Normally, when I finish checking a book of the Bible with a team, the mood is bright, writes Drew Maust. This time things were not so. The mood was dim, sombre, reflective.
Drew continues: I have the privilege of serving the Didi* community in Cameroon as translation consultant, assisting translators with the preparation and publication of Scripture in their language. During the final two weeks of checking Leviticus, the translators informed me that they were not sleeping well. If it wasn’t nightmares of being chased, it was anxiety for their families back in the village. In fact, one of the translators had become demonstrably more on edge, more aggressive in his contributions. It was clear that something was troubling him.
We found cause for pause in Leviticus 26:36: ‘I will put anxiety in the hearts of those of you who survive in the lands of their enemies. The sound of a windblown leaf will put them to flight. They will run as though fleeing from the sword, and they will fall, even though no one is pursuing them.’
