Ah, Leviticus

I read Leviticus in one day, and yeesh, the blood! So much blood! Thrown against the base of the altar, smeared on the corners, sprinkled over the priestly garments, here, there, blood everywhere. I suppose there are studies out there that can really go into depth with it and glean pearls of wisdom about how it applies to our life today. In truth I'm glad it doesn't apply to my life today, at least not in any literal way.

Sacrificing animals just doesn't sit well with my modern sensibilities, it's such a foreign (and icky) concept to wrap my head around. It seems that the Israelites (and me) are really bad at judgement calls, and without such detailed and concrete rules to follow they (like me) can't be trusted to know how to handle many aspects of daily life properly. I can appreciate that clarity, and even find myself longing for it in our modern world of concessions and compromises. That sort of black and white approach has some appeal, even with my modern sensibilities.

In all that detail, there wasn't much mention of how often they cleaned the tabernacle, or if they even did at all. I can't help but wonder! Tons of mention of the washing of people, garments, and even houses for the many, many things that would make them unclean, but not of the tabernacle itself. They were in the desert, it was dusty there, you know? Not to mention all the blood and oil. Perhaps as the dwelling place of God it was incapable of needing washing, as that would imply it was unclean. I've always had this picture in my head of the altar being beautifully gold, gleaming, and pristine; the truth is it was beautifully gold, gleaming, and then liberally decorated with sacrificial blood. That part just never quite shows up in my imagination, or even in any of the illustrations I've seen. 

Has our modern culture censored that part of things too much? Have we done it a disservice by relegating it to something distasteful? Is it the same sort of subtle cultural bias where we think of Satan as this monster with horns while angels are lovely ladies peacefully strumming harps? The truth of course is that Satan was described as beautiful while the cherubim described are fearsome with their four different faces and as many wings. It's certainly something to think about.

I'll be honest, when I read the part about the blood being sprinkled on the priestly garments to ordain them, the mom in me cringed and immediately started wondering how/if they got those stains out in the pre Spray 'N Wash era.

I know, deep, isn't it? Don't judge me. :P