The next few chapters of Leviticus focus on what is clean vs. what is unclean. I wish I knew exactly what this means. It's not good vs. evil; in fact there are somethings we are commanded to do (have sex and have kids) that make us unclean. I suppose it's things to us like not eating something from the floor and not peeing on the floor and washing our hands (washing is often one command in the process of becoming clean). Of course we have a bit more of a scientific basis but I'm sure they weren't any less confident in their standards. Here are some of the clean vs. unclean categories here in the middle of Leviticus:

Some animals are clean to eat and some are unclean and shouldn't be eaten (also their dead bodies are not clean to touch).
Having a kid makes a woman unclean.
Skin diseases make us unclean, and we need to be quarantined while we have the disease.
Moldy clothes are unclean.
Moldy houses are unclean.
Bodily discharges and sexual bodily discharges are unclean.

God tells them they need to stay as clean as possible. Becoming clean often involves washing yourself, waiting a period of time, and sometimes offering a sacrifice.

God, through Moses, gives Aaron specific instructions on how to do a once-a-year total atonement sacrifice for the nation of Israel's sins. Emphasis is put on not sacrificing somewhere besides the tabernacle (the implication being not to sacrifice to anyone but God) and not eating blood (here it is explained that this is where the life of a creature really is).

Response

Mainly I'm observing that the now formal relationship between God and Israel is serious business and he has high standards for them, not only to be moral and good but to stand out and be ceremonially clean. Other than that there's not much "special" in this passage. The next reading (blog hopefully coming this evening) should be interesting because it's more moral and has some death penalties involved. Thanks for reading!

This morning I jumped into what seems like the whole next section of Genesis: Part 7. This is a very long part, the story of Abram, and it's going to take me a few days to get through.

We left off of with a nice descendant list ending with Terah and his three kids (one of them Abram). A literary shift seems to take place as we are introduced to a whole new cast.

Synopsis

The main characters here are Terah, his son Abram, his daughter-in-law Sarai (who, it is mentioned, is barren), and his grandson Lot (nephew of the latter two). Although Terah quickly dies so we're left with the "misadventures" of the other three. God shows up and tells Abram to head to Canaan, and the fun starts there.

The events of this part of Genesis are many: They do a lot of traveling to and from Canaan, they head to Egypt during a famine and lie to the Pharaoh, , Abram and Lot go their separate ways, Abram saves Lot from some warring kings, and Abram refuses to take stuff from a king he helped.

And surprisingly, my sense is that all those things are rather peripheral, lacking a need for analysis, compared to the other thing going on in this section: over and over again, we see God making promises to Abram, and also we see Abram calling on God's name and building alters to Him.

Right near the beginning, God talks to Abram and promises to bless him, to make a nation out of him, to make his name great, and to bless all peoples through him. This starts off a relationship, initiated and carried forward by God, that is restated several times throughout a few stories about Abram's life. It continues to build until it reaches a powerful passage as Abram and God discuss the promise:

God says HE is Abram's shield and great reward, but Abram questions how God can fufill these promises since Abram has no kids (remember, Sarai is barren). God says he'll take care of it, and Adam believes him, which God appreciates. Abram asks how he will take the land, and God tells him to put out some sacrifices. Abram is told that his offspring will be slaves for a while and then return to Canaan, and then some smoking firepot thing moves through the sacrifices to seal the deal. It's a powerful passage.

Analysis

This whole section has a whole different feel to it, some sort of literary shift. For one thing,
instead of God simply talking back in forth with people, the mode of God's conversation is always revealed, through "appearing" to people, or coming in a dream, or through a vision, or even using someone else to speak for him. Also, all the explanations of things like why there are rainbows and why snakes don't have legs disappear. Instead we are invited into the life of this man, whose main distinctive trait is that God seems to like him. The overall message, I think, of this section has been, "God's gonna do something special with this guy."

Response

What stands out to me about this whole section is God's pursuit of Abram. Sure we hear lots of interesting stories, but I don't think there's much to learn from them in particular. I think what we learn is that whatever situation this guy is in, God is faithful to him and directing his steps. Abram in turn often calls on God's name and worships him.

God's character is revealed as he goes out of his way for the first time since hanging with Eve and Adam to intimately be involved with a particular human being. His passion for Abram can be felt in this narrative, in my opinion. The last story that I read, in which the firepot passes through the sacrifices, is especially expressive of how intentional and involved God is.

If most of Genesis so far has reminded me how I buy into man being totally corrupt and this world full of problems, these stories of Abram touch something inside me that hopes that our creator wants to act in response and to know people amidst the chaos.

Neat.

Poetry.

This is the word that comes to my mind after reading and reflecting on the beginning of Genesis, the first book of the Bible. Everywhere from the beginning to of the book to God resting on the seventh day constitutes a single cohesive creation story, one that likely predates the composition of Genesis by hundreds of years. And the story is pure poetry.

Here's the rundown: God creates the heavens and earth. From over top dark waters, God creates one feature per day, all by the power of his voice alone. The first three days he makes day and night, the sky over the seas, and the land, plants and trees. The next three days he fills up what he made in the first three days: He makes the sun moon and stars, the sea creatures and birds, and finally the land creatures and the humans.

The humans (both male and female) he creates extra special by making them like God ("in the image of God") and he assigns them to fill the earth and to rule earth. Finally his creation is complete, and it's all very good, so he takes a day off. The end.

I get the sense this story stood by itself before it was part of Genesis, but I'm guessing the rest of Genesis will also fit it in with it quite nicely.

Like I said, this passage is pure poetry, some of the most compelling poetry I've ever read. It speaks to my heart in a poetic way, even though it's not a native English story. How? Because the beauty is in the way the author uses the events of a creation story to explain things about God and man and the earth. This story says that God is in total control. It says we're here to be like God and rule the earth. It says God created a really good earth that is full of harmony and order.

Good times.

And the story does it all through this beautiful foreign medium of a creation story. God's power is demonstrated through his SPEAKING causing the earth to appear. He creates with order and harmony: light, sky and ground followed by sun, birds, and wild beasts. Beautiful. The story literally breaks out into verse about how humanity is made in God's image.

Another note: God is a character who talks, both to himself and to humans. Interesting. All in all, it's a story that stands in stark contrast to other ancient creation stories, where humanity is an accident or is the product of a god's masturbation.

The idea that someone could take this first part of Genesis as the literal scientific truth is downright silly, I have to say. After all, in this story, the earth is created first, then later plants, and then yet later the sun moon and stars. This order and timespan is literary rather than scientific.

There is harmony; there is a powerful, intentional God who talks; there are humans ruling over the earth like God wants. God is taking a holiday. It's a good deal.

I think there are many that would love to read the first story of the Bible and leave it there, that humanity is doing just fine, thank you, and if there is a God, he put the answers inside us. But looking at the world it is obvious things didn't play out the same way they started (started according to Genesis). Even in this first reading, I can't help but think of unjust wars being fought these days, over a billion people without good water, and oppressive governments.

Even now in my own life, I just got off the phone with my beautiful fiancee. She had some reasonable emotional needs, and I had some reasonable needs for sleep and getting over a headache. We didn't communicate all that well and I don't think either of us were satisfied. I got off the phone and just punched my bed because I'm so frustrated and angry that she could be sad and yet I am too weak or selfish to do anything about it.

What happened to "God saw all that he had made, and it was very good"?

(note: This was a lot of reflection on not much of Genesis. I expect, after the first few days, to read 4-5x as much at a time. However, the beginning of this book is so rich that it's hard to read more than what I did today.)