Objective

In this study, we’ll see that God is holy and He demands that we be holy in our worship and in our lives.

Key Verse

Leviticus 19:2: Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: ‘You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.’

Introduction

The message of Exodus is that God redeems us for a purpose. He redeems us so that we can know Him. He redeems us so that we can experience the blessings He has for us. He redeems us so that we can reflect His glory to others.

Leviticus continues with this message, but it takes us deeper into understanding what it means to live as God’s redeemed people. In this book we learn that God has redeemed us so that we can be holy as He is holy. Leviticus is very detailed and can seem difficult to us in some ways. Many things are strange to our modern eyes. The customs, sacrifices, and feasts are unfamiliar to how we worship today. The rules about food and cleanliness seem far removed from our daily lives.

But when we look carefully at all these details, we see two important truths that change everything. First, we see how important holiness is to God. Every law, every sacrifice, every ceremony teaches us that God is perfectly pure and separate from sin. Second, we see beautiful pictures of Christ’s sacrifice for us painted throughout these ancient rituals. Every offering and every feast day points us forward to what Jesus would accomplish on the cross.

In this study, we’ll focus on how we see Christ in the customs and rituals of ancient Israel. We will discover how the offerings show us different aspects of Jesus’s work for us. We’ll explore how the seven feasts tell the story of God’s salvation plan. Then we’ll look more closely at the Day of Atonement, the holiest day of Israel’s year, and see how it gives us a perfect picture of what Christ has done to forgive our sins completely.

Here is what we will learn together:

• The offerings and how they point to Christ’s sacrifice
• The seven feasts and their spiritual meaning for us
• The Day of Atonement as a picture of our salvation

The Offerings

God gave Israel five different offerings or sacrifices that are described in detail in Leviticus. These were not just random religious activities. Each offering taught important spiritual truths about God and about our need for salvation. The blood offerings in particular are clear pictures of Christ’s death on the cross. They teach us that blood must be shed for the forgiveness of sins, just as we read in Hebrews.

Hebrews 9:22: In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

These sacrifices also teach us that an innocent substitute must die in the place of the guilty. This is exactly what Jesus did for us when He died on the cross.

Romans 5:8: But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

The five offerings were meant for different purposes and they show us different aspects of Christ’s perfect sacrifice for us. Christ is the fulfillment of all these sacrifices. When Jesus died on the cross, He accomplished everything that these Old Testament offerings could only point toward.

Let me explain each offering and how it speaks about Jesus:

The Burnt Offering (Leviticus 1:3-17 and 6:8-13)

This offering was completely consumed by fire on the altar. Nothing was kept back. This speaks of how Jesus presented Himself to the Father as a willing sacrifice, holding nothing back from God’s will.

Hebrews 10:7-10: Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—I have come to do your will, my God.’ First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”—though they were offered in accordance with the law. Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

(Notebook Moment: How does it change your understanding of Jesus’s love to know that He gave Himself completely to God for your salvation? What does this teach you about how you should give yourself to God?)

The burnt offering teaches us something important about our own lives as Christians. The apostle Paul understood the connection between the Old Testament sacrifices and how we should live today. He wrote to the Romans about this very thing.

Romans 12:1-2: Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Paul assumes that his readers would understand what he meant by comparing our lives to a sacrifice. Under the Old Covenant, God accepted the sacrifices of animals, but these were just a foreshadowing of the sacrifice of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. The burnt offering required an unblemished animal that was completely consumed on the altar—nothing was held back.

Now Paul tells us that every Christian is to be a living sacrifice. Just as the burnt offering was completely given to God, we are to offer ourselves completely to the Lord. As living sacrifices, God has already set us apart for His purposes and declared us acceptable because He sees us in our position in Christ. The only proper response to God’s mercy is to offer ourselves completely to Him. Paul says this is our “true and proper worship”—it is only reasonable that we would give ourselves to the One who gave everything for us.

This is how the Old Testament sacrificial system teaches us about worship and surrender today. What the burnt offering pictured with an animal, we now live out as believers through complete dedication to God.

The Grain Offering (Leviticus 2:1-16 and 6:14-23)

This offering was made from the finest flour, oil, and frankincense. It contained no leaven or honey, which represent sin and corruption. This speaks of the perfect humanity of Christ as the Son of Man. Jesus lived a sinless life, pure and perfect in every way.

Hebrews 4:15: For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.

The Fellowship Offering (Leviticus 3:1-17 and 7:11-34)

This offering was unique because part of it was eaten by the worshiper, part by the priests, and part was burned on the altar. This created fellowship between God and His people. This speaks of how Christ is the mediator between God and humanity, bringing us into fellowship with our heavenly Father.

Romans 5:1: Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Sin Offering (Leviticus 4:1-5:13 and 6:24-30)

This offering was made for unintentional sins and dealt with our sin nature—the fact that we are born with a sinful heart. This speaks of how Christ atoned for our sin nature, becoming sin for us so that we could become righteous in God’s sight.

2 Corinthians 5:21: God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

The Guilt Offering (Leviticus 5:14-6:7 and 7:1-10)

This offering was made for specific sins that had been committed and often required restitution to be made. This speaks of how Christ atoned for the specific sins we commit every day. He has paid the full price for every wrong thing we have done or will do.

Colossians 2:13: When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins.

These five offerings work together to give us a complete picture of what Jesus accomplished for us. He gave Himself completely to God (burnt offering), lived a perfect life (grain offering), brought us into fellowship with God (fellowship offering), dealt with our sin nature (sin offering), and paid for our specific sins (guilt offering).

The Seven Feasts

Leviticus also describes the different holy days and feasts on Israel’s calendar. These were not just celebrations—they were God’s way of teaching His people about His plan of salvation. There are great spiritual truths and pictures that we see in each of these feasts. God commanded seven main feasts throughout the year, and each one points us to Jesus Christ and His work for us.

Passover (Leviticus 23:5, Exodus 12, Numbers 28:16, Deuteronomy 16:1-8)

The purpose of this feast was to remember Israel’s deliverance from Egypt. On the night before they left Egypt, each family killed a lamb and put its blood on their doorposts. When the angel of death passed through Egypt, he passed over every house marked with the lamb’s blood.

Passover gives us a beautiful picture of Christ as the sacrificial lamb who died to save us from spiritual death.

John 1:29: The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

When Christians take communion today, we remember the Lord’s sacrifice for us, just as the Israelites remembered their deliverance through the Passover lamb.

Mark 14:22-24: While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take it; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it. “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said.

Feast of Unleavened Bread (Leviticus 23:6-8, Exodus 12:15-20 and 13:3-10, Numbers 28:17-25, Deuteronomy 16:3-8)

The purpose of this feast was to remember the hardship of Israel when they left Egypt in haste. They had no time to let their bread rise, so they ate unleavened bread for seven days.

Unleavened bread is a picture of Christ. His body was broken for us, and He lived a life completely free from the “leaven” of sin.

1 Corinthians 11:24: And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

John 6:35: Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

Day of Firstfruits (Leviticus 23:9-14)

The purpose of this feast was to dedicate the first crop of the barley harvest to God. The priest would wave a sheaf of the first grain before the Lord as an offering.

The first harvest is a picture of the bodily resurrection of Christ. Jesus was the first person to rise from the dead with a glorified body that will never die again.

1 Corinthians 15:20-23: But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.

Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) (Leviticus 23:15-22, Numbers 28:26-31, Deuteronomy 16:9-12)

The purpose of this feast was to dedicate the first crop of the wheat harvest to God. This feast came fifty days after Passover.

This feast points us to the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was poured out on the church exactly during the time of this feast, fifty days after Jesus’s resurrection.

Acts 2:1-4: When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

(Notebook Moment: Consider how God’s timing is perfect. The Holy Spirit came on the exact feast day that celebrated the harvest. How does this help you understand that the church’s mission is to gather a spiritual harvest of souls for God’s kingdom?)

Day of Trumpets (Leviticus 23:23-25, Numbers 10:10 and 29:1-6)

The purpose of this feast was to announce the seventh month as a time of rest and preparation for the Day of Atonement. Trumpets were blown throughout the land to call the people together.

In the New Testament, we see that trumpets announce the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. When He comes back, a trumpet will sound and all believers will be gathered to Him.

Matthew 24:31: And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

1 Thessalonians 4:16: For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16 and 23:26-32, Numbers 29:7-11)

The purpose of this day was to make sacrifice for the sins of the priests and the whole nation. This was the holiest day of the year, when the high priest entered the Most Holy Place in the tabernacle.

This sacrifice is a perfect picture of Christ’s death on the cross for us. We will look at this more closely in our next section.

Hebrews 9:12: He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.

Feast of Tabernacles (Leviticus 23:33-43, Numbers 29:12-38, Deuteronomy 16:13-17)

The purpose of this feast was to remember how God protected Israel in the wilderness. The people lived in temporary shelters for seven days to remember their journey to the Promised Land.

This feast points us to the peace and prosperity of Christ’s future reign on earth. When Jesus returns, He will establish His kingdom and all nations will come to worship Him.

Zechariah 14:16: Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord Almighty, and to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles.

These seven feasts tell the complete story of God’s salvation plan. They move from redemption (Passover) through sanctification (Unleavened Bread) to resurrection (Firstfruits) to the gift of the Holy Spirit (Pentecost) to the return of Christ (Trumpets) to final atonement (Day of Atonement) to eternal joy in God’s kingdom (Tabernacles).

The Day of Atonement

The Day of Atonement was the holiest day of the year for Israel. This was the one day when the high priest entered into the Most Holy Place and made sacrifice for the sins of the people. We need to look at this closely because it gives us one of the clearest pictures of what Jesus did for us on the cross.

On this special day, the high priest followed a very specific procedure that God had commanded. Let me walk you through what happened and show you how it points to our salvation through Christ.

First, the high priest selected one bull and two goats for the sacrifice.

Leviticus 16:5: From the Israelite community he is to take two male goats for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.

Next, the high priest sacrificed the bull for his own sins. Unlike Jesus, the earthly high priest was a sinner who needed forgiveness before he could offer sacrifices for others.

Leviticus 16:6: Aaron is to offer the bull for his own sin offering to make atonement for himself and his household.

Then came the most important part. The high priest took the two goats and cast lots to determine their fate. One goat would die as a sacrifice, while the other would be released alive into the wilderness.

Leviticus 16:7-10: Then he is to take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting. He is to cast lots for the two goats—one lot for the Lord and the other for the scapegoat. Aaron shall bring the goat whose lot falls to the Lord and sacrifice it for a sin offering. But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord to be used for making atonement by sending it into the wilderness as a scapegoat.

The first goat was sacrificed for the sins of the people. Its blood was taken into the Most Holy Place and sprinkled on the mercy seat of the ark of the covenant.

Leviticus 16:15: He shall then slaughter the goat for the sin offering for the people and take its blood behind the curtain and do with it as he did with the bull’s blood: He shall sprinkle it on the atonement cover and in front of it.

The second goat—called the scapegoat—had all the sins of the people placed on its head through the confession of the high priest. Then it was led away into the wilderness, symbolically carrying all their sins far away from them.

Leviticus 16:21-22: He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites—all their sins—and put them on the goat’s head. He shall send the goat away into the wilderness in the care of someone appointed for the task. The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a remote place; and the man shall release it in the wilderness.

These two goats together give us a complete picture of the work of Christ for us. Jesus is both the sacrifice and the scapegoat. When He died on the cross, He took our sin upon Himself and carried it away from us forever.

2 Corinthians 5:21: God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

God has forgiven our sins through the sacrifice of Christ. Our sins have been removed from us completely. This is why the second goat was set free in the wilderness—it pictures how far God has removed our sins from us.

Hebrews 10:17: Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.”

Psalm 103:12: As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

Notebook Moment: Think about the two goats on the Day of Atonement. One died to pay for sin, and the other carried sin away forever. How does this picture help you understand what Jesus has done for you? What does it mean to you that God remembers your sins no more?

But there is something even more wonderful about what Jesus accomplished compared to the Old Testament sacrifices. The book of Hebrews explains that Christ’s sacrifice was perfect and final, unlike the repeated sacrifices of the Old Testament.

Hebrews 9:11-12: But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.

Hebrews 10:10-14: And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

To fully understand the meaning of the Old Testament sacrifices, we must study the book of Hebrews. Chapters 9 and 10 especially give us the key to understanding how Christ fulfilled everything these sacrifices pointed toward. No more sacrifices need to be made. Christ is the final sacrifice. His work is complete and perfect.

Conclusion

Leviticus also contains many regulations that governed the daily life of God’s people. These laws speak of holiness and purity in every area of life. God gave rules about clean and unclean food, purification after childbirth, cleansing rituals for diseases like leprosy, and cleansing for various physical conditions. These laws might seem strange to us today, but they taught important spiritual truths.

Acts 10:15: The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”

While these specific laws don’t apply to us today as New Testament believers, we must learn the important principle behind them. We must learn that holiness is very important to God. All these rules and regulations were meant to keep Israel different from the nations around them. They were to be a holy people, set apart for God’s purposes.

We, too, are called to be a holy people unto the Lord.

2 Corinthians 6:17-7:1: Therefore, “Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.” And, “I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.

But how do we live a holy life? This is an important question because holiness is not produced by our own effort or by following a set of rules. We are under grace, not law. The good news is that God Himself provides everything we need to live holy lives.

First, we must desire to be holy. We must choose to be obedient in doing the things God has commanded us in His Word.

Romans 6:16-18: Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

Second, we must yield ourselves to the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. The Holy Spirit gives us the power to say no to sin and yes to righteousness.

Galatians 5:16: So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

Third, we must be receiving the Word of God daily into our lives. God’s Word cleanses us and transforms our thinking.

John 15:3: You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.

The message of Leviticus is clear: God is holy, and He calls us to be holy. But we can only be holy through the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ. He has done everything necessary to make us clean before God. Now we live holy lives not to earn God’s acceptance, but because we already have it through faith in Christ. We live in holiness as a response to His amazing love for us.

This is the heart of Leviticus—it shows us both our need for a perfect sacrifice and God’s provision of that sacrifice in Jesus Christ. Every offering, every feast, every law points us to the One who would come to fulfill them all. In Jesus, we find everything that the Law of Moses could only shadow forth. We find perfect atonement, complete forgiveness, and the power to live holy lives that honor our holy God.

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