Introduction to Leviticus

Leviticus is the 3rd book of the Torah/Pentateuch.

Author: Moses

Key Text: “Be ye holy for I am holy.”

Theme: The Holiness of God.

In the Torah, the book is named after the first words of the scroll/book which translates from the Hebrew- “Vayikra” “And He called”.: In the New Testament, the word for church is Ekklesia which means “Called out.” It is a book of worship & describes how a holy God is to be worshipped. It contains sacrifice, ceremony, ritual, holy days, liturgy, washings, conditions and warnings, convocations all to teach spiritual truths. (1 Cor. 10:6; Romans 15:4; Hebrews 11:13) It teaches that the way to God is by sacrifice to atone (Hebrew Kaphar) or cover for the sins of the people until Christ’s sacrifice on the cross took away sin. (Romans 3:25). Here we learn the truth of “blood for blood” and since it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. Hebrews 10:4 The blood should be equal to the sin.

Leviticus 17:11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.

Hebrews 9:25-26 Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.In Leviticus we learn that God wants our best. We learn that since we are God’s temple (1 Cor. 3:16-17), we should not pollute our bodies with the unclean.

Understanding Leviticus will help us understand the rest of the Bible.

In Leviticus, we learn that we must come to God on His terms, not ours. Anything that is done contrary to His terms or instructions are unacceptable or downright rebellious. Note strange fire incident in chapter 10.

The gospel is right at the heart of this book. It is an amazing way to present to unbelievers and to those who ascribe to “salvation by works” that our salvation is not through our own terms, our own works but by the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ, which is received in faith.

Young Jewish children start their study of the Bible /Hebrew Tanakh in Leviticus.

Leviticus has more direct quotes from God than any other book in the Bible. Some scholars consider Leviticus as the most important book of the Bible.

Hebrews 12:28-29 : Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God [is] a consuming fire.

The word “holiness” occurs 87 times in the book. The word atonement occurs 25 times.

God expects the people he liberates/redeems to be like Him. God’s people should reflect His character and let the world see what He is like by what they are like. The book describes everything that goes on in God’s tent and the people’s tents.

Key Points in Leviticus:

1. The Holiness of God – there is no other book of the Bible which strongly emphasizes the holiness of God. A holy God hates evil.

2. The Sinfulness of Man -- because of man’s sinfulness he cannot approach the presence of God.

3. The Fulness of Christ – God provided a way of cleansing. God found a way to reconcile justice with His mercy, punishment with forgiveness through

the restitution of innocent life. Sacrificial laws show us how that can happen. The demands of the law are met by sacrifice.

4. The Godliness of Life – God’s people need to be holy in every aspect of their lives. Holiness is wholeness.

In Genesis, we see man ruined by sin. In this table we see the distinction between Exodus and Leviticus. The book of Exodus ends with the completion of the Tabernacle and the cloud covering it and the glory of the Lord filling it.

Exodus Leviticus

Shows God’s approach to man. Shows man’s approach to God.

Shows the deliverance of God. Shows the people’s dedication to God.

Displays grace in setting them free. Shows how people show gratitude for

for being set free.

Saved/Redeemed Service/Sanctification/Worship

PardonPurity

God as Savior God as Sanctifier

Shows Man’s Guilt Shows Man’s Defilement

God speaks out of the Mount God speaks out of the Tabernacle

Man is made nigh to God. Man is kept nigh to God.

Two Major Shifts in Holiness in the Old Testament vs the New Testament.

1. Holiness is moved from material things in the OT to moral things in the NTThere is no law for the Christian about clean & unclean food. Matthew 15:11 11Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.

2. Rewards for obedience & punishment for disobedience shift from this life in the OT to the next life in the NT. In the NT holy people may suffer.

Matthew 5:11-13Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

Below is something nice to know about computer discoveries showing that there is a hidden message in the Torah as related below that shows the Torah as pointing to YHWH.

The first five books of the Bible (the books of Moses) are known as the Torah. In Hebrew the work Torah is represented by the consonants . Hebrew is read right from left, so the letters

are equivalent to the English letters "TORH."

In the Hebrew text of the book of Genesis, if you take the first ("T"), then count 49 letters, the next letter (the 50th) is ("O"); the next 50th is ("R"); and then the next 50th is ("H"). In other words, after the first "T", in 50 letter increments, we find the letters spelling "Torah." (Figure 1)

  TORAH in Genesis (Hebrew is read from right to left)

  Interval of 50 Figure 1.

In the book of Exodus, we encounter the same result. What a coincidence! (Jewish rabbis insist that "coincidence" is not a kosher word!) However, it doesn't seem to work with the third book of Moses, Leviticus. But stay tuned. In the fourth book of the Torah, the book of Numbers, we discover this 49 letter interval works with "HROT," that is, TORH backwards. (See Figure 2) A similar 49 letter interval also appears in the fifth book the Torah, the book of Deuteronomy. However, in the book of Deuteronomy the interval starts in the fifth verse instead of the first. Why the fifth verse? According to the Talmud the book of Deuteronomy doesn't begin until the fifth verse where it states "On the other side of the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses undertook to expound the Torah..."1

  Backwards TORAH in Numbers

  Interval of -50 Figure 2.

In the middle book, the book of Leviticus, it doesn't seem to work either way. But it does work for YHWH, the sacred name of God ("Yahweh" or "Jehovah," translated "LORD" in the King James Version), if you count in seven letter increments. (See Figure 3.)

Yahweh in Leviticus

Interval of Seven Figure 3.

It appears that the Torah (TORH) always points toward the Name of God. Here is the overview: Genesis  Exodus  Leviticus  Numbers  Deuteronomy TORH TORH YHWH HROT HROT

Outline of the Book:

Leviticus as you can see from this illustration is the “hinge” of the Torah. It focuses on the most important place (Sinai) and time in the history of the chosen

people. This period covers only one month.

In Leviticus, God gives the distinction between the clean and unclean, the common and the holy. Nothing unclean or common can touch what is holy and

clean.

The first half of the book describes our way to God: justification.

The second half of the book describes our walk with God: sanctification.

Holy and Common . Things holy and unclean must never come in contact.

Holy is different from good.

God doesn’t just want a good people; He wants a holy people.

The body is also important as the spirit. The holiness of God’s people should show in their food, clothes and house, etc.

The compensations for sin involves life/blood. There is no offering for deliberate sin.

To the Jews, the calendar is vital. It is the catechism of the Jew. However, the same is not true for Christians. You will not find the observation of Christmas,

Easter, among Christians in the New Testament.

What was the 7th month in the Old Covenant – the month Nisan (also called Abib), becomes the 1st month in the Mosaic Covenant to commemorate the

Passover & their redemption from bondage.

Of the Feasts, the first 3 were fulfilled at Jesus’ First Coming:

Passover

Firstfruits—Jesus Christ was resurrected on the Feast of Firstfruits—the firstborn from the dead.

Pentecost

Note that at the First Pentecost in Exodus in the OT, 3000 people were killed when judgment came to the Israelites for rebelling against the Law. In the New

Testament, 3000 were saved on the Pentecost with the coming of the Holy Spirit. The law renders death but the Spirit gives life. Flesh vs Spirit; Law vs Grace.

The last 3 Feasts will be fulfilled at Jesus’ second coming:

Trumpets

Day of Atonement – this is the heart of Leviticus. The scapegoat is released.

Tabernacles

Everything builds up to the Day of Atonement when the scapegoat is released, a picture of Jesus Christ who bore our sins on His own body.

Jubilee – acceptable year of the Lord.

Jesus spoke in Luke 4:18 referring to the Jubilee being fulfilled in His coming. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach

deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

Please see some of the corresponding laws decreed in Leviticus to answer to certain incidents in Genesis.

The book of Leviticus ends with blessings of obedience and curses for disobedience. If the people disobey, the curses get worse and worse to the

point that the nation would be removed from the land & dispersed throughout the nations. But if they repent, YHWH will bring them back to the land. The story

of the rest of the Old Testament is an account of the people of Israel living this out.