The Basics of: Leviticus
Christian America's least favorite book, other than Harry Potter.
Y’all….
Leviticus is not fun read. I personally loathe anytime I have to read Leviticus, but given my profession, I have to read it frequently.
Let’s cut the crap: Leviticus seems like it’s just a lot of specific rules and laws that everyone pretends to understand, but actually just makes everyone confused, makes the Old Testament feel complicated and overall kinda “icky” to readers.
It makes following the law of Moses close to impossible…because that is exactly what God wanted to show. No amount of work could get you a relationship with God and that was the point.
Quick Summarization with the Rev. Dr.: Let’s back track for a second. God wanted the Tabernacle (that we got the instructions for from the book of Exodus) to be a place where any of His people could spend time with Him. When God realized that they were morally stupid (a.k.a. building the golden calf and constantly engaging in parties of a sexual nature…yeah, not a good look for Israel), He quickly assigned men from the tribe of Levi to become priests. This meant that they would be the only ones to be close to God without their faces melting off, and also meant that they had to be on their best behavior…or God would melt their faces off.
In the ancient Near East (the Middle East as we know it today…but in ancient times), there were plenty of documents, laws, procedures and ideas that are incredibly close to the book of Leviticus. These things mattered to the ancient people, and in a way, should also matter to us. It was more than a book of rules, it was a way to parallel your life to God and to show that you are, in fact, trying to be the best you possibly can be.
It was about commitment, which is exactly what the ancient people straight outta Egypt needed. They needed to commit to Yahweh fully because, so far, they refused and straight up sucked at any possible attempt. They were used to a certain way of life, and God was telling them to be better.
However, as with anything in the Bible, there are a few tidbits that help to broaden our perception of Leviticus.
So, let’s get into it:
Once again, it is easiest to read Leviticus in sections (are you seeing a theme here? Sectional reading saves lives).
The Five Offerings (Leviticus 1-7)
Offerings is a fancy unused word that basically means sacrifice. It’s less bloody and foreboding than it seems, but is still something that is being sacrificed (or given) to God. All have specific requirements, and all are for specific times.
First, you have the Burnt Offering, otherwise known as atonement (trying to make clean)for an unintentional sin. This is a voluntary act of worship, because God isn’t necessarily calling you out on your BS. You are calling yourself out and owning up to it.
Second, you have the Grain Offering, otherwise seen as a way to show how thankful you are for what God has done for you and the provisions (GRAIN! FOR BREAD! FOR FOOD! FOR LIFE!) He has given you.
Third, you have the Peace Offering, otherwise known as another way of showing thankfulness and wanting to have fellowship with God and others.
Fourth, the Sin Offering, otherwise known as you did something you were specifically told NOT to do and now you have to try to apologize to the All-Mighty God. Fingers crossed He doesn’t melt your face off!
Lastly, the fifth offering is Trespass, otherwise known as a Sin Offering, plus a little extra. Not only do you have to get cleansed, you have to PAY. Literally.
Details for these offerings matter. When you read through them, I recommend you underline or highlight the major details and elements of each offering, because it really is interesting and comes up frequently in the Old Testament and with Jesus specifically.
The Chosen Ones (Leviticus 8-10)
A little background for you: Did you know that Leviticus got its name from the Hebrew word “wayyiqra” meaning “and he called”? Bet you didn’t know that.
Why does that matter? Because the book of Leviticus also includes details on how priests, who were called from the line of Levi, were to keep clean and pure. The men of Levi! A royal priesthood! How exciting! Job security! These chapters are important because of God’s calling on their lives. They needed to know how to keep that calling and keep God’s favor.
In Leviticus 8, the phrase “as the Lord commanded Moses” is repeated seven times. This is your sign to pay attention to numbers. The number seven is a biblical number representing completion or something being fulfilled. I’ll let you fill in the dots here, but this is important, especially for really understanding the rest of the Bible.
How to Be Clean 101 (Leviticus 11-15)
Not just bathing, but the whole thing. There are two types of uncleanness: one that is tolerated (example: having eczema or psoriasis), and one that is not tolerated and EXTREMELY punishable (example: purposefully not being clean or MURDERING SOMEONE).
You should begin to notice that what is being asked isn’t a whole lot. It’s really just the bare minimum, morally speaking.
Something That I Will Definitely Talk to God About When I Die with the Rev. Dr.: I will definitely have a few notes for God about how Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy should have been a short outline, or just shorter in general, but something tells me He won’t appreciate my opinion on that one…hopefully you can’t get your face melted off in Heaven because I feel like that may be an offense. Guess we will find out!
A Whole Chapter Devoted to a Very Important Holiday Preparation (Leviticus 16)
The Day of Atonement, the one day of the year the chief priest is suppose to enter the Most Holy Place in the Tabernacle (it’s a room inside a room inside of another room). In contrast to the ancient Near East, this was barely anything. Many cultures, including Babylon, had their priests enter the holy areas of their temples every single day to take care of the gods. If the priests didn’t go every single day, the gods would go hungry (*crickets*).
Remember that this is still a very big deal because not everyone could go into this secret room. Only the priests from the tribe of Levi were permitted.
BLOOD! (Leviticus 17)
I’m not sure I need to say too much about this one…but, it is important to remember that ancient pagan cultures of this time were obsessed with blood (from anything, anyone, you name it, they loved it), so God is clearly setting some parameters around the subject. Blood, being used in a sacrifice, should not be taken lightly, as the blood represents the life of something. Don’t just kill to kill. It is a waste of life.
How to Be Holy 101 (Leviticus 18-25)
These are chapters of laws. Just these ones. A few rules from chapter 18, 19, 20, 21, and 22. Here’s what I want you to pay close attention to: chapter 18 talks about laws around sexual morality, and then immediately after, in chapter 19, is a blurb about how God, the Lord, is Holy. The title of God vs Lord is a big deal here - God is the all-mighty creator name, while Lord is a covenantal and relational name. Another way of viewing this is calling your friend Jim, “Jim”, instead of calling him “your friend, Jim.” Jim is just Jim until you state his character. The title of Lord is this same idea.
So, in the middle of the law portion, God interrupts to remind everyone of His holiness and ends every little blurb to say “I am the Lord.” He is essentially affirming the Israelites that He is giving these laws because He is a holy and good God. He is giving the laws as another way of showing His character. As you read the laws with this in your head, the laws don’t seem so scary. They come from a place of wanting the best for someone (us).
A couple chapters talk about the feasts as a way to stay holy. It is a law to celebrate the feasts. I will have an entire Substack devoted to the feasts, so just read these and enjoy. What you need to understand is that the feasts are considered a part of the law because God wanted to spend time with His people. If you don’t tell your kids to eat dinner with you, they’re going to go eat with their friends. Think of it that way. It is a time to be with God and with community.
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (Leviticus 26-27)
Leviticus ends with a series of Blessings and Vows, both for the good things you do and the bad things you do. Not a lot of fun to read this part. Consider this when you read: God is REALLY trying to get through to His people. They keep messing up over and over again. It isn’t little things like cursing or accidentally killing birds. They are making HARDCORE REALLY BAD mistakes. God is trying to scare them a little and put the fear of Himself in them.
Ultimately, if you read it with that view, it’ll make a little more sense why the last two chapters seem to take a drastic turn.
And that’s it. That’s Leviticus…well, a summary anyways. Doesn’t seem so scary does it? Context makes the difference. I urge you to not skip this book. A lot of things that are said in the rest of the Bible, i.e. the rest of the 63 books, will make a LOT more sense if you read Leviticus and take what I have written into consideration.
I promise, the Bible was not meant to be scary. It was meant to prove a point.
Go read with confidence. Thanks for being here.
