Stand over there, arrange the wood, wash various animal parts, remove the fat and bloodgod at a sacrifice is a lot like a typea dad at a bbq. Yet the great climax of this book can be clearly seen in leviticus 16 where god gives the instructions for making atonement for sin on the great day of atonement yom kippur. The book of hebrews makes much of these connections, emphasizing again and again that jesus is the great high priest heb. In chapter 10, however, aaron is installed as the high priest, and he very much comes into his own. The book reflects the ideals of worship and holiness that were accepted in israel from the time of moses to the fall of jerusalem in 586587 b. The priest was to cleanse the house with blood and water. The tent of worship leviticus remember, when jesus died on the cross, the veil in solomons temple tore from top to bottom. The book of leviticus is truly of great value to gods servants today, even as it was to his servants in ancient times. Seiss scholarly treatment of the teachings of this book. And then in leviticus we find that some of these specific laws or regulations are for priests. The high priest could only enter the most holy place once a year on the day of atonement to offer sacrifices for all the people, including himself hebrews 9. Priests to be holy and undefiled 19 high priest not to defile himself 1015 priests to have no physical defects 1624 22. Yeshua did not do away with the sacrificial system, he transformed it. Harrison has written leviticus is thus a work of towering spirituality, which through the various sacrificial rituals points the reader unerringly to the atoning death of jesus, our great high priest.
The last half of leviticus 6 and a lot of leviticus 7. The high priest, the one among his brothers who has had the anointing oil poured on his head and who has been ordained to wear the priestly garments, must not let his hair become unkempt or tear his clothes. Aaron, the high priest, or 2 the officiating priest, as in. If the plague was spread in the walls of the house, the priest would command that they take away the stones in which the plague was, and they were. Second, aarons sons represent the church and kingdom of god, as that holy priesthood of believers who serve god in the holy place day and night 1 pet. We left exodus in the tabernacle, but we did not know what to do with it. Now i want to remind you that aaron is the high priest, the chief priest, and his sons are to follow him. Now keep in mind, also, that once a year the high priest would go into the holy of holies, and he would take blood to cover the sins of all the people. This is a beautiful picture of how our great high priest always holds in public purview his ultimate purpose in.
They were to administer the sacrifices with the articles described by god to moses on the mountain exodus 2527. Moses provisional priestly role seems to come to an end here. God held the priests to the most stringent standards of behavior and ritual purity leviticus 21. As we have already learned from the book of leviticus the word holiness really means wholeness. Yes and no yes, in the sense that as i will later cover in leviticus 10, the ordination of these high priests is akin to the ordination of ministers and pastors. Priests are set aside for covenant worship 810 in leviticus 8 to 10, priests are set aside for covenant worship. In that sense, todays ordination of ministers does not make them any. The book of leviticus reports events that took place for the most part at mount sinai. Other readers will always be interested in your opinion of the books youve read. The office of high priest was first given to aaron and his sons, following the establishment of the mosaic covenant on mt.
When the high priest entered into the holy of holies and sprinkled the blood upon the mercy seat the sins of the entire nation for the previous year were forgiven by god. Our great high priest leviticus redeemers grace church. A house with leprosy was cleansed with blood and water. Gods purpose among men is to make us into whole people again. Priests are mentioned many times in exodus and leviticus. Hebrews, like pauls letter to the romans, is one thought from beginning to end. Another thing that god starts giving directions about is, well, direction. It tells us how to use the tabernacle, and how a sinful people can approach god. The book of leviticus is the book of fellowship or communion. In light of our beginning the book of hebrews, one cannot properly understand hebrews 4. Our great high priest leviticus you shall be holy to me, for i the lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine leviticus 20.
One day a year, the high priest made a sacrifice for all of israel, sacrificing one goat for their sins. The name leviticus was given to the third book of the pentateuch by the ancient greek translators because a good part of this book deals with concerns of the priests, who are of the tribe of levi. In exodus god saved his people and formed an alliance with them. Why leviticus is the most important book in the bible. Minus understanding leviticus, you will never grasp the depths of yeshuas sacrifice lintro4. Why is it customary in the rabbinical tradition for the jewish children to begin learning the torah of yhvh with leviticus rather than genesis.
Leviticus has a lot of rules about putting things in order, starting right away in chapter one. He is the great prophet, like unto whom the messiah will be deut. New living translation the high priest has the highest rank of all the priests. Choose three references to jesus pictures of christ in leviticus from the list below. Jesus christ, being the great high priest, has declared all houses unclean. The book of leviticus new international commentary on the. In exodus, the lord calls his people to become a holy nation, a kingdom of priests. What is covered in leviticus 16 is covered in hebrews 410, so we will take an expanded view of the role of high priest as revealed in messiah yeshua. Even though aaron was the first high priest mentioned in the book of exodus, louis ginzberg in legends of the jews noted that in legends the first man that assumed the title of high priest of god is enoch, who was succeeded by methuselah, lamech, noah, shem, melchizedek, abraham, isaac and levi. Whether youve loved the book or not, if you give your honest and detailed thoughts then people will find new books that are right for them. It explains how they are to be his holy people and to worship him in a holy manner. Aaron and christ, or the typology of the priesthood slj. They reached from the waist to the knees and so were not visible, being entirely hidden by the priestly tunic. Even including some of the whole burnt offering and the priest that offereth any mans burnt offering, even the priest shall have to himself the skin of the burnt offering which he hath offered.
Aaron was the first high priest and his male descendants became priests, with the firstborn son in each generation inheriting the high priesthood. Every priest was a levite, but not every levite was a priest. In leviticus the principles of approaching god are shown. In this series, pastor strachan talks about the roles of the levitical priests and how that is relevant to the new testament believer priests. Leviticus with book summary versebyverse bible commentary. He was consecrated not by a ceremony but he was consecrated by his sufferings on the cross at calvary and he was installed and recognized as our great high priest. Only aaron could make atonement in the holy of holies, because he represented christ our great high priest who alone could and would put away sin by the sacrifice of himself heb. Among other things, it stresses the exceeding sinfulness of sin and the need for an atoning sacrifice, the sanctity of blood and the importance of justice and love.
The message spoken of here is a message of us taking on the nature of christ through his propitiating and cleansing work of his own blood and the waters and oil of the spirit. They are given a highly responsible role of stewarding the sheep in the shepherd s stead, though of course, aligning to the shepherds teachings. Leviticus means concerning the levites and as the work of the ancient levites is explained so the prophesied work of the great and divine high priest is being explained. Holy days and festivals 144 sabbath 3 passover 4, 5 festival of unleavened bread 68 offering of firstfruits 914. For this reason, moses could have compiled this book for.
This book reveals things to come in the kingdom of christ by showing us in the day of atonement chap. Jesus christ is both our high priest and the lamb of god who takes. Also the tithe laws indicated about a ratio of 10 levites to one priest in leviticus, but ezra 8. Earlier this morning i was thinking about the duties of the high priest of israel on this great day of atonement. Halleys bible handbook says this about the book of leviticus. The high priest of the new covenant was appointed in eternity our lord jesus christ. Above all, jesus is the perfect high priest who enters not the earthly tabernacle once a year on the day of atonement leviticus 16, but has ascended to the heavenly tabernacle forever, because he has not offered merely a goat for the sins of his people, but his own life heb. Jesus is the perfect sacrifice that makes all other sacrifices unnecessary. Now, in leviticus, he must specify what they need to do to attain that holiness, how they are to function as a. Holiness in this sense means to be separated from sin and set apart exclusively to the lord for his purpose and for his glory. Leviticus is a manual of regulations enabling the holy king to set up his earthly throne among the people of his kingdom. As the priest he is the officially appointed intercessor who brings man to god.
Therefore jehovah speaks primarily out of the tabernacle of congregation in this book chap. At the center of the book of leviticus is the day of atonement. The priests of nehemiahs day seem opposed to reform, whereas leviticus magnifies the office of high priest. Christ is the great high priestand the book of leviticus describes the office of the high priest, a type of christ. Priestly purity and the eating of holy things 116 only sound offerings acceptable 1733 23. Why leviticus is one of the least understood books in the bible lintro2.
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