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Overview of Leviticus Presented by Christopher R. Smith To Capital City Vineyard, Lansing, Michigan February 17, 2013

Leviticus overview

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An overview and explanation of the book of Leviticus.

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Page 1: Leviticus overview

Overview ofLeviticus

Presented by Christopher R. Smith

To Capital City Vineyard, Lansing, Michigan

February 17, 2013

Page 2: Leviticus overview

FACT:

Most attempts to read through the Bible

end in the book of Leviticus

Page 3: Leviticus overview

Why?

• Because it’s not a story any more.

• Because the material comes from a strange and unfamiliar culture.

So an overview of the book

will be helpful.

Page 4: Leviticus overview

THE BOOK’S THEME STATEMENT

“ . . . so that you can distinguish between

the holy and the common,

between the unclean and the clean . . .”

(Leviticus 10:10)

Page 5: Leviticus overview

THE ORDINARY STATE OF ANY CREATED THING(represented by the thick circle):

Clean Common

CLEAN MEANS “WHOLE,” “UNIMPAIRED”

COMMON MEANS AVAILABLE FOR ORDINARY USE

Page 6: Leviticus overview

Someone or something becomes holywhen it is set apart for a special purpose

Clean + Common

Holy • Blood• Sexual relations• Priests• Festival days• Lamp oil• Show bread

Page 7: Leviticus overview

The breaching of boundariesmakes something or someone unclean

and unavailable for a holy purpose

Clean + Common

Unclean

• Eating certain foods• Childbirth• Skin disease, mold• Discharges

Page 8: Leviticus overview

Someone or something that is holy is returned to ordinary use by being redeemed (“bought back”)

Clean + Common

Holy

Page 9: Leviticus overview

Community

Redeem also means to “buy back” from slavery or exile(Jesus has redeemed us in this other sense)

Slavery, Exile

Page 10: Leviticus overview

People and things move fromunclean to clean, and from common to holy,

through sacrifices:

Clean Common

Holy

Unclean

Burnt Offering

Grain Offering

Fellowship Offering

Sin Offering

Guilt Offering

Sin Offering

Fellowship Offering

Page 11: Leviticus overview

The chapters in Leviticus are organized by these topics:

Offerings

1 Burnt Offering

2 Grain Offering

3 Fellowship Offering

4 Sin Offering

5 Guilt Offering

6 Sin Offering

7 Fellowship Offering

8-10 Ordination of

Priests

Cleanness

11 Foods

12 Childbirth

13-14 Skin Diseases

and Mildew

15 Bodily Discharges

16 The Day of

Atonement

Holiness

17 Blood

18 Sexual Relations

19 Holiness Laws

20 Punishments

21-22 Priests

23 Festivals

24 Oil & Bread

24 A Holiness

Infraction

Redemption

25 Land & Slaves

26 Exile

27 Vows

Between each group there is thematic material, e.g. Lev.10:10

Page 12: Leviticus overview

TO HELP YOU KNOW WHERE YOU ARE IN THE BOOK,LEVITICUS OFFERS FREQUENT SUMMARIES OF ITS CONTENT

“These, then, are the regulations for the burnt offering, the grain offering, the sin offering, the guilt offering, the ordination offering and the fellowship offering”(Leviticus 7:37)

“So Moses announced to the Israelites the appointed festivals of the Lord” (Leviticus 23:44)

Page 13: Leviticus overview

Though the book was written in a very different culture from the American one, readers today can still meditate

on its themes of:

wholeness and integrity,availability for God’s purposes,

being set aside for those purposes,and joining in God’s work of redemption.

Page 14: Leviticus overview

LEVITICUS:

YOU’RE GOING TO LOVE IT!