Getting Started

The word “holy” has many more layers than we might have thought. We’ve learned about holy places, holy sacrifices and holy days, and now we’re going to talk about a holy or sacred community. Who are God’s holy people? What makes them holy? Is it who they are, or what they do, or what they don’t do? What do regulations about food, childbirth and skin diseases have to do with laws about idolatry, blasphemy and treatment of the poor? And what does any of this have to do with holiness?

We’ll find ourselves in a system of laws that encompass every aspect of life. It’s not organized for outsiders like us to understand quickly. But if we can take hold of some interpretive keys, some categories that help us make sense of it all, I think you’ll find there’s a great deal to be learned here. We may have grown accustomed to thinking of Leviticus as a dry legal code. In reality, it conveys a vision for a life that is deeply, thoroughly, wholeheartedly yielded to God in every respect. And a vision for a people set apart for God, for His purposes and for His mission to the world. 

So lace up your boots and prepare to continue the journey. We’re entering a different time and place, and may feel some culture shock, but the effort to understand and interpret the culture will yield some surprising insights.