Leviticus

Laws of Redemption

The life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.—Leviticus 17:11

Jim Moss

Levi was the third son of Jacob by Leah, and his descendants were styled "Levites." After the special position of the firstborn was exchanged with the tribe of Levi, they became the tribe charged with the care of the sanctuary. The book of Leviticus describes their ministry.

To many modern readers Leviticus may seem a strange book, perhaps even repulsive because of all the blood sacrifices it ordained. Some suppose it reflected an odd set of ancient customs. Sacrifice of some sort was widely practiced by ancient peoples, and Israel’s sacrifices have some similarities with those of her neighbors. But certain features are unique. Tabernacle Shadows gives a foundation for understanding Leviticus and explains the deeper meaning of its rituals and rules.

The Israelites were constantly reminded of sins which cut them off from God’s presence and favor. They understood that disobedience to divine law resulted in death. But God in his mercy showed them that he would accept a substitute, a sin bearer, to expiate sin. We know that sin bearer as Christ, who "was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5).

To illustrate this God asked the Israelites to make sacrifices that he would consider as a substitute until an appointed time when he would provide an acceptable sin bearer who would fully meet the requirements of divine justice.

Without Leviticus whole areas of Scripture become inexplicable. Without the message of Leviticus the key event of all time, the death of Jesus Christ, would be an enigma. The means of release from the slavery to sin and its sentence, death, would not be as clear. The book of Hebrews explains these deeper meanings of the sacrifices of Leviticus, and the priesthood.

But Leviticus also has value apart from its vital role of providing types of the redemption in God’s plan of salvation. The laws in Leviticus show God working in harmony with his own natural laws for the good of his people. When the Israelites observed those laws as they were commanded, they actually worked for the nation’s health and well being, and thus toward a measure of freedom from the curse of sin and imperfection.

Because we know more today about the sources of infection and disease, about quarantine and isolation, hygiene and preventive medicine, we can see that obedience to these laws fulfilled God’s promise to alleviate sickness (Exodus 23:25). This was not by magic but by the natural working of principles we now, at least in part, can understand.

Also, even in the type, God demanded holiness. The laws on ritual purity hammered this home in practical everyday experience. This assisted the Israelites to observe a reverent disposition toward God, and value a life of holiness and purity.

Review of the Laws

In chapters 1 through 7 the priests and people are given instructions on five kinds of offerings: Burnt offering, Meal offering, Peace offering, Sin offering, and Guilt or Trespass offering.

In Leviticus 8 Moses implemented the elaborate and impressive ritual also detailed in Exodus 29 to inaugurate Aaron and his sons into the priesthood. Moses here typified Jehovah and Aaron was a type of Jesus as a new creature. Aaron’s sons, the under priests, represent the church. Placing the blood on the ears, thumbs and toes of Aaron and his sons typified the full dedication of Christ and his saints to God’s service, namely full consecration.

In Leviticus 9, after the priesthood had been inaugurated, there were interim atonement sacrifices to cover Israel for the ensuing months until the Day of Atonement arrived. Brother Russell says of this chapter, "It is another picture of the atonement sacrifices" (Tabernacle Shadows, p. 79), because the offerings stipulated here are another type of the things represented in chapter 16.

The Day of Atonement described in chapter 16 shows in picture how the atonement is finally accomplished between God and man. On this occasion the high priest went into the inner most part of the tabernacle—the Most Holy where the Ark of the Covenant was housed—there to appear in the presence of God for the people. "But into the second [compartment] went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people" (Hebrews 9:7). Then were the people considered atoned for and brought back into harmony with God on the basis of the shed blood of the offerings.

The sacrifices of the Day of Atonement were merely a picture of the means to an end. The end to be attained is the blessing not only of Israel but of the whole world, and the bringing of the world back to at-one-ment, or harmony, with God. That work will require all of the Millennial age. It will include the education and restoration of mankind to all that was lost in Adam and redeemed at Calvary. (See Reprints, p. 5872.)

Other Laws

Deliverance from the bondage of Egypt was only a start to the freedom Israel needed. The rest of the book describes what the people must do, in addition to being atoned for, to obtain God’s blessings, and how to maintain their standing, their freedom.

Leviticus 11-15 outlines laws for daily life. Purity and impurity are discussed in detail. God works in and through the processes he has built into the natural world.

Leviticus 18-20 gives ethical and moral laws. Stress is laid on Israel to keep separate from the practices of neighboring countries that lacked this direction.

Rules for the priests are found in chapters 21 and 22.

Seven special festivals Israel was to observe are outlined in chapter 23: Sabbath, Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, Feast of Weeks, Trumpets, Day of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles. It is interesting to note that they revolved around patterns of seven.

Chapter 24 describes the duties pertaining to the Lamp and the Shewbread to remind Israel of their complete dependence on God.

Chapter 25 extends the pattern of sevens reflected in the festivals to the land in the law of Sabbaths and Jubilees. Chapter 6 in Volume 2 of Studies in the Scriptures provides a full study of the jubilees.

Chapter 26 reveals the reward of obedience as a blessing of peace and plenty. Best of all, God will walk among his people, reminiscent of his walk in the garden with the first man. "I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people" (Leviticus 26:12). Disobedience, on the other hand, would bring calamity on the nation: fatal disease, famine, wild beasts ravaging the land, and war leading to exile. The cursings are more detailed than the blessings as fear brings a readier response than love. Yet even after all the disobedience, God still promises to respond to the call of genuine repentance. Partial blessings would be provided in proportion to obedience. Total blessing will be a reality in a future day when atonement is accomplished by a "better mediator" as outlined in the book of Hebrews.

Chapter 27 lists vows and tithes to assist in the continued reaching for communion with God.

All the arrangements in structure and ceremony in Leviticus point to the fact that Israel (and by extension all mankind) is in an undone condition and in need of redemption. Once redeemed, atonement completed, the world will again be in harmony with its creator. Then true freedom will be realized.

The book of Hebrews shows us that the Israelites always reverted back to old habits and were in constant need of redemption. What they (and the entire world) needed was a betterand more permanent arrangement. That is being provided by Christ: "But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, bya greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us" (Hebrews 9:11,12).