The Book of Leviticus is arguably the most controversial and misinterpreted book in the whole Bible. Numerous times, Leviticus has been taken out of context because of the cultural and language differences.
Scriptures from the book on rebellious children being put to death, prohibiting certain marital relations and not harvesting until the edges are all misjudged and mistreated. The main reason why Leviticus is so often taken out of context is because people take too much of it at face value without asking themselves the questions "How does this connect to the character of God?" and "How can I use this to love God and love others?"
The Bible was written across hundreds of years and contains various cultures and practices that are completely different from today. The Bible was written for us, but it was to us. We must take the scripture in the right and proper context through the inspiration of the Spirit of God, which compels us to study and dig down deep in search for God and His character.
So let us take for instance Levitical laws about dietary practices, and what that tells us about God. If God prohibited the eating of pork, blood, and certain kinds of birds, many people conclude that He is a closed-minded killjoy who doesn't want us to enjoy food. Such is not the case. Here are three things that the food laws in the book of Leviticus tell us about God.
God is wise. The reason why God prohibited the eating of most of the animals mentioned in Leviticus (pork, ravens, crocodiles and others) is mainly because of the potential health hazards it causes. These food sources are not spiritually unclean.
They are literally unclean. This shows God's character as being all-knowing because he knew pork would cause hypertension, and without the science of heart bypasses and maintenance medications, most of Israel would have died of heart disease.
God is loving. God didn't want Israelites to get sick because He loved them and cared deeply about them. This shows the loving character of God who desires for good, pleasing and perfect things for his sons and daughters. Instead of allowing the Israelites to eat dirty meat, he brought quail and manna, which gave the Israelites more than enough strength to survive and thrive.
God values life. God wants you to be healthy because He values the quality of life. What use is a food-poisoned servant who won't stop eating dirty food? Sometimes we forget this and value our bodies and our health less than our desire and cravings. God is a God of life and wants us to enjoy it while staying healthy and strong.
