Introduction To Leviticus

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If any of you work in surgeries, you understand that a lot of effort and rules are put into creating a sterile operating room. This can be especially seen in temporary surgical rooms, such as when handling deadly and infectious diseases.

They cover everything with a plastic barrier, use specialized ventilation to control all air movement, and have a sealed entry point that requires an individual to move through multiple chambers before reaching the patient. They will even have security present to help control who is and is not allowed to enter.

The medical professionals allowed to enter must go through a multiple-step process of scrubbing in and then putting on protective equipment before entering the room.

All of this work so that a group of medical professionals can connect with another person on a level of intimacy that the patient has never experienced with anyone else.

If you are questioning what I mean by level of intimacy. Let me explain, it is one thing to express how you feel to another person, it is a whole other thing to have someone cut open your chest and start poking around.

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God desires to be in relationship with us and to dwell among us. However, because of His holiness, it requires a great deal of effort and preparation for Him to dwell among us and for us to enter into His presence.

To understand how Christ has bridged the gap between us and the triune God. The gap was created because of our sin and God's holiness. We will examine Israel's past to assess what was required of them so that God would dwell among them, for the purpose that we will understand the depth of what Christ has done to bridge the Gap.

Leviticus

This means we will begin a study on the book of Leviticus.

I know I just uttered words that have rarely been spoken. (Pause for laughter) Those of you who have read or tried to read the book of Leviticus understand why I make that joke.

Others of you may be thinking we no longer live under the Law, so why do we need to study a book of the Law?

New testament references to be holy

So let me put you at ease. First, there are two books in Scripture that devote a significant portion of their time to speaking about the holiness of God. The first is Leviticus, and the second is Isaiah.

So if we want to understand why Peter quotes from Leviticus in 1 Peter 1:15–16 "15 but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; 16 because it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy.""

To understand the New Testament commands and instructions for us to be holy, we must study Leviticus.

More than just Law

The second point I want to make, which should help put you at ease, is that the book of Leviticus is more than just a book of Law. I get it; reading Law can be a really dry and dull experience. Imagine trying to preach them. However, surrounding and within the book of Leviticus is a narrative. The Law and Narrative work together to carry each other along.

My goal is to teach you how to identify the narrative in Leviticus.

Background of Leviticus

Name

The books name means “pertaining to the Levites” or “the manual for the Levites.” however only a third of the book is specifically instructions to the Levitical order or the priest. Think of it like going to a financial advisor. the advisor should know the specific rules and will guide you through the particular options. However, you need to have an Idea of what is going on.

this example is not completely correct to explain of the 613 Laws in the Old Testament 247 of them are in the book of Leviticus. A large portion of the laws in Leviticus are Moral laws that have nothing to do with sacrifices, the Tabernacle/temple or the Levitical order.

For example when Jesus is asked what is the greatest commandment he first quotes Deuteronomy 6:5 “5 “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”

Then He states “second and equal unto this “you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.” which is a quote for Leviticus 19:18

Author

Leviticus was written by Moses and is affirmed by the majority of scholars. The notion that Leviticus was written by anyone other than Moses or had multiple contributors was first proposed by liberal theologians in the late 19th century. Theologians and scholars were heavily influenced by the new critical theory of the time.

However, Church tradition, archaeology, and modern research continue to demonstrate how these arguments are unfounded and wrong.

If you are one of the select few who enjoy this kind of information, please feel free to talk to me afterwards. I am more than willing to share resources with you on the topic.

35 The Lord said to Moses

The phrase "the Lord said to Moses" is used 35 times in the book of Leviticus. Not only is the largest biblical credit attributed to Moses' authorship of Leviticus, but it also signals a transition in topic or sections within Leviticus.

Other transitional phrases, such as "Now it came about," signal the beginning of a narrative portion.

timeline of Writing

According to Exodus 19:1 and Numbers 1:1, it appears that the Israelites camped at Mt Sinai for approximately nine months. It was during this time that the oracles and narrative in Leviticus would have taken place and been likely recorded.

Intrabiblical context and structure

Leviticus makes up the third book of the Pentateuch. The book of Leviticus is arranged in a chiastic structure. Except for the last two chapters, Leviticus 26-27, which function as a closing statement. The center of the Chiasm is Chapter 16, the Day of Atonement.

I have seen arguments that the Pentateuch, as a whole, is arranged in a chiasm. It could be loosely, which would make a great theological statement concerning the holiness of God and the need for atonement of our sins. However, looking for a chiasm in the entirety of the Pentateuch can get us lost in the weeds.

Historical context

Just like any story, if we jump right into the middle, we miss a lot of what is going on. The Israelites have been in Egypt for 400 years, where they prospered and the family grew into a nation. Until a Pharaoh came to power who did not know Joseph and saw the people of Israel as a threat, so he pressed them into slavery.

The Lord calls Moses to deliver the people of Israel out of Egypt. This is when we get the story of the ten plagues, Israel's crossing of the Red Sea with the destruction of the Egyptian army, and now camp at Mnt. Sinai.

While camping at mnt. Sinai, they received the Ten Commandments, followed by instructions on how to build the tabernacle and all the vessels and furniture that are inside it.

The rest of Exodus, they build the tabernacle and all the vessels, which brings us to

Exodus 40:34–35 "34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 35 Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle."

imagine standing there. If you have ever driven to Big Ben the climate would have been similar to Mnt. Sinai a mountain range up against a desert. So your standing there with several hundred thousand people. the Tabernacle is roughly the size of two basket ball courts, is filled with a giant pillar of smoke so thick you cannot even enter into it.

It must have been terrifying to see God’s glory from that close.

Wow, what a great time God's Glory is present in the temple. Showing God's presence with His people. Everything is good, they are right where they need to be. But wait, "Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting."

You may say, 'Wait, it says they can enter because of God's glory. That's a good thing, right?'

Let's look at Leviticus 1:1 "1 Then the Lord called to Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting, saying,"

So Moses is outside, hearing from God; that's no problem. Now, let's flip to Numbers 1:1 "1 Then the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent of meeting,"

By the end of Leviticus and the beginning of Numbers, Moses is now able to enter the tent of meeting, also known as the Tabernacle, to receive the word of God.

This is the problem we will answer today. What has happened before Leviticus that brings God's presence to the people but does not let them enter into His presence?

The second problem that this series will cover is how the book of Leviticus resolves the first problem, or allows the people to enter God's presence.

Defining terms

Holy

There are two terms we need to define to help us understand the problem. First is Holy, I know this is a term that gets thrown around in Church a lot. Other times it is used as a negative in the phrase "Holier than thou," which is someone claiming you think you're better than them.

There are two aspects of the Holy; the first is something separate or set apart. The idea is a physical gap between the holy and the non-holy.

The second aspect of holy is something special or of high esteem.

An illustration of this would be the special toy you had as a kid. Anything could have made it special. It could be that it was your favorite superhero, a toy sold as a collectible, or it was special because of who gave it to you. However, because it was holy to you, it either sat on the shelf where no one could play with it or you didn't allow anyone else to play with it.

Another example is the fine china or dishes that you or your mother only pull out when a special guest comes over, and you want to make a good impression.

Priest

the second term we need to define is priest. through out history in almost every society their has been a form of priest. people often felt that they were not good enough or holy enough to encounter their God. So, they had a priest who would intercede on their behalf or represent them before their God.

sometimes a Priest was referred to as a holy man who could represent you before God.

Describing the problem

Now that we have defined some key concepts, let's see how they relate to our point of tension. Let's look at two passages. The first is

Genesis 12:1–3 "1 Now the Lord said to Abram, "Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your Father's house, To the land which I will show you; 2 And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; 3 And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.""

So God is going to bless Abraham by making his family into a nation, and all the other families, aka nations, will be blessed through them.

Another point not mentioned in this passage, however, is established in Genesis, where God makes a covenant with Abraham to be Abraham's God and the God of his descendants.

God has made a covenant with Himself to Abraham and his descendants.

next lets see how this unfolds as we fast forward to Exodus 19:4–6 "4 'You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings, and brought you to Myself. 5 'Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; 6 and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.""

If we continue to verse 8, the people commit to fulfilling God's commandments. So, the Israelites are called to be a "kingdom of priests," or you could say, a kingdom of priests to all the nations. This ties together the Genesis 12:3 idea of being a blessing to the families of the earth. Their role was to be a nation of priests interceding for all the other nations, thereby blessing the families of the earth and being a holy people to God. This would bring all the nations back into a relationship with God.

Sounds like a great plan, but now an issue arises as it so often does. The people of Israel have been redeemed from Egypt, but they still suffer from the human condition, which is sin.

Soon after the people make their commitment to obey God's commands, Moses goes to the top of Mnt Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments. Meanwhile, the people become anxious and tired of waiting. I mean, he was up there for a month. So, with the help of Aaron, the people create a golden calf, begin to worship it, and commit other sins that go with pagan worship.

It is these sins and the many more that the people of Israel will commit that remove the opportunity for them to be a Kingdom of Priests. However, God has committed to be their God and dwell with His people.

However, because he is holy, sin cannot enter into his presence. A sinner who enters into the presence of God will die. Read Moses' experience of seeing the backside of God's glory, or Isaiah 6, when Isaiah has the vision of God in the temple. Please understand it is not that God desires to kill sinners, it is an effect of His nature because of how holy and set apart from us as sinners he is.

Conclusion

So, this is the answer to the first problem we set out to discuss: what has happened to bring God's presence to the people is His faithfulness in keeping His covenants. However, why are they not allowed to enter into his presence? The reason is the same condition we all suffer from their sin.

As we progress through this series on Leviticus, we will answer the second question: How does God make provisions for the people to atone for their sins so that they can dwell in His presence?

application

You will see that the kingdom of Israel is never able to bring forth the full blessing promised by God. However, God still uses the family of Abraham to bless the families of the earth through Jesus Christ.

The value of Leviticus lies in comparing what was once required with what Christ has fulfilled for us. His life, works, and resurrection allow us to enter into the presence of the Father and take our petitions directly to him, as the Holy Spirit indwells us. All you have to do to be a part of this relationship is receive Christ as your Lord and Savior.

For those of you who have already received Christ, I want you to keep score. What I mean by keep score is to keep track of everything you would have had to do under the Law.

When you realize everything Christ has accomplished for you, it is hard not to love Him more.

Join us next week as we discuss how offerings were meant to be a full body experience and the different types of offerings.

Let us pray.