Sunday, March 1, 2009

Leviticus 11 - 15: Laws of Purity

Leviticus 11 - 15: Laws of Purity


When Israel had been slaves in Egypt, keeping their unique identity hadn’t been an issue - they were slaves. The boundaries between the people of Israel and the people of Egypt had been clearly drawn. Following the exile this all changed and clear separation had to be defined between the people of Israel and the Gentiles. Some of the prohibitions in these sections are prohibited because they were practiced by the Gentile nations. They needed to know what was ceremonially "clean" and what was "unclean".


Holiness in Daily Life Leviticus 11-22



  • Holiness in Diet: Leviticus 11

  • Holiness with New Children: Leviticus 12

  • Holiness in Sickness: Leviticus 13-14:32

  • Holiness in Hygiene: Leviticus 14:33-15

  • Holiness in Day of Atonement: Leviticus 16

  • Holiness in regard to Blood & Pagan practices: Leviticus 17

  • Holiness in Sexuality: Leviticus 18

  • Holiness in Personal Relationships: Leviticus 19

  • Penalties for Unholiness: Leviticus 20; 24:10-23


Leviticus 11 - Food Restrictions:


Noah already understood that anything that was to be offered to God had to be something that was "clean". So the distinction between clean and unclean begins far earlier than the Book of Leviticus. However, it is not until Leviticus 4 that the “clean and unclean” terminology reappears after Genesis 7 and 8. Now it is given more substance, and “clean and unclean” are brought to bear on Israel’s worship of God and on Israel’s eating habits. At the end of Genesis 8, Noah offered up the "clean" animals as a sacrifice to God. Noah brought seven of the clean ones so that he could sacrifice them to God.


Leviticus 11 deals with the subject of cleanness and uncleanness - specifically, with the subject of clean and unclean foods. The word “clean” has a lot of different meanings today depending upon the context in which it is used. Cleanness and uncleanness are related to holiness. If we desire practical holiness in our lives, we need to understand how cleanness and holiness are related. Unclean and its related terms occurs 132 times in the Old Testament, over 50 percent in Leviticus. So the sense of uncleanness is a predominate theme.


Some practices that resulted in ceremonial uncleanness were not morally wrong in themselves, such as childbearing. Therefore, we must not think "sinful" whenever we read "unclean." "Unclean" does not mean "sinful" but "impure." Impurity restricted the Israelite from participating in corporate worship at the tabernacle.


First, there are the land animals. There are two basic stipulations which must be met before an animal that dwells on the land can be considered clean and therefore can be eaten by the Israelite. It must be both split-hoofed and a cud-chewer.


It seems to be partly true, if not universally true, that many of the creatures that are unclean are those creatures which may live on meat and may therefore be blood-shedders. It would seem that often, though not always, the animals that are unclean are blood shedders, or they are those that eat off dead prey, as vultures of some sort or another. Israelites are not to eat of animals that of themselves sacrifice the life or come into contact with other animals. So man only eats creatures which are themselves free from contamination by death, by not shedding blood in a sacrificial way.


Specific animals listed as "unclean": camel, rock badger, hare, pig. However, we're not sure of the identity of the "hare" and the "rock badger" but that's how it's translated in the NLT.


Specific animals listed in Deuteronomy 14 as "clean": ox, sheep, goat, deer, gazelle, roebuck, wild goat, ibex, antelope, mountain sheep.


Second, the sea creatures. When we come to the creatures that dwell in the sea, they must meet two qualifications as well—they must have fins and scales. Shrimp, lobster, dolphins, squid and whales are then unclean.


Third, those creatures that are in the air. They are creatures that are non-vulture like. Then we have flying insects that are described. Here all flying insects are called unclean, with the exception of those that have a set of jumper legs which propel them so they can leap through the air and thus propel themselves through the air. Jumping, flying insects are edible; all the rest are not. So, locusts, crickets and grasshoppers are "clean".


Specific birds listed here and in Deuteronomy 14 as "unclean": eagle, vulture, kite, falcon, raven, ostrich, nighthawk, sea gull, little owl, short-eared owl, barn owl, tawny owl, stork, heron, hoopoe and the bat.


Fourth, there is the category of dead animals which are unclean. Essentially, any dead animal other than an animal which has been killed through the sacrificial process in the front of the door of the tent of meeting is unclean. There are unclean animals that will defile in their death, and there are clean animals that will defile man in their death, if their death is not a sacrificial death. The carcasses are that which can contaminate. Therefore if a person eats a cow which has just been killed by a wolf, that person would be ceremonially unclean even though he could eat the meat if it were sacrificed to God.


Fifth, swarming animals. This category includes things like mice, lizards and snakes. Apparently they are called swarming because they go about together in groups, and they seem to have an erratic, unpredictable manner of movement. Even touching one makes you "unclean". Additionally, anything that crawls on its belly such as snakes are "unclean."


We ought not to eat clean animals that die by themselves.


Cleanness or uncleanness is a matter of category more than of condition. Cleanness is defined by God and declared by the priests. It is the state of access to God. The practical outworking of being declared unclean means that we have to stay back. For example, a priest in Leviticus 22 cannot go about his priestly duties in a state of uncleanness. He must wait until he is ceremonially clean. So one may not approach God in his normal worship in an unclean state. It restricts one’s fellowship with God, and it restricts one’s fellowship with men. That is the natural consequence of the declaration of uncleanness.


When we get down to the basic reason why an Israelite is to make these distinctions between clean and unclean, it is because God says, “You are to be holy, for I am holy.” Cleanliness is related to God’s holiness, and Israel is to observe it because of the holiness of God.


Cures for uncleanness are spelled out in Leviticus and on through the Old Testament.


David says in Psalm 51:7: Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. and in Psalm 51:10: Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. Cleanness becomes something that is more internal than external.


Ezekiel 36:24-27: For I will gather you up from all the nations and bring you home again to your land. “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols. And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.


Isaiah 6:5 (New International Version): "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."


When we come to the New Testament, we discover that Jesus talks in terms of clean and unclean, and particularly as the scribes and Pharisees are disputing with Him. In Mark 7, for example, they debate about whether Jesus and His disciples can come in from outside and then begin to eat dinner when they have not ceremonially washed their hands. This is something the Jews added to the interpretation and the meaning of the Old Testament. They had more emphasis on cleanliness that was by their tradition than it was by Scripture. Jesus said, “Don’t you understand that it is not that which comes from without that defiles a man, but that which comes from within that defiles a man.” Then, Mark says parenthetically, “Thus He declared all things to be clean.” No one really understood the implications of that until after the death of Jesus Christ.


Cleanness and uncleanness in terms of food was what distinguished a Jew and a Gentile. That is, a Jew, in order not to eat of the kinds of food God had prohibited, could not eat in a Gentile home because undoubtedly there was going to be contamination there. That built up a great wall of separation between Jews and Gentiles. That distinction was designed in the Old Testament, but it had to be set aside in the New Testament. The Book of Ephesians says the middle wall of partition has been torn down—the enmity that existed there has been taken away, and the Jews and Gentiles have been brought together in one new body—the church. The distinctions therefore that separate Jews and Gentiles have to be set aside. Thus in Acts 10, God said in a vision to Peter that He wanted him to eat of these things which Peter recognized as being unclean by Old Testament definition. And Peter said “Oh, no!” But God said to him three times, “What I have called clean, don’t you call unclean.” He takes the arbitrary definition of clean and unclean. Something is clean or unclean because God declares it to be just that. That means if God re-declares that something which was unclean is now clean, it is clean. And Peter had difficulty understanding that.


Acts 10:9-15: The next day as Cornelius’s messengers were nearing the town, Peter went up on the flat roof to pray. It was about noon, and he was hungry. But while a meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. He saw the sky open, and something like a large sheet was let down by its four corners. In the sheet were all sorts of animals, reptiles, and birds. Then a voice said to him, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat them.” “No, Lord,” Peter declared. “I have never eaten anything that our Jewish laws have declared impure and unclean." But the voice spoke again: “Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean.”


Leviticus 12: Purification after Childbirth:


For the next four chapters, concentration is mostly on ‘uncleanness’ as it applies to men and women in connection with discharges from, or diseases in, their physical bodies.


After the birth of a son, who is to be circumcised the eighth day, the mother is considered unclean for forty days After the birth of a daughter, 80 days. When the days of her purifying were ended, she was to bring a lamb for a burnt-offering, and a young pigeon or a turtle-dove for a sin-offering. If she was poor and not able to bring a lamb, she was to bring either two turtle-doves or two young pigeons, which is what Mary brought after the birth of Jesus.


The purpose of sin offering “atonement,” in particular, was to purge impurities from the tabernacle, whether they were caused by physical uncleannesses or by sins and iniquities. In this case, the woman has not “sinned” morally by having a child. Even Mary brought such offerings for giving birth to Jesus (Luke 2:22-24), though she certainly did not “sin” in giving birth to him. Note that the result of bringing this “sin offering” was “she will be clean,” not “she will be forgiven”. The impurity of the blood flow has caused the need for this “sin offering,” not some moral or relational infringement of the law.


Luke 2:22-24: Then it was time for their purification offering, as required by the law of Moses after the birth of a child; so his parents took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. The law of the Lord says, “If a woman’s first child is a boy, he must be dedicated to the Lord.” So they offered the sacrifice required in the law of the Lord—“either a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”


Leviticus 13-14: Diseases on Skin, Clothing and Dwellings:


According to Wenham (The Book of Leviticus - Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1979, page 201) there are 21 different cases of skin disease in chapter 13, along with 3 different cases of diseased garments.


Health regulations pertaining to "contagious skin diseases" as translated in the New Living Translation or "leprosy" in the King James version were also included in God's laws. Such guidelines enabled the priests, who were responsible for the health of the camp, to distinguish between serious and chronic forms of these various diseases. Some of these diseases - unlike the diseases we call "leprosy" or "Hansen's disease" today - were contagious. Regulations regarding certain forms of mildew (greenish or reddish) in fabrics or houses are also described (Leviticus 13:49; 14:37).


The Hebrew word translated as "leprosy" is tsara'at. It is obvious from the context that this is not what we today consider leprosy - it includes skin ailments such as festering or running sores, itches from fungal infestations such as ringworm, eczema, scabies, boils, inflamed swellings and rashes, warts, psoriasis, hives, boils, burns, etc. and is even extended to dwellings and clothing (mold, mildew and fungus)! What today is called leprosy (Hansen's disease) was unknown in the Near East at the time of Leviticus.


Those whom the priest declared to be "unclean" due to a skin disease were required to live outside the camp until the priest declared that they were free of their disease and to present a sacrifice as part of a cleansing ceremony. The purpose of this law is to prevent what is "unclean" from coming into contact with what is holy.


The person with a skin disease is to tear his clothes, go about with an unadorned head, have his beard and mouth covered and say "Unclean, Unclean" as the walked about.


Only a priest can declare a person or a dwelling "clean."


2 Kings 5:1-14: The king of Aram had great admiration for Naaman, the commander of his army, because through him the Lord had given Aram great victories. But though Naaman was a mighty warrior, he suffered from leprosy. At this time Aramean raiders had invaded the land of Israel, and among their captives was a young girl who had been given to Naaman’s wife as a maid. One day the girl said to her mistress, “I wish my master would go to see the prophet in Samaria. He would heal him of his leprosy.” So Naaman told the king what the young girl from Israel had said. “Go and visit the prophet,” the king of Aram told him. “I will send a letter of introduction for you to take to the king of Israel.” So Naaman started out, carrying as gifts 750 pounds of silver, 150 pounds of gold, and ten sets of clothing. The letter to the king of Israel said: “With this letter I present my servant Naaman. I want you to heal him of his leprosy.” When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes in dismay and said, “This man sends me a leper to heal! Am I God, that I can give life and take it away? I can see that he’s just trying to pick a fight with me.” But when Elisha, the man of God, heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes in dismay, he sent this message to him: “Why are you so upset? Send Naaman to me, and he will learn that there is a true prophet here in Israel.” So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and waited at the door of Elisha’s house. But Elisha sent a messenger out to him with this message: “Go and wash yourself seven times in the Jordan River. Then your skin will be restored, and you will be healed of your leprosy.” But Naaman became angry and stalked away. “I thought he would certainly come out to meet me!” he said. “I expected him to wave his hand over the leprosy and call on the name of the Lord his God and heal me! Aren’t the rivers of Damascus, the Abana and the Pharpar, better than any of the rivers of Israel? Why shouldn’t I wash in them and be healed?” So Naaman turned and went away in a rage. But his officers tried to reason with him and said, “Sir, if the prophet had told you to do something very difficult, wouldn’t you have done it? So you should certainly obey him when he says simply, ‘Go and wash and be cured!’” So Naaman went down to the Jordan River and dipped himself seven times, as the man of God had instructed him. And his skin became as healthy as the skin of a young child’s, and he was healed!


Mark 1:40-44: A man with leprosy came and knelt in front of Jesus, begging to be healed. “If you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean,” he said.

Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” Instantly the leprosy disappeared, and the man was healed. Then Jesus sent him on his way with a stern warning: “Don’t tell anyone about this. Instead, go to the priest and let him examine you. Take along the offering required in the law of Moses for those who have been healed of leprosy. This will be a public testimony that you have been cleansed.”



Leviticus 15: Bodily Discharges:


Discharge of semen makes the man unclean for 7 days. Semen on clothing, furniture or a saddle makes them unclean for 7 days. Sex makes the man and woman unclean until evening and until they have a bath. Not to have sex during a woman's menstrual period. A woman is unclean during her menstrual period. After 7 days, she must bring a sacrifice of two turtledoves or two young pigeons.


Part of this is because of the practice of temple prostitution in most of the rest of the world.


Mark 5:25-34: A woman in the crowd had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding. She had suffered a great deal from many doctors, and over the years she had spent everything she had to pay them, but she had gotten no better. In fact, she had gotten worse. She had heard about Jesus, so she came up behind him through the crowd and touched his robe. For she thought to herself, “If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed.” Immediately the bleeding stopped, and she could feel in her body that she had been healed of her terrible condition. Jesus realized at once that healing power had gone out from him, so he turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my robe?” His disciples said to him, “Look at this crowd pressing around you. How can you ask, ‘Who touched me?’” But he kept on looking around to see who had done it. Then the frightened woman, trembling at the realization of what had happened to her, came and fell to her knees in front of him and told him what she had done. And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over.”


Leviticus 15:31-33 summarizes this chapter and even this entire section: “This is how you will guard the people of Israel from ceremonial uncleanness. Otherwise they would die, for their impurity would defile my Tabernacle that stands among them. These are the instructions for dealing with anyone who has a bodily discharge—a man who is unclean because of an emission of semen or a woman during her menstrual period. It applies to any man or woman who has a bodily discharge, and to a man who has sexual intercourse with a woman who is ceremonially unclean.”



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Saturday, February 21, 2009

Leviticus 8 - 10: Consecration of the Priests

Read Leviticus 8-10.


Leviticus 8: Key phrase (7 times): "as the Lord commanded". Now that the tabernacle was built it was time to perform the ceremony. This chapter takes up from the last part of Exodus where Moses finishes the tabernacle (see Exodus 40:33). It describes the anointing of Aaron as the first High Priest of Israel, to oversee the tabernacle. Exodus 29 records the command God gave to Moses to carry out this consecration ceremony with Aaron and his sons.


Exodus 29:42-46: “These burnt offerings are to be made each day from generation to generation. Offer them in the Lord’s presence at the Tabernacle entrance; there I will meet with you and speak with you. I will meet the people of Israel there, in the place made holy by my glorious presence. Yes, I will consecrate the Tabernacle and the altar, and I will consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve me as priests. Then I will live among the people of Israel and be their God, and they will know that I am the Lord their God. I am the one who brought them out of the land of Egypt so that I could live among them. I am the Lord their God.


God chose Aaron's family to serve as the priesthood. He didn't call for volunteers -- God did the choosing.


Consecration or ordination is an act by which a person or thing is dedicated to the service and worship of God. The word "ordination" is a Hebrew phrase literally meaning "to fill the hands".


Leviticus 8:1-6: The washing of the priests:


Moses' first action with Aaron and his sons was to wash them with water. This was a ceremonial washing and indicated the preliminary removal from Aaron and his sons of the taint of earthiness. They were coming into the presence of the Holy One, the One Who was not of this earth. Nothing earthy must cling to them. This great cleansing was a one-time thing.


Does this explain why it was necessary for John the Baptist to baptize (wash) Jesus - to prepare him as the true high priest? Matthew 3:13-17, Mark 1:9-11, Luke 3:21-22, John 1:29-34.


From then on they just needed to cleanse their hands and their feet (sound familiar?).

John 13:4-10: So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him. When Jesus came to Simon Peter, Peter said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus replied, “You don’t understand now what I am doing, but someday you will.” “No,” Peter protested, “you will never ever wash my feet!” Jesus replied, “Unless I wash you, you won’t belong to me.” Simon Peter exclaimed, “Then wash my hands and head as well, Lord, not just my feet!” Jesus replied, “A person who has bathed all over does not need to wash, except for the feet, to be entirely clean. And you disciples are clean, but not all of you.”


The chosen priests were washed prior to their ordination or consecration, symbolizing the "washing of water with the word," the cleansing of the word of God in our lives. Ephesians 5:25-26: For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word (Greek washed by water with the word.)

Titus 3:5: Greek: He saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.


Leviticus 8:7-9: Clothing Aaron in the High Priest's Garments:



Girded with the sash . . . the ephod . . . the breastplate . . . the turban: Each of these specific articles of clothing were made for the high priest, garments to show the glory and for beauty of the priesthood (Exodus 28:2).


Aaron is a picture of Jesus Christ, our High Priest:

Hebrews 7:26-28: He is the kind of high priest we need because he is holy and blameless, unstained by sin. He has been set apart from sinners and has been given the highest place of honor in heaven. Unlike those other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices every day. They did this for their own sins first and then for the sins of the people. But Jesus did this once for all when he offered himself as the sacrifice for the people’s sins. The law appointed high priests who were limited by human weakness. But after the law was given, God appointed his Son with an oath, and his Son has been made the perfect High Priest forever.


Leviticus 8:10-12: The anointing of the tabernacle and instruments and Aaron with oil:


The oil (a picture of the Holy Spirit) was poured over Aaron's head. Every believer has an anointing (1 John 2:20) that they may receive and walk in by faith.

1 John 2:20 Greek: But you have an anointing from the Holy One.


Moses anointed with oil the tabernacle, the altar and all its utensils, the laver and its base and Aaron to consecrate them (set them apart). While the tribe of Levi were dedicated for service to God, only Aaron's descendants could be priests - they alone had the honor and responsibility of performing sacrifices. These priests had to cleanse and dedicate themselves before they could help the people do the same.


There were only three groups of people who were commonly anointed in the Old Testament: Priests, Prophets and Kings. Jesus filled each of these positions. And because He did, He is HaMeshiah - the "anointed One."


1 Samuel 16:13: So as David stood there among his brothers, Samuel took the flask of olive oil he had brought and anointed David with the oil. And the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David from that day on. Then Samuel returned to Ramah. And what happed when Jesus came up out of the water?


Matthew 3:16-17: After his baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.”


Psalm 133:2: For harmony is as precious as the anointing oil that was poured over Aaron’s head, that ran down his beard and onto the border of his robe.


Leviticus 8:13: Clothing Aaron's sons in the priestly garments.


While Aaron is a picture of our great high priest, his sons represent every believer in Jesus Christ, assembled with Christ and serving also as priests. In other words, everyone who knows Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior is constituted a priest to the other members of the human family, both to the world at large and to the rest of the body of Christ.


Leviticus 8:14-17: The sacrifice of the sin offering:


Aaron and his sons placed their hands on the animal, they lean their weight on the animal that is going to be slaughtered. Through this action they identify themselves with the animal to be killed. This identification is twofold: they are indicating their willingness to die to self, and they are acknowledging their own sinfulness, their need for a substitutionary death. The altar was sanctified with the blood of the sin offering, and the best of the animal was burnt before the Lord - the rest was destroyed outside the camp.


The sin offering be offered for them because they were sinners just like everybody else. And so before they could really serve the Lord and act as God's representatives to the people, there had to first of all be a sin offering offered for them. And this, of course, yearly when the high priest would on Yom Kippur go into the Holy of Holies to offer a sacrifice for the sins of the whole congregation. The first sacrifice that he would make on Yom Kippur was his own sin offering. He had to take care of himself first, and his own sin offering would be first. He would have to offer for himself before he could ever offer for the people. And so the first offering in this whole tabernacle, new tabernacle set up, was the sin offering for Aaron and his sons that they might then be sanctified for the ministry unto the Lord.


Leviticus 8:18-21: The sacrifice of the ram as a burnt offering:


Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram, and Moses killed it. Then he sprinkled the blood all around on the altar. Moses burned the whole ram on the altar.


Leviticus 8:22-29: The sacrifice of the ram of priestly consecration (ordination):


Then Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram of consecration, and Moses killed it in a ceremony much like a peace offering. Also he took some of its blood and put it on the tip of Aaron's right ear, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. Then, Moses put some of the blood on the tips of Aaron's sons' right ears, on the thumbs of their right hands, and on the big toes of their right feet. And Moses sprinkled the blood all around on the altar. These consecrated priests were stained with the blood of sacrifice. They should hear differently because the blood was on their ear. They should work differently because the blood was on their thumb. They should walk differently because the blood was on their toe.


Moses takes the fat and the kidneys and burns them before the Lord. Recall that fat has positive connotations for the Israelites, not negative as in our culture. The fat represents all that is best in life. In offering that up to God, Moses and the priests are acknowledging that God is the source of all that is good, of all the richness of this life.


The blood symbolized both death to self and atonement through the death of another. So when the priests see the blood of the sacrifice placed on their bodies, they are to recall their need to die to self daily, hourly, and the cleansing that they have received through the sacrifice for sins.


Leviticus 8:30: The anointing of Aaron and his sons and their garments with blood and oil:


The blood alone wasn't enough. God wanted blood mixed with oil, and to have the mixture sprinkled on the priests. There was to be a combination of both the sacrifice and the spirit (represented by the anointing oil). This symbolized that the priests were holy and consecrated as was the tabernacle and everything in it.


Leviticus 8:31-32: A fellowship meal with God:


The remaining meat portions of this ram were given to Aaron and the other priests, after those portions were presented to God as a wave offering. It was then cooked and eaten by the priests at the door of the tabernacle of meeting with the bread during the days of their consecration ceremony.


Leviticus 8:33-35: Seven days of consecration:


The priests are separated from the assembly for seven days prior to the beginning of their ministry. They must stay at the doorway of the tabernacle. Once again, this pictures their holiness, their separation to God, their call to belong to God in a special way. During these seven days they are to eat the consecrated bread.


Leviticus 8:36: Aaron and his sons did everything the Lord had commanded through Moses.


Leviticus 9: The first tabernacle service; God's approval:


We left Aaron and his sons isolated in the tabernacle for seven days.


On the 8th day, Moses, Aaron, Aaron's sons and the leaders of Israel come together and Aaron is instructed to take a young bull for a sin offering and a ram without blemish for a whole burnt offering and the Israelites are told to take a male goat for a sin offering, a year old calf and a year old lamb for whole burnt offering, a bull and ram for a piece offering because the Lord will appear to them on that day! God has described all these sacrifices and the ordination in detail -- and now, at long last, God's people are able to witness these wonderful pictures of God's provisions for meeting their needs.


Ironically the first sacrifice Aaron had to offer was a calf, as if to atone for making the golden calf (Exodus 32).


The eighth day is highly significant! Eight is the number of a new beginning – a resurrection, in other words. So the eighth day is a symbol of resurrection life.


Read the last three verses of chapter 9: Then Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and blessed them, and he stepped down after making the sin offering and the burnt offering and the peace offerings. And Moses and Aaron went into the tent of meeting. When they came out and blessed the people, the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people. Then fire came out from before the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the portions of fat on the altar; and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces.


God proved His presence by sending the fire. The priests were there, the offering was there, the Tabernacle was there, and the nation was there, but it was all incomplete without the fire from God.


The Bible gives us seven examples of where God showed acceptance of a sacrifice with fire from heaven:



  • Abel (Genesis 4:4)

  • Aaron (Leviticus 9:24)

  • Gideon (Judges 6:21)

  • Manoah (Judges 13:19-23)

  • David (1 Chronicles 21:28)

  • Solomon (2 Chronicles 7:1)

  • Elijah (1 Kings 18:38)




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Sunday, February 8, 2009

Leviticus-Introduction

Introduction to Leviticus

Approaching God through Sacrifice


The Hebrew name for the Book of Leviticus is taken from the Hebrew words which open the book, wa-ayiqra, "and he called." The Greek Septuagint uses the title Leuitikon, meaning "that which pertains to the Levites." This title was given because so much of the book deals with the ministry of the Levite priesthood.



The book of Leviticus is a book about the rituals of WORSHIP and HOLINESS. In this, it is a continuation of the Law which is set forth in Exodus. Because Yahweh is now dwelling among His people in holiness, He provides prescriptions mediated through Moses for the people to remain in relationship with Him (e.g., through ritual and cleanliness).


In Genesis we see man ruined. In Exodus we see man redeemed. In Leviticus we see man at worship. Leviticus teaches God's people how they are to approach Him and live pleasing in His sight. Its central command is to "be HOLY."


Leviticus picks up with the presence of the Lord calling out to Moses from inside the Tabernacle (Exodus 40:36-38) and ends with the construction of the Tabernacle and the glory of the Lord moving into the Tabernacle. Leviticus tells us about the worship which takes place within that Tabernacle. There's no break as we move from Exodus to Leviticus. We're still at the base of Mt. Sinai.


Key verses:

Leviticus 19:2: “Give the following instructions to the entire community of Israel. You must be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.

Leviticus 20:7-8: So set yourselves apart to be holy, for I am the Lord your God. Keep all my decrees by putting them into practice, for I am the Lord who makes you holy.


The word holiness is mentioned 152 times, the most of any book of the Bible.


Leviticus may be briefly summarized as follows:

1) The laws relating to sacrifice (1-7).

2) The consecration of the priests (8-10).

3) The laws relating to cleanness and uncleanness (11-15).

4) The Day of Atonement (16).

5) The laws relating to ritual and moral holiness (17-20).

6) The maintenance of the holiness of the priests (21-22).

7) The laws relating to times and seasons (23-25).



A Jewish perspective on the offerings - from Judaism 101 - Qorbanot: Sacrifices and Offerings: http://www.jewfaq.org/qorbanot.htm


"When did Jews stop offering sacrifices, and why?
For the most part, the practice of sacrifice stopped in the year 70 C.E., when the Roman army destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem, the place where sacrifices were offered. The practice was briefly resumed during the Jewish War of 132-135 C.E., but was ended permanently after that war was lost. There were also a few communities that continued sacrifices for a while after that time.
We stopped offering sacrifices because we do not have a proper place to offer them. The Torah specifically commands us not to offer sacrifices wherever we feel like it; we are only permitted to offer sacrifices in the place that G-d has chosen for that purpose. Deuteronomy 12:13-14. It would be a sin to offer sacrifices in any other place, akin to stealing candles and wine to observe Shabbat.
The last place appointed by G-d for this purpose was the Temple in Jerusalem, but the Temple has been destroyed and a mosque has been erected in the place where it stood. Until G-d provides us with another place, we cannot offer sacrifices. There was at one time an opinion that in the absence of an assigned place, we could offer sacrifices anywhere. Based on that opinion, certain communities made their own sacrificial places. However, the majority ultimately ruled against this practice, and all sacrifice ceased.



"Orthodox Jews believe that when the messiah comes, a place will be provided for sacrificial purposes.


"How do Jews obtain forgiveness without sacrifices?
Forgiveness is obtained through repentance, prayer and good deeds.
In Jewish practice, prayer has taken the place of sacrifices. In accordance with the words of Hosea, we render instead of bullocks the offering of our lips (Hosea 14:3) (please note: the KJV translates this somewhat differently). While dedicating the Temple, King Solomon also indicated that prayer can be used to obtain forgiveness (I Kings 8:46-50). Our prayer services are in many ways designed to parallel the sacrificial practices. For example, we have an extra service on Shabbat, to parallel the extra Shabbat offering. As we shall see, the purposes for bringing sacrifice are very similar to the purposes for prayer.
It is important to note that in Judaism, sacrifice was never the exclusive means of obtaining forgiveness, was not in and of itself sufficient to obtain forgiveness, and in certain circumstances was not even effective to obtain forgiveness.


"Were sacrifices a symbol of the savior to come?
Not according to Judaism. Jews don't believe that people need supernatural salvation from sin (sincere repentance and good deeds are sufficient to obtain forgiveness; see above), and don't believe that sacrifice has anything to do with a savior or messiah.
Quite the contrary, some would say that the original institution of sacrifice had more to do with the Judaism's past than with its future. Rambam suggested that the entire sacrificial cult in Judaism was ordained as an accommodation of man's primitive desires.
Sacrifice is an ancient and universal human expression of religion. Sacrifice existed among the Hebrews long before the giving of the Torah. Cain and Abel offered sacrifices; Noah and his sons offered sacrifices, and so forth. When the laws of sacrifice were given to the Children of Israel in the Torah, the pre-existence of a system of sacrificial offering was understood, and sacrificial terminology was used without any explanation. The Torah, rather than creating the institution of sacrifice, carefully circumscribes and limits the practice, permitting it only in certain places, at certain times, in certain manners, by certain people, and for certain purposes. Rambam suggests that these limitations are designed to wean a primitive people away from the debased rites of their idolatrous neighbors.


The Talmud states that in the age of the messiah (when there is no more sin), this will be the only class of offering that is brought to the Temple."



Themes of Leviticus:

* Sin is very, very serious and requires payment to God.

* The nature of God.

* The distinctive rules given to the Israelites to set them apart from other peoples.

* Five kinds of offerings are covered, in two main categories - praise/thanks to God and atonement for sins.


The Epistle to the Hebrews, which we just finished studying, lays down the principles upon which we are to interpret
Leviticus. The typical character of the ordinances is affirmed that the Tabernacle
was an "example and shadow of the heavenly things"; the sacrifices
prefigured "better sacrifices than these," even the one offering of
Him who "put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself"; and, that the
holy times and sabbatic seasons of the law were "a shadow of things to
come."


The sacrifices of Leviticus stood at the heart of the worship of God under the Old Covenant. The overall image we may retain from them may indeed be of an endless number of bulls, sheep, goats, and birds slaughtered and burned with profound solemnity on a smoking altar. However, there is absolutely no doubt that they prefigured the sacrifice of Jesus Christ in His death by crucifixion. Less understood is that they also foreshadowed the depth of His consecrated devotion to God and man in His life. Even less understood is how they demonstrate the life we also are to exemplify as living sacrifices.


Is not being living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God, and not being conformed to this world but being transformed by the renewing of our minds into the image of Christ our Redeemer, to be at the center of our lives once we are redeemed (Romans 12:1-2; Ephesians 4:13)?


The subject of the first seven chapters is sacrifice. Each of the five offerings has similarities and differences. The most common similarities are that in each offering there is an offering, an offerer, and a priest. We see Christ as offerer in His role as a human being, the One who became a man. We see Him as offering in His character and work as the victim. We see Him as priest in His relationship to us today; He is our High Priest.


Psalm 40:6-8: You take no delight in sacrifices or offerings. Now that you have made me listen, I finally understand— you don’t require burnt offerings or sin offerings. Then I said, “Look, I have come. As is written about me in the Scriptures: I take joy in doing your will, my God, for your instructions are written on my heart.”


Leviticus 17:11: for the life of the body is in its blood. I have given you the blood on the altar to purify you, making you right with the Lord. It is the blood, given in exchange for a life, that makes purification possible.


Hebrews 9:22: In fact, according to the law of Moses, nearly everything was purified with blood. For without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.


LAWS OF OFFERINGS (LEVITICUS 1-7)


There are five specific types of offerings outlined in Leviticus chapters 1-7. In all cases, the offering was to be spotless and without blemish. Furthermore, it was always an animal which had been domesticated and raised by men. Wild animals were never used as offerings. The word for "offering" is corban. It comes from a root word meaning "to bring near." In New Testament times, it came to describe that which was given or dedicated to the Lord (Mark 7:11-12: But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free. And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother. - KJV)


The priests presented the first three offerings listed below on
the brazen altar in the tabernacle courtyard. God saw the offerer as a worshiper as
well as a guilty sinner. The offering was to be without any blemish, which was
also true of the sin and trespass offerings. This indicated that the offerer was
presenting the best to God who is worthy of nothing less.


1. The Burnt Offering (1:1-17). The word used to describe the "burnt offering" is olah and is taken from the root verb meaning, "to go up" or "ascend." It is an offering of ascension. This referred to the fact that the entire offering was burned and "ascended to God." In Greek, "burnt offering" is holokautoma, from which we get the word "holocaust".



  • It was the foundational offering which allowed men to come into the presence of the Lord. For this reason, Leviticus 1:3 says that a man makes this offering "that he may be accepted before the Lord" and verse 4 adds that "it may be accepted for him to make atonement on his behalf."

  • A life was offered upon the altar.

  • It was to be completely burnt (except the skin which was the priest's) upon the altar. This showed that man's duty to God was not in the mere giving up of a portion, but in the entire surrender of ALL.

    Romans 12:1: And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.

     Ephesians 5:1-2: Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.

  • Depending upon the financial status of the one making the offering, it could be comprised of a bull, a lamb, or a dove.

  • There is a difference between the word "atonement" in the Old Testament and the word "atonement" in the New Testament. In the Old Testament, the word "atonement" comes from the Hebrew word kaphar, which means, "to cover." Now it was impossible that the blood of bulls or goats could put away our sin. They never put away sins for anybody. But they did make a covering for sin, so that the guilt of the person was covered, but it wasn't put away. So the word atonement in the Old Testament usage out of Hebrew, from the word kaphar is actually a covering.

  • An additional burnt offering was to be offered up each Sabbath day (Numbers 28:9-10). Also, at the beginning of each month (Numbers 28:11), at the celebration of Passover on the 14th day of the 1st month (Numbers 28:16), along with new grain offering at Feast of Weeks (Numbers 28:27), at the feast of trumpets, on sacred day in the 7th month (Numbers 29), and for the celebration of the new moon (Numbers 29:6).

  • The first “burnt offering” specifically mentioned in the Bible was offered by Noah after the flood waters had subsided, at which time he offered “burnt offerings” of all the clean animals (Genesis 8:20). God instructed Abraham to offer up Isaac as a “burnt offering” (Genesis), and so the ram which God in Isaac’s place was offered by Abraham as a burnt offering (Genesis 22:13). When Moses told Pharaoh that Israel must take their cattle with them into the wilderness to worship their God, it was because they needed them to offer burnt offerings (Exodus 10:25-26). Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, offered a burnt offering to God in Exodus chapter 18:12. The Israelites offered up burnt offerings in conjunction with their meeting with God and receiving His covenant on Mt. Sinai (Exodus 20:24; 24:5).

  • After the offerer had laid his hands on the victim, he killed it (except in the case of birds, which the priest killed). The guilty person leans his hands upon the head of the animal and then says “I deserve to die instead of this innocent animal, but the LORD mercifully accepts the death of this innocent one in my stead.” When God sees the shed blood or ascending smoke of the sacrifice, He "covers" the sinner's sin.

  • This was a freewill offering that was consumed entirely by the fire on the altar. The sacrificial victim must be an animal or a bird that is without defect. As the animal is slaughtered, the priest catches its blood in a pan and sprinkles it on the altar.

  • The priest sprinkled the blood round about upon the altar, and, the whole of the animal was burnt as a sweet savour on the altar. It made atonement for the offerer, who found acceptance in its value.

  • It is also important to note that the fire on the altar was never to go out: Leviticus 6:13

  • God's Portion: All that is burned.

  • Priest's Portion: Skins (7:8)

  • Symbolism: Christ was offered up for us. John 10:14-17: “I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep. I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd. “The Father loves me because I sacrifice my life so I may take it back again.

  • 1:1-9: Whole Burnt Offerings from the Herd (a bull-ox).

  • 1:10-13: Whole Burnt Offerings from the Flock.

  • 1:14-17: Whole-Burnt Offerings from the Birds.


2. The Grain (Meal) Offering (2:1-16). Hebrew: Minchah, from 'a present, gift, oblation.'





  • It was made up of flour, oil, and incense.

  • Honey was forbidden; instead frankincense was used. This is because honey would eventually turn sour (leaven was also forbidden); but frankincense received its highest degree of fragrance after it had been burned.

  • It was to be seasoned with salt - the picture of preservation (2:13).

  • Only a part of the flour and of the oil but all the frankincense was burnt upon the altar, as a sweet savour unto Jehovah: the rest was food for the priest and his sons, not his daughters.

  • The freewill meal offering appears to have been acceptable only when offered with the
    burnt offering    . This indicated that one's works were acceptable to God only when
    they accompanied the offerer's consecration of himself to God.

  • In this offering, they would take fine flour, mix it with oil and frankincense, and make up a dough that they would put on the fire to more or less bake unto the Lord. Now, these things speak man's works. I am bringing flour, mixing it with oil. Where did I get the flour? I had to till the soil. I had to plant the seed. I had to harvest the seed. I had to thresh the seed. I had to grind the seed into flour itself. And so it was the work of my hands. I picked the olives and put them in the olive press and got the oil. It was the work of my hands. So I am offering to God in the offering, in the meal offering, I am offering to God my service, dedicating the work of my hands unto God, giving unto God my service. And thus this meal offering again was a sweet smelling savor. "Here it is, Lord, my service. I'm giving now my labor unto you. I am offering you myself as a servant to do your work."

  • Purpose: Worship toward God. Described as a sweet-smelling aroma to the Lord.

  • God's Portion: All except when it is first fruits.

  • Priest's Portion: Remainder (6:16-18).

  • Symbolism: This is a picture of the One who became our "Bread of Life" and who was anointed with the "Oil" of the Holy Spirit.

    John 6:48-51: Yes, I am the bread of life! Your ancestors ate manna in the wilderness, but they all died.0 Anyone who eats the bread from heaven, however, will never die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; and this bread, which I will offer so the world may live, is my flesh.”


3. Peace (Fellowship) Offering (3:1-17). Hebrew: Shelem, from 'to be whole, complete,' to be at peace, in friendship with any one.



  • In this freewill offering, the offerer laid his hands on the head of the offering and killed it. The blood was sprinkled round about the altar.

  • All the fat, the two kidneys, and the sac above the liver were burnt upon the altar, an offering made by fire of a sweet savour unto the Lord.

  • The breast of the offering was waved for a wave offering, and was then food for Aaron and his sons and daughters. The right shoulder was a heave offering, and was for the offering priest.

  • The offerer and his friends also ate of the offering on the same day; or, if it were a vow or a voluntary offering, it might be eaten on the second day. What remained was burnt with fire: indicating that communion to be real must be fresh, and not too far separated from the work of the altar.

  • In the Burnt Offering and the Grain Offering, the Lord and the Priest had a portion, but not the one making the offering.

  • This signified communion with God. When you sit at a table and eat with someone, it signifies that you are at peace with him. Christ has become our peace offering. In Him both God and man find common food. Eating together had great significance in the ancient Near East.
    People who ate a ritual meal together were committing themselves to one another
    in a strong bond of loyalty. Eating together also symbolized fellowship. In this
    sacrifice the offerer fed on the same offering he had made to God.

  • Jacob and Laban offered a peace offering when they made their treaty (Genesis 31). It was required to make offerings while making a vow of one's life to God and thanking Him with praise while free-will offerings were voluntary.

  • Purpose: Worship toward God. Described as a soothing or sweet-smelling aroma to the Lord.

  • God's Portion: All that is burned.

  • Priest's Portion: Breast & right shoulder (7:31-32).

  • Symbolism: Jesus has a ministry of reconciliation to bring us back to God.


4. Sin (Purification) Offering (4:1-5:13). The Hebrew term for this type of offering is chatat, from the word chayt, meaning "missing the mark." A chatat could only be offered for unintentional sins committed through carelessness, not for intentional, malicious sins. Note that there is no explicit sacrifice for deliberate, intentional, and willful sins against the LORD, but instead punishment by an early death.



  • The first three offerings were freewill offerings offered as acts of worship. This required offering is made for atonement for sin.

  • This and the trespass offering stand apart from all the other offerings. In the burnt offering and the peace offering the offerer came as a worshipper, and by the imposition of hands became identified with the acceptability and acceptance of the victim: whereas in the sin offering the victim was identified with the sin of the offerer.

  • The first three offerings were burnt upon the altar in the compound of the Tabernacle. This offering is burnt on the bare earth outside the camp. This is a picture of Jesus who was crucified outside of Jerusalem.

    Hebrews 13:12: So also Jesus suffered and died outside the city gates to make his people holy by means of his own blood.)

  • The Day of Atonement stands alone — the blood of the sin offering being taken then into the holy of holies, and sprinkled on and before the mercy seat. Atonement had to be made according to the requirement of the nature and majesty of God's throne. This type was repeated yearly to maintain the relationship of the people with God, because the tabernacle remained among them in the midst of their uncleanness. Atonement was also made for the holy place and the altar: all were reconciled by the blood of the sin offering, and on the ground of the same blood the sins of the people were administratively borne away into a land not inhabited.

  • Purpose: Sacrifice for Sin.

  • God's Portion: Fat burned outside the camp.

  • Priest's Portion: Only eaten by the priest if it has not entered the Tabernacle (6:30).

  • Symbolism: Sin is not permitted into the presence of God. But Jesus died "outside the camp" (Hebrews 13:11-13).


5. Guilt (Trespass) Offering (5:14-6:7). Hebrew: Asham, from 'to be guilty.'



  • This required offering is the only one which is NOT described as a sweet-smelling aroma (even the Sin Offering is so described in Leviticus 4:31).

  • This offering is closely aligned to the sin offering; and yet there are a few subtle differences.

  • While the sins which call for the Sin Offering are only mentioned in a general sense, there are a number of specific offenses which mandate a Guilt Offering.

  • A part of the Guilt Offering includes a financial recompense to the party that was wronged (6:5). Thus, the Guilt Offering included the principle of restitution. The trespass offering was an offering of money for sins of ignorance connected with fraud. For example if someone unintentionally cheated another out of money or property, his sacrifice was to be equal to the amount taken, plus one-fifth to the priest and to the one offended. Reparation is evidence of true repentance.

  • Purpose: Sacrifice for Sin.

  • God's Portion: Fat, kidneys & liver.

  • Priest's Portion: Eaten by males in priest's family.

  • Symbolism: Sin requires death.


Jesus offered His own body up to be the perfect Sacrifice for sins. By His shed blood we are given complete atonement before God. The Levitical system of animal sacrifices, including the elaborate Yom Kippur ritual, was meant to foreshadow the true and abiding Sacrifice of Christ as the means of our reconciliation with God. The Old Covenant provides a shadow of the substance revealed in the New Covenant. If the old covenant had been sufficient to provide a permanent solution to the problem of our sin, there never would have been need for a new covenant to supersede it (Hebrews 8:7).


Under the old covenant, sacrifices merely “covered” sins, but under the new covenant, these sins are taken entirely away (Hebrews 7:27, 9:12, 9:25-28). There is no more need for continual sacrifices, since Christ provided the once-and-for-all sacrifice for all of our sins (Hebrews 9:11-14; 9:24-28; 10:11-20).


Hebrews 9:24-28: For Christ did not enter into a holy place made with human hands, which was only a copy of the true one in heaven. He entered into heaven itself to appear now before God on our behalf. And he did not enter heaven to offer himself again and again, like the high priest here on earth who enters the Most Holy Place year after year with the blood of an animal. If that had been necessary, Christ would have had to die again and again, ever since the world began. But now, once for all time, he has appeared at the end of the age to remove sin by his own death as a sacrifice. And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment, so also Christ died once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him.



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