The title of this blog should not be a snoozer. In fact, I used to wonder how to get through this book because it’s so filled with details for which seem a bit non-sensical. Can I say that about God’s Laws? Trying to digest the ideas of each offering and the significance is like trying to understand the intricacies of my indoor plumbing. Not only may it be a bit boring, but it is so hard to try to remember it all, my brain just wants to skim and move on. However, I came upon a wonderful commentary for which not only explains the whole book of Leviticus, but gives me a sense of appreciation, wonder and LOVE for the book. Moreover, I see this precious book point to Jesus and His ultimate sacrifice.
Much of this will be from http://www.easyenglish.info/bible-commentary/index.htm.
What does the word ‘Leviticus’ mean?
The *Jews called the Book of Leviticus ‘wayyiqra’. This is actually two *Hebrew words, ‘way’ and ‘yiqra’. They mean ‘and’ and ‘he called’. It’s a Latin word for about the Levites. One of Jacob’s 12 children was Levi and they were destined to be priests. Leviticus is the way the Jews were to *Worship the *LORD in the Beauty of *Holiness’. ‘ In other words: ‘love and obey’. *‘*Holiness’ means that people always try to please God. God always thinks that this makes people beautiful!
How can we worship Him being the “sinners” we all are? By our own efforts, we cannot please God. But God has provided a WAY so that we can *worship him properly. For the *Jews, that method was *sacrifice. Leviticus details how they would give to God parts of the animals or the whole animal that they killed. The priests would burn the gifts/animals/offerings on the altar in His house and this was their act of love/obedience/worship. “The animal had suffered death so that the *Jews could live as friends with God.” (there had to be a sacrifice for them to have fellowship)
For us as Christians, that method or way is also *sacrifice, but it is not death of an animal, and it doesn’t need to be repeated each year for various sins committed. God made it simple as he provided His precious son, Jesus, to be the perfect *sacrifice. His sacrificial death deals with every *sin ever committed. This equals freedom from sin’s power so that we can have fellowship with God without the need for a priest. In other words, we get to *worship the *LORD in the beauty of *holiness. So we can all please God because of Jesus’ *sacrifice on the *cross.”
Below is a nice overall look at each book of the Penteteuch: (http://www.easyenglish.info/bible-commentary/leviticus-1-7-lbw.htm)
The first 5 books of the Bible tell us about several periods in the life of each person. If that person is a Christian, then the books mean this:
Genesis … *Sin makes a person into a slave of the devil. *Sin is when we do not obey God. Everybody is in this group of people. ‘Everybody has *sinned’, Romans 3:23. We *sin when we do not obey God’s laws. Genesis also tells us about people who tried to obey God, including Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph.
Exodus … God makes people free. So they are not slaves. They are like the *Jews who came out of Egypt. Christians are free. In other words, *sin does not still control them like slaves. God makes them free when they first believe in Jesus. They believe that Jesus died to save them from the devil. Now they are not the devil’s people. Instead they are God’s people. We call this ‘conversion’.
Leviticus … God wants his people to be friends with him. This is a special type of friendship that we call ‘*fellowship’. God brought the *Jews out of Egypt so that they could have *fellowship with him. And God frees Christians from *sin so that they can have *fellowship with him. This is what God wants very much. Leviticus tells us that we can have *fellowship with God. We can have *fellowship with God because Jesus died for us! That is why Leviticus is important for Christians.
Numbers … God’s people look for the *Promised Land. For the *Jews, it was the country called Israel. For Christians it is Heaven and the New Earth. Heaven is the home of God. We call this the Christian’s ‘walk’ with God. God shows his people the way to go. We often call this ‘guidance’, because God is guiding his people.
Deuteronomy … God’s people have reached the *Promised Land. They are ‘home’! Here are the rules that they must obey while still on this earth. There are no such rules in Heaven.
The whole Bible is one big STORY of the road to Jesus and freedom. It’s our hope. It’s our truth. It’s our foundation.