The Most Significant Section of the Scriptural Story You Skip Every Time

Our voyage as a church through the big, beautiful biblical story has thus far been like every long road trip I’ve ever been on: the very first part is a thrill! You cross the city limits, begin to feel like you’re on vacation, out of the same-old, same-old, and your eyes look to the horizon with optimism and energy as you consider the grand journey you are undertaking. Then, after a couple hours, your initial enthusiasm is slowly and inevitably smothered by Barstow. Your trek’s terrain moves from promising and dynamic to monotonous and monochromatic. You begin to wonder if you should have just flown instead. For many of us following the “You are Here” series, episodes of Creation, Fall, Promise, and Exodus are the interesting scenic spots early in the trip. Biblical Law—our destination for this week—on the other hand, can easily fall into that “Barstow” category: “thou shall, thou shall not”; technical iron-age instructions on everything from oxen and food purity to hygiene and scheduling. What do we do with these long scrolls besides speed through or skip right over them? We are going to discover that what at first appears to be a long, strange stretch of ritual literature was absolutely treasured by our ancient ancestors in the faith for a reason. Let’s explore the power and purpose of torah in the larger story and in the story of our lives as followers of Jesus!