The Book of Leviticus
Chapter 1: The Burnt Offering
Summary
God summons Moses and speaks to him at the tent of meeting. God tells him to instruct the Israelites about how to bring and prepare a burnt offering to the Lord to make atonement for sins.Verses of Interest
- Leviticus 1:1-2 - Then the Lord summoned Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting: "Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When any of you brings an offering to the Lord from the livestock, you may bring your offering from the herd or the flock."
Thoughts on the Text
- The Book of Leviticus was written by Moses. It is a part of the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible. The book opens and closes at the same geographical location , at Mount Sinai, where God gave the Law to Moses and the Israelites. Exodus ends with the construction of the tabernacle and the glory of the Lord filling the tabernacle. Now, in the book of Leviticus, the rules of worship and offerings in the tabernacle are given to the Israelites. In essence, Leviticus is a book on how to worship God. In this book we find instructions on sacrifice, ceremony, ritual, liturgy, instructions, washings, convocations, holy days, observances, conditions, warnings, and much more.
- In this book, God is now speaking to Moses and the Israelites from the tabernacle. Moses no longer has to ascend Mount Sinai to speak to God. The glory of the Lord fills the tabernacle.
- Leviticus has two primary messages:
- 1) Leviticus teaches that the way to God is by sacrifice. The word atonement occurs 45 times in this book. Atonement means to "cover up." The blood of bulls and goats did not actually take away sin. It covered over sin until Christ came to take away all sins. Without the shedding of blood, there in no remission of sins.
- 2) Leviticus teaches that the walk with God is by sanctification. The word holiness occurs 87 times in this book. Leviticus 20:26 states, "You are to be holy to Me because I, The Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be Mine." Those who are redeemed by the blood of Christ must live a holy life if they are to enjoy and worship God.
- From "Thru the Bible with J Vernon McGee:" "In Genesis we see an ruined. In Exodus we see man redeemed. In Leviticus we see man worshiping God. We can also make a comparison and contrast between Exodus and Leviticus. In the Book of Exodus we see the offer of pardon; Leviticus offers purity. In Exodus we have God's approach to man; in Leviticus it is man's approach to God. In Exodus, Christ is the Savior; in Leviticus, He is the Sanctifier. In Exodus man's guilt is prominent; in Leviticus man's defilement is prominent. In Exodus, God speaks out of the mount; in Leviticus, He speaks out of the tabernacle. In exodus man is made nigh to God; in Leviticus man is kept nigh to God."
- The burnt offering is the oldest offering known to man. Abel, Noah, and Abraham all made a burnt offering to the Lord. This offering is highly important and it is a picture of Christ. Christ is our substitute. Ephesians 5:2 states, "And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour."
- Three types of animals were used for the burnt offering. Animals of the herd are cattle, animals of the flock are sheep, and birds such as turtledoves and young pigeons are used as well. All animals used are herbivores. God strictly forbids the use of carnivorous animals as this would not be an ideal picture of Christ. The animals used for the sacrifice must be clean, unblemished, male, and domesticated. This speaks of the perfection of Christ. There was no sin in Christ; He did not sin; He knew no sin; He was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners. and He is the beloved son of the Father in heaven.
- In the Gospels we find that when Christ died, the veil of the temple was torn in two. It was His death which opened the way to God; it was His death which saves the sinner.
- The burnt offering was a public act. The Israelite was required to go tot he tabernacle, walk to the side of the altar, and there he slew the little animal. Likewise, A sinner needs to confess Christ publicly. By faith, we place our hand on Christ, but the public needs to know that we do it. This is also why we are baptized publicly after we are saved. To be baptized means to be identified with Christ in His death and in His resurrection.
- Our sins put Jesus Christ to death on the cross. If you want it made very personal, my sin is responsible for the death of Christ your sin is responsible for the death of Christ. If we weren't sinners, nobody would have put Jesus Christ to death on the cross. We are all to blame for Jesus Christ's death.
- We must let God cleanse and purify our life. When we are sanctified and become more holy, then we can begin serving God. If we don't cleanse our life of sin are we really even saved. If there is no repentance we should question if our salvation is legitimate, or did we just pretend to be saved.
- God allowed the poor people of Israel to bring a bird as a substitute for a sheep or bull. God allowed all the people of Israel to make a burnt offering for the atonement of their sins. No one is excluded from the saving grace of Christ's death, burial, and resurrection. God's sacrifice on the cross covers all our sins! Amen.
Summary
God continues to speak with Moses at the tent of meeting. God tells him to instruct the Israelites about how to bring a grain offering of fine flour as a gift to the Lord.
Verses of Interest
- Leviticus 2:1-3 - "When anyone presents a grain offering as a gift to the Lord, his gift must consist of fine flour. He is to pour olive oil on it, put frankincense on it, and bring it to Aaron's sons the priests. The priest will take a handful of the fine flour and oil from it, along with all its frankincense, and will burn this memorial portion of it on the altar, a fire offering of a pleasing aroma to the Lord. But the rest of the grain offering will belong to Aaron and his sons, the holiest part of the fire offerings to the Lord."
- Leviticus 2:11 - "No grain offering that you present to the Lord is to be made with yeast, for you are not to burn any yeast or honey s a fire offering to the Lord.
- Leviticus 2:13 - You are to season each of your grain offerings with salt; you must not omit from your grain offering the salt of the covenant with your God. You are to present salt with each of your offerings."
- Leviticus 2:14 - "If you present a grain offering of firstfruits to the Lord, you must present fresh heads of rain, crushed kernels, roasted on the fire, for your grain offering of firstfruits."
Thoughts on the Text
- This chapter in the book of Leviticus discusses the grain offering, also known as the meal offering. This offering reveals the humanity of Jesus in all its perfection and loveliness. This offering to the Lord requires no shedding of blood, so it is different from all the other offerings. The meal offering could be offered baked or unbaked. Also, Aaron and his sons are to receive a portion of this offering to eat. The grain offering is to be eaten by all the males in the family of Aaron, or all the priests.
- There are two important aspects of this offering: 1) the ingredients which are included and 2) the ingredients which are excluded. The offering is to be made with fine flour. Also, olive oil should be poured on top of the flour. The olive oil speaks of the Holy Spirit. The Holy spirit dwelt within Jesus, and when we accept Jesus as our Savior, the Holy Spirit dwells within us. Frankincense was also used in the offering. This frankincense speaks of the sweet fragrance of Jesus Christ's life. Jesus Christ displayed a life of love along with all the fruits of the Holy Spirit. If Jesus Christ's life were to smell, his life would have a sweet aroma. Our lives should also display love and smell sweet like Christ. The last ingredient included in the offering was salt. Salt is a preservative and the opposite of leaven. Salt preserves the food from corruption. According to "Thru the Bible with J Vernon McGee, "The salt of the covenant is still eaten among Arabs as a seal to bind one in faithful obedience to a covenant. Salt was the token off faithfulness between the offeror and God. Christ is faithful...He is faithful and true...Christians are to be the salt of the world. We do this by offering ourselves as a living sacrifice to God." So, as salt of the earth, Christians preserve the world from the decay of evil.The ingredients specifically excluded in this grain offering are leaven, or yeast, and honey. Leaven is presented in the scriptures as a principle of evil. For example, Jesus talked about the leaven of the Pharisees, or their false doctrine they were teaching at the time of Christ. This false doctrine, or leaven, was evil. So, the grain offering is to be prepared without leaven to symbolize that there is no evil in Christ. Jesus Christ never sinned and his doctrine, or teaching, was 100% absolute truth. The honey represents a natural sweetness that will sour. I guess it represents a fake front of sweetness. It is the outward appearance of love, but inwardly it is just a façade. This again is similar to the Pharisees. The Pharisee taught love, and put on the appearance of being a Christian, but really their hearts were corrupt.
- This chapter contains detailed instructions for the ritual of the grain offering, and it honestly sounds a bit like a recipe for making bread. I love olive oil and herbs on bread. It is very tasty.
- Finally, this chapter touches on the topic of the offering of firstfruits. The Feast of Firstfruits was a grain offering as well as the Feast of Pentecost. Let us remember that the grain offering sets forth Christ in his consecration. It also represents the consecration of believers in Christ. The grain offering pictures the perfect humanity of Christ.
Chapter 3: The Fellowship Offering
Summary
Verses of Interest
- Leviticus 3:1-5 - "If his offering is a fellowship sacrifice, and he is presenting an animal from the herd, whether male or female, he must present one without blemish before the Lord. He is to lay his hand on the head of his offering and slaughter it at the entrance to the tent of meeting. Then Aaron’s sons the priests will sprinkle the blood on all sides of the altar. He will present part of the fellowship sacrifice as a fire offering to the Lord: the fat surrounding the entrails, all the fat that is on the entrails, and the two kidneys with the fat on them at the loins; he will also remove the fatty lobe of the liver with the kidneys. Aaron’s sons will burn it on the altar along with the burnt offering that is on the burning wood, a fire offering of a pleasing aroma to the Lord.
- Leviticus 3:16-17 - "...All fat belongs to the Lord. This is a permanent statue throughout your generations, wherever you live: you must not eat any fat or any blood."
Thoughts on the Text
- This is the third of five offerings presented in the book of Leviticus. This chapter gives detailed instructions about the fellowship offering given at the tent of meeting. This offering speaks of the communion and fellowship of believers with God the Father through our Lord Jesus Christ. The only way to come to God is through our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is the only way. This way is made possible by Jesus and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit upon salvation. 1 John 1:3 states, "what we have seen and heard we also declare to you, so that you may have fellowship along with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ." The fellowship offering brings all Christians together. We are all unified by the saving grace of Jesus Christ.
- This offering seems very similar to the burnt offering. One difference is that a male or female cow or lamb without blemish can be offered up for sacrifice in the fellowship offering. In the burnt offering only a male animal could be offered as a sacrifice. In the fellowship offering, only a specified portion of the animal was placed on the altar; the fat an inward parts of the animal. In the burnt offering, all of the animal was placed on the altar. In both sacrifices, the offerings were consumed by fire.
- God gives the Israelites two prohibitions: All of the fat is the Lord's and man should not eat fat or blood. In Old Testament times, the fat was considered the best part of the animal. So, the Israelites were made to give the best parts of the sacrificed animal to the Lord. The Israelites were not to eat blood because the blood symbolized the redemption of sins. The blood covers the sins of the Israelites, and they are able to come to the table of communion and fellowship with the Lord because of the blood. From "Thru the Bible with J Vernon McGee, "Salvation is by the blood. Sanctification and service are by the fat."
Chapter 4: The Sin Offering
Summary
God tells Moses to instruct the Israelites how to present a sin offering to the Lord when someone sins unintentionally against any of the Lord's commands, doing anything prohibited by them. Specifically, God tells Moses what is to be done if the anointed priest sins or if the whole community of Israel commits a sin. During the sin offering for the assembly of Israel, the community is to bring a young bull as a sacrifice to the Lord. The priest will make atonement on their behalf, and they will be forgiven. God also tells Moses the sin offering to be given by a leader that has broken the Lord's commands and when a common man sins against the Lord. The sin offering is to be performed in order to atone and forgive one's sin. The priest and his sons perform all the offerings and sacrifices to the Lord.
Verses of Interest
- Leviticus 4:1-2 - The the Lord spoke to Moses: "Tell the Israelites: When someone sins unintentionally against any of the Lord's ccommands and dows anything prohibited by them--"
- Leviticus 4:13-14 - "Now if the whole community of Israel errs, and the atter escapes the notice of the assembly, so that they violate any of the Lord's commands an incur guilt by doing what is prohibited, then the assembly must present a young bull as a sin offering. The the sin they have committed in regard to the commmand becomes known, tey are to bring it befroe the tent of meeting."
- Leviticus 4:20 - He is to offer this bull just as he did with the bul in the sin offering; he will offer it the same way. So the priest will make atonement on their behalf, and they will be forgiven."
Thoughts on the Text
- The sin offering reveals the divine work and atoning power of Christ on the cross for all of mankind's sin. The sin offering reveals that sin is the nature of man. Man is a sinner by nature. No man is born perfect like Christ. We all fall into sin at some point or another during our lives. Therefore, we need something to take the place of our sins in order to forgive us of our sins. Here in Leviticus, God instructed the Israelites to offer up a sacrifice to the Lord as a sin offering. This sin offering would atone for and forgive the sinner of his sins. Later on, Christ came down to earth in the form of a man. He was fully God, and He was fully man. However, He was perfect. Jesus never sinned. He was offered up as a sacrifice, on the cross, for mankind's sins. He was the perfect sacrifice, and if we only believe, half faith, and repent of our sins, Jesus will gladly forgive our sins past, present, and future. Since Jesus was the ultimate perfect sacrifice, there is no longer a need to sacrifice animals to atone for our sin.
- The sin offering is distinct from the other offerings because:
- It is the longest account of any offering given in the book of Leviticus.
- The sin offering is a new offering presented in the book of Leviticus. This is the first time the sin offering is mentioned in the Bible.
- It is the most important offering of man after man received the Law from God. Man was a sinner before the Law, but the Law revealed mankind's sins and the need for mankind to offer a sacrifice to atone and forgive those sins. From "Thru the Bible with J Vernon McGee," "The sin offering was offered during all of the feasts--Passover, Pentecost, Trumpets, and Tabernacles. It was offered on the great Day of Atonement. It brought the High Priest into the Holy of Holies."
- "The sin offering is in contrast to the burnt offering. They are both presented at the same place. The burnt offering tells who Christ is; the sin offering tells what Christ did. In the burnt offering Christ meets the demands of God's high and holy standard; in the sin offering Christ meets the deep and desperate needs of man. The burnt offering was a voluntary offering; the sin offering was commanded. The burnt offering ascended; the sin offering was poured out. The one went up and the other went down."
- We are brought to the realization that the sin offering is for someone that sins unintentionally against the Lord's commands. If a man sinned willfully and deliberately, the sin offering did nothing. If we reject Jesus Christ, our sins will not be forgiven. Hebrews 10:26 states, "For if we deliberately sin after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire about to consume the adversaries."
- We see here the literal interpretation or the wages of sin is death. Israelite sins are the reason behind all of the animal sacrifices given in the sin offering. Now, all our sins are the reason for the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross.
- We will not always know the sins that we commit. Every day, we sin without knowing what the sin is. So, we should always ask God for forgiveness whether we know what sin we commit or not. We must realize and confess that we, as humans, are a sinner
- There are four different types of sin offerings brought up in this chapter. The sin offering an anointed priest should make, the sin offering the whole community of Israel is to make, the sin offering a leader of Israel is to make, and the sin offering a common man or woman of Israel is to make before the Lord. The purpose of the sin offering, no matter the offender, was the same thing: to confess and ask forgiveness of sins. 1 John 1:9 states, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Likewise, Hebrews 9:22 declares, "An almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission."
- From "Thru the Bible with J Vernon McGee:" "My friend, the important thing for you to understand is that when Christ forgives you your sin, He also forgives you. There is nothing more to be said about it. He has put it in the bottom of the sea. he has removed it as far as the east is from the west. He has removed it so that He will not even remember it. He settles the sin question. That rids us of our guilt complexes. You need never wonder whether He has really forgiven you. He took away all your sin and guilt. All of it. When you come to Christ and see Him, you will find Him adequate."
- After our sins are forgiven, we need to strive to do our best not to sin again in the same ways. Romans 6:1-2 states, "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?"
Chapter 5: Cases Requiring Sin Offerings and the Restitution Offering
Summary
This chapter lists four different cases requiring a sin offering. If someone incurs guilt in one of these cases he is to confess he has committed that sin, and bring a female lamb or goat from the flock as a sin offering. If he can't afford an animal from the flock he may bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons as restitution for his sin. If he can't afford the turtledoves or pigeons, he may bring two quarts of fine flour as an offering for his sin. Next in this chapter, the restitution offering is described. If someone sins unintentionally and violates any of the Lord's commands concerning anything prohibited, he bears the consequences of his guilt. As a result, he must sacrifice an unblemished ram to the Lord to atone for his sin. This is a restitution offering to the Lord.
Verses of Interest
- Leviticus 5:5-6 - "If someone incurs guilt in one of these cases, he is to confess he has committed that sin. He must bring his restitution for the sin he has committed to the Lord: a female lamb or goat from the flock as a sin offering. In this way the priest will make atonement on his behalf for his sin."
- Leviticus 5:14-15 - "Then the Lord spoke to Moses: "If someone offends by sinning unintentionally in regard to any of the Lord's holy things, he must bring his restitution offering to the Lord: an unblemished ram from the flock by your valuation in silver shekels, according to the sanctuary shekel, as a restitution offering. He must make restitution for his sin regarding any holy thing, adding a fifth of its value to it, and give it to the priest. Then the priest will make atonement on his behalf with the ram of the restitution offering, and he will be forgiven."
Thoughts on the Text
- This chapter is sometimes known as the cases that require a "trespass" offering. A trespass is the invasion of the rights of either God or man. Our trespasses arise out of our sin nature. The good works that we do, aren't all that good. They definitely aren't good enough to give us our salvation. Our good works won't get us into heaven. Our good works are as filthy rags. Jesus Christ saves us by His grace. Our salvation is in the hands of Christ.
- Here in the book of Leviticus, there are listed four specific sins that require the sin offering:
- If a witness has seen or knows something, but he withholds the truth to the detriment of some individual, then that is a sin of omission. James 4:17 reiterates this command, "Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin."
- A law on uncleanness. If you touch any unclean thing then you will become unclean and guilty. Today, this resonates with me. If we see anything, hear anything, or think anything that is unclean, then we also become unclean and guilty. Watching an R rated movie can violate this law. It could be that watching certain movies could be a sin. We may be unclean and not even realize it. We should pray to God to ask foorgiveness of our unintentional sins.
- Another law concerning touching the uncleanness of any man. If someone touches the uncleanness of any human, then he will become unclean and sin.
- It is a sin to promise to do something and then not do it. This is a lie. A rash promise can turn into a sin.
- In this chapter a confession to God is commanded for the first time. All of these sins are secret sins. Even the hidden sins need to be confessed before God and man. Here, in the sin offering, confession comes first, then the offering. Afterward, the man or woman is forgiven for their sins. The believer today is to confess his sin to God privately but his is to make restitution to the injured party.
- God offers all to come before him, confess their sins, and ask for forgiveness. He did this now and then. Back then, the rich could bring a female lamb or goat from the flock, while the poor could bring two turtledoves, two pigeons, or fine flour as their sin offering before the Lord. God offers His gift of salvation to all people on the earth.
- Sin is sin. Ignorance of the Law of God is no excuse. Whether you know the Law or not, when you do something wrong, you have sinned against God.
Summary
This chapter contains more information concerning the burnt offering, the grain offering, and the sin offering.
Verses of Interest
- Leviticus 6:1 - The Lord spoke to Moses
- Leviticus 6:9 - "Command Aaron and his sons: This is the law of the burnt offering; the burnt offering itself must remain on the altar's hearth all night until morning, while the fire of the altar is kept burning on it."
- Leviticus 6:14-15 - "Now this is the law of the grain offering: Aaron's sons will present it before the Lord in front of the altar. The priest is to remove a handful of fine flour and olive oil from the grain offering, with all the frankincense that is on the offering, and burn its memorial portion on the altar as a pleasing aroma to the Lord."
- Leviticus 6:25-26 - "Tell Aaron and his sons: This is the law of the sin offering. The sin offering is most holy and must be slaughtered before the Lord at the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered. The priest who offers it as a sin offering is to eat it. It must e eaten in a holy place, in the courtyard of the tent of meeting."
Thoughts on the Text
- Chapters 6 and 7 contain the special rules for the priests who minister at the altar of God. The high priests of the Old Testament foreshadow the ultimate high priest, Jesus Christ, who is to come and lay down his life on behalf of all our sins.
- Leviticus 6:1-7 provides a separate revelation from God. These verses show that sin against a neighbor is a sin against God. These rules or commands stem from the Golden Rule. When we sin against our neighbor we sin against God.
- Speaking of sacrificial offerings, we should offer ourselves as a living sacrifice to God. We need to offer our own hearts and lives to God, if we belong to Him and are saved. We need to believe on Jesus, the One whom God sent. God can not accept the works of the flesh. It is only the fruit of the Holy Spirit which is acceptable to Him. The Spirit of God must produce this in our lives. Galatians 5:22-23 states, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law."
- From "Thru the Bible with J Vernon McGee, "The continual burning on the altar should remind us that the fire of God burns continually. For those who reject Jesus Christ, this means the fire of God's wrath. "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him" (John 3:26).
- Also from "Thru the Bible with J Vernon McGee, "The sin offering, which speaks of the work of Christ on the cross, was to be offered where the burnt offering was sacrificed. The burnt offering speaks of the person of Christ. Christ must be holy, harmless, and free from sin to be a satisfactory offering for sin. He must be able to save...He was made sin for us and He died in our place."
Summary
This chapter provides more information on the restitution offering, the fellowship sacrifice, fat and blood prohibited from the Israelite diet, and the portion of the offerings for the priests.
Verses of Interest
- Leviticus 7:37 - This is the law for the burnt offering, the grain offering, the sin offering, the restitution offering, the ordination offering, and the fellowship sacrifice, which the Lord commanded Moses on Mount Sinai on the day He commanded the Israelites to present their offerings to the Lord in the Wilderness of Sinai.
Thoughts on the Text
- This chapter starts by discussing the restitution offering. According to the Word, it is especially holy. This sacrifice points to the worth and merit of Christ. From "Thru the Bible with J. Vernon McGee:" "When we see our sin nature and our sinful acts in all their enormity and frightfulness, then we shall see the wonder, greatness, and holiness of Christ. My friend, you will never appreciate the Lord Jesus as your Savior until you see yourself as the terrible sinner that you are. I'm not calling you a low-down sinner. That is what the Word of God calls each one of us."
- Next, this chapter explains the peace offering or fellowship sacrifice. This sacrifice must be a freewill offering to the Lord. Thanksgiving to the Lord is key. Hebrews 13:15 states, "By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name." We should always be willing to offer our praise and worship up to God. We should worship God without ceasing throughout our day. If we keep God first in our minds, fruitful thoughts and works will follow. This is our sacrifice unto the Lord. We should realize, however, that peace with God does not depend on the believer attaining sinless perfection. We are flawed at birth and we will be flawed throughout our entire life. The believer is to confess his sin for forgiveness and cleansing, then he is to walk by the new nature in the power of the Holy Spirit. Even though we are flawed, we need to try to walk as close to God as possible. This is the purpose of the peace offering. We are to stay very close to Christ for peace of conscience and for power over temptation. Only the Christians, who have accepted Christ as savior, will receive true peace in this lifetime. These sacrifices are the picture of the Lord Jesus. He is adequate, wonderful, and His blood covers all sins.
- According to the Word, one who ate the peace offering was to be cast out from his people. Blood was not to be eaten as well. The Israelites were also forbidden to eat the fat of the sacrificial animal because the fat belonged to the Lord.
- From "Thru the Bible with J. Vernon McGee:" "Aaron, his sons, and the priest received as their portion of the peace offering the breast and the shoulder. The breast speaks of the love of Christ for us...The shoulder speaks of the power and strength of Christ. He is able to save to the uttermost." "All of these sacrifices in the Old Testament were not an end in themselves. The Old Testament saint was saved by faith just as we are saved by faith...God was pleased when the sacrifices were brought in faith and in thanksgiving...All the sacrifices in the Old Testament demanded a more perfect antitype. This is found in Christ!"
Summary
Moses ordains Aaron and his sons as the priests of the tent of meeting. The ordination took place in order to atone for their sins before becoming priests. During the ceremony, one bull and two rams were sacrificed. After the ordination, Aaron and his sons remained in the tent of meeting for seven days. They were to keep the Lord's charge or else they would die.
Verses of Interest
- Leviticus 8:1-3 - The Lord spoke to Moses: "Take Aaron, his sons with him, the garments, the anointing oil, the bull of the sin offering, the two rams, and the basket of unleavened bread, and assemble the whole community at the entrance to the tent of meeting."
- Leviticus 8:6 - Then Moses presented Aaron and his sons and washed them with water.
- Leviticus 8:10 - Then Moses took the anointing oil and anointed the tabernacle and everything in it to consecrate them.
- Leviticus 8:14-15 - "Then he brought the bull near for the sin offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the bull for the sin offering. Then Moses slaughtered it,[b] took the blood, and applied it with his finger to the horns of the altar on all sides, purifying the altar. He poured out the blood at the base of the altar and consecrated it so that atonement can be made on it."
- Leviticus 8:18-19 - Then he presented the ram for the burnt offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram. Moses slaughtered it and sprinkled the blood on all sides of the altar.
- Leviticus 8:22-23 - Next he presented the second ram, the ram of ordination, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram. Moses slaughtered it, took some of its blood, and put it on Aaron’s right earlobe, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.
- Leviticus 8:33-36 - You must not go outside the entrance to the tent of meeting for seven days, until the time your days of ordination are completed, because it will take seven days to ordain you. The Lord commanded what has been done today in order to make atonement for you. You must remain at the entrance to the tent of meeting day and night for seven days and keep the Lord’s charge so that you will not die, for this is what I was commanded.” So Aaron and his sons did everything the Lord had commanded through Moses.
Thoughts on the Text
- This chapter in the Bible is about the consecration of the priests of the tent of meeting. The priests come from the tribe of Levi, known as the Levites. It can almost be said that the book of Leviticus is a book directly written for the Levites. Originally, God wanted Israel to be a kingdom of priests. Exodus 19:6 states, "And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation..." Unfortunately, Israel's sin nature got in the way of God's plan, and they worshipped the golden calf instead of God. This sin disallowed the entire nation of Israel to be a nation of priests. Instead, one tribe out of the twelve was called to be priests. This is the tribe of Levi. Aaron was the high priest of the Levite clan of Israel. Today, the church is a priesthood, and Jesus Christ is the great high priest!
- Hebrews 5:1 explains the purpose of a priest, "For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins." In his book, J Vernon McGee states, "a priest is one who represents man before God. He goes in to God on behalf of man."
- We see here that Aaron and his sons, the priests of the tabernacle, had to be cleansed and atoned for before becoming priests. They had to be made holy by washing and the shedding of blood. Titus 3:5 states, "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost." Also, 1 John 1:9 explains, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Even though they were going to be priests, we see that Aaron and his sons were far from perfect. They needed to be forgiven and cleansed like everyone else. Once cleansed, they were fit to serve the Lord and become priests for the nation of Israel. In essence, the Holy Ghost renews us, the Word of God cleanses us, while we come to know God the Father thru the son, Jesus Christ.
- During the ordination and consecration, Moses performed a sin offering, a burnt offering, and a consecration or trespass offering for Aaron and his sons, the Levite priests of Israel. At the commandment of God, Aaron and his sons are to remain in the tabernacle for seven days of consecration and meditation. The Bible says, if they were to leave the tabernacle during this time, they would die. This reveals that as priests, Aaron and his sons had a tremendous responsibility to the people of Israel. Likewise, as Christians we have a tremendous responsibility to spread the Gospel to all the people of the Earth. The souls of our fellow men and women are at stake. Let us take a stand and do as God commands in the Great Commission to spread the Gospel here, there, and everywhere!
Summary
After the seventh day, on the eighth day, Moses summons Aaron and his sons out of the tent of meeting along with the elders of Israel. Moses tells them to make sin offerings and burnt offerings to the Lord. All the Israelites are to make various offerings to the Lord as well. Aaron sacrifices all the offerings to the Lord. This is the priests duty from here on out until the New Testament. After the sacrifices, Moses and Aaron come out of the tent of meeting, and they bless all the Israelites. The glory of the Lord appears to all the people in the form of fire. The people of Israel bow down facedown on the ground
Verses of Interest
- Leviticus 9:1-4 - On the eighth day Moses summoned Aaron, his sons, and the elders of Israel. He said to Aaron, “Take a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering, both without blemish, and present them before the Lord. And tell the Israelites: Take a male goat for a sin offering; a calf and a lamb, male yearlings without blemish, for a burnt offering; an ox and a ram for a fellowship offering to sacrifice before the Lord; and a grain offering mixed with oil. For today the Lord is going to appear to you.”
Leviticus 9:22-24 - Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and blessed them. He came down after sacrificing the sin offering, the burnt offering, and the fellowship offering. Moses and Aaron then entered the tent of meeting. When they came out, they blessed the people, and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people. Fire came from the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell facedown on the ground.
Thoughts on the Text
- This chapter reveals the initiation of Aaron and his sons into the service of the priest hood, and it gives in detail the daily ritual of the service of the priests. Here, Aaron and his sons actually become priests of Israel.
- Aaron and his sons come out of the tent of meeting on the eighth day. The eighth day is the first day of the week. This is also the day that Jesus was resurrected from the dead. This is the day that Aaron became a high priest. Now, after Jesus resurrected and ascended to heaven he became our high priest. Coincidence? I think not.
- We see here that Aaron, as high priest of Israel, was required to make a sin offering for himself. Aaron was a sinner. By making a sin offering, Aaron was declaring that he was not the Christ but that there would be One who comes after him, Jesus, who would be the great High priest of the entire world; the savior of the earth!
- From "Thru the Bible with J Vernon McGee:" "Blessing follows the offering of the three offerings: the sin offering, the burnt offering, and the peace offering. Then Moses and Aaron retired into the tabernacle. It is thought that at the time of the evening sacrifice they came forth to bless the people and then the glory of the Lord appeared. All is complete now. The people shout and fall on their faces in adoration and praise. Christ is now entered into the Holy Place, which is in heaven itself, to appear there for you and me today."
Chapter 10: Nadab and Abihu and Regulations for Priests
Summary
Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu, present unauthorized fire before the Lord. God did not command them to do this, so God burned them to death. They disobeyed God, and God killed them. Moses told Aaron that God had said, "I will show My holiness to those who are near me, and I will reveal My glory before all people." Aaron remained silent. Mishael and Elzaphan, Nadab and Abihu's cousins, buried them. Then, the Lord speaks to Aaron and gives him regulations priests are to live by.
Verses of Interest
- Leviticus 10:1-2 - "Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu each took his own firepan, put fire in it, placed incense on it, and presented unauthorized fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them to do. Then fire came from the Lord and burned them to death before the Lord.
- Leviticus 10:10-11 - "You must distinguish between the holy and the common, and the clean and the unclean, and teach the Israelites all the statutes that the Lord has given to them through Moses.”
- Leviticus 10:19-20 - But Aaron replied to Moses, “See, today they presented their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord. Since these things have happened to me, if I had eaten the sin offering today, would it have been acceptable in the Lord’s sight?” When Moses heard this, it was acceptable to him.
Thoughts on the Text
- This chapter reveals the disobedience of two of Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu. In this instance, their sin literally equals death. We find later in the book of Romans that "...the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." We need to be aware that God is holy. Hebrews 12:28-29 states, "Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us hold on to grace. By it, we may serve God acceptably, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire." Death seems to be a drastic penalty, but this shows us the seriousness of any sin; especially sin in God's presence. We must listen and obey God's Word, or there will be drastic consequences for us and others living on the earth.
- God does not give preferential treatment to anyone. Nadab and Abihu were priests, and God judged them to death. God can and will execute this type of punishment on anyone if it is His will. Rich or poor, powerful or weak, righteous or unrighteous, we all must stand before the judgement of the Lord for our actions. Thank God Jesus came to take away the sins of the world, or no one would have a chance to be saved, forgiven, and given new life in Christ.
- We see in this chapter that God speaks out against the use of alcohol when serving in the tabernacle. If you go into the Holy place even slightly intoxicated you will die. The priests, especially, are to serve the Lord with a clear, steady, and sober mind. When drunk or intoxicated one can not make the distinction between the holy and unholy. All sound judgment is lost. This is the reason that this action is unacceptable to God. This provides evidence that the Christian today should stay away from the use of drugs and alcohol. Life and our spiritual life will be so much better without it.
- In the last part of this chapter there is a sin of omission committed by Aaron's other two sons, Eleazar and Ithamar. They did not commit a deliberate sin. The sin offering was to be eaten in the holy place and that had not been done. Although the blood had been offered, the portion that belonged to the priests had not been eaten. Aaron takes responsibility for his sons, Moses excuses the incident, and the Lord does not kill Aaron's sons for making the mistake.
- From "Thru the Bible with J Vernon McGee:" "There is a wonderful lesson for you and for me. When we come to God, we must come on His terms. This is not an arrangement which we can make. We are not making the rules. God is the One who saves and He is the One who says how we shall be saved. Jesus Christ sys that no man comes to the Father but by Him.
Summary
God tells Moses and Aaron what the Israelites can and can not eat. God tells specifically tells them the clean and unclean land animals, the clean and unclean aquatic animals, the unclean birds, the clean and unclean flying insects, and the unclean swarming creatures. God also tells Aaron and Moses how to purify themselves and other things after touching unclean dead animals.
Verses of Interest
- Leviticus 11:1-3 - The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron: "Tell the Israelites: You may eat any animal with divided hooves and that chews the cud.
- Leviticus 11:8 - Do not eat any of their meat or touch their carcasses--they are unclean for you.
- Leviticus 11:9 - This is what you may eat from all that is in the water: You may eat everything in the water that has find and scales, whether in the seas or streams. But these are to be detestable to you: Everything that does not have fins and scales in the seas or streams, among all the swarming things and other living creatures in the water.
- Leviticus 11:13 - You are to detest these birds. They must not be eaten because they are detestable...:
- Leviticus 11:20 - All winged insects that walk on all fours are to be detestable to you.
- Leviticus 11:24-26 - These will make you unclean. Whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean until evening, and whoever carries any of their carcasses must wash his clothes and will be unclean until evening. All animals that have hooves but do not have a divided hoof and do not chew the cud are unclean for you. Whoever touches them becomes unclean.
- Leviticus 11:43-45 - Do not become contaminated by any creature that swarms; do not become unclean or defiled by them. For I am the Lord your God, so you must consecrate yourselves and be holy because I am holy. You must not defile yourselves by any swarming creature that crawls on the ground. For I am the Lord, who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God, so you must be holy because I am holy.
Thoughts on the Text
- In this chapter, God gives the Israelites a diet, or menu if you will, for them to follow. God cares for His people so much that He orders them specific details on diet and food preparation. These creatures are most likely labeled as unclean because they make you sick when you eat them, possibly you will get food poisoning, or they didn't have the proper tools to cook and clean these particular animals at that time. For whatever reason many animals and creatures were labeled as unclean and detestable. Some of the animals, like the pig, are animals that we eat today. This brings up a critical question. What parts of the Old Testament should we follow, and what parts of the Old Testament are laws and commands specifically for the Israelites to follow at that time?
- Quote of the day: "All and any of our work can be done to the glory of God!"
- Thought of the day: All of our problems, whether big or small to us, are small problems for God. None of our problems are too small for God's attention and care. We need to be sure to pray to God. He listens to us!
- Another thought of the day: God makes the rules. Someone asks, "How do you know what is right?" The answer is that right is what God says is right! This is His universe.
- And another thought of the day: A gallon of dirty water is not made clean by adding a gallon of clean water. On the other hand, one drop of dirty water will contaminate the clean water. A Christian cannot mingle with the world and play with sin without becoming contaminated. We should never mix and mingle with sin.
- From "Thru the Bible with J Vernon McGee:" Since God prescribed certain animals for the diet of His people, and since He definitely forbade others, there must be some benefit in following that diet...Now it is true that God could have acted in an arbitrary fashion in setting up these lines of separation between clean and unclean, but, ordinarily, God acted for the good of His people...the animals which were forbidden to be eaten were largely unclean feeders. The animals rejected by the Mosaic system are more liable to disease."
- God cares about our body because the body is the tabernacle of God today and the very temple of the Holy Spirit. Because a thing is physical does not preclude it from being spiritual.
- From "Thru the Bible with J Vernon McGee:" "God draws a strict line of demarcation between light and darkness, night and day, back and white, right and wrong, clean and unclean. And by the way, God is the One who makes the difference between light and darkness. It is His intent to sharpen man's discriminating nature so that he is sensitive to these God-made distinctions. God wants man to love the good and to loathe the evil. This present age is witnessing the dulling of man's sensibilities to the sharp distinctions between right and wrong and good and bad. Man tries to put everything in life in the gray zone of amorality. God draws these distinctions to drive man to the altar and the shed blood of Christ for cleansing and for forgiveness."
- Israel was forbidden to eat unclean animals, and they were also forbidden to touch the carcass of an unclean animal. If they were to touch something unclean, they would become contaminated.
- From "Thru the Bible with J Vernon McGee:" "Cleanness or holiness is not transferred by contact. ON the contrary, dirt, sin, and unholiness are transferred by contact. In other words, it is impossible to bring holiness out of the unholy. But the unclean can affect the clean. An unrighteous man cannot produce righteous works which are acceptable to God. You cannot bring righteousness out of unrighteousness."
- Thought of the day: Little sins are as heinous in God's sight as big sins. The mote and the beam are alike to God. Little sins are also sin and must be avoided.
- We see in this chapter that cleanliness is next to Godliness, both literally and spiritually.
Summary
In this chapter, God gives commands for a woman who gives birth to a child. The woman who gives birth to a child must follow certain regulations in order to become purified. After her days of purification, she must offer a burnt offering and a sin offering. The priest will present them before the Lord and make atonement on her behalf. Then, she will be clean.Verses of Interest
- Leviticus 12:1-4 - The Lord spoke to Moses: “Tell the Israelites: When a woman becomes pregnant and gives birth to a male child, she will be unclean seven days, as she is during the days of her menstrual impurity. The flesh of his foreskin must be circumcised on the eighth day. She will continue in purification from her bleeding for 33 days. She must not touch any holy thing or go into the sanctuary until completing her days of purification.
- Leviticus 12:6-7 - When her days of purification are complete, whether for a son or daughter, she is to bring to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting a year-old male lamb for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering. He will present them before the Lord and make atonement on her behalf; she will be clean from her discharge of blood. This is the law for a woman giving birth, whether to a male or female.
Thoughts on the Text
- It seems kind of strange for a woman to be unclean after giving birth. She even has to offer a burnt offering and a sin offering to the Lord after giving birth according to the Mosaic Law. To me, this reveals that our sin nature is internal and given at birth. The woman giving birth has a sinful nature, and the child is born into sin and has a sinful nature as well. We are sinners by birth.
- From "Thru the Bible with J Vernon McGee:" "You recall that God said to the first woman: "...I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee" (Gen. 3:16). Not only would the woman travail in bringing a child into the world, but the chances are that child would be a heartbreak to her because that child is a sinner."
- Here we see that the mother is unclean because she has brought a sinner into the world. Their baby will sin at some point or another in life. While God has produced life, the mother has only produced death from sin. Natural birth does not bring a man into a right relationship with God. Natural birth separates a man from God! God owes us nothing. He sent His Son out of His grace to us.
- From "Thru the Bible with J Vernon McGee:" "You remember that when the Lord Jesus was born, his mother brought turtle-doves because the poor could bring them as an offering. She had to have an offering because she was a sinner; she was not sinless. She brought an offering. But there was no offering for the Lord Jesus. No offering was ever made for Jesus or by Jesus. He is the sinless One. He was the offering for the sin of the world. He is the Lamb of God."
Summary
Verses of Interest
- Leviticus 13:1-3 - The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron: “When a person has a swelling, scab, or spot on the skin of his body, and it becomes a disease on the skin of his body, he is to be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons, the priests. The priest will examine the infection on the skin of his body. If the hair in the infection has turned white and the infection appears to be deeper than the skin of his body, it is a skin disease. After the priest examines him, he must pronounce him unclean.
- Leviticus 13:45-46 - “The person afflicted with an infectious skin disease is to have his clothes torn and his hair hanging loose, and he must cover his mouth and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean!’ He will remain unclean as long as he has the infection; he is unclean. He must live alone in a place outside the camp."
Leviticus 13:47-52 - “If a fabric is contaminated with mildew—in wool or linen fabric, in the warp or woof of linen or wool, or in leather or anything made of leather— and if the contamination is green or red in the fabric, the leather, the warp, the woof, or any leather article, it is a mildew contamination and is to be shown to the priest. The priest is to examine the contamination and quarantine the contaminated fabric for seven days. The priest is to reexamine the contamination on the seventh day. If it has spread in the fabric, the warp, the woof, or the leather, regardless of how it is used, the contamination is harmful mildew; it is unclean. He is to burn the fabric, the warp or woof in wool or linen, or any leather article, which is contaminated. Since it is harmful mildew it must be burned up."
Thoughts on the Text
- The skin disease that the Bible speaks of in this chapter is leprosy. While rules regarding leprosy may not seem practical for today, surprisingly this chapter is very practical for the present time. Leprosy and skin diseases are symbols of the manifestation of sin in the heart of man. The sin of man can be seen as a skin disease. Some people are so sinful that their whole body would be covered by a skin disease. Some people may sin seldom, but even, so they would have a small spot of skin disease on their body. This small spot of skin disease makes them unclean. We are all sinners, so we are all unclean. We all need to be purified and forgiven from our sin in order to become clean and free from a spiritual skin disease.
- This chapter does not contain a cure for leprosy. Rather, it gives instructions to the priest on how a case of leprosy is to be determined, and the measures to be taken to prevent it spreading in the camp. This chapter deals with the cleansing of leprosy, not the cure of leprosy.
- The first step in in diagnosing a new case of leprosy was to bring the patient with a symptom to Aaron or one of the priests. Likewise, any manifestation of sin, either small or great, should be brought immediately to our Great High Priest, the Great Physician, Jesus Christ. God diagnoses all His children, and all are judged unclean. All have sinned. All of mankind are spiritual lepers and all must e cured before entering into heaven.
- Like Leprosy, sin destroys the whole man. Both are corrosive in their effect, working slowly and surely, until finally they break out in an angry display that eventuates in death. NO man ever went wrong overnight. Leprosy did not kill in a day. A leper is a walking dead man. Likewise, an unforgiven sinner is dead even though he lives. Ephesians 2:1-2 states, "And you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you previously walked according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler who exercises authority over the lower heavens, the spirit now working in the disobedient."
- Leprosy separates the person from the camp. The individual with leprosy had to be quarantined. Likewise, a person living in sin is separated from God and other believers. Isaiah 59:2 states, "But your iniquities have built barriers between you and your God, and your sins have made Him hide His face from you so that He does not listen."
- Just as leprosy can infect others by contact, so can sin bring other people into the pit of moral corruption. For example, when a father commits a sin, his son or daughter will more than likely commit the same sin in due time. The father influences his children. He can either influence them for the good or for the bad depending upon his actions. So, sin is contagious just like leprosy!
- From "Through the Bible with J Vernon McGee:" "The righteousness of man is filthy rags in God's sight. Anything a sinner does or touches is contaminated by his sin. Even the garments of those with lesser infections were to be washed. This passage shows an amazing insight into the spread of infection. We are all as an unclean thing and we, too, need washing. Only God has the remedy for the sinner."
Summary
The Lord tells Moses and Aaron what is to be done in order to cleanse someone from a skin disease. The Lord also tells Aaron and Moses what to do with contaminated objects such as a house with mildew or clothes with mildew. This chapter gives the law for any skin disease or mildew, for a scaly outbreak, for mildew in clothing or on a house, and for a swelling, scab, or spot, to determine when something is unclean or clean.
Verses of Interest
- Leviticus 14:1-4 - The Lord spoke to Moses: “This is the law concerning the person afflicted with a skin disease on the day of his cleansing. He is to be brought to the priest, who will go outside the camp and examine him. If the skin disease has disappeared from the afflicted person, the priest will order that two live clean birds, cedar wood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop be brought for the one who is to be cleansed.
- Leviticus 14:33-35 - The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron: “When you enter the land of Canaan that I am giving you as a possession, and I place a mildew contamination in a house in the land you possess, the owner of the house is to come and tell the priest: Something like mildew contamination has appeared in my house.
- Leviticus 14:54-57 - “This is the law for any skin disease or mildew, for a scaly outbreak, for mildew in clothing or on a house, and for a swelling, scab, or spot, to determine when something is unclean or clean. This is the law regarding skin disease and mildew.”
Thoughts on the Text
- From "Thru the Bible with J Vernon McGee:" "This chapter casts a ray of light and hope into the darkness of the leper's plight. We note that no physician's prescription is given for the treatment and cure of leprosy. Rather, it shows the ceremonial cleansing which follows the cure. This alludes to the redemption of the sinner. The ritual is entirely symbolic, yet there is a therapeutic value in the washing and cleansing."
- We find in this chapter that the priest would go to the person with a skin disease to examine him and cleanse him of the disease. There is a great parallel here between the priest and the person with leprosy to Jesus Christ and humanity's sin. From "Thru the Bible with J Vernon McGee," "We need to emphasize that He still goes all the way to the sinner to heal his plague of sin. "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me" (Rev. 3:20). God has declared that the heart of man is vile and so it is God who must pronounce a man clean. He alone can cleanse. "...and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin" (1 John 1:7).
- We see that the ceremony performed to cleanse the man with leprosy was quite unusual. The offerings were not presented in the tabernacle. Rather, they were presented at the place of residence of the leper, far away from the Israelite camp and the tabernacle. Just as Christ had to come to earth to save us by sacrificing his life on the cross, so the priest would have to use two birds in the cleansing ceremony. Mr. McGee says it very well, "There were two live, clean birds used in this sacrifice. Most likely they were doves. One was killed--to represent the death of Christ. The other was living--to represent the resurrection of Christ. These are the two facets of the Gospel. Paul says, "For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures" (1 Cor. 15:3-4). Two birds: death and resurrection!"
- On the seventh day of this ceremony the cleansed leper is to shave off his hair, wash his clothes, and wash his body completely with water. This shows that the leper has been cleansed and is accepted by the Israelite community. This ritual shows that his old life has ended for him and a new life has opened up before him. A revolutionary change has taken place in his life. This is the same for sinners that come to a saving grace relationship with Jesus Christ. Behold, the old has become new, we are dead to sin, and alive in Christ!
- In order to be completely cleansed and sanctified from our old nature, we, as Christians, need to study the Word of God and understand what it says thoroughly. If we don't understand or know what the Bible says, how can we make a complete transformation?
Chapter 15: Bodily Discharges
Summary
Verses of Interest
- Leviticus 15:1-2 - The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron: "Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When any man has a discharge from his body, he is unclean."
- Leviticus 15:31-33 - "You must keep the Israelites from their uncleanness, so that they do not die by defiling My tabernacle that is among them. This is the law for someone with a discharge: a man who has an emission of semen, becoming unclean by it; a woman who is in her menstrual period; anyone who has a discharge, whether male or female; and a man who sleeps with an unclean woman."
Thoughts on the Text
- Thought of the day from J Vernon McGee: Whoever you are, you are a preacher. You are preaching some message by your life. You are influencing someone for the bad or for the good, for Christ or not for Christ.
- This chapter deals with bodily discharges of man and woman, how they make you unclean, and how to cleanse yourself from them. These bodily discharges can be compared to secret sins in a person's life. We all have hidden sins, but these sins aren't hidden from God. These sins corrupt our heart if we do not confess them to the Lord and ask for forgiveness. We constantly sin in our daily life even if they are sins in our thoughts. We need to be aware of this and confess our sin in order to be cleansed by God.
- There is so much out there that brings sin into our life. There is sin by contact. Just as a person becomes unclean when he touches a person with a bodily discharge, so we become unclean when we associate with someone who is not a Christian. For example, we sin when we watch an R-rated movie on T.V., we sin when we are in the presence of bad company, we sin when we see mature bill boards and signs, and the list of sins by contact goes on and on. In our daily life, we are tempted to sin, or we actually sin by contact several times. We sin without even knowing it. This is why it is so important to stay in the Word of God. The more we stay in the Word of God, the more we will know how to avoid sin and tempting situations when they arise in our everyday lives. John 17:17 states, "Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth."
- The last part of this chapter talks about sexual sins. We belong to God and we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Abuse of that temple can be a sin unto death. This can be a sin that actually takes your life. This chapter mentions venereal disease, and at times this disease can take your life. As we have heard before, sin equals death, or the wages of sin is death. Our secret sins may be secret to other people, but they are no secret to God. God may take you home for your secret sins. We do not know when God will take us home or why, but we can do our best to live a righteous life and repent from our sinful ways. God is the judge. God can take us home for our sin. Stay away from sin, and God may keep you here for a long life on this earth. Just food for thought.
Summary
This chapter describes what Aaron and his remaining sons must do before they enter the holy place in front of the Ark of the Covenant in order to make atonement for their sins and the sins of Israel. Once a year there will be a day of atonement. In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, the Israelites are to practice self-denial and do no work. It will be a Sabbath day of complete rest. Aaron and the priests are to make atonement for the Israelites once a year because of all their sins.
Verses of Interest
- Leviticus 16:29-31, 34 - This is to be a permanent statute for you: In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month you are to practice self-denial and do no work, both the native and the foreigner who resides among you. Atonement will be made for you on this day to cleanse you, and you will be clean from all your sins before the Lord. It is a Sabbath of complete rest for you, and you must practice self-denial; it is a permanent statute...This is to be a permanent statute for you, to make atonement for the Israelites once a year because of all their sins.” And all this was done as the Lord commanded Moses.
Thoughts on the Text
- This chapter deals with the day of atonement for all of the Israelites. In this ceremony there was a literal scapegoat in which all the sins of Israel was placed. The scapegoat was then released in the wilderness. This day of Atonement was the best that the Mosaic Law had to offer until Christ should come in the New Testament.
- From "Thru the Bible with J Vernon McGee:" "The word for "atonement" is the Hebrew Kaphar, which means "to cover." God did not take away sins in the Old Testament; He covered them until Christ came and removed them. There are a number of Scriptures which teach this. "And the times of this ignorance God winked at (overlooked); but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent" (Acts 17:30). "Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation (that is, a mercy seat) through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God" (Rom. 3:24-25)...The Day of Atonement pointed to Christ and His redemption as did no other sacrifice, ceremony, or ordinance of the Old Testament. It reveals Christ, as our Great High Priest, going into the Holy of Holies for us."
- In the Old Testament, only the High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies and come before God. Even so, the high priest could only enter the Holy of holies on very specific occasions. The Day of Atonement was one of those occasions. To enter the Holy of Holies there were specific ceremonially spiritual rituals which the high priest had to perform before entering. If he entered of his own will, he would die just like Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu. Now, we can come into the presence of the Father thru the Son Jesus Christ. We can pray to God and come into His presence at any point in time. Jesus has bridged the gap between man's sin and God's holiness. The cross has set us free. The Day of Atonement was to be observed until the permanent and eternal sacrifice for sin came. It was fulfilled by Christ in His death.
Summary
God commands the Israelites to bring their sacrifices to the tent of meeting. Anyone who sacrifices an animal by themselves will be charged with murder and is to be cut off from his people. God tells the Israelites that no one who lives among the Israelites may eat blood. Also, God tells them to bathe themselves and clean their clothes after dealing with dead animals.
Verses of Interest
- Leviticus 17:1-4 - The Lord spoke to Moses: “Speak to Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites and tell them: This is what the Lord has commanded: Anyone from the house of Israel who slaughters an ox, sheep, or goat in the camp, or slaughters it outside the camp, 4 instead of bringing it to the entrance to the tent of meeting to present it as an offering to the Lord before His tabernacle—that person will be considered guilty. He has shed blood and must be cut off from his people.
- Leviticus 17:10-12 - “Anyone from the house of Israel or from the foreigners who live among them who eats any blood, I will turn against that person who eats blood and cut him off from his people. For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have appointed it to you to make atonement on the altar for your lives, since it is the lifeblood that makes atonement. Therefore I say to the Israelites: None of you and no foreigner who lives among you may eat blood.
- Leviticus 17:15-16 - “Every person, whether the native or the foreigner, who eats an animal that died a natural death or was mauled by wild beasts is to wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will remain unclean until evening; then he will be clean. But if he does not wash his clothes and bathe himself, he will bear his punishment.”
Thoughts on the Text
- In this chapter, consideration is now given to the one place of sacrifice and the value of the blood. Sacrifices can only be offered up at the tabernacle, and the blood of the sacrifice gives the power of atonement for one's sins. Life is sacred. Animals need not be slain needlessly. Also, blood speaks of the sacrifice of Christ. Christ must give his life so that the sinner can have life.
- We also learn from this chapter that many of the Israelites were worshipping and offering sacrifices to the goat-demons. These goat-demons could have been from Egypt. When the Israelites lived and were slaves in Egypt, many of them worshiped the Egyptian gods. One such god was Mendes, the goat god. On the other hand, the Greeks worshipped the goat god of Pan. God was trying to purge this idolatry from the Israelites. We are told in 1 Corinthians 10:14, "Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry." 2 Corinthians 6:14-17 explains, "And again, "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial?...Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you." There is a great principle which is carried over to the church. There is a danger of association with the unbeliever in religion, politics, marriage, business, or social life. God has placed a warning about this in His Word.
- From "Thru the Bible with J Vernon McGee:" "Jesus Christ said something very interesting. "Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is mean indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him" (John 6:54-56). Because the life of the flesh is in the blood, Jesus is saying that we are to accept His shed blood for our sins in faith and then we receive life. Jesus shed His blood and gave His life. The life is in the blood."
- We are reminded of this old hymn:
- What can wash away y sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus; What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh! precious is the flow that makes me white as snow; No other fount I know, Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Summary
God tells the Israelites not to come near any close relative for sexual intercourse. God tells the Israelites not to be homosexual; not to sleep with animals; not to commit other perversions. God says that if the nation becomes defiled by these perversions and other sins, God will punish the nation for its sin, and the land will vomit out its inhabitants. Any person who does any of these perversions or abominations must be cut off from his people.
Verses of Interest
- Leviticus 18:1-5 - Yahweh spoke to Moses: “Speak to the Israelites and tell them: I am Yahweh your God. Do not follow the practices of the land of Egypt, where you used to live, or follow the practices of the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. You must not follow their customs. You are to practice My ordinances and you are to keep My statutes by following them; I am Yahweh your God. Keep My statutes and ordinances; a person will live if he does them. I am Yahweh.
- Leviticus 18:6 - You are not to come near any close relative for sexual intercourse; I am the Lord.
- Leviticus 18:21 - You are not to make any of your children pass through the fire to Molech. Do not profane the name of your God; I am the Lord.
- Leviticus 18:24-26 - “Do not defile yourselves by any of these practices, for the nations I am driving out before you have defiled themselves by all these things. The land has become defiled, so I am punishing it for its sin, and the land will vomit out its inhabitants. But you are to keep My statutes and ordinances. You must not commit any of these detestable things—not the native or the foreigner who lives among you."
Thoughts on the Text
- From "Thru the Bible with J Vernon McGee:" "In chapters 18, 19, and 20, we find a special section which applies the Ten Commandments to life situations. God is now dealing with the moral aspects of the lives of His people. Friends, we are getting right down to the nitty-gritty."
- Does anyone know what right and wrong are anymore? Homosexuality is fine and sex outside of marriage is ok as well. The moral foundations have been broken up and scattered to distant reaches in our minds. Some of our moral foundations have been discarded. Good news is God gives us a clear picture of what is right and what is wrong in the Bible. This chapter is an excellent example. God is the Lord. God makes the rules. We don't have a say, and if we think we do, there are terrible consequences. Breaking the Ten Commandments is wrong because God says it is wrong. If we do something that God told us not to, there are punishments for that sin. God demands that His people be holy. Purity in all life's situations is the command of God.
- This particular chapter in the book of Leviticus deals with the 7th commandment primarily: Thou shalt not commit adultery. Sexual immorality is the primary subject in this chapter. There are many ways to commit adultery and there are many perversions that break this sacred commandment. This is one of the toughest commandments for me to follow. I am a single man, and my sexual desires arise seemingly out of nowhere at various times throughout the day. God meant for marriage between man and woman to be a blessing, but when we skew God's purpose for our life that blessing is twisted into a sinful curse of fleshly desire. Once you dive into this cesspool of abomination it is hard to figure out what true love actually is; the marriage eternal bond between man and woman!
- God did not want the perversions and grossly immoral ways of the Egyptians or the Canaanites to rub off on the Israelites. The Israelites were God's chosen people, and God wanted them to remain pure and follow the Word, precepts, and commands of God as good as they possibly could.
- The things that God says are immoral in the Old Testament are still immoral in the present day. We need to listen to everything that the Bible has to say. If we don't listen to God and follow the commands of God there are dire consequences we will undoubtedly face.
- We are supposed to be holy because the Holy Spirit indwells within us. 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 states, "Don't you yourselves know that you are God's sanctuary and that the Spirit of God lives in you? If anyone destroys God's sanctuary, God will destroy him; for God's sanctuary is holy, and that is what you are."
- We will do one of two things in this life. We will either commit sins of the flesh, or we will produce the fruit of the Spirit.
- Molech was an ancient Near Eastern god to whom child sacrifices were offered by fire. The Israelites became entangled with the pagan practices of other cultures. This chapter is God's way of telling the Israelites what is right and what is wrong as a human being.
- From "Thru the Bible with J Vernon McGee:" "The depravity that is mentioned here is common today. The United States is like Sodom and Gomorrah. It makes me weep to see the way my country is going. I love this country. It's the land of my birth. I hate to see these dirty, filthy, immoral people bringing us into judgment. Believe me, friends, the judgment of God is already upon us today. We can't have peace abroad and we can't have peace at home. Why not? "There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked" (Isa. 48:22)."
Summary
God tells Moses to tell all the Israelites to be holy because God is holy. Everyone is to respect their mother and father; keep the Sabbath; do not turn to idols or make gods for yourselves. Other statutes and commands are given to the Israelites in this chapter that closely mirror and expand upon the Ten Commandments. The Israelites are to obey these commands because God makes the rules and God says so!
Verses of Interest
- Leviticus 19:1-4 - The Lord spoke to Moses: “Speak to the entire Israelite community and tell them: Be holy because I, Yahweh your God, am holy. “Each of you is to respect his mother and father. You are to keep My Sabbaths; I am Yahweh your God. Do not turn to idols or make cast images of gods for yourselves; I am Yahweh your God.
- Leviticus 19:17-18 - “You must not harbor hatred against your brother. Rebuke your neighbor directly, and you will not incur guilt because of him. Do not take revenge or bear a grudge against members of your community, but love your neighbor as yourself; I am Yahweh."
- Leviticus 19:32 - You are to rise in the presence of the elderly and honor the old. Fear your God; I am Yahweh.
- Leviticus 19:37 - You must keep all My statutes and all My ordinances and do them; I am Yahweh.
Thoughts on the Text
- The Ten Commandments are summed up and expanded upon in this chapter of Leviticus. The main summation is this: You should be holy because God is holy. Therefore, all of are thoughts and actions should be holy. All the other commands that God gives branch off this one foundational command.
- The reason given to follow the commands in this chapter is: "I am the Lord your God" or I am the Lord." These phrases occur 16 times in this chapter. God draws the line between right and wrong. He alone makes the sharp distinction between the holy and unholy. No other reason needs to be given. 1 Peter 1:13-16 elaborates on this fact, "Therefore, with your minds ready for action, be serious and set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the desires of your former ignorance. But as the One who called you is holy, you also are to be holy in all your conduct; for it is written, Be holy, because I am holy."
- There is to be no mingling of truth and error. You can't be holy and unholy at the same time. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:21, "You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot share in the Lord’s table and the table of demons." Christ said in Luke 16:13, "No household slave can be the slave of two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You can’t be slaves to both God and money.”
Summary
God reminds the Israelites to only worship Him, the one true God. God warns and forbids the Israelites to not worship false Gods, such as Molech. God says to respect, and not curse, your mother and father. God gives very specific instructions concerning adultery, and what sexual perversions and abominations to avoid. God reminds the Israelites of the covenant He gave to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God promised to deliver them to the land of Canaan, a land flowing with milk and honey. In addition, God states that the Israelites are to keep all His statutes and all His ordinances. If the Israelites follow and keep these laws, the land where God is delivering them to will not vomit them out.
Verses of Interest
- Leviticus 20:1-3 - The Lord spoke to Moses: “Say to the Israelites: Any Israelite or foreigner living in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech must be put to death; the people of the country are to stone him. I will turn against that man and cut him off from his people, because he gave his offspring to Molech, defiling My sanctuary and profaning My holy name.
- Leviticus 20:7-8 - Consecrate yourselves and be holy, for I am Yahweh your God. Keep My statutes and do them; I am Yahweh who sets you apart.
- Leviticus 20:9 - “If anyone curses his father or mother, he must be put to death. He has cursed his father or mother; his blood is on his own hands.
- Leviticus 20:22-24, 26 - You are to keep all My statutes and all My ordinances, and do them, so that the land where I am bringing you to live will not vomit you out. 23 You must not follow the statutes of the nations I am driving out before you, for they did all these things, and I abhorred them. 24 And I promised you: You will inherit their land, since I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey. I am Yahweh your God who set you apart from the peoples...You are to be holy to Me because I, Yahweh, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be Mine.
Thoughts on the Text
- We learn from this chapter and other chapters in the book of Leviticus that the penalty for breaking any of the Ten Commandments was death. The death penalty was given for breaking one of the Ten Commandments. Basically, God instituted capital punishment, and His law and penalty is just! From "Thru the Bible with J Vernon McGee," "There must be satisfaction of outraged justice. Justice and righteousness demand punishment. The majesty, law, and holiness of God have been outraged, and so crime must be punished." Basically, the death penalty is fair, and it keeps people from breaking God's law.
- Mr. McGee states in his book, "The worship of Molech was savage, satanic, cruel, ad brutal. Children were offered as sacrifices to the idol of Molech which was heated red hot. According to historians, the arms of the idol were outstretched and the child was cast "into a gaping hole, full of fire." This was fiendish and demoniacal. What a contrast is Jesus who stretched out His arms to receive little children!"
- In this chapter alone, capital punishment is given for Molech and false God worship, satanic worship and spiritism, cursing your father and mother, and adultery of various kinds. This should open our eyes to the severity of certain sins. Sure, we believe that murder deserves the death penalty. However, according to God, breaking any of the Ten Commandments was deserving of the death penalty. So, committing adultery with a woman who isn't your wife is deserving of the death penalty. This happens so much in our modern society. In fact, adultery is seen as playing the field in some instances. If only this sin still received the death penalty. It would be guaranteed that the divorce rate would drop substantially. Possibly, divorce would not even exist. We need to put our sins into perspective. Each time you are tempted to sin, believe that your sin is deserving of the death penalty. This should help sway you from falling into the temptation and sinning. Just a thought, but I believe this will help walk straight in the path of righteousness.
- God gave the land of Canaan to the Israelites because the Canaanites engaged regularly in the sins mentioned in this chapter of Leviticus. God also states that the Israelites will be ejected from the Promised Land if they engage in these sins. Unfortunately, as we find out later in the Bible, the Israelites commit these sins, and they go into Babylonian captivity.
- We will receive a blessing from God when we return to and obey his statutes, precepts, and commands. When we deviate away from God's commands, we can expect troubles, problems, shame, and guilt to enter into our life. If we deviate to far away from God's commands, death is an eventuality. Let us not remain captives to our sin nature. Instead, let us repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, God will free us from our sins, and infinite blessings will be bestowed upon us! God wants to bless us. If only we truly repent and believe!
Chapter 21: The Holiness of the Priest and Physical Defects and Priests
Summary
In this chapter, God lays out more guidelines for the priests to follow. Also, God instructs the Israelites that priests who have various physical defects must not go near the altar in the tent of meeting to present offerings to the Lord.
Verses of Interest
- Leviticus 21:1 - The Lord said to Moses: "Speak to Aaron's sons, the priests, and tell them: A priest is not to make himself ceremonially unclean for a dead person among his relatives.
- Leviticus 21:6 - They are to be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God, because they present the fire offerings to the Lord, the food of their God.
- Leviticus 21:8 - You are to consider him holy since he presents the food of your God. He will be holy to you because I, the Lord who sets you apart, am holy.
- Leviticus 21:21 - No descendant of Aaron the priest who has a defect is to come near to present the fire offerings to the Lord. He has a defect and is not to come near to present the food of his God.
Thoughts on the Text
- This chapter contains the law for the personal purity of the priests; the Levites.
- From "Thru the Bible with J Vernon McGee:" "It had been God's original intention that the entire nation should be a kingdom of priests. Their disobedience in the matter of the golden calf destroyed the possibility off the realization of a perfect and ideal society...After Israel's failure, God chose only on tribe to be the priests, the tribe of Levi. In Israel, therefore, there were the congregation, the priesthood, and the high priest...The church today is called a royal priesthood. Every believer is a priest and has access to the throne of grace today. Every believer-priest is required to live a holy life which is possible only by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit."
- We are saved by the grace of God. We are called to live a holy life; we are called to a higher way of life; a life where we follow and obey the laws of God; a life where we listen to what Jesus told us; to love God, to love others, and to love ourselves.
- Why were priests not to get around dead people? God said this for a reason. The penalty of sin is death. We are sinners. Therefore, we all die. The priests are not to be contaminated with sin, and God said that physical contact with a dead person brings defilement or contamination. The only people the priest could have physical contact with were for deaths in his immediate family.
- As Christians, we should hold ourselves to a higher standard than the common man. We should be careful of who we hang out and associate with, and we should be careful not to go to places that are questionable. For example, we shouldn't hang out with drug addicts or criminals, and we probably shouldn't be going to bars if we are a Christian. If we do these things, then it is likely that our Christian testimony will be called into question. In essence, our Christian reputation can be ruined, and that could also lead other believers and non-believers astray. God holds Christians more responsible for their actions.
- In this chapter, it is stated clearly that Levites with physical defects could not serve a priestly function in the tabernacle. Just as no sacrifice was to be offered that had a blemish, by the same token no priest was to serve in the tabernacle if he had a blemish. J Vernon McGee states in his book, "Both the offering and the offeror represent Christ and there is no blemish in Him, either in His person or in HIs work. Chris tis the perfect High Priest. There is no blemish in Him but rather beauty and glory and excellency." Even though these Levites with physical defects could not serve the Lord in the tabernacle, they could serve the Israelite community in other ways, and God still provided for them. Even with handicaps, God can still use us. Even with handicaps, we are still children of God, saved by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ!
Summary
God instructs Aaron and his sons to deal respectfully with the holy offerings to the Lord. The offerings of the Israelites have been consecrated to the Lord, so they must be careful not to profane the name of the Lord. No one outside a priest's family is to eat the holy offering. Last, God speaks about acceptable sacrifices for all the various kinds of offerings. No animals with defects are to be offered as a sacrifice to the Lord. There is to be no blemished animal sacrifices.
Verses of Interest
- Leviticus 22:1-2 - The Lord spoke to Moses: "Tell Aaron and his sons to deal respectfully with the holy offerings of the Israelites that they have consecrated to Me, so they do not profane My holy name; I am the Lord.
- Leviticus 22:10 - No one outside a priest's family is to eat the holy offering. A foreigner staying with a priest or a hired hand is not to eat the holy offering.
- Leviticus 22:17-20 - The Lord spoke to Moses: “Speak to Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites and tell them: Any man of the house of Israel or of the foreign residents in Israel who presents his offering—whether they present freewill gifts or payment of vows to the Lord as burnt offerings—must offer an unblemished male from the cattle, sheep, or goats in order for you to be accepted. You are not to present anything that has a defect, because it will not be accepted on your behalf.
Leviticus 22:31-33 - “You are to keep My commands and do them; I am Yahweh. You must not profane My holy name; I must be treated as holy among the Israelites. I am Yahweh who sets you apart, the One who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God; I am Yahweh.”
Thoughts on the Text
- From "Thru the Bible with J Vernon McGee:" "There was to be a separation of the sacred and the secular. Aaron was not to bring the things of the tabernacle home with him. The lesson for us is that we are not to treat the sacred and holy things of God as if they were common place...The priests were to be holy in their relationships in their homes in their social contacts, in their business contacts, in anything where they touched the world. The priests were set apart to be holy unto the Lord. They were to be an example to others."
- No offering with a blemish was to be permitted bbecause the offerings pointed to Christ. Any departure from this was to lower the concept of the person of Christ and the holy demands of God.
- Dr. McGee states in his book, "Israel was to be a witness for God. They were ot to go as witnesses to the ends of the earth as you and I have been called to do today. They were called to serve God as a nation. As they did this, the whole world would come to Jerusalem. God's holy name was to be represented in every act of worship."
- We, as Christians set the example that others look toward and follow. Nonbelievers don't read the Word of God. Instead, nonbelievers read so-called Christian men and women. What do these non-believers see in me in you. Do they read the Gospel in us, or do they read something else? Do they see the holiness of Christ in us, or do they simply see the same old wicked world. We have a responsibily as Christians to walk as Jesus walked; to be holy in our everyday lives. Take care not to ruin your testimony. As Christians we are set apart from the world even though we are in the world.
Summary
God tells Moses to speak to the Israelites and tell them about God's appointed times; the holy days of the Lord that shall be proclaimed as sacred assemblies. This chapter mentions the Passover, the Day of Atonement, the Sabbath Day, The Festival of Unleavened Bread, and other holy days.
Verses of Interest
- Leviticus 23:1-2 - The Lord spoke to Moses: :Speak to the Israelites and tell them: These are My appointed times, the times of the Lord that you will proclaim as sacred assemblies."
- Leviticus 23:5-6 - The Passover to the Lord comes in the first month, at twilight on the fourteenth day of the month. The Festival of Unleavened Bread to the Lord is on the fifteenth day of the same month. For seven days you must eat unleavened bread.
- Leviticus 23:26-28 - The Lord again spoke to Moses: “The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. You are to hold a sacred assembly and practice self-denial; you are to present a fire offering to the Lord. On this particular day you are not to do any work, for it is a Day of Atonement to make atonement for yourselves before the Lord your God.
- Leviticus 23:33-34 - The Lord spoke to Moses: “Tell the Israelites: The Festival of Booths to the Lord begins on the fifteenth day of this seventh month and continues for seven days."
- Leviticus 23:37-38 - “These are the Lord’s appointed times that you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies for presenting fire offerings to the Lord, burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each on its designated day. These are in addition to the offerings for the Lord’s Sabbaths, your gifts, all your vow offerings, and all your freewill offerings that you give to the Lord."
Thoughts on the Text
- From "Thru the Bible with J Vernon McGee:" "This is a remarkable chapter of God's solemn festivals. The holy holidays were times of joy. There was mourning on only one of them, the great Day of Atonement. The others were to be times of joy and rejoicing. God never wanted a weeping people to come before Him; He wanted a rejoicing people. These festivals provide God's calendar for all time."
- In this chapter, the Lord presents seven feasts, excluding the Sabbath Day. The Sabbath Day is the seventh day of the week. Pentecost is the feast of the seventh week; the seventh new moon with its following Day of Atonement and feast of Tabernacles is the feast of the seventh month. There were seven days of unleavened bread, and seven day of dwelling in the tabernacles in the feast of the Tabernacles. As you can see, seven is a critical and key number that God uses throughout the scriptures. There is something miraculous and mysterious about the number seven.
- The seven festivals or feasts mentioned in this chapter are:
- The Passover - the crucifixion and death of Christ
- Unleavened Bread - the fellowship we have with Christ because of His death
- Firstfruits - the resurrection of Christ
- Pentecost - the beginning of the church
- Trumpets - Israel brought back into the land (will happen in the future)
- Great Day of Atonement - the work of Christ upon the cross for us
- Tabernacles - the time when Israel is in the land (takes place in the future)
- From "Thru the Bible with J Vernon McGee:" "When they (The Israelites) were slaves down in Egypt, they had to work every day. The Sabbath day is tied in with their deliverance. Now that they have been delivered from Egypt, they are to set aside one day to worship God. There is to be cessation from all labor and activity."
- The first of the feasts during the Israelite year was the Passover feast. This feast represents the sacrificial death of Christ and the value of His blood. Dr. McGee writes, "The Passover originated in the historical event of the last plague in Egypt by the slaying of the firstborn. Israel was instructed to slay a lamb and put the blood of the lamb on the doorposts of their homes. They were to stay inside, roast the lamb, and eat it. The angel of death would pass over every door which was marked with the blood."
- The Feast of Unleavened Bread is closely aligned with the Passover. Passover was observed one day, and the next day--the first day of the week--began the feast of Unleavened Bread. Unleavened bread was to be eaten for seven days beginning on the day after Passover. The unleavened bread speaks of fellowship with Christ based on His redemption and maintained by the holy walk of the believer. 1 John 1:7 states, "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." The blood of Jesus Christ keeps on keeping us clean.
- After sowing their grain in the land, the Israelites would bring an offering of their first fruits to the tabernacle, and the priest would offer it up to the Lord. This festival took place on the first day of the week after the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Christ is called the first fruits. 1 Corinthians 15:20 states, "But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept." The offering of the first fruits indicated that there would be a harvest to follow. Believers are that harvest.
- Pentecost speaks of the beginning of the church. The Christian church began on the first day of the week. It was on the first day of the week that Christ arose from the dead. When the church meets on the first day of the week, we are celebrating our Lord's resurrection and the birthday of the church. Pentecost is also called the Festival of Weeks.
- Three feasts take place in the seventh month of the Israelite/Jewish calendar. The first is the Holy Season of Trumpets. The blowing of two silver trumpets were used in moving Israel through the wilderness. The trumpets were blown seven times to get them to march. The trumpets are connected with the coming judgment of mankind.
- The Great Day of Atonement was covered in Leviticus chapter 16.
- The Feast of Tabernacles is the third feast in the seventh month of the Jewish calendar. This feast spoke of the Israelite's days when they dwelt in booths (tents) when wandering in the wilderness; before they entered into the Promised Land. This feast points to the time when God will have fully removed their sin, nd they will dwell again safely in the Promised Land. This feasts points to eternity and the everlasting kingdom of heaven! Revelation 21:3 proclaims, "And I hear a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God." For seven days in the seventh month they were to rejoice. This speaks of the final and full rejoicing of God's earthly people; His heavenly people will be with Him in the New Jerusalem.
Summary
The Lord commands Aaron to regularly tend the lamps on the pure gold lampstand in the Lord's presence. Olive oil is to be used to burn the light. Also, every Sabbath day, Aaron is to bake 12 loaves of bread and arrange them on the pure gold table before the Lord. Aaron and his sons are to eat the bread in a holy place as a perpetual covenant obligation. A fight breaks out in the Israelite camp. One of the men curses the Name of God. Moses has him stoned outside the camp for cursing the Name of God. If anyone curses his God, he will bear the consequences of his sin and be put to death. If a man kills anyone, he must be put to death. God sets up the law that we know today: an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth! This is the justice system of the Mosaic law in action!
Verses of Interest
- Leviticus 24:1-4 - The Lord spoke to Moses: “Command the Israelites to bring you pure oil from crushed olives for the light, in order to keep the lamp burning continually. Aaron is to tend it continually from evening until morning before the Lord outside the veil of the testimony in the tent of meeting. This is a permanent statute throughout your generations. He must continually tend the lamps on the pure gold lampstand in the Lord’s presence.
- Leviticus 24:15-16 - And tell the Israelites: If anyone curses his God, he will bear the consequences of his sin. Whoever blasphemes the name of Yahweh is to be put to death; the whole community must stone him. If he blasphemes the Name, he is to be put to death, whether the foreign resident or the native.
- Leviticus 24:17-20 - “If a man kills anyone, he must be put to death. 18 Whoever kills an animal is to make restitution for it, life for life. 19 If any man inflicts a permanent injury on his neighbor, whatever he has done is to be done to him: 20 fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. Whatever injury he inflicted on the person, the same is to be inflicted on him."
Thoughts on the Text
- This chapter teaches that all is to be done in the light and leading of the Holy Spirit. The celebrations of the feasts and the observances of the Sabbatic and Jubilee years must be performed in the light of the Holy Spirit and in the strength and power of Christ!
- The importance of the lampstand cannot be overlooked. It was probably the most accurate and beautiful picture of Christ in all the tabernacle. It was solid gold and beautifully wrought into seven branches of almond boughs from one main stem. Aaron had sole charge of the lights of the lampstand to keep them burning. Today, the spiritual lamps are in the hands of our Great High Priest. Jesus Christ has said that He is the Light of the world.
- As the oil speaks of the Holy Spirit, so the bread speaks of Christ. John 6:35 states, "And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst." In John 6:51 the Bible states, "I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."
- There are two incidents recorded in the book of Leviticus. The incident of Nadab and Abihu, and the incident of the "mixed" Israelite in this chapter. God is teaching a great lesson concerning blasphemy in this chapter. The boy who blasphemed the Name of the Lord had a mother who was an Israelite and a father who was an Egyptian. We see here and later that the mixing of the Israelite people group with other people groups caused problems. These "mixed" breeds started trouble in the Israelite camp, causing murmurs and strife! This goes hand in hand with marriage. There should not be a marriage between a believer and an unbeliever. God says this is wrong. Like wise, the Israelites should not marry another people group with different beliefs and customs. The marriage would not work, and this difference in belief will only cause problems. In this case, the boy blasphemed the Name of God. And God has said in His word that the death penalty is required for this sin. This seems extremely harsh because most everyone has said the Lord's name in vain at one point or another. This is a reminder as to how serious of a sin it is to blaspheme the Name of the Lord. The Name of our God is sacred and must be protected!
- From "Thru the Bible with J Vernon McGee:" "There was established here what is known as lex talionis, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. This was the penalty which was inflicted literally."
Summary
God tells the Israelites that once they make it into the Promised Land, they must observe a Sabbath to the Lord. Every seventh year there must be a Sabbath of complete rest for the land in which no sowing or harvesting is to take place. They can still gather the food that the land produces naturally. After the 50th year of dwelling in the Promised Land there is to be a year of Jubilee to proclaim freedom in the land for all its inhabitants. In the year of Jubilee, each Israelite clan is to return to their own property within Israel. God tells the Israelites how to deal with each other fairly in business and personal matters.
Verses of Interest
- Leviticus 25:1-5 - The Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai: “Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When you enter the land I am giving you, the land will observe a Sabbath to the Lord. You may sow your field for six years, and you may prune your vineyard and gather its produce for six years. But there will be a Sabbath of complete rest for the land in the seventh year, a Sabbath to the Lord: you are not to sow your field or prune your vineyard. You are not to reap what grows by itself from your crop, or harvest the grapes of your untended vines. It must be a year of complete rest for the land."
- Leviticus 25:10-12 - You are to consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim freedom in the land for all its inhabitants. It will be your Jubilee, when each of you is to return to his property and each of you to his clan. The fiftieth year will be your Jubilee; you are not to sow, reap what grows by itself, or harvest its untended vines. It is to be holy to you because it is the Jubilee; you may only eat its produce directly from the field.
- Leviticus 25:18-19 - You are to keep My statutes and ordinances and carefully observe them, so that you may live securely in the land. Then the land will yield its fruit, so that you can eat, be satisfied, and live securely in the land.
- Leviticus 25:23-24 - The land is not to be permanently sold because it is Mine, and you are only foreigners and temporary residents on My land. You are to allow the redemption of any land you occupy.
- Leviticus 25:55 - For the Israelites are My slaves. They are My slaves I brought out of the land of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.
Thoughts on the Text
- God is speaking to Moses at Mt. Sinai in this chapter of Leviticus. It should be noted that the instructions in this chapter are to be followed after the Israelites make it into the Promised Land. They can not follow these commands from God in the wilderness simply because at this point they have no ownership of any land.
- Starting out in this chapter, God establishes a Sabbath year for the land. So, there is a Sabbath day for man which occurs every seven days, and there is a Sabbath year for the land which occurs every seven years. Sabbath means rest and its ultimate meaning refers to the rest that comes with redemption! Hebrews 4:9-11 states, "Therefore, a Sabbath rest remains for God’s people. For the person who has entered His rest has rested from his own works, just as God did from His. Let us then make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall into the same pattern of disobedience."
According to Dr. McGee, "This Sabbatical year for the land was to deliver the Israelite from covetousness. Actually, it was the breaking of this regulation concerning the Sabbatical year that sent Israel into the seventy years Babylonian captivity. They failed to keep seventy sabbatic years over a period of 490 years; so they went into captivity for seventy years."- The Sabbath year was good for the land. If you sow and harvest every year the land can be worn out. Then land needs rest believe it or not. God had a purpose in telling the Israelites this. Also, God made it to where the rich could not monopolize the land so that the poor people were taken care of. God was taking care of the land and the poor people at the same time!
- The year of jubilee happened every 50 years or twice a century. This year of Jubilee was especially important to the Jewish economy. For instance, "I that day people could mortgage their land, but in the year of Jubilee that land would return back to the original owner. This was the way God protected the land from leaving the original owner. The land could be taken away for a period of fifty years, but in the year of Jubilee the land went back to the original owner or to his descendants…If a man had sold himself into slavery, when that trumpet was sounded he went free. The shackles were broken." In the year of Jubilee, everything went free, and everyone was redeemed! This is similar to how Jesus Christ sets you from the burden of sin when you repent and believe upon Him!
- The Lord has a way of keeping us in check, and He makes sure that our egos don't get the best of us. For instance, we grow old and weary. The strength and beauty of our youth fades in time as a reminder for us to put our hope, faith, and trust in God. Also, in this chapter, God explicitly states that the land (all land on the entire earth) is God's! We are temporary residents on God's land. We are here for a moment and gone the next. God is here forever. God owns the land. Likewise, God owns all possessions. We own nothing. If we adopted this policy there would be no rich nor poor. We would all shared God's property equally. We would all be the same and God would own all possessions. As it stands, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. This is a flawed system that is perpetuated by our sin nature! The Year of Jubilee was a wonderful safeguard against covetousness and large gaps of wealth between social classes.
Summary
God once again tells the Israelites not to make idols for themselves and worship them because the Lord is the one true God. God assures the Israelites that if they follow His commands He will be with them and make them prosper in all things. God also disciplines them. God says that if the Israelites don't follow God's commands He will bring terror to them--disease, famine, warfare, and slavery. If they continue in sin, the punishment from God will continue to escalate to the point where the people will become cannibals, eating their own family members to survive. If the Israelites will confess their sin and the sin of their fathers, if their uncircumcised hearts will be humbled, and if they will pay the penalty for their sin, then they shall be forgiven, redeemed, and God will restore the covenant he made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Verses of Interest
- Leviticus 26:1-2 - Do not make idols for yourselves, set up a carved image or sacred pillar for yourselves, or place a sculpted stone in your land to bow down to it, for I am Yahweh your God. 2 You must keep My Sabbaths and revere My sanctuary; I am Yahweh.
- Leviticus 26:3,9,11-13 - “If you follow My statutes and faithfully observe My commands,...I will turn to you, make you fruitful and multiply you, and confirm My covenant with you...I will place My residence among you, and I will not reject you. I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be My people. I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, so that you would no longer be their slaves. I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to live in freedom.
- Leviticus 26:14-17 - But if you do not obey Me and observe all these commands—if you reject My statutes and despise My ordinances, and do not observe all My commands—and break My covenant, then I will do this to you: I will bring terror on you—wasting disease and fever that will cause your eyes to fail and your life to ebb away. You will sow your seed in vain because your enemies will eat it. I will turn against you, so that you will be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee even though no one is pursuing you.
- Leviticus 26:18 - But if after these things you will not obey Me, I will proceed to discipline you seven times for your sins.
- Leviticus 26:40-42 - “But if they will confess their sin and the sin of their fathers—their unfaithfulness that they practiced against Me, and how they acted with hostility toward Me, and I acted with hostility toward them and brought them into the land of their enemies—and if their uncircumcised hearts will be humbled, and if they will pay the penalty for their sin, then I will remember My covenant with Jacob. I will also remember My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.
- Leviticus 26:46 - These are the statutes, ordinances, and laws the Lord established between Himself and the Israelites through Moses on Mount Sinai.
Thoughts on the Text
- In this chapter God points out the blessings He will bestow upon Israel if the follow His commands, statutes, and precepts that He has laid out for them in the Mosaic Law. On the other hand, God explains to the Israelites that He will discipline them harshly, yet just, if they fall away from the commands and laws He has given them. The same goes for our life. God wants to bless us. God wants us to have a joyful life and be in union with Him. God wants us to love Him, others, and ourselves. The problem is sin. Sin gets in the way of God's blessings. If we are living in sin, we can expect God to discipline us in some way. We get what we deserve. When we sin, bad things will happen to us. For instance, if you kill someone, you are going to go to prison probably for the rest of your life. On the other hand, if you help someone in need, God will give you a spirit of joy and peace that passes understanding for helping your neighbor. In summation, sin can turn a good day into a bad day. Sin can turn a good life, into a mediocre or bad life. The sin we abstain from or partake in can make the difference between being a good person or a bad person. Will we be heroes for Christ or hellions for Satan? The choice is up to us. The Israelites had to make the same choices thousands of years ago. Humans will have to make the same choices thousands of years from now. The Bible never changes. The Bible will hold true and apply to our lives for now and forevermore! The Bible is the unwavering, unchanging truth. It is vitally important to our lives. It is the plan to our lives, and it is important that we read and study God's instructions and commands for our life here on Earth. If you obey God, then God will bless you. If you disobey God, God will discipline you.
- God tells the Israelites to worship Him and Him alone. We should be careful not to set up idols in our lives. Our idols can be our money, our job, sports, a particular person, possessions, and countless other things. These idols can become more important than our relationship with our God. When this happens, bad things happen. First we lose our joy because we are breaking the Ten Commandments. According to scripture, if the Israelites worshipped an idol instead of God, then they would lose their land or become slaves by another nation. Unfortunately, this happens to the Israelites later in scripture. So, this account in Leviticus is like a prehistory of what will happen to the Israelites. In a sense, it became a fulfilled prophecy!
- God's discipline can be very severe! In this chapter God says that if the Israelites continue in their sins after God has already disciplines them, then God will proceed to discipline them seven times over for their sins. Therefore, God's punishment escalates. We should remember that the wages of sin is death. If we remain in sin long enough, our sin can literally kill us! That is why it is important to repent, ask for God's forgiveness, and follow God's commands fully as soon as possible!
- According to J Vernon McGee, "During 490 years Israel failed to give the land its sabbaths. That means the land missed seventy sabbath years. The people of Israel thought they were getting by with it, but finally God said it was enough. If they wouldn't give the land its sabbaths, God would. So He put them out of the lad for seventy years. How accurate God is. This is why the Babylonian captivity lasted seventy years."
- J Vernon McGee also states in his book, "We have come to the end of the giving of these laws here in Leviticus. God confirms the Pentateuch here as given through Moses. This verse seems to end the book, but it doesn't. God looks down through the ages to their repeated failures and His faithfulness and final victory. Moses could not bring them eternal blessings, although he was a mediator. The world must look to Another. John gives us the answer: "For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ" (John 1:17)."
Summary
This last chapter in the book of Leviticus deals with how the priest applies valuation to property, livestock, or people that have been consecrated to the Lord.
Verses of Interest
- Leviticus 27:1-4 - The Lord spoke to Moses: Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When someone makes a special vow to the Lord that involves the assessment of people, if the assessment concerns a male from 20 to 60 years old, your assessment is 50 silver shekels measured by the standard sanctuary shekel. If the person is a female, your assessment is 30 shekels.
- Leviticus 27:9-10 - If the vow involves one of the animals that may be brought as an offering to the Lord, any of these he gives to the Lord will be holy. He may not replace it or make a substitution for it, either good for bad, or bad for good. But if he does substitute one animal for another, both that animal and its substitute will be holy.
- Leviticus 27:14-15 - When a man consecrates his house as holy to the Lord, the priest will assess its value, whether high or low. The price will stand just as the priest assesses it. But if the one who consecrated his house redeems it, he must add a fifth to the assessed value, and it will be his.
- Leviticus 27:16 - If a man consecrates to the Lord any part of a field that he possesses, your assessment of value will be proportional to the seed needed to sow it, at the rate of 50 silver shekels for every five bushels of barley seed.
- Leviticus 27:28-29 - Nothing that a man permanently sets apart to the Lord from all he owns, whether a person, an animal, or his inherited landholding, can be sold or redeemed; everything set apart is especially holy to the Lord. No person who has been set apart for destruction is to be ransomed; he must be put to death.
- Leviticus 27:30 - Every tenth of the land’s produce, grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord
Thoughts on the Text
- This chapter is kind of like an appendix to the book of Leviticus. It kind of seems out of place and it is anticlimactic in ways. However, it is an important chapter, This chapter basically answers the question, "What can a saved sinner offer to God?" The people of Israel go their answer when God spoke these words to Moses. When we offer something up to God we make a vow. God holds us accountable for our vows, and many Christians do not keep their vows. It is better to not make a vow to the Lord than to make a vow and not keep it. This is just food for thought. Deuteronomy 23:21-23 clearly states, "If you make a vow to the Lord your God, do not be slow to keep it, because He will require it of you, and it will be counted against you as sin. But if you refrain from making a vow, it will not be counted against you as sin. Be careful to do whatever comes from your lips, because you have freely vowed what you promised to the Lord your God."
- From "Thru The Bible with J Vernon McGee:" "When a person was dedicated by a vow to God, it did not mean that individual must serve in the tabernacle--that was the peculiar service of the Levites A redemption price could be paid for the person which would relieve him of that service. This is called the commutation price of the person."
- In the current day, when can make a vow to present ourselves, our children, and our grandchildren to the Lord. We can present our possessions to Him and what ever is ours. God has not commanded us to do this, but He has said that we may do this. Even though it is a voluntary freewill offering, when we do this, we should be sure to make good on our promise to the Lord.
- The valuation of people offered to the service of the Lord was based solely on the ability of the person to do labor. As you can see, the people of age between 20-60 years old were worth the most. They can do the most amount of labor. This chapter is striking. J. Vernon McGee points out, "Ordinarily in human affairs, a man pays for the service of another. In the law of vows this is reversed and a man pays to serve God. It is a privilege to serve God."
- When an Israelite dedicates an animal or his house to the Lord, the priest puts a valuation on the item. Then, the man must pay that valuation to God. This is how I interpreted this chapter. So, If a man dedicates his house to the Lord, the man still lives in the house. However, the ownership of the house changes hands over to the Lord. So the man living in the house must pay rent, in essence, to God.
- The firstborn of both man and animal were already claimed by the Lord and could not be devoted to the Lord in a vow. That which was already pledged to God could not be devoted to God in a vow. Third, a tithe which already belonged to the Lord could not be pledged in a vow.
I'm excited to finish Exodus, and begin reading the next Chapter, along with your Bible study blog here.😊 You are doing great Mark! God bless your walk with God more, may He continue to sustain your zeal, determination, and persistence in studying and learning more about God's word💖🙏
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