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TOM · The Owner's Manual · Old Testament

Leviticus 1

Before you read Leviticus: who, when, why

BOOK 3 OF 66 · OLD TESTAMENT · BOOKS OF MOSES

Be holy, because I am holy

AUTHOR
Moses, according to Jewish and Christian tradition. Over and over the book says Yahweh spoke to Moses, and Jesus called the leper's offering the gift Moses commanded (Matthew 8:4). Many modern scholars think priests put it together from older material over time.
EVENTS TOOK PLACE
At Mount Sinai, in about one month. Exodus ends on the first day of the first month of the second year after Egypt, and Numbers starts on the first day of the second month.
DATE WRITTEN
Traditionally about 1440 to 1400 BC, in the wilderness. Many scholars say it reached its final form much later, around 500 BC.
WRITTEN TO
The priests from the tribe of Levi, and all Israel, so a holy God could live in the middle of an unholy camp.
ANCIENT MANUSCRIPTS
About fifteen copies of Leviticus were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, including Greek and Aramaic ones. It was also translated into Greek, in the Septuagint, around 250 BC.
KEY VERSE
Leviticus 19:2. Be holy because I, Yahweh your God, am holy.
LEVITICUS IN THE OLD HEBREW LETTERS

Leviticus in the Old Hebrew Letters

This is 11QpaleoLev a, the Paleo Hebrew Leviticus Scroll from Cave 11 at Qumran, found with the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1956. It is written in the old Hebrew alphabet that Israel used before the exile to Babylon, even though it was copied centuries later, about 100 BC by one count and in the first century AD by another. Most of what survives is Leviticus 22 to 27. The oldest copy of Leviticus found so far is a different scroll, 4QExod Lev f from Cave 4, about 250 BC, which holds the end of Exodus and the start of Leviticus on one scroll. Photo Shai Halevi, Israel Antiquities Authority, CC BY SA 4.0.

The Setting

Israel is still camped at the foot of Mount Sinai. The tabernacle has just gone up, and God's glory has filled it so completely that even Moses could not go in, Exodus 40:35. Now the big question is how sinful people can live next door to a holy God and not be destroyed. Leviticus is the answer. Egypt with its many gods is behind them. Canaan is in front of them, where people sacrificed children to Molech and went to mediums. The name Leviticus means about the Levites, the tribe of priests. The Hebrew name is Vayikra, which means And He called, the first word of the book.

What Was Going Wrong

  • Sin in the Camp. God was holy and the people were not. Without a way to deal with sin, they could not come near Him (16:2).
  • Playing With Fire. On their first week on the job, Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu offered fire God never asked for, and they died on the spot (10:1 to 2).
  • Goat Demons. Some people were offering sacrifices out in the open fields to goat demons instead of bringing them to God's tent (17:7).
  • The Ways of Canaan. The nations they were about to replace had filled the land with sexual sin, idols and mediums, and God said the land itself was vomiting them out (18:24 to 28).
  • A Curse in the Camp. A man whose father was Egyptian cursed the Name of God in the middle of a fight, and the whole camp had to deal with it (24:10 to 16).

Where to Find Jesus

  • Leviticus 1:3 to 9. The burnt offering, all of it given to God, a pleasing aroma. Paul says Christ gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering to God in Ephesians 5:2.
  • Leviticus 16:15 to 22. The Day of Atonement and the goat that carried the people's sins away. Hebrews 9:11 to 12 says Jesus entered the Most Holy Place once for all with His own blood, and John 1:29 calls Him the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
  • Leviticus 16:27. The sin offering was burned outside the camp. Hebrews 13:11 to 12 says Jesus suffered outside the city gate.
  • Leviticus 17:11. The life is in the blood, and the blood makes atonement. Jesus said, This is My blood of the covenant, poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins, Matthew 26:28.
  • Leviticus 23:10 to 11. The firstfruits were waved before God on the day after the Sabbath. Jesus rose on the day after the Sabbath, and Paul calls Him the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep, 1 Corinthians 15:20.
  • Leviticus 25:10. The Jubilee proclaimed liberty. Jesus began His ministry by reading that He came to proclaim liberty to the captives and the year of the Lord's favor, Luke 4:18 to 19.

Cool Stuff Most People Miss

  • Love Your Neighbor Comes From Leviticus. Jesus called it the second greatest commandment, and He was quoting Leviticus 19:18. The New Testament quotes that one verse nine times. Just a few verses later, 19:34 says love the foreigner as yourself too.
  • Child Sacrifice Was Banned. Some nations near Israel gave their children to a god called Molech. God made it a crime punished by death and said He would set His face against anyone who did it, and against anyone who looked the other way (18:21, 20:2 to 5). The Canaanites did these things, and that is why God said the land was vomiting them out (18:24 to 28).
  • The Liberty Bell Quotes Leviticus. The famous bell in Philadelphia, made in 1752 and recast in 1753, has Leviticus 25:10 written around the top: Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.
  • Where Scapegoat Came From. When William Tyndale translated Leviticus 16 into English in 1530, he made up the word scapegoat, from escape goat. Today it means anyone who takes the blame for others.
  • The First Book Jewish Kids Learned. An old Jewish tradition says children began their Bible lessons with Leviticus, not Genesis. The rabbis said children are pure and the sacrifices are pure, so let the pure come and study purity.
  • The Gleaning Law. Farmers had to leave the edges of their fields for the poor and the foreigner (19:9 to 10). That is exactly how Ruth fed herself and Naomi in the field of Boaz, Ruth 2.

Did Anybody Listen?

At first, yes. Over and over Leviticus says the people did just as Yahweh commanded. But both stories about sin in the book end with a death, and chapter 26 warned what would happen if they turned away. It did: Babylon carried Judah into exile while the land enjoyed its Sabbath rest, 2 Chronicles 36:21.

Chapter 1 in 30 seconds

God calls to Moses from the brand new tent and starts with the burnt offering. A bull, a sheep, a goat or a bird, and everything but the skin goes up in smoke on the altar. God calls it a pleasing aroma, which is a nice way of saying He loves a gift that costs you something.

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Laws for Burnt Offerings// Leviticus 6:8–13

1Then Yahweh called to Moses and spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting, saying, 2“Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When any of you brings an offering to Yahweh, you may bring as your offering an animal from the herd or the flock.

3If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he is to present an unblemished male. He must bring it to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting for its acceptance before Yahweh. 4He is to lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, so it can be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him.

5And he shall slaughter the young bull before Yahweh, and Aaron’s sons the priests are to present the blood and splatter it on all sides of the altar at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. 6Next, he is to skin the burnt offering and cut it into pieces.

7The sons of Aaron the priest shall put a fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire. 8Then Aaron’s sons the priests are to arrange the pieces, including the head and the fat, atop the burning wood on the altar. 9The entrails and legs must be washed with water, and the priest shall burn all of it on the altar as a burnt offering, a food offering, a pleasing aroma to Yahweh.

  • LEV 1:9[FORESHADOW]The burnt offering was a pleasing aroma to Yahweh → EPH 5:2

10If, however, one’s offering is a burnt offering from the flock—from the sheep or goats—he is to present an unblemished male. 11He shall slaughter it on the north side of the altar before Yahweh, and Aaron’s sons the priests are to splatter its blood against the altar on all sides. 12He is to cut the animal into pieces, and the priest shall arrange them, including the head and fat, atop the burning wood that is on the altar. 13The entrails and legs must be washed with water, and the priest shall present all of it and burn it on the altar; it is a burnt offering, a food offering, a pleasing aroma to Yahweh.

14If, instead, one’s offering to Yahweh is a burnt offering of birds, he is to present a turtledove or a young pigeon. 15Then the priest shall bring it to the altar, twist off its head, and burn it on the altar; its blood should be drained out on the side of the altar. 16And he is to remove the crop with its contents and throw it to the east side of the altar, in the place for ashes. 17He shall tear it open by its wings, without dividing the bird completely. And the priest is to burn it on the altar atop the burning wood. It is a burnt offering, a food offering, a pleasing aroma to Yahweh.

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