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Leviticus: Bible Class Introduction
Introduction: Hebrews 12:14, “Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.” Are you holy? Are you holy enough to stand in the presence of the Holy God? God told Moses, “No one can see my face and live.” The Hebrew writer tells us that if we are holy we can see the Lord. But without holiness, no one will see the Lord. Are you holy?
I’m going to make a guess based on my own experience: most Christians do not truly understand holiness. Sure, we recognize that to be holy we cannot practice sinful things; but holiness goes far beyond the idea of avoiding the practice of sin. One of the reasons we struggle with the concept of holiness is because we do not have a full understanding of the holiness of God. Once we understand God’s holiness, we will be able to grasp our own need for holiness. But none of us can truly appreciate our need for holiness without a better picture of God’s own holiness.
The NT Emphasis on Holiness
God’s purpose for us before time began was holiness: “even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him” (Eph. 1:4). Please do not read this passage too casually. The concept of being holy and blameless before the Holy God is daunting to say the least. And yet, this is what he chose us to be.
Ephesians 5:25-27 restates God’s purpose: “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.” Imagine Jesus presenting us to him as his bride and us being unholy, clothed in filthy garments. As his bride, we must be holy!
Paul talks about holiness in prayer: “I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling” (1 Tim. 2:8). In prayer, we step into the throne room of the holy God. Do you do so lightly? Do you casually waltz into God’s presence to make a request without considering your holy or unholy condition? God forbid!
1 Timothy 4:1-5, “Everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.” Holiness even has to do eating our meals. Are we making ourselves unholy by gobbling up unholy food because we have not given thanks?
2 Timothy 1:8-9, “He saved us and called us to a holy calling…because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began.” We are not to be ashamed of God’s testimony, but share in the suffering for the gospel because he called us to a holy calling. Our holy calling is to not be ashamed of the gospel. Consider the greatness of God holy calling for us!
2 Timothy 2:19-20, “Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.” We are only holy and useful to the master if we cleanse ourselves of those things that are dishonorable.
1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” Only a holy people can proclaim the excellencies of God. We must live according to the holy identity God has given us.
1 Peter 1:14-16 “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” The standard of holiness is God’s holiness. We are his people, and since he is holy so must we be holy. It is our calling, and therefore without holiness, we are not his people.
Conclusion: God separates his people from the rest of the world. This is the essence of holiness and the means by which man will reflect the holiness of God to the rest of the world. Jesus’ prayer, “Your kingdom come, your will be done…” reflects God’s purposes in the world and our purpose.
Introduction to Leviticus
Speaking of Exodus – Deuteronomy, Paul said, “Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.” Therefore, I would like you to consider the picture God has given us in Exodus and Leviticus concerning holiness.
First, what happened in Exodus was completely the action and work of God. Israel was helpless in Egypt and had no thought of any possibility of deliverance. Nothing could have been more impossible. But God in his mercy delivered them without any appeal to him on their part and without anything they had done to deserve such a deliverance.
After the Exodus, God commanded that they build a tabernacle, “so that I may dwell among them” (Ex. 25:8). God would use the tabernacle as a picture for us of how a holy God could dwell among an unholy people. We make a dangerous mistake when we do not carefully consider this. We are unholy, and God is teaching us how we can live with God dwelling among us. Remember, only by holiness will we see the Lord.
When the tabernacle was completed in Exodus 40:34-38, the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle so that not even Moses was able to enter. From that point on throughout 40 years, the glory of the Lord could be observed as a cloud by day and a fire by night above the tabernacle warning anyone who came near of the need for holiness. Thus, Leviticus, in Hebrew, the first words are, “And he called out Moses and spoke to him…” which indicates a continuation of Exodus and the message: how do we live in his presence?
In fact, in Numbers, God placed the priests and then the Levites to dwell around the tabernacle to guard anyone from coming near and dying. You don’t just walk casually into the presence of the holy God.
Therefore, the end of Exodus, with the glory of the Lord descending on the tabernacle, prepares us for Leviticus. Leviticus teaches us about holiness. As Paul said, it was told to Israel, but it was written for our instruction. Peter quoted from Leviticus with the words, “Be holy for I am holy,” a statement made in three strategic places in Leviticus. Peter invites us to read Leviticus to discover holiness. Leviticus teaches us what we cannot learn any place else in the holy scriptures. It teaches us the holiness of God and how to be holy in his presence so that we will not die!
Allen Ross: “One idea informs all this vast and detailed cultic law and gives it a real glory even apart from its prophetic significance – holiness. Holiness is its goal. Holiness is its character: the Lord is holy; his sanctuary is holy; its vessels are holy; the garments of the priest are holy; the sacrifices are most holy to the Lord; and all who approach him whose name is “holy” – whether priests who minister or the people who worship – must themselves be holy. It is as if throughout Israel’s holy place was the earthly echo of that seraphic song in the courts above that never ceases to proclaim “holy, holy, holy.”
But there is more to Leviticus than dwelling in the presence of God. Exodus 19:5-6 lays out God’s purpose for his nation which is only fulfilled in us. Leviticus enables us to become a holy nation and a kingdom of priests in the world. After Peter reminded the Christians to be holy, he then told them that they were “being built up to be a holy priesthood” and a “royal priesthood, a people for God’s own possession.” Leviticus is the key to our calling.
Ross: “To enable to fulfill their calling, God gave them this body of regulations and rituals. The regulations guided them into a way of life that put them in sharp contrast with the nations around them, for only when they were set apart from the world would they be useful in God’s plan to restore his blessings to the world.”
Unfortunately, we read Leviticus as a tedious book with endless instructions of laws that no longer apply to us. But we draw that conclusion because we are reading it incorrectly. We are not reading it to see God and to see how we as an unholy people can dwell in his presence. Remember, the tabernacle is an earthly representation of the heavenly dwelling place of God.
Our Approach to the Book
Our goal is to discover how the original meaning of the text reveals God and how it ultimately finds fulfillment and application in the teachings of the New Testament.
Because of the Leviticus, by the time the 1st century comes, the doctrines of sacrifice, atonement, clean and unclean, holy and unholy, purification, and the various festivals were embedded in Israel’s life. Therefore, all that God would do through Jesus would made sense.
However, the problem for both Israel and us is our approach to the Law, and Leviticus in particular, as an end-goal of itself instead of a shadow of greater things to come. Because of this, Israel missed the Messiah and we miss the deeper meanings of God’s purposes in Christ. Cf. Romans 10:4, “For Christ is the end [goal] of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” NIV: “For Christ is the culmination of the Law so that there may be righteousness…” NLT: “For Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the Law was given.”
Let’s stop an ask ourselves an important question: Do you want God to dwell with you? Is that important to you? In case you are mulling that question, let me emphasize that if God does not dwell with you and if God’s candlestick is not with this church, that is a description of hell. Hell is away from the presence of God. That is what makes hell punishment, weeping and gnashing of teeth. Hell is the removal of the presence of God. Now, do you want God to dwell with you?
Therefore, there are three reasons we need to study this book:
- Both we and our culture around us desperately need a deep respect for the holiness of God. Too many, even in the church are casual about being in the presence of God or approaching God. As we will see in Leviticus, we do not just walk into the throne room of God and act like he is our “buddy.”
- Second, we and our culture desperately need holiness. Hebrews 12:14 states, “Pursue peace with everyone, and holiness, for without it no one will see the Lord.” There is no salvation without us pursuing holiness.
- Third, I want you to see that even a book like Leviticus that seems on the surface to be filled with tedious laws, unveils the beautiful character of God and is more relevant in the 21st century than it was when it was first written to the nation of Israel.
Preparing to Study the Book
“Leviticus” is an unfortunate title (from the LXX), “that which pertains to the Levites.”
From 1:2, it is evident that this book was not written for the Levites. God called Moses into his presence, much like a king would summon his servant, and told Moses, “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them…” And then when we notice the last words of the book, we see that the message is clearly to all the people of Israel: “These are the commandments that the Lord commanded Moses for the people of Israel on Mount Sinai” (27:34).
If there could be a relevant title to the book, it should be, “Holiness to the Lord.” How to be a holy priesthood who dwell in the presence of the holy God?Leviticus is a transition book between the exile from the presence of God in the Garden to the realization of dwelling in the presence of God in Christ.
To this end, the book has a natural progression that teaches us how to be holy so that God can dwell among us. You will recognize in this progression the very same principles that we still need today for God to dwell in our midst.
- 1-7 the need for sacrifice: how the people, in spite of sin and defilement, can maintain their relationship with the holy God.
- 8-10 the need for intercession: with a priesthood, the people’s sinful condition can be mediated.
- 11-16 the need to deal with impurity: to maintain purity requires cleansing and purification from the contamination of life.
- 17-27 living as a holy nation: exhortation to holiness – every aspect of life had to be set apart for God. [Ex. 19:5-6] (thus fulfilling the intention from the beginning [Gen. 1:26-28] and God’s eternal purpose (Eph. 3:10-11).
Further Introductory Observations:
Leviticus should change our perception of the commandments of the Lord. Let’s ask this question: Do you view the laws in Leviticus negatively? Do you see them as restrictions to one’s desired lifestyle? If so, it is likely you view God’s NT covenantal laws in the same way. How sad! God is telling Israel how he can dwell in their midst and he is doing the same for us. He is making possible for us to return to the Garden of Eden where he daily comes into his temple Garden to commune with his people. Do we hold that lightly?
Romans, Galatians, Hebrews, and 1 & 2 Peter all base the gospel message in the book of Leviticus.
Throughout the book God is primarily referred by his covenantal name: Yahweh (281 times; “God” 47 times).
The purpose of Leviticus in setting Israel apart was to bring God’s blessings to the world. The “holiness” required of Israel qualified them to be a “kingdom of priests” so that salvation could be brought to the nations.
Leviticus stresses a community of faith.
We will notice that holiness is not just individual, but collective. Not only can the individual sin and need atonement, but the whole congregation also sins and needs atonement. This ties the community together, makes them accountable for one another, and emphasizes their collective impact on the world around them.
- Life was within the community and there was no life as the people of God outside the community.
- The emphasis on even the diseases of the people highlights the affect the Serpent has had on them as a result of sin and their need for the Lord to provide an escape from corruption. Leviticus foreshadows that complete escape in Christ. (Cf. 2 Pet. 1:3-4).
- Much of what is needed in purification is simply the natural part of human life, which is confusing at first. However, the point is that all of what we are is earthly and physical while God is spirit and holy.
- God was not just creating a holy person, he was creating a holy nation. This nation is the same as the kingdom of God and the household of God. Through holiness we have been created to “make known the manifold wisdom of God to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.”
- Thus the whole community participated in the festivals so that every subsequent generation experienced the original Passover and the wilderness wanderings by dwelling tents. This caused them to personally identify with God’s deliverance, watchful care, and abundant provisions. These festivals also offer fulfillment in Christ and in eternity.
- In addition, the festivals and offerings such as the Peace Offering, were communal meals that united people in a common history and a common hope. Three of the five offerings were celebrations of God and what God had done.
- Sins and diseases had to be dealt with not simply for the purification of the individual but as a protection to the community lest they also were contaminated.
The overall application throughout the book is how Israel is distanced from God because of sin and defilement. While God is bringing them “near” through his tabernacle presence, it is evident that there is still an ultimate problem that needs solving: God is in their midst, but they are restricted from literally being in his presence. That is only solved by the blood of Jesus (Heb. 10:19-21).
Conclusion: Above everything else, what God is telling Israel and us is that living with God will make for a joyous, blessed life. Living without God, will result in hopelessness and doom. Are you holy in the presence of a holy God? Let’s get ready to discover holiness.
Berry Kercheville