The MacArthur Study Bible, NKJV, page 59
Interpretive Challenges
Leviticus is both a manual for the worship of God in Israel and a theology of Old Covenant ritual. Comprehensive understanding of the ceremonies, laws, and ritual details prescribed in the book is difficult today because Moses assumed a certain context of historical understanding. Once the challenge of understanding the detailed prescriptions has been met, the question arises as to how believers in the church should respond to them, since the NT clearly abrogates OT ceremonial law (cf. Acts 10:1-16; Col. 2:16, 17), the levitical priesthood (cf. 1 Pet. 2:9; Rev. 1:6; 5:10; 20:6), and the sanctuary (cf. Matt. 27:51), as well as instituting the New Covenant (cf. Matt. 26:28; 2 Cor. 3:6-18; Heb. 7-10). Rather than try to practice the old ceremonies or look for some deeper spiritual significance in them, the focus should be on the holy and divine character behind them. This may partly be the reason that explanations which Moses often gave in the prescriptions for cleanness offer greater insight into the mind of God than do the ceremonies themselves. The spiritual principles in which the rituals were rooted are timeless because they are embedded in the nature of God. The NT makes it clear that from Pentecost forward (cf. Acts 2), the church is under the authority of the New Covenant, not the Old (cf. Heb. 7-10).
The interpreter is challenged to compare features of this book with NT writers who present types or analogies based on the tabernacle and the ceremonial aspects of the law, so as to teach valuable lessons about Christ and New Covenant reality. Though the ceremonial law served only as a shadow of the reality of Christ and His redemptive work (Heb. 10:1), excessive typology is to be rejected. Only that which NT writers identify as types of Christ should be so designated (cf. 1 Cor. 5:7, “Christ our Passover”).
The most profitable study in Leviticus is that which yields truth in the understanding of sin, guilt, substitutionary death, and atonement by focusing on features which are not explained or illustrated elsewhere in OT Scripture. Later OT authors, and especially NT writers, build on the basic understanding of these matters provided in Leviticus. The sacrificial features of Leviticus point to their ultimate, one-time fulfillment in the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ (Heb. 9:11-22).
Outline
Leviticus 1-16 explains how to have personal access to God through appropriate worship and Leviticus 17-27 details how to be spiritually acceptable to God through an obedient walk.
I. Laws Pertaining to Sacrifice (1:1-7:38)
A. Legislation for the Laity (1:1-6:7)
1. Burnt offerings (chap. 1)
2. Grain offerings (chap. 2)
3. Peace offerings (chap. 3)
4. Sin offerings (4:1—5:13)
5. Trespass offerings (5:14—6:7)
B. Legislation for the Priesthood (6:8-7:38)
1. Burnt offerings (6:8–13)
2. Grain offerings (6:14–23)
3. Sin offerings (6:24–30)
4. Trespass offerings (7:1–10)
5. Peace offerings (7:11–36)
6. Concluding remarks (7:37, 38)
II. Beginnings of the Priesthood (8:1-10:20)
A. Ordination of Aaron and His Sons (chap. 8)
B. First Sacrifices (chap. 9)
C. Execution of Nadab and Abihu (chap. 10)
III. Prescriptions for Uncleanness (11:1-16:34)
A. Unclean Animals (chap. 11)
B. Uncleanness of Childbirth (chap. 12)
C. Unclean Diseases (chap. 13)
D. Cleansing of Diseases (chap. 14)
E. Unclean Discharges (chap. 15)
F. Purification of the Tabernacle from Uncleanness (chap. 16)
IV. Guidelines for Practical Holiness (17:1-27:34)
A. Sacrifice and Food (chap. 17)
B. Proper Sexual Behavior (chap. 18)
C. Neighborliness (chap. 19)
D. Capital/Grave Crimes (chap. 20)
E. Instructions for Priests (chaps. 21, 22)
F. Religious Festivals (chap. 23)
G. The Tabernacle (24:1-9)
H. An Account of Blasphemy (24:10-23)
I. Sabbatical and Jubilee Years (chap. 25)
J. Exhortation to Obey the Law: Blessings and Curses (chap. 26)
K. Redemption of Votive Gifts (chap. 27)
The Third Book of Moses Called
LEVITICUS
Leviticus 1
The Burnt Offering
1Now the LORD acalled to Moses, and spoke to him bfrom the tabernacle of meeting, saying,
2“Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: c‘When any one of you brings an offering to the LORD, you shall bring your offering of the livestock—of the herd and of the flock.
3‘If his offering is a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male dwithout blemish; he shall offer it of his own free will at the door of the tabernacle of meeting before the LORD. Christ in the Levitical Offerings
4e‘Then he shall put his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be faccepted on his behalf gto make atonement for him.
5‘He shall kill the hbull before the LORD; iand the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall bring the blood jand sprinkle the blood all around on the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of meeting.
6‘And he shall kskin the burnt offering and cut it into its pieces.
7‘The sons of Aaron the priest shall put lfire on the altar, and mlay the wood in order on the fire.
8‘Then the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall lay the parts, the head, and the fat in order on the wood that is on the fire upon the altar;
9‘but he shall wash its entrails and its legs with water. And the priest shall burn all on the altar as a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, a nsweet1 aroma to the LORD.
10‘If his offering is of the flocks—of the sheep or of the goats—as a burnt sacrifice, he shall bring a male owithout blemish.
11p‘He shall kill it on the north side of the altar before the LORD; and the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall sprinkle its blood all around on the altar.
12‘And he shall cut it into its pieces, with its head and its fat; and the priest shall lay them in order on the wood that is on the fire upon the altar;
13‘but he shall wash the entrails and the legs with water. Then the priest shall bring it all and burn it on the altar; it is a burnt sacrifice, an qoffering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the LORD.
14‘And if the burnt sacrifice of his offering to the LORD is of birds, then he shall bring his offering of rturtledoves or young pigeons.
15‘The priest shall bring it to the altar, 2wring off its head, and burn it on the altar; its blood shall be drained out at the side of the altar.
16‘And he shall remove its crop with its feathers and cast it sbeside the altar on the east side, into the place for ashes.
17‘Then he shall split it at its wings, but tshall not divide it completely; and the priest shall burn it on the altar, on the wood that is on the fire. uIt is a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, a 3sweet aroma to the LORD.
Leviticus 2
The Grain Offering
1‘When anyone offers aa grain offering to the LORD, his offering shall be of fine flour. And he shall pour oil on it, and put bfrankincense on it.
2‘He shall bring it to Aaron’s sons, the priests, one of whom shall take from it his handful of fine flour and oil with all the frankincense. And the priest shall burn cit as a memorial on the altar, an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the LORD.
3d‘The rest of the grain offering shall be Aaron’s and his esons’. fIt is most holy of the offerings to the LORD made by fire.
4‘And if you bring as an offering a grain offering baked in the oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, or unleavened wafers ganointed1 with oil.
5‘But if your offering is a grain offering baked in a 2pan, it shall be of fine flour, unleavened, mixed with oil.
6‘You shall break it in pieces and pour oil on it; it is a grain offering.
7‘If your offering is a grain offering baked in a hcovered pan, it shall be made of fine flour with oil.
8‘You shall bring the grain offering that is made of these things to the LORD. And when it is presented to the priest, he shall bring it to the altar.
9‘Then the priest shall take from the grain offering ia memorial portion, and burn it on the altar. It is an joffering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the LORD.
10‘And kwhat is left of the grain offering shall be Aaron’s and his sons’. It is most holy of the offerings to the LORD made by fire.
11‘No grain offering which you bring to the LORD shall be made with lleaven, for you shall burn no leaven nor any honey in any offering to the LORD made by fire.
12m‘As for the offering of the firstfruits, you shall offer them to the LORD, but they shall not be burned on the altar for a sweet aroma.
13‘And every offering of your grain offering nyou shall season with salt; you shall not allow othe salt of the covenant of your God to be lacking from your grain offering. pWith all your offerings you shall offer salt.
14‘If you offer a grain offering of your firstfruits to the LORD, qyou shall offer for the grain offering of your firstfruits green heads of grain roasted on the fire, grain beaten from rfull heads.
15‘And syou shall put oil on it, and lay frankincense on it. It is a grain offering.
16‘Then the priest shall burn tthe memorial portion: part of its beaten grain and part of its oil, with all the frankincense, as an offering made by fire to the LORD.
Leviticus 3
The Peace Offering
1‘When his offering is a asacrifice of a peace offering, if he offers it of the herd, whether male or female, he shall offer it bwithout 1blemish before the LORD.
2‘And che shall lay his hand on the head of his offering, and kill it at the door of the tabernacle of meeting; and Aaron’s sons, the priests, shall dsprinkle the blood all around on the altar.
3‘Then he shall offer from the sacrifice of the peace offering an offering made by fire to the LORD. eThe fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails,
4‘the two kidneys and the fat that is on them by the flanks, and the fatty lobe attached to the liver above the kidneys, he shall remove;
5‘and Aaron’s sons fshall burn it on the altar upon the gburnt sacrifice, which is on the wood that is on the fire, as an hoffering made by fire, a isweet aroma to the LORD.
6‘If his offering as a sacrifice of a peace offering to the LORD is of the flock, whether male or female, jhe shall offer it without blemish.
7‘If he offers a klamb as his offering, then he shall loffer it mbefore the LORD.
8‘And he shall lay his hand on the head of his offering, and kill it before the tabernacle of meeting; and Aaron’s sons shall sprinkle its blood all around on the altar.
9‘Then he shall offer from the sacrifice of the peace offering, as an offering made by fire to the LORD, its fat and the whole fat tail which he shall remove close to the backbone. And the fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails,
10‘the two kidneys and the fat that is on them by the flanks, and the fatty lobe attached to the liver above the kidneys, he shall remove;
11‘and the priest shall burn them on the altar as nfood, an offering made by fire to the LORD.
12‘And if his ooffering is a goat, then phe shall offer it before the LORD.
13‘He shall lay his hand on its head and kill it before the tabernacle of meeting; and the sons of Aaron shall sprinkle its blood all around on the altar.
14‘Then he shall offer from it his offering, as an offering made by fire to the LORD. The fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails,
15‘the two kidneys and the fat that is on them by the flanks, and the fatty lobe attached to the liver above the kidneys, he shall remove;
16‘and the priest shall burn them on the altar as food, an offering made by fire for a sweet aroma; qall the fat is the LORD’s.
17‘This shall be a rperpetual2 statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings: you shall eat neither fat nor sblood.’ ”
Leviticus 4
The Sin Offering
1Now the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
2“Speak to the children of Israel, saying: a‘If a person sins 1unintentionally against any of the commandments of the LORD in anything which ought not to be done, and does any of them,
3b‘if the anointed priest sins, bringing guilt on the people, then let him offer to the LORD for his sin which he has sinned ca young bull without blemish as a dsin offering.
4‘He shall bring the bull eto the door of the tabernacle of meeting before the LORD, lay his hand on the bull’s head, and kill the bull before the LORD.
5‘Then the anointed priest fshall take some of the bull’s blood and bring it to the tabernacle of meeting.
6‘The priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of the blood seven times before the LORD, in front of the gveil of the sanctuary.
7‘And the priest shall hput some of the blood on the horns of the altar of sweet incense before the LORD, which is in the tabernacle of meeting; and he shall pour ithe remaining blood of the bull at the base of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of meeting.
8‘He shall take from it all the fat of the bull as the sin offering. The fat that covers the entrails and all the fat which is on the entrails,
9‘the two kidneys and the fat that is on them by the flanks, and the fatty lobe attached to the liver above the kidneys, he shall remove,
10j‘as it was taken from the bull of the sacrifice of the peace offering; and the priest shall burn them on the altar of the burnt offering.
11k‘But the bull’s hide and all its flesh, with its head and legs, its entrails and offal—
12‘the whole bull he shall carry outside the camp to a clean place, lwhere the ashes are poured out, and mburn it on wood with fire; where the ashes are poured out it shall be burned. Old Testament Sacrifices Compared to Christ’s Sacrifice
13‘Now nif the whole congregation of Israel sins unintentionally, oand the thing is hidden from the eyes of the assembly, and they have done something against any of the commandments of the LORD in anything which should not be done, and are guilty;
14‘when the sin which they have committed becomes known, then the assembly shall offer a young bull for the sin, and bring it before the tabernacle of meeting.
15‘And the elders of the congregation pshall lay their hands on the head of the bull before the LORD. Then the bull shall be killed before the LORD.
16q‘The anointed priest shall bring some of the bull’s blood to the tabernacle of meeting.
17‘Then the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it seven times before the LORD, in front of the veil.
18‘And he shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar which is before the LORD, which is in the tabernacle of meeting; and he shall pour the remaining blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of meeting.
19‘He shall take all the fat from it and burn it on the altar.
20‘And he shall do rwith the bull as he did with the bull as a sin offering; thus he shall do with it. sSo the priest shall make 2atonement for them, and it shall be forgiven them.
21‘Then he shall carry the bull outside the camp, and burn it as he burned the first bull. It is a sin offering for the assembly.
22‘When a 3ruler has sinned, and tdone something unintentionally against any of the commandments of the LORD his God in anything which should not be done, and is guilty,
23‘or uif his sin which he has committed 4comes to his knowledge, he shall bring as his offering a kid of the goats, a male without blemish.
24‘And vhe shall lay his hand on the head of the goat, and kill it at the place where they kill the burnt offering before the LORD. It is a sin offering.
25w‘The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and pour its blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering.
26‘And he shall burn all its fat on the altar, like xthe fat of the sacrifice of the peace offering. ySo the priest shall make 5atonement for him concerning his sin, and it shall be forgiven him.
27z‘If 6anyone of the 7common people sins unintentionally by doing something against any of the commandments of the LORD in anything which ought not to be done, and is guilty,
28‘or aif his sin which he has committed comes to his knowledge, then he shall bring as his offering a kid of the goats, a female without blemish, for his sin which he has committed.
29b‘And he shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering, and kill the sin offering at the place of the burnt offering.
30‘Then the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger, put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and pour all the remaining blood at the base of the altar.
31c‘He shall remove all its fat, das fat is removed from the sacrifice of the peace offering; and the priest shall burn it on the altar for a esweet aroma to the LORD. fSo the priest shall make atonement for him, and it shall be forgiven him.
32‘If he brings a lamb as his sin offering, ghe shall bring a female without blemish.
33‘Then he shall hlay his hand on the head of the sin offering, and kill it as a sin offering at the place where they kill the burnt offering.
34‘The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and pour all the remaining blood at the base of the altar.
