Leviticus is the shortest of the five books in the Pentateuch. Yet, it contains one huge contribution to the breadth and scope of all of Christ's teaching: “... you shall love your neighbor as yourself” (19:18). This verse is not picked up again in Scripture until Christ Himself called it the second greatest directive God ever gave to man, and more importantly, Christ linked it to His edited version of the Shema or, “Hear, O Israel.”

Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:29-31)

When Did the Book Take Place?

The last event in the book of Exodus was the raising of the Tabernacle on the first day of the first month of the second year from the time the Israelites left Egypt (Exodus 40:17). The first event in the book of Numbers is the census of the people at Sinai, dated to the first day of the second month of the same year (Numbers 1:1). Leviticus fills the one month between these two events.

Leviticus Reveals

This book is so essential in Scripture, for while readers are intimidated by its rituals and symbols, or they are bored by its apparent modern irrelevance, or they are repelled by its explicit severity, this book nonetheless is an important contribution in Scripture, bringing rich meaning to understanding Christ and His sacrifice.

Leviticus reveals God’s answer to the yearning of the human heart: how can someone lift me out of behaviors and actions that separate my life from the life of God?

Leviticus addresses God's provision of sacrifice, priesthood, mediation (someone to stand between me and God to help me understand), and reconciliation (someone to bring me back into relationship).

• In Genesis, we have the human need revealed: sin is enslaving and killing us.

• In Exodus, we have the human need addressed: the Redeemer has freed us.

• In Leviticus, we have the human need fulfilled: the highest Priest has restored us.

Contrast of Exodus and Leviticus

Finally, in Leviticus, the Israelites begin to discover God’s answer to the sins that want to continue to enslave them.

Exodus is the book wherein Yahweh redeems His people from slavery; Leviticus is the book where Yahweh teaches His people to dedicate their lives fully to Him.  

Exodus is the book wherein Yahweh is going to meet with Israel in the house He built; Leviticus is the book wherein those people are taught how to come to that house, what to do in that house, and how to be continually restored to the God of that house.

Structure

The Offerings (1-7)
The Priesthood (8-10)
The Laws of Purification (11-15)
The Day of Atonement (16)
The Worship of God (17-27)

Structure Explained

The Offerings (1-7)

In this section, Moses describes the five offerings by which the Israelites could approach Yahweh.

The Priesthood (8-10)

In this section, Moses describes the priests who will offer those offerings to Yahweh.

The Laws of Purification (11-15)

In this section, Moses takes up the issues of pure food, how to purify bodies, laws concerning leprosy, purifying houses, and purifying the human body.

The Day of Atonement (16)

Moses describes the Day of Atonement, the one day a year when the whole nation approaches God and receives forgiveness and restorative relationship.

The Worship of God (17-27)

Moses describes all kinds of issues in relationship to the worship of God.

Laws Regarding Dedication

The meaning and treatment of issues related to blood (17)

Pagan practices forbidden (18)

A call to and description of loving your neighbor (19)

Punishment of godless behavior (20)

The acts and behavior of a priesthood separated to the Lord (21)

The treatment of God’s holy offerings (22)

Laws of Feasts

The Sabbaths and Feasts (23)

The Tabernacle oil and bread and the man who cursed God (24)

The Sabbatical Year and laws of redemption (25)

Laws of Obligations

The blessings and cursing (26)

The vows and dedication (27)

As we look at the book of Leviticus, we find its message quite clear:

The problem of sin
is remedied with a sacrifice,
which is to be offered by a priest,
giving humans an approach into the presence of God,
whereby they can share Yahweh’s character of holiness,
resulting in enjoying Yahweh’s great blessings.

Leviticus Reveals

Leviticus reveals the human problem: we are separated by sin. Leviticus reveals the human solution: sacrifice; something must absorb the full evil of our sin and, in return, forgive it.

Leviticus reveals the human yearning: we desire to approach Yahweh, to be restored in relationship, so life with Him can be fully enjoyed in His presence.

The Five Offerings

Just as an example of how Christ fulfills all the rituals of Leviticus, look at a simple survey of just the offerings mentioned in the first seven chapters.

All the ritual sacrifices and priesthood have been fulfilled in Christ, so the system laid out in Leviticus that always pointed to Christ has been abolished; while at the same time, these rituals yet reveal the rich depth of all that Jesus’ death on the cross accomplished.

• The Burnt Offering - Jesus offered as a fully devoted sacrifice

• The Meal Offering - Jesus offered without pretense

• The Peace Offering - Jesus offered for full fellowship with sinners

• The Sin Offering - Jesus offered as the just punishment for sin

• The Trespass Offering - Jesus offered as the perfect payment for sin

The Scope of the Book

The whole book seeks to bring the nation of Israel into the holiness of God or into the very character and Person of God, which is completely different and thoroughly separated from the fallen nature of humanity.

“For I am the LORD who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.” (Leviticus 11:45)

• Yahweh wants to be with His people, Israel.

• The people must have their “unlikeness” (unholiness) to Yahweh addressed so they can enjoy His presence.

• Mostly, the people must have their lack of wholehearted devotion addressed, for Yahweh can only be experienced when He is the exclusive God of a people who have been separated to Him.

• All sin, the damaging activity that corrupts wholeheartedness, can only be addressed in a place where the people can never go (the Most Holy Place where the Ark of the Covenant stands).

• The Most Holy Place and the Ark of the Covenant reveal to all that the whole problem of sin, which is killing our relationship with God and so killing us, is a problem only Yahweh can remedy; Leviticus reveals the God who wants to and is giving His people remedy through blood.