Board index ‹ Specific Bible verses, texts, and passages ‹ Leviticus

[Nothing but the Bass]

What is the consensus on the really small specific rules (e.g., not mixing fabrics, not eating shellfish, etc.)? Everyone always brings up the random things that the Bible technically forbids like Leviticus 19:19 "...Do not plant your field with two kinds of seed. Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material." and how pretty much everyone ignores these rules. So what's the consensus on them, especially in relation to other more seemingly important things the Bible forbids (e.g. homosexuality)? Is it "cherry-picking" to choose which rules to follow, or is there something else that explains why? I've seen reference to Old Law vs New Law, but I wasn't sure exactly what that referred to.

[jimwalton]

The consensus among Christians is that Jesus has fulfilled the Law, and we don't need to follow it anymore. Any of it. The function of the Law of Moses, in general, and Leviticus as part of it, was not as a judicial tool for society (as such, it is in many ways obsolete anyway), but as a revelation of the character of God. It's about the holiness of God, and how people construct holiness in a relationship with him: to separate ourselves for God's purposes, to live lives of purity as God is pure, and to treat every part of our lives as an offering acceptable to God.
Since the law was given to reveal the character of God to us, it is with that understanding that Jesus says, "I didn't come to abolish the law...but to fulfill them" (Mt. 5.17). It's as if he was saying, "You could come to know what God is like by looking at the Law, but that will just give you part of the picture. If you look at me you'll get the complete picture." Jesus said, "He who has seen me has seen God." The Law wasn't a set of arbitrary rules, but a lifestyle of living in God's way, which is what Jesus did.

The sacrificial laws, rituals, and the priesthood are all valid, but now we look to Jesus, the perfect high priest and perfect sacrifice. They were symbols of our access to God, and we still have access to God, but now through Jesus.

The food laws were symbolic of the distinctions between Jews and Gentiles, and that separation has been abolished in Christ.

The laws about sexuality and relationships were symbolic of our relationship to God, and that relationship has been secured through Jesus.

So we don't look to ANY of the Laws any more as our standard of living. We look to Jesus. On the other hand, all of those laws inform the revelation that comes to us in Jesus, and so we don't disregard any of them. We look at them for what they symbolize and teach, however, and not so much following them as a list of rules.

As far the dietary laws, they represent our relationship with God. Animals suitable for sacrifice were suitable for human consumption. Perhaps also the laws pertain to "categories" and "anomalies." Since "fish" are supposed to have fins and scales, shellfish and eels don't qualify. Since "birds" have wings and fly, emus and ostriches don't quality. Land animals "should" walk on all fours, so a snake doesn't qualify. The symbolism is that the relationship with God is that which fulfills its design and purpose, and when something is out of whack, symbolically speaking, it cannot be in relationship with God. Jesus fulfilled this by making it possible to be justified by faith and to be made right with God (no longer "out of whack").

But what about the sexuality laws? Sexuality throughout the Bible is used as a powerful symbol for one's relationship with God. When the Israelites dip into idolatry, God says they have "committed adultery" and "prostituted" themselves. God uses the symbol of marriage for his committed relationship with his people. Therefore sex outside of the committed relationship of marriage symbolizes a relationship with God that is broken and twisted from its intent. In that sense, our human relationships symbolize our relationship with God, and are to reflect holiness. Given that understanding, any relationship in the Bible other than that of a man and woman committed to one another in marriage is labeled as “an abomination,” as a symbol of a corrupt relationship with God. Sexual relationships outside of the "norm" (hence an anomaly, or "out of whack") compromise one's holiness.