Day 45 Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Leviticus 22-24, Psalm
37:19-42, Mark 11
I have been dreading these Leviticus days…. How about
you? What insights have you gained from this intricate series of ancient practices, and what the Oxford Bible commentators have called, “a remarkably coherent system of ritual and theology”? A view from 30,000 feet – is a good way to consider this book about the priests of the tribe of Levi. From a bird’s eye view we can see the book of Leviticus in the middle of the Torah – the first five books of the scripture. From that
vantage point we can see how the ‘worship practices officiated by the high
priest Aaron and his descendants’ fit between the beginning days in Genesis and
movement of the people of God in Exodus and, the coming accounting in Numbers
and accountability of Deuteronomy. One of the great benefits of reading
the Bible mostly in order is that we begin to see the wider arc of divine
instruction. As the days’ readings grow more complicated it is helpful
to seek a few scholarly resources that will help us to understand the ‘larger
internal logic’ of the books we are reading. So my quotes today are all
from The New Oxford Annotated Bible, Fully Revised Fourth Edition in the New
Revised Standard Version With The Apocrypha: An Ecumenical Study Bible.
The Oxford is a study bible, with great footnotes, maps and a commentary at the
beginning of each chapter. Do you have a study bible to work with?
We are in the chapters of Leviticus that the Oxford commentators say
straddle two sections of the Holiness code; we are between the priestly and
sacrificial rules (chapters 21 and 22) and the rules governing the calendar
(23:1-24:9 and 25:1-26.2). It seems to me that even in these most ancient
of days, the people of God were trying to figure out who was ‘in’ and who was
‘out’ of God’s favor. Not our job then, or now. It seems to me that
even in these most ancient of days, the people of God were trying to prioritize
their calendars…What is our divine instruction today? How do we
prioritize our calendars with God’s calendar? Good questions for Lent, I
think.
The Very Rev. Kathleen Gannon
Curate, St. Paul’s Episcopal
Church, Delray Beach, FL
Dean, South Palm Beach Deanery in the Diocese of
Southeast Florida
Leviticus 22-24, Psalm
37:19-42, Mark 11
I have been dreading these Leviticus days…. How about
you? What insights have you gained from this intricate series of ancient practices, and what the Oxford Bible commentators have called, “a remarkably coherent system of ritual and theology”? A view from 30,000 feet – is a good way to consider this book about the priests of the tribe of Levi. From a bird’s eye view we can see the book of Leviticus in the middle of the Torah – the first five books of the scripture. From that
vantage point we can see how the ‘worship practices officiated by the high
priest Aaron and his descendants’ fit between the beginning days in Genesis and
movement of the people of God in Exodus and, the coming accounting in Numbers
and accountability of Deuteronomy. One of the great benefits of reading
the Bible mostly in order is that we begin to see the wider arc of divine
instruction. As the days’ readings grow more complicated it is helpful
to seek a few scholarly resources that will help us to understand the ‘larger
internal logic’ of the books we are reading. So my quotes today are all
from The New Oxford Annotated Bible, Fully Revised Fourth Edition in the New
Revised Standard Version With The Apocrypha: An Ecumenical Study Bible.
The Oxford is a study bible, with great footnotes, maps and a commentary at the
beginning of each chapter. Do you have a study bible to work with?
We are in the chapters of Leviticus that the Oxford commentators say
straddle two sections of the Holiness code; we are between the priestly and
sacrificial rules (chapters 21 and 22) and the rules governing the calendar
(23:1-24:9 and 25:1-26.2). It seems to me that even in these most ancient
of days, the people of God were trying to figure out who was ‘in’ and who was
‘out’ of God’s favor. Not our job then, or now. It seems to me that
even in these most ancient of days, the people of God were trying to prioritize
their calendars…What is our divine instruction today? How do we
prioritize our calendars with God’s calendar? Good questions for Lent, I
think.
The Very Rev. Kathleen Gannon
Curate, St. Paul’s Episcopal
Church, Delray Beach, FL
Dean, South Palm Beach Deanery in the Diocese of
Southeast Florida
RSS Feed