Lesson 5: Leviticus

Archaeological Fragments Scholarly Disbelief Archaeological Fragments What was Used What was Preserved What was Surveyed What was Excavated What was Examined What was Published

Scholarly disbelief The minimalist view allows us to see divine origins in the Bible even as we acknowledge that the specific words used do not emanate from God at Sinai. Akin to the way new laws can be constitutional even if they do not appear in the founding document itself, the laws of Leviticus can be divine because they are interpretations of Mosaic principles. Internal contradictions do not undermine this belief: contradictory ideas can derive from the same source. – Jacob Milgrom, Leviticus, 4. “No other book in the Bible affirms divine inspiration so frequently as Leviticus. Under the heading of the verb to speak (dibbër) alone, the concordance lists no less than thirty-eight occurrences of the statement that Jehovah spoke to Moses or to Aaron.” – Gleason Archer (SOTI), 258

Title, Author And Date Title: Hebrew: “And he called” (וְאֵ֗לֶּה שְׁמוֹת֙ ) LXX: “Leviticus” pertaining to the Levites Author Moses Date Written After 1444 B.C. (the Exodus) Events 30-50 Days at Sinai Title is misleading!!! Should be israeliticus!! Events: note the slowing of time – genesis = ~8,200 Exodus = ~430 years, Leviticus is just 30 days! numbers will be 80 years and Deut will be about a month again.

Purpose of Exodus The Holy God of the Patriarchs and Exodus gave instructions that allowed Him to live among his people and for them to have fellowship with Him.

Outline The Way to a Holy God (1-16) The Walk with a Holy God (17-27) Instruction for the Offerings (1-7) Installation of the Priesthood (8-10) Instruction of the Clean and the Unclean (11-15) Instruction on the Day of Atonement (16) The Walk with a Holy God (17-27) Improper Sacrifice (17) Holy Conduct of the People (18-20) Holy Conduct of the Priests (21-22) Holy Times of the Nation (23-25) Blessings and the Curses of the Mosaic Covenant (26) Vows and Tithes (27)

The Central Problem of Leviticus: How does Leviticus apply to the Christian? Completely Binding Partially Binding Moral Ceremonial Civil Not Binding Binding in parts alone Moral – 10 Commandments Ceremonial – Sacrifices Civil -- Punishments

Completely Binding Practical Considerations Theological implications Easy Hermeneutics Direct application Historical problems Impossible to be consistent Need for human priests Need for Sacrifices Need for Purification Need for visible differentiation from the world. Easy Hermeneutics – one interpretation Direct application – what it says you do Historical problems – the temple was destroyed, no tabernacle, no sacrifices!!! Impossible to be consistent – it is illegal to stone your son or daughter for disrespectful behavior. Need for human priests – intercessor Need for Sacrifices – Blood and Guts Need for Purification – clean, unclean, holy, defiled Need for Uniqueness – Israel was a unique nation that didn’t eat pork or lobster.

Theological implications Partially Binding Subviews Theological implications Moral and Civil Binding Moral only binding The predominant view in reformed circles No longer requires Sacrifices Priests Strict punishments Moral and Civil Binding – common to reformers Moral only binding – common among modern reformed people

Not Binding biblical Evidence Subviews Luke 24:44 – The Law and the Prophets Galatians 3:23-29; 5:1-6; 6:2 Eph 2:14-16 Hebrews 7-10 James 2:8-13 No Law – Antinomianism Replaced with the Law of Christ

What law do we then have? The Law of Liberty/Christ!!! Sermon on the Mount Commands in the Epistles James 2:8-13 Every one of the 10 commandments is repeated in the New Testament except the Sabbath.

Theme: The Presence of the Lord Exodus 40:34-38 Sacrifices Daily activities Exodus 40:34-38 – the division is artificial, the book should continue from exodus into Leviticus! Sacrifices – the offerings are “Before the Lord” cf chs 1,2,3,4,5,6,9,10,16 Daily activities – many times the legal code was backed by “I am the Lord your god” cf chs 18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26 This is corporate indwelling. Yahweh’s presence was in the midst of the people. This presence would remain in the midst of the people in the temple when it was built but departed before the destruction “No other book in the Bible affirms divine inspiration so frequently as Leviticus. Under the heading of the verb to speak (dibbër) alone, the concordance lists no less than thirty-eight occurrences of the statement that Jehovah spoke to Moses or to Aaron.” –Gleason Archer

Central Theme: Holiness Used ~150 times in the book! “Be Holy for I your God am Holy (11:44; 19:2 cf. Exod 19:6; 1 Pet 1:16) Definition: Holiness is first and foremost a separateness —it is a fundamental differentness—and secondly it is a moral purity. Kosher Laws This is the central theme! All of this book revolves around this term! Kosher Law: mixed fabric, eating pork, lobster, blood in it, fat. Caul fat, source of energy, took it all on faith The kosher laws were nothing more than separation from the nations. This was a type of throwing the baby out with the bath water—the nations are wicked, they eat this, they do that, so you can’t eat this and you can’t do that. There was nothing wrong with eating certain foods and such but it was set as a demarcation of the Israelites from the nations. The Israelite diet couldn’t be as expansive as the other nations. There were even holy times—the Passover, day of atonement, etc. These were to be special set apart times for the people to remember.

Holiness Mission of the Priests: Lev 10:10-11 Holy/Common Clean/Unclean Unclean does not necessarily mean sinful, only defiled. There is nothing wrong with giving birth. Yet a woman is defiled in giving birth in that she has brought another sinner into the world. The same goes for sex and menstruation. The idea is the results. They are not sinful in the regard that they are an affront to God but they are unclean in that they are a reminder of the moral pollution of the world. Leprosy is the same thing. There is no control over a skin disease but it is a scab on the skin that cannot be removed—just like sin in the world. It is a picture of the pollution of sin. Sex could result in pregnancy – defilement Giving birth brings a new sinner – defilement Leprosy illustrates the mar of sin – defilement   These defilements point to the travesty of sin and serve as a reminder that God is not a sinner and that he is holy as the Israelites were to be. It is all to give Israel a visual, constant reminder of sin in the world and a restriction on worship to only the proper times and in the proper ways.

theme: Sacrificial System The Offerings Free Will Whole Burnt Grain Peace/Shalom Mandatory Sin Guilt Burnt offering, the offerer does the vast majority of the work with the priest doing some of it. The offerer brings animal, places hand on animal’s head AND kills the animal, along with butchering it. Only after this, the priest put the blood on the alter, burnt the offering and he kept the hide. This is a much more personal system than we normally think of. Peace (Fellowship) Offering: The offerer was given a piece of the sacrifice to eat within two days. On the third day, the leftovers would have to be burned up. The sacrificial system was very costly with only a few animals leftover for eating. There was not much meat in the Israelite diet as they had to be in fellowship with Yahweh. So this hunk of meat was given so that the offerer would call all his friends to help him eat it all in two days lest it go to waste. This is the intermediary between the sweet savor and sin/guilt offerings. Sin and Guilt offerings were mandatory. Guilt Offerins had to be accompanied with a Sin Offering. These offerings dealt with unwitting sin, they could not handle the conscientious, volitional acts of defiance. The more heinous sins—those that you know is in direct defiance to God—could only be handled on the Day of Atonement where the High Priest confessed the sins of the people to Yahweh. So if you conscientiously sinned, the first 11 chapters could do nothing for you and you had to wait till the Day of Atonement to be brought back into fellowship with God.

Sacrificial System Day of Atonement The Priests Gentiles Israel Levites Priests High Priest God Day of atonement was the only day where sins of commission could be handled. It was a once per year event, and heaven forbid you go home and get angry with our wife for not cleaning the house while you were gone!

Theme: The Law Requirements Blessings and Curses (cf 26) The law required many things of the people. The intent was to keep them different from the people around them. Uniqueness Justice Worship