🎥 Video Lesson
📖 Course Notes
The full course notes for this lesson are available in the official course textbook, Cover to Cover: Old Testament (Village Schools of the Bible, 2022). Please download or view the PDF below to study the material for this lesson.
📖 Download / View Course Notes (PDF)
Cover to Cover: Old Testament — Village Schools of the Bible (2022)
Part 2: Leviticus
Book Overview & Purpose
Leviticus means “related to the Levites, the priests.” The priests were the authorities under God for the people, teaching the nation and representing God on all necessary moral, civil, and ceremonial matters. Leviticus provides detailed instructions for worship, sacrifice, and holy living. Its pinnacle is the Holiness Code, summarised in Leviticus 19:2: “You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.”
Three Categories of God’s Laws
- Civil laws: Pertained to crime, punishment, restitution, and community rules.
- Ceremonial laws: Regulated sacrifices, the Tabernacle, priesthood, and laws of cleanliness.
- Moral laws: Taught God’s people about His holiness and how to live in generous, compassionate, wise ways.
Outline of Leviticus
A. Ways to Worship God — Chapters 1–10, 16
Five main types of offerings: Burnt, Grain, Fellowship, Sin, and Guilt offerings. The great Day of Atonement (Ch.16) — once a year, the High Priest entered the Most Holy Place with blood to make atonement for the entire nation. Two goats: one sacrificed, one (the scapegoat) sent into the wilderness carrying the sins of the people.
B. Building a Healthy Community — Chapters 11–27
Laws of cleanliness — food laws, quarantine, hygiene (remarkably advanced for the ancient world). Judicial laws of justice and crime (Ch.18-20). Social justice — care for the poor, the Year of Jubilee (Ch.25) — a time of rest for the land and release of debts every 50 years. God’s idea of economics was rooted in compassion and sustainability.
Key Facts
- Leviticus used to be the first book studied by Jewish children in Sabbath school.
- Chapters 13-15 on infectious disease and quarantine were thousands of years ahead of their time.
- The Year of Jubilee (Leviticus 25) is a profound expression of God’s heart for justice and restoration.
🔴 The Scarlet Thread of Redemption — Jesus Revealed in Exodus & Leviticus
📌 The Passover Lamb (Exodus 12)
The Passover Lamb is the most powerful type of Christ in the entire Old Testament. The lamb had to be without blemish, its blood applied to the doorposts, and it had to be fully consumed. When God saw the blood, He “passed over” that house. John the Baptist announced Jesus as “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Paul writes: “Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed” (1 Corinthians 5:7). Revelation 5:6, 9, 12 shows Jesus as the Lamb who was slain — worshipped for all eternity.
📌 Manna from Heaven (Exodus 16)
God provided bread from heaven to sustain His people in the wilderness. Jesus declared: “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry” (John 6:35). The manna was a daily provision requiring daily dependence — just as we depend on Christ daily for spiritual sustenance.
📌 Water from the Rock (Exodus 17)
Moses struck the rock and water flowed out to quench the thirst of the people. Paul confirms: “That rock was Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:4). Jesus declared: “Whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst” (John 4:14). He also cried out: “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink” (John 7:37-38).
📌 “I AM” — The Name of God (Exodus 3:14)
When Moses asked God His name at the burning bush, God replied: “I AM WHO I AM.” This name — Yahweh — means God is self-existent, without beginning or end, self-sufficient and responsible for all that exists. Jesus repeatedly declared “I AM” in John’s Gospel: “I am the bread of life” (6:35); “I am the light of the world” (8:12); “I am the gate” (10:9); “I am the resurrection” (11:25); “Before Abraham was, I AM” (8:58).
📌 The Scapegoat — Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16)
On the Day of Atonement, the high priest placed his hands on a goat, confessing all Israel’s sins over it, and then sent it into the wilderness — symbolically carrying away the sins of the people. Jesus bore all the world’s sins and was crucified outside Jerusalem (Hebrews 13:12). He is the ultimate scapegoat who carried our sin far away — never to be remembered (Psalm 103:12).
📌 Jesus — Our Great High Priest (Leviticus 16; Hebrews 9–10)
Human high priests had to first make atonement for their own sins before making atonement for the people — and they had to repeat this every year. Jesus, being sinless, needed no atonement for Himself, and His one sacrifice was “once for all time” (Hebrews 10:10). He is our eternal High Priest who intercedes for us at the right hand of the Father (Hebrews 7:25).
📚 Key Scripture
“For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.” — Leviticus 17:11
📝 Study Questions
- The Passover Lamb in Exodus 12 had to be “without blemish.” In what ways does Jesus perfectly fulfil the requirements of the Passover Lamb? (See also 1 Peter 1:18-19.)
- The manna from heaven required daily dependence on God. How does this mirror our need to depend on Jesus — the Bread of Life — on a daily basis in your own life?
- The Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16) required a sacrifice every single year. Hebrews 10:1-14 contrasts this with Jesus’ once-for-all sacrifice. What does the “once for all” nature of Jesus’ sacrifice mean for your assurance of salvation?
- God’s laws in Leviticus covered every area of life — food, health, justice, and relationships. What does this tell us about God’s interest in the whole of human life, not just our “spiritual” moments?