The third book in the Bible, Leviticus, was given to the
Jewish people, primarily the priests. It
was given to Moses upon completion of the building and furnishing of the
tabernacle as recorded in Exodus. In
this book, God instructed the priests (the descendants of Levi) about the sacrifices
and offerings (chapters 1-7), the high priest and the tabernacle ( chapters 8-10),
regulations about life (chapters 11-15), the Day of Atonement (chapter 16),
living holy lives (chapters 17-22), and the Passover, other festivals, and
other regulations (chapters 23-27). The
overall theme of the book is God’s holiness and the total incapability of
humanity to achieve holiness without the mercy and grace of God.
At first glance, and especially to those who are new to studying
the Bible, this book can seem very technical and irrelevant to our lives. Even to the modern day Jewish people, a lot
of this book may seem out-dated. After
all, the old sacrificial system outlined here has not been used in over 2,000
years. The graphic descriptions of how
the animal sacrifices were to be prepared can be very repulsive. I believe they were intended to be. They indicate how repulsive our sins are to
Holy God and how seriously He takes our sin.
The more you learn about Jesus, the more you will see that
the sacrifices, offerings, regulations, festivals, and priestly duties outlined
in Leviticus all point to Him, our Great High Priest, the only sacrifice that can
take away our sin. And by contrast, we
can see that the animal sacrifices that had to be repeated year, after year,
after year were inadequate; but the ultimate sacrifice that Jesus made on the
cross for us, once and for all, was and is the only sacrifice that is capable
of cleansing us from all our guilt and shame, forever, and ever, and ever. It is the only sacrifice that assures us an
eternal relationship with Holy God.
It would take an entire book to thoroughly describe all the
symbols and illustrations, or types, of Jesus Christ that are given in the book
of Leviticus. So I will try to touch on only
a few high points here, following the six chapter divisions mentioned above:
- Christ illustrated in the sacrifices and offerings:
“He (Jesus Christ) has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many.” (Hebrews 9:26b – 28a, New King James Version)
"First he said, ‘You neither want nor are you pleased with sacrifices and offerings or with animals burned on the altar and the sacrifices to take away sins.’ He said this even though all these sacrifices are offered according to the Law. Then he said, ‘Here I am, O God, to do your will.’ So God does away with all the old sacrifices and puts the sacrifice of Christ in their place. Because Jesus Christ did what God wanted him to do, we are all purified from sin by the offering that he made of his own body once and for all.” (Hebrews 10:8 – 10, Good News Translation)
- Christ illustrated in the high priest and the tabernacle:
“But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.” (Hebrews 9:11-12, New King James Version)
“We have, then, my friends, complete freedom to go into the Most Holy Place by means of the death of Jesus. He opened for us a new way, a living way, through the curtain—that is, through his own body. We have a great priest in charge of the house of God.” (Hebrews 10:19-21, Good News Translation)
- Christ fulfilling the
regulations of life:
“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:1-2, New King James Version)
“Yet we know that a person is put right with God only through faith in Jesus Christ, never by doing what the Law requires. We, too, have believed in Christ Jesus in order to be put right with God through our faith in Christ, and not by doing what the Law requires. For no one is put right with God by doing what the Law requires. (Galatians 2:16, Good News Translation) -
Christ becoming the Day of
Atonement:"But when the proper time had fully come,
God sent His Son, born of a woman, born subject to [the regulations of] the Law,
to purchase the freedom of (to ransom, to redeem, to atone for) those who were
subject to the Law, that we might be adopted and have sonship conferred upon us [and be recognized as God’s
sons].” (Galatians 4:4-5, Amplified Bible)
“For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all.” (1 Timothy 2:5-6, New King James Version) - Christ enabling us to
live holy lives:
“So that it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. This life that I live now, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave his life for me. I refuse to reject the grace of God. But if a person is put right with God through the Law, it means that Christ died for nothing!” (Galatians 2:20-21, Good News Translation)
“For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.” (Hebrews 9:13-14, English Standard Version) - Christ in Passover, other festivals, and other regulations:
“Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.” (1 Corinthians 5:7, New King James Version) (Note – in the Bible, leaven is often a symbol of sin)
“But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep (died).” (1 Corinthians 15:20, New King James VersionI must admit: I have probably spent more time in the book of Leviticus this week than I have ever spent there. It has been very inspiring to me, though, because I see Jesus on every single page, even though it was written around 1400 years before His birth! Leviticus tells us about the holiness of God, mentioned 152 times, more than any other book of the Bible. God was telling us that we who love Him are meant to be holy, just as He is holy, set apart, different from the rest of the world. Leviticus shows us that we must deal with our sin through offerings and sacrifices, and that these sacrifices were to be perfect, spotless, and without any defects – a picture or symbol of Jesus Christ, the sinless Lamb of God who was our perfect sacrifice, once and for all. And finally, Leviticus shows us how to worship Him and how to have a relationship with Him, giving every part of our lives to Him. That is why God gave His people such detailed rules for their everyday lives. Some of those rules were about hygiene and diet, meant to protect their health and well being, long before we had the science that now shows the reasons behind those rules. Leviticus shows us that true worship begins with accepting the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for our sin. It shows us that true worship is both vertical (toward God and our relationship with Him) and horizontal (because of our love of God and because of his love for us, true worship affects how we relate to our fellow man).
Leviticus 19:1-2 (New King James Version)
says: “And the Lord spoke to Moses,
saying, ‘Speak to all the congregation of the children of
Israel, and say to them: “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.”’” So my prayer for you and for me this week
comes from Romans 12:1-2 (New Living Translation):
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. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
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