Leviticus

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Leviticus is all about the Lord’s covenant with his people. We have a holy God who wanted to be in a relationship with his people, the Israelites but they needed to be holy in order to do so. The word ‘holy’ means dedicated to God or set apart for a special purpose i.e. the purposes of God.

The way to relate to God in the Old Testament was through the priesthood. Because of sin, human beings could not relate directly to God. They needed to go through a priest, and in particular they needed a high priest.¹

In the Old Testament, according to the Jewish tradition, only the high priest could enter the Holy of Holies (Most Holy Place), the innermost sanctum of the Tabernacle, and only once a year on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). The high priest would communicate with God on behalf of the people of Israel, offering sacrifices and prayers for forgiveness of sins.

However, regular priests were permitted to enter the Holy Place, the outer chamber of the Tabernacle, to perform various rituals and duties, but they didn’t directly converse with God in the same way the high priest did in the Holy of Holies.

Sacrifice of animals was core to worshipping God in the Old Testament. It is difficult for us to understand why this barbaric practice would have been necessary, yet it was. The Lord required an offering for sin, the death of the animal would take place instead of the death of the person who sinned. This was the requirement of a holy God who detests sin.  In order to stay in a relationship with God the people had to sacrifice an animal to atone for their sins. The word, ‘atone’ means to make amends or to reconcile for a wrongdoing or a sin, often through repentance (saying sorry to God and the people we hurt and being committed to change and taking serious action in that regard) for forgiveness. It’s about seeking reconciliation or making right for past transgressions. “When the covenant relationship was broken through certain types of offences, repentant Israelites could obtain God’s forgiveness by offering a substitute to take the penalty of their sin. In this way, sacrifice served as a divinely sanctioned means for restoring covenant relationship.”²

The people’s most valued possessions were their animals, often they would not even eat meat as they could not afford to kill their animals. By giving an animal as an offering they were also giving something valuable to the Lord, which meant something to them. It had to be an animal without defect, so giving their best to the Lord was not only necessary, it was a sign of love and respect.

There were many laws given about different types of sacrifices (gifts to God), for example burnt, purification and guilt offerings, which were for sin; a grain offering, which was a gift and given to the priests afterwards to eat; a peace (or fellowship) offering was for fellowship with others and God and the food would be shared and eaten.

There were special rules for the priests who were responsible for keeping the people holy. Aaron and his sons were dedicated to the priesthood in a special ceremony, where a sin offering, a burnt offering and peace offering were made.

Leviticus also contains other laws, such as food laws, indicating which animals could be eaten and those which should not. These laws were quite likely included to protect the people from food which carried disease or contaminated easily. There were also laws about childbirth, where women having given birth were unclean for a prescribed amount of time; laws about suspected skin disease, where people had to be quarantined as well as washing instructions for the body.

The Day of Atonement took place once a year in September or October. This was when Aaron, the high priest went into the Most Holy Place (after forgiveness of his own sin) and spoke with the Lord. He then cleansed the Tabernacle and the people from their sins. This ceremony reminded the people of their sin which cut them off from God and the need for atonement to bring forgiveness and restore their relationship with God.

There were also laws for life and worship. Blood was considered as sacred and all sacrifices had to take place in the right place and to the right person, i.e. the Lord. This contrasts offerings made to other gods by other nations, who the people would later encounter.

The law also spoke of sexual taboos, like marriage between those closely related by blood, adultery, child-sacrifice, etc. Such behaviour would bring judgement on the land. 

The law also contained rules for helping the poor, foreigners and disabled people. The Lord cared for all of these people too.

There were also rules for feasts and celebrations, like the Sabbath, Passover, Feast of Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, The Feast of Weeks (Pentacost) etc. Each celebration had a special meaning and purpose.

The Lord gave very specific instructions to the people he loved as a way for them to maintain their relationship with a holy God. The system of animal sacrifice was not ideal but it was necessary. It was not the Lord’s final plan for his people and the rest of the world.

In the New Testament we see that Jesus was the Lord’s final plan to set humanity free from death caused by sin. Jesus became the final sacrifice, a once and for all offering for the sins of everybody. Here we see that Leviticus is fulfilled in Christ. Jesus shed his sacred blood to atone for the sins of the people (everyone). Now under the new covenant, when we sin we talk to the Lord and ask for forgiveness, without the need to sacrifice an animal. The Lord, who is still holy can look upon us because of the blood of Jesus shed for us. We are protected by the blood of Jesus and everyone (not just the hight priest) can go into the presence of God or approach the throne of God freely and talk to him. Because they did not have Jesus, the Israelites were not able to go into the presence of God in the Most Holy Place, only the high priest, Aaron could do this and only once a year. The priests were the go-between God and his people. Jesus death and resurrection changed everything.

“The death of Christ: He is the true lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29); He gave his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45); His blood purifies us from all sin (1 John 1:7); … Christ is both the perfect priest who offers sacrifice and the ultimate sacrificial victim, whose death makes all further animal sacrifice unnecessary.”³

Hebrews 4:14-16 NLT‬
“So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.”19)It is amazing what Jesus did for us. He was fully human and felt pain, just like we do, yet he was obedient to death by crucifixion because of his love and the Father’s love for us.

“Through repentance and forgiveness your relationship with God is utterly transformed and you can come directly into God’s presence, just as the Old Testament priests did when they entered the Tent of Meeting (Tabernacle).”⁴

Hebrews 10:22 NLT‬ “Let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.”

Prayer: Lord Jesus thank you for agreeing to carry out your purpose on earth, which was to die and be resurrected.  Although you knew that you would have to experience the pain of crucifixion and take upon yourself all the sins of the world, you still choose to do it. It is because of your love for humanity that you chose to follow that difficult path anyway. Thank you Lord that now our sins can be forgiven by asking for your forgiveness. Thank you that the blood you shed makes us pure and reconciles us with God. Thank you for saving us Jesus. Amen.

Footnotes:

¹The bible with Nicky and Pippa Gumble, Classic version, 2024, Day 62, Publisher:  Alpha

²An Introduction to the Old Testament:1995 by Raymond B. Dillard and Tremper Longman III, Apollos, Leicester, p77.

³’Sacrifice’ by Nobuyoshi Kiuchi in The Lion Handbook to the Bible,third edition, Pat and David Alexander, eds., Lion Publishing: Oxford, 2002, p183.

⁴The bible with Nicky and Pippa Gumble, Classic version, 2024, Day 62, Publisher:  Alpha

References:

1) An Introduction to the Old Testament:1995 by Raymond B. Dillard and Tremper Longman III, Apollos, Leicester, p76-82.

2) ‘Leviticus’ in The 5 Books by John Taylor in The Lion Handbook to the Bible, third edition, Pat and David Alexander, eds., Lion Publishing: Oxford, 2002, p180-192

3) Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.