Outline of VAYIKRA (LEVITICUS)

If no one tells you about purity, will you know what it is or who it is or how it can be attained, even if it applies. It’s a daily discipline.

An outline of VAYIKRA (LEVITICUS)

Key theme: The holiness of God “Be holy, for I am holy”. It’s all about purity.

Key verses: (11:44-45)

1. A. HOLY OFFERINGS (1-7)
2. Laws for the worshipers (1:1-6:7)
3. Laws for the priests (6:8-7:38)
4. B. HOLY PRIESTHOOD (8-10; 21-22)
5. Consecration (8-9)
6. Admonition (10)
7. Qualification (21-22)
8. C. A HOLY NATION (11-17)
9. Clean and unclean food (11)
10. Childbirth (12)
11. Diseases and defilement (13-15)
12. The Day of Atonement (16-17)
13. D. A HOLY LAND (18-20, 23-27)
14. Immorality (18)
15. Idolatry (19)
16. Capital offenses (20)
17. Annual feasts (23)
18. Blasphemy (24)
19. Sabbatical Year (25)
20. Blessings and cursings (26-27)

Being Acquainted with Leviticus

1. The Sacrifices and the Messiah (Lev 1-7)
2. A Kingdom of Priests (Lev 8-10)
3. Cleanliness and Godliness (Lev 11-12)
4. The Great Physician (Lev 13-15)
5. Israel’s High and Holy Day (Lev 16)
6. Holiness Is a Practical Thing (Lev 17-20)
7. The Cost of Spiritual Leadership (Lev 21-22)
8. The Calendar That Tells the Future (Lev 23)
9. Holy, Holy, Holy (Lev 24)
10. This Land Is God’s Land (Lev 25)
11. The Word “If” (Lev 26-27) 

The Manual of Sacrifice (Lev 1-7)

1. The Whole Burnt Offering (Lev 1:1-17)
2. The Grain Offering (Lev 2:1-16)
3. The Fellowship Offering (Lev 3:1-17)
4. The Purification Offering (Lev 4:1-5:13)
5. The Guilt Offering (Lev 5:14-6:7)
6. Instructions for the Administration of Offerings (Lev 6:8-7:38)

Historical Narrative (Lev 8-10)

7. The Ordination of the Priests (Lev 8:1-36)
8. The Inauguration of Sacrificial Worship (Lev 9:1-24)
9. The Unfortunate Incident of Nadab and Abihu (Lev 10:1-20) 

The Manual of Purity (Lev 11-16)

10. Clean and Unclean Animals (Lev 11:1-47)
11. Uncleanness at Childbirth (Lev 12:1-8)
12. Skin Diseases and Contamination in Clothing (Lev 13:1-59)
13. Purification from Contamination (Lev 14:1-32)
14. Contamination in Buildings (Lev 4:33-57)
15. Bodily Discharges (Lev 15:1-33)
16. The Day of Atonement (Lev 16:1-34) 

The Holiness Code (Lev 17-27)

17. Slaughter and Sacrifice (Lev 17:1-16)
18. Sexual Relations (Lev 18:1-30)
19. Instructions in Worship and Ethics (Lev 19:1-37)
20. Penalties for Offenses (Lev 20:1-27)
21. Priests and Offerings (Lev 21:1-22:33)
22. The Festival Calendar (Lev 23:1-44)
23. Daily Worship (Lev 24:1-9)
24. Blasphemy: An Incident and Instruction (Lev 24:10-23)
25. The Sabbath and Jubilee (Lev 25:1-55)
26. Blessings and Curses (Lev 26:1-46)
27. Redemption and Vows (Lev 27:1-34)

Learning from Leviticus (A Summary) Responsibilities of the Bride and Groom fulfilled in D’Varim.

The fact that God devoted an entire book of the Bible to the subject of holiness would indicate that it’s an important subject, one that we dare not ignore. There were many fascinating details in this book, but the main lessons stand out clearly. Let’s summarize a few of these lessons and make some practical applications to our life today.

Our God is a Holy God

Whenever we minimize the holiness of God, we’re in danger of minimizing human sinfulness, and the combination of these two errors results in the minimizing of the Messiah Yeshua. If we want to preach the Gospel, we must have a holy God who abhors sin and has done something about it at great cost. It’s because God is holy, as well as loving, that the atonement is provided.

God’s holiness means His completeness “apartness” from anything that is sinful. God is different from that which is common; God is separate from that which is defiling. But God’s holiness isn’t a static thing. Gods holiness is dynamic (active and alive), a “sea of glass mingled with fire” (Rev 15:2). Everything about God is holy: wisdom, power, judgments, and even love. If His love were not a holy love, He would never have met the just demands of His own nature and His own holy law.

People today have lost the awesome sense of the holiness of God. Why?

Emphasize on holiness is diminishing. Scripture warns against “scratch people where they itch,” instead of directing them to the holy God, who deserves worship and obedience.

The absence of discipline and low standards of conduct indicates that some people don’t take holiness seriously. Think of the words of James, written to worldly believers: “Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom” (James 4:9 NKJV).

Moses and the elders on Mount Sinai beheld the glory of God. Isaiah in the temple reported when he saw, “the Lord… high and lifted up” (Isa 6:1). Contemplate on sinfulness and God’s holiness, Job, Isaiah, Peter, and John fell on their faces in reverence with godly fear.

God wants His people to be holy

Eight times in Scripture, God said, “Be holy, for I am holy.” Since God’s commandments are God’s enablements, this commandment assures us that it’s possible to live a holy life. What health is to the body, holiness is to the soul; and the Great Physician can give us the spiritual health and wholeness that we need.

God wants His people Israel to be “a holy nation” (Ex 19:6), and this high calling applies to believers today (1 Peter 2:9).

Israel had failed and still fails to be a holy nation and therefore failed to give the witness to the world that God wanted them to apply. Not only did Israel suffer for her sins, but also the pagan world suffered by not seeing in Israel the difference it makes when you belong to a holy God. Some communities emphasizes verbal witness but neglects godly character and conduct, and both are important. Yeshua didn’t say, “Ye are the lips of the world,” but “Ye are the light of the world.” He didn’t say, “Ye are the sermons of the earth,” but “Ye are the salt of the earth.” A holy life dispels darkness and repels decay. (Whatever version of scripture one uses, the basic context still applies.)

Holiness begins at the altar

The Book of Leviticus begins at the altar where innocent sacrifices shed their blood for the guilty. It begins with the description of five sacrifices.

The first step toward holiness is the admission of one’s own sin and the recognition of Messiah and walk in His ways. We need spiritual knowledge, and we ought to resolve to cultivate Holy/Godly habits.

God’s has always had an abhorrence of sin. Unless one learns to detest sin, one may never be able to cultivate holiness.

Believing in God reveals God’s power to conquer sin. The purity of Yeshua cleanses (1 Jn 1:7, 9), and brings nearness to God (Eph 2:13), and purges us from sin (Heb 9:14). By accepting His finished work and the sanctified position in Him (13:12), one take steps toward living a holy life.

Holiness involves obedience and discipline

Besides bringing a sacrifice to the altar and going away knowing that sins had been forgiven was a temporary measure. Worshipers also had to obey the rules and regulations that the Lord gave His people concerning what was clean and what was unclean.

One should heed even investigate the dietary laws, and what they illustrate: There are some things in this world that must not get into our system because God disapproves of them. There is reasoning in not to touch a dead body or pick up a bone, and one must be careful “to keep unspotted from the world” (James 1:27). There are conditions and means if one does, God has covered that aspect. Liberty isn’t license to participate in things that aren’t good.

It isn’t enough to read and study the Bible. One suggests, “keep His commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight” (1 Jn 3:22). Disciplined obedience is an important part of holy living. It’s important to discuss and debate the Bible, demonstrating its truths in our everyday lives. Listen to God himself and develop an intimate relationship. It is a clarion call.

Walk carefully to keep from being defiled (Eph 5:15). Incorporate God’s standards of holiness into every aspect of daily life: the clothes worn, the food eaten, the things touched, the people with whom one fellowships with. Marriages of husbands and wives: placing their most intimate experiences under the discipline of the Word of God. For everything in life belongs to God.

It’s only when God’s holiness increasingly begins to touch every area of our lives that we can say we’re starting to make progress in being holy.

Holiness must be from God and be genuine

One must be aware of “false zeal.” God disapproved of Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, because they brought “false fire” and false zeal into the sanctuary, violating the holy law of God. (See notes in Parashah #36)

One example, today being under the influence of alcohol, Paul’s gives an admonition, “not be drunk with wine but be filled with the Spirit” (Eph 5:18).

One must be careful that one’s “fire” is ignited by God’s Spirit from God’s altar and not by the flesh or even demonic forces. Satan is a deceiver, and one must be careful to detect and reject his counterfeits.

Holiness involves priestly mediation

Those not born in the tribe of Levi, was banned from the sacred courts of the tabernacle. He had to come to God by means of the mediation of the priests. Today all of God’s people are priests; but one must come to God through Messiah, our mediating High Priest (1 Peter 2:5).

There can be no growth in holiness apart from fellowship with God. Messiah now carries on the “unfinished work” of our sanctification as He intercedes for us. This is one of the major themes of the Book of Hebrews. He wants to “make you perfect in every good work to do His will, working in you that which is well pleasing in His sight (Heb 13:21).

God’s people today can respectfully enter into His very presence and fellowship with Him (10:19-22). Through Messiah, we have access to the throne of grace to “obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (4:16). Unless we “take time to be holy” and commune with God, we will never grow in holiness or likeness to Yeshua. Complacency is no excuse.

Lack of holiness affects the land

Some tend to think of sin as an individual activity that affects only the person. Moses made it clear that the sins of the people affected the land God had given them, and that the land would “vomit them out” if they persisted in their rebellion.

Idolatry and sexual immorality are the two sins that God especially singled out as polluting the land. “Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, because this is how the nations that I am going to drive out before you became defiled. The land was defiled; and enveloped consequences, and the land vomited out its inhabitants” (Lev 18:24-25).

Uphold holy standards. Do communities have the authority to impose God’s laws on the pagans of the land? Profess to know God, practice holy standards. When communities become like the world, there is no influence to change the world and/or the land to be a better place. In Genesis there were mandates.

Idolatry and immorality have invaded and become acceptable in today’s society, being approved and promoted. Instead of remorse and repentance bringing people to their knees soulful weeping, harden hearts exhibit a different sort of acceptable recreation.

God’s Judgment begins “at the house of God” (1 Peter 4:17).

Holiness isn’t a private affair

The Old Testament believer was part of a worshiping community; he or she didn’t try to “go it alone.” The priests were the overseers of the spiritual life of the nation; the Levites assisted them; and each member of the nation had a part to play in the ongoing battle against the stain of sin and the world.

One of the dangerous tendencies in communities today is the emphasis on “individual believership,” as though each believer is a ‘Lone Ranger” and doesn’t need anybody else to assist them in their quest for holiness. Of course, we need individual and personal daily devotional times with the Lord, but it mustn’t end there. Everyone needs the help of other believers, and they need us.

The restful Sabbath Day is an opportunity to teach the Word, learn from each other. Each Passover is an opportunity to review God’s mercy toward His people. The Lord’s feasts bring the community together, either to repent or rejoice. When we forsake “the assembling of ourselves together” (Heb. 10:25), we rob ourselves of the blessings God gives to those who are a vital part of a worshiping fellowship.

Holiness glorifies the Lord

Since only God can make a person holy, a godly life is a pinnacle of His grace and a tribute to His power. Instruction, mentoring, and encouragement, reveals not only God, who gets the glory, but people see Messiah reproduced in His character and nature, and it changes lives.

We may not see the changes taking place, but God sees them. The important thing is that we keep measuring ourselves in the standards of God and following Yeshua. Keep yielding ourselves and letting Him be glorified in all that we are and do.

Holiness means living to please God alone

If one is walking alone in the land, and accidentally became unclean, one could do one of two things. Stay outside the camp (community) and take the necessary steps for cleansing, or one could return to the camp do nothing about it and remain defiled. But that person would be toxic and secretly defiling everything and everyone in contact.

Unless one obeyed the regulations given in God’s law and became clean again, that person would be living a lie, doing a great deal of damage and inviting disciplinary action.

One of the principles Yeshua stressed in the Sermon on the Mount is that we live our lives before the eyes of God, to please Him alone, and not before the eyes of people in order to impress them (Matt 6:1-18). There are times when what we do is misunderstood but fully understood and approved by God Most High. In other words, Yeshua wants everybody to concentrate on building character.

“Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account” (Heb 4:13), so it’s futile to try to hide. According to 1 John 1:5-10, once we start lying to others (v 6), we’ll soon start lying to ourselves (v 8); and the result will be trying to lie to God (v 10). This leads to a gradual deterioration of character that brings collapse and shame. We seek to live a holy life, not so that we can be recognized as “holy people,” but in order to please a Holy God. We live before Him openly and sincerely, hiding nothing, fearing nothing. Having reverent fear is the only fear that’s acceptable.

Knowing God and becoming more like Him is the easiest thing in the world because God is for us and gives us all the help we want as we seek to attain the goal. But it’s the hardest thing because almost everything within us and around us fights against us, and we have to exercise a holy determination to run the race with perseverance and keep our eyes on the Lord (Heb 12:1-3). Replace defilement of any sort with holiness, that’s our part.

But it can be done; otherwise, God would never have said eight times in His Word, “Be holy, for I am holy!”

His commandments and promises are of His enablement.