At the end of the Exodus narratives, we saw how God's glory filled the Tabernacle at its completion and dedication, and how Moses was unable to enter as a result of God's holy presence. Leviticus shows how sinners can approach a holy God through the ministration of the priesthood and sacrifices, detailing the way to obtain forgiveness through purification, and how to walk in continual fellowship with Him. With all the necessary provisions in place, Moses was thus able to enter into the Tent of Assembly and commune with God (Numbers 1:1).
Five types of ritual sacrifices are mentioned in the beginning to facilitate fellowship with God via the burnt, meal and peace offerings, and to restore the fellowship by means of the sin and trespass offerings when offence arises. Only when the people and the priests are sanctified can they keep the yearly feasts of the LORD—seven in total: the Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, Pentecost, Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and Tabernacles. These feasts foreshadowed God's divine plan in the history of mankind, of which the first four Spring feasts were fulfilled in the crucifixion, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the coming of the Holy Spirit.
Leviticus is really about the sanctification of God's redeemed people in a living relationship with Him. Both ritual and moral purity are emphasized, the former being a reminder to Israel that God's holiness affects every area of life, while the latter deals with the practical outworking of a sanctified people in terms of social responsibilities, such as charity, integrity and justice. The imageries and instructions contained in this book paint a sharp contrast between the impurity of man that leads to death and the purity of God that leads to life.
As a chosen people, we are called to a life of holiness and purity:
20:7-8 Sanctify yourselves therefore and be ye holy: for I am the LORD your God…who sanctifies you.
OUTLINE OF LEVITICUS
1. Worshipping God (1:1-10:20)
a. Five Types of Offering (1:1-6:7)
Burnt | Meal | Peace | Sin | Trespass
b. Ministration Laws (6:8-7:38)
Details | Summary
c. Regulations for Priests (8:1-10:20)
Consecration of the Priesthood
Cleansing | Attiring | Anointing | Consecrating
Functioning of the Priesthood
Priests | People | God
Failures of the Priesthood
Nadab and Abihu | Eleazar and Ithamar
2. Walking with God (11:1-27:34)
a. Personal Purity (11:1-15:33)
Food | Childbirth | Leprosy | Bodily Discharge
b. Focus: Day of Atonement (16:1-17:16)
Regulations for the High Priest
Sacrificial Goat | Scapegoat
Atonement for Priests | Tabernacle | People
Observation of the Day
Sanctity of the Blood
c. Corporate Purity (18:1-22:33)
People—Prohibitions | Practices | Penalties
Priests—Practices | Prohibitions | Purposes
d. Feasts of the LORD (23:1-44)
Passover | Unleavened Bread | Firstfruits
Pentecost | Trumpets | Day of Atonement
Tabernacles
e. Sundry Laws (24:1-27:34)
Sabbath Year | Jubilee
Obedience | Disobedience
Consecration of Persons | Animals | Properties
Exclusions from Consecration
Firstborn Animals | Devoted Items | Tithes
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