Week 8 - Leviticus 11-27

Even though Leviticus was a hard book to get through for a lot of us (me included) it gives us such a reminder of who God is. in the last two chapters God reminds His chosen people, and us, that he is the God who rescues us and he is a God who fulfills his promises. We can trust that fact and we can trust in him!!!

Leviticus 11-12

God provides clear instruction on the distinction between what is clean versus

unclean. All of living creation falls into one of these two classifications, which

even Noah understood in the times prior to the flood. God shows Himself to be

very binary in all that He has created, and even today there are only two kinds of

people in the world - those who belong to Him, and those who don’t. There is no

in-between.

Leviticus 13-14

These two chapters are dedicated to the diagnosis of leprosy, and then the

procedure the priests are to follow when leprosy has been cleansed. This is

fascinating because leprosy was incurable, and there is no record of anyone in

Israel having leprosy, and then being subsequently cured (except Miriam, who

was struck by God, and then cured at Moses’ prayer).

Throughout the Bible leprosy is seen as a type of sin, which is also incurable.

Sin was incurable until Jesus came and permanently atoned for the sins of the

world. Likewise, there were suddenly many in Israel reporting to the priests

(according to the instructions here in Leviticus 14) to be declared clean after

Jesus healed them, which had never happened in the history of Israel.

Leviticus 15-17

Chapter 15 details what is to happen when people are sick with a disease that

is not fatal. Chapter 16 provides detail regarding the Day of Atonement, where

that one day each year the High Priest enters into the Holy of Holies and makes

atonement for himself, and then for all the people.

The scapegoat is an interesting study as a type of Jesus, upon Whom all the

iniquities of the people were proclaimed, and Who was then led outside the camp

(or city).

Chapter 17 makes clear the guilt of anyone who sacrifices an animal to any

false gods.

Leviticus 18-20

God forbids all forms of incest and sexual immorality, which were commonly

practice among the nations around them.

Chapter 19 details various laws regarding behavior between people, and

contains the 2 nd most important law in the Bible - “love your neighbor as yourself”

(Leviticus 19:18)

Chapter 20 emphasizes God’s abhorrence of killing children as sacrifices to

false gods, and details the punishments due to those who do such things, as well

as various forms of sexual immorality. God say “be holy, for I am the Lord your

God” (Leviticus 20:7)

Leviticus 21-23

In chapters 21 & 22 God details the rules pertaining to the priests who

minister before the Lord, and His expectations of holiness, with higher standards

applied to them.

Chapter 23 details specific days in a year that are to be treated as holy, or

separate (or different) - besides the Sabbath, which is treated differently each

week:

 Passover (23:5) - 14 th day of the first month

 Feast of Unleavened Bread (23:6-8) - 15 th -21 st day of the first month

 Feast of First Fruits (23:10-14) - 1 st day of the week after Passover

 Feast of Ingathering, or Pentecost (23:15-21) - 50 days after First Fruits

 Feast of Trumpets (23:24-25) - 1 st day of the seventh month

 Day of Atonement (23:27-32) - 10 th day of the seventh month

 Feast of Booths (23:34-36) - 15 th through 22 nd day of the seventh month

Leviticus 24-25

Chapter 24 - The societal administration of capital punishment on the willful

murderer or blasphemer, and the adjudication of justice between the victim and

the guilty.

Chapter 25 - Laws concerning the use and sale of the land in Israel. The land

must be allowed to rest every 7 th year. Land could not be sold permanently, as it

was to revert to the original owner every 50 th year. Similarly, the destitute could

sell themselves into slavery for a while, but not permanently. Everything and

everyone went free in the year of Jubilee.

Leviticus 26-27

The Lord outlines the multitudes of His blessings when the people keep and

follow His laws, and the multiplication of His punishments when the people are

pervasively disobeying them.

Chapter 27 deals with the voluntary promises that people make to the Lord, in

dedicating either themselves to Him, or something they own, and the costs they

will have to pay if they later decide to go back on their promise.