The psalmist said of the blessed man, he walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night (Ps. 1:1-2). He delights in the law? I would guess that many read through-the-Bible plans have died in Leviticus.
Leviticus, however, is the crown jewel of the Pentateuch. If we looked at the Pentateuch as a chiasm Leviticus is the central book, and Leviticus 16, the Day of Atonement, is the central chapter. Leviticus answers the central concern of the Pentateuch, indeed the central problem of mankind, How can sinful people approach the living God? And, How can the only holy God dwell among a sinful people? This was the goal of the exodus and the tabernacle: Let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst (Ex. 25:8).
Leviticus shows us the way to God. The way to God is a problem of crossing boundaries. We must move from the realm of sin and death to the realm of life. We move from the realm of the profane to the realm of the holy. The movement from death to life requires atonement.1
Leviticus 17:112 is central to understanding Leviticus and the tabernacle system: 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 soul, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life. The way to God, the way to life, is through the blood of a substitute.
In short, Leviticus provides a framework for us to understand the person and cross work of Jesus. The psalmist meditated on the law not simply just to memorize it but because at every point it directs us to look to Christ. The tabernacle is a copy of true things (Heb. 9:24). Everything about the tabernacle, the sacrificial system, and the priesthood points in some way to the person and work of Christ: his sinless life, substitutionary death, blood atonement, resurrection, ascension, eternal intercession, and second coming.
Our approach to Leviticus will not be to get bogged down in the details but to look that the overall movement of the book and see how God has made a way dwell among his people.
The very first words of Leviticus, and YHWH called Moses,3 which form the Hebrew title of the book, direct us to look back to Eden and the fall, the LORD God called to the man (Gen. 3:9).
1) Man’s separation
The point is Leviticus is about how separation and alienation from God is to be overcome. It is one step farther in the progressive revelation of God’s redemptive grace. The trajectory from Genesis 3:9 to Leviticus 1:1 is from man’s expulsion from the divine presence to his invitation back into the divine presence.
Had Adam obeyed the command of God in the Garden, he would have achieved a state of blessedness and life that would have had no end.4 Rather his sin brought a distance between God and man that is insurmountable, as indicated by the cherubim and flaming sword posted to guard the way to the tree of life, the most holy place, the place of the divine glory presence (Gen. 3:24). Adam could not enter the Garden in his fallen state and live in blessedness but rather his efforts would have resulted in eternal separation from God. The blessedness he could no longer attain by his effort can only be obtained by grace. Salvation will come by divine initiative not human ingenuity.
To be separated from God is to be in the realm of death, separated from the life of God (Eph. 4:18). Since Adam’s exile from Eden due to sin, mankind has been in the realm of death, east of Eden, under the reign of the kind of terrors (Job 18:14; Rom 5:14,17).
2) Man’s fundamental problem
Exodus closed on an unexpected note that illustrates well the fundamental problem of separation, and how it’s overcome. When the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle, Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting (Ex 40:34-35). Moses apparently thought he would be able to enter the tent. Here again is a type of Adam outside the Garden of God with God calling to him
When the tabernacle was constructed the glory presence moved from the top of Sinai to the tabernacle (Ex. 40:34-35), the portable mountain of God, a portable Eden.5
The LORD called to Moses to reveal to him the way into the divine presence. The tabernacle was built and the LORD was present, but the tent of meeting was not open for business. The LORD called to Moses from the tent of meeting (1:1) and revealed how a sinful people may draw near (root qrb tr. Bring and offering, 1:2) to him. The way to draw near to the LORD is through the atoning blood of offerings and the mediation of the priesthood. The bookend of 1:1-2 is 9:22-24 when Moses and Aaron enter the tent of meeting the people see the glory of God.
Dear friend, not to minimize the personal experience of any person, to be separated from the divine presence is the greatest problem of man. In man’s separation, his mind is darkened and his heart has become vile. We scheme to save ourselves; we live in a world of delusion that only leads us away from God into deeper depravity. We cannot save ourselves. Sin, sorrow, and death reign in the present age. Unless we can somehow be reconciled to God and brought into his presence, we are without God and without hope in the world (Eph 2:12b).
In what follows in chapters 1-9, the way into the divine presence is revealed.
The journey in the divine presence is through the 5 primary offerings and an ordained priesthood to offer them.
A. The offerings (chs 1-7)
The primary offerings6 —burnt/ascension, grain/tribute, peace/fellowship, sin/purification, and guilt/reparation—are listed three times in Leviticus 1-9.
1) Offerings described
The first list (1:3-6:7) focuses on the worshipper or the one bringing the offering or drawing near. Depending on the social and economic status of the worshipper different offerings are allowed, so that no one is denied drawing near to the LORD. For example, the burnt/ascension offering can be a bull, sheep or goat, or birds (1:3,10,14).
The second list gives instructions for the priests administering the offerings (6:8-7:36). The list is summarized in 7:37-38.
The third list gives the procedural order in the inaugural service of the tabernacle (9:1-20). Offerings were made first for the priests and then the people. The people’s offerings are summarized in 9:15-18a.
2) The journey
The offerings are a journey into the divine presence. The way to God’s presence is no longer blocked by cherubim and a flaming sword, but opened through a burning altar and a veil—offerings and a priesthood.
Keep in the mind the words offering, offer, bring used through these chapters all come from the root to draw near. To bring an offering is to draw near, to journey into the divine presence. In Leviticus 9, the journey into the divine presence begins with the sin/purification offering (9:15) followed by the burnt/ascension offering (9:16) accompanied with the grain/tribute offering (9:16), and concluded with the peace/fellowship offering (9:18).
The journey deals with the cleansing or expiation of sin, the total consecration of one life, the bringing of a gift (always take something when you go to someone’s house), and the resulting hospitality in God’s house. There’s always food in God’s house.
The offerings aid us to better understand the fullness of the atoning work of Christ in our behalf.7 It takes the whole system of offerings to begin to understand the depth of our redemption. Aspects of his work in behalf are seen in each offering. For example, the burnt offering establishes acceptance with God and access into his presence (1:4), the peace offering shows life in communion with God, and the expiratory offerings (sin and guilt) restore fellowship with God and community.
3) Offering rites
I want us to take a moment and walk with an Israelite worshiper into the presence of God. The steps the worshiper goes through in drawing near are essentially the same for all the offerings.
First, he chooses an unblemished animal to offer (1:3). Without blemish (tamim) when applied to humans is translated blameless. He finds a blameless life to offer as a substitute. The worshipper finds acceptance before the LORD. The blameless is offered (draws near) in the place of the blameworthy.
Second, he lays (samak) one hand on the head of the animal and presses down (1:4). This is a ritual of identification or union with the animal. Unable to ascend the mountain of the LORD, he ascends through his blameless substitute. The animal is accepted to make atonement for the worshiper.
Third, the worshipper kills (sahat) the animal by cutting its throat (1:5). Picture the worshipper with one hand leaning heavily on the animal’s head and a knife in the other standing in front of the tent of meeting and beside a burning altar. This is a picture of the one without blemish (blameless) dying in the place of one most certainly worthy of blame. God must be approached through death. We must be changed to see God.
Fourth, the priest catches the blood and applies the blood in an appropriate way on holy objects, depending on the offering either the altar of burnt offering, altar of incense, the veil, or the lid of the ark (eg. Burnt offering 1: 5b). The significance of blood cannot be overstated (17:11). The blood does not signify death but life. It removes the stain of sin and death. Life ransoms from death, and life wipes away the stain of death.
Fifth, The worshipper cuts the animal in pieces, washes it, and the priest burns (hiqtir) the offering on the altar (1:6-9). Burning transforms the offering into smoke.8 This dramatically illustrates how the worshipper through the offering draws near to the LORD. The burning altar is a symbol of God’s wrath. The pleasing smoke rising from the altar is the satisfaction of God’s wrath. The escaping wrath passes from realm of death to the realm of life into the divine presence.
Sixth, the peace/fellowship offering is at the end of the journey into the presence of God. The worshipper enjoys community with God and friends (7:15-18; cf. 19-21). In the presence of God, there is always hospitality. Adam was placed in a Garden. Moses and the elders of Israel ate a meal on the Mountain of God in the presence of the God of Israel (Ex. 24:11). The church gathers around the LORD’s Table. We will eat and drink in the KOG. Entering God’s house is like entering Eden.
B. The Priesthood (8)
The offerings and the priesthood are essential to the journey into the divine presence. Leviticus 8 is the consecration of the priesthood. Israel’s priests represent the new humanity of new creation.9 This is what the priestly garments are all about. The priestly garments were for glory and beauty (Ex. 28:40). They point to the blessedness that Adam failed to achieve, and Jesus demonstrated in his resurrection and ascension to the right hand of God.
As high priest, Aaron plays the role of the new Adam of the new creation typified in the tabernacle. What Adam was to the garden in meeting with God, Aaron is to the new creation drama of the tabernacle. Thus, He anticipates the last Adam who entered not into the tabernacle made with hand, but into the heavenlies made without hands after having made atonement for our sins (Heb10:11-14; 7:23-25; 9:24-28).
The movement of Leviticus 1-9 is a journey into the presence of God through atonement and consecration leading to fellowship and blessing.
Aaron and his sons were ordained for 7 days (8:33-35), and on the eighth day, the tabernacle had its inaugural service (9:1). This phrase on the eighth is easy to miss but is fascinating.
The eighth day is the first day of a new week. It looks back to Adam in the inner sanctuary of the Garden walking with God after the creation week. The eighth day marks the inauguration of the something new. The original creation was completed in 7 days, so the eighth day is the inaugural service of the tabernacle, anticipating the new creation. Jesus rose from the dead on the third day, which was the first day of the new week or the eighth day, the day starting the new creation.
The eighth day signals the fundamental problem of not being able to enter the tent of meeting is resolved. On the eighth day the people will see the glory of God and experience his benediction.
Leviticus 9 is about the people seeing the glory of God which is the height of blessing. Three times in this section the people seeing the glory of God is stressed (9:4b,6, 23b-24). The journey into the presence of God, through the offerings and the priesthood, brings benediction of God to his people in sight of the glory of God.
After Aaron offered the sin, burnt, and peace offering in behalf of the people, he blessed the people. Like the smoke of the offering ascending into God’s presence, Aaron and Moses went into the tent of meeting. Their ascension into the tent is the people’s ascension into the presence of God. When they came out of the tent, they blessed the people and the glory of the LORD appeared to the people (9:22-23). The point is to emphasize that zenith of blessedness is to see God’s glory.
In a few minutes from now, we will hear Aaron’s blessings from Numbers 6:24-26. Numbers 6:27 says, So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them. God in blessing his people puts his name on them.
This text points to consummation when we will hear a loud voice from the throne say, Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God (Rev 21:3). So God will put his Name on us.
The way to blessing is the way of atonement.