My Fragmented life

Well, Yesterday I felt a little fragmented. My lack of wholeness started around 3 am and seemed to continue to the mid afternoon. When looking at Lev it’s cool to see that these things of health etc. actually aren’t separated in anyway with your “spiritual” life. I think we have bought into the enlightened culture of the day were we say “what does Lev have to do with anything spiritual especially today.” We have these compartments separating different aspects of our life church, family, job, health and they are only vaguely connected. But if anything Lev reminds us that all things are spiritual. Health, food, economics, parties, sexuality, family and the list goes on. All of it is spiritual and how we practice these things in relation to God is our spiritual life. God does give a care about how your health is what you are eating how you are relating to each other.
So how does me being sick a on a Sunday morning play into this equation? I don’t know, I haven’t figure it out yet. However, I’m sure that whatever took place, the message of the day, the relational connections that took place was not a waste and was important. As for me maybe I needed to be absent, maybe I need to refocus on rest and renewal.

Diamond in the rough or diamond under the table

Well last we took a look at the burnt offering and the surrounding pagan cultures that the Hebrews were familiar with, particularly Egypt and soon to be Canaanite religious practices.
I was reading Harrison on the subject of priestly service and he comes up with a pretty neat observation about the difference between Canaanite and Hebrew dedication to God.
“The term ‘holy’ does not mean mere dedication to the service of a deity such as understood among the pagan Canaanites by the use of the word qudsu (‘prostitute’), but by contrast denotes all the high moral and spiritual qualities inherent in the God of Sinai who demands that His people be holy (‘qados’), as he is holy.”
What a difference in pictures! On one hand we see service to God being a transaction that is made and then service is rendered. Yet there is an aspect of violation, invasion and consumption on behalf of the deity, for monetary blessing. But קָדֹושׁ (qadowsh) is unique or pure, non-fragmented. In English we use the word holy because it comes from the old English word “wholly”. It speaks to completeness, wholeness and purity. So to be holy is to be unique, set apart because of its purity. So how does these words play into relationship? I think the Hebrews had trouble keeping the law because they viewed God as the Canaanites did from time to time, (I will be imposed upon in service for favor, a transaction is made.) this stands against what was intended. Pictures of purity, completeness, is picture that relate to marriage. Time and time again God relates to Israel (and then the church) as in a marriage relationship. Not as a transaction with a prostitute. So I think the Law gets a bad wrap because we confuse how people related to it over what it was originally was meant to be. And how often do we do the same today? We still fall into that transaction mindset rather than a holy loving relationship.

Walking in the Shadow of Wholeness

Since the law has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered year after year, make perfect those who approach. Heb 10:1

Can we learn much from shadows? I think the idea of the shadow is great and it has nothing to do with October, but if we apply it to the direction we are headed we see a couple cool connections. The first is that we will be taking a deep look into the foundations of our faith, what was the scriptures grounded in? The Bible and its practices are grounded in Middle Eastern Hebrew life, when we understand its culture and especially the Torah we see the richness and complexity of our own faith in which we derive from. We also begin to see why Jesus said some of the things he did throughout the gospels. We also recognize the depth and meaning of all the sacrificial language that is connected to our faith. Without some of the understanding of the past we will many times have difficulty in the future. (Just like we are seeing a real problem connecting with today’s culture with the message of Jesus because more and more people are post Christian).
Secondly, if we are true disciples of Jesus, Walking in the shadow of Wholeness gives the picture of walking in the shadow of Jesus (May the dust of the Rabbi be upon you.) And so we never want to be satisfied with just learning about the law, but we want to follow the final expression of it found in Jesus. Hebrews is a great book to be reading along side of Leviticus. It will probably cause a bit of brain dysfunction, but it is worth your time to see Jesus fulfilling and becoming the very essence and reality, of what was intended. As we abide and are found in Him we are also found abiding in the Law.
So can we learn from the shadow? I like what NT Wright says about the glory of God revealed
“To get it right we would have to go back through the Old Testament to the passages which speak of the glory of the LORD being revealed. Sometimes it is in the Temple, as with Isaiah himself, and with Solomon when the Temple was first dedicated. But the most striking time is at the exodus, When Moses begs God to show him his glory, and God declines, revealing himself by hiding himself, letting Moses see only his back.” (For all God’s Worth, 45).
In Christian tradition this is sometimes called the Dark side of God, it is the recognition of Gods “otherness”. There is always more to be revealed learned, and acted upon. And so by looking at the shadow, or better yet the foreshadow, we might just be surprised as to what is revealed.

Lambs goats and skin ailments - I would recommend followtherabbi.com (in the links) to aid you in your study as you read through Leviticus.