Leviticus

Time gets in the way of working on my list of 100 things. I finally finished reading Leviticus today and I am left with a lot of questions.

What Happened: (in my own words) Leviticus was a book of rules for the commoner, and rituals-mostly for the priests. In a larger sense, the book guided me through what community relationships should be like, from God's point of view. The first several chapters are devoted to God mandating what the priests should do in every situation imaginable. It also dictated how and what they should dress in, what to do if a bullock could not be acquired for a sin offering or any other type of offering, how to become clean when one was unclean, and also the proper way to worship. It looks at dietary mandates and sexual restrictions. This is where a lot of my questions came about. So, I have read and can officially say that the bible says a man must not lie with another man. I have a lot of gay friends. You can see where I am going with this.. It was terribly confusing. My honest thoughts? Well, the bible also says we are not supposed to judge. So that's what I am doing. I leave that up to God. I love my friends. I will not turn my back on them no matter what their sexual orientation happens to be. That said, Leviticus was hard for me to read. It made me feel like I'm not doing some things the way I ought to be.

Of Interest: National Atonement, Homosexuality, Laws

Favorite Scripture: Leviticus Chapter 19 verse 34 : The alien resident who resides as an alien with YOU should become to YOU like a native of YOURS; and you must love him as yourself, for YOU became alien residents in the land of Egypt. (my interpretation: Love thy neighbor as thyself.)