Leviticus . Third book of the Bible .

Old Testament book filled with instructions

regarding the worship of the chosen people, Israel . The Hebrews call it Wa-yiqra
for its initial word, or sometimes torat-qohanim ("law or manual of the priests") for
its content. (Hebrew ‫ תיקרא‬, "and he [Lord] called"). The Septuagint gave him the
name "Leviticus" because the priesthood had been reserved for Aaron and his
sons, descendants of the tribe of Levi. The Vulgate calls it Liber Leviticus, literally
"book of the Levites", that is, of the personnel who work in the temple. The curious
thing is that the Levites are mentioned only incidentally in the book (25:32).

The book of Leviticus represents a pause in the historical events of the liberation of
the Hebrew people, and focuses attention on the standards of holiness and purity
necessary for access and relationship with God under the coverage of the
contracted covenant.
Summary
[disguise]

 1 Author and date

 2 Structure of the book
 3 Background
 4 Contribution to theology
 5 Special Features
 6 Comment
 7 Sketch
 8 See also
 9 Sources

Author and date

 Author . Most conservative biblical scholars recognize Moses as the author of

Leviticus. More than fifty times it is claimed to contain God's direct words and
revelation to Moses for Israel , who subsequently committed them to writing.
Jesus and Paul refer to passages from this book and attribute them to Moses,
(Mark 1:44; Romans 10:5).

Some think that Leviticus reached its present form during the time of Ezra , when
Judah returned from the Babylonian Captivity (5th century BC).

 Date . Specialists have dated the book of Leviticus between the time that
Moses lived (according to some in the 15th century BC, and for others at a later
stage: the 12th century BC) and the time of Ezra (6th century BC). If the
authorship of Moses is accepted, the writing of Leviticus would date back to
1445 BC. approximately. The book, which contains little historical information
useful in determining the exact date of its composition, describes the system of
 sacrifice and worship that preceded the time of Ezra and tells how it was
instituted.

Book structure

For most Bible students, Leviticus is a difficult book to read. It's page after page of
detailed instructions regarding strange rituals that seemed to lack organization. But
if analyzed carefully, the book can be divided into two important parts.

The first part, which extends from chapters 1 to 17, contains instructions on the
ritual of sacrifices, including animal sacrifice or burnt offering, which are key
ingredients in Old Testament worship. The second part focuses on the
consecration of priests, and presents the laws to walk with God correctly and
holyly.

Background

Leviticus is closely related to the book of Exodus , which records how the Israelites
were liberated from Egypt , received God's law, and built the tabernacle according
to the pattern given by God. Exodus concludes with the saint 's coming to dwell in
the newly built tabernacle, giving way to the testimony of Leviticus, which contains
the instructions God gave to Moses during the two months between the completion
of the tabernacle and Israel 's departure from Mount Sinai .

Contribution to theology

Leviticus is important for its clear teachings regarding three fundamental spiritual
truths: Atonement, Sacrifice, and Holiness.

 Atonement . Leviticus chapter 16 contains God's instructions for observing the

Day of Atonement. On that day the high priest of Israel entered the Holy of
Holies and offered an animal sacrifice in atonement for his own sins. Then he
killed another animal and sprinkled the blood on the altar to atone for the
people's sin. The New Testament would later compare these sacrifices to
Christ 's sacrifice dying in our place. But unlike human priests, Christ did not
have to first offer a sacrifice for his own sins and then for those of the people,
because he did this when he presented himself as

sacrifice (Heb 7.27).

 Sacrifice . Leviticus taught Israel to prepare different types of sacrifices: burnt

offerings, grain offerings, peace offerings, sin offerings, and guilt and trespass
offerings. They were presents through which a worshiper expressed his loyalty
and devotion to God. But a bloody sacrifice in which the blood of an animal was
presented to God was more than a gift. It symbolized that the worshiper offered
his life to God, since the Hebrews believed that "the life of the flesh is in the
blood" (Lev.
17.11). This also takes on greater meaning in the New Testament when applied to
Christ. He gave his life on our behalf when he shed his blood to take away our sin.

 Holiness . The essential meaning of this word in Leviticus is that God demands
absolute obedience from his people. The word essentially means "separation."
God's people had to separate themselves and be different from the pagan
peoples around them, and hence the reason why God instructed his people not
to eat certain foods that he did not consider clean. Only a clean and
uncontaminated people could He use to fulfill His purpose of redeeming the
world. Leviticus also makes it clear that the holiness that God demanded
included the daily conduct of his people. These were expected to practice
kindness, honesty, and justice, and to show compassion toward the poor (Lev
19:9–18).

[...] You will be holy, because I, Jehovah your God, am holy.

In Hebrew, the words translated "holy" occur more than a hundred times, and when
applied to humans they denote lives of purity and obedience. Holiness is
expressed in ceremonies (chapter 17) and worship (chapters 23-25), but especially
in the affairs of daily life (chapters 18-22). Leviticus ends with an exhortation from
Moses (chapter 26) and instruction regarding certain special vows (chapter 27).

 Christians see Christ in Leviticus . Christ (the Messiah) is not specifically

mentioned in the book of Leviticus. The book of Hebrews refers to Christ as
High Priest and uses the text of Leviticus as a basis to illustrate his work. They
reject the extreme allegorization of the book of Leviticus to refer to Christ.
Central theme: the life and worship of ancient Israel.

 Pentecostal Christians see the Holy Spirit in Leviticus . Although the term
"Holy Spirit" is not mentioned in the book of Leviticus, they see the presence of
God throughout the text. The holiness of God's character. God is not seen as
was the case with the pagan rites of that time where idols were venerated, but
as the One who lived among the people while they worshiped Him. They were
to be holy just like their God.

Special features

1. Revelation as the direct word of God is emphasized more in Leviticus than

in any other book of the Bible . No less than thirty-eight times it is explicitly
stated that the Lord spoke to Moses.
2. Instructions regarding the sacrificial system and atonement are given in
minute detail in this book.
3. The main chapter of the Bible that describes the day of atonement is
Leviticus 16.
4. Leviticus emphasizes the theme that the people of Israel were to fulfill their
priestly calling by living lives of spiritual and moral purity, remaining
separate from other nations, and remaining obedient to God.
Comment

In the New Testament , the blood of bulls and lambs, which is so important in
Leviticus, has no power to remove sin. Each of these rituals are "a shadow of good
things to come" (Heb 10.1). They prophetically pointed out the supreme sacrifice of
God that was to be presented on behalf of man: "Christ was offered once to bear
the sins of many" (Heb 9:28).

Sketch

1. The way to God: The atonement (1:1-16:34)

1. Through sacrifices (1:1-7:38)
1.The Holocaust (1:1-17)
2.The grain offering (2:1-16)
3.The peace offering (3:1-17)
4.The unintentional sin offering (4:1-5:13)
5.The guilt offering (5:14-6:7)
6.The continuous burnt offering and the offerings of the priests
(6:8-23)
7.The disposition of the victim in the sin offering, the trespass
offering, and the peace offering (6:24-7:27)
8.The wave offering and summary of the offerings (7:28-38)
2. Through priestly intercession (8:1-10:20)
3. Through the laws of purification (11:1-15:33)
4. Through the day of atonement each year (16:1-34)
2. The way to live for God: Holiness (7:1-27:34)
1. Through revelation about the blood (17:1-16)
2. Through moral standards (18:1-22:33)
3. Through ordered worship (23:1-24:23)
4. Through the laws of reparation, obedience and consecration (25:1-
27:34)

Division of the Book of Leviticus

The book can be divided into several sections. The first of them (ch. 1–7) is
dedicated entirely to regulating the presentation of offerings and sacrifices offered
as a demonstration of gratitude to the Lord or as a sign of repentance and
atonement for some sin committed.
The second section (ch. 8–10) describes the ritual followed by Moses to
consecrate Aaron and his sons as priests. It consists of a set of ceremonies
performed by Moses according to the instructions received from Jehovah (cf. Ex
29.1–37). These consecration rites, which included animal sacrifices and the use of
special vestments, were the initial step to establish the Aaronic-Levitical
priesthood, an institution that founded the corporate unity of ancient Israel. The
cap. 10 recounts the death of two of Aaron's sons due to a ritual sin.
The chaps. 11–16 form the third section of the book, dedicated to defining the
terms of ritual purity and impurity. It also establishes the rules to which, in order to
recover legal purity, anyone - or everything - who had incurred some type of
impurity had to submit. This section closes with the description of the rites of the
great day of atonement (in Hebrew, Yom Kippur), which all the people must
celebrate on the 10th day of the seventh month of each year.
The fourth section (ch. 17–25) deals with the so-called law of holiness, briefly
stated in 19.2. Here we are in the heart of Leviticus, where, along with some
instructions relating to worship, the norms that Israel - priests and people - are
obliged to observe so that the life of each individual and of the community in
general remains governed by the principles of holiness, justice and brotherly love.
The last two chapters include, respectively, a series of blessings and curses, which
correspond to attitudes of obedience or disobedience to God (ch. 26), and a list of
people, animals and things that are consecrated to him (ch. 27).

“And he will lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted as an
atonement for himself” (Leviticus 1:4).

“For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement
on the altar for your souls; and the same blood will make atonement for the person”
(Leviticus 17:11).

“You shall not take revenge, nor bear a grudge against the children of your people, but
you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord” (Leviticus 19:18).