Ever Read Leviticus?

Christians love to read their Bibles. Some of the most loved books in the Bible are Genesis, Psalms, Proverbs, John, James, 1 Peter, Revelation, and most of Paul's letters. Just as there are preferred books, there are also books in the Bible that most people either dislike to read or have never read them. Up until last Spring, I didn't want to read any of the Old Testament. I guess it was just part of my rebellious spirit to not like the Old Testament, which I viewed as old, cliche, and boring.

A flaw in my thinking was that the Old Testament was unhelpful and inconsequential to me, a sixteen year old boy in high school. Again, I was proven wrong by reading it for myself. Recently, a friend mentioned that Leviticus was a very "interesting" book to read. My curiosity instantly spiked, and I began to read it. Parts of the book were very cool and fun to read (at least for a teenage boy), a few parts were very boring, and a few parts made me cringe with disgust. Then I read through chapter 19 yesterday morning.

In this chapter, God speaks through Moses to the entire assembly of Israel. God tells His people various laws that they must follow. Some laws are irrelevant to us today, but some are quite powerful. Verse 11 says, "Do not steal. Do not lie. Do not deceive one another." Verse 12 tells the Israelites not to swear falsely by God's name. Verse 13 says not to defraud or rob your neighbor.  The following verse says to have mercy and respect for the deaf and blind, and treat them kindly. After this, God says, "Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favortism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly." Next, God says to not spread slander or gossip, and to do nothing that would endanger the life of your neighbor. Verse 17 says, "Do not hate your brother in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in his guilt." The next verse commands, "Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself."

While it's obvious that some parts of Leviticus are rather irrelevant to us today, such as what to do with bad slaves, why to not sacrifice children to Molech, and how we're to purify ourselves by sacrificing animals. But it's still important to read boring old books of the Bible like this one so we can know the history of Israel, learn from their mistakes and successes, and see how God led them.