Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Leviticus 22-23

Leviticus 22 explains the eating of an offering. Of course only priests get to partake, and only the best, unblemished animals are to be sacrificed. Quite a racket the sons of Aaron have going.

If a priest is unclean - say, leprosy or a case of the clap - he cannot eat the meat of an offering. You can also become unclean by touching an unclean thing, a dead thing or a creeping thing. To become clean, wash yourself and wait until evening.

Strangers aren't allowed to eat the meat of an offering, but slaves purchased by priests can. What a nice little perk for them. If a priest's daughter marries a foreigner, she is out of the meat offering diners club. But if the ole gal becomes widowed or divorced, doesn't have kids, and comes crawling home to daddy, she's back in again.

There's also rules on how long to keep a bull, sheep or goat before slaughtering it and some other related nonsense, but who cares? God ends this chapter by reminding us not to take his name in vain. He's very uptight about this.

Chapter 23 outlines the feast days and how to handle the sacrificial animal, bread and whatnot. There's wave offerings and drink offerings and so on and so forth. A memorial blowing of the trumpets. A day of atonement. Waving your sheaf before the Lord. Rejoicing by the willows of the brook. And ye shall dwell in booths (tents) seven days.

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