In this episode, Justin and Jewelle explore the conclusion of Exodus and the whole book of Leviticus, focusing on the Golden Calf episode, God's loving determination to keep his covenant with Israel in spite of their wrongdoing, the nature of idolatry, the significance of sacrifice, and how we must distinguish between what's universal and contingent, applicable and inapplicable, in the Scriptures. Exodus and Leviticus say God and humanity have a common goal—for humanity to behold the glory of the Lord in God's personal company—and that the complex sacrificial system of Leviticus is a way God provides for humanity to clean up its act (literally!) so that goal can be reached. God's love and God's justice are a difficult circle to square when people like us and a world like this are concerned. Sacrifice and atonement are the solution—one that points us, in the fullness of time, to what God accomplishes for us in Jesus Christ.
