Leviticus

Summary Having brought His people out of bondage in Egypt, God gave them laws which had two functions. The first was to provide a code of behaviour which would enable them to worship Him, and indeed, be His holy people (20:26), and the second was to enable them to have a practical law to assist in their daily living. These laws are contained in Leviticus which literally means "and he called". These are the opening words of 1:1 and they apply to the whole of Israel because as a nation they were called by God for a special purpose (Exodus 19:6). The words also apply to the specific priests, the sons of Levi, whose task it was to oversee the spiritual (and secular) life of the people. The most significant aspect of Leviticus in our contemporary society is that it points forward to the way in which followers of Christ should endeavour to live their lives. Leviticus contains details of the sacrifices and offerings which were required to be made by the people in recognising their complete dependence on God and the necessity to continually honour Him. There were sacrifices and offerings to be made for a wide variety of reasons. Some were made as a recognition of sin; others were "free- will" offerings, which, as the name implies, were offerings made to God for no other reason than that the people wanted to worship Him. The most important offering was made honour the day of Atonement (16:1 - 34) when a lamb without any blemish was offered as a sacrifice to "atone" for the sins of the nation. This pointed forward to Jesus who, as the lamb without blemish offered himself as a sacrifice once and for all as an atonement for the sins of many (Hebrews 9:28). Through identifying with Jesus we can obtain the forgiveness which is promised (Matthew 26:28). We are not required, under the new covenant, to offer sacrifices in the way the children of Israel were required. We do need to offer ourselves as a "living sacrifice" (Romans 12: 1) to the service of God. Our whole life should the of continual service to Him.

Outline of Leviticus 1:1 - 7:38 Sacrifices and offerings 1:1 - 1 -17 Burnt offering 2:1 - 2:16 Meal and fruit offerings 3:1 - 3:17 Peace offering 4:1 - 4:35 Sin offering 5:1 - 5:19 Trespass offering 6:1 - 7:38 Further explanations of the law concerning offerings. 8:1 - 10:20 Concentration of priests 11:1 - 15:33 Laws discerning cleanness and uncleanness 16:1 - 16:34 The Day of Atonement 17:1 - 20:27 Miscellaneous laws 21:1 - 22:33 Responsibilities of the priests NB 22:2 - 23:1 - 44 The Feasts 23:4 - 8 Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread 23:9 - 14 The Firstfruits 23:15 - 22 The Feast of Pentecost 23:23 - 32 The Feast of Trumpets 23:33 - 44 The Feast of Tabernacles 24:1 - 27:34 Further miscellaneous laws including reference to: 25:1 - 55 The year of the Sabbath and the year of Jubilee 26:1 - 13 Promise of blessing 26:14 - 46 Promise of punishment 27:1 - 34 Vows and tithes

Author – Moses
Time – 1,500 B.C.

Summary – The third book of the Pentateuch takes its name from one of the 12 sons of Jacob, Levi, whose family was chosen by God to act as priests and assistants in the Tabernacle. The book covers the national and personal laws given by God to the Jewish people regarding worship and religious activities. It contains laws regarding cleanliness, morality, ethics and hygiene which guided the Jews on a day–to–day basis and still does today. Animal sacrifice was introduced as a covering for the individual and national sins of the people.