Do not memorize this verse

Did you know that the numbering for chapters and verses in the Bible are not original with the text?  Instead, they were added later on to help us navigate the text in a consistent, reliable manner.  In fact, chapter numberings were first introduced around 1227 AD and verse numberings not until 1448 AD for the Old Testament and 1551 AD for the New Testament.

As such, we should not consider these numberings to be at the same level as the inspired Scripture text; instead, they should be viewed as helpful navigational landmarks.  Most of the time, chapter breaks and verse numberings make sense within the text; however, there are more than a handful that seem a little random or even interruptive to what the author was writing.

Many times we use these chapter-verse landmarks to help us identify truths that we want to recall later – to hide them in our heart, as the writer of Psalm 119 states.  Scripture memorization is an awesome tool to help us keep God’s perspective in focus through whatever life throws our way.

That said, not all verses are equally helpful, taken at face-value.  Check out this verse from the Mosaic Law:

Leviticus 11:30
geckos, monitor lizards, common lizards, skinks, and chameleons.

Feeling edified and uplifted?  Ok, maybe not so much.

While we might not find this particular reference to be a statement we want to immediately recall…we need to avoid thinking that because we shouldn’t memorize a verse that it means the verse isn’t all that useful.

Admittedly, taken by itself, this verse is kinda odd.  Since this is the back-half of a sentence, let’s go back to verse 29 and see if we can figure out why God would bother listing out a bunch of lizards:

Leviticus 11:29-30
These creatures that swarm on the ground are unclean for you:
weasels, mice, any kind of large lizard,
geckos, monitor lizards, common lizards, skinks, and chameleons.

Ok, well, that gives a little more perspective.  God is telling the Israelites that these lizards were unclean for them – meaning they should be avoided.  Interestingly, God gives them additional clarification about handling these creatures:

Leviticus 11:31-35, 41
These are unclean for you among all the swarming creatures.  Whoever touches them when they are dead will be unclean until evening.  When any one of them dies and falls on anything it becomes unclean – any item of wood, clothing, leather, sackcloth, or any implement used for work.  It is to be rinsed with water and will remain unclean until evening; then it will be clean.

If any of them falls into any clay pot, everything in it will become unclean; you are to break it.  Any edible food coming into contact with that unclean water will become unclean, and any drinkable liquid in any container will become unclean.  Anything one of the carcasses falls on will become unclean.  If it is an oven or stove, it is to be smashed; it is unclean and will remain unclean for you…All creatures that swarm on the earth are abhorrent; they must not be eaten.

Well, that seems like a lot, doesn’t it?
Why would God get so seemingly bent out of shape about lizards?

When reading Scripture, not only is it important to read individual verses in context, but it’s important to remember the timeline context, as well.  At the time of the Mosaic Law, there are no refrigerators or freezers.  Food is always prepared fresh, otherwise it spoils.  None of the cleaning supplies we use everyday are available.  If a dead lizard fell and landed in your clothing or food or water, it would be contaminated.  Just because they didn’t know about bacteria and microbes doesn’t mean they couldn’t become seriously sick from them.  Getting a clay pot or clay oven cleaned out?  There’s no way they could guarantee that they had disinfected all parts of that super-porous material…the Israelites really were better off smashing them and moving on.

God gave these rules (and others) to both set them apart from the practices of the surrounding nations and to protect them from potential dangers/illnesses they could not foresee or understand. 

This is where the ancient rules in Leviticus actually teach us modern-day believers something…there are some commands that God gives in the New Testament that we might not fully understand.  For those instances, I would propose that God is doing with us the same thing He did for Israel – He wants us to live distinctly from the culture around us and He wants to protect us from potential dangers that, right now, we can’t foresee or fully understand.

So maybe you don’t memorize a verse from Leviticus that is nothing more than a list of lizards…but do remember the principle that God has a purpose in everything He commands, even if we don’t fully understand it at the time.

Keep Pressing,
Ken