Leviticus



*Introduction
*Main Themes
*History
- Background & Author 		*God's Character
*Outline
*Study Notes
*Resources

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Introduction to Book

Leviticus - the third book of the Pentateuch; so called in the Vulgate, after the LXX., because it treats chiefly of the Levitical service.


Leviticus' Main Themes

No book contains more of the very words of God. He is almost throughout the whole of it the direct speaker. This book is a prophecy of things to come, a shadow whereof the substance is Christ and his kingdom. The principles on which it is to be interpreted are laid down in the Epistle to the Hebrews. It contains in its complicated ceremonial the gospel of the grace of God.


History of Leviticus

Time & Background
The various ordinances contained in this book were all delivered in the space of a month (comp. Ex. 40:17; Num. 1:1), the first month of the second year after the Exodus.

An interesting fact may be noted about the laws concerning purity. Canon Tristram, speaking of the remarkable discoveries regarding the flora and fauna of the Holy Land by the Palestine Exploration officers, makes the following statement:, "Take these two catalogues of the clean and unclean animals in the books of Leviticus [11] and Deuteronomy [14]. There are eleven in Deuteronomy which do not occur in Leviticus, and these are nearly all animals and birds which are not found in Egypt or the Holy Land, but which are numerous in the Arabian desert. They are not named in Leviticus a few weeks after the departure from Egypt; but after the people were thirty-nine years in the desert they are named, a strong proof that the list in Deuteronomy was written at the end of the journey, and the list in Leviticus at the beginning. It fixes the writing of that catalogue to one time and period only, viz., that when the children of Israel were familiar with the fauna and the flora of the desert" (Palest. Expl. Quart., Jan. 1887).

Authorship
It is the third book of Moses.


God's Character in Leviticus


Outline of Leviticus


The first section of the book (1-17), which exhibits the worship itself.
  1. A series of laws (1-7) regarding
  2. An historical section (8-10),
  3. Laws concerning purity, and the sacrifices and ordinances for putting away impurity (11-16).
  4. Laws marking the separation between Israel and the heathen (17-20).
  5. Laws about the personal purity of the priests, including
  6. Then follow promises and warnings to the people regarding obedience to these commandments, closing with a section on vows.


Study Notes



Additional Leviticus Resources



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