Leviticus

1. What do you see in this book that tells you about the original reader?
   
   
   The Israelites did not know how to worship God or what it meant to be sanctified and set apart. They seemed to not be aware of how detestable sin was or how much God desired for them to be holy. He wanted them to know of the longing He had for them to be in His presence. But in order for them to know what that meant they needed to become aware of what had to be done to achieve this, so He lays out all of the laws and commands.
   
   
2. What do you see in this book that tells you about the author?

We are told that Moses was given all of the laws and commands directly from the Lord. The Lord obviously trusts him and has picked him to be the intermediator between God and the Israelites. In Leviticus 10:17-18 we see that Moses holds fast to the word of the Lord and seeks to ensure that all of the people knows what He has commanded (8:5,35, 9:4,6,7, 10:15). Because the emphasis of this book is on the laws and making the people aware of what needed to be done, we see that it's more directed at Moses, Aaron and the priests. Being set apart as the priests they needed to know what the Lord expected of them and of the people. They needed to know how to lead the people and what to do in every situation, how to present the sacrifices in the proper way so as to bring the cleansing and forgiveness to the people.

3. What are the main themes, and repeated ideas in this book, and what is a one sentence summary of the “main idea?”

The main idea of Leviticus is santification. The whole book is filled with the commands of the Lord teaching the people how to worship Him- how to have access to Him through sacrifices (chapters 1-16) and how to have unbroken fellowship with Him (chapters 17-27). He speaks of the importance of being set apart by giving them forewarning of the lifestyle of the Canaanites (chapter 18) and shows them that in order to avoid falling to temptation and living sinful lifestyles, to continue to be pure in His sight, they should cling tight to His commands.

He makes his detest of sin extremely evident and shows how it separates them from His presence. (18:1-5)

He teaches them how to be holy and how to be clean in His presence. Holiness, being whole, perfect, set apart and different, is mentioned approximately seventy times in book. Cleanliness, ceremonial holiness, is mentioned over one hundred and eighty times.

A repeated idea in this book is the value and purpose of sacrifices. An unblemished, perfect sacrifice must be offered in place of their sin. (1:3,10, 3:1,6, 4:3,23,28,32..)This is the only way that they can be clean before the Lord. Another important factor is the role and requirement of the priests and high priests. Without these men there would be no way for them to even offer sacrifices to be made right. (1:5,11, 2:2,8, 3:2,13, 4:5,16..)

With all of the commands and laws He shows that it all comes from a place of love and promise. He promised to protect them as His chosen people simply because He loves them. And because He loves them He doesn't want them to perish so He tells them to be holy as He is holy-the only way to be with Him.

One sentence summary of Leviticus- God is preparing the Isrealites for what's to come by teaching His people the consequences of sin and how important it is to follow His commands and be holy as He is holy.

4. What is the primary reason this book was written?
   
   
   Leviticus was written because the Isrealites needed to know what God expected of them and that He called them to a higher standard. They couldnt deny the word that had been spoken and they had no backing for ever justifying every sin because He gave them instruction for virtually ever circumstance that could've come up.
   The land he was taking them into was ridden with sin and detestable lifestyles. He wanted to show them how much He hated sin and how important it was for them to be set apart. He gave them all of the commands and principles to a follow to achieve this, but also showed them that it is impossible to really truly be clean and because anything that is less than perfect is unclean in His sight.
   He longs for them to learn to trust Him for provision and everything they need. He doesn't want them to become faithless, and thus covetous or overworking. Chapter 25, verse 22-22, “20 You may ask, "What will we eat in the seventh year if we do not plant or harvest our crops?" 21 I will send you such a blessing in the sixth year that the land will yield enough for three years. 22 While you plant during the eighth year, you will eat from the old crop and will continue to eat from it until the harvest of the ninth year comes in.”
   
   
5. What does this book show about the character and nature of God?

In Leviticus, through the requirement of sacrifices, we see that God is a just God- He gives no free passes; all sin requires some sort of sacrifice to be made. We see that He requires holiness (11:44, 19:1) and obedience to His commands (18:4,30,19:38, 20:22-24..)

He continually distinguishes Himself from the other gods and demands that the Israelites not fall to the idol worship of the perverse people groups that they will run into.

He is a good who loves for us to remember. He longs for us to look at where we have come from and give praise for the victories He's brought. (23:42-43)

6. What does this book show about God's redemptive plan for mankind?
   
   
   All of the specifics of the sacrifices and the way in which they are offered are foreshadowings of what's to come. No defects (1:3,10, 3:1,6..), blood spilled is the only way to truly be purified “11 for the life of the body is in its blood. I have given you the blood on the altar to purify you, making you right with the Lord. It is the blood, given in exchange for a life, that makes purification possible. 12 That is why I have said to the people of Israel, ‘You must never eat or drink blood—neither you nor the foreigners living among you.” We see that these represent Jesus.