Why Leviticus?

Holiness paves the way to walking in God’s favor. Holiness opens the door to living in harmony with God’s people. Holiness creates the space to celebrate the wonder of God who fashions human beings into his very own people. When we get holiness right, we ourselves become a sacred offering—a special gift, a pleasing aroma to the Lord.

The Journey // Focus: Leviticus 1:3, 9, 10, 13, 14, 17

When you present an animal as an offering to the Lord… It is a special gift, a pleasing aroma to the Lord.

For years in my annual journey through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, coming to the book of Leviticus was like my semiannual trip to the dentist to get my teeth cleaned. It was a necessity, but not one I took pleasure in. When it came to Leviticus, I endured it; I didn’t enjoy it—until I began to understand God’s loving intent in laying out in detail the role of the Levites and priests along with the offerings and feast in the national life of his newly formed community, Israel.

This fledgling nation is now camped at the foot of Mt. Sinai. They will be here for about two years for teaching and training and learning when, where and how to meet with God. Moses was their leader, their representative before God and God’s spokesman to them. He is the essential author of the first five books of the Bible, including this one, Leviticus. The title is actually derived from a Latin word that simply means, pertaining to the Levites.

Now understand that the book doesn’t specifically pertain to the Levites, although in a general sense, the tribe of Levi was entrusted with the ceremonial worship of God and the physical care of the Tabernacle. But in a particular sense, Leviticus deals with a certain segment of the Levites, the Priests, and how they were to guide the people into communion with God through a system of offerings, and to a lesser extent, through several religious feasts they were to observe throughout the year.

The key verse has to be Leviticus 19:2, a verse that really captures the heart of Leviticus: “Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.”

Obviously, from the verse, we see that holiness is the real theme of Leviticus. In fact, the word holiness appears more in Leviticus than in any other book, to the tune of 152 times. Now holiness may be defined in different ways, depending on who you ask, but from this book, what does holiness really mean, and what is the purpose of a book about holiness?

Here is the answer, as I see it: we were created in God’s image (which includes holiness), and were made for close relationship with him (which requires holiness). When that image was shattered and fellowship broken by sin, we were rendered unholy, left incomplete and in need of restoration. Levitcus is about that restoration to fellowship and spiritual wholeness and relationship through holiness.

How can that happen; how can an unholy people have fellowship and relationship with a holy God? Leviticus shows us the way. There are three interconnected requirements laid out in Leviticus that we need to observe to be restored to holiness:

1. First, we are restored to God by taking care of the sin that separates a holy God from an unholy people, which is accomplished through a system of sacrificial offerings, described for us in Leviticus 1-10. (Vertical worship) Of course, as New Testament believers, the Old Testament system of sacrifice has been replaced by the once-for-all sacrificial death of Jesus.
2. Second, we are restored to fellowship by worshipping God with our daily lives. We take care of sin, then we walk with God. Communion with the living God is the essence of worship; worship is the offering of everyday life to God. That’s why we read of purity laws and rules for living in community with one another in Leviticus 11-22. (Horizontal worship)
3. We are restored to relationship with God through celebration. The last few chapters, Leviticus 23-27, give us instructions for the celebratory feasts these people were to observe. You see, an essential part of relationship with God is partying—celebrating God by remembering what he has done, thanking him for his goodness, and rededicating our lives for his purpose. That is what the feasts were for. (Vertical and horizontal worship)

The bottom line to Leviticus, and to all the Bible’s teaching on holiness, is that it paves the way to walking in God’s favor. Holiness opens the door to living in a way that produces harmony among God’s people. And holiness creates the space to celebrate the wonder of this God who is fashioning human beings into his very own people.

When we get holiness right, we ourselves have become a sacred offering—a special gift, a pleasing aroma to the Lord.