|
Focus |
Sacrifice |
Sanctification |
|
Reference |
1-10 |
11-27 |
|
Topics |
How to Approach a Holy God Worship Access to God by Sacrifice "I the Lord your God am holy" |
How to Walk with a Holy God Practice Fellowship with God by Obedience "You shall be holy" |
|
Location |
Sinai |
Sinai |
|
Time |
One month (total) |
One month (total) |
Key Concepts in the Book of Leviticus
Holiness: Holiness is THE issue in Leviticus. What does it mean to be holy? It means to be set apart for use by God. It means to be morally
pure or clean. So God uses elaborate rituals and foods laws as a kind of training system to teach the people of Israel these key facts: God is
holy; we are not; the path from the holy God to unholy man can only be bridged in the making of holiness by blood sacrifice—thus paving the
way for the coming of Jesus, the pure sacrifice of God.
Sacrifice: See above. All the sacrifices (and holy days) point to various aspects of the sacrifice of Christ to come.
Dietary Laws—Why?: Also see above. The kosher (clean) dietary laws may have been healthful, but the main purpose was to reinforce the idea of holiness and separation. Jesus declared all foods kosher (see Mark 7:19 and Acts 10-11).
The Day of Atonement: the most important holy day in the Old Covenant. Leviticus 16 describes the Day in detail. The bottom line: the sins of the people are placed on the scapegoat. Again, this points to Jesus, who takes our sin upon Himself.
Old Testament Feasts (Most of which are established in Leviticus; dates are on Jewish calendar.)
|
NAME |
WHEN |
DESCRIPTION |
|
Sabbath |
7th day |
Day of rest |
|
Sabbath Year |
7th year |
Year of rest; leave fields fallow |
|
Jubilee Year |
50th year |
All debts cancelled; slaves liberated and land returned |
|
Passover |
01/14 |
Seder meal; lamb sacrificed and Exodus remembered |
|
Unleavened Bread |
01/14-21 |
Eat unleavened bread; assemblies; offerings |
|
Firstfruits |
01/16 |
Offerings of first things harvested as a thank-you |
|
Weeks (Pentecost) |
03/06 |
Feast of joy; more harvest thanks |
|
Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah) |
07/01 |
Special day of rest; beginning of secular year |
|
Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) |
07/10 |
Rest; fasting; sacrifice: the most solemn holy day |
|
Tabernacles (Booths/Succoth) |
07/15-21 |
Harvest celebration; live in booths to remember Exodus |
|
Sacred Assembly |
07/22 |
Rest, assembly, offering |
|
Dedication (Hanukkah) |
9th month |
Celebrate purification of temple after pagan desecration by Antiochus Epiphanes |
|
Purim |
12/14-15 |
Celebrate deliverance of Jews from Haman |
|
The bottom two are not found in Leviticus. See Esther for Purim. Hanukkah is from after the Old Testament era. |
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