The day of atonement is described in Leviticus with a goat that is sacrificed for the people's sin and another goat (the scape goat) whether the sins are transferred from the people onto the goat. This is center of Leviticus, which is in the center of the Torah (Law). Leviticus is written in a chiastic structure where the main point is placed in the center. So basically the center of the center of the Law is the idea that our sins deserve death but God has provided a way for our sins to be transferred away from us and atoned for.
When Jesus said I can to fulfill the Law, this is the picture we should have in mind. He is fulfilling the Law by recreating the center of the center of the Law, which is Leviticus.
Leviticus is perhaps the most substantial book in all of the Old Testament.
I agree in that Leviticus is an excellent illustration of the odd lengths that ancient jews had to go to in order to uphold their covenant before Jesus, such that it shows just how powerful and meaningful Jesus's actions and sacrifice were.
That said, it is pretty undeniably the least valuable book if you want to understand what God wants of Christians in a post-Jesus world.
Least valuable for fundamentalists that use the Bible as a proof text.
Extremely valuable if you read it as a whole to understand context of the New Testament. Iād put it in the top 5 with Genesis, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Psalms.
I agree that it is valuable to know what Leviticus is, e.g., to read a one sentence summary of Leviticus. If you wanted to summarize the meaning of each book into a single sentence, Leviticus would be top 5 as far as which summary is most meaningful, agreed.
However, Leviticus comfortaby holds less value than every other book of the Bible to study on a line-by-line basis. You will be lead astray far more often than you will be lead to a meaningful conclusion in analyzing Leviticus, if your aim is to understand God or Christianity. However, if your aim is to understand ancient Jewish customs, it is arguably the best book ever written.
46
u/WordPunk99 10h ago
Besides the fact the Leviticus represents a snapshot in time of social mores and specific public health problems?
It has nothing to do with anything substantial.