Leviticus | Knowable Word

What We Miss When We Skip the Book of Leviticus

March 25, 2024 By Ryan Higginbottom

The book of Leviticus is not popular. It is rarely quoted, rarely studied, and rarely read. It might be the most frequent place for well-intentioned Bible readers to give up their annual reading plans.

This is understandable, especially when one reads the books of the Bible in canonical order. Genesis is the book of beginnings; it is full of covenants, scoundrels, and promises. Exodus offers a narrative unlike any other—grand and sweeping in scale, with cinematic opportunities galore.

The narrative momentum slows at the end of Exodus during the construction of the tabernacle and then grinds to a halt in Leviticus. If Genesis is about how God calls his people and Exodus shows how God delivers his people, Bible readers can be forgiven for scratching their heads when opening Leviticus. Is this just how God…instructs his people?

If you’ve skipped Leviticus because you think it’s too slow, too boring, too repetitive, or just plain obsolete, you’re in good company. But, Leviticus is in the Bible for our good, and when we skip this book we miss a lot that God intends for us.

Asking the Wrong Question

When evaluating the importance of a book of the Bible, we often turn to characters, events, or doctrines. Leviticus doesn’t shine in any of these areas.

Rather, the book of Leviticus exists to answer a crucial question: How can a holy God dwell with sinful people?

At the end of Exodus, the Israelites construct the tabernacle (Exodus 35–39). This is the location on earth where God will dwell and where the people will worship him. God’s people have not dwelled with God in this way since the first days of Adam and Eve. And since the moral landscape is quite different than the beginning of Genesis, we naturally ask: How can God remain holy and live with people like this?

Leviticus aims to answer this question.

Forgiveness of Sin

Part of resolving the tension between God’s holiness and the people’s sinfulness lies in the forgiveness of sin. God had given commands to his people before Mount Sinai, but the path toward forgiveness was not always clear. In Genesis and Exodus it seems that God overlooks offenses more than he forgives them.

But in Leviticus, God makes the requirements for forgiveness clear. God tells Moses what type of sacrifice to bring along with where and when; he gives explicit (and sometimes graphic) instructions to the priests regarding these sacrifices.

The phrase that rings throughout chapters 4–6 of Leviticus should be delightful to us: “And the priest shall make atonement for him…and he shall be forgiven.” (See Lev 4:26; 4:31; 4:35; 5:10; 5:13; 5:16; 5:18; 6:7.)

Let’s not skip over this. God made a way for his people to be forgiven! This is one reason Paul Tripp says there are “few more hopeful books in all of Scripture than Leviticus.”

How to Live as God’s People

Some commentators split Leviticus in two, with the first 16 chapters focusing on ritual commands (offerings and priests) and chapters 17–27 concerned with ethical commands (laws, blessings for obedience, and punishment for disobedience).

Not every word of Leviticus fits neatly under those umbrellas, but God gives many regulations in the second part of the book. If the offerings and instructions to priests are about how God can live with his people, then the ethical commands are about how God’s people should live with him.

Further, God makes it clear that these aspects of life are related. Jeffrey Kranz points to this verse as a summary of the book.

You shall be holy to me, for I the Lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine. (Leviticus 20:26)

God demands holiness from the people because he is holy and he has called them to himself. His holiness is the basis for his regulations; the phrase “I am the Lord” is given almost as a punctuation to many of the laws in Leviticus 18–26.

Understanding Holiness

Leviticus is not the only place in the Bible that explains holiness, but it is one of the best.

Of all the books in the Bible, Leviticus uses the word “holy” the most—a total of 80 times in the ESV translation. Additionally, Leviticus is the leader among books of the Bible for the words “atone” (47 times), “guilt” (35 times), and “blood” (65 times). It uses “forgive” the most in the Old Testament (10 times) and its use of “sin” (93 times) is second only to the Psalms (111 times).

The point is that these words we read in the New Testament and sing on Sunday mornings are illustrated and explained primarily in Leviticus.

Understanding the Work of Jesus

The New Testament gives us plenty of reasons not yet mentioned to read Leviticus carefully. One of the two great commandments, according to Jesus—”you shall love your neighbor as yourself”—is first seen in Leviticus 19:18. And the apostle Peter quotes Leviticus when exhorts his readers to be holy in all of their conduct “since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy'” (1 Pet 1:16).

With Holy Week upon us, perhaps there is no more timely reason to read Leviticus than this. When the New Testament portrays Jesus as both priest (see Hebrews 7) and sacrifice (see Hebrews 9:11–14), when we read that our sin is forgiven because of the work of Jesus (1 John 1:7–10), we learn much of what was required and what was accomplished in this often-neglected book.

How to Approach Books of the Bible You Don’t Like

April 27, 2022 By Peter Krol

What do you with a book of the Bible you don’t particularly like? Or one you find terribly confusing, boring, or out of reach?

Rebekah Matt has some very helpful advice: Study it. Sounds simple enough, and she gives some very useful suggestions for how to go about the task.

Several months ago, I deliberately chose my least favorite book in the Bible for the women’s Bible study group at my church… I had a theory that a deep study using reputable resources would give me a new appreciation for why God had included this particular book in his Word. At the same time I was deciding to tackle this unliked (by me) book, I discovered that my friend Sara had been doing a Bible study at her own church on a different book, the one that’s the butt of many Bible reading plan jokes: Leviticus.
It was perfect timing for my as yet untested “study-it-to-love-it” theory. Sure enough, Sara and the other women in her Bible study had been having a very positive experience with Leviticus.

She then tells the story of recently diving into her own least-favorite book she had previously and intentionally avoided.

Check it out!

The Sexual Ethics of Leviticus 18 and Their Abiding Significance

April 28, 2021 By Peter Krol

Thomas Willoughby has a helpful piece entitled “Does Leviticus 18 Apply to New Testament Believers?” In particular, he seeks to answer a common argument that the prohibition against homosexuality in Lev 18:22 no longer applies under the new covenant.

Willoughby models a clear and effective use of the context and structure of the text to conclude that not only Lev 18:22 but the chapter’s entire sexual ethic has abiding significance. I might quibble with some of his secondary conclusions, but overall, he makes a good case from both the context and correlation with the rest of Scripture.

Check it out!

Why We Should be More Familiar with OT Sacrifices

September 25, 2020 By Peter Krol

For the first time in my life, I’ve been spending significant time studying the book of Leviticus. You know, that book you and I have always avoided, except perhaps for annual reading plans? It’s all been fulfilled by Jesus, so we don’t need to know it very well, right?

Let me share just a few highlights of the beginning of my study.

Leviticus 1-7 lists the regulations for five types of sacrifice, each of which has a different focus. The first type is the “burnt offering” (Lev 1), and the thing that distinguishes the burnt offering is that it is the only sacrifice where the entire corpse of the animal is consumed in the altar’s fire. Every other sacrifice has some portion reserved for priest or people to cook and eat.

In addition, the burnt offering is not directly connected with sin. I have tended to flatten my understanding of Old Testament sacrifices to little more than substitutionary payment for sin. And yet, the first type of sacrifice, the bread and butter of the Mosaic system, is not a payment for sin. It is the sacrifice someone would offer when they simply want to draw near to God and express their loyalty or praise to him (“vows or freewill offerings” – Lev 22:18). The burnt offering simply makes it possible for people to draw near to God in worship, offering oneself completely, leaving nothing out.

So why does this matter? How an Israelite would offer their burnt offering matters to God. Unless it is offered in the prescribed way, it will not be acceptable, a pleasing aroma (Lev 1:3, 9, 13, 17). And when we dig into the mechanics of bringing a burnt offering, fascinating things seep from the text’s pores. Notice how all of the following theological language has its roots in the burnt offering of Leviticus 1:

laying on of hands (Lev 1:4, 1 Tim 4:14)
acceptable worship (Lev 1:4, Heb 12:28)
atonement (Lev 1:4, Dan 9:24)
sprinkling of blood (Lev 1:5, 1 Pet 1:2)
washing with water (Lev 1:9, Eph 5:26)
turning to smoke (Lev 1:9, Rev 19:3)
consuming fire (Lev 1:9, Heb 12:29)

In addition, the metaphors “holy and acceptable (transformed) sacrifices” (Rom 12:1-2) and “fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God” (Phil 4:18) all likely draw their word pictures from the burnt offering (and perhaps a few other types of sacrifice).

How does it deepen your thinking about such texts, when you start to see that ordination (1 Tim 4:14), marriage (Eph 5:26), or ministry philanthropy (Phil 4:18) are New Testament applications of the regulations for the levitical burnt offering?

I’m delighted to discover how richly rewarding it is to gain greater familiarity with these sacrificial rituals and with the text of Leviticus. Perhaps this will encourage you to take a closer look at this oft-neglected book as well.

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Loving Leviticus

March 2, 2016 By Peter Krol

Aaron Armstrong has a short piece about how he’s “Learning to Love Leviticus.” He’s found a new appreciation for all the ceremonial details in light of the claim of Hebrews that Jesus is better.

Jesus is different—as the spotless sacrifice and the sinless priest, “He doesn’t need to offer sacrifices every day, as high priests do—first for their own sins, then for those of the people. He did this once for all when He offered Himself” (Hebrews 7:27). That’s the real secret of loving Leviticus—recognizing that it is a book full of hope for those redeemed by Christ’s death and resurrection.

Check it out!

Big Bible Words: Holiness

July 12, 2013 By Peter Krol

How would you explain holiness in plain language?

My Holy Shirt

I have lots of shirts in my closet. To be exact, I have 11 short-sleeve shirts, 12 long-sleeve shirts, and 10 dress shirts. I’m thankful for these shirts, but they’re not all that important to me.

I don’t want to deplete brain power deciding which shirts to wear each morning. So I usually wear them in the order they hang in the closet (according to the season, of course). Occasionally, one of my daughters will choose my shirt of the day. Either way, I’m happy. A shirt adorns my back, and I’m on with my day.

There’s one shirt, however, I truly care about. It’s not the prettiest or highest quality shirt in my closet. But it’s the most important one. It’s special.

Holy Shirt

I acquired this shirt in Fort Portal, Uganda in 2008 from a country market. We were there to adopt our twin sons, and this shirt became one of our souvenirs.

I call it my Ugandan Papa shirt. It represents my fatherly love and identification with my sons’ heritage. I wear it only once or twice per year: on the anniversary of the adoption, and sometimes on the boys’ birthday. On those days, I don’t care if I’m at work, at church, or on a trip. I might be at home or around other people. But I’m wearing the shirt.

I don’t put it in the washing machine, because it might not hold up. If it needs to be ironed, we do so with meticulous gentleness.

If the shirt ever deteriorates, we’re going to have to go back to Uganda for another one.

This is my favorite shirt. It’s a special shirt.

Holiness

That’s what it means to be holy.

It doesn’t mean “good,” although biblically holy things will also be good.

It doesn’t mean “righteous,” although biblically holy things will also be righteous.

It doesn’t mean “sinless” or “sacred” or “worthy of worship.”

It means special. A holy thing is different from everything else in its category. A “holy” shirt is more special than the other shirts. A holy ground is more special than any other ground. A holy land is more special than any other land. A holy assembly is more special than any other assembly.

A holy God is special; he’s different from all the other gods. A holy Spirit is special and unlike any other spirit. A holy people is more special and unique than any other people.

Leviticus 19:1-8 explains holiness simply. “You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy” (Lev 19:2, ESV). What does that mean? The Lord gives examples.

Revere your father and mother. They are not ordinary, common people. They are special to you (Lev 19:3).
Keep the Sabbath. It is not like every other day. It is a special day (Lev 19:3).
Do not turn to idols. They are ordinary and not special at all (blocks of wood or stone or iron with no rescuing power). Not like the LORD your God, who is special (Lev 19:4).
Peace offerings (one type of Old Testament sacrifice – think of grilled hamburgers or lamb chops) must be eaten within two days. If an Israelite kept any leftovers, he’d be treating them like all the rest of his food. He has profaned what is holy to the LORD. He didn’t treat it as special food (Lev 19:5-8).

Profanity

The opposite of holiness is profanity. Profanity doesn’t technically mean “bad words” or “curse words.” It means “common words.” Similarly, “vulgar” used to mean “common” long before its meaning morphed into “indecent,” “crude,” or “obscene.”

Leviticus 19:8 shows that you don’t have to defile something to profane it. You merely have to ignore how special it is and treat it like everything else.

So What?

The one who called you is special, so you also must be special in all your conduct (1 Pet 1:15). God is your Father and Acquitter. Christ’s blood ransomed you. You are no ordinary person (1 Pet 1:17-21).

Neither are the others who were also ransomed. They are your brothers. They are special. Now love them and remind them of how special they are (1 Pet 1:22-25).