The Journey Brought Forth "Leviticus"

This blog series is focused on God’s word bringing people through their journeys in His intentional way that He has set in front of them and brings them through to His completion.

Exodus through Malachi is the section of scripture that most Christians find themselves living in its revolving pattern of realization, but once they receive its revelation, the Third Stage of Life is what their lives are built upon instead of attempting to achieve. Leviticus is the third book of the Bible, and it shows God’s people’s journeys into the understanding of what the sacrifice truly is and how to take care of the tabernacle of God which is their bodies.

Leviticus begins with God speaking through Moses to His people about offering sacrifices for atonement. They were to lay their hands on its head and kill it their self; then cut it into pieces and hand it to the priests to finish the process by tossing its blood on the four corners of the altar, cleaning its legs and inwards, and finally burning all of it upon the altar.

This might seem cruel and unusual to people of today’s culture, but it is a portrait of what God’s people must do in their own lives and Jesus Christ, their High Priest, has accomplished for them.

Every one of the sacrifices had to be without blemish and valuable to the person giving it. There were three types of animals available for sacrifice bulls, sheep or goats, and turtle doves or pigeons; because of people’s differing financial abilities, but all of them were as acceptable to God from the proper people.

Laying of the hands on its head was symbolic of people admitting and transferring their guilt into the sacrifices being before killing it; then they killed it their self. God’s people today after they have received their sacrifice, Jesus Christ, they still must transfer their guilt and realize they are killing Jesus every time they sin and need atonement.

The next thing that happens is for the priest to take and cut it up into pieces or ring its head off and spread its blood over all four corners of the altar, symbolizing the blood atonement for God’s people for all four corners of their bodies, head to toe and fingertip to fingertip.

The final stage of atonement for God’s people in this Old Testament sacrificial system is the burning of the sacrifice. This is symbolic of Jesus going to hell and preaching to the prisoners, and also having all of His people’s sins burned off of Him through the cleansing fire.

The differences in the Old Testament sacrificial system and Jesus Christ are they were animals and not the only begotten Son of God, and once they were dead, they were dead. Jesus rose from the dead on the third day so His people could live forever with Him.

There are various other sacrifices and cleansing rituals that are too lengthy to cover in this blog series, but might be discussed in subsequent editions.

The next thing we will cover in the book of Leviticus is washing of the priests and their attire. During the Book of Exodus, the pattern and instructions for the Priest’s garments were intricately shown in detail and each part has significant symbolic meanings which we will cover a portion of in this blog. The materials were very costly materials gathered from the people of the congregation and put together in their fashion as instructed by God. There were twelve precious stones set in a breastplate to bring remembrance of the twelve tribes, a turban that had a gold plate mounted on it which had, “Holy to the Lord” engraved on it, a breast plate that contained the holy lot, an ephod (an apron) which contained two stones of remembrance which gave the High Priest security knowing God would remember the tribes of Israel, breeches (a type of linen underwear) which ensured their midsection being covered, a tunic (undershirt) of linen, and he was anointed with anointing oil that smelled good to God and His people, and was only to be made and used for the sanctuary’s duties.

The priest’s attire is once again a portrait of God’s people today. The covering of God’s people is the most valuable earthly possession any of them possess; because they are not replaceable and have been cleansed by God once they realize it. The breastplate of God’s people is what keeps them protected from the attacks of the world in a spiritual sense, the turban represents keeping their minds focused on Him, the holy lot came to the priest to prove he was the priest that was chosen to do the work of the High Priest during that time, and allows God’s people to know they have their assigned work to do as well, the linen underwear is a portrait of God’s people being covered by Him, and all of God’s children have a sweet smell to Him and His people.

There is an extensive list of things to eat and not to eat because they are clean and unclean which represent things that God’s people should take into their lives and reject which other people think is ok for them to allow in their lives. This is not about eating or not eating today, but if it is to some people. It is ok for people to think so or not if anyone knows this for themselves, either way, they should respect the other and allow them to know what they know in peace.

There is also a lengthy description of what is and what is not leprosy, how to determine which is which, and what to do about it. This allows God’s people to know the priest’s job was also to be a physician; which gives Jesus Christ the position of the Great Physician as He is the High Priest.

Only the priests could eat of the holy things, and this is also true of God’s people today. Only God’s priests can eat of His holy food, but we will discuss what this actually means in later blogs of this series.

There are feasts to be kept which include resting on the Sabbath, the feast of unleavened bread, the feast of first fruits, and the feast of trumpets/tents.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread is the feast they celebrated when they received their freedom from Egyptian bondage which signifies the freedom from sin God’s people receive from Jesus’ crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, the Feast of First Fruits signifies the reception of the Holy Ghost on the Day of Pentecost, and the Feast of Trumpets/Tents signifies God’s people’s separation from worldly culture while still on the earth.

There are instructions for a specific oil to be brought for fuel to burn a light continually in the sanctuary which signifies the light that comes through God’s people from being born again and Spirit filled.

There are years of Sabbath every seven years and Years of Jubilee every fifty years. These signify the process that man must go through to be refined as God’s redeemed children and how He gives them a reprieve from the stresses during the process occasionally. The years were revolving; so, people may have entered the cycle the first year or the three hundred sixty-fourth day of the forty-ninth year, and both were set equally free upon the fiftieth year celebration.

God reminds His people directly after they are told about the Sabbath Days not to make any idols. God knows there will be temptations and tests His people go through and that they will be distracted into looking at other things to satisfy them during the process, but also tells them it does not have to be this way, and He will give them the things they need when they are not distracted, but if they are distracted He will correct them by bringing tough times upon them to remind them that He is their supplier.

The Book of Leviticus tells about God’s loving mercy that gave every offering to His people that they would ever require before they ever needed it, how they should reverence Him, and what happens if and when they don’t reverence Him. Just like every other gift that God’s people receive, they often try to earn it instead of receiving it appropriately with appreciation