First let me apologize for getting so far behind.  I am going to try very hard to get caught up this month for my sake and yours.  Who wants to read commentaries several weeks late!

The commentary in my Bible reminds the reader that God is Holy and sometimes we forget that He is not on our level or that we are not on His.  Its commentator writes, "We can't use God. God is not a tool or appliance or credit card."
Leviticus shows us the demands God placed on the Israelites.  The rules were specific and had dire consequences when not followed to the letter.  Fortunately and unfortunately, our Christian walk is not like that.  Fortunately because neither the Israelites nor God's followers today could keep every commandment every minute of every day, so that pressure is not on us.  It is unfortunate because God gives very few specific instructions in the New Testament of what he requires of us.  Many of us need the checklist.  If a good work is penciled in to our schedule, it usually gets accomplished, but sometimes we can go weeks without a list, we go on autopilot, and that usually involves the immediate needs of our families, our jobs, and ourselves.  It doesn't always include the lost, and it may not even include our acknowledgement of God.  We may be attending Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night, and even teaching classes, but we're still on autopilot.  We're spending little or no personal time with God.  I'm speaking from personal experience here, so I know just how easy it is.  Let's pray for each other that God will lead us to the place where He wants us and that we will be open to His call, spending quality time with Him and sharing the gospel with others.

Lev. 1- 4 describe the whole burnt offering, grain offering, peace offering, and absolution offering.  Very specific instructions for the people and the priests.  The priest burned the offering, made atonement for the sin, and the person was forgiven.  We will read later in the New Testament that Jesus is the final high priest and that his blood, not the blood of animals, atoned for the sins of mankind.

Lev. 5 --  God calls us to be a witness when we have seen a wrong committed.  He also didn't give unawareness of sin a free ride.  Lev. says that when we realize what we've done, we're guilty and must confess and offer sacrifice.

Lev. 9 tells the story of Nadab & Abihu, sons of Aaron, who offered strange fire to God and were killed because of it. Aaron & the family were not allowed to mourn their deaths.  This reminds us that when God gives specific instructions, He expects them to be followed.

Lev. 11 begins the description of unclean foods and unclean situations.  This is carried through Lev. 18.
I have not studied the topic of unclean animals extensively, so I can only think that the Israelites were not allowed to eat certain foods for their own safety.  I wonder why some animals were unclean, but later in Acts when Peter was in Joppa, he had a dream telling him they were no longer unclean.  I do realize that the dream had more to do with the Gentliles no longer being unclean than the animals, but the animals were used to make the point.
I found the explanations for dealing with skin diseases to be very interesting.  God commanded quarantining people long before the medical community did.

Chapter 16 focuses on the Day of Atonement, explaining the process of the scape goat.
Chapter 18 is a whole chapter on our personal holiness.  Those who say homosexuality is acceptable will find God's response to that in this chapter.

Your comments are always welcomed!