What does it mean to start over? How do we begin again? How do we live with God and with other people? What does a good life look like? We will turn to the story of God’s people starting over again in—of all places, the book of Leviticus.
At the end of the book of Exodus, the Israelites have escaped the brutal enslavement of Pharoah in Egypt. They are journeying through the wilderness to the land that God has promised them. In the wilderness, on the move, God instructs Moses: “build a tabernacle—a sanctuary, a tent of meeting—so that I can dwell with and among my people on this journey.”
So that’s what they do. They build a ‘house’ for the Lord, and in the final verses of Exodus, “the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.” There, in the middle of the wilderness, God was present. God was with God’s people.
This is where Leviticus picks up.
You may have never thought much about this book and its 27 chapters of instructions and commands, but in it lies a handbook of how to live well with God and one another. In it lies a blueprint for how to be holy people, new people, after starting over. Through the ordinary rituals found in this story, we come to know a God who is just, merciful, forgiving, and near to us.
Join Pastor Olson Popp and Pastor Grangaard for a deep dive into this surprisingly beautiful book of the Bible, the story of a God who desires to be close to God’s people and who calls us to be priests—to be holy people—in the world.