| | David Cox's Library of Religious Works Main Page21 Pentateuch:
21.03 Leviticus
21.03.00 Introductory Material on LeviticusJames Van Dine - Analysis of Leviticus 15 pgs offsite Name of the Book "Leviticus" - "By the rabbis, it was called 'The Law of the Priest' and 'The Law of Offerings,' but from the time of the Vulgate it has been called Leviticus, because it deals with the services of the sanctuary as administered by the Levites."1 Connection with Former Books"In Genesis, man is left outside the Garden, and the remedy for his ruin is seen in the promised seed. In Exodus, man is not only outside of Eden, but in bondage to an evil enemy and his escape from his bondage is shown to be in the blood of the lamb, which is shown to be sufficient to satisfy man's need and God's justice. In Leviticus there is given the place of sacrifice, as an atonement for sin, and it is shown that God accepted the sacrifice of the victim instead of the death of the sinner. It is a continuation of Exodus, containing the Sinaitic legislation from the time of the completion of the Tabernacle."1 Purpose(1) "To show that God is holy and man is sinful.
(2) To show how God can maintain His holiness and expose the sinfulness of man.
(3) To show how a sinful people may approach a holy God.
(4) To provide a manual of law and worship for Israel.
(5) To make Israel a holy nation."1 Keyword"The key-word then is Holiness, which is found 87 times in the book, while in contrast with it, the words of sin and uncleanliness (in various forms) occur 194 times, showing the need of cleansing. On the other hand 'blood' as a means of cleansing, occurs 89 times. The key verse is, I think, 19:2, though some prefer 10:10 as the best verse."1 The Sacrifices, or Offerings"They may be divided in several ways, among which the most instructive is as follows: (1) National Sacrifices, which include: (a) Serial offerings, as the Passover, Cycle of Months, etc. (b) Offerings for the service of the Holy Place, as holy oil, precious incense, twelve loaves, etc.
(2) Official Sacrifices, which include: (a) Those for the priests. (b) Those for princes and rulers. (c) Those for the holy women (Ex. 38:8; 1 Sam. 2:22).
(3) Personal Sacrifices, including: (a) The blood offerings- peace offering, sin offering and trespass offering. (b) The bloodless offerings-the meat, or meal offering. Besides this general division, the offerings are divided into two kinds as follows: (1) Sweet-Savor Offerings. These are atoning in nature and represent Jesus as acceptable to God, not only because He does no sin, but because He does all good, upon which the sinner is presented to God in all the acceptableness of Christ. These offerings are: (a) The burnt offering, in which Christ is represented as willingly offering Himself without spot to God for our sins. (b) The meal offering, in which Christ's perfect humility, tested and tried, is represented as the bread of His people. (c) The peace offering, representing Christ as our peace, giving us communion with God, and thanks. (2) Non-Sweet-Savior Offerings. These are perfect offerings, overlaid with human guilt. They are: (a) The sin offering, which is expiatory, substitutional and efficacious, referring more to sins against God, with little consideration of injury to man. (b) The trespass offering, which refers particularly to sins against man, which are also against God."1 21.03.01 Chapter ContentContents"Except for brief historical sections found in chapters 8-10 and 24:10-14, it contains a system of laws, which may be divided into (1) Civil, (2) Sanitary, (3) Ceremonial, (4) Moral, and (5) Religious laws, emphasis being placed on moral and religious duties."1 I. The Law of Sacrifices 1:1-6:7
A. Burnt Offering Chapter 1
B. Meal Offering Chapter 2
C. Peace Offering Chapter 3
D. Sin Offering Chapter 4
E. Trespass Offering Chapter 5:1-6:7
II. Law of the Priests 6:8-10:End
A. Priests instructed concerning the offering 6:8-7:End
B. Aaron and his sons consecrated Chapter 8
C. The first offerings Chapter 9
D. Sin and death of the two sons of Aaron, the priest Chapter 10
III. Law of Purity Chapter 11-22
A. Pure food, animals to be eaten Chapter 11
B. Pure body and house, rules for cleansing Chapter 12-15
C. Pure nation, offering for sin on the day of atonement Chapter 16-17
D. Pure marriages Chapter 18
E. Pure morals Chapter 19-20
F. Pure priests Chapter 21-22
IV. Law of Feasts Chapter 23-25
A. Sacred fests Chapter 23
B. Parenthesis, or interpolation, lamps of the Tabernacle, shewbread, the blasphemer Chapter 24
C. Sacred years Chapter 25
V. Special Laws Chapter 26-27
A. Blessing and cursing Chapter 26
B. Vows and tithes Chapter 2721.03.02 Messages1. "Messages concerning sin. The book everywhere implies the existence, the nature, and the awfulness of sin and show it to be: (1) The lack of knowledge of God; (2) The loss of communion with God; (3) Unlikeness to God; (4) Separation from God; (5) Wrong doing to God. 2. Messages concerning Redemption. Redemption is seen throughout the book, all the main ideas of it being suggested as follows: (1) That it is founded on righteousness-God saves men, but not at the expenses of righteousness. He must first be just. (2) That it is based on blood. The terrible record of blood and fire shows that redemption comes only through the shedding of blood, or the giving up of the life of the victim. (3) That it is in order to provide holiness. Redemption does not exempt one from holiness, but by it he is made holy. (4) That sacrifice is the basis, and the priesthood is the means, of access to God, the people are put on the ground of worship. (5) As to details it shows: (a) That it is by substitution- a truth seen in the sacrifices. (b) That is is by imputation - putting the sin on the victim. (c) That it is by death - the victim being slain. (d) That is is through love - the victim, being an animal, was innocent of sin, and was therefore given in love for the sinner. (6) In it all there is a revelation of God. Write Christ everywhere in the book - for every sacrifice, for every priest or garment or ceremony. He is all and in all in this book. 3. Messages concerning Fallen Human Nature. We learn about human nature. (1) That it is an evil fountain and we must constantly watch everything that comes from it. (2) That is is not only defiled, but that it defiles whatever it touches. (3) That grace has made provision for this evil nature- that the atonement blood expiated it. 21.03.03 Difficulties, & difficult passages21.03.04 Teaching Helps21.03.05 Questions for Discussion and Study Groups21.03.98 Teaching Outlines21.03.99 Sermons
1 J. B. Tidwell - "The Bible Book by Book", (Wm B. Eerdmans Publishings Co: Grand Rapids, Michigan 1914). (See Section on Leviticus.) |