Leviticus - Animal Population Control

So Leviticus is about the laws and sacrifices that Moses relayed to his people at God's command.  I'm not going to lie.  This was incredibly boring and it wasn't enjoyable for me.  Not that I expected the Old Testament to be keeping me at the edge of my seat, but it was so repetitive that I thought I was re-reading previous passages.

All the sacrificing.  Well, I was beginning to wonder how they could have possibly done this and had any animals left over to eat and breed.  I guess they got to eat the blemished animals.  We've already seen how the Israelites couldn't seem to behave and I couldn't help but think that there must have been a ton of sacrificing going on.

Sadly, I also have to say that the descriptions of the sacrifices are also a bit, well, barbaric.  I know that I need to look at this in a historic perspective and I know that some of the laws on what can and cannot be eaten were most likely set to help protect the people from sickness, but there was such a roman-god quality to the sacrifices that it just seemed odd. 

The uncleanness of childbirth (Chapter 12) just blew my mind.  OK...you're unclean for 7 days for a boy and 14 for a girl...'cuz those girls are just so damned dirty.  Yeah, yeah...before women's liberation.  Got it.  What really got to me was the going in to sacrifice a lamb and a pigeon/turtledove for a sin offering.  Really?  She sins by bringing a child into the world?  What about the dude that put it there?  Would it be better if she didn't bear the child.  Yeah...women are such sinners.  When I was back home in Pennsylvania this summer my mother told me about something called "churching".  Now I've looked it up and the modern day versions that I've found don't put it in a negative light (of course), but my mother told me that when she was in the hospital after giving birth to one of us, a nun came in and asked if she wanted to be churched.  She asked what it was and was told that it was to cleanse her of the sin of childbirth.  You've seen my posts so far.  I'm a lot like my mom. so you can probably imagine what she said to that nun about churching.  I suppose it's not done anymore though because no one tried to church me after sinfully having my two children.

Chapter 13 talked about leprosy.  Something we don't hear about too frequently nowadays.  The chapter didn't bother me at all.  I'm sure it was to help protect the majority from sickness, but I feel for those poor people with eczema!  If it spreads, they consider it leprosy?  Yikes!  I really didn't get the whole leprosy covering his entire body means he's clean unless there is "raw skin" thing.  Glad I live today.  Seriously, though it can be a bit interesting to see how the Israelis had to protect themselves against something that was much more prevalent back then.

Sacrifice what?!?!

And what happened after a person with leprosy was declared "clean".  You guessed it.  Sacrifices and lots of them!  But how poor the leper was, was taken into consideration too.  They had to give less, but to be sure there was still sacrificing to be done for the leper's sins.  Of course, the person must have sinned to have been stricken with leprosy.

I suppose that pregnancy happened a lot more frequently with the whole period of uncleanness.  Menstruate for 7 days, unclean for 7 days, then what do you think?  A man is going to want to have sex with his wife.  Guess what?...14 days after a woman's menstruation begins is egg-dropping time!  See God knows what he's talking about!

This is where we start hearing some other Laws from God, including incest...Lot's daughters should be ashamed of themselves!  A pretty good rehash of the 10 Commandments is in here too.  Oh, and I liked this bit, "You shall not curse the deaf, or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but you shall fear your God." (Ch 19, v14)  Now I'm not all about fearing God.  I'm certainly not wanting to tick him off, but I'm more of a lover.  I just like the whole not being a jackass to those less fortunate.

Well, that's what you get, I suppose when you've got a Catholic chick educated religiously during the late 70s-early 80s.  I've been told that the quality of the religious education of that time for Catholics wasn't the best (and it wasn't our CCD teachers' collective faults...they were following their guidance).  So I'll continue on getting through the Old Testament, but I think that after the Old and New Testaments I'm going to get in on one of the adult CCD classes at my church.  I want to wait until I read both testaments first without anyone trying to sway my views.

Some of my favorite quotes,

"You shall not bear hatred for your brother in your heart.  Though you may have to reprove your fellow man, do not incur sin because of him.  Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against your fellow countrymen.  You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  I am the Lord." (Ch 19, v17-18)

 "Stand up in the presence of the aged, and show respect for the old..." (Ch 19, v32)

And last but certainly not least (and words of wisdom and law that people in this country should abide), "When an alien resides with you in your land, do not molest him.  You shall treat the alien who resides with you no differently than the natives born among you; have the same love for him as for yourself; for you too were once aliens in the land of Egypt." (Ch 19, v 33-34)