Leviticus

Date of Writing: The Book of Leviticus was written between 1440 and 1400 B.C.

Purpose of Writing: Because the Israelites had been held captive in Egypt for 400 years, the concept of God had been distorted by the polytheistic, pagan Egyptians. The purpose of Leviticus is to provide instruction and laws to guide a sinful, yet redeemed people in their relationship with a holy God. There is an emphasis in Leviticus on the need for personal holiness in response to a holy God. Sin must be atoned for through the offering of proper sacrifices (chapters 8-10). Other topics covered in the book are diets (clean and unclean foods), childbirth, and diseases, which are carefully regulated (chapters 11-15). Chapter 16 describes the Day of Atonement when an annual sacrifice is made for the cumulative sin of the people. Furthermore, the people of God are to be circumspect in their personal, moral, and social living, in contrast to the then current practices of the heathen roundabout those (chapters 1722).

Key Verses: Leviticus 1:4, “He is to lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him.”

Leviticus 17:11, “For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.”

Leviticus 19:18, “‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.”

Brief Summary: Chapters 1–7 outline the offerings required of both the laity and the priesthood. Chapters 8–10 describe the consecration of Aaron and his sons to the priesthood. Chapters 11–16 are the prescriptions for various types of uncleanness. The final 10 chapters are God’s guidelines to His people for practical holiness. Various feasts were instituted in the people’s worship of God, convened and practiced according to God’s laws. Blessings or curses would accompany either the keeping or neglect of God’s commandments (chapter 26). Vows to the Lord are covered in chapter 27.

The primary theme of Leviticus is holiness. God’s demand for holiness in His people is based on His own holy nature. A corresponding theme is that of atonement. Holiness must be maintained before God, and holiness can only be attained through a proper atonement.

Foreshadowing’s: Much of the ritualistic practices of worship picture in many ways the person and work of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Hebrews 10 tells us that the Mosaic Law is “only a shadow of the good things that are coming” by which is meant that the daily sacrifices offered by the priests for the sin of the people were a representation of the ultimate Sacrifice—Jesus Christ, whose sacrifice would be once for all time for those who would believe in Him. The holiness imparted temporarily by the Law would one day be replaced by the absolute attainment of holiness when Christians exchanged their sin for the righteousness of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Practical Application: God takes His holiness very seriously, and so should we. The trend in the postmodern church is to create God in our own image, giving Him the attributes we would like Him to have instead of the ones His Word describes. God’s utter holiness, His transcendent splendor, and His “unapproachable light” (1 Timothy 6:16) are foreign concepts to many Christians. We are called to walk in the Light and to put away the darkness in our lives so that we may be pleasing in His sight. A holy God cannot tolerate blatant, unashamed sin in His people and His holiness requires Him to punish it. We dare not be flippant in our attitudes toward sin or God’s loathing of it, nor should we make light of it in any way.

Praise the Lord that because of Jesus’ death on our behalf, we no longer have to offer animal sacrifices. Leviticus is all about substitution. The death of the animals was a substitute penalty for those who have sinned. In the same way, but infinitely better, the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross was the substitute for our sins. Now we can stand before a God of utter holiness without fear because He sees in us the righteousness of Christ.

Leviticus 1:  The Burnt Offering                                      

God required animal sacrifices to provide a temporary covering of sins and to foreshadow the perfect and complete sacrifice of Jesus Christ (Leviticus 4:35, 5:10). Animal sacrifice is an important theme found throughout Scripture because “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22). When Adam and Eve sinned, animals were killed by God to provide clothing for them (Genesis 3:21). Cain and Abel brought sacrifices to the Lord. Cain’s was unacceptable because he brought fruit, while Abel’s was acceptable because it was the “firstborn of his flock” (Genesis 4:4-5). After the flood receded, Noah sacrificed animals to God (Genesis 8:20-21).

Interesting: ²⁹Its traditional name in English is “holocaust“, and the word olah has traditionally been translated as “burnt offering.” The term was translated as holocauston in the Septuagint. Today, some English Bible translations render the word as holocaust, and others translate it as “burnt offering”. For example, Exodus 18:12a is translated in the New American Bible as Then Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, brought a holocaust and other sacrifices to God, while it is translated in the New International Version as Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and other sacrifices to God. 

The burnt offerings were for the atonement of their sins.  The Jews had to bring a perfect animal without blemish for their atonement.  Imagine having to do this today?  What a perfect sacrifice our Lord Jesus did for our atonement.  He is the perfect Lamb of God without blemish that poured out His blood for our remission of sins.

A non-blemished male from the livestock, of the herd or of the flock, of an individual was used to atone for their sins.  The complete consumption of the animal was done.  The burnt offerings were the only offerings where by the entire offering was consumed.  The same is true with the redemption of sin today; we cannot atone for someone else’s sin to Jesus.  We can come to Jesus only for our own sins.  Chapter 1 states that for the burnt offerings of the livestock or herd, that it must be a male but of the birds, it does not specify a male dove or pigeon. 

Leviticus 2: The Grain Offering                                       

³⁰ A grain offering is a type of sacrifice described in the Old Testament that the Israelites offered to God. A grain offering would have most likely been one of wheat or barley, depending on what was available. While other sacrifices had very specific instructions from God as to how they were to be offered, the rules governing grain offerings had some flexibility.

A grain offering could be given to God either uncooked or cooked in an oven or pan. The requirements for the grain offering were that it had to be finely ground and have oil and salt in it. It could not have any yeast (also called leaven) or honey in it. When a person brought a grain offering to the priests, a small portion of it was offered to God, with some frankincense, on the altar. The rest of the grain offering went to the priests. No specific amount of grain was required for an offering; people were free to give what they had.

The grain offering is described as “a most holy part of the food offerings presented to the Lord”. Grain offerings would often be presented after a burnt offering, which was an animal sacrifice God required for the atonement of sin. Blood had to be shed for the remission of sins to take place, so a grain offering would not serve the same purpose as a burnt offering. Instead, the purpose of a grain offering was to worship God and acknowledge His provision. The burnt offering, which had strict regulations and could have nothing added to it, aptly represents the fact that we take no part in our atonement for sin. The grain offering, however, could be somewhat “personalized” in its presentation. It was to be given out of a person’s free will, just as our worship is our free will offering to God today.

It’s interesting to note that during the Israelites’ forty years of wilderness wandering grain would have been quite scarce. This made grain offerings more costly and precious for the people to offer to God. Giving a grain offering in those circumstances represented the Israelites’ complete dependence on God to provide for their needs each day. Jesus fulfilled the Law, and we no longer have to do sacrifices as they did in the Old Testament. However, if the grain offering is similar to our offering of worship, it’s interesting to consider, how much does our worship today cost us?

None of the grain offerings was permitted with leaven or honey.  It is speculated that either of these two ingredients may cause fermentation, which represents corruption.                                       

All of the grain offerings had to have salt added to it.  Jesus said that we were the salt of the earth.  As we make our ‘offerings’ to the Lord, we must be the salt of the earth, or clean/without sin (repent).  

²⁷ “All the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before You.  ²⁸ For the kingdom is the Lord’s, and He rules over the nations.”  A fulfillment of God’s promise that He would bless all nations through the seed of Abraham.

Leviticus 3: The Peace Offering                                       

²⁹ There were under the Old Covenant sacrifices intended to represent propitiation but with the understanding that God has always been a God of grace. He does not expect us to appease Him with our works but only to confess our need and dependence on Him. Under the Old Covenant, this relationship was expressed by the sacrificial system, which always looked forward to the sacrifice of the Messiah. Under the New Covenant, the Law has been written on our hearts, and the Holy Spirit of God gives us the power to live our lives accordingly. The sacrifices we give now are spiritual and living.

Leviticus 4: The Sin Offering   

A sin offering was a sacrifice, made according to the Mosaic Law, which provided atonement for sin. The Hebrew phrase for “sin offering” literally means, “Fault offering.” The sin offering was made for sins committed in ignorance, or unintentional sins.

Anointed Priest	Young bull w/out blemish
Whole congregation	Young bull
Ruler	Male goat w/out blemish
Common people	Female goat w/out blemish

Leviticus 5: The Trespass Offering

¹ An oath or vow given to anyone was sacred.  If anyone was witness to an oath, realized an oath was broken, and did not report it, he himself was guilty.

^{2– 3} Anyone who touches any unclean thing, person or beast, whether is aware of it or not, was also guilty of sin.  Put this in perspective of unclean living.  When anyone participates in any unclean thing, heavy drinking, acts of sexual misbehavior, or any such thing, many times we do these things without any reasonable intent but are still guilty of sin.

⁴ The Lord does not want anyone to swear an oath to anyone as He says, no one knows what tomorrow may bring (Ecclesiastes 7:14-24).

^{5– 14} John 3:16 “God so loved us that He gave us His only Begotten Son so that anyone who believes in Him shall have everlasting life”.  Realize and understand the power of this of which God the Father bestowed on us.  God, through His Son Jesus Christ, gives us unyielding grace without of which we would have to slaughter animals and confess our sins, through a Priest, instead of right to God Himself through His Son.

We sin continuously.  Can you even imagine the Jews in the wilderness, even with the miracles after miracles God did for them and they still defied Him!  The Levites (Priests) would run out of animals and sin offerings.  They were in the wilderness, having to find wheat, and whatever else they needed to offer.  We know they wondered for over 80 years, two generations, how busy they must have been.

^{14 – 19} We all sin and come short of the Glory of God (Romans 3:23).  We only need to come to our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and ask for forgiveness.  We give ourselves to God as our offering with restitution.

The Trespass Offering.  By obeying God’s Word, man would stay clean and not have to worry about passing on deceases.  God’ law prohibited anyone from touching an unclean animal or person.  

A female lamb or goat was to be used for this sin offering.  If he was unable to bring either of these, he was to bring two turtledoves or two pigeons, one for the sin offering and one for the burnt offering.  God’s endless grace is showing up again, God’s allowances for accommodating anyone’s sins.  If he still could not afford to bring either bird, he could bring one-tenth of an Ephah of fine flour as a sin offering. 

 Leviticus 6: ^{1 – 7} Trespassing.

The grace and mercy of God again shows here.  Even when we sin intentionally.  Yes, here in these passages, those found guilty of lying, cheating or extortion, had to give back what they had stolen plus additionally one-fifth more.  When we today give our lives to our Lord, we take on the Holy Spirit unto ourselves.  He literally “steps into” our bodies, if we truly give our lives to Him.  If we pray and think continuously that, He is in us, why would we intentionally turn to sin.  We still do.  When we turn to God, we repent.

Many understand the term repentance (from the Greek word metanoia) to mean “turning from sin.” This is not the biblical definition of repentance. In the Bible, the word repent means “to change one’s mind.” The Bible also tells us that true repentance will result in a change of actions (Luke 3:8-14; Acts 3:19). Acts 26:20 declares, “I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds.” The full biblical definition of repentance is a change of mind that results in a change of action.

^{8 – 30} See Leviticus 1, 2, & 4.

If a man lies to his neighbor about anything, he had to bring an unblemished ram and he was to restore whatever it was plus an additional 1/5.  

Leviticus 7: The Law of the Trespass Offering

^{1 – 10} See Leviticus 5.

^{11 – 21} See Leviticus 3.

^{22 – 27} This is where kosher comes into place.  The Jews today have to remove all of the blood from any animal prior to eating it.

(Of food, or premises in which food is sold, cooked, or eaten) satisfying the requirements of Jewish law. 

^{28 – 34} The wave offering (Hebrew: tenufah תנופה) or sheaf offering or omer offering (korban omer) was an offering made by the Jewish priests in token of a solemn special presentation to God.

Again, roaming the wilderness for all those years and having to find sheaf must have been difficult.  The sons of Aaron were to eat the breasts and thighs of all of the offerings.

The Law of the Trespass Offerings.  The Law of the Peace Offerings.  A Peace offering of Thanksgiving had to be eaten the same day.  A Peace offering for a vow or voluntary, left overs could be eaten the next day but had to be burnt if still remained the third day.  An abomination was to the person if he/she ate any of it the third day.  

Verses 22 – 27 deal exclusively with the fat and blood of animals.  No person, under any circumstance, was permitted to eat the fat of an animal.  If the animal died naturally or was killed by another animal, the fat could be used for other purpose except to be eaten; the same with the blood of bird or beast.

Leviticus 8: ^{1 – 5} Aaron and his son’s consecrated. 

It was God’s intention to consecrate the priests, Aaron and his sons, in front of all of the Jews to show His charge He was giving to them.  Moses made it clear to all of them that this was God’s charge to him.

⁹ All of the garments, headdress, all the way down reminds me of the Full Armor of God (Ephesians 6:14-17).  When we put on the Full Armor of God, we bypass the priestly anointment and go straight to God through His Son.

^{10– 18} We read these verses and don’t actually realize how long this must have taken.  Moses, a butcher, had to kill the bull himself and gut it out completely.  Having to take the fatty lobes and entrails and burn them outside the camp.  This was a very long process.   All this for the atonement of their sins.  How very fortunate that God loved us so much that He gave His only begotten Son to atone for our sins.

^{19 – 25} After Moses had killed both the bull and the goat; he put some of the blood on the tips of Aaron and his son’s big toe, right ear, and thumbs of their right hand.  We sin, even unintentionally, by our ears, hearing things to lead us astray, our hands by opening up ‘door’, computers, phones, etc., to sin, and our feet by taking us to places we ought not to be.

^{26 – 36} All these ritualistic acts were only to prepare for the atonement of Aaron and his sons.  They had to go outside of the camp for seven days while the Lord atoned them and cleaned them first.

Aaron and his sons consecrated.    Verse 24 – The putting the blood of the sacrifice on the tip of the right ear, the thumb of the right hand, and the great toe of the right foot, was doubtless intended to signify that they should dedicate all their faculties and powers to the service of God. Their ears to the hearing and study of his law, their hands to diligence in the sacred ministry and to all acts of obedience, and their feet to walking in the way of God’s precepts.^[1]

Leviticus 9: The Priestly Ministry Begins

^{1 – 4} After the seven days outside of the camp, Moses brought in Aaron and his sons to begin the priestly ministry.  Before they could begin their ministry, they had to complete the Sin and Burnt Offerings, both the priests and the children of Israel.

^{5 – 7} Aaron and his sons had to offer their Sin (young bull (calf)) and Burnt (a ram) offerings initially.  Then, Moses instructed Aaron and his sons to do the same offerings for the Jewish people; but for them they were to take a kid of goats for the Sin offering, a calf, and a lamb, first year without blemish, as their Burnt offering.   Several commentaries are out there that try to theorize on the Jewish population at the time of the Exodus.  The most prevalent that I can find is there were about two million Jews.

^{15 – 17} After the priestly offerings and their atonement was completed, they then were to atone for the Jews with their Sin (a goat), Burnt (a calf and a lamb) and Grain offerings.

^{18 – 21} Moses also made a Peace offering for the people as well.

^{22 – 24} The Lord was greatly pleased with the people’s offering and He showed His glory to all of the through the fire as it consumed the offerings.

Leviticus 10:  The Profane Fire of Nadab and Abihu

 ^{1 – 3 [2]}The exact nature of the profane fire isn’t known, but, since it was the fire that was unauthorized, it could be that Nadab and Abihu were burning the incense with fire of their own making rather than taking fire from the altar, as specified in Leviticus 19:12. Alternatively, it could have been that the two men came into the tabernacle drunk and therefore could not remember what was a violation and what was not (Leviticus 10:8–9). Whatever it was the men did to render the offering profane; it was a sign of their disregard for the utter holiness of God and the need to honor and obey Him in solemn and holy fear. Their carelessness and irreverence were their downfall.

^{4 – 5} Moses instructed Uzziel’s sons, Mishael and Elzaphan, to carry out the bodies outside the camp. 

^{6 – 9} Moses told Aaron and their sons not to bewail the burning fire of the Lord or let the people bewail as well.  This was to show that what the two sons had done was wrong.

^{8 – 11} The Tabernacle of the Most Holy was not to be mistreated.  The people were to understand the differences between holy, unholy, clean, and unclean.  No wine or any intoxicating drink was permitted within the tabernacle.

^{12 – 20} After all of the offerings, Aaron, his sons and daughters were to eat the remains of the sin offering.  Moses was upset that they did not eat the left overs before they were burnt.  Aaron was grieved due to his son’s deaths and explained that to Moses and Moses was content.

Leviticus 11: Foods Permitted and Forbidden.

Prior to the fall of Adam and Eve, God gave man all creeping and crawling, birds in the air and all the fish to eat at will.  Once sin had entered into humankind, God gave limitations to His people to what they could and could not eat.

^{1 – 3} The animals the Jews were allowed to eat.  Among the animals, whatever divides the hoof, having cloven hooves and chewing the cud—that you may eat.  

• The ox
• The sheep
• The goat   
• The deer
• The gazelle
• The yahmur; this term, directly taken from the Masoretic Text, is ambiguously used by Arabs to refer to roe deer and to oryx
• The the’o; this term, directly taken from the Masoretic Text, has traditionally been translated ambiguously. In Deuteronomy, it has traditionally been translated as wild goat, but in the same translations is called a wild ox where it occurs in Deutero-Isaiah; the bubal hartebeest lies somewhere between these creatures in appearance and has been regarded as a likely fit for the’o.
• The pygarg; the identity of this animal is uncertain, and pygarg is merely the Septuagint’s rendering. The Masoretic Text calls it a dishon, meaning springing; it has thus usually been interpreted as some form of antelope or ibex.
• the antelope^[10]
• The Camelopardalis; the identity of this animal is uncertain, and Camelopardalis, is merely the Septuagint’s wording.^[13] The Masoretic Text calls it a zemer, which means wool, but Camelopardalis means camel-leopard and refers to the giraffe (giraffe is derived, via Italian, from the Arabic term ziraafa meaning assembled [from multiple parts]). The traditional translation has been chamois, but the chamois has never naturally existed in Canaan; neither is the giraffe naturally found in Canaan, and consequently the mouflon is considered the best remaining identification.

^{4 – 8} Forbidden to eat: Bat, Camel, Chameleon, Coney (hyrax), Cormorant, Cuckow (cuckoo),

Eagle, Ferret, Frog, Gier eagle, Glede, Great owl, Hare, Hawk, Heron, Kite, Lapwing, Little owl, Lizard, Mole, Mouse, Night hawk, Osprey, Ossifrage, Owl, Pelican. Pig, Raven, Snail, Stork, Swine, Tortoise, Vulture, and Weasel. 

^{9 – 12} The Lord commanded that the Jews only eat fish of any waters that had fins and scales. 

All other fish, shrimp, lobster, oysters, etc. that did not have fins or scales were an abomination to the Lord.

^{13 – 19} Refer to commentary verses 4 – 8. 

^{20 – 23} All flying insects that creep on all fours were an abomination to them.  The only insects permitted to eat were locusts, crickets, and grasshoppers.

^{24 – 28} If anyone were to encounter any unclean animal; they were to wash themselves and their clothes and were considered unclean until the evening.

^{29 – 47} The repetition of all of the abominable foods makes it quite clear of what the Lord expected.  Imagine, wondering around the wilderness for, some, 80 years, the chances of encountering food that was considered clean would be rare.  Creeping and crawling animals and insects would be among the largest population of possible food for them but were mostly considered an abomination.

Foods permitted to be eaten: Animals with cloven (split) hooves and chew the cud (ruminants).  Anything living in the water with fins and scales.  Many of the birds that are predators or birds of prey are to be eaten.  Foods not permitted to be eaten:Animals that chew the cud but do not have cloven hooves; the camel^[3], the rock hyrax, and the hare³⁴.  The swine does have cloven hooves but does hot chew the cud.  Not anything living in the water without fins and scales was just unclean but an abomination to the Lord.  

Leviticus 12: The Ritual after Childbirth

^{1 – 4} The birth of a baby boy.  Once the baby was born, the women was considered unclean for a total of forty days.  The first 7 days of her customary purification period, the eight day, and the baby was to be circumcised, and then she would remain unclean for an additional thirty-three days.

⁵ The birth of a baby girl.  Once the baby was born, the women was considered unclean for two weeks, as a customary purification period and then an additional sixty-six days for a total of eighty days.

Forty-day multiples are used throughout the Bible.  Here is just another example of forty days of purification for a woman bearing a baby boy and eighty days for a baby girl.

^{6– 7} After the purification period for either a boy or a girl, the mother had to atone for her blood by bringing a lamb for a burnt offering and a pigeon for her sin offering.  This was to clean her from the flow of the unclean blood.

There is no clear reason given as to why a female child is unclean for 14 days and a male child for only 7 days.  Matthew Henry (in his commentary) gives me the only explanation available and that is that it may have stemmed back to the garden. The woman was the deceived and because of this deception, God handed her twice the time for purification.

Leviticus 13: The Law Concerning Leprosy  

^[4]In this sense, the priests served as public health officers and diagnosed the disease from this carefully defined criterion, not from intuition or guessing. The methodology in this passage erred on the side of safety. If a person could not be pronounced “clean” with certainty, they were then isolated until they could be pronounced clean.

These judgments were based on sound medical diagnosis and concern. They were made more with the idea of protecting the community from the outbreak of disease than with the idea of the rights of the individual.

“The Hebrew priest-physicians appear to have been the first in the ancient world to isolate persons suspected of infectious or contagious diseases.” (Harrison)

Illnesses such as smallpox, measles, and scarlet fever might start out with a skin condition considered leprosy – and the person would be isolated for the necessary time until the condition cleared up. This quarantine helped prevent the spread of these diseases among the people of Israel.

Verse 2 refers to ‘man’.  In the Hebrew, this word (in this particular case) means ‘human being’.    [Return]

Leviticus 14: The Ritual for Cleansing Healed Lepers

^{1 – 32} Unless you really read this book and totally comprehend what the Lord is saying, there is no way you, we can truly understand how blessed we are.   To have God, the Creator of all things, knowing all before the heavens and the earth were created, that He would send His only begotten Son to be our only true sacrifice and burden for all of our sins.  To make us perfect to God.

Because the fall of man, God made it impossible to be perfect.  His laws were impossible to keep.  Leprosy and like illnesses were sins and what had to be demonstrated and sacrificed to clean these imperfections were immense.  

Never take for granted the magnificent gift God has given you.  Our lives today are blessed.  We complain endlessly about just about anything.  Just think for a moment if God had not sent His Son to die and bear all of the guilt and sins of the entire world.

^{33 – 53} After eighty years of wondering the in the wilderness and the Jews made it to Canaan, they were to build their houses and start their lives.  We know that God’s ways are not our ways and God’s thoughts are not our thoughts.  God knows all and the reasons He does certain things, we will never know.  

Building a house today is a tedious task but not miserable, with all of the technology and tools we have at our disposal.  For the Jews just entering into the land of Canaan, it was a different story.  Building a house was a tedious task.  That’s all they knew, so it was normal for them at that time.  Gathering brick, stones, materials to make mortar and plaster, the laborious task of putting all of this together to build your house was an accomplishment.

If God had a reason to put a leprous plague in a house, the task the priests and the people had to do to clean the house, if it was in God’s plans to be cleansed, the replacing of stones and plaster and carrying these outside the city.  If God’s plans were not to cleanse the house, after all that had been done to build the house, it had to be torn completely down.

Verse 18 is designating ‘oil’ as a sign of atonement.   Verses 10 – 32 use the male lamb for all of the offerings.   

Leviticus 15: The Law Concerning Bodily Discharges

^{1 – 15} These male discharges had to do with a disease or illness.  In these cases, the male had to be cleansed and made clean before God in a similar manner as leprosy.  The disease had to be thoroughly cleansed prior to going back home and the sin offering had to be done with the priest.

^{16 – 18} Semen discharging, whether intentional through sex or masturbation or unintentionally had to be cleansed in the same manner.

^{19 – 30} The only female discharge recorded here is blood, whether it be during the normal menstrual period or at any other time.  A sin and burnt offering were performed by the priest to atone for these issues.

²¹ “Whoever touches her bed shall wash his clothes…”  I don’t think there is a slip up here where it mentions ‘whoever’ and then mentions ‘his’.  

Leviticus 16: The Day of Atonement

^{1 – 2} Before Christ, one could not come before the Lord until an appointed time.  God reminded Moses, about Aaron’s sons, and what they had done and to remind Aaron not to approach the Holy Place inside the veil until He appeared.

^{3 – 5} In the Garden of Eden, prior to the fall, the sinless life was beyond imaginable.  Adam and Eve walked and came before God in the beauty of their nature, their glorious bodies open to God.  As soon as sin entered into their lives, they immediately say their nakedness.  From that point forward, they had to cover themselves to come before God.

In a like manner, God gave Moses the commandments of only the Levites, the Priests and what they had to wear and anoint before they could approach the Holy Place beyond the veil.  The ugliness of sin had put this between God and us.

^{6 – 10} A scapegoat is a person or animal, which takes on the sins of others, or is unfairly blamed for problems. The concept originally comes from Leviticus, in which a goat is designated to be cast into the desert with the sins of the community.

Azazel ((/əˈzəzɛl/),        also        spelled Axazael                (Hebrew:            עֲזָאֵזֵל,   translit.  Azazel;

Arabic:  عزازيل, translit. ʿAzāzīl) appears in the Bible in association with the scapegoat rite. In some traditions of Judaism, and Christianity, it is the name for a fallen angel. In Rabbinic Judaism, it is not a name of an entity but rather means literally “for the complete removal”, i.e., designating the goat to be cast out into the wilderness as opposed to the goat sacrificed “for YHWH”.

^{11 – 14} Even though the priest were the only ones that were permitted to approach the alter and the Mercy seat, they still had to cover the Mercy seat with smoke, lest they die, not permitting them to see the Glory of God.

^{15 – 19} What an arduous task to atone for their sins.  The number seven for completeness used for the number of times the blood had to be dipped on the horns of the tabernacle.  Many Jews still today celebrate the Day of Atonement.  Christians celebrate the Day of Atonement by celebrating the life of Jesus Christ.  All we have to do is to realize how truly grateful we are to have a God that loved us so much that He sent His Only Begotten Son to shed His blood to atone for our sins, past, present and future.  Just realize that in your heart and see what happens!  Your life will forever be changed.

Leviticus 17: ^{1 – 9} God told Moses directly to tell the children of Israel, to any man of the house or stranger, that absolutely no animal sacrifices of ox, lamb or goat would be tolerated outside the tabernacle of the Lord.  This was to be a serious offence throughout the generations.

^{10 – 12} The blood of an animal was sacred and was to be used for sacrificial offerings on the alter.  Man was not permitted to eat the blood.

¹⁰ “And whatever man of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell among you, who eats any blood, I will set My face against that person who eats blood, and will cut him off from among his people.  ¹³ For the life of the flesh is in the blood.”

Kosher:  ¹³ “Whatever man of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell among you, who hunts and catches any animal of bird that may be eaten, he shall pour out its blood and cover it with dust.”   

^{13 – 14} God reiterates the fact that the blood is the life of the animal and that any animal hunted for food must be drained of its blood and buried.

Leviticus 18: ^{1 – 5} God is preparing Moses for His judgement and reminding him that that the things that were done in Egypt and the things that are currently being done in the land of Canaan will not be tolerated and His statutes must be kept.

^{6 – 18} I believe what God is saying in these passages is that He has had enough of incest as was done plentiful in the past.  Any relational sex or even revealing of nakedness within the bloodline was strictly forbidden.  The body is a sacred vessel that God made and it was to be honored.

1. Any women that was going through customary impurity was not to be touched.

• The Lord reiterates the tenth commandment.

• This verse demonstrates the conviction God had on the first three commandments and that He is the only God and no worship was to be done to any other god.

• ^{– 23} Homosexuality and beastiality is forbidden by God.  For a lot of us, like myself, that are grateful that our Lord Jesus Christ sacrificed Himself for our sins and relieved us from the law and we are now not bound by the law but have the law written in our hearts.  Jesus Himself said many times in the New Testament concerning the condemnation of fornicators and their impending judgement.  1 Corinthians 6:9-20, 1 Corinthians 5:9-11, Revelation 17:1-5, Galatians 5:19, Hebrews 12:16, 1 Corinthians 7:2, 1 Corinthians 5:1, 1 Corinthians 5:5, Colossians 3:5, Ephesians 5:5, & Colossians 3:5.

^{24 – 30} The Lord says that no one dare commit any of these abominations and defile yourselves.

Verses 1 – 6 are God’s instructions to the children of Israel not to do in the way of either Egypt, where they came from, or from Canaan, where they were going.  Always to stay in the ordinances of the God.  

²² “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman.  It is an abomination.  Nor shall you mate with any animal, to defile yourself with it.  Nor shall any woman stand before an animal to mate with it.  It is perversion.”

Leviticus 19: God as our Supreme Creator, who lead the Jews out of Egypt, provided food and water.  Divided the seas to lead them to safety. God the great “I Am” is telling His people to obey His commandments for He is the only true God.

In this fallen world, ⁴ we are subject to all types of idols, whether we choose to believe it or not, we worship these idols, whether they are cars, people, and houses, whatever.  We are to keep holy all things God gives us.  ³ Honor your mother and your father.  

^{5 – 8} The people, by their own free will can offer a peace offering to the Lord.  When the peace offering is done, they must eat the peace offering the same day or the next day while it is still holy.  If the meat remains past the next day, it must be removed.  If it is eaten, that person would be cut off from their people.

^{9 – 10} God always wanted to provide for the poor. When anyone was reaping their harvest or harvesting their vineyards, they were to leave the corners for the poor.  

^{11 – 37} God’s laws and Sacrificial Offerings written in the book of Leviticus are a demonstration of the holiness of God and the expectation of holiness from us.  Jesus’ death on the cross redeemed us from all of the sacrificial offerings in this book.  We don’t need to atone for our sins, we only need to believe in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; what could be easier than that?

The laws established in this book remain today. ¹¹ Don’t steal or deal falsely by lying to one another.  ¹² Don’t use God’s name in vein.   

The remaining verses in chapter 19 aren’t sacrifices or offerings but commandments, laws.

Moral and Ceremonial Laws.  Practices of divination and sorcery prohibited.   

Leviticus 20: ^{1 – [5]} Molech was the worst of all of the pagan gods.   People actually placed their children on the arms of the pagan god and burned them in a sacrificial offering In hopes of prosperity. 

^{6 – 8} God is our medium, we need no one else.  Anyone who turns to a medium profanes the name of God.  It is if God is not good enough to guide you.

⁹ If a child cursed either his father or mother by blaspheming the name of the Lord, he/she was to be beaten with stripes. 

¹⁰ Adultery is an abomination. 

^{11 – 12}Incest is an abomination.

¹³ Homosexuality is an abomination.

^{14 – 16} The Lord makes it clear that sexual perversion is an abomination.  He made man and woman for one reason sexually.  To pervert that covenant in ANY manner is a direct insult to our almighty God.

^{1[6] 17 – 21} It’s really a travesty how the world today has turned God’s Word upside down.  Most all sexual perversion has become accepted, “God is a loving God”.  There is a reason why God’s Word has stayed the test of time longer than any other has; God will not allow His Word to go void.  Until this world comes to realize His Word is THE Word, damnation is eminent. 

^{22 – 26} God is preparing Moses for his people for when they enter into the Promised Land. The Land that they are entering is evil and not God fearing.  It will be easy to fall into their ways.  God is warning them NOT to fall into their ways.  They are entering into unholy land.  God demands them to separate themselves from the unclean for they shall be hold and God is holy if they are to remain as His.

²⁷ God reiterates that the only way to seek the one true Spirit is through The Holy Spirit.  Anyone seeking a medium or anyone acting as a medium shall be put to death.

These penalties seem to be ones that are currently being kept in certain parts of the world.  Praise God for His Son and the redeeming value of His salvation.  

The significance of ‘death’ to one whom disobeys God’s commands is true today.  We are ‘dead’ if we lose our faith in Jesus.  We face eternal death without Him.

Leviticus 21: ^{1 – 4} The priest was to never defile (become unclean, profanity) to any of the dead among their people unless it was a relative.

^{10 – 15} The high priest was an extremely holy position within God.  If God sanctified a man to be a priest, he was separated from the others.  He was set apart as a very holy man not to do anything that would go against any of God’s laws.

^{16 – 24} In very much the same manner as the offerings to the Most High God, all of the animals used in the offerings had to be without blemish, perfect.  The same held true with the descendants of Aaron.  If any of the male descendants any deformities; blind, lame, marred face, a limb too long, broken bone, hunchback, a dwarf, a bad eye, if he had eczema, a scab, a eunuch or any defect, he could not approach the alter.

Leviticus 22:  Acceptable and Unacceptable Offerings   

God made the law for man to fail.  There was no way man could maintain the commandments of the law flawlessly.  God also made the atonement for their sins a very laborious task.  Each offering must be done by providing a perfect animal for their sin offering to be accepted.  We, on the other hand, have a perfect sin offering in our Savior Jesus Christ.  The pure act and sacrifice that Jesus did for us shows us how much God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit truly love us.  Why would not any one accept our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as your perfect sacrifice as your personal insurance policy?

^{1 – 3} God again is stressing the cleanliness of His holy place upon the priests.  That no uncleanliness ever be present in His holy place.

^{4 – 8} As mentioned previously, any of the descendants of the priests who has leprosy, any uncleanliness, by any manner, shall cleanse himself until evening and then only can he eat of the holy offerings.  None of the descendants shall defile himself by eating any animal that dies naturally or is torn by any other beast.

¹⁰ Only the priest, no hired servant or anyone who lives with the priests can eat of the holy offerings.  

¹¹ Only if a priest buys a servant or if a priest bears a son or daughter may he or she eat of the holy offering.

^{12 – 13} If a priest’s daughter marries an outsider, she may no longer eat of the holy offering.  If she is a widow or divorces and has no child and is still in her youth, it is not clear as to what is meant my, ‘in her youth, and returns to her father, she may then eat of the holy offering.

^{14 – 15} These passages show how important it was that Jesus came to break or tear the veil to allow us to enter into the tabernacle of the most Holy.  We can eat or drink anything to our Lord without concern of guilt.

^{16 – 25} Any sacrifice of a burnt offering of any cattle or sheep must be perfect, without blemish, to be accepted.  Our perfect sacrifice came at the cross and was shed for ALL mankind. 

^{26 – 30} A newborn bull, sheep, or goat must wait 7 days before it may be offered as an offering.  You cannot offer both the newborn with the mother on the same day.  The use of the term ‘Free Will’ is used often by the Lord here.

Leviticus 23 The Feasts of the Lord

³ Under the law, the Sabbath day was a holy day.  The Hebrew Sabbath, the seventh day of the week, is often spoken of loosely as “Saturday”. In fact, in the Hebrew calendar, a day begins at sunset, and not at midnight. The Sabbath therefore coincides with what the Gregorian calendar identifies as Friday sunset to Saturday sunset. Similarly, the first day of the week (“Sunday”) coincides with Gregorian Saturday sunset to Sunday sunset. The Sabbath continued to be observed on the seventh day in the early Christian church. To this day, the Sabbath continues to be observed in line with the Hebrew Sabbath timing in the church calendars in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy.

^{4 – 5} Passover starts on the 15th day of Nisan in the Hebrew calendar and lasts for 7 or 8 days, usually in April. It celebrates the liberation of the Israelites from slavery and their exodus from Egypt, almost 3000 years ago, as told in the Haggadah (Haggada).

^{6 – 8} In Israel, Passover is the seven-day holiday of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, with the first and last days observed as legal holidays and as holy days involving holiday meals, special prayer services, and abstention from work; the intervening days are known as Chol HaMoed (“Weekdays [of] the Festival”). Diaspora Jews historically observed the festival for eight days. Reform and Reconstructionist Jews and Israeli Jews, wherever they are, usually observe the holiday over seven days. The reason for this extra day is due to enactment of the ancient Jewish sages. It is thought by many scholars that Jews outside of Israel could not be certain if their local calendars fully conformed to practice of the Temple at Jerusalem, so they added an extra day. But as this practice only attaches to certain (major) sacred days, others posit the extra day may have been added to accommodate people who had to travel long distances to participate in communal worship and ritual practices; or the practice may have evolved as a compromise between conflicting interpretations of Jewish Law regarding the calendar; or it may have evolved as a safety measure in areas where Jews were commonly in danger, so that their enemies would not be certain on which day to attack.

Karaites and Samaritans use different versions of the Jewish calendar, which are often out of sync with the modern Jewish calendar by one or two days. In 2009, for example, Nisan 15 on the Jewish calendar used by Rabbinic Judaism corresponds to April 9. On the calendars used by Karaites and Samaritans, Abib or Aviv 15 (as opposed to ‘Nisan’) corresponds to April. in The Karaite and Samaritan Passovers are each one day long, followed by the six-day Festival of Unleavened Bread – for a total of seven days.

^{9 – 14} The agricultural cycle of ancient Israel revolved around two harvests, one in the spring and the other in the autumn. Before any grain could be harvested in the spring, an unusual ceremony took place to inaugurate the spring harvest season.

This ceremony was the waving of the first sheaf of grain to be accepted by God. Instructions for this ceremony are detailed in Leviticus 23:10-14. No one was to eat any of the grain of the harvest until the first sheaf of the harvest was brought to the priest, who in turn waved it before God.

What was the significance of this ceremony?

Jesus Christ “the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep”

This first sheaf of grain was called the “firstfruits” (Leviticus 23:10). It was the firstfruits of the barley harvest, the first part of the grain harvest. Thousands of years later, we find the same term used again in the Bible-describing Jesus Christ! “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:20, author’s emphasis throughout).

We also find that Jesus Christ is called “the firstborn over all creation” and “the firstborn from the dead” (Colossians 1:15-18). The apostle Paul said that Christ was prophesied to be “the first to rise from the dead” (Acts 26:23).

What is the connection between the first grain offerings, called the firstfruits, and Jesus Christ, the firstfruits and firstborn from the dead?

This understanding is tied in with the symbolism of the two harvests mentioned earlier and the Feast of Pentecost, observed at the conclusion of 50 days that began with the day of the wavesheaf offering. On Pentecost, two loaves were offered from the firstfruits of the wheat harvest, which followed several weeks after the barley harvest.

For a fuller understanding of the symbolism of the two harvest periods, be sure to read “The Lesson of the Feast of Firstfruits “. The article shows that, just as there were two periods of physical harvesting in ancient Israel, so there would be two periods of spiritual harvesting in God’s great plan for the salvation of humanity. This astounding truth is shown through the symbolism of the Feast of Pentecost.

Meanings of Pentecost

Pentecost has several meanings, each significant in its own right. The word Pentecost means “fiftieth (day).” In the Old Testament, this festival was known as the Feast of Weeks (seven complete weeks plus one day, Leviticus 23:15-17; Deuteronomy 16:10, Deuteronomy 16:16). It was also called the Feast of Harvest or Firstfruits (Exodus 23:16; Exodus 34:22).

The word firstfruits suggests an initial harvest that will be followed by another harvest. The firstfruits of the wheat harvest are preceded by the wave sheaf offering of the earlier-ripening barley harvest. The wave sheaf is symbolic of Jesus Christ.

Pentecost is an annual reminder of the coming of the Holy Spirit and the beginning of the Church (Acts 2:1-4). However, the festival holds even more significance. A clear understanding of the events leading up to the Feast of Pentecost makes its importance much clearer.

Pentecost deals directly with our salvation, our ability to follow Christ’s example through the power of God’s Holy Spirit and our capacity for understanding God’s spiritual truth through His Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:10-14).

None of this understanding is possible without the fulfillment of the wave-sheaf offering: Jesus Christ’s acceptance by God the Father.

Wave-sheaf offering a forerunner

The wave-sheaf offering was the forerunner of an additional offering brought later, on the Feast of Pentecost. On Pentecost, two loaves of bread, “the firstfruits to the LORD,” were offered (Leviticus 23:16-17).

As the wave-sheaf offering represented Jesus Christ, so did these loaves represent God’s spiritual firstfruits, those who are called and faithfully obey God in this life (Romans 8:24; James 1:18). As the wave-sheaf offering was the necessary forerunner of the Pentecost offering, so was Jesus Christ the necessary forerunner of God’s people, who are His spiritual firstfruits.

These symbols demonstrate how God’s Holy Days relate to each other and are designed to convey the interdependence of the events in God’s plan for humanity.

For example, Passover is the first of God’s annual festivals (Leviticus 23:5). God’s plan for the salvation of mankind is built upon the death of Jesus Christ our Passover (1 Corinthians 5:7), as the atoning sacrifice for humanity (John 1:29). Christians cannot attain to everlasting life without Christ’s sacrifice, which reconciles us to God.

The wave sheaf, offered during the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Leviticus 23:6-11), portrays a resurrected Jesus now serving as our High Priest (Hebrews 4:14). Without the prior sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the fulfillment of Pentecost-the calling and salvation of the firstfruits, those in God’s Church-could not occur.

Christ’s return to the Father

Let’s notice a few scriptures that demonstrate these points.

The Israelites’ harvest season could not begin until the wave-sheaf offering was made to and accepted by God. In like manner, the Holy Spirit was not poured out on humanity until after Jesus returned to the Father (Acts 1:1-8; Acts 2:1-4). Jesus Christ Himself had told His followers that He had to leave before the Holy Spirit could come to them (John 16:5-14).

Even after His resurrection, Jesus Christ had to tell His followers not to touch Him until after He had gone to His Father (John 20:17). Only after Jesus had risen to the Father and returned to them again were, they allowed to touch Him (John 20:19, John 20:26, John 20:27).

Notice the Apostle Paul’s depiction of Christ, our resurrected wave-sheaf offering: “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory” (Colossians 3:1-4).

Paul reveals that our Savior occupies a place for us in the very presence of our Father and that we are accepted by Him through Christ Jesus.

Symbols of firstfruits ceremony all pointed to Christ

In addition to the wave-sheaf offering, the other sacrifices and offerings commanded by God at the time of this ceremony also pointed forward to Jesus Christ.

Jesus was represented by a male lamb without blemish (Leviticus 23:12), which was symbolic of Christ’s spiritual purity. Christ was called “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).

He was also represented by fine flour (Leviticus 23:17), symbolic of the beating, scourging and suffering through which He was perfected (Hebrews 5:8-9). This fine flour was to be mixed with oil (Leviticus 23:13), representing Christ’s being filled with the Holy Spirit.

The lamb was to be a burnt offering, totally consumed by fire (Leviticus 23:12). In the same way, Jesus Christ was tested and tried in the crucible of life’s trials and problems and then He surrendered Himself totally and completely as a sacrificial offering on our behalf (Hebrews 10:12). His supreme sacrifice was as a sweet aroma (Ephesians 5:2; Leviticus 23:13) to God because Jesus had given Himself voluntarily and unconditionally for sinful mankind.

The accompanying drink offering of wine (Leviticus 23:13) was symbolic of Christ’s pouring out His blood to pay the penalty for our sins (Matthew 26:27-28; 1 John 1:7).

The very day of the wave-sheaf ceremony pointed forward to Christ. History records that the sheaf was harvested on Saturday night, which began the first day of the week. It was then waved before and accepted by God on the first day of the week (Sunday) during the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Leviticus 23:11).

As mentioned earlier, Jesus Christ, after His resurrection, would not let His followers touch Him until He had returned to God the Father (John 20:17). Later that same day, after He went to the Father, they could touch Him (John 20:19, John 20:26-27).

This occurred on the first day of the week (John 20:19), the Sunday during the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Matthew 26:2, Matthew 26:17; Matthew 28:1). The wave-sheaf offering foretold the precise day of the week Christ would return to the Father more than 1,400 years before that day actually occurred!

These astounding parallels give us a much deeper appreciation of the significance of the wavesheaf offering God commanded. Reading Leviticus 23:10-14 with this understanding helps us to better grasp both Jesus Christ’s supreme importance in God’s plan as well as the meaning of the wave sheaf. Without a Savior who would give His life and be resurrected to life again, there could be no later harvesting of humankind for salvation.

Christ’s purpose foretold

Almost 1,500 years later, Jesus Christ explained His purpose to His followers, using the analogy of grain: “. . . ‘The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain’ ” (John 12:23-24). This imagery connects Jesus Christ’s sacrifice to the salvation of all mankind: Only if Jesus Christ gave His own life could more life-additional sons of God-be produced (Romans 8:29; Hebrews 2:10).

Christ’s role as depicted by the wave-sheaf offering differs somewhat from His role as depicted by the Passover sacrifice. Both reflect different aspects of His sacrifice and purpose in God’s plan for the salvation of humanity.

During His crucifixion, Jesus Christ declared that His sacrifice, as foreshadowed by the Passover, was completed: “So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, ‘It is finished!’ And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit” (John 19:30).

Christ wasn’t saying that God’s plan for saving humankind was finished at His death. He was saying that the crucial, all-important giving of His life as our Passover sacrifice was finished. The death of Jesus Christ meant that mankind could and would be reconciled to God the Father.

However, beyond that sacrifice, there is another vital aspect of our salvation that is not yet complete. Jesus Christ’s sacrifice alone, through His crucifixion, did not and does not save humankind. It did, however, reconcile humanity to God. Beyond this reconciliation lies another truth signified by the wave-sheaf offering: “For if we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life” (Romans 5:10).

As the Passover precedes the wave-sheaf offering, so reconciliation precedes our salvation. We are saved by Christ’s resurrected, divine life.

All made possible through Jesus Christ

Those who keep the Feast of Pentecost appreciate the relationship to Pentecost of the wavesheaf offering. Without the true wave-sheaf offering, Jesus Christ, there would be no Holy Spirit to lead us, no Church to spiritually nurture us and no harvest for the salvation of humanity.

Through these things, God continually assures and reminds His people that we have the promise of eternal life through the gift of the Holy Spirit. This promise was made possible through God, who resurrected and accepted Jesus Christ, our wave-sheaf offering. 

The Sabbath: No work on the 7^th day.

The Passover and Unleavened bread: Between mid-March and mid-April.  The Passover celebrates Israel’s exodus from Egypt.  The Feast of Unleavened Bread is celebrated immediately after Passover.  This goes for 7 days.  The first and last days are days of rest.  Eat only unleavened bread for 7 days. 

The Feast of Firstfruits:  This feast was celebrated on the 2^nd day of the Feast of Unleavened

Bread.

The Feast of Weeks: Starting from the first day after the Sabbath, count 7 Sabbaths (7 * 7 (days in a week) = 49 days).  The next day, the 50^th day after the original Sabbath, this DAY shall be a holy day.

The Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah): The first day of the 7^th month (Tishri) marked this occasion, which involved a Sabbath rest, the blowing of trumpets, and a holy convocation. 

This falls in mid-September.

The Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur): In the same month, mid-September, on the 10^th day, there will be a day of rest and no work.  

The Feast of Tabernacles: Again, in the same month, beginning on the 15^th day, for 7 days.  On the first and last day, it is a day of holy convocation with no work.  

Leviticus 24: ^{1 – 2} The Lamp of the Tabernacle

The olive tree is the second plant mentioned in the Bible and one of the world’s oldest cultivated trees.  Archeological evidence suggests that the olive tree was first domesticated in the fourth millennium B.C.  The wild Mediterranean olive is the most likely progenitor of today’s cultivated olive, Olea europaea. Some scholars identify the olive as indigenous to present day Israel and Syria; while others claim North Africa or Crete as homes of the first olive trees. In all probability, there were wild olive trees growing in the Sinai Peninsula when the Children of Israel traveled there in 1446 – 1406 B.C. Olive trees are long lived, up to 1000 years. They are evergreens that grow to a height of 65 feet with spreading branches that form a dense crown or canopy.  In Old Testament times, youth used long sticks to shake olive tree branches with the result that ripe olives fell to the ground. To obtain small quantities of clear olive oil such as used in anointing oil, olives were gently squeezed — so that no parts were crushed.

^{5 – 9} The Bread of the Tabernacle

^{5 – 9} The finest and purest flour was to be used to make the unleavened bread for the offering for the priests to eat on the Sabbath.

^{10 – 16} God provided the law to make it impossible for man to be sinless. Blaspheming the Name of the Lord was punishable by death.

The mercifulness of our Lord and His death on the cross has consumed so much for us, why, I have no idea.  Luke 12: 10 “And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.” 

Matthew 12:31-32 “Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.”

Mark 3:29 “But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— “

¹⁷ The law of capital punishment is repeated here showing the severity of it.

¹⁶ “And whoever blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death.  All the congregation shall certainly stone him, the stranger as well as him who is born in the land.  When he blasphemes the name of the Lord, he shall be put to death.”  

Eye for an eye – Capital punishment

¹⁹ “If a man causes disfigurement of his neighbor, as he has done, so shall it be done to him –       ²⁰ fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; as he has caused disfigurement of a man, so shall it be done to him.  ²¹ And whoever kills an animal shall restore it; but whoever kills a man shall be put to death.  ²² You shall have the same law for the stranger and for one from your own country; for I am the Lord your God.”

^{19 – 22} God makes no question on His laws for punishment for on cruelty and murder.  When God repeats something, there is reason to listen.

²³ Profanity to the name of the Lord was punishable by death.

Leviticus 25: The Sabbath Year

^{1 – 4} In much the same manner as the Sabbath day, the seventh day of the week, the Sabbath year was the seventh year.  For six years, the Jews would sow their land but on the seventh year, it would be a solemn year for them of rest. 

^{5 – 7} During the seventh year, no one was to harvest or reap anything that may grow naturally.  This was to show that even though for an entire year, no one could reap anything from their fields, God would still provide for them.  By their honoring their God on the Sabbath year, God in return honored them by His holy provisions.

A Year of Jubilee 

⁸ The Year of Jubilee was the seventh year of the seventh Sabbath year.  In other words, each forty-nine years was a Year of Jubilee.

^{9– 12} In recognition of the start of this Jubilee, one would sound the trumpet, or shofar, on the tenth day of the seventh month, on the Day of Atonement.  This is the Jewish day of Liberty.

^{13 – 17} God is establishing fair trade.  As the years increase, so shall your prices.  As the years decrease, so shall your prices.  No oppression, hardship, anxiety, should take place.

^{18 – 19} God will provide in the seventh year for those who faithfully solemn themselves the seventh year of Jubilee.

^{20 – 22} Still some of the Jews were questioning how they would eat in the seventh year if they could not harvest the crops.  God told them that He would then provide an abundance in the sixth year to carry them over to the ninth year and they would them be living off of the older harvest at that time.

^{23 -34 [7]}If the land were not redeemed before the year of jubilee, it then returned to him that sold or mortgaged it. This was a figure of the free grace of God in Christ; by which, and not by any price or merit of our own, we are restored to the favor of God. Houses in walled cities were more the fruits of their own industry than land in the country, which was the direct gift of God’s bounty; therefore, if a man sold a house in a city, he might redeem it only within a year after the sale. This encouraged strangers and proselytes to come and settle among them.

³⁵ The Lord has proven and provide abundantly above all else to all of the Jews throughout the wilderness journey, even though all of their grumbling.  God, in return, wanted them to provide for their fellow man, if they were to fall into poverty, or any stranger or any one visiting.  

^{36– 38} Anything that anyone provided for the needy to assist them they should, by no means, except to be paid back or hold them accountable for God provided them everything they needed.

 ^{39 – 43} If any of their fellow man happen to fall into bad times and needed money and were to sell themselves to you, you were not to use them as slaves but as hired servants and they shall serve you until the year of Jubilee.  Therefore, depending on what year this was to occur, the longest this could happen would be six years.  At that time, you are to set them free and they are to go back to their own homes.  You are to never rule over them.

^{44 – 46} The Law Concerning Slavery

Can we explain Leviticus 25:44-46? This passage seems to indicate that the Jews were allowed to buy slaves.

^[8]The issue of slavery in the ancient world is a complex one. The practices and regulations regarding this long-standing institution must be viewed in light of the rather unrefined ages in which the relationship of slavery prevailed.

It may be stated with absolute confidence that it was never the ideal will of God that one man should own another as a piece of property. The fact that each human being is in the “image of God” (Gen. 1:26-27; 9:6) argues that slavery is not a divinely designed relationship.

Slavery Prevailed in the Ancient World

The antique world was full of slavery. In Assyria, Babylon, Egypt, Rome, etc., the practice of owning slaves was common.

Aristotle taught that it was in the natural order of things that some men should own others so that the higher classes could flourish. Does that not have an “evolutionary” flavor to it?

In most of those cultures, the practice was barbarous. Slaves were not “people.” They were chattel, mere things, and pieces of property to be used, abused, or even disposed of at the whim of the master. Slaves could be tortured or murdered at the owner’s bidding. Such cruelty obviously was not consistent with the will of God.

The Law of God and Slavery

The Mosaic regime was born into a world in which slavery was a thriving enterprise already. Within the Hebrew culture, a level of servitude was both acknowledged and regulated.

Slaves might be obtained in a variety of ways. Generally, they were acquired as prisoners of war, because of the various conquests that Israel was authorized to wage (cf. Num. 31:7-9). In an Israelite home, servitude could be an advantage over death, because servants were to be viewed as household members.

Sometimes servants were obtained as gifts (Gen. 29:24) or through purchase (Lev. 25:44). The offspring of slaves automatically belonged to the same owner (Ex. 21:4). A robber might be enslaved if he could not repay the value of the “loot” he had stolen (Ex. 22:2-3).

In addition, one could sell his self into an indentured relationship (Ex. 21:6) — either temporarily (there were time limitations protecting him; Ex. 21:2ff), or for life, if he loved his master and chose life-long security. Such was not uncommon in the harsh world of the ancients.

Hebrew Law versus Other Ancient Societies

However, Hebrew law was far superior to the codes of the pagan nations with reference to slaves. For example, there are some glaring contrasts between the Law of Moses and the code of Hammurabi (a Babylonian ruler) with reference to slaves. Under the Babylonian regime, harboring a runaway slave incurred the death penalty. Under the Hebrew system, a runaway slave seeking refuge could not be returned to his master (Dt. 23:15).

A Hebrew-owned slave could bind himself to his master for life, the agreement being ratified by the piercing of his ear (Ex. 21:6; Dt. 15:17). In Babylon, a slave who said to his master, “You don’t own me!” could have his ear cut off! Under the Mosaic system, robbery required restitution — in either actual payment or service (Ex. 22:3). Babylonian law made robbery a capital offense.

The Roman writer Pliny tells of a case where a slave accidentally dropped and broke a crystal goblet. His owner immediately threw him into a courtyard fishpond where he was torn apart by savage lampreys. Under the Law of Moses, to kill a slave was a crime that carried punishment (Ex. 21:20). While the law allowed the physical punishment of one’s slave, the Jew was not permitted to kill his servant. This protection was unprecedented in the ancient world. One scholar has noted that the Jews’ treatment of Gentile slaves was “a great deal more humane than elsewhere in the ancient world” (Jeremias 1969, 348).

Christian Influence and Slavery

Slavery was not consistent with the most exalted level of Christian doctrine, which contained the moral seeds that eventually would abolish the institution in the hearts of those influenced by the gracious teaching of Jesus Christ (cf. Mt. 7:12).

Hebrew law was not designed to violently disrupt the master-servant relationship of the ancient world in an abbreviated period. That regime did embrace certain restraining measures that gradually would bring the institution into disrepute — especially with the coming of Christianity. As William Barclay once observed, “There are some things which cannot be suddenly achieved, and for which the world must wait, until the leaven works.”

In this connection, the New Testament book of Philemon ought to be carefully studied. It concerns the case of a runaway slaved named Onesimus. Onesimus had fled from his master, Philemon, who lived in the city of Colossae. The refugee had made his way to Rome where he encountered the apostle Paul. Paul led him to the truth of the gospel of Christ. Onesimus became an asset to the apostle, who was a prisoner in chains, awaiting the disposition of his fate before Caesar. Paul had been falsely charged by the Jews in Palestine, and so appealed his case to Rome.

In view of the social and political circumstances of the day, Paul determined that the proper thing for Onesimus to do would be to return to his master. Onesimus obviously conceded to the plan and, in the company of Tychicus (cf. Col. 4:9), the two embarked upon the journey back to Asia. They took with them a short letter written by Paul (Philemon — the briefest of all the apostle’s writings), which was a commendation of Onesimus, the slave, and an appeal to Philemon to receive the fugitive back, viewing him “no longer as a slave, but more than a slave.” The petition suggested that it would be ideal if Philemon would embrace him as a “beloved brother, especially to me, but now much more to you” (Phile. 16). Paul does not command, “Free him,” but that hint saturates the disposition of the request.

There probably has been no single document in the history of humanity that has done more to pave the way for the abolition of human enslavement that Paul’s letter to Philemon. D. Edmond Hiebert has summarized the matter beautifully.

“This epistle has exerted a profound impact upon the movement of the amelioration of social conditions. Dealing with a problem arising out of the institution of slavery, it has figured prominently in the controversy about slavery. The manner in which Paul treats the problem of Onesimus indicates the way in which Christianity grappled with the evils of human society. To have directly antagonized the institution of human slavery, inwrought as it was in the very warp and woof of the Roman Empire, would have stigmatized Christianity as being anti-social, and would have turned all the powers of the Empire against it in an effort to crush such teachings. Instead of making a frontal attack upon the institution of slavery, Christianity inculcated a spirit of love and consideration which ultimately meant the death-knell of that institution” (1977, pp. 248-249).

No one, who considers all the evidence, and puts the matter into a proper historical perspective, can legitimately fault the biblical record with reference to the issue of human bondage.

^{47 – 52} If any of the people who sold themselves or any relative of a person who sold themselves has the money to redeem them, they may do so by according to the number of years remaining.  If the remaining years are few, then the payment is accordingly.  If the years are plenty, then the payment is then accordingly.   

^{53 – 55} If the servant cannot pay his or her redemption, the owner must let them go at the year of Jubilee.

The Sabbath Year:  For 6 years, the Israelites were permitted to reap what they sowed, but the 7^th year, they were not to sow the land or reap from any benefits that came from that Sabbath year.  Any harvest produces from the 7^th year was to be used only for self not for storage or resale.

The Year of Jubilee:  After 7 consecutive Sabbath years (149 years), on the 150^th year, this will be the Year of Jubilee.

Starting in verse 44, God is referring to slavery.  He first mentions that slaves can not be bought within their own.  Salves could only be bought outside their country.  ⁴⁴ “And as for your male and female slaves whom you may have -.”   I’m sure verses 44 – 46 are used by many to justify slavery in this country.  

Leviticus 26: ¹ When God gives a command, we must obey Him.  When God repeats a command, what does that tell you?  Certain religions can manipulate the Ten Commandments to fit their religiosity but when God repeats a command throughout His Word, there is no doubt, none what do ever to what He is saying.  God demands NO carved images or pillars to be bowed down to in honor or glory for He is the only God. 

• Remember and keep the Sabbath as a holy day.

• ^{– 13} God’s promise if they keep His commandments.  He will continue to provide food, rain, and harvest for them.  He will make then a strong army against any enemy.  They will continue to be fruitful and multiply.  He will walk among them.

^{14 – 39} God’s promise if they do not keep His commandments.

1. Terror and disease will be widespread.
2. You will be defeated by your enemies.
3. You will be punished seven times more for your sins.
4. ^{– 20} Your land won’t produce anything.
5. Seven times more plagues.
6. Wild beasts will come to kill your children and destroy your flocks.

²⁹ You will the flesh of your sons and daughters.

³³ You will be scattered all over the world.

^{36 – 39} Not only will you be scattered about but you will be held captive my your enemies.

^{40 – 42} Our forgiving God will give back all that He has promised their fathers if they come confess their sins and humble themselves before God.

Our God is an amazing God.  We keep on sinning and He keeps on forgiving!

Promise of Blessing and Retribution.  God makes it very clear what He will do if you walk in His covenants or if you do not.  God also promises, verse 44, God assures you that He will never forsake you.

Leviticus 27: ^{1 – 7} It was a blessing and an honor to serve in the sanctuary of the Lord.  The price or shekels were based on the age and sex.  The middle-aged male were deemed as the stronger and the price was higher.

^{9 – 13} If the person was too poor to pay money, the priest could allow an animal, blemished or perfect, and put a value on it.

^{14 – 15} A man would also dedicate his house to be holy to the Lord, the priest would them put a value to it.  If later, the man wanted to redeem the house, he would have to add one-fifth of the valuation and then it would be his.

^{16 – 25} A man could also dedicate his field to be holy to the Lord based on the seed and its year with the year of Jubilee.  The valuation of the field would vary based on the number of years to and from the year of Jubilee.  If the field was given in the year of Jubilee, the value of the field shall stand as the field’s value.  If the man wanted to redeem the field, the same process would apply as the redemption of his house and the number of years remaining before or after the year of Jubilee plus one-fifth more of the initial value.

^{26 – 27} The first-born animal, if non-blemished, cannot be offered since it already belongs to the lord.  

^{28 – 29} Anyone that was banned, could not redeem anything presented to the Lord or he would be put to death.

• Ten percent of all land is the Lords. 

• If anyone wanted to redeem his tenth of the land, he would have to give back one-fifth.

^{32 – 33} A tenth of all flocks also belonged to the Lord.

³⁴ These are the commandments of the Lord.  Romans 6:14 “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.”

³⁰ “And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s.”

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[1] Clarke’s Commentary Volume I page 453

[2] Gotquestions.org

[3] The camel actually has a split hoof but its sole or pad is so thick that it appears as a single pad (imprint) ³⁴ The hare is not a ruminant and it does not have a hoof

[4] David Guzik

[5] ^{– 6} The priests were not permitted to shave or cut their hair.  To be understood, never profane God’s name.

[6] ^{– 9} The priests were permitted to marry but the women could not be a harlot or a divorced woman.  The priest must show himself as an extremely godly man that if he had a daughter that his daughter would never profane the name of God or she would be put to death.

[7] Matthew Henry

[8] Christian Courier