A great illustration out of the legal portions of the text would be the theological concept of atonement. Leviticus 16 is a key text which deals with the procedures for the Day of Atonement. The Day of Atonement is one of three times that all Jewish males were required to travel to the place where God’s Tent, later Temple, was set up to worship. During the Day of Atonement, the High Priest would enter the Most Holy Place and sprinkle blood on the Ark of the Covenant to make atonement for the people’s sins. This happened once a year – every year.

The Day of Atonement is central to understanding a number of ideas and concepts within the Bible. First, it is one of the reasons the Temple was so important. Second, it plays a role in later biblical stories. Third, it helps to give perspective on why Jesus had to die when he came. Fourth, similar to number three, the writer of Hebrews presupposes a knowledge of the Day of Atonement. The list could go on. Even with these important reasons to teach the Day of Atonement to students, I have met very few youth ministers who do more than mention it. So, how could a youth minister manage to teach the Day of Atonement to students without putting them to sleep?

Speaking from my own experience, one of the most important aspects of teaching the Torah to keep in mind is we, as youth ministers, need to know the material. If we don’t really have a grasp on what happens in a particular story or passage of the Bible then we have no business teaching it. At first blush, Leviticus 16 seems a bit dull. However, when one examines the passage in the ESV or JPS things become a little more exciting, based on decisions the translators made in how to render some Hebrew words. For instance, the ESV renders the Hebrew la’azazel as “for Azazel” whereas the NIV renders the same Hebrew word as “scapegoat.” The ESV turns Azazel into an entity. Azazel is actually a desert demon in Ancient Near Eastern thought and mythology. The word literally means, in Hebrew, “angry god.” So, it is fascinating that God would choose to use this imagery in one of the most sacred rituals that he gave to Israel. How can any teen resist desert demons? Almost instantaneously the potential interest level of students has gone up! Certainly, we don’t want to teach the Bible as entertainment for students but bringing up something like Azazel could very quickly bring up some excellent questions. The backgrounds of the text are more than simply ways to generate questions as well, but for the sake of brevity let us continue. Some of the questions students have asked me include:

“Does this mean there are other gods?”

“Why would God want to send a goat to a demon?”

“Why did God send one goat away at all?”

“Does the goat get eaten!?”