More and even MORE Regulations

Leviticus 16:1 - 25:55

Tough reading here? Sure..sounds a bit tedious and even repetitive doesn't it?
I think there are several things going on through these regulations:

1. God is setting Himself and His people apart. Making distinctions in behavior between them and the surrounding nations.
2. God is setting the priesthood apart as a symbol of that which is holy, 'set apart', vs that which is not. Hence all of the regulations around what they are to wear, how they are to wash, what they are to eat, etc.
3. God is setting up a 'calendar of remembrance' so that the various festivals recall what he has done for His people in a way of reminding them for generations to come what God did in the lives of their ancestors.
4. God is reinforcing the truth that the land is His and the people are His...and are His tenants. Hence the regulations around sabbath and the year of jubilee.

Read these chapters with those themes in mind.
Read them with an understanding too of just how complex the requirements of living under the law really are...not because God made them up arbitrarily but because they signify something intentional about our relationship to Him.
When we begin to understand just how complex it would be to live under the law, undertsnad how many details are required of us just to meet the minimum standard...then Jesus work on the cross starts to take on an even deeper/richer meaning.
He fulfilled ALL of that on our behalf.
We're set free in more ways than we even can imagine.