Leviticus and On-going Questions

February – Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy and Joshua


Here we are in February 2010 having completed our first month of Read Through The Bible in 2010. During that first month we have read very familiar passages from Genesis and Exodus and less familiar and more difficult passages in Leviticus as we move into February. I have heard it said of Read through the Bible programs that if you can make it through Leviticus you can make it through the entire Bible. Folks we have nearly made it and while it was not easy there are things we have learned.

J. Vernon McGee, a commentator of a few years ago says: ‘The book opens and closes at the same geographical spot, Mount Sinai, where God gave the Law. You will remember that Exodus concluded with the construction of the tabernacle according to God’s instructions and then the filling of the tabernacle with the glory of the Lord. Leviticus continues by giving the order and rules of worship in the tabernacle. Leviticus is the great book on worship.’ Since that is part of our mission as Christians and Gods children this is an important book for us.

Rev. Quinn Caldwell, Associate Minister of Old South Church in Boston (Pastor Jennifer’s former position) recently commented in a devotional that he had found that when the words just did not come that prayer always seemed to help. I found this to be most helpful in my last post and was about to forget here.

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be pleasing in your sight,
O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.
                                      -Psalms 19:14 NIV

Having almost read through three of the five books of the Pentateuch, we have covered many familiar and sustaining accounts. As I previously indicated, every time I read a Bible passage I discover something new or something I had not noticed before. This time is no exception. There are of course more questions:

Were the days in the creation account 24 hour days?

Were Adam and Eve real or metaphorical characters?

Many commentators believe that Moses wrote the entire Peneteuch while “critical” commentators say how could he write of his own death?

Just three of the many questions, just the beginning, there will be many more.

One of our group has been struck by the willingness of many of the patriarchs to place there women (wives, daughters) into prostitution. How is this? Perhaps we begin with a definition as used in the Bible:

PROSTITUTION — the act or practice of promiscuous sexual relations, especially for money. Several words are used for a woman who engages in illicit sexual activity for pay, including HARLOT, whore, and prostitute.


One type of harlot was the temple prostitute, who performed sexual acts at a heathen temple (Hos. 4:12–14). Both male and female cult prostitutes presided at these temples. Whenever Judah was ruled by a righteous king, this king sought to remove the temple prostitutes from the land (2 Kin. 23:4–14).


Jerusalem is pictured as playing the part of a harlot. But instead of being paid for her services, she paid others (Ezek. 16:15–59)! Those who worshiped idols were also referred to in a symbolic way as harlots (Judg. 2:17).2
Now that was interesting but since Abraham, Issac and Lot did not place their ladies into
Prostitution for monetary profit, it really doesn’t apply.



Let us look in the same place for women:

WOMAN — a female adult. However, the word “woman” is sometimes used in the Bible to refer to a weak and helpless man (Is. 3:12; 19:16).


In order to understand the Old Testament view of woman, one must turn to the Book of Genesis. When God created mankind, He created both “male and female” (Gen. 1:27; 5:2). Both were created in God’s image and both were given the responsibility of exercising authority over God’s creation. The man was created before the woman. Because the man needed companionship and a helper, God caused the man to sleep. From him He created a woman, “a helper comparable to him” (Gen. 2:18, 20). Man is incomplete without woman. Because she is called a “helper” does not imply that she is inferior to man. The same Hebrew word translated as helper is used of God in His relationship to Israel (Ps. 33:20; 70:5).


The culture that developed around the Israelites in ancient times did not always have this perspective of woman. Certain Old Testament passages tend to reflect an attitude that woman was little more than a thing and that a woman should be entirely subordinate to a man. This tendency became pronounced before the coming of Christ. One of the Jewish prayers that dated from that era declared, “I thank Thee that I am not a woman.”


Jesus lived and taught a better way—the way of love. He invited women to accompany Him and His disciples on their journeys (Luke 8:1–3). He talked with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s Well and led her to a conversion experience (John 4). Jesus did not think it strange that Mary sat at His feet, assuming the role of a disciple; in fact, He suggested to Martha that she should do likewise (Luke 10:38–42). Although the Jews segregated the women in both Temple and synagogue, the early church did not separate the congregation by sex (Acts 12:1–17; 1 Cor. 11:2–16).


The apostle Paul wrote, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28). Within the writings of Paul, however, other statements restrict women from participating in church leadership as freely as men. Women were to keep silent in church; they were to be submissive to the male leaders (1 Cor. 14:34–35; 1 Tim. 2:11–12).


How does one reconcile these two seemingly opposing views? In Galatians Paul was stating a general principle that men and women were equal, just as the slaves are equal to their masters in the sight of God. However, Paul did not require or teach that the slaveholder had to release his slaves. In the same manner, Paul requested the women to be submissive to their husbands—to preserve order within the church and to be a witness to outsiders.


Some of the finest leaders in Israel were women, in spite of the fact that the culture was male-dominated. Military victories were sometimes won because of the courage of one woman (Judges 4–5; 9:54; Esth. 4:16). God revealed His Word through Prophetesses (Judg. 4:4; Luke 2:36; Acts 21:9). God used Priscilla and her husband Aquila to explain “the way of God more accurately” to Apollos the preacher (Acts 18:26). The heroes of faith mentioned in Hebrews 11 include Sarah (v. 11), Moses’ mother (v. 23), and Rahab the harlot (v. 31).

It becomes obvious that this is not an easy issue. These patriarchs seemed to have placed their wives in these situations to protect themselves. Remembering that women were thought of as property by this culture will perhaps help us to better understand. This issue will not go away.

The next posting will relate to Numbers.
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2 & 3 Youngblood, Ronald F. ; Bruce, F. F. ; Harrison, R. K. ; Thomas Nelson Publishers: Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Dictionary. Nashville : T. Nelson, 1995