Leviticus E-Book

Michael LeFebvre

• Herausgeber: Crossway
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Serie: Knowing the Bible
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 108

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016

Beschreibung

The Knowing the Bible series is a resource designed to help Bible readers better understand and apply God's Word. These 12-week studies lead participants through books of the Bible and are made up of four basic components: (1) reflection questions help readers engage the text at a deeper level; (2) "Gospel Glimpses" highlight the gospel of grace throughout the book; (3) "Whole-Bible Connections" show how any given passage connects to the Bible's overarching story of redemption, culminating in Christ; and (4) "Theological Soundings" identify how historic orthodox doctrines are taught or reinforced throughout Scripture. With contributions from an array of influential pastors and church leaders, these gospel-centered studies will help Christians see and cherish the message of God's grace on every page of the Bible. The book of Leviticus can be challenging for contemporary readers, but it has an important message for the modern church. Indeed, the laws outlined in this book are more than just archaic rules. Rather, they reveal the holiness of God and the forgiveness he offers to all who sincerely repent. In this accessible study, pastor Michael LeFebvre helps readers understand how the rituals in the Old Testament law point to Christ's work of atonement at the cross—highlighting the riches of the gospel for Christians today.

Leseprobe

LEVITICUS

A 12-WEEK STUDY

Michael LeFebvre

Knowing the Bible: Leviticus, A 12-Week Study

Copyright © 2015 by Crossway

Published by Crossway 1300 Crescent Street Wheaton, Illinois 60187

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided for by USA copyright law. Crossway® is a registered trademark in the United States of America.

Some content used in this study guide has been adapted from the ESV Study Bible (Crossway), copyright 2008 by Crossway, pages 211–256. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Cover design: Simplicated Studio

First printing 2016

Printed in the United States of America

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

All emphases in Scripture quotations have been added by the author.

Trade paperback ISBN: 978-1-4335-4796-6 EPub ISBN: 978-1-4335-4799-7 PDF ISBN: 978-1-4335-4797-3 Mobipocket ISBN: 978-1-4335-4798-0

Crossway is a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

VP           26    25    24    23    22    21    20    19    18    17    16

15    14    13    12    11    10    9    8    7    6    5    4    3    2    1

TABLEOF CONTENTS

  Cover PageTitle PageCopyrightSeries Preface: J. I. Packer and Lane T. DennisWeek 1:     OverviewWeek 2:     Offering the Sacrifices (1:1–6:7)Week 3:     Sharing the Sacrifice Meals (6:8–7:38)Week 4:     Introducing the Priesthood (8:1–10:20)Week 5:     Clean and Unclean Meats (11:1–47)Week 6:     Clean and Unclean Bodily Conditions (12:1–15:33)Week 7:     The Day of Atonement (16:1–34)Week 8:     Holy and Unholy Meats (17:1–16)Week 9:     Holy and Unholy Moral Conditions (18:1–20:27)Week 10:   Perfection of Priests and Sacrifices (21:1–22:33)Week 11:   Observing the Sacrifice Festivals (23:1–25:55)Week 12:   Blessings and Discipline (26:1–27:34)

SERIES PREFACE

KNOWING THE BIBLE, as the series title indicates, was created to help readers know and understand the meaning, the message, and the God of the Bible. Each volume in the series consists of 12 units that progressively take the reader through a clear, concise study of that book of the Bible. In this way, any given volume can fruitfully be used in a 12-week format either in group study, such as in a church-based context, or in individual study. Of course, these 12 studies could be completed in fewer or more than 12 weeks, as convenient, depending on the context in which they are used.

Each study unit gives an overview of the text at hand before digging into it with a series of questions for reflection or discussion. The unit then concludes by highlighting the gospel of grace in each passage (“Gospel Glimpses”), identifying whole-Bible themes that occur in the passage (“Whole-Bible Connections”), and pinpointing Christian doctrines that are affirmed in the passage (“Theological Soundings”).

The final component to each unit is a section for reflecting on personal and practical implications from the passage at hand. The layout provides space for recording responses to the questions proposed, and we think readers need to do this to get the full benefit of the exercise. The series also includes definitions of key words. These definitions are indicated by a note number in the text and are found at the end of each chapter.

Lastly, for help in understanding the Bible in this deeper way, we would urge the reader to use the ESV Bible and the ESV Study Bible, which are available online at www.esvbible.org. The Knowing the Bible series is also available online. Additional 12-week studies covering each book of the Bible will be added as they become available.

May the Lord greatly bless your study as you seek to know him through knowing his Word.

J. I. PackerLane T. Dennis

WEEK 1: OVERVIEW

Getting Acquainted

Leviticus—the center book of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible)—reveals the heart of Old Testament law.1 Portions of the law teach the holiness God requires of his people. Other portions teach the forgiveness God offers to restore sinners to holiness. The major focus of Leviticus is atonement,2 God’s provision for forgiveness. Readers often find Leviticus difficult to understand since it is written in the language of ancient ritual, with rules about festivals, sacrifices, ritual washings, and the like. Nevertheless, rich lessons on the atonement offered through Christ will reward those who undertake its study.

As we begin our study of Leviticus, it will help to bear in mind that ritual is “acted theology.” Rituals are prescribed actions whereby the Old Testament people of God expressed and passed on what they believed about sin3 and atonement. Their method of expressing faith (i.e., ritual) is unfamiliar to many modern readers; but as we explore the Levitical rites in this study, the truths confessed by Old Testament believers will become delightfully familiar to New Testament Christians.

Reading Leviticus is like rummaging through an old chest in the attic. Though confronted with many strange items from a bygone era, the photos you encounter present faces of ancestors with a striking resemblance to your own. Likewise, the rituals of Leviticus are unfamiliar relics of a bygone era, but in them we discern the early outlines of the same gospel4 we cherish as Christians. (For further background, see the ESV Study Bible, pages 211–216; available online at www.esvbible.org.)

Placing It in the Larger Story

Leviticus is the third of the five Books of Moses (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy). Exodus brought the people out of Egypt to Mount Sinai, where the tabernacle was constructed. Numbers will take the people from Mount Sinai to the border of the Promised Land. Nestled in between those two books, Leviticus takes place during the course of one month at the foot of Mount Sinai (Ex. 40:17; Num. 1:1). It was the first month of the tabernacle’s operation, when the people learned lessons on communion with God, who dwelt in their midst. The book’s rich descriptions of sacrifices, moral holiness, and ritual purity provided ancient Israel with a gripping vision for living at one (“at-one-ment”) with God.

The New Testament teaches that Jesus came to fulfill the atonement taught in the Old Testament law (Matt. 5:17). That means the rituals of the law should no longer be practiced (Heb. 8:13; 10:1), but it also means that we can gain insight into Christ’s work by studying those rituals (Luke 24:27). The Old Testament law (including Leviticus) is like the blueprints of a building: once the building is finished, its blueprints are no longer needed, but they are still useful for understanding the finished product. When we study these “blueprints” of atonement, we explore the riches of what Christ came to fulfill.

Key Verse

“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” (Lev. 17:11).

Date and Historical Background

It is not clear how soon Leviticus was written after the events it records. Scholars have advanced numerous theories concerning the production of the Pentateuch (including Leviticus), but there is no conclusive reason to question the testimony preserved within Scripture. Moses is identified in Leviticus itself as the one who received the laws from God contained in its pages, and Moses is elsewhere described as writing down various collections of the laws God gave at Mount Sinai (Ex. 24:4, 7; Deut. 31:9, 24). For these reasons, Moses has traditionally been recognized as the primary author of the entire Pentateuch, including Leviticus. That would mean Leviticus was originally written during Moses’ lifetime, in the fifteenth or thirteenth century BC.

Outline

The outline used in this study is based on the presence of a pattern called chiasm. In a chiasm, the first half of the text presents a series of topics, which the second half repeats in reverse order. The center of the chiasm (where the two halves meet) is the focal point of the text. The following chiasm points to the Day of Atonement (IV) as the focus of Leviticus. Three topic categories are repeated in mirror image on both sides of that center: Sacrifices (I/VII), Priesthood (II/VI), and Cleanness/Holiness (III/V). The closing set of Blessings and Curses (VIII) is located outside the chiasm as a seal to close the book.

    I.   Sacrifices (1:1–7:38)

   II.   Priesthood: Its Appointment (8:1–10:20)

  III.   Laws of Clean and Unclean (11:1–15:33)

   IV.   Day of Atonement (16:1–34)

    V.   Laws of Holy and Unholy (17:1–20:27)

  VI.   Priesthood: Its Continuation (21:1–22:33)

 VII.   Sacrifice Festivals (23:1–25:55)

VIII.   Blessings, Discipline, and Responses (26:1–27:34)

As You Get Started

Have you ever studied or heard a sermon series about Leviticus? What key lessons have you learned from Leviticus in the past, and what do you hope to gain from this study?

Have you ever studied the New Testament book of Hebrews, which offers significant interpretations for several important rituals from Leviticus? What have you learned about the Old Testament festivals and sacrifices from Hebrews or other New Testament books?

A wedding ceremony is one setting in which rituals are still commonly practiced. As we think about how rituals express beliefs, discuss several symbolic aspects of a wedding and the truths about marriage expressed by those actions.

Jesus came to be the “Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). How do you expect this study of Leviticus to help you grow in grace and joy in Christ?

As You Finish This Unit . . .

Read Hebrews 9:23–28 and pray for God’s Spirit to enrich your faith in Christ through your study of Leviticus’s shadows of his work of atonement.

Definitions

1Law – When spelled with an initial capital letter, “Law” refers to the first five books of the Bible (see also Pentateuch). The law contains numerous commands of God to his people, including the Ten Commandments and instructions regarding worship, sacrifice, and life in Israel. The NT often uses “the law” (lower case) to refer to the entire body of precepts set forth in the books of the Law.

2Atonement – The reconciliation of a person with God, often associated with the offering of a sacrifice. Through his death and resurrection, Jesus Christ made atonement for the sins of believers. His death satisfied God’s just wrath against sinful humanity, just as OT sacrifices symbolized substitutionary death as payment for sin.

3Sin – Any violation of or failure to adhere to the commands of God, or the desire to do so.

4Gospel – A common translation for a Greek word meaning “good news,” that is, the good news of Jesus Christ and the salvation he made possible by his crucifixion, burial, and resurrection. “Gospel” with an initial capital letter refers to each of the biblical accounts of Jesus’ life on earth (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John).

WEEK 2: OFFERING THE SACRIFICES

Leviticus 1:1–6:7

The Place of the Passage

Leviticus begins with sacrifice instructions. There were five kinds of sacrifices used in Old Testament worship: burnt offerings (1:1–17), grain offerings (2:1–16), peace offerings (3:1–17), sin offerings (4:1–5:13), and guilt offerings (5:14–6:7). These offerings were all part of a process called “making atonement” (note the repetition of that phrase throughout this passage). The process of atonement is too rich for just one kind of sacrifice to represent it, so Leviticus appoints five sacrifice rituals to express different aspects of the singular work of atonement.

The Big Picture

The people of Israel are able to enter God’s presence because of the thorough system of atonement he put in place.

Reflection and Discussion

Read each of the five sacrifice sections one at a time, using the provided questions to guide your reflection after each reading.

Burnt Offerings (1:1–17)

For this offering, the entire sacrifice was burned as a “food offering with a pleasing aroma to the LORD