We’ve reached a notoriously boring part of the Bible, at least it would appear. But while Leviticus is tedious and strange, its importance to our tradition keeps it from being boring.
Leviticus was written to be relevant. It consists entirely of priestly legislation, probably finally edited during the Exile, but containing much older material. The Priestly editor is not even pretending that this part of the story belongs out in the desert. While Moses is the one receiving the Law, he no longer has the job of interpreting or instituting it, as he did in Exodus when the tabernacle was built. Here it is all about the priests. They will fulfill, interpret and obey.
Leviticus divides into two parts: 1-16 and 17-27. The first part consists of sacrificial and purity laws, priestly behavior (or lack thereof), ending with the Day of Atonement. The Holiness Code, as the last part is called, expands the ritual demands of the Law to include community standards outside of worship. Right behavior is part of holiness, and what Israel is supposed to be: Holy because God is holy.
In a way that statement also explains the sacrificial system. This system, with all its bloody details, answers one of the pressing issues of Exodus, indeed of Israel’s existence: How can a holy God be present in the midst of a not-so-holy people? In Exodus, the divine presence was restricted by means of the portable worship space, simply so that God won’t be a threat to the people. Here the sacrificial system itself serves as the means of connection. Setting up the sacrifices is God’s gift to his people, a means by which he can be present with them. Sacrifice allows the Covenant to be, even if the people are not as holy as they are commanded to be. It is a mediated presence, but a presence nonetheless.
Christians can immediately see how this fits our story, by the way. The sacrificial system ends with Jesus, who in himself is the mediator. Much more can be, and has been, said on this point.
Why all the blood? Blood is life. While the animal bears the real price of the sacrifice (another gift from God who does not demand human life), the costly nature of sacrifice is made clear by the blood symbol. God demands life, and has created a system that works to accommodate that demand. Israel can be holy in action, and remain connected to God through sacrifice.
Leviticus also contains rules about clean and unclean food. Why these rules? Speculation includes a connection to the original creation story where things that swim in water and birds that fly are mentioned, but not things that crawl in the water or birds that do not fly. In the original creation, everything is vegetarian. The animals that are not on the menu are not in this original picture of creation. Still, this is speculation. The rules might also simply be for the purpose of obedience: God says so, therefore no other explanation is required. Certainly none is given.
One thing that is clear: Clean and unclean, whether animals or people, are not moral categories. Uncleanliness is sometimes even necessary. But it is always disruptive. Whether the uncleanliness is a woman’s monthly cycle, a dead body, or other bodily fluids, it disrupts regular social interaction. Balance must be restored, according to the Law.
Moving to the Holiness Code, we see another reminder of the nature of God. If sacrifice shows us a God of pure holiness, but also offering mercy, the second part of the Law reminds us that the Holiness of God also contains particular concern for the vulnerable. Notice that ritual requirements specify less-expensive alternatives for those who need them. Laws of Jubilee insure that equality will not be lost. God even makes exceptions to vows for those who find themselves overwhelmed by what they have promised. Mercy is not an exception to God’s holiness, it is part of it. In the end, this is the point of the Law: Rules and restrictions are merely the means toward the relationship intended by the covenant, a relationship of belonging and identity: You will be my people and I will be your God. Leviticus demonstrates yet again that the relationship is based on divine mercy, and that is not a bad thing.