*Welcome to Leviticus! This book is important. Those who persevere to the gospels are going to be amazed at just how important it is! ❤️ Get ready for the journey – the Father has given us another gift in this book! 

Good Morning Siblings!

Today’s readings are Leviticus 1-4

Click here to read today’s passages on BibleGateway.com

Rabbit Trails

The book of Leviticus was originally called Torat Kohanim by the Hebrews. This translates to “Priest teachings”. Nowadays, Hebrews call this book Vayikra, which means “Now He called”. Most of the books of Scripture have Hebrew names that are basically the first few words of the book. For example, Genesis is called “Bereshit” which means “In the beginning”. It might be a fun rabbit trail sometime for you to check out the Hebrew names of the books. An even more fun rabbit trail is to check out the actual names all of our key characters were called.

Author: This book is believed to be authored by Moses. Check out Lev 4:1, Lev 6:1, Lev 8:1, and Lev 11:1.

One more reminder and I’ll hush but I just think this is neat to know: Levi is pronounced “Leh-vee”. That’ll help you keep it separate from the jeans in conversation at least. 

Sacrifices- We are about to read a LOT about sacrifices: how they are to be made, when they are to be made, who is to make them, and what they are to be. I thought it might be helpful if I laid out the five types of offerings for you and a little info on each.

Types of offerings:

  • Burnt Offering or Olah Bull (Lev 1:3) , sheep or goat (Lev 1:10), dove or pigeon (Lev1:14).
  • Grain offering or Minchah – This is mostly cooked bread. It could be either be Baked (Lev2:4), Grilled (Lev 2:5), Fried (Lev 2:7), Roasted and crushed (Lev 2:14). This is always seasoned (Lev 2:13) and never contains leavening (Lev 2:13). We will see that leavening is synonymous for sin throughout the Word (with a few noted exceptions).
  • Peace Offering or Zevah or Shelem – This is Thanksgiving offerings (Lev 7:12), Freewill offerings (Lev 7:16), and Wave offerings (Lev 7:30). This offering can be cattle (Lev 3:1), Sheep (Lev 3:7), or goat (Lev 3:12). It must be without defect. Breads may also be included with this offering (Lev 7:12). Depending on the type of offering, some may be given to the high priest to eat (Lev 7:31) and the right thigh might be given to the priest overseeing the meal (Lev 7:32). The rest of the meal was to be eaten within one day (Lev 7:16) and the leftovers burned after two days (Lev 7:17)
  • Sin offering or chattath – This is considered the offering for unintentional sin but can also be used for purification. (Lev 4:2-3 and Lev 4:20). It is a burnt offering (Lev 4:25).
  • Guilt offering or asham – Sometimes this is called the trespass offering. This is to make amends for sin and usually had monetary value. Lev 5:15 and Lev 5:16

An interesting point that many don’t realize is that all of the sacrifices we will be reading about in Leviticus are for unintentional sin. There was no atonement available for intentional sin or “high handed” sin until the coming of our Messiah. Now I want to clarify something. Did I just say that YHWH would not forgive someone who committed an intentional sin? No. That is not what I said. It is fruitless to speculate on who is and is not forgiven or who does and does not receive salvation. The privilege of granting forgiveness or salvation is one that is reserved solely for YHWH.  He gives these in His wisdom, according to His will, for His good purpose.

Our job is to follow, not direct, the Creator of the Universe. 

Y’all, Messiah did so much more than we can even comprehend. The more we read now, the better we’ll understand that later.

You can learn more about high handed sin in Numbers 15:28-31 and Hebrews 10:26. Keep in mind that Hebrews was written after the time of Messiah here on earth. Something to chew on.

A system of Grace- It has always been about Grace, even the first sacrificial system. The sacrificial system was set up so that an animal died in place of the guilty party. Just as Messiah died in place of us to atone for our sins so that we may turn from our own ways, turn to God’s ways, and begin anew. This system we are reading about here is a foreshadow of Messiah and yes, both are acts of Grace. We need to recognize that and give proper credit to the Father for being this God of Grace with us. The concept that the “old” testament God was a God of judgement and the “new” testament God is a God of Grace is defaming to YHWH who is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Malachi 3:6. This teaching is the shadows of Marcionism still among us and it is up to us to stop the continuation of this teaching that stands in contradiction of His word and character.

While we’re here, I want to remind us that the Father and Messiah never referred to or condoned referring to part of His Word “old”. That was a title given to it by us. Know what Messiah and the apostles called the part of the Bible that we refer to as “old”? They called it Scripture.  And during their time here on earth, this is all there was. The “new” testament as we know it did not exist until about 400 years after Messiah ascended. This is what they lived by, studied, and taught from.

The tribe of Levi is extremely important as they are the ones ordained as priests for God’s holy dwelling place. They were adopted away from the tribes of Israel to serve Him and are no longer counted among the tribes of Israel because they are in exclusive service to YHWH. In fact, when we get to Ezra, we’ll see the rebuilding of the temple and Ezra sending folks to find Levites to serve as priests! How cool is that? It’s gonna be neat reading future books of the Bible once you have the foundation down pat because of so many details that we have overlooked in the past will suddenly come to the forefront as we understand the deeper meaning behind them.

I’m thankful to be on this journey with y’all and I want to thank each person reading this for going out of their way to build up and encourage the body of Believers to diligently read the precious words of our Father. His Word is a gift and I know that gift went unopened in my life for far too long! The more we encourage others, the more these gifts will be opened in homes around the world and His light will shine even brighter through us. I love all you shiny people!

Once we get to the Gospels, you’re going to be so glad you stayed the course now. You’ll never understand the “new” testament until you understand the “old”. Reading the “new” testament after you’ve built a foundational knowledge of Scripture is like going from a black and white silent film to a color talkie!

 


Test everything, hold tight to what is good.~ 1 Thess 5:21

We are saved by Grace alone: Obedience is not the root of our salvation, it is the fruit!

May YHWH bless the reading of His Word!

Print This Post Print This Post

Christy Jordan
Latest posts by Christy Jordan (see all)