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An overview and explanation of the book of Leviticus.
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Overview ofLeviticus
Presented by Christopher R. Smith
To Capital City Vineyard, Lansing, Michigan
February 17, 2013
FACT:
Most attempts to read through the Bible
end in the book of Leviticus
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.
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)
THE ORDINARY STATE OF ANY CREATED THING(represented by the thick circle):
Clean Common
CLEAN MEANS “WHOLE,” “UNIMPAIRED”
COMMON MEANS AVAILABLE FOR ORDINARY USE
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
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
Someone or something that is holy is returned to ordinary use by being redeemed (“bought back”)
Clean + Common
Holy
Community
Redeem also means to “buy back” from slavery or exile(Jesus has redeemed us in this other sense)
Slavery, Exile
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
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
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)
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.
LEVITICUS:
YOU’RE GOING TO LOVE IT!