I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Leviticus 22-23.

The passage begins with a continuation of the instructions regarding priests who become ceremonially  unclean.  For the most part this restates the laws regarding ceremonial uncleanness specifically applied to priests.  I take away from this that the same rules that apply to everyone else apply to the priests, the leaders of the people (there are other places where laws which apply to leaders who are not priests are laid out in a similar manner), plus a few more.   This is the exact opposite of how most of our rulers and religious leaders act today.

Then the passage goes on to lay out seven festivals throughout the year.  We should take special note that one of the high festivals laid out here is the weekly Sabbath.  The other festivals only occurred once a year.  I want to highlight the importance of the people gathering to celebrate these festivals.  The festivals establish common practices among the people and help unite them.  Each of the festivals established certain values which the people were to share.