Leviticus

[SSquared]

Well, here we are in Leviticus. You might be thinking, "Yikes". But it's not all that bad.

Leviticus 1-7

As you read Leviticus, think about the importance God places on holiness. We read many times about animals without defects, bread without yeast, clean/unclean, etc. God is showing He can not have anything unholy before Him.

The first two days of reading have covered the different types of offerings. Some were voluntary, and simply a "thank you" to God, and others were mandatory.

One of the interesting things the Israelites recognized, but I think it sort of got lost today, is the idea of the sin of omission. Sometimes we know what it is we are supposed to do, but we don't do it. That, too, is a sin. We are still disobeying God.

Regarding the animals involved with the sacrifices, they are to be without defect, just as Jesus was sinless. The person making the offereing had to place their hands on the sacrifice. This is an indication they identify with the animal, but the animal ends up taking the offerer's place. And...therefore taking the place of the one offering the sacrifice. This is clearly a representation of what Jesus has done.

This book really points out all of this is truly unattainable. It really is impossible. I couldn't imagine having to live under all those rules. It makes me even more thankful for Jesus, for through Him, we CAN be before the throne of God.

 

[SSquared]

Leviticus 8-10

Things that stuck out to me:

Lev. 8:33 - Once again, the number 7. That is the number of days for Aaron and Sons ordination to be complete. Remember, the number 7 is used as a representation of completeness.

I noticed the three offerings that had been given. There is a recap in Lev. 9:22. They were the sin, burnt, and fellowship offering. These seemed to make sense. The sin offering called for cleansing/forgiveness of the whole community. They started out their time in the desert by presenting themselves before God and saying, "We are sinners and need forgiveness". The burnt offering is used to show devotion/commitment to God. So, now they are saying, "We are ready to serve and surrender to You." And the third, fellowship offering, is an offering of thanksgiving and community fellowship. It was like they were saying, "Yeah! We are renewed, refreshed, and ready to serve the Lord!!!" Can you imagine the excitement? And then God's presence was there. Wow!

In Lev. 10, we read about Aaron's two sons who offered unauthorized fire. As I mentioned, yesterday, Leviticus points to holiness and that leads to the harsh punishment for these two sons. God means what He says.

Oh, by the way, one thing to keep in mind is the tabernacle is completely movable. The Lord still appears as fire and a cloud. The Israelites are still wandering at this point. We'll read about it later, but the tabernacle has to be packed up and rebuilt each time.

 

[SSquared]

Leviticus 11-15

The last two days have been some of the hard stuff. Not much to say except for one famous verse. Leviticus 11:44 is where "be holy, because I am holy" comes from.

Oh, and I also noticed several occurences of the number 7.

 

[SSquared]

Leviticus 16-18

Some important things in Chapter 17. Blood was considered life. 17:11 states "for the life of a creature is in the blood". The Israelites considered blood to be very important. It became a very sacred part of the sacrifices. What's interesting is the Hebrew word for blood is 'dam'. This is where we get the name 'Adam' from, which means man/mankind. Adam is the first human life.

We still tend to think of blood as extremely important to life, and rightly so. But I don't think we have the same sacredness today.

The other chapters, 16 and 18, continue to really single out the importance of being holy...being set apart.

 

[Kidan]

Lev. 16-18
Well guys, i have a spare moment betwen child care an dinner to actually read for the Bible in a Year as well as my personal devotions. So here we go...

Quote[/b] ]Then he shall go out to the altar which is before the LORD and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and of the blood of the goat, and put it on the horns of the altar round about.

Here we have an example of the atonement sacrifice. Notice the parallels between this sacrifice and Jesus' ultimate sacrifice. This sacrifice is about coming to God, and covering sin with blood. Jesus' sacrifice is about the exact same thing. The veil between man and God is once again taken down, and our sins are covered by Jesus' blood.

but the most important part of the atonement sacrifice is this

Quote[/b] ]And when he has made an end of atoning for the holy place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall present the live goat;

Now the live goat was the actual atonement goat. The live goat takes the sin and basically runs away with them. This is the same as Christ, who takes the sin unto himself


now we come to ch 18. Chapter 18 is sexual-related sins.
incest, adultery, homosexuality. These are all covered as well as the slaughter of infants. Now the fact that these are horrid things, the reason why they are brought to special attention (they are talked about later or is it earlier? I think they are reiterated in Deutrononomy) is that the people who lived in the promised land practiced all these things. (I am not saying they are not vile sins, but rather they were brought especially to the Hebrews attentions due to the fact that they were inheriting a land where such abominations took place.)

now onto the Blood. Blood = life. That is a very important precept among Judasim (and as a result both Christainity and Islam) The blood covers for sin not atone mind you, that was the purpose of the scapegoat.



maybe my son will sort himself into a standard way so I can get into a set schedule with him, my personal readings, and these readings. God bless you all.

 

[SSquared]

Whoops! I had accidentally read Chapter 16 with yesterday's reading, so didn't read it today. I probably should have re-read it today. Actually, I just did.

The Day of Atonement was a once-a-year event. It was the time when the head priest could go behind the curtain and into the Most Holy Place. On this day, the priest atoned for the sins of Israel. When Jesus died, he was the FINAL sacrifice. And we now have free access to the Most Holy Place.

The Day of Atonement, in Hebrew, is Yom Kippur.

 

[(ohms)Lady Kajun]

Again SSquared, I want to thank you for your commentaries.  They have been very helpful to me.

Now, I almost even hate to add this question, but I need a clearer discription of what is going on here.  So please don't stone me  

I noticed toward the end of Chapter 21, where God commands that no man with a defect is to come near the offerings.  I really don't understand this.  Hasn't God created everyone?  If He created the man with this defect, then why is it that the man should be held responsible for that defect, or be punished because of that defect?  I know this sounds terrible, but I really need some understanding in this.  I hope I worded this question properly.  Thank you for any insight you can give me on this matter.  And keep up the good work.

 

[SSquared]

Leviticus 19-23 (Last 2 days)

Once again, there is clearly the running theme of being holy.  God continually states in these chapters, "Be holy, for I am holy."

Chapters 19 and 20 seem to restate some of the same stuff we've already read.  Sort of a wrap-up.  Like Kidan said, many of these items are listed because these were already being practiced by the current inhabitants of the land.

Chapter 23 lists the many feasts God has set up.  These feasts are a whole huge topic in themselves.  I will try to give a summary at some point, but just realize that each of these feasts is a prophecy about Jesus.  I have a great book on this topic, but it will be difficult to condense a book into a short summary.  

Lady Kajun, that is such a great question.  I know exactly what you are asking because I mentioned the same thing to my wife last night after I finished reading it.  It's difficult to see why God would be like that.  I would love to hear anyone else's insight into this subject.

What I see is God requires perfection.  Sacrifices could not have any blemish or abnormality.  People had to continually offer sacrifices to become clean.  And the priests had to be perfect, just as Christ, our High Priest, is perfect.  Hebrews 9:14 states "How much more, then, will the blood of Christ...offered Himself unblemished to God".  He not only OFFERED the sacrifice, He WAS the sacrifice/offering.  He covered both sides of the sacrifice.  The OT is only a glimpse of what Jesus fulfills.  So, in the OT, we had priests and animals who had to be perfect, and in the NT, we have Jesus who fulfilled it by TRULY being perfect in both respects.

God's commands in Lev. 21 are there because the priests were to be an example of what Christ would fulfill.

Hope this helps.  I'm glad you asked, because last night, I just sort of thought about it and discussed it with my wife.  Your question prompted me to dig a little more and it has greatly helped me in my understanding of the passage.

 

[Kidan]

Lady Kajun

Very good question

AS SSquared said, the sacrifices had to be 'Perfect'

in fact, the priests when they went into the holy of holies wore little bells around the clothes, and a rope tied to their leg, in case they did something wrong or some such (they could be pulled out if the bells stopped tinkling)

The entire law deals with clean/unclean sin/perfection blemished/undefected

The law is carnal, it is about outward showings.
This had to be accomplished by those who were ritualistically cleaned, offering unblemished sacrifices by an unblemished sacrificer.

Our new covenant is spiritual, we accept the blood offering of Christ and we become spiritual unblemished, we become spiritually cleaned, and as such we are able to enter the holy of holies with impunity and immunity.

It does not say that that man can't enter into worship, or won't be atoned with the sacrifice, just that he can't mess with the sacrifice. Yes God created him, but the law requires perfection, on a surface level.

 

[SSquared]

Leviticus 24 - 27

Well, we have finished up Leviticus.

I really enjoy reading about the Sabbath Year and year of Jubilee. God shows His faithfulness by supplying all their needs during the Sabbath year.

Lev. 26 is very key. Having this background is important later on as we get to Kings/Chronicles. God lays out the benefits of obeying Him, and the consequences of not obeying Him. In fact, the truths here are important even today.

 

[(ohms)Lady Kajun]

Thank you SSquared and Kidan for that insight. I'm still a little foggy, but at least you were able to shed "some" light on the subject for me. Once again, thank you and God Bless you.

 

[Kidan]

Instead of being "foggy" ask questions to get a more clearer picture of what is happening.


Another thing I didn't mention last time, but is necessary to remember is that defects were also potential curses from God. If someone had sinned, they could be cursed with a defect (Read about Jeraboam in 1 Kings I believe, the king after Solomon), or their children or grandchildren could be cursed with a defect. God had to take that into account when detailing who could offer the sacrifices. We as humans could not discern those who were defected through sin, and those who had defects just to poor luck so instead of having a potentially cursed person manhandling the unblemished and ritualistically cleaned sacrifice (therefore blemishing it, and making it unclean). The punishment for using a non-perfect sarifice was quite dire, including the fact that the entire nation of Israel could be destroyed for it.

 

[SSquared]

Great point Kidan.

Here is what I was trying to say, but after reading my post, it didn't quite come out this way. First off, the OT is really a foretelling of Christ. Many of the things that go on, are fulfilled in Christ. For example, the Tabernacle we read about is an example of Heaven with many images of Christ in it. We didn't get heavily into the imagery, but there is quite a bit.

Continuing with that idea/theme, the priests were a depiction of Christ, our last, final, and Highest Priest. Christ was completely perfect and unblemished, just as the priests were meant to be. In reality, as we know, it didn't really matter whether someone has a defect or not. We are all sinners and no one is sinless/perfect.

And the last thing is just a reminder Leviticus focuses on holiness before God. He can not have anything imperfect before Him.

 

[SSquared]

I caught the end of a very appropriate message today.  It turns out it's from this site:  Calvary Chapel Corvallis.  Click on the "Messages" link.  The pastor has been doing a whole series on Leviticus/Numbers.  It looks like a GREAT series.  I highly recommend either listening to these, or doing your own personal study of the feasts.  You will be absolutely BLOWN AWAY by the meanings.  Actually, I haven't listened to the series from this page, but based on what I heard today, the series sounds fantastic and is right along the lines of what I have read and been taught.