LEVITICUS - LESSON 3
There are no stories in the book of Leviticus. The entire book addresses laws with instructions the Israelites had to follow. They included ritual, legal and moral practices.
There were 613 laws the Israelites had to obey. It is good to know about them, but we as Christians do not live by those laws because if people break one of them, they would have broken all of them. The laws do not save. They only point a person in the right direction. We are saved by grace and not by the law. That is explained throughout the New Testament.
For now, believe that the 613 were narrowed down to the Ten Commandment and then narrowed down to just two laws that Christians live by, according to Jesus.
-- Chapters 1–5 describe the various sacrifices. The sacrifices or offering included the burnt offering, the grain offering, the sin offering, the guilt offering, and the fellowship offering
-- Chapters 6–7 repeat the same rules, but from the point of view of the priest who was responsible for carrying out the sacrifices.
-- Chapters 8–10 describe the consecration by Moses of Aaron and his sons as the first priests, the first sacrifices, and God's destruction of two of Aaron's sons for ritual offenses.
-- Chapters 11–15 instruct the lay people on purity or cleanliness. There were certain laws about the fabrics of clothes that people could wear. Certain fabrics could not be worn with other fabrics. Also, certain foods could not be eaten together. Additionally, the Hebrews, known as Israelites, couldn't eat unclean animals or the fat and blood of clean animals.
-- Leviticus 16 concerns the Day of Atonement. This is the only day on which the High Priest could enter the holiest part of the sanctuary known as the holy of holies. He had to be dressed properly and follow certain rules.
-- Chapters 17–26 are the Holiness code that gave instructions to the people on what they could do and could not do.
-- Chapter 27 tells about persons and things dedicated to the Lord and how vows can be redeemed instead of fulfilled.
Certain days and years are observed in the Book of Leviticus. For example, the fiftieth year is known as the Year of Jubilee.
It is not feasible to try to cover all the laws listed in the Book of Leviticus here. However, they are listed in the Bible. The chapters above contain some of the laws, but surely not all of them. Just know that some of the laws were very strict, such as the following ones.
1. Certain foods could not be eaten together such as dairy and fish, etc.
2. Two or more different fabrics could not be worn at the same time.
3. Unclean animals could not be eaten.
4. No work could be done on the Sabbath, including taking a bath because that is considered to be work. No cooking could be done on that particular day.
5. The distance the Hebrews could walk on the Sabbath was shorter than the distance they could walk on other days. They had to be near the temple on the Sabbath.
So, wouldn't you prefer serving Jesus Christ who is our mediator instead of having to be legalistic and follow such rules of the Jews?
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