Leviticus

Author: Moses

Audience: God’s chosen people, the Israelites

Date: Between 1446 and 1406 bc

Theme: God gives the Israelites instructions at the base of Mount Sinai concerning how to live as his holy people.

Introduction

Title

Leviticus receives its name from the Septuagint (the pre-Christian Greek translation of the OT) and means “relating to the Levites.” Its Hebrew title, wayyiqra’, is the first word in the Hebrew text of the book and means “And he [i.e., the Lord] called.” Although Leviticus does not deal only with the special duties of the Levites, it is so named because it concerns mainly the service of worship at the tabernacle, which was conducted by the priests who were the sons of Aaron, assisted by many from the rest of the tribe of Levi. Exodus gave the directions for building the tabernacle, and now Leviticus gives the laws and regulations for worship there, including instructions on ceremonial cleanness, moral laws, holy days, the sabbath year and the Year of Jubilee. These laws were given, at least for the most part, during the year that Israel camped at Mount Sinai, when God directed Moses in organizing Israel’s worship, government and military forces. The book of Numbers continues the history with preparations for moving on from Sinai to Canaan.

Author and Date

See Introduction to Genesis: Author and Date of Writing.

Theological Themes

Leviticus is a manual of regulations that God, the holy King, has given to the people of his kingdom for setting up his earthly throne among them. It explains how the Israelites are to be the Lord’s holy people and are to worship him in a holy manner. To be “holy” in this sense means to be separated from sin and from ceremonial uncleanness and set apart exclusively to the Lord for his purpose, in his service and for his glory. So the key thought of the book is holiness (see notes on 11:44; Ex 3:5)—the holiness of God and his people (they must revere him in holiness). In fact, the word holy appears more often in Leviticus than in any other book of the Bible.

In Leviticus spiritual holiness is symbolized by physical perfection. Therefore the book demands perfect animals for its many sacrifices (chs. 1–7) and requires priests without deformity (chs. 8–10). A woman’s hemorrhaging after giving birth (ch. 12); sores, burns or baldness (chs. 13–14); a man’s bodily discharge (15:1–18); specific activities during a woman’s monthly period (15:19–33)—all may be signs of blemish (a lack of perfection) and may symbolize human spiritual defects, which break spiritual wholeness. The person with visible skin disease must be banished from the camp, the place of God’s special presence, just as Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden. Such people can return to the camp (and therefore to God’s presence) when they are pronounced whole again by the examining priests. Before they can reenter the camp, however, they must offer the prescribed, perfect sacrifices (symbolizing the perfect, whole sacrifice of Christ).

After the establishment of the covenant at Sinai, Israel represented God’s kingdom on earth (the theocracy), and as its King the Lord imposed his administration over all of Israel’s life. He so regulated Israel’s religious, communal and personal life as to establish them as his holy people and to instruct them in holiness. In Leviticus, special attention is given to Israel’s religious ceremonies and rituals. Their sacrifices were to be offered only at the divinely designated sanctuary, which symbolized both God’s holiness and his compassion. Only the appointed priests were to officiate at Israel’s sacrifices, and it was also the duty of the priests to instruct the people concerning the proper form and meaning of each sacrifice. For more information on the meaning of sacrifice in general, see the solemn ritual of the Day of Atonement (ch. 16; see note on 16:1–34). For the meaning of the blood of the offering, see 17:11; Ge 9:4 and notes. For the emphasis on substitution, see 1:5; 4:4; 16:20–22 and notes.

Some suppose that the OT sacrifices were carryovers and adaptations of an older sacrificial system developed by agricultural peoples who thought that humans needed to please the gods by feeding them from their crops, flocks and herds. But the OT sacrifices Israel was to bring were specifically prescribed by God and received their meaning from the Lord’s covenant relationship with Israel—whatever their superficial resemblances to pagan sacrifices may have been. They did indeed include the idea of gift, but this is accompanied by such other values as dedication, communion, propitiation (appeasing God’s judicial wrath against sin) and restitution. The various offerings have differing functions, the primary ones being atonement (see note on Ex 25:17) and worship (see chart).

Leviticus is a manual of regulations that God, the holy King, has given to the people of his kingdom for setting up his earthly throne among them. It explains how the Israelites are to be the Lord’s holy people and are to worship him in a holy manner.

Outline

The subjects treated in Leviticus, as in any book of laws and regulations, cover several categories:

I. The Five Main Offerings (chs. 1–7)

A. The Burnt Offering (ch. 1)

B. The Grain Offering (ch. 2)

C. The Fellowship Offering (ch. 3)

D. The Sin Offering (4:1—5:13)

E. The Guilt Offering (5:14—6:7)

F. Additional Regulations for the Offerings (6:8—7:38)

II. The Installation and Ministry of Aaron and His Sons (chs. 8–10)

A. The Ordination of Aaron and His Sons (ch. 8)

B. The Ministry of the Priests (ch. 9)

C. The Deaths of Nadab and Abihu and Attendant Regulations (ch. 10)

III. The Distinction Between Clean and Unclean (chs. 11–15)

A. Clean and Unclean Food (ch. 11)

B. Purification After Childbirth (ch. 12)

C. Regulations for Defiling Skin Diseases (13:1–46)

D. Regulations for Molds (13:47–59)

E. Cleansing From Skin Diseases (14:1–32)

F. Cleansing From Molds (14:33–57)

G. Bodily Discharges That Cause Uncleanness (ch. 15)

IV. The Annual Day of Atonement (ch. 16)

V. Holy Living (chs. 17–26)

A. Eating Blood Prohibited (ch. 17)

B. Unlawful Sexual Relations (ch. 18)

C. Various Laws for Holy Living (ch. 19)

D. Punishments for Sin (ch. 20)

E. Regulations for Priests (21:1—22:16)

F. Acceptable and Unacceptable Sacrifices (22:17–33)

G. The Annual Festivals (ch. 23)

H. Rules for Oil and Bread in the Tabernacle (24:1–9)

I. Punishment for Blasphemy (24:10–23)

J. The Sabbath and Jubilee Years (ch. 25)

K. Covenant Blessings and Curses (ch. 26)

VI. Regulations for Offerings Vowed to the Lord (ch. 27)