Leviticus Introduction
The book of Leviticus picks up where Exodus leaves off. As a refresher, God had delivered His people out of slavery and established a covenant with them (known as the Mosaic Covenant). As is common throughout scripture, God’s people ultimately rebelled and broke the covenant, splintering their relationship with God. Because of Israel’s sin, they were cut off from being in the presence of God. Not even Moses, their leader, could enter into the tent where God’s presence was.
Leviticus, at its most basic level, is a collection of instructions given from God to Moses that Moses then passed on to priests with the intention of instructing the Israelites how to live in relation to a holy God. Sin, as it always does, had caused destruction and harm. The book of Leviticus outlines how the Israelites could live holy (or set apart) lives.
As we read this book, it is important to note a couple of things. First, we’ll see time and time again that the details matter to God. He gave Moses and the Israelites specific instructions and He cared about the small details in Leviticus in the same way that He cares about the seemingly small details of our lives today. Second, because of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, we get to read this book through the lens of the Gospel. We have a different access to God than the Israelites had back then. Praise God! But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t pay attention to this book.
Dr. Chuck Swindoll, a pastor and scholar, said this about the book of Leviticus:
“Today’s readers are often put off by the book’s lists of laws regarding diet, sacrifice, and social behavior. But within these highly detailed directives we discover the holiness—the separateness, distinction, and utter “otherness”—of God. And we learn how sin devastates humanity’s relationship with their Creator.”
As you read this book, take good notes. Read closely and carefully, paying special attention to the sequence of events that are unfolding before you. Get to know the characters in these stories. What does each chapter in this book teach you about God’s character? What does it teach you about humanity? What are the implications for you today? These are the questions we’ll be seeking answers to.
Read Leviticus 1
The Burnt Offering
1 The Lord called to Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting. He said, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When anyone among you brings an offering to the Lord, bring as your offering an animal from either the herd or the flock.
3 “‘If the offering is a burnt offering from the herd, you are to offer a male without defect. You must present it at the entrance to the tent of meeting so that it will be acceptable to the Lord. 4 You are to lay your hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted on your behalf to make atonement for you. 5 You are to slaughter the young bull before the Lord, and then Aaron’s sons the priests shall bring the blood and splash it against the sides of the altar at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 6 You are to skin the burnt offering and cut it into pieces. 7 The sons of Aaron the priest are to put fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire. 8 Then Aaron’s sons the priests shall arrange the pieces, including the head and the fat, on the wood that is burning on the altar. 9 You are to wash the internal organs and the legs with water, and the priest is to burn all of it on the altar. It is a burnt offering, a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord.
10 “‘If the offering is a burnt offering from the flock, from either the sheep or the goats, you are to offer a male without defect. 11 You are to slaughter it at the north side of the altar before the Lord, and Aaron’s sons the priests shall splash its blood against the sides of the altar. 12 You are to cut it into pieces, and the priest shall arrange them, including the head and the fat, on the wood that is burning on the altar. 13 You are to wash the internal organs and the legs with water, and the priest is to bring all of them and burn them on the altar. It is a burnt offering, a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord.
14 “‘If the offering to the Lord is a burnt offering of birds, you are to offer a dove or a young pigeon. 15 The priest shall bring it to the altar, wring off the head and burn it on the altar; its blood shall be drained out on the side of the altar. 16 He is to remove the crop and the feathers and throw them down east of the altar where the ashes are. 17 He shall tear it open by the wings, not dividing it completely, and then the priest shall burn it on the wood that is burning on the altar. It is a burnt offering, a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord.
Go Deeper
Leviticus is a difficult, complex book with a bunch of laws that don’t seem to apply to Christians today. Didn’t Jesus free us from the Law? What does it matter? If we keep in mind that all of Scripture is “God-breathed” (2 Timothy 3:16), that God looks to show us who He is through all of what we know as the Bible, then there must be something here for us, right?
We might not have burnt sacrifices needed for atonement anymore, thanks to the sacrifice of Jesus, but we do still see the character of God showing through in this chapter. Notice that God gives His people options on what animals to bring as their offering (v. 2), “When anyone among you brings an offering to the LORD, bring as your offering an animal from either the herd or the flock.” This doesn’t seem like a huge detail to us now, so far removed from the burnt offerings, but this is very significant. Giving up an animal in a herding culture would’ve been financially huge for many, some weren’t even wealthy enough to have a flock. Notice, however, that the LORD says they can bring a sacrifice from the herd (cattle), the flock (sheep or goats), or they could bring a burnt offering of birds.
What does this tell us about God and His character? It tells us that, even all the way back in Leviticus, God was interested in letting all who desired a relationship with Him to come to Him. The invitation was open to whoever would bring their offering in obedience. God’s character has not changed from then to now; He is the same God in the Old Testament as He is in the New Testament and beyond. The entirety of Scripture points to this fact! God has always offered His grace to every human; we see it here in Leviticus, we see Paul write about this (while quoting the prophet Joel) in Romans 10:13, “for, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Jesus is the offering now; He stands as our offering to God and He shows that God is offering us Himself. Let us not refuse this offer.
Questions
- When was the last time you thought or reflected on Jesus as our offering before God? Take some time this week and write down some thoughts on what this means for your life.
- Is there something in your life that you feel is keeping you from accepting Jesus as the offer? What is it? If you have a trusted Christian in your life to discuss this with, set up a time to meet with them.
- What is one way this week that you can seek to draw nearer to God? Set aside a time or two and do it!
Watch This
For a preview of what’s to come as we read through Leviticus together, check out this video from The Bible Project.
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4 thoughts on “Leviticus 1 + Preview”
Worship, burnt sacrifice, pleasing aroma, laying on of hands
Hebrews chapter 13: 15-16 “Through him, (through Christ), “let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.”
How do we worship God? We should come with a clean heart, washed white as snow. Jesus was our burnt sacrifice, fulfilling all the law to accomplish what these animals, were representation of. Pleasing aroma is that we ask for forgivness of sin and lay it down, to not do it again (that is the plan). Ephesians 5: “Therefore be imitators of God, beloved children, and walk in love as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us a fragrant offering.” Laying on of hands is to give it up due to what Christ gave up, in our place. That is why the veil in the temple was broken. That is why Jesus said, “It is finished.”
God thank You for Your sacrafice. Thank You that I am able to speak, worship and praise You. God thank You for grace and mercy being new every morning . God, thank You that I am the aroma of Christ to You God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. Thank You for helping me to be pleasing so that others see my joy of loving You and worshiping You, today, in these minutes of this day. God thank You for helping me spread joy, Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Thank You for all my words exalting and lifting You up in Jesus name amen
WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
17 “an aroma pleasing to the Lord.”
These last few weeks, while we’ve been in Exodus and now Leviticus, I’ve been thinking a lot more about smells and aromas than usual. A smell permeates everything around it. A smell triggers memories. A smell can be very pleasing or awful. Definitely something to learn here from this idea of smells.
What Leviticus reveals about the character of God and humanity is that he is holy and we are not. Sin comes at a high price that must be paid. I’m reminded of the story in Genesis where God covers Adam and Eve’s nakedness with animal skins after they had eaten the forbidden fruit. This would be the first of many sacrifices to come. Arthur Pink comments on the garments of skin God made for Adam and Eve: “It was the first Gospel sermon, preached by God Himself, not in words but in symbol and action. It was a setting forth of the way by which a sinful creature could return unto and approach his holy Creator. . . . It was a blessed illustration of substitution—the innocent dying in the stead of the guilty.”
Jesus fulfilled the perfect sacrifice through His death on the cross for our sin. Our lives should be committed to offering our whole selves to God.