When Christians try to read the entire Bible, they often stumble in a few places. For most people, they begin to really struggle as they read the second half of Exodus, which focuses on the instructions for building the ark and the tabernacle. By Leviticus, they have already struggled for a while, and they often give up during Leviticus. When we designed our churchwide Bible reading plan, we intentionally designed it to make it easier to complete. But I don't want you just to survive Leviticus. I want you to thrive as you read it. Here are five tips to help you do that.

1. Don't Read It Alone

Our Bible reading plan includes Old and New Testament readings for the entire year. Normally, Christians stall out more often when reading the Old Testament than the New. I always encourage folks when they start to struggle with their Bible reading to reread a favorite book of the Bible, a gospel, or just something from the New Testament. We want you in the New Testament because you will often benefit from the New Testament readings even when the Old Testament readings are more challenging to understand and apply to your life.

Read Leviticus, but also do the New Testament readings each day. 

2. Listen to It 

There's no rule that you have to physically read the Bible rather than listen to it. I would rather you listen to the Bible than ignore it altogether. For Leviticus, you may find listening to an audio version with a good narrator more beneficial. Yes, reading the Bible is uniquely beneficial, but listening to it can still be good. 

3. Think About the Context

Hebrews 9:22 says, "Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins." Leviticus provides the necessary context for understanding what Jesus accomplished and why he had to accomplish it through his death on the cross. The Mosaic Law and the sacrificial system established a principle of atonement, illustrated the meaning of atonement, and foreshadowed the once-and-for-all atonement. 

4. Watch a Helpful Video on Leviticus

BibleProject has a helpful summary of Leviticus. They give a helpful framework for understanding what's going on throughout the book. You can watch that here. If you want to see how Leviticus points to the gospel, you can watch this video by the late Timothy Keller.

5. Read a Commentary or Book

I would highly recommend L. Michael Morales's Who Shall Ascent the Mountain of the Lord? A Biblical Theology of the Book of Leviticus. This book is fantastic and can take you from reading Leviticus with utter confusion to understanding the book with clarity. If you have the time to read a book alongside your Scripture reading, you will benefit from this one. 

For a couple of commentaries that would be easier to read, you might check out Jay Sklar's commentary or Derek Tidball's. Both are part of great commentary sets that most Christian readers can benefit from.

Conclusion

We hope these five tips help you benefit from your Bible reading. Leviticus can be challenging, but it is so rewarding to read, especially when you can grow in your understanding of it. We aren't even halfway through our year of reading the Bible, so take this post as a sign to join us, or rejoin us, if you haven't already.