Topic: How to Read Leviticus

I want to give you five things to assist you in understanding the book of Leviticus.

1. It is a bloody book. It is not a boring book. There are sacrifices galore. There are all kinds of—and I use the word appropriately here—gore and guts. It is the kind of book a guy can really get into, you know? I mean, just reading it and like, hey, this is my kind of book. One of the reasons it is so bloody is because it contains five offerings. The first of those was called the whole burnt offering and it is explained in Leviticus 1.

2. It is a manly book. Even a quick read tells you that coming before God is not for the faint of heart. It took a lot not only to be a priest, but to handle the animals, to be involved in all the sacrifices, to carry all the tabernacle stuff. Those things were difficult, but it also took a lot to be a man in the society of Jerusalem—in the society of the Israelites. I don’t think Israelite men who followed Jesus were wimps. Truly, I think they were pretty tough. They had to take their animals, sacrifice them, kill them, and lead their family in that. There is a lot to Leviticus that makes me realize it takes a real man to follow Jesus.

3. It is a prophetic book. It really points to Jesus in a lot of ways. All the books of the Bible do, but Leviticus especially because of its bloodiness and because of its sacrificial nature. We will see Jesus on every page. It will be awesome.

4. It is a worshipping book. It lays out for us the structural and regulatory ways they were to bring their sacrifices. We see exactly how the Israelites worshipped God.

5. It is an expensive book. They were bringing the best of their herd, the best of their flock. They were bringing the best of their birds. They were bringing the first fruits of their harvest. They were giving the best of their time in different festivals and feasts. If you were an Israelite, you didn’t just enter into this worship of Yahweh with some like casual mentality. It was an expensive environment. This is because we know that God desires our all and our best. As I look at Leviticus 1 and I read how they brought the best of their herd and their flock or their birds, I am struck with something quite intriguing and convicting. There was no garage sale mentality in Israel.

Reading Leviticus that way gains a lot more interest. As you read Leviticus reflect on this challenging question that comes from Leviticus, “Are you living a life of minimal obedience?” In so many ways whether it is our finances, our relationships, our time, we minimally obey.

See you Sunday,

Dr. Scott Kallem