Last night's presentation went well, I think. I'll be posting about it later. But for now...
‘Elf and safety today! Laws about hygiene, diseases, food poisoning, and stuff like that. How contemporary will this sound?
Food: clean and unclean animals
Leviticus 11:1-47
Ceremonial purification: cleansing after childbirth
Leviticus 12:1-8
Directions to the priest concerning leprosy
Leviticus 13:1-17
Further directions
Leviticus 13:18-44
By and large, these laws seem sensible to me. Of course I am not an expert, but it seems to be a simple way of telling apart animals that are less likely to harbour diseases from those that it might be more dangerous to eat. As for the regulations for cleansing after childbirth, it does seem unfair that the period of uncleanness is twice as long for a girl as it is for a boy baby. Sorry God, but I can’t see what that’s all about.
The directions about leprosy and skin diseases again are simple, common sense precautions for looking after the community. They appoint the priest as the doctor, and he enforces isolation in the case of infectious diseases. It’s great that, if you get better, you are re-admitted, so if the priest got it wrong, you’re not condemned for good. And 13:14 is a relief: “A man who has lost his hair and is bald is clean.”
I remember when I was at theological college one of my fellow students had a placement with a GP surgery. He remarked that the doctor functioned like the priest of the community. At the time I wasn’t sure what he meant, but today I’ve read an example of it working the other way around. It is a good system - you need someone that you can invest trust in, who is the gatekeeper, who keeps disease outside. It’s healthy for everyone.
No comments:
Post a Comment