Some Discursive Thoughts on Exodus and Leviticus

God’s Presence and Character in Exodus and Leviticus

When we examine Exodus and Leviticus, we speak of two books from the Old Testament. They are presumed to have been written by Moses, Israel’s lawgiver. Exodus and Leviticus were integral to Israel’s history, shaping one thousand years of life from 1440 B.C.E. to 440 B.C.E. Yet despite their importance for a millennium, both books have a “sleep factor” for moderns, even in churches where the interest might be expected to be higher. Exodus might be called a “half-sleeper” and Leviticus the “big sleeper.” The first half of Exodus contains readable, dramatic, and understandable narrative; the last half of Exodus contains unreadable word-descriptions of blueprints for church architecture (called the “tabernacle”), precise measurements for church furniture and precise patterns for priestly vestments. Leviticus is a big sleeper, being essentially a law-code. Discussing Leviticus has as much appeal as discussing—over coffee—the U.S. legal code. But whatever else one might think of these books, they were important in Israel’s life and suggest themes of importance for our times.

Whatever else may be said about these books, two contrasts help to better appreciate them. The first contrast concerns God’s presence. Exodus shows God’s presence through dramatic narrative plus some architectural materials for the tabernacle. Leviticus, on the other hand, gives detailed laws of acceptable approaches to God’s presence. A second contrast concerns the way God character is presented. Exodus presents God’s character panoramically while Leviticus focuses on one attribute—holiness. God’s presence and character are mediated differently.

The presence of God in Exodus appears in two ways. First, it is shown by dramatic narrative and, in the second instance, through architectural materials for a tabernacle.

God’s presence in the dramatic narrative of Exodus is easy to follow. In twenty-three of forty chapters, God is vividly present. Moses is delivered from a pogrom of infanticide directed against Jewish babies. Moses is lifted from a riverside-basket as a crying infant. He is elevated to a place of patronage in Pharaoh’s house. “It just sorta happens” that Pharaoh’s daughter rescues the infant Moses. Moses becomes a high officer in Pharaoh’s government. Later, Moses kills an Egyptian officer and becomes a fugitive from Pharaoh’s court for forty years. As an expatriate, Moses encounters God’s presence in the burning bush in the wilderness. Upon return to Egypt and at God’s direction, Moses assumes the leadership of Israel. Conflicts arise as Moses tells Pharaoh that God wants Israel to leave Egypt for further service. As God’s spokesperson, Moses mediates nine miracles that “humble Pharaoh” (Nelson, 361). Israel leaves Egypt after the tenth miracle, the death of Egyptian firstborns. Israel is rescued from pursuing Egyptians. The Red Sea is parted. Egyptians are destroyed in the backwash. Israel is preserved from thirst, hunger and defeat in the wilderness. A dramatic scene atop Sinai concludes the first half of Exodus, a storyline that portrays God’s presence in spectacular terms (Sproul, 91). As the storyline develops, God’s presence is evident at every point.

The last half of Exodus, about seventeen chapters, also reveals God’s presence, but in a different way than the first half. God is present in the tabernacle through beauty, art, color, precision and glory. This section discusses the Ten Commandments and numerous religious regulations governing the Tabernacle, priestly vestments, and priestly ordination. Reading this section is like attempting to read blueprints with words only; it takes effort to visualize the precise word-pictures about the Tabernacle, the Tabernacle furnishings, and religious services. In worship before God’s presence, God will have beauty, art, color, precision and order in the Tabernacle, the clerical attire, and the worship services. The last half of Exodus presents God’s presence in terms of worship, a different angle than the first half with drama, action and history.

What was said of the last half of Exodus may be said of Leviticus. Like the last half of Exodus, there is little narrative. In Leviticus, the focus is not on art, beauty, color and glory in worship. Rather, the sweep of God’s presence in Leviticus is cast more widely—a fact to be evinced in the lives of the nation and in their specific worship rituals. God’s presence is a holy one and, as a result, Israel must be holy. Leviticus is a holiness code governing almost every detail of Israel’s life. The sacrifices are outlined with cookbook accuracy: burnt-offerings, grain-offerings, peace-offerings, sin-offerings and trespass-offerings. There are regulations for food (dietary and medicinal reasons), sexual relations, marriage, divorce, neighborly behaviors, capital offenses, leprosy, child birth, priests, religious festivals, and national blessings and curses. We get outlines of acceptable approaches by humans to the Divine Presence; no one makes bold intrusions into God’s presence. The laws of acceptable living and acceptable approach to God’s presence are in the foreground as a legal code. God’s presence is the standard and it is made visible through religious rituals and a national way of living.

Just as God’s presence is mediated differently in Exodus and Leviticus, God’s character is presented differently. Exodus gives a fuller set of divine characteristics. Leviticus focuses on one attribute: divine holiness. Both books presume the same God, but present different angles.

Exodus shows a fuller picture of God character than Leviticus. God’s power, eternity, sovereignty, majesty, authority, and blinding glory are patent in Exodus. God power is shown by the capable management of the infant Moses. Micro-managerial competence is evident in Moses’ rescue. God’s power is evinced in the miraculous victories over Pharaoh. God’s eternity is revealed at the burning bush where God reveals His name: “I AM THAT I AM.” God has no beginning or end. God’s sovereignty is evident in the election of one nation to be the beneficiary of His promised presence. Israel did not choose God; God chose Israel. God’s majesty is evinced atop Mt. Sinai. We see authority, that is, the “right to command,” throughout Exodus. God imposes worship regulations that govern worship. We noted that God loves order, precision, beauty, art and color in worship. After the tabernacle is built, Exodus concludes with a note that God so blinding and so glorious that not even Moses can minister in the tabernacle. While Moses ministered in Pharaoh’s court, the wilderness, and atop Sinai, he could not minister in the Tabernacle. God’s glorious character was too blindingly glorious—Exodus captures these many qualities of God.

In contrast to Exodus, Leviticus provides a narrower focus: God’s holiness. Leviticus details the laws of acceptable approach to God and the laws of acceptable living. Holiness is the standard. God’s holiness implies a judicial standard that is so severe that death is required for another to live: a substitute is needed, something with life in exchange for another’s life. Both the laity and priests must offer sacrificial and substitutionary (or vicarious) offerings. The priest offered substitutionary sacrifices for himself and the nation on a daily basis. The priest offered sacrifices on the annual Day of Atonement, commonly known as the Yom Kippur. As noted earlier, “holiness” governs animal life, food, neighborly relations, capital offenses, priests, food, speech, theological thinking, Sabbath worship, annual worship, family relationships, sexual behaviors, and property values. The theme of God’s character in Leviticus is more narrowly tailored than Exodus: holiness. “You shall therefore be holy; for I am holy.”

While Exodus and Leviticus present God’s presence and character, both are mediated differently. Exodus presents God’s presence with dramatic narrative and some legal-architectural lines; in contrast, Leviticus exclusively affords legal, ceremonial, religious and social laws of the acceptable approach to the divine presence. While both Exodus and Leviticus presume God’s full character, Exodus unfolds a wider set of attributes (power, eternity, sovereignty, majesty, authority and blinding glory) over the more limited view in Leviticus, holiness. However boring and unreadable these books might be, the lessons for Israelites were sobering. These lessons governed their lives for nearly one thousand years, 1440-440 B.C.E. God was not to be approached in a casual or cavalier manner; God was to be believed and respected, on His terms. Whatever else one might think about the accessibility, readability and significance of Exodus and Leviticus, they both raise perennial issues about God’s presence and God’s character.