Today’s passage: Leviticus 23

Helpful thoughts:

• Chapter 23 lists the special days and feasts throughout the year to be observed in Israel.
  • The Sabbath day (Weekly)
  • The Passover (Annual – In the spring/March-April)
    • The Feast of Unleavened Bread immediately follows Passover
  • Firstfruits (Annual – Also after Passover)
  • Weeks (Annual – 50 days after Passover)
    • Also called “Pentecost” (This was being celebrated when the events of Acts 2 occurred).
  • Trumpets (Annual – In the fall/September)
  • The Day of Atonement (Annual-Fall/September-October)
  • Booths/Tabernacles (Annual-Fall/September-October)

Questions to consider:

1. What do you notice about the timing of all of these feasts/”holidays”?  What would the grouping of these occasions result in?
2. If the spring was the first months for the Jews, how would that impact these celebrations?  What would be happening during or prior to the fall-time feasts?
3. What would the faithful observance of these feasts do for the relationship of Israel (And Israelites and the Lord?  What would the faithful observance do for the bond and relationships of the people of Israel with each other?  How could this be compared with the gathering of the local church (Hebrews 10:23-25)?

Today’s passage: Leviticus 22

Helpful thoughts:

• Laws (And their explanations/exceptions) continue from chapter 21.
• These laws were also beneficial to the people of Israel outside of the priesthood.  It ensured whatever they offered to the Lord would remain ceremonially “clean” and fit for use in the tabernacle.  The priests had a responsibility before the Lord and the people to do their work with excellence.
• The priests were to be set apart and without blemish in their role, and so were the animals for sacrifice.  The Lord would only accept a sacrifice that was without blemish or defect.  Being without sin, Christ became our “sacrificial lamb.”

Questions to consider:

1. As we come closer to the end of Leviticus, what themes have formed?  Even though there have been several different commands, what ideas/principles tie them all together?
2. What reasons were given for the obedience of Israel in verses 31-33?  How might we state this for the people of God (The Church) today?  Why should we obey the Lord?
3. How did we become the Lord’s?  How were we redeemed?  With what were we purchased to become His people?

Today’s passage: Leviticus 21

Helpful thoughts:

• Chapters 21 and 22 are concerned with the holiness of the priests among the people of Israel.  We’ll cover the first half of these laws today.
  • Remember, holiness refers to the idea of being set apart.  The priesthood was set apart in a special way from the rest of Israel due to their God-given function.  The priests were not superior humans compared to the rest of the nation.  They were simply set apart for this sacred task.  Therefore, God had expectations to help them remain equipped for what He had called them to do.
• Verse 5 contains mourning practices which had been typical of the pagan peoples in the region.
• Just as the animals for the sacrifices needed to be without blemish, so the priests had to as well.  Both the priest and the sacrifice served to paint a picture for the people.

Questions to consider:

1. Why would it make practical sense for the priests to be held to a higher standard in these areas than the rest of the nation?  What roles did they have to fulfil in the tabernacle that required ceremonial cleanness?
2. How would the view of the specialness of the priesthood have been viewed?  Why were the priests no better than any other Israelite?  Why was what the priests were called to do so special?  Who deserved the glory and thanks for all of it?
3. In what way is our Great High Priest and our sacrificial lamb without blemish (Hebrews 2:9, 17)?

 

Today’s passage: Leviticus 20

Helpful thoughts:

• Chapter 20 contains much the same content as chapter 18.  However, the required punishments are added in 20.
• Verse 8 states the proper tension of the grace of God and the responsibility of man.
  • God is the one who sets His people apart, sanctifies, saves, etc.
  • Man is still responsible to pursue obedience, godliness, righteousness.
    • We are saved by grace.  We are sanctified by God’s gracious action (Philippians 1:6).
    • And, we press on, striving toward the goal (Philippians 3:14).
• From the ESV Study Bible: “Cursing one’s parents is not merely using condescending or abusive language toward them but refers to a serious breach of a child’s duty to honor his parents.  It means to “make light of something,” and is the exact opposite of “honoring” one’s parents.”

Questions to consider:

1. What was the prevailing punishment for the sins listed in this chapter?  Even if the punishment was not the most severe, what still happens in the relationship between the one who sinned and the rest of the people?  How seriously did God take these sins?  Why do you think that is?
2. What happens when we abandon the idea of God’s proactive grace for our salvation and sanctification?  What do we lose out on?  What would the consequences be?
3. What happens when we abandon the idea of our responsibility to trust and obey?  What do we lose out on (And others around us)?  What would the consequences be?

Today’s passage: Leviticus 19

Helpful thoughts:

• God, having attributes only He possesses and being the creator of all things, is set apart from all the rest of creation.  He is holy.  One of the things God is set apart from is sin.  If we are to grow in godliness (Or in Christ-likeness) we also must strive to be set apart from sin.
• Whenever something other than God takes the place of God in our hearts, more sin will soon follow.
• The Israelites were not to live as the Canaanites or other pagan peoples did in the land before them.  Verses 26-31 contain many of their practices.
  • The problem with the tattoos of verse 28 were that they were included in pagan worship.  It wasn’t the practice of tattooing itself, but the pagan worship that went along with it.

Questions to consider:

1. In what ways can we see in this passage the greatest commandments being illustrated (Love the Lord your God and love your neighbor as yourself)?
2. How were the people of Israel to treat “strangers” (Foreigners) who came into the land to live with them?  What is the difference between a stranger who lives next to Israel and a stranger who lives with Israel?  What were those strangers to become once they moved into Israel?
3. How should a person live after their salvation, after they become part of the church?

Today’s passage: Leviticus 18

Helpful thoughts:

• Israel was to be distinct from all other nations.  Separated unto God and separated from sin.  Holy.  Chapter 18 gives commands concerning sexual holiness.
• The nations surrounding Israel (even the nations in the Promised Land who preceded Israel) committed sexual sins which God called “abominations” and were judged for them.  These were not just sinful for Israel, but for all peoples.
  • An abomination is a thing that causes disgust, a detestable act.
• These laws forbade incest (Both by blood and through marriage), intimacy during menstruation, homosexuality, bestiality and adultery.
  • Verse 19 contains the only law in this chapter that is not repeated in the New Testament in some way (Intimacy during menstruation).  This law makes sense in the context of the Old Covenant in keeping with Leviticus 15:19-24.

Questions to consider:

1. What laws do we read in this passage that were violated even by the patriarchs of Israel (Prior to the written law)?  Were those men and their families saved by their obedience or by turning out “OK” in the end or were they saved through something else (Romans 4:3)?
2. How would the prohibition in verse 21 fit into the context of the rest of the chapter?  If one of the purposes of sex is procreation, how does verse 21 (Among many other problems!) go against God’s design?  How might this even help us to understand verses 19 and 20 better?
3.  Beyond just the people involved, who/what suffers as a result of these sexual sins?  How does the “land” (Or, the people group(s) of the land) suffer when sexual sin runs rampant?  What is the true answer for those who are bound up in these abominations (1 Corinthians 6:9-11)?

Today’s passage: Leviticus 17

Helpful thoughts:

• If any sacrifices are going to be made, they are to be made to the Lord and they are to be made in the manner which He prescribed.
  • To sacrifice/give worship to a false god is sin.
  • To sacrifice/give worship to God in “your own” way (A way that differs from the way God commanded) is sin.
• The valuing of blood communicates an important lesson to Israel.  It is through the shedding of blood that the dead will be brought to life.  There is life in the blood. (Hebrews 9:22)
• The blood of animals who died naturally or at the hands of other beasts would not be able to drain properly.  So, those who ate the meat from these animals were considered “unclean” and needed to be cleansed.

Questions to consider:

1. What did these commands prevent Israel from doing?  What was the apparent physical restriction?  What were the spiritual restrictions which would have kept Israel’s focus on the Lord and the redemption He alone provides?
2. How does the first bullet-point above still apply today?  Even when we desire to follow, serve and worship the Lord, how should we go about it?  What is our guide and standard as we give ourselves as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1-2)?
3. How does this picture of life coming from the death of another point forward to Christ (2 Corinthians 5:15)?