Leviticus
Input
Because of the time pressures on ‘house-group’ life, it seems right to look at Leviticus in one evening.Yes, it deserves much more, but one session is more than most would want to give it!Today, people think of it as too severe (eg Chapter 2 verse 10), and too archaic and irrelevant,and its picture of God too primitive.
To regard this third book of the law in this way is to miss what can be learned from what is called Transculturisation.Does this make sense to you? In any case, it contains “the holiness code” which was the training manual for raw slaves to become God’s agents to the whole world.That training is still sorely needed today.
Holiness is the way God can be seen combating pollution Leviticus is way ahead of us in fighting the pollution of the planet.Our attempts to combat global climate pollution, social and moral corruption, are just not working.

Remember
Leviticus is one part of God’s revelation and not the whole, and when describing God at work in His world, we use the wondrous words “the holy spirit”

Discuss
Discuss the word holy, which at root means ‘different’, ‘of another dimension’. Holy things mean set apart for divine use (e.g. Holy Bible) but in the last analysis,it is only persons who can be holy or unholy.

The favourite text of Leviticus: “You be holy because I am holy, says the Lord.”

Mini-Outlining for Private Guidance (when you have more time to ponder and pray)
Part I – Holiness in Worship – Chapters 1 to 16
Note the pattern of God’s offering to us, and our response. Thus various offerings are described.

Chapter 1 Burnt offerings,
Chapter 2 Grain offerings,
Chapter 3 Fellowship offerings
Chapter 4 Sin offerings,
Chapter 5 Guilt offerings, and so on.

Segment (Chapter 6 verses 1 to 7). See the logical steps of holiness:
Admit it
Repay it
Express it
Expunge it

The Priests approach to God comes next, all combating moral pollution.

Part II – Holiness in Working Life – Chapters 17 to 27
In food health, sexual health and moral health (Chapters 17 to 19). Thus there is no false division between the sacred and the secular.The whole of life is one in which we are to put God first and enjoy all his gifts gladly.Jesus did not contradict Leviticus-he made it possible to keep and enjoy!

Output
All read quietly through Leviticus Chapter 19 and then say what has particularly struck you.
For example:
The compassion for the poorer ones in verses 9 to 10
Paying our bills on the nail – verse 13
Sensitive to the disabled – verse 14.
And see what Jesus made of verse 18b turning into the second part of the Great Commandment. (Mark Chapter 12 verses 28 to 34).

Optional reading preparation for the next session
Read Numbers, Chapters 7 to 9.

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