Lakeside Community Church

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Sam Brinks

Professor Kroeze

Old Testament Survey

9 September 2008

Leviticus

Leviticus is located in the middle of the Pentateuch, both historically and literally according to R. Lair Harris.  The authorship and date are not certain as commentator Gordon J. Wenham describes the background of Leviticus.  The most accepted, traditional view is that it was written by Moses during the time in between the exodus from Egypt (book of Exodus), and the banishment into the wilderness (Numbers 13 and 14).  With this view, we can be sure that it fits into the Canon history because: it is written by Moses who was a prophet; it is written to Israel but contains laws and standards which apply to all generations; and it does not contradict other scriptures.

The main theme throughout this book is Love.  There are four main topics which support this throughout Leviticus.  First is that God gave the Israelites ordinances and sacrifices.  Second, God gave the Israelites commandments to abide by.  Third, God promised the people blessings if they obeyed His statutes.  Fourth, God promised discipline to those who disobeyed His statutes.  God demonstrates His love by setting up these statutes and consequences of obedience and disobedience.

The first way in which God demonstrates His love is by giving the people sacrifices.  Sacrifices were a way of repentance, to relieve the sin.  The theology behind this idea is that sacrifices of the Old Testament were signs that something greater is coming.  Hebrews chapter ten states that “sacrifice and offering You have not desired, but a body You have prepared for me; In whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You have taken no pleasure” (verse 5b-6).  This statement is claiming that God did not want the offerings which the Israelites offered, but rather they were a foreshadowing of the coming of Christ.  Earlier in the same chapter the author explains that the priests offered the same sacrifices year by year, which never cleansed them from their sins, but rather served as a constant reminder of their sins.  The purpose of these sacrifices is that they would assure the Israelites consciousness of their sins and as a type-Jesus, which means that it was similar to what Jesus was going to do and served as a foreshadowing.  When Jesus was offered as a sacrifice He was offered once and for all (Hebrews 10:10), unlike the yearly sacrifices of atonement which foreshadowed Jesus sacrifice.  When Jesus was sacrificed, he was offered as the annual offering of atonement, except for His was once and for all.  Chapter sixteen of Leviticus explains the process of the annual sanctification.  There were two goats offered, one scapegoat who was Barabbus and one to be sacrificed as sin offering who was Jesus (Matthew 27:17, Leviticus 16:6-10).  Then Jesus was crucified as the sin offering later in Matthew chapter 27.  When Jesus died he entered the Most Holy Place, as the high priest also did every year, and tore the curtain in two (Hebrews 9:11-12, and Matthew 27:50-51).  With the same references we can also see that Jesus entered with His own blood instead of a goat’s blood, and he sprinkled His blood on the mercy seat (Leviticus 16:15), He poured some of His blood on the horns of the altar, and sprinkled the altar seven times (Leviticus 16:18,19), then he offered up His fat of the sin offering in smoke in order to cleanse all the people who believe in Him (Leviticus 16:25).  God showed His love by giving the Israelites hope that a savior is coming to atone for their sins, and bring them closer to God.

God also demonstrated His love by giving the Israelites laws.  God gives us laws because he loves us: a father gives his son laws in order to protect him; in the same way God gives us laws in order to protect us.  Furthermore, God gives us laws in order to protect our neighbors and loved ones.  For example, the laws of leprosy in chapter thirteen protect the people around the leper so that he will not spread his leprosy to others.  God also gives us laws in order to glorify Himself.  His laws reveal to us His person, His care, and His foresight.  For example in chapter nineteen God commands us not to make hybrid animals, crops, or mix materials.  R. Laird Harris comments that “Mixing wheat and barley would make harvest difficult because of different time of ripening.”  Also, “…but would keep before the minds of the people the fact that corn and cattle, food and clothing were all under His surveillance” (Jellie, 240).  God demonstrates His love for us in His commands by giving us laws that protect us, protect our neighbors, and glorify Him.

Thirdly, God shows His love in the blessings which He promises us if we are obedient to Him.  These are presented to us in Leviticus 26: 1-13.  In this passage God promises to protect us from beasts and enemies, to provide for our needs (in the Israelites case this means giving them rain so that their fields produce many crops), and to dwell among us.  God rewards us for being obedient because He loves us.

Finally, God shows His love by promising discipline for those who are disobedient.  This promise is presented to us in the second half of Leviticus 26.  God gives us five different stages of discipline, depending on the offense.  Some might be confused as to how this is showing God’s love for us, but Hebrews 12: 7-11 shows us that God disciplines us for our good and so that we will become holy.  Hebrews also shows us that discipline trains us, and strengthens us so that we will be able to resist the temptation next time it hits us so that we can become righteous.  God loves us enough to discipline us so that we will become righteous and partake in His holiness.

The applications that we can get out of Leviticus are numerous.  We can apply the laws which God gave us through Leviticus.  We can apply the faithfulness of God in His promise of better things.  We can apply the consequences of obedience and disobedience.  One of the most important applications that we can get out of this is that God is a personal, loving God.

God’s laws were originally appointed to the Israelites; however, they apply to our lives just as much as they did the Israelites.  Hebrews 4:12 says “For the word of God is living and active.”  This means that even though the scriptures were written a long time ago and are now ancient texts written to the Israelites, it is still speaking to us.  We should thrive to keep all of these commands because God loves us and we love God, “If you love me you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15).  Jesus is the second person of the triune God and is saying that you will keep My (God’s) commandments because you love Me (God).

We can also know that God is faithful from these scriptures.  God gave us a type-Jesus of sacrifice, which was a sign to them that Jesus, is coming to die for them and make atonement for their sins.  We know because Jesus did come as God had foreshadowed for them, that we can trust God to keep His promises.

We can learn to accept the consequences of our actions from chapter 26 of Leviticus.  God gave us blessings and punishment for our sins so that we will be molded into righteous beings.  The blessings encourage us to do what is right.  When God blesses us, He is giving us something that we can perceive with our senses to look forward to for doing the right thing.  We should be able to obey just because God is God, and God gave us these laws, and I want to glorify Him by obeying Him, but God knows that most people don’t have enough faith for that, so He gives us something physical that we can see to reward us.  Similarly with punishment, God punishes us in ways that we can perceive with our senses because we don’t see all of what’s happening spiritually when we disobey God.  Proverbs chapter seven explains what happens spiritually when we fall into sin.  The harlot, which symbolizes sin, “…lurks at every corner” (Verse 12).  “She seizes him and kisses him…” (Verse 13).  She tries to convince him that it is ok to lay with her in verses 14 and 15.  In verses 16 and 17, the harlot tempting him, proving that she has prepared and waited eagerly for this moment.  In verse 18, she is telling him how much fun it will be.  In verses 19-20, she is telling him that it is safe, no one will find out.  Finally in verses 22, 23, and 27, he follows her, and she leads him to her house blindly accepting her bribes; however, what he does not know is that her house will be his death.  Since most men don’t see the spiritual consequences of sin, God gives us physical consequences as well.

Finally and most importantly, God is a personal God who loves us.  In verse 34 of chapter 27 in Leviticus, it closes with this statement: “These are the commandments which the LORD commanded Moses for the sons of Israel at Mount Sinai.”  God didn’t leave the Israelites on their own while they were trying to figure out what to do now that they were free.  He helped them, and He spoke to them at Mount Sinai.  God gave them commandments that would protect them.  God does the same for us.  These commands and statutes still apply to us today.  God isn’t a distant God:  He spoke to them and He speaks to us.  When God tore the curtain in two in Matthew 27, He opened it up for us to go into His presence, to speak to Him.  The Israelites only had that opportunity through the prophets and priests, but since God has fulfilled His promise to make atonement for our sins, we can talk to Him, and He will listen.  Jesus said:

“I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.  I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also and they will hear my voice, and they will become one flock with one shepherd” (John 10:14-16).

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Works cited

God.  NASB Thin Line Bible.  Zondervan Corporation:  Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2002.

Goodrick, Edward and Kohlenberger III, John.  Zondervan NIV Exhaustive Concordance.  Zondervan Publishing House: Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1999.

Harris, Laird.  The Expositor’s Bible Commentary.  Zondervan Corperation:  Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1990.

 Jellie, Harvey.  A Homiletic Commentary on the Book of Leviticus. Funk and Wagnalls Company:  New York and London.

Wenham, Gordon.  The Book of Leviticus.  William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company: Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1979.