I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve “forced” myself to read through the entire Bible. Yes, that’s a confession from me. But it’s not because I don’t love spending time in God’s Word. I sincerely do.

It’s because I know there are certain books of the Bible that are hard to get through, and somehow they still show up in there every time I make this commitment!

This year I decided to try something a little different. I’m reading through the chronological Bible. If you’re not aware, the current order of books of the Bible isn’t necessarily in the order that the events or the writings happened. So this version puts everything in that proper order.

But, you guessed it. Those hard books are still there!

I’m just going to call them out. The ones I struggle through the most, particularly in the Old Testament, are Leviticus and Numbers. Another confession, most often I skim through the hard or boring parts, for a variety of reasons.

Rather than just itemize the parts of those books that I find difficult to work through, I want to share some surprising moments with you that happened as I was skimming through the hard and boring parts!

Here’s a sample of what I was trying to avoid, and the message God sent to me despite my best efforts to ignore these passages. (Isn’t this blog just plumb full of confessions…?)

• Blood Sacrifice – As a die-hard animal lover, I find it incredibly difficult to read the gory details about the animal sacrifices that are strewn throughout Leviticus. I’m grateful I didn’t have to witness all that blood and gore and death.
  • Then God reminded me of why these seemingly unending blood sacrifices were necessary. The depth of mankind’s sin demanded payment. And as it says in Hebrews 9:22, “Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.” Praise God that Jesus’ once-and-for-all sacrifice on the cross for our unending sins took on that penalty. How better to understand the depth of this sacrifice than to see what bloodshed preceded it through Leviticus

• No One is Excluded – Much of this same book works through a sacrifice hierarchy, of sorts, so that those families or individuals who did not own livestock, or could not afford livestock, were given lots of sacrifice options all the way down to a little flour.
  • The same is true for us today. No one is exempt from the curse of sin, nor the remedy found in Jesus. Romans 3:23-24 makes this clear. “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”

• Not All Sacrifices are Acceptable – There were clear instructions about the condition of the animals being sacrificed. They were to be without blemish, because God is perfection. Unacceptable sacrifices were met with God’s judgment.
  • How grateful we can be that Jesus was the perfect, unblemished Lamb, given as our sacrifice. Once and done. No need to keep looking for the next perfect animal. Jesus completely, eternally satisfied all that God required. In 1 Peter 1:18-19 we read, “knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, … with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

• Why Are Sacrifices Necessary? – The requirements for cleansing from every kind of circumstance imaginable are listed in exhaustive detail throughout this book. Why did God deem it necessary to include it all? What did he want us to understand?
  • Simply put – God and sin, of any kind, cannot co-exist, because he is holy. Psalm 5:4 says, “For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil [sin] may not dwell with you.

• Census Taking – Reading through all the names from all the tribes feels a little “pain-staking” if I truly read everything. Can you imagine what it was like to actually do the counting?
  • Initially I felt that this was done, in part, to show God’s clear call on his chosen people. He knew every single one. And I think that can be one aspect. I did look this up further and it was also done in preparation for the battles that lay ahead for God’s people. It’s why men under 20 and women were not included in the census.

• Duties – The book of Numbers goes on to list specific details of the responsibilities of the twelve tribes. As I read it, my eyes started to glaze over a bit because so much of it seems redundant. Add to that the details about preparations around the tabernacle and the tent of meeting and I find myself skimming more and more.
  • Then I’m reminded that God is a God of order. There is a purpose behind each and every one of those details, from the tasks assigned to the way the trumpets were made. And of course the quality of any of the items was the very best. Do you ever question if God is in the details of your life? Here’s just one section of the Bible that proves he is that kind of God.

This really just scratches the surface of the deeper thoughts God brought to me through my skimming and glazing over! It’s been a great reminder that not one word of scripture is superfluous. God intends for every single word to be included, regardless of how unnecessary or boring I might think they are.

I will watch more closely as I continue to read through some of those “harder” books, knowing that God wants to deepen my knowledge of him and his character.

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for

teaching, for reproof, for correction,

and for training in righteousness,

that the man of God may be complete,

equipped for every good work.

2 Timothy 3:16-16