February 22

Leviticus 3:1-17, 7:11-21, 19:5-8, 7:28-36, 17:1-7, 4:1-35; Numbers 15:27, 28; Leviticus 5:1-13, 6:24-30; Numbers 15:29-31

I'm sorry. I have always had a more romantic notion about what God and Moses talked about face to face. I imagined the Lord speaking in poetic utterances. Something out of Psalms or Revelation or Isaiah or even Song of Solomon. But, wow, this is all really, really mundane detailed-oriented, day-to-day, losgistical-how-to, step-by-step, where-to-drip-and-dripple-the-ox-blood stuff.

How did Moses get it all straight? Did he take notes? Did he ever ask God to slow down because He was talking to fast or to repeat something or did you say "loins" or "liver"? Or was it all just "ready recollection"? [Sorry to you non-C-of-C-ers, inside joke.]

Did Moses feel like the Lord's stenographer? Did he ever say, "God, God, let's just talk about the meaning of love or how bumble bees fly or what's behind the patterns in the stars?" Or, "Why if you love us so much do babies die?" Or, "Why don't you accept priests with physical deformities?" Or, "About that Egyptian I killed...where is he now? And the first born children that died?" So many soul-searching questions. But God rambles on about how to be forgiven of unintentional sins and where to pour the blood and what to do with the fat and what to eat and what to burn.

Forgive me, God, but these first rattle on like a Jewish mother.

But then, aren't we more concerned about the minutia of life? Aren't most of are arguments with spouses over little things? Aren't more how-to books sold than works of poetry?

Why did the Lord lower himself to talk endlessly on these mundane subjects? God knows.

I hope. I pray. Moses and God had a little time to walk and talk about things that interested them...and not just what we needed to hear.

Finally, in Leviticus 17:1-7, it's noted that the Israelites couldn't just go off on their own and make a sacrifice. "Any Israelite who sacrifices an ox, a lamb or a goat in the camp or outside of it instead of bringing it to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting to present it as an offering to the Lord in front of the tabernacle of the Lord -- that man shall be considered guilty of bloodshed; he has shed blood and must be cut off from his people." We can't worship God alone. Not then. Not now. We must come together. Come to Him for forgiveness.