Hey, we're back on for another episode of Small Group Toolbox. And we're just in this mini series of looking at different books of the Bible, because I think small group leaders feel more confident in the ministry when they know their Bible better. And so what are ways to do that. But here's a simple one, one podcast per book of the Bible, just to share a few things from me, a few insights, how to read it, and hopefully helps you feel like you know the Bible a bit better and equips you, encourages you in small group leading.
Today we are up to the book of Leviticus which is the third book in the Bible. It's part of the Pentateuch, the Torah, those first five books of the Bible known as the law of Moses and Leviticus is a tricky one to read. I think Leviticus, well people if they read the Bible from front to back, lots going on in Genesis, lots of action there. Exodus is great although it slows down a bit in the last 10 chapters or so as we get into the building of the tabernacle. But Leviticus, people find that really hard. There's a lot of laws. It can be tedious to read, let's be honest. But it does get easier the more you read it and the more you get orientated to it and know it, it does get easier. And there's some real highlights in there. You've got the day of atonement and you've got the second most important law of the Old Testament according to Jesus. So yeah, it's worth knowing, worth reading.
So how do we approach Leviticus? Well, Leviticus, it's called that because it's for the Levites, remember? So is Leviticus for the Levites? The Levites were one of the 12 tribes of Israel and they had a dedicated role in serving God, managing the tabernacle within them. Descendants of Aaron would be the priests and so this is kind of a manual for the Levites to do their work but we learn heaps as we read it. The setting of this book is that God is speaking these words, giving this law directly to Moses and according to the last verse of the book, 27:34, that's happening at Mount Sinai. So really we're still in the same location as the end of Exodus. And that's the whole book, God speaking through to Moses there about this law. That's the setting at Mount Sinai.
Now, what is the content? Well, this is really kind of building on what we saw in the end of Exodus. And if Exodus was describing the tabernacle and the ark and the priestly garments in a way, if the whole kind of sacrificial system, Old Testament law is like a drama, then end of Exodus was building the set, the tabernacle, and introducing the characters, the priests and their garments. But now here we get into, well, what are we gonna do with these things that are in the tabernacle, the altar and the basin and the arc and things like that. What's going to happen there? What kind of sacrifices? And so we're building on that. So Leviticus 1 to 7, those first seven chapters, God runs through all the different kinds of sacrifices that can be used in the running of the temple. Burnt offerings, guilt offerings, fellowship offerings, sin offerings, stuff like that. And what we do here is we read it can get a bit overwhelming, but what we're really seeing is a theology of sacrifice and a theology of atonement. This whole concept that an animal could substitute, there'd be bloodshed, and this has an effect. It atones for sin. We're reading about and learning about this theology of atonement, of course is really important in the whole Bible.
So, Leviticus 1-7, different kinds of sacrifices. Then we get into chapters eight and nine and a few other chapters. Leviticus talks a lot more about the priests, how they're anointed, appointed for their job, what are they supposed to do, how they're supposed to live. And this is really important because priesthood, we take it for granted, but it's just so important for the whole Bible. Priests continue to be characters through the Bible. And of course, Jesus is our great high priest. Hebrews talks a lot about that. So if you're going to read Hebrews, you really need to read Leviticus. And so here in Leviticus, we learn so much about what priesthood is. Then in chapters 11 to 15, there's a lot of chapters about uncleanness. And this, yeah, it does start to drag a bit for some people here as we read it. A little weird at times as well. God's talking about discharges and mould and houses and spots on the skin and whether they have a hair coming out of them or not. What's all this about? But really what's going on here is we're being introduced to big theological categories of cleanness and uncleanness. That's bit foreign to us.
We're not heaps familiar with those categories, but they're very biblical and they make a big impact through the whole Bible and especially into the New Testament. What is clean, what is unclean. And here in Leviticus, it's objects, it's bodies, it's discharges, it's that sort of thing.
And, but it's, it's got this two categories in and out clean and unclean, holy, unholy, kind of categories all get explained and we just see how important they are and how desirable it is to be clean and how special it is to be, to be holy and to come into God's presence as a holy person. And that's going to be picked up in the new Testament as we see that the blood of Jesus cleanses us and we become clean and it deals with the uncleanness that is in us, not through spots or skin diseases, but through that evil in our hearts. So 11 to 15, a bit weird, but it's introducing these categories. We read it, we learn, we keep on going.
Then chapter 16, of in the middle of the book, is the real highlight, and that is the Day of Atonement in Jewish. In Hebrew, this is like the Yom Kippur. This is very central day. This is a once a year activity where the high priest goes into the most holy place, past the curtain right there with the ark, cloud of incense all around him, the presence of God, very dangerous, because he could be struck down if something goes wrong. But he cleanses the ark from the sins of the Israelites and the sins of the priests that have over the year kind of contaminated and defiled that dwelling place of God. And the Day of Atonement is great, it's got a big elaborate setup, there's a lot of activity that goes on, a ram for a burnt offering, a bull for a sin, offering, then two goats, one for sin offering. And one has this role of being a scapegoat, which is very interesting, scapegoat. So rather than get sacrificed at the tabernacle, the scapegoat has all the sins of Israel kind of laid on its head, spiritually, metaphorically, and then is led out into the wilderness to die, we guess, but certainly to take away sin. So this, what we love so much about the gospel and this news that Jesus takes away our sin,
That's going back to Leviticus and David Tomah that our sins have been taken away, which is brilliant. So David Tomah chapter 16, fantastic. Chapters 17 to 22, there's a lot of ethical teaching there. So this becomes a little more kind of applicable. It's within these chapters about the ethics of how the Israelite people would live, particularly under the guidance of the Levites, is that second most important law of the Old Testament for when you did this. And that's in Leviticus 19. I'll just read from verse 17, “Do not hate a fellow Israelite in your heart, rebuke your neighbour frankly so you will not share in their guilt. Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbour as yourself. I am the Lord.”
There it is, love your neighbour as yourself is quoted by Jesus. So amazing, Leviticus, here it is one of the most profound and deep laws, ethical instructions that Jesus picks up on. Then as we continue on, we've got other chapters on Sabbath and rest in the year Jubilees, it's all great, that kind of feeds into our theology of hope, of eschatology, of redemption, of freedom, that's all coming into that. And it finishes with some blessings and cursings for obedience or disobedience, just how seriously God takes the ethical conduct of his people and worship of him.
So Leviticus is, to sum up, it's there for the Levites, how they're to conduct themselves, but it's so much more than that. It's about introducing these categories that we just take for granted throughout the Bible and are fulfilled in Jesus. Sacrifice, atonement, forgiveness, cleanness, holiness, priesthood, love of others, redemption, Sabbath, all that kind of stuff. So my tips for the litigious is read it quickly. Don't get bogged down. Just read it through. There might be times when you want to go deep on researching, say what the sin offering does or the love command from Jesus or the theme of holiness in the book. But for most of the time, you'll be wanting to read through this pretty quickly.
As you read, just notice all the gospel connections. Don't take those for granted. Just notice every time you hear one of those words that is picked up in the gospel or in the New Testament. And I would think anyone who reads Leviticus is going to come away really thankful for our forgiveness and cleansing from Christ. We're to be really thankful that we have a great high priest who has offered up the perfect sacrifice, his own body, for us. And we're going to be living transformed lives, especially loving others as ourselves. So that's Leviticus. Don't give up on it, read it, enjoy it and I'll see you next time for the next book in our series, the Book of Numbers.