Bern Leckie and Owen Lynch share thoughts and feelings about the end of the book of Leviticus, chapters 16 to 27, and the start of Proverbs, chapters 1 to 9.

It can seem hard to make sense of some ancient laws, and even harder to know what to make of their relevance to us today.

Leviticus describes a covenant set out by a powerful Lord as conditions for his presence to remain with people. The overall purpose seems to be to establish a social order, giving God’s chosen people a distinct identity and maintaining the Lord’s good reputation. But scholars have debated the meaning, purpose and application of specific parts of Leviticus throughout history.

Some contemporary scholars have started to view Leviticus as less like statute law and more similar to wisdom literature, like Proverbs.

Looking at Proverbs alongside Leviticus, it seems that wisdom is the key needed to understand and apply good judgement, as well as the source of good decision making. Could it be more important to grasp what “the fear of the Lord” means than to try and master our understanding of ancient law?

The next part of our boxset will look at beginning of the book of Numbers, chapters 1 to 16, as well as Psalms 38 to 41. Listen along at your own pace at severnvineyard.org/bible.