Download - SlideBoom

• For most Christians, Leviticus is one of
the most unread books in the Bible.
• Yet for centuries, Jewish children started
learning this book first.
Importance of Leviticus
• No book of the bible contains more of the direct
words of God than Leviticus.
• Leviticus is quoted about 40 different times in
the New Testament.
• A proper understanding of the book of Hebrews
is impossible without an understanding of
Leviticus.
• The foundation of the Christian doctrine of
atonement (the idea of transferring our guilt and
sin to Christ) is found in Leviticus.
• Leviticus receives its name from the
Septuagint and means “relating to the
Levites.”
• The Levites were the priests who were
chosen of God to minister to the nation.
• The book of Leviticus contains many of
the laws given by God to direct them in
their work as priests for the worship of
God.
Christ as Seen in Leviticus:
• (1) The Five Offerings all typify the
person and work of Christ in His sinless
life, submission to the Father that we
might have fellowship with God.
• (2) The High Priest is a very prominent
type of Christ in Leviticus.
• (3) The Seven Feasts are prophetic of the
Savior.
• Leviticus falls into two basic divisions: Sacrifice (public
worship) and Sanctification (private worship)
• I. Holy sacrifices to a Holy God (1-16)
• A. The Laws of Sacrifice for Approach to God (1-7)
• B. The Laws of Consecration of the Priests (8-10)
• C. The Laws of Purity (11-15)
• D. The Laws of National Atonement (16)
• II. Holy Living before a Holy God (17-27)
• A. The Laws of Sanctification for God’s People (17-20)
• B. The Laws of Sanctification for God’s Priests (21-22)
• C. The Laws of Sanctification in Worship (23-24)
• D. The Laws of Sanctification in the Land of Canaan (25-26)
• E. The Laws of Sanctification and Vows (27)
Purpose
• The book of Exodus concludes in Exodus
40 with the glory of God filling the
Tabernacle. The book of Leviticus begins
by God calling to Moses from the
Tabernacle. The book of Leviticus defines
for this redeemed people how to maintain
proper fellowship with their glorious God
who now dwells among them.
• The theme of the book is the holiness of God
and His expectations for holiness amongst His
people.
• Holiness is to be separate or sacred; to be set
apart for specific purpose.
• Holiness is conformity of our heart and life to
the purity of God’s moral and worship
standards.
• Leviticus 11:45 says, “Be holy, because I am
holy.” The directives given in the book of
Leviticus showed Israel was to walk before God
as a holy people.
• Thus, Leviticus answers the important
foundational religious question, “How can
an unholy people approach a holy God?”
• Leviticus shows a redeemed Israel that
the only way to God is by sacrifice and the
walk with God by separation.
• All the sacrifices in this book point to the
“the Lamb of God, which taketh away the
sin of the world.” (John 1:29)
• Leviticus also intends to show how Israel
was to fulfill its covenant responsibility to
be 'a kingdom of priests and a holy nation'
(Ex 19:6; Lev 26:5).”
• This can be understood in two
dimensions:
• First, God desires Israel to be set apart
from the other nations. They should
believe, act, and look differently than
Egypt and Canaan.
• Secondly, God has called Israel to be set apart
for a specific purpose. God has called Israel
apart to be a kingdom of priests. A priest is an
intermediary between God and others. Israel is
to be a kingdom which has been set apart to be
an intermediary between God and the rest of
the world. It was through the nation Israel that
God desired to reach the world through his
people, and thus fulfill the Abrahamic covenant,
which says, “in you all the families of the earth
shall be blessed.”
The themes of Leviticus find their
fulfillment in the New Testament
• All Christians are holy, 'saints' in most English
translations. That is, they have been called by God to be
his people just as ancient Israel had been (Col. 1:2; 1
Pet. 1:2; 2:9-10; cf. Exod. 19:5-6).
• But this state of holiness must find expression in holy
living (Col. 1:22; 1 Pet. 1:15).
• Sanctification is expressed through obedience to the
standard of teaching (Rom. 6:17-19), just as in Leviticus
through obedience to the law.
• Peter urges his readers to make the motto of Leviticus
their own: 'Be holy, for I am holy' (1 Pet. 1:16).
• The imitation of God is a theme that unites the ethics of
Old and New Testaments (cf. Matt. 5:48; 1 Cor. 11:1).
PART 1:
HOLY SACRIFICES TO A HOLY
GOD
“And the LORD called unto Moses, and
spake unto him out of the tabernacle of the
congregation, saying…” (Leviticus 1:1)
The story of Leviticus picks up where
Exodus left off.
Israel is still camped out at the base of
Mount Sinai, and they will remain there all
through the Book of Leviticus.
• “Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto
them, If any man of you bring an offering unto
the LORD, ye shall bring your offering of the
cattle, even of the herd, and of the flock.”
(Leviticus 1:2)
• The sacrificial system was an essential element
of the Mosaic covenant, because it was
impossible to live up to the requirements of the
law. Sin was dealt with through sacrifice.
• This was not the beginning of God’s sacrificial
system. Adam knew of sacrifice (Genesis 3:21),
as did Cain and Abel (Genesis 4:3-4), and
• Israel's initial relationship with God as His
redeemed people had been established
through the Passover sacrifice on the
night of their deliverance from Egypt. The
offerings presented at the Tabernacle
were the means of maintaining that
relationship between the Israelites and
their God
• Peace with God was the goal of all the sacrifices.
• The first three offerings presented in Leviticus
were offerings of worship that were made in
communion and to celebrate communion with the
Lord. “Of a sweet savor unto the LORD.” (ref Lev
1:9)
• Each of these offerings reveals what is essential
for or what results from a relationship between a
redeemed sinner and a holy God
• In the revelation of the first three offerings, God
described the most valuable sacrifice first and then
the less valuable.
Burnt Offering
• The burnt offering (in Greek, holokautoma, from
which we get the word "holocaust“) was for
atonement by expressing the offerer's complete
consecration to Yahweh (cf. Matt. 22:37; Rom.
12:1-2) and provided a way for God's complete
acceptance of the worshiper.
• The burnt offering was more about total
surrender to God than about sin.
• The priests offered a burnt offering every
morning and every evening, and more
frequently on holy days.
• The idea behind the Hebrew word for atonement
(kâphar) is to cover. The idea is that an individual's
sin is covered over by the blood of the sacrificial
victim.
• The word kâphar is used almost fifty times in
Leviticus
• But there is a difference between the Old
Testament idea of atonement and the New
Testament idea. In the Old Testament, sin is
“covered over” until redemption was completed by
Jesus on the cross. In the New Testament, sin is
done away with - and a true “at-one-ment” was
accomplished by Jesus’ sacrifice.
• The animal must not have any obvious defect. God
would not accept a defective sacrifice.
• Israel did not always live up to this standard, and
much later the Prophet Malachi rebuked Israel for
offering God sub-standard sacrifices: “And if ye
offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye
offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now
unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or
accept thy person? saith the LORD of hosts.” (Mal
1:8)
• Jesus fulfilled this standard perfectly, being a
sinless and pure sacrifice without blemish (John
8:29, 8:46, 14:30, and 15:10).
• “And he shall put his hand upon the head of the
burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him
to make atonement for him.” (Lev 1:4)
• It was not enough that the victim merely died.
The one receiving atonement had to actively
identify himself with the sacrifice. In the same
way, it is not enough to know that Jesus died
for the sins of the world. The one who would
receive His atonement must “reach out” and
identify himself with Jesus.
Grain (Meal, Meat) [firstfruits]
offering
• The grain offering was typically fine flour, mixed
with a bit of oil and frankincense. A portion of
the flour was burnt before the LORD on the
altar. The remainder was given to the priests for
their own use in making bread for the priest and
his family
• In the King James Version, the "meat offering"
is from the Old English use of the word meat as
meaning food.
• A meal offering always followed the official daily
burnt offering (cf. Num. 28), and it often
accompanied a peace offering (cf. Num. 15:3-5;
• It symbolized the sacrifice and commitment of
one's person and works to God as well as the
worshiper's willingness to keep the law
• The offering itself was the fruit of human labor.
Man cultivates the ground to provide for the
needs of man—his own needs and the needs of
other people. The grain or flour from which the
"staff of life" comes symbolized what God
enabled man to produce.
• The meal offering appears to have been
acceptable only when offered with the burnt
offering. This indicated that one's works were
acceptable to God only when they
accompanied the offerer's consecration of
• No matter what its form, the grain offering had to be
prepared at home.
• The addition of leaven or honey was prohibited. Leaven
symbolized sin, and honey was a favorite appeasement
tool offered in almost all pagan nations in their
sacrifices.
• Each grain offering must include salt.
• Salt was very valuable in the ancient world. One of Its
most important roles was as a preservative. This
function was symbolically associated with the concepts
of perseverance and endurance “neither shalt thou
suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking
from thy meat offering:” (Lev 2:13)
• The idea of the covenant of salt is repeated in Numbers
18:19 and 2 Chronicles 13:5.
Peace Offering
• It represented the fellowship between God and
man that resulted from the relationship that God
had established with the redeemed individual.
Peace and fellowship resulted from redemption,
and this act of worship highlighted those
blessings from God.
• This was not an offering to make peace with
God (this was the purpose of the sin offering of
chapter four), but an offering to enjoy the peace
of God.
• Jesus is our source of peace. (Eph 2:14; John
14:27)
• This was an optional sacrifice; an Israelite
could bring it if and when he felt like it.
• Thus it was not one of the offerings that
the priests presented daily in the
tabernacle, though God ordered its
presentation at the feast of Pentecost
(a.k.a. Harvest, Weeks; 23:19).
• In contrast to the burnt offering, a peace
offering sacrifice could be either a male or
female animal. However, the animal still
had to be without blemish.
• The greatest peace offering ever made
happened when Solomon dedicated the
temple, offering 22,000 cattle and 120,000
sheep (1 Kings 8:63).
• All the participants fed together on this
sacrifice: the offerer, the priest, and God
(symbolically). Eating together symbolized
fellowship.
• All the fat of the peace offering was to be
consumed upon the altar: “all the fat is the
LORD's.” (Lev 3:16)
• In the Scriptures, fat is used as a symbol of the
richness of life. Thus this symbolizes that all
richness belongs to Him, and comes only from
Him.
Sin (Purification) offering
• The purpose of the sin offering was, “If a soul shall
sin through ignorance against any of the
commandments of the LORD concerning things
which ought not to be done, and shall do against
any of them:” (Lev 4:2)
• There were two types of occasions that called for
the sin offering: unwitting or inadvertent sins (ch.
4) and sins of omission (5:1-13).
• Primarily, this sacrifice covered sins that sprang
from the weakness of the flesh (cf. Num. 15:27-29)
• It served for cleansing and purification. Jesus
fulfills that role today: “If we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to
• The contrast to an unintentional sin is to sin
presumptuously (Numbers 15:30). Literally, this
was “to sin with a high hand.” In other words, in
haughty, defiant rebellion against God.
• There was no atonement available for the one
whose heart was so defiantly turned against the
LORD in presumptuous sin. If your heart wasn’t
turned towards the LORD, then all the animals in
the world sacrificed on your behalf did you no
good.
• Such a sinner was "cut off from among his people"
(Num. 15:30-31).
• Very similar to the idea in 2 Thess 3:6, “that ye
Trespass (guilt) offering
• “If a soul commit a trespass, and sin
through ignorance, in the holy things of
the LORD”; (Lev 5:15)
• The guilt offering was essentially the
same procedure used in the sin offering,
except that the guilt offering was used
when someone had sinned in regard to
the holy things. This included of some
type of desecration of the tabernacle or its
associated items.
• When holy things had been desecrated in
some way, a mere sin offering was not
enough. Restitution was also required,
paying back what was lost plus twenty
percent: “and shall add the fifth part
thereto” (Lev 5:16)
• Reparation is evidence of true repentance
(cf. Matt. 3:8; 5:23-24; Luke 19:8-9).
• Christians do not need to try to
compensate God for our offenses against
Him since He has accepted the sacrifice
of Jesus Christ as full payment for our
debts (cf. 2 Cor. 5:19; Eph. 2:1; Col. 2:13).
• Nevertheless we have a responsibility to
recompense others against whom we
trespass (cf. Matt. 5:23-24; 6:12).
• The five basic sacrifices are introduced
twice:
1) In the main section addressed to the
people [1:1—6:7]
• 2) In the supplementary section
addressed to the priests [6:8—7:38]
• The main lesson to be learned is that Jesus has
fulfilled every sacrifice for us:
• “By the which will we are sanctified through the
offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
And every priest standeth daily ministering and
offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which
can never take away sins: But this man, after
he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever,
sat down on the right hand of God” (Heb 10:1012)
• JESUS FULFILLED THE BURNT
OFFERING
“…and hath given himself for us an
offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet
smelling savor.” (Eph 5:2)
• JESUS FULFILLED THE GRAIN AND
FIRSTFRUITS OFFERING
“But now is Christ risen from the dead,
and become the firstfruits of them that
slept” (1 Cor 15:20)
• JESUS FULFILLED THE PEACE
OFFERING
“Therefore being justified by faith, we
have peace with God through our Lord
Jesus Christ” (Rom 5:1)
• JESUS FULFILLED THE SIN OFFERING
“For he hath made him to be sin for us,
who knew no sin; that we might be made
the righteousness of God in him” (2 Cor
5:21)
• JESUS FULFILLED THE GUILT
OFFERING
“Who was delivered for our offences, and
was raised again for our justification.”
(Rom 4:25)
• Remember, in this book, God establishes
specific laws for His people that would set them
apart as a kingdom of priests with whom God
dwells.
• If the entire nation is to be a holy priesthood,
then the priests of this nation are called to an
even greater level of holiness. So, Leviticus
sets out even more stringent requirements for
the Levite priests. In Chapters 6-10 and 21-22,
God lays out laws of purity for the priests, such
as avoiding all dead bodies, limitations on
marriage, prohibition on “imperfect” priests, and
stringent requirements for the family of priests.
To emphasize the seriousness of these
• Chapter 11 deals with laws regarding eating
animals of land, sea, and air [which are “clean”
and “unclean”]
• Chapter 12 deals with cleansing after childbirth
• Chapters 13 and 14 deal with the subject of
leprosy. The term not only includes a number of
skin diseases, but even types of mold and fungi
appearing on garments and in houses.
• The 15th chapter of Leviticus relates to sexual
pollutions associated with various secretions
and issues.
• Chapter 16 describes the regulations for the
Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) and details the
provision God has made for dealing with all sin
in His people, whether known or unknown.
• It was the one day of the year when the high
priest would actually enter the holy of holies,
dressed not in his garments of beauty and glory
but in simple white linen undergarments, which
spoke of humility and weakness.
• It was and remains the only day of commanded
fasting on the Jewish calendar. Modern Jews
still regard Yom Kippur as an important day of
fasting, soul searching, and righting wrongs yet they offer no sacrifice for sin.
• There he offered incense for himself, the
blood of a bull for his priestly household
and finally, the blood of a goat as a sin
offering for the people.
• The blood of this sin offering had to be
sprinkled on the mercy seat, which was
the lid to the ark of the covenant
• According to Jewish tradition, it was on the Day
of Atonement that the high priest - and only the
high priest - could pronounce the name of God,
the sacred Tetragrammaton YHWH.
• When he entered the Holy Place with the blood
of the goat set apart to the LORD, he would
utter the name. He was the only one, and that
was the only time, when the name could be
uttered, and the high priest was to pass on the
exact pronunciation of the name of God to his
successor with his dying breath.
• Upon the head of a second living goat, known
as the “scapegoat” all the sins of the people
were confessed and symbolically placed, and
the goat was led away into the wilderness.
• This was a perfect demonstration of atonement
under the Old Covenant, before the completed
work of Jesus on the cross. Sin could be put
away, but never really eliminated. The sinbearing goat, bearing the sin of Israel, was alive
somewhere but put away.
• Every year, year after year, this atonement had to be
made, showing it was never completed.
• In contrast, Jesus provided a finished work: “For
Christ is not entered into the holy places made
with hands, which are the figures of the true; but
into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence
of God for us: Nor yet that he should offer himself
often, as the high priest entereth into the holy
place every year with blood of others; For then
must he often have suffered since the foundation
of the world: but now once in the end of the world
hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice
of himself. And as it is appointed unto men once to
die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was
once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto
PART 2:
HOLY LIVING BEFORE A HOLY
GOD
• Scholars often refer to chapters 17—26 as
the Holiness Code.
• Leviticus 17—26 has been called the
Holiness Code because of the frequency
of the occurrence of the phrase, attributed
to Yahweh: 'You shall be holy because I
am holy.’
• One other phrase is characteristic of these
chapters: 'I am Yahweh' (sometimes 'I am
Yahweh your God').”
• Chapter 17 deals with the sanctity of blood
• Many are offended by the amount of blood
involved in the Old Testament sacrifices, but by
this means God is telling us that the basis for
holiness is a life given up, that we can never be
holy on the basis of our natural life.
• The Israelites were forbidden to eat blood but
must remember that it is the symbol of life and
the constant reminder of the need for
atonement.
• Chapter 18 deals with laws of sexual
morality
• The New Testament writers restated the
laws on incest (cf. 1 Cor. 5:1-5), adultery
(cf. Rom. 13:9), idolatry (cf 1 Cor. 10:7-11;
Rev. 2:14), and homosexuality (cf. Rom.
1:27; 1 Cor. 6:9). They are binding on us
who live under the New Covenant.
God’s summation of all deviant
sexual practices:
• “Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all these
the nations are defiled which I cast out before you: And the land
is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the
land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants. Ye shall therefore keep
my statutes and my judgments, and shall not commit any of
these abominations; neither any of your own nation, nor any
stranger that sojourneth among you: (For all these
abominations have the men of the land done, which were
before you, and the land is defiled;) That the land spew not you
out also, when ye defile it, as it spewed out the nations that
were before you. For whosoever shall commit any of these
abominations, even the souls that commit them shall be cut off
from among their people. Therefore shall ye keep mine
ordinance, that ye commit not any one of these abominable
customs, which were committed before you, and that ye defile
not yourselves therein: I am the LORD your God. “(Lev 18:24-
• Chapter 19 is a section of general ethical
prescriptions and has been called the highest
development of ethics in the Old Testament.
• This chapter contains quotations from or
allusions to all ten of the Ten Commandments
• In essence this chapter clearly teaches that
God's people must conform to his holiness by
keeping his commandments (the letter of the
law), by dealing with others in love (the spirit of
the law), by living according to the standards of
separation in the world, and by demonstrating
kindness and justice to others
• Chapter 20 deals with punishments of severe
(in the sight of God) crimes
• To enforce the standards for purity, Leviticus
gives certain prescribed punishment. The death
penalty is required for child sacrifice, consulting
with spirits, cursing parents, for adultery and
homosexuality, and for intercourse with
animals.
• We must understand that in Christ, though
these penalties are mitigated, and opportunity
is given for repentance and forgiveness,
nevertheless the deeds are as wrong today as
• All the people were to maintain holiness before
God, but the priests had higher standards
because of their privileges in relationship to
God. Moses explained these higher regulations
in chapters 21-22.
• The priest must avoid all personal defilement,
especially keeping himself from all contact with
the dead. In his marriage he must not impair his
ministry, nor could he serve if he had physical
defects in his own body.
• Chapter 23 introduces the seven annual
feasts, which are rich with symbolic and
prophetic significance.
The Passover 23:4-5
• The first of the prescribed feasts was the
Passover, occurring in the spring of the year, on
the fourteenth day of the first month (Nisan).
• Passover was meant to commemorate Israel's
deliverance from Egypt, and with the sacrifice
of the lamb for each family, show how the blood
of the lamb averted the judgment of God for
each Israelite family.
• The feast of Passover clearly presents Jesus
as our Passover (1 Corinthians 5:7), the Lamb
of God who was sacrificed, and whose blood
was received and applied, so the wrath of God
Feast of Unleavened Bread 23:6-8
• The day after the Passover marked the
beginning of the seven-day Feast of
Unleavened Bread (vv. 6-14; cf. Num. 28:1625).
• This was one of the three feasts that all the
adult males in Israel had to attend along with
the feasts of Firstfruits and Tabernacles (Exod.
23:17; Deut. 16:16).
• Its central feature was the exclusion of all
leaven (a symbol for sin). This feast reminded
the believing Israelite that he needed to live a
clean life since God had redeemed him by the
• The feast of Unleavened Bread points to
the time of Jesus' burial, after His perfect,
sinless sacrifice on the cross, during
which He was received by God the Father
as holy and complete (the Holy One who
would not see corruption, Acts 2:27),
perfectly accomplishing our salvation.
The Feast of Firstfruits 23:9-14
• Concurrent with the feast of unleavened bread was
the feast of first fruits, which came on the day after
the Sabbath after Passover.
• This would place it on a Sunday and therefore it was
an anticipation of the resurrection of Christ, the
"first fruits from the dead.“ (1Cor. 15:20).
• The Feast of Firstfruits included the presentation of
firstfruits of the spring barley harvest in the
Promised Land. The Israelites also offered a lamb,
flour, and wine, all representative of God's
provisions of spiritual and physical food and drink
for His people.
• The feast of Firstfruits relates to the
resurrection of Jesus, who was the first
human to receive resurrection; He is the
firstborn from the dead (Colossians 1:18)
and has become the firstfruits of those
who have fallen asleep . . . Christ the
firstfruits, afterwards those who are
Christ's at His coming. (1 Corinthians
15:20, 23)
The Feast of Pentecost 23:15-22
• Fifty days after the feast of Firstfruits, at
the completion of the wheat harvest, Israel
was to celebrate the feast of Pentecost
(also known as Feast of Weeks) by
bringing a new grain offering to the LORD;
and by waving two loaves of leavened
bread unto the LORD.
• God sent the Holy Spirit to indwell
believers permanently on Pentecost,
which was the birth of the Church (Acts 2).
• Since each of the four feasts relevant to the first
coming of Jesus saw their prophetic fulfillment on
the exact day of the feast: Jesus was actually
crucified on the Passover (John 19:14). His body
would have been buried, and His holy and pure
sacrifice acknowledged by God the Father during
the Feast of Unleavened Bread following, and He
would have risen from the dead on Firstfruits, the
day after Passover's Sabbath. Additionally, the
church was founded on the actual day of
Pentecost.
• Thus, many scholars take this logic one step
further…
• Interestingly, between the first set of four feasts
and the second set of three feasts, there is a
significant time gap - almost four months, which
was a time of harvest in Israel.
• Many scholars believe this points prophetically
as a time of “harvest” for the Church, “until the
fullness of the Gentiles has come in.” (Romans
11:25)
• If this is true, scholars further postulate that the
second group of the last three feasts relate to
events connected with the second coming of
Jesus.
The Feast of Trumpets 23:23-25
• During the seventh month (Tishri) of Israel's
religious calendar three festivals took place.
• The Jews celebrated the Feast of Trumpets
(Rosh Hashanah) on the first day of this month.
• Its central feature was the loud blast of
trumpets.
• After the Babylonian captivity the Jewish civil
year began on this day. Thus Rosh Hashanah
became Israel’s New Year celebration.
Is there a connection???
• A trumpet will sound calling Christians to meet
the Lord in the air (1 Cor. 15:52; 1 Thess. 4:1617).
• It will also assemble the Israelites and herald
the Day of the Lord when God will again
resume His dealings with His people Israel in
Daniel's seventieth week (Jer. 32:37).
• Thus, some scholars believe The feast of
Trumpets speaks of the ultimate assembly of
God's people at the sound of a trumpet - the
rapture of the Church (1 Thessalonians 4:1617), and of the gathering of Israel for the
• Immediately following the Feast of
Trumpets begins the seven Days of
Affliction (also known as the "The Days of
Awe“), in anticipation of the Day of
Atonement.
• Many suggest this is prophetic of the
Tribulation
The Day of Atonement 23:26-32
• The Day of Atonement was observed on the
tenth day of the seventh month (Tishri).
• This day was a fast rather than a feast.
• The people were to "humble" or "deny”
themselves (v. 29), which involved fasting and
abstaining from their normal pleasures and
comforts (cf. 16:29). God permitted no
ordinary work on this day (vv. 28, 30-32).
• Since this was the only day the High
Priest was allowed to enter the Holy of
Holies and see God “face-to-face” …and
because this is a time when the hearts are
humbled…scholars theorize this the day
of the Lord’s return
The Feast of Tabernacles 23:33-44
• The Feast of Tabernacles began on the 15th of the
seventh month
• It commemorated the Israelites' journey from Egyptian
bondage to blessing in Canaan.
• Its other names were the Feast of Booths and the Feast
of Ingathering.
• The people built booths out of branches and lived under
these for the duration of this eight-day festival as a
reminder of their life in the wilderness.
• They presented many offerings during this holiday
(Num. 29:12-38).
• It was the only festival in which God commanded the
Israelites to rejoice, and it revolved around the harvest
of grapes and other fall field products. (Lev 23:40)
• Since this feast starts with a Sabbath and
ends with a Sabbath (periods of rest) and
it is a “joyous” time, many scholars
associate it with the establishment of the
Millennial Kingdom in Israel.
• Also, the Feast of Tabernacles is
specifically said to be celebrated during
the millennium (Zechariah 14:16-19).
• Leviticus wraps up with several
regulations for maintaining the covenant
relationship.
• God’s says in effect, “trust me, I know
what is best for you.”
• Just so you did not miss the main point: Five
times in Leviticus God says, "Be holy, for I am
holy" (11:44-45; 19:2; 20:7,26). And forty-five
times He says, "I am the Lord" or "I am the Lord
your God."
• One of the most important themes in the book
is God's call for His people to be holy. Jesus
echoed that theme when He said, "You shall be
perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect"
(Matthew 5:48).
• This begs the question: is being “perfect” your
ultimate aim in life? If not, why not????