BOOK : Leviticus

Description : 3rd book of the Pentateuch, the Law of Moses, rules for worship and holy living.

Author: preobably Moses

Date written : somewhere about 1400 BC (Latter part of Moses' life)

Chapters : 27

 

Brief Synopsis:

•  Gets its name from the Levites (from whom the priesthood came) who would be the main recipients of this book (to both apply and teach it).

•  The first ‘half' is about worshipping a holy God and the second is about living a holy life.

•  ‘Holiness' is the key issue if this book behind which must be the question, “How can a sinful people relate to a holy God?” (The answer for them was by following the Law and by the offerings indicating desire for fellowship or repentance)

 

Outline :

Part 1: Worshipping a holy God (Ch.1-16)

Ch.1-7 The Five Main Offerings

Ch.8-10 The ministry of the priesthood

Ch.11-15 The Distinction Between Clean and Unclean

Ch.16 The Annual Day of Atonement

Ch.17 Eating Blood Prohibited

Ch.18 Unlawful Sexual Relations

Ch.19 Various Laws for Holy Living

Ch.20 Punishments for Sin (ch. 20)

Ch.21,22 Regulations for Priests

Ch.22 Acceptable and Unacceptable Sacrifices

Ch.23 The Annual Feasts

Ch.24 Rules for Oil and Bread in the Tabernacle & Punishment for Blasphemy

Ch.25 The Sabbath and Jubilee Years

Ch.26 Covenant Blessings and Curses

Ch.27 Regulations for Offerings Vowed to the Lord

 

Key Verses :

 

Sacrifices

 

Priestly Ministry

 

Wrong Ministry

 

 

Concluding Comments

•  Leviticus is considered by many to have little relevance to living today. For non-Christians is appears barbaric and for Christians it is considered superseded by the death of Jesus as The one-off sacrifice.

•  However, if we can put ourselves into history three thousand years ago, in an age of superstition and barbaric practices such as priestess prostitution and child sacrifices, of worship of anything and everything that a superstitious mind can dream up, we may catch the difficulty of raising up a new people who were not barbaric and not superstitious and who could somehow relate to a God who had just dealt the most powerful blow to one of the most powerful nations on earth, a God who declared He was holy, and demanded His people be holy.

•  Holy meant perfect, utterly different, pure, and the one thing we can be sure of (because we are the same) is that the Israelites did not feel perfect, utterly different and pure. Yes, there were given a series of very down to earth (mostly) laws to follow in terms of how they should live as individuals and as a society, but even then they, like us, would get it wrong and wander off the path that God had set them.

•  How could they possibly make it right again, how could they possibly live as God's chosen people? The answer is found in Leviticus. Here are rules for sacrifices, things laid down by God which they should do when they got it wrong, things they were capable of, things they would know they had done right when they followed the rules of sacrifice and of the priesthood God had given them. When they had performed the rituals, they were right with God and they could relax.

•  One of the struggles that modern cultures in the West in the twenty first century has, is the struggle to believe in right and wrong. Having lost our foundation (God) every person is left doing what they (or the national laws) think is right. But the courseness of so much modern life shows us that it doesn't work.

•  Now consider what the Israelite experienced. When they sinned in one of the ways prescribed in the early chapters of this book, they did what was prescribed. They took they best bull or oxen or goat or sheep to the Tabernacle and with the help of the priest they put it to death. To be more precise the priest gave them a long sharp knife and they, the sinner, held it by the head and cut its throat and watched as it bled to death with their hand on it. They were responsible for this life being taken. Suddenly they would have felt terrible, suddenly they realised the significance of Sin and suddenly they would almost certainly have decided, “I will never let this happen again!” and a lawful community was established.

•  The Law (as you can see if you read the Meditation series, “ Meditations in Lessons from the Law of Moses”) gave straight forward guidance and directions for how to live and how to respond when you broke the laws.

•  Leviticus helps us realise that God knows we are prone to getting it wrong and we need ways back. For the Christian today, we have the simple teaching, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness,” (1 Jn 1:9) which is only possible because Jesus Christ died: “he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.” (Heb 9:26).

•  For the primitive Israelite they simply had to bring a sacrifice and that was it – and they would probably never be the same again. A changed and holy community!

•  So often we tend to focus on sin and guilt but the Law was much more than that. It also included feast times, times of great joy. It also included years of Jubilee, times of releasing people from their past debts and starting all over again. A number of the laws appear strange to us today but the more we study them the more we can see the practicality of them.

•  Leviticus is not an easy book to read but it is worth reading sometime!

 

Bible Studies on this site:

 

Meditations on this site:

Other reading on this site:

Chapter 22 – "The Reasonableness of the Law of Moses" from the book, “God's Love in the Old Testament”