how to spell “Jesus”

The Word for today:
Leviticus 2 and 3

Stand in the Rain loves Leviticus, and we hope you will too! But we know that, at first glance, Leviticus can seem intimidating and inaccessible. So we decided to address this undeserved reputation with two introductory articles. Yesterday, we likened Leviticus to an art gallery. Today, we liken Leviticus to an elementary reader! Tomorrow, we will move beyond introduction and dive headfirst into this treasured book.

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Many people think of Leviticus as something best left to Bible scholars. They say it is too complex for the biblically inexperienced; that to understand Leviticus we need a thorough knowledge of the rest of the Bible.

Ironically, when we think that way, we’ve got it entirely backwards. The truth is that in order to begin to understand the rest of the Bible, we must first understand Leviticus.

Leviticus is elementary.
Leviticus is the Bible’s book of elements, of first principles. It is the Bible’s elementary school, not its graduate school!

The rest of the Word of God assumes, and depends upon, an understanding of the elements of Leviticus. So let’s put these elements on the table:

Fire

Blood

Water

Oil

Grain

Salt

Smoke

Yeast

Priest

Garments

Disease

Clean

Unclean

Holy (Distinct)

Law

Sin

Sacrifice

Substitute

Atonement

Access

Mediation

Grace

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Those are the ABC’s of the Word of God. They’re the letters we need if we want to spell “Jesus.”

Leviticus isn’t for Bible know-it-alls. It’s for little ones like you, of little faith like me, who want to begin to know God.

So we’ll begin, together, tomorrow.

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