are not for ourselves and contemporaries only, but for the future generations. The people of Israel in Moses’ time gave sacrificially of their jewellery and golden ornaments to make the tabernacle, and accepted the covenant of God’s law, even though it meant their life would have to be poorer and bound by the rules of the covenant, but from this the patterns of God-centred living and worship would be formed that would pass down the generations to come.

The Bible in a Year – 28 January

If this is your first viewing, please see my Introduction before reading this.

28 January. Exodus chapters 30-32

This reading starts with the end of the account of Moses and Joshua up on the mountain for forty days (i.e. a long time) receiving the Law. At the end of this narrative, before they are given the carved tablets of the law (which incidentally were written on both sides, not one side as usually depicted) is a reiteration of the commandment to obey the Sabbath, perhaps the most defining mark of Judaism to this day. Why did God repeat the Sabbath commandment at this point, and not the others? He must have thought it in some way the most important.  There is a perpetual tendency in all of us, however committed to a particular religion, to “backslide” – to let the busyness of everyday life get in the way of a relationship with God. I’m as prone to that as anyone. But if we can observe the Sabbath, which for Christians is usually interpreted as meeting with our fellow believers at least one a week for prayer and teaching, then there is less chance of slipping away from the faith altogether.

 

Meanwhile down in the camp the people performed sacrifices, and in the absence of Moses and despite the “first and greatest” commandment only to worship the invisible God already being given, they quickly turned to the idolatrous worship of a home-made golden calf.  Aaron’s pitiful excuse – “I threw the gold in the fire and out came this calf” – is like the desperate lie of a 3-year-old caught with chocolate in his hand. How slow we all are to acknowledge our sins! Moses’ reaction, apart from destroying the idol and scattering the gold dust on the water to prevent it being re-used, was to ask those who are truly “on the Lord’s side” to murder members of their own families who had participated in the ritual, presumably to prove that they truly did love God more than their families.  Yet another reminder that their culture was so different to ours, although Jesus did also controversially say that we should love God so much that by comparison our love for our families should be as hate.

 

 

 

The Bible in a Year – 27 January

If this is your first viewing, please see my Introduction before reading this.

27 January. Exodus chapters 28-29

These chapters, with their extremely detailed instructions for vestments and the manner of sacrifice, seem at first sight irrelevant to us today in an age when no religious groups practice animal sacrifice.  What we can perhaps take from it is that the priest (in the widest sense of any religious leader) needs to be set apart in order to represent people before God in prayer. The provision of jewelled robes for him, and the names of the tribes of Israel engraved on the gemstones, show how important this representative function is.  People today who have no connection with the church will still ask Christian friends, especially those who are ministers in the church, to pray for them.