Leviticus 8-15

Review (40-35 min.)

Leviticus 1:1 “1 And the LORD called unto Moses, and spake unto him out of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying,”

q̣ārāʾ (קָרָא) The original Hebrew title of this third book of the law is taken from the first word, translated “And He called.”

The title “Leviticus” comes from the Latin Vulgate version of the Greek OT (LXX)1 Leuitikon meaning “matters of the Levites” (Lev 25 32, 33)

Here's a summary of the five main offerings in two sentences each:

Burnt Offering: A sacrificial offering entirely consumed by fire, symbolizing atonement for the offerors’ general sinfulness, as well as serve as a way for them to acknowledge the Lord as the one worthy of all praise and complete dedication and surrender to God. It was the most common and frequently offered sacrifice, often made daily.

Grain Offering: An offering of fine flour, oil, and frankincense, partially burned on the altar and partially consumed by priests. It represented gratitude and devotion to God, acknowledging His provision.

Peace Offering: A communal meal where the sacrificial animal was shared among the altar, priests, and offerer, symbolizing fellowship and peace with God. Parts of the animal were burnt as a token, while the rest was eaten in a celebratory feast.

Sin Offering: A sacrifice made to atone for unintentional sins, focusing on purifying and reconciling the offerer with God. The blood of the animal was used to cleanse the altar, and specific parts of the animal were burnt outside the camp.

Guilt Offering: Similar to the sin offering but focused on restitution for specific wrongs, such as misappropriation of sacred items or social offenses. The offerer made restitution plus an additional penalty, and the sacrificial animal's blood and fat were used in the ritual.

Public Worship at the Tabernacle Begins (Ch. 8-10) (35-25 min.)

The process of priestly ordination for tabernacle worship (3 min) (Chapter 8)

Context

What’s a ceremony? We think celebration (wedding). An outward rite or observance, religious or held sacred; the performance of some solemn act according to prescribed form -OED

Generally, a ceremony brings about a change in status for the main participants through a series of rites directly related to the ceremony’s purpose.

wedding: changes the status of the bride and groom from being single to being married; rites directly related to this purpose are exchanging rings as a symbol of their love, taking vows of lifelong faithfulness

Purpose

The purpose of the ordination ceremony is to set Aaron and his sons apart as ritually holy priests, which is also done through a series of rites directly related to this purpose: giving them special clothing to set them apart as ritually distinct, having them undergo purification rites that move them into a higher level of ritual purity,

Process

The description of the ordination ceremony is divided into seven sections, each ending with the refrain that Moses, or Aaron and his sons, did just as the LORD commanded Moses (vv. 4, 9, 13, 17, 21, 29, 36). This refrain presents Moses and Aaron as models of obedience in matters of worship, a model the Israelites must follow (cf. 10:1–3).

Preparation: Moses gathers Aaron and his sons, all the garments, and the offerings and oil (8:1-4a)

Washing: Aaron and sons are to be made ritually clean by ceremonially washing (8:4b-9)

Exodus 30:18–21 “18 Thou shalt also make a laver of brass, and his foot also of brass, to wash withal: and thou shalt put it between the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar, and thou shalt put water therein. 19 For Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat: 20 When they go into the tabernacle of the congregation, they shall wash with water, that they die not; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn offering made by fire unto the LORD: 21 So they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they die not: and it shall be a statute for ever to them, even to him and to his seed throughout their generations.”

Dressing: They are clothed in the special clothes God told Moses to have made in Ex. 28.

Tabernacle: anointed with the oil God told moses to make in Ex. 30 to consecrate or set aside the whole tabernacle to prepare it as a place of worship. (8:10-13)

The purification offering is presented on behalf of Aaron and his sons (8:14–17)

They are as sinful as the rest of us.

Leviticus 8:14 “14 And he brought the bullock for the sin offering: and Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the head of the bullock for the sin offering.”

Hebrews 5:1–3 “1 For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins: 2 Who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity. 3 And by reason hereof he ought, as for the people, so also for himself, to offer for sins.”

The burnt offering is presented on behalf of Aaron and his sons (8:18–21)

The ordination (wave) offering is presented on behalf of Aaron and his sons by Moses (8:22–29)

Ordination (wave) offering: is a type of fellowship offering, for fellowship offerings served as meals which confirmed a covenant;

Ear tip to big toe: Just as blood was placed on the extremities of the altar to make it holy (v. 15), it was also placed on the extremities of Aaron and his sons—from top to bottom—to make their whole body holy with the right side being favored (4:5-7)

Leviticus 8:23 “23 And he slew it; and Moses took of the blood of it, and put it upon the tip of Aaron’s right ear, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot.”

Same as for the altar, top to bottom consecration to holiness

After making atonement for their sin and impurity (purification offering, burnt offering), and acknowledging the Lord as the one worthy of all praise (burnt offering), the priests now confirmed the covenant of priesthood that the Lord was bestowing on them (ordination offering).

Final consecration and instructions (8:30–36)

Moses took some of the anointing oil and some of the blood and sprinkled them on all the priests and their garments as one last act of consecration (v. 30).

Aaron and his sons had to cook and eat the holy meat and bread at the entrance to the tent of meeting (v. 31), that is, the area of the courtyard in front of the tent

Aaron and his sons could not leave this area during their ordination (vv. 33, 35). If they did, they were disregarding the holiness of the ordination process and so risking death (v. 35; see further at 10:6–7).

The process itself took seven days (vv. 33, 35), indicating again that the consecration was thorough and complete (see at 4:5–7). Moreover, the first-day events—especially the atoning sacrifices—were to be repeated each of the seven days (cf. Exod. 29:35–37), making sure that the atonement made for Aaron and his sons was fully accomplished, thus bringing them into a state of ritual holiness so that they could minister in the holy palace of the holy King.

Aaron Brings Offerings (3 min) (Chapter 9)

The Tent of Meeting was the earthly palace of Yahweh God where the Lord’s people came before him, bringing him their offerings and enjoying covenant fellowship with him. Now that the priests are ordained, the Israelites could begin their public worship of the Lord (Lev. 9). The inauguration of this worship was a highly significant event, so the day was marked by a special ceremony in which all the Israelites gathered at the tabernacle where the priests presented offerings on their behalf. Since the King himself was to appear, the entire chapter focuses on the priests and the Israelites preparing themselves for the appearance of the LORD (vv. 4, 6, 23).

Gathering before him at the palace (vv. 1–5) and

Making the appropriate sacrifices (vv. 6–22).

The chapter reaches its climax with the King appearing in all his glory and accepting their sacrifices (vv. 23–24).

This made clear that he was dwelling in their midst and they were welcome to draw near to him in worship.

The tragic story of Nadab and Abihu (4 min) (Chapter 10)

Leviticus 10:1–2 “1 And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which he commanded them not. 2 And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD.”

3 Sections:

Nadab and Abihu greatly disrespect the Lord in the context of worship, and experience his judgment as a result (vv. 1–7).

Leviticus 16 begins by referring to Nadab and Abihu ‘who died when they approached the LORD’ (v. 1). The Lord then warns Aaron ‘not to come whenever he chooses into the Most Holy Place … or else he will die’ (v. 2). These verses imply two sins of Nadab and Abihu:

First, they approached the Lord’s presence at a time he had not authorized (and so Aaron is warned not to enter ‘whenever he chooses into the Most Holy Place’).

Second, they tried to enter a place that the Lord had not authorized: the Most Holy Place itself (and so Aaron is warned not to enter ‘whenever he chooses into the Most Holy Place’).

The Lord warns Aaron, the high priest, to avoid the errors of his sons and to carry out his priestly duties faithfully (vv. 8–11).

Aaron demonstrates his reverence for the Lord by faithfully following his commands in the context of worship (vv. 12–20).

The negative example set by Nadab and Abihu at the beginning of the chapter is replaced by their father’s positive example at the end, emphasizing the importance of priestly faithfulness.

Laws of Purity and Impurity (Ch. 11-15) (25-5 min.)

Clean and unclean animals (5 min) (Chapter 11)

Leviticus 11 addresses issues of ritual purity and impurity related to various creatures, identifying the ritually pure (and therefore edible) and the ritually impure (and therefore inedible) (vv. 2–23, 41–45). It also describes how to become ritually pure after touching a creature’s carcass (vv. 24–40; for ritual purity and impurity, see pp. 45–46).

Leviticus 11:46–47 “46 This is the law of the beasts, and of the fowl, and of every living creature that moveth in the waters, and of every creature that creepeth upon the earth: 47 To make a difference between the unclean and the clean, and between the beast that may be eaten and the beast that may not be eaten.”

Chapter 11 has two primary functions:

First, it tells the Israelites of the different ways they could contract ritual impurity from animal carcasses, and explains how they could purify themselves from it. Such information was crucial if the Israelites were to avoid defiling the holy palace of the King who was now dwelling in their midst (Lev. 15:31).

Second, this chapter provides an official list of which animals were ritually pure (and could be eaten) and which were ritually impure (and could not be eaten).

These laws set the Israelites apart as his people. If people do not eat meat today, they are identified as vegetarians; if people did not eat these impure animals in those days, they were identified as the Lord’s followers.

Second, they emphasize the Lord’s holiness to the Israelites. Impurity is the opposite of holiness and incompatible with it. Every time Israelites avoided eating impure animals, they would be reminded that these animals were forbidden because their God was holy.

Third, these laws served as a reminder to seek purity in all of life. The Old Testament regularly uses the language of ritual purity and impurity to describe the moral purity the Israelites are to have and the moral impurity they are to avoid (cf. Ps. 24:2–3; Isa. 1:16; Jer. 4:14, etc.). This suggests that laws on ritual purity and impurity were to provide the Israelites with a constant reminder: just as you seek ritual purity in all of life, so do likewise in terms of moral purity. (See further at Introduction, p. 49, and at 20:22–26.)

While Leviticus 11 addresses ritual impurity arising from matters related to animals, Leviticus 12–15 addresses ritual impurity arising from matters related to the human body.

Laws concerning atonement after childbirth (5 min) (Chapter 12)

Leviticus 12 addresses the impurity experienced by the mother who has just given birth. The text makes clear that her impurity is not because of the child’s arrival (an event of great joy in Israel), but because of the blood lost during and after the birth process.

While a child’s birth was an incredibly joyous occasion (Gen. 33:5; Ps. 127:3), the mother became ritually impure because of the blood lost during and after the event. Because those who were impure could not come into contact with that which was holy, the mother was unable to partake in worship at the tabernacle, nor could she partake in covenant fellowship meals (v. 4).

As a result, the first half of this law would have reminded the Israelites of the Lord’s blazing holiness: only those who were ritually pure could draw near to his dwelling (cf. Lev. 15:31). Significantly, it would have been easy for the Israelites to see that, if this were true in the ritual realm, it would be even more so in the moral realm (Ps. 24:3–4; Matt. 5:8; cf. Meaning at Lev. 11).

At the same time, the Lord mercifully provided careful directions on how to become ritually pure, so that the mother could once more participate fully in Israel’s covenant worship. As a result, the Israelites would be reminded of the Lord’s intention for humanity since the beginning of creation: namely, to come before him in worship and to celebrate covenant fellowship with him and with one another.

Leviticus 13–14 results from something called ṣāra‘at. In humans, ṣāra‘at manifested itself as various types of skin afflictions.

Leprosy in the Bible 39 different verses (most of which are here)

The main reason why leprosy is talked about so much in the Bible is that it is a graphic illustration of sin’s destructive power. In ancient Israel leprosy was a powerful object lesson of the debilitating influence of sin in a person’s life.

Among the sixty-one defilements of ancient Jewish laws, leprosy was second only to a dead body in seriousness. A leper wasn’t allowed to come within six feet of any other human, including his own family. The disease was considered so revolting that the leper wasn’t permitted to come within 150 feet of anyone when the wind was blowing.

Regulations about leprosy (5 min) (Chapter 13)

Helps priests identify ṣāra‘at. It does this by providing a series of laws that are grouped into seven distinct cases (vv. 1–8, 9–17, 18–23, 24–28, 29–37, 38–39, 40–44). Each follows a similar pattern:

First, the law describes initial signs that could indicate the presence of ṣāra‘at and must therefore be examined by the priest.

Next, it gives diagnostics to help the priest determine whether the signs did indeed indicate ṣāra‘at. If the diagnostics were conclusive, the priest officially proclaimed the person impure or pure. If not, the person was quarantined for a period of time to see whether the signs developed, at the end of which the priest made an official pronouncement.

Statutes for cleansing a leper and leprous house (Chapter 14)

The process was gradual and involved three different ceremonies corresponding to three different degrees of purity.

After the first ceremony, those being cleansed were pure enough to re-enter the camp (vv. 2–8);

after the second, they were pure enough to go to the tabernacle (v. 9);

and after the third, they were pure enough to fully re-enter society (vv. 10–20). (For a similar three-stage purification process, see Context at Lev. 12. As noted there, performing an action three times was a way of underscoring it.)

Always conscious of the poor, the Lord also provides a less costly rite for those with limited means (vv. 21–32)

Laws about bodily discharges (5 min) (Chapter 15)

Leviticus 15 nowhere explains why certain bodily fluids were ritually defiling; it assumes it as fact and discusses how to address it. But unlike Leviticus 12, which addresses only one type of fluid (blood lost at childbirth), Leviticus 15 addresses four.

These discharges caused differing levels of impurity, some required more thorough cleansing rites than others. But in each case, the resulting impurity could be spread through physical contact, meaning it could eventually reach—and directly defile—the Lord’s holy palace (see at v. 31). In order to avoid this, Leviticus 15 tells the Israelites how to address each impurity and so maintain covenant fellowship with their holy Lord.

Leviticus 15 deals with ritual impurity arising from matters related to the human body. Due to this similarity, it emphasizes some of the same themes. For example, the great care it takes in describing how to address these impurities testifies to the holiness of the Lord, into whose presence such impurity was never to come (see Meaning at 13:1–46).

Leviticus 15 makes clear that ritual impurity was something that could have an impact on every area of life (see Meaning at 14:33–53).

Finally, by providing the Israelites with a way to cleanse their impurity—and where necessary to atone for it—the Lord demonstrates his desire for his covenant children to come into his presence in worship, as well as to enjoy covenant fellowship with one another (see Meaning at 14:1–32).

Conclusion (5-0 min.)

7 Chapters that show us how specific and hard it was to be ordained as a priest to lead the congregation in sacrifice and worship and how important it was that the priest, the tabernacle, and the congregation be set apart as holy unto God!

The priesthood served as a picture or "type" of the coming ministry of Jesus Christ--a picture that was then no longer needed once His sacrifice on the cross was completed.

When the thick temple veil that covered the doorway to the Holy of Holies was torn in two by God at the time of Christ’s death (Matthew 27:51), God was indicating that the Old Testament priesthood was no longer necessary.

Now people could come directly to God through the great High Priest, Jesus Christ:

Hebrews 4:14–16 “14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. 15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”

Not just the Pastor! When God saves us He joins us to the priesthood of all believers:

1 Peter 2:5–9 “5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. 6 Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. 7 Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, 8 And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed. 9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:”

Like the priest then, we are chosen for a purpose: to offer up spiritual sacrifices:

Hebrews 13:15–16 “15 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. 16 But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.”

We are to “proclaim the praises of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light.” (1 Pet 2:9)

By life: (1 Pet 2:5)

Ephesians 2:10 “10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”

And by Word: (1 Pet 2:9)

1 Peter 3:15 “15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:”

After Christ, the new tabernacle is the believer’s body:

1 Corinthians 6:19–20 “19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

Romans 12:1–2 “1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

To present acceptable to God requires holiness:

1 Peter 1:15–16 “15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; 16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.”

No longer burnt offerings:

Hebrews 10:8–10 “8 Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; 9 Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. 10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”