If you've ever tried jogging/running and pushed yourself to a challenging distance (whether 1/2 mile or 26.2 miles), you know there comes a time when your body tells your mind, "I'm tired. This isn't worth it. What are we doing this for?" Some athletes call it "the wall."

In the Sojourn through the Scriptures, many people begin hitting the wall around Leviticus, if not even earlier in Exodus. This is like hitting the wall at mile 2 in a marathon. But, unlike running a marathon, the sojourner is not suffering from fatigue, but rather from befuddlement. "What's the point of all these rules and regulations? Why am I supposed to know this?"

Well, if I could offer you some encouragement here: keep going! Don't quit! There's a reason to this part of the sojourn. Not necessarily to test your resilience, but to prepare you to better understand what comes later.

The truth of the matter is that much of what we know as New Testament Christians about God and how we relate to Him through Jesus Christ is rooted in the rules, rituals and regulations in the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Law).

1. Jesus and his role in our atonement, forgiveness, imputation of righteousness and salvation.
2. The majesty, purity and holiness of God, who deserves our worship, and demands that His people be holy, just as He is holy.
3. Worship language, like "enter His court", "a sacrifice of praise", "washed by the blood", etc.--are words that come out of the prescriptions of proper protocol at the tabernacle (and later the temple) where God's glory and presence was manifest to the people of Israel.

I would go so far as to say that we cannot truly appreciate the person and work of Jesus Christ (and by extension, our salvation) if we do not grasp the nature and purpose of the Old Testament sacrificial system, moral codes and priestly protocols.

Moreover, we see in Leviticus the rules for proper relationship among God's people and the making of a just and fair society. Such rules may seem tedious to read (Lev 17-25) because they are pretty much second nature to us. We are familiar with sexual ethics, respect for property rights and reasonable punishment to fit the crime. But such regulations were not a given in the Ancient Near East (ANE); in fact, OT scholars describe such moral and criminal codes as "revolutionary" in the context of Israel's neighbors. Just laws were just not a given in the ANE.

So, as you continue to slog through the tough stuff of the Pentateuch and find yourself "hitting a wall", keep in mind that (1) God revealed HImself in the books of the Law--and their prescriptions and descriptions served as the foundation for the work and role of Jesus Christ in our salvation; and (2) our concept of a just and moral society is founded in great measure upon these first books of the Bible.

For further study:

1. Learn about the impact of the Bible upon the founding of America and specifically our laws and the concept of justice. A great resource is David Barton and the ministry of Wallbuilders.
2. Dig deeper and dispute the charge that the God of the Old Testament was cruel and unjust. A good place to start is a recently published book by Paul Copan entitled Is God a Moral Monster?