1. Offerings, sacrifices, and holidays of Leviticus Bibleknowledgeproject.com Taught by Tyler Weidler

2.  Elements and layout of the tabernacle  God fills the tabernacle  God fills Solomon’s temple  Ezekiel’s vision of God abandoning the temple  Destruction of the temple  Rebuilding of the temple under Ezra  God does not fill the new temple  God fills believers, making us his temple

3.  Class will focus more on giving you tools to study Leviticus on your own  Look at outlines and overviews of Leviticus  Provide a few templates for where to start  Discuss reasons why you should study Leviticus

4.  Leviticus is hard to read, even harder to make sense of.  Leviticus is bloody.  Most people, even serious Bible readers, skip Leviticus, or read it just to get done with it.  There is not much popular literature about Leviticus, only dense, expert-level stuff.  This class will only scratch the surface, barely.  The best commentary on the Bible is the Bible.  The best commentaries on Leviticus are Exodus, Numbers, and Hebrews. Anybody can study the Bible, with or without being an “expert”  We need more people to study of Leviticus.

5.  “…Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain…” Psalm 139:6  “Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and unfathomable his ways.” Romans 11:33,34  God’s truth is not always easy to understand, but it is worth studying, and should motivate, not intimidate

6.  Sacrifices require lots of blood  God threatens and enforces death against anyone who breaks the law in any way.  Read Leviticus 10:1-3  Two of Aaron’s sons (Nadab and Abihu) are killed by fire from God when they get the incense recipe wrong

7.  To ancient Israel God was viewed from the perspective of obedience, not forgiveness  In most O.T. cases, anytime someone encounters God or an angel, they are surprised to still be alive  Angels always start with “fear not.”  God is holy and omnipotent. His holiness is not compatible with any sin whatsoever

8.  People expect God to be loving, forgiving, and to fill their needs  A God who requires sacrifices, blood, and rigid obedience is not understood in our culture  Leviticus demonstrates how thoroughly Christ has fulfilled God’s requirements  God’s wrath was poured out on Jesus at the cross.

9.  Leviticus is about Levites and priests Levites are all members of the tribe of Levi Priests are a special line of Levites descended from Aaron Levites and priests do not get their own tribal land Levites and priests live off the offerings and tithes of Israel Levites and priests have special duties related to temple maintenance and offerings

10.  Leviticus was written by Moses, and takes place in the time after God fills the tabernacle.  Leviticus is about how to approach God Uses language like clean/unclean, holy/profane  Only way to approach God is through sacrifices and ritual cleansing  Leviticus puts extreme emphasis on sacrifices, including the location, the technique, the people involved, and the time and date.

11.  Numbers 3:11-14 The LORD also said to Moses, “I have taken the Levites from among the Israelites in place of the first male offspring of every Israelite woman. The Levites are mine, for all the firstborn are mine. When I struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, I set apart for myself every firstborn in Israel, whether human or animal. They are to be mine. I am the LORD.” The LORD said to Moses in the Desert of Sinai, “Count the Levites by their families and clans. Count every male a month old or more…”

12.  Levites are called out by God in place of all the firstborn of Israel  God “set every firstborn apart” when he struck down the firstborn of Egypt. This means he “passed over” the houses of Israel, but he did not give up his claim on the firstborn. The animal sacrifice was not enough.  God chooses the tribe of Levi in place of his claim on the firstborn, demonstrating that the animal sacrifice was insufficient. Levites are a substituted in place of the firstborn, who belong to God. Tithing follows this same principle. God demands the firstfruits

13.  Purpose of Levites and priests is to stand between God and Israel and minister to God on Israel’s behalf.  Levites and priests are founded on the principle of standing in the place of others before God.  Levites and priests are imperfect substitutes, and must offer animal sacrifices for themselves as well as for others, year after year, continually.  The founding of the Levitical system demonstrates that animal sacrifices are not sufficient, yet the system is structured entirely around animal sacrifices.  By New Testament times, the system is completely broken down

14.  Animal sacrifices do not remove sin, they only remind us of sin, and remind us of the fact that sin is deserving of death. (Hebews 10:1-5)  Sinful people are not able to substitute themselves for other sinful people  Jesus is perfect, Jesus is the “firstborn of all creation,” and Jesus was able to fully substitute himself on behalf of all who believe, once and for all. (Hebrews 10:11- 18)

15.  Rules for sacrifices (1:1-7:38)  Consecration of priests (8:1-10:20)  Clean and unclean (11:1-15:33) Food, disease, childbirth, leprosy, bodily disorders  Day of Atonement (16:1-34) 10 day of seventh month  Laws(17:1-25:55)  Punishments and blessings (26:1-27:34)

17.  Read Leviticus 1  Leviticus 1 provides the law for whole burnt offerings.  Don’t have time (or understanding) to read each of the sacrifices.  Provides a reasonable template for studying other offerings.

19.  What did it mean in its original context to the Israelites who heard it and read it?  What does it mean to Christians who can interpret it through Christ?  Both angles are important and informative.

20.  Israel’s experience with sacrifices  Passover in Egypt Sacrifice an unblemished ram. Paint its blood on your door This will save your firstborn from death  Animal sacrifice is a substitute for a person.  Already stated that this sacrifice was not complete.

21.  Affirmation of God’s covenant Ex. 24:3-8 When Moses went and told the people all the LORD’s words and laws, they responded with one voice, “Everything the LORD has said we will do.” Moses then wrote down everything the LORD had said. He got up early the next morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain and set up twelve stone pillars representing the twelve tribes of Israel. Then he sent young Israelite men, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as fellowship offerings to the LORD. Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and the other half he splashed against the altar. Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, “We will do everything the LORD has said; we will obey.” Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

22.  God gave the terms of the covenant with Israel. (Ex. 20-23)  Israel accepts the terms, and offers sacrifices.  This offering is done to establish the covenant of fellowship with God.  Blood is poured into basins, then sprinkled on the people (24:8)  “This is the blood of the covenant…”  Blood establishes a covenant

23.  Blood of the covenant is put on all God’s people who agree to the covenant.  When Jesus is about to die, he says the same words “This is the blood of the covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins…” (Matt 26:28)  “In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you…” (Luke 22:20)  Jesus established a new covenant “for the forgiveness of sins.” This contrasts with the original covenant, which was a covenant based on obedience to the 10 commandments.

24.  Day of Atonement is the most important day on the Jewish calendar (Yom Kippur)  10 day of seventh month (Tishrei)  Extreme caution and rites for high priest  Only day of the year on which he may enter the Most Holy Place  Requires two goats  One is sacrificed, the other is a “scapegoat”

25.  One goat is slaughtered, the other is a “scapegoat”  Priest lays hands on scapegoat’s head and confesses all the sins of the nation  Goat is taken far away into the wilderness and let go  Goat symbolically takes on the sins of the nation and bears them away  Once again proves that the sacrificed goat was not enough to remove the problem of sin.

26.  Slaughtered goat’s blood is sprinkled seven times on the veil before the priest may enter  Seven is the number of completeness and perfection, required before the priest can approach God  Jesus, as he fulfilled the law to perfection, announced “It is finished” and the veil was torn.

27.  Joshua leads Israel into the land  Land is conquered  Period of the Judges  Ruth  Samson  Samuel