The Book of Leviticus, Chapter by Chapter

We want to take you through the book of Leviticus chapter by chapter. This is the third study in our series on the books of Moses. If you have not read our studies on Genesis and Exodus we suggest you start there. Because Leviticus picks up right where Exodus leaves off. Exodus ended with the glory of the LORD filling the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to go in (Exodus 40:35). Leviticus starts with God calling to Moses out of that same tabernacle. We will tell you what each chapter is about and how it fits into the message of the book. And how it points us to the one God that is revealed in Jesus Christ.

Many people start reading the Bible and stop at Leviticus. It is full of offerings and skin diseases and rules about food. It can seem like it has nothing to do with us. But we believe Leviticus is one of the most important books in the Old Testament for understanding what Jesus did. The book of Hebrews cannot be understood without it. Leviticus does not move the story forward much. Israel is camped at Mount Sinai the whole time. But it tells us how a sinful people can live with a holy God.

There are three things we want you to take away from this study. Leviticus is about holiness. God says over and over “ye shall be holy; for I am holy” (11:44). Leviticus is about atonement. God made a way for sinful people to come near him. Through blood and through a priest. And Leviticus points to Jesus Christ. He is the sacrifice and the high priest. We will explain these points as we go through the book. But we want you to keep them in mind as we begin.

In Hebrew the book is named after its first word. Wayyiqra. Which means “and he called.” The name Leviticus comes from the Greek Old Testament. It means the book is about the Levites. Even though it is mostly about the priests who came from Levi.¹ Notice that the first word is “and.” Leviticus is not a new story. It is the next part of the same story.

The easiest way to break up Leviticus is in two halves. Chapters 1–16 tell us how to come near to God. Through offerings and the priesthood and being clean. Chapters 17–27 tell us how to live once we have come near. Scholars call chapters 17–26 the Holiness Code.² Right in the middle is chapter 16. The Day of Atonement. Everything in the first half leads up to it.

We will break it down a little further than that. The offerings (1–7). The priesthood (8–10). Clean and unclean (11–15). The Day of Atonement (16). Holy living (17–20). Holy priests and holy times (21–25). And blessings, curses and vows (26–27). We will follow this outline as we go through each chapter.

Just like in our other studies we will be using the KJV for our scripture quotations. When we use Hebrew words we will transliterate them and give a brief explanation. We will also let you know where you can find the work of the scholars we reference. If they disagree with what we believe we will tell you what they think and why we disagree.

Before we go through the offerings there are two things we want to point out. First is the word for offering. In Hebrew it is qorban. It comes from the verb qarab. Which means to come near.³ An offering was something you brought near to God. And it was how you came near to him. Second is that chapters 1–5 tell the people what to bring. Chapters 6–7 tell the priests how to handle it. So the same five offerings are covered twice.

Leviticus 1: The Burnt Offering

“And the LORD called unto Moses, and spake unto him out of the tabernacle of the congregation” (v.1). The first offering is the burnt offering. In Hebrew olah. Which means “that which goes up.” The whole animal was burned on the altar. Nothing was kept back. It could be a bull or a sheep or a goat. And if a man was poor he could bring turtledoves or young pigeons (v.14). God made a way for everyone to come.

Notice what the man did. He put his hand on the head of the animal (v.4). He was saying that this animal was standing in his place.⁴ Then it was “accepted for him to make atonement for him.” The word for atonement is kipper. It means to cover or to wipe clean. And it also has the idea of paying a ransom.⁵ The man himself killed the animal (v.5). He saw what his sin cost. And it went up as “a sweet savour unto the LORD” (v.9). Paul tells us that Christ “hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour” (Ephesians 5:2).

Leviticus 2: The Meat Offering

The word meat in the KJV means food. This was an offering of grain. Fine flour with oil and frankincense. No blood. A handful was burned on the altar and the rest went to the priests. It had no leaven and no honey (v.11). But it always had salt. “Neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking” (v.13). This offering was a gift. A way of saying that everything we have comes from God.

Leviticus 3: The Peace Offering

The peace offering is shelamim. It comes from the same root as shalom. The fat was burned on the altar. But most of the meat was eaten by the one who brought it. This was a meal. The man and his family ate in the presence of God. It shows us fellowship that has been restored. But there was one rule. “Eat neither fat nor blood” (v.17). We will see why in chapter 17. Paul tells us that Jesus “made peace through the blood of his cross” (Colossians 1:20).

Leviticus 4: The Sin Offering

“If a soul shall sin through ignorance against any of the commandments of the LORD” (v.2). The sin offering is chattat. The same word as sin. This offering dealt with sin that a person did not mean to do. Notice that the bigger the person was the bigger the offering was. A priest brought a bull. The whole congregation brought a bull. A ruler brought a male goat. And a common person brought a female goat or a lamb. The blood of the priest’s offering was brought inside the tabernacle and sprinkled before the veil (v.6). His sin affected everyone.

The rest of the bull was carried “without the camp” and burned (v.12). Hebrews tells us that “the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp. Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate” (Hebrews 13:11–12).

Leviticus 5: The Trespass Offering

Chapter 5 starts with sins that someone might try to hide. Not speaking up as a witness. Touching something unclean. Making a careless oath. “He shall confess that he hath sinned in that thing” (v.5). Confession came before the offering. And if someone was too poor to bring a lamb they could bring two birds. And if they could not afford birds they could bring flour (v.11). No one was too poor to be forgiven. Then comes the trespass offering. In Hebrew asham. This was for wrongs that could be paid back. Isaiah uses this same word when he says the servant of the LORD would make “his soul an offering for sin” (Isaiah 53:10).

Leviticus 6: Paying Back and the Fire

If a man cheated his neighbor he had to pay back what he took and add a fifth part to it (v.5). Then bring his offering to God. You could not make it right with God and leave it wrong with your neighbor. Zacchaeus did more than the law asked when he met Jesus (Luke 19:8). Then come the instructions for the priests. “The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out” (v.13). The altar was never cold. Atonement was always available.

Leviticus 7: The Priest’s Portion

Chapter 7 finishes the instructions for the priests. It tells them which parts of the offerings they could eat. The breast and the right shoulder of the peace offering went to the priests (v.34). God provided for those who served at the altar. Paul uses this to teach that “they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel” (1 Corinthians 9:13–14). The chapter ends by telling us these laws were given “in mount Sinai” (v.38).

There are five offerings because sin is too big for one picture. The burnt offering shows us total surrender. The meat offering shows us thanks. The peace offering shows us fellowship. The sin offering shows us cleansing. And the trespass offering shows us payment. Jesus fulfilled all of them in one sacrifice. Hebrews 10:10 tells us “we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”

Leviticus 8: Aaron and His Sons Are Ordained

Now we see Moses do what God told him in Exodus 29. “And Moses brought Aaron and his sons, and washed them with water” (v.6). Then he put the priestly garments on Aaron. He anointed the tabernacle and Aaron with oil. Then he offered the sacrifices and put blood on Aaron’s right ear and right thumb and right big toe (v.23). What he heard. What he did. And where he went. All of it had to be covered by the blood.

Notice the order. Washed with water. Covered with blood. Anointed with oil. We have dealt with the new birth in our baptism series. But basically Jesus told Nicodemus that a man must be “born of water and of the Spirit” (John 3:5). Hebrews 10:22 tells us to draw near to God “having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.” Peter tells us that we are “a royal priesthood” (1 Peter 2:9). Over and over this chapter tells us it was done “as the LORD commanded Moses” (vv.9, 13, 17, 21, 29). The priests stayed at the door of the tabernacle for 7 days (v.33).

Leviticus 9: The Glory Appears

On the 8th day Aaron offered for the first time. First for himself and then for the people. Moses told them “to day the LORD will appear unto you” (v.4). And he did. Fire came from the LORD and burned up the offering. God accepted it. This is the high point of the book so far. Exodus ended with the glory filling the tabernacle where no one could go in. Now the glory appears to all the people.

Leviticus 10: Strange Fire

But the very next thing that happens is a disaster. “And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which he commanded them not” (v.1). The same fire that came from the LORD in chapter 9 came out and killed them (v.2). Moses told Aaron “I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified” (v.3). “And Aaron held his peace.”

We are not told exactly what the strange fire was. Some say they took fire from somewhere other than the altar. Others believe they were drunk. Because right after this God tells the priests not to drink wine when they go into the tabernacle (v.9).⁶ Whatever it was they did it their way and not God’s way. “Which he commanded them not.” We cannot come to God any way we want. He tells us how to come. The priests were to “put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean” (v.10). That leads us into the next section.

Before we go through these chapters we need to explain what clean and unclean mean. The Hebrew words are tahor (“clean”) and tame (“unclean”). Unclean does not mean sinful. A woman who had a baby was unclean. A man who buried his father was unclean. They did nothing wrong. It meant that they could not come to the tabernacle until they were made clean. Death and disease and bodily fluids made a person unclean. Because God is life. And everything that goes along with death was kept away from his presence.

Leviticus 11: Clean and Unclean Animals

Animals that could be eaten had to have a split hoof and chew the cud (v.3). Fish had to have fins and scales (v.9). Some birds and insects were not to be eaten. There have been many explanations for these laws. Some say they were for health. Some say these animals were used in pagan worship. Others say the clean animals were the ones that fit the normal pattern of their kind.⁷ We believe the best answer is the one God gives in the chapter.

The food laws set Israel apart from the nations. Every meal reminded them that they belonged to God. In chapter 20 God says “I am the LORD your God, which have separated you from other people. Ye shall therefore put difference between clean beasts and unclean” (20:24–25). Notice that God speaks as “I.” Singular. “I am the LORD your God.” “I am holy.” Peter quotes this when he tells the church “Be ye holy; for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16).

In the New Testament the food laws come to an end. Jesus said it is not what goes into a man that defiles him. And Mark adds that he was “purging all meats” (Mark 7:19). God showed Peter a sheet full of unclean animals and said “What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common” (Acts 10:15). Peter understood that it was not about animals. It was about people. “God hath shewed me that I should not call any man common or unclean” (Acts 10:28). The wall between Israel and the nations was coming down.

Leviticus 12: Childbirth

A woman who had a child was unclean for a time. Then she brought a lamb for a burnt offering and a bird for a sin offering. “And if she be not able to bring a lamb, then she shall bring two turtles, or two young pigeons” (v.8). Luke tells us that after Jesus was born Mary offered “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons” (Luke 2:24). She brought the offering of the poor. The God who made everything came into a poor family.

Leviticus 13: Skin Diseases

The KJV calls this leprosy. But the Hebrew word tsaraat covers many kinds of skin diseases. Not just what we call leprosy today. It could even be found on clothes and in houses (13:47; 14:34).⁸ The priest would look at the spot and decide if it was clean or unclean. If it was unclean the man had to tear his clothes and cover his lip and cry “Unclean, unclean” (v.45). “He shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his habitation be” (v.46). He was cut off from his family and from the house of God.

Leviticus 14: Cleansing the Leper

Chapter 14 tells us what happened when a man was healed. Notice that the priest did not heal him. The priest went out of the camp to see if he had been healed (v.3). Then two birds were brought. One was killed over running water. The other was dipped in that blood and let go in the open field (vv.4–7). Then the man washed and shaved and came back into the camp. On the 8th day blood and oil were put on his right ear and right thumb and right big toe (vv.14–17). Just like Aaron when he was made a priest.

When Jesus met a leper “Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him” (Mark 1:41). Under the law touching a leper made you unclean. But when Jesus touched the leper the leper became clean. Then Jesus told him to go to the priest and “offer for thy cleansing those things which Moses commanded” (Mark 1:44). The priest would have to come out of the camp and see what only God could do.

Leviticus 15: Bodily Discharges

Chapter 15 deals with discharges from the body. Some were normal and some came from disease. Anyone who touched the person or what they sat on became unclean. We will not go into the details here. But there is one connection we want to point out. A woman with “an issue of her blood many days” was unclean (v.25). And everything she touched was unclean. In Mark 5:25–34 a woman who had an issue of blood for 12 years touched the garment of Jesus. She should have made him unclean. Instead “straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up” (Mark 5:29). Jesus is the holy God in the flesh. Uncleanness does not spread to him. His holiness spreads to us.

Leviticus 16: The Day of Atonement

Chapter 16 starts by going back to chapter 10. “after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered before the LORD, and died” (v.1). Aaron could not come behind the veil whenever he wanted. “For I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat” (v.2). He could only go in once a year. On the 10th day of the 7th month (v.29). This day is called Yom Kippur by the Jews today. The day of atonement.

Aaron took off his beautiful garments and put on plain linen (v.4). He washed his flesh in water. First he offered a bull for himself and his house (v.6). Then he took two goats from the people and cast lots. One was for the LORD. The other was for the scapegoat (v.8). He killed the goat for the LORD and brought its blood behind the veil and sprinkled it on the mercy seat (v.15). Then he came out and did something with the other goat.

The Hebrew word for scapegoat is azazel. There are three main views on what it means. Some say it means “the goat that goes away.” Some say it is the name of a place in the wilderness. And some say it is the name of a demon.⁹ We will not go into that here. But the meaning of the two goats is clear. One goat died to pay for sin. The other goat carried the sins away. “For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the LORD” (v.30). David said “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12).

Hebrews 9 explains this chapter for us. The high priest went in once a year “not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people” (Hebrews 9:7). But Christ came as a high priest “by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us” (Hebrews 9:12). Notice that Aaron had to offer for his own sins first. Jesus did not. He was without sin (Hebrews 7:26–27). And notice that Aaron brought the blood of a goat. Jesus brought his own blood. He was the priest and the sacrifice. Paul tells us that the church was purchased by God “with his own blood” (Acts 20:28).

Trinitarians will say that Jesus being a mediator between God and men means he must be a second person in the Godhead. Others will say he is a lesser god. But notice exactly what Paul says. “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5). One God. And the mediator is “the man.” Jesus is our high priest because he is a real man. Hebrews 2:17 says “in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest.” And he could offer a perfect sacrifice because he was God in the flesh. “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself” (2 Corinthians 5:19).¹⁰ Aaron had to go in every year. Jesus went in once. The veil was torn. And we can now “come boldly unto the throne of grace” (Hebrews 4:16).

Leviticus 17: The Life Is in the Blood

Every animal that was killed had to be brought to the door of the tabernacle (v.4). So that the people would stop sacrificing “unto devils” in the open field (v.7). And no one could eat blood. God gives us the reason.

This verse explains the whole sacrifice system. A life for a life. The blood stands for the life that was given. And notice that God says “I have given it to you.” Atonement is God’s gift. Not something man came up with.¹¹ Hebrews 9:22 tells us “without shedding of blood is no remission.” And John tells us “the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).

Leviticus 18: Not Like Egypt or Canaan

“After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do” (v.3). Chapter 18 is mostly a list of sexual relationships that were forbidden. Mostly within the family. It also forbids giving children to Molech (v.21). We will not go into the details here. But God tells us that the nations before Israel did these things and the land would vomit them out (vv.24–28). Israel would not be any different if they did the same.

Also notice verse 5. “Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am the LORD.” Paul quotes this verse twice (Romans 10:5; Galatians 3:12). The law said that the man who keeps it will live. But no man kept it. That is why we need the righteousness that comes by faith in Jesus Christ.

Leviticus 19: Be Ye Holy

Chapter 19 shows us that holiness is not just about the tabernacle. It is about everyday life. Leave the corners of your field for the poor and the stranger (vv.9–10). Do not steal or lie (v.11). Pay your workers the same day (v.13). “Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumblingblock before the blind” (v.14). Use honest weights (vv.35–36). And after each command God says “I am the LORD.” The word for holy is qadosh. It means set apart. God is set apart from everything he made. And his people are set apart to him.

Right in the middle of this chapter is a verse that Jesus called the second great commandment. “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD” (v.18). Jesus said all the law and the prophets hang on loving God and loving our neighbor (Matthew 22:37–40). And Leviticus does not stop with our neighbor. “The stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt” (v.34).¹² This is what Jesus taught in the parable of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:29–37).

Leviticus 20: The Penalties

Chapter 20 gives the punishments for the sins listed in chapter 18. Most of them were death. That shows us how seriously God takes sin. But the chapter also tells us why. “Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the LORD your God … I am the LORD which sanctify you” (vv.7–8). God makes them holy. And then he calls them to live holy. “And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the LORD am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine” (v.26). Grace leads to obedience.

Leviticus 21: Holy Priests

The priests had to live by a higher standard. They could not mourn the dead the way others did. They could only marry certain women. And the high priest could not even go near the body of his father or mother (v.11). A priest with a blemish could eat the holy bread. But he could not offer at the altar (vv.17–23). The priest had to be whole because he stood for the people before a holy God. Peter tells us we were redeemed “with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:19).

Leviticus 22: Holy Offerings

Only priests and their households could eat the holy things. And every offering had to be without blemish. “It shall be perfect to be accepted” (v.21). Malachi tells us that later the priests brought the blind and the lame and the sick to the altar (Malachi 1:8). God was not pleased. The chapter ends with the same truth we have seen all through the book. “I am the LORD which hallow you, That brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the LORD” (vv.32–33).

Leviticus 23: The Feasts of the LORD

“Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts” (v.2). Notice that they are not the feasts of Israel. They are the feasts of the LORD. First is the weekly sabbath (v.3). Then there are seven yearly feasts. Passover (v.5). Unleavened bread (vv.6–8). Firstfruits (vv.9–14). The feast of weeks (vv.15–22). Trumpets (vv.23–25). The day of atonement (vv.26–32). And tabernacles (vv.33–43).

The spring feasts were fulfilled at the first coming of Jesus.¹³ He died at Passover. “Christ our passover is sacrificed for us” (1 Corinthians 5:7). He rose on the day of firstfruits. “Now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept” (1 Corinthians 15:20). The feast of weeks was 50 days later (v.16). In Greek it is called Pentecost. “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come” the Spirit was poured out on the church (Acts 2:1–4). Just like the feast of weeks brought in the first loaves of the harvest. And 3000 souls were added that day (Acts 2:41). The fall feasts we believe look forward to what is still coming. We will not go into that here.

Also notice the feast of tabernacles. Israel lived in booths for 7 days to remember that God brought them out of Egypt (vv.42–43). On the last day of this feast Jesus stood and cried “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink” (John 7:37). John tells us “this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive” (John 7:39).

Leviticus 24: The Lamp, the Bread and the Name

The lamp in the tabernacle was to burn “continually” with pure olive oil (v.2). And 12 loaves of bread were set before the LORD every sabbath (vv.5–8). One for each tribe. Then the book stops and tells us a story. The son of an Israelite woman and an Egyptian man got in a fight. “And the Israelitish woman’s son blasphemed the name of the LORD, and cursed” (v.11). In Hebrew it just says he blasphemed “the Name.” Moses waited for God to tell him what to do. And God said “he that blasphemeth the name of the LORD, he shall surely be put to death” (v.16).¹⁴

Notice how much weight God puts on his name. We saw this all through Exodus. Later the Jews would not even say the name YHWH out loud. They would just say ha-Shem. The Name. But in the New Testament the name of God is fully revealed. Peter said “there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). That name is Jesus. Jesus said “I am come in my Father’s name” (John 5:43). And he told his disciples to baptize “in the name” (Matthew 28:19). Singular. Which the apostles did “in the name of Jesus Christ” (Acts 2:38).¹⁵

Leviticus 25: The Sabbath Year and the Jubilee

Every 7th year the land was to rest (vv.2–4). Then after 7 sabbath years came the 50th year. The jubilee. The word comes from yobel. Which means a ram’s horn.¹⁶ The trumpet was blown on the day of atonement (v.9). Debts were cancelled. Slaves went free. And land went back to the family that owned it. God tells us the reason. “For the land is mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners with me” (v.23). God owned the land. And God owned the people. “For unto me the children of Israel are servants; they are my servants whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt” (v.55).

Also notice the kinsman redeemer. If a man became poor and sold his land a near relative could buy it back (v.25). We will see this again in the book of Ruth. Jesus became our near kinsman by taking on flesh so he could redeem us (Hebrews 2:14–15). And when Jesus started his ministry he read from Isaiah 61. “To preach deliverance to the captives … to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord” (Luke 4:18–19). Then he said “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears” (Luke 4:21). Jesus is the jubilee.

Leviticus 26: Blessings and Curses

Chapter 26 starts with blessings for obedience. Rain in its season. Peace in the land. Victory over enemies. And the greatest blessing of all. “I will walk among you” (v.12). This is the same word used for God walking in the garden in Genesis 3:8. What was lost in the garden God wanted to give back. Paul quotes this verse when he tells the church “ye are the temple of the living God” (2 Corinthians 6:16).

Then come the curses for disobedience. Disease. Defeat. Famine. And four times God says he will punish them “seven times” more for their sins (vv.18, 21, 24, 28). And last of all exile. They would be scattered among the nations and the land would finally get the sabbaths it never had (v.34).¹⁷ This is exactly what happened. 2 Chronicles 36:21 tells us that Judah went into Babylon “to fulfil the word of the LORD … until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths.”

But God does not leave it there. “If they shall confess their iniquity … Then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember” (vv.40–42). Just like we saw in Exodus 2:24. When God remembers he acts. Even in judgment God has not forgotten his promise.

Leviticus 27: Vows and Tithes

The last chapter might seem out of place. It is about vows. If someone promised a person or an animal or a house or land to God they could pay a set price to redeem it. It also tells us that “all the tithe of the land … is the LORD’s: it is holy unto the LORD” (v.30). The book that started with what God gives to us ends with what we give back to him. Then the book ends. “These are the commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses for the children of Israel in mount Sinai” (v.34).

We have gone through Leviticus chapter by chapter. Here is what we can conclude. First Leviticus is about holiness. God says “ye shall be holy; for I am holy” (11:44–45; 19:2; 20:26). Holiness was not only for the tabernacle. It was for the kitchen and the field and the market and the family. And God does not just command it. He says “I am the LORD which sanctify you” (20:8). Peter tells the church the same thing today (1 Peter 1:15–16).

Second Leviticus is about atonement. “It is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul” (17:11). Every offering and every priest and every feast pointed to something greater. Hebrews tells us that “it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4). They were a shadow. Jesus is the real thing.

Third Leviticus is monotheistic. Over and over God says “I am the LORD.” “I am holy.” “I will walk among you.” Singular. The LORD who spoke to Moses out of the tabernacle is the one God. And Leviticus shows us why that one God had to come in the flesh. Israel needed a sacrifice without blemish. And they needed a high priest who could go in once and for all. Jesus is both. He is “the man Christ Jesus” our high priest (1 Timothy 2:5). And he is God “manifest in the flesh” (1 Timothy 3:16). He brought his own blood. God did not send someone else to pay for our sins. He paid for them himself.

Leviticus starts with God calling to Moses out of the tabernacle. It ends with Israel still camped at Mount Sinai. They now know how to come near to God and how to live holy. Next they have to leave the mountain and walk with him through the wilderness. That is where Numbers begins.