Entry 3 of the 5 part narrative that kicks off the Old Testament, Leviticus picks up where Exodus leaves off. The Israelites are still camping in Mt. Sinai and have just completed construction and consecration (cleansing) of the tabernacle where God is to live among them. The thing is built, the question is how the people are to interact with it and how to live in right relationship with the God who dwells there.
The name “Leviticus” comes from the Septuagint (a pre-Christian Greek version of the Old Testament) and means “relating to the Levites”. The Hebrew title, just like with Exodus, is the first word of the book and means “And he called”. The Septuagint name makes sense as much of the book deals with priestly matters, those who are drawn from the tribe of Levi in particular service to the Lord.
However, it would be a mistake to think of Leviticus as primarily about priestly functions as it is often more concerned with the role non-Levites are to play in worship. The instructions for the Levites then follow in consequence. For example, in the first 5 chapters we will see what the general population must do for offerings and sacrifices. Chapters 6 and 7 provide instruction on how the priests are to handle those sacrifices. 0nly chapter 21 and 22 focus exclusively on rules that are only for the Levites.
Broadly, recall that the identity given to the Israelites in Exodus is that of “…a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” Leviticus will help them with pressing questions related to that very identity. By preserving the purity laws, they are able to stay in right relationship with Yahweh and act as a witness to His presence in the world.
We should recognize immediately that we share in these same ends today so should be cautious of believing that these laws and rituals have no relevance to us. Certainly, Jesus changes much of the function of some of these things, but the heart and will of God remains at the core of them. The principles underlying the Old Testament are valid and authoritative for a Christian, but the particular applications found in the Old Testament may not be (Wenham 35).
One of the most foreign concepts to us is the sacrificial system that Leviticus spends so much time discussing. At its core, it is a means of restoration. Where sin or other situations of uncleanness have caused broken relationships between people or between people and Yahweh, God has provided a means for those relationships to be restored. Without such a thing, either we would have to lie about the impact of sin (meaning acting as if a relationship wasn’t broken when it really was) or live in a world where a single transgression would separate us from God forever (because there are no means of possible restoration).
The laws that are in Leviticus, as noted above, function similarly. These are the means to be holy, with the various individual laws demonstrating what that means in different situations. As we read, we should take in the words relative to God and His holiness. This chart should help:
So, in this we see the comparisons between holy and common and clean vs. unclean. Holy characterizes God Himself and all that belongs to Him, common is everything else. Within common, things are either clean or unclean. Think of clean as being similar to “pure”, or as it was intended to be. So a person can be clean, non-polluted by sin, but still not be able to serve God in the tabernacle because they have not been sanctified, specifically allocated and cleansed as something holy to the Lord. Heading the other direction, something can be holy but be profaned and require sanctification again. For example, a Levite wasn’t supposed to go near a dead body. If they were, they were profaned and no longer holy, they had to go through the sanctification process again. That didn’t make them unclean, it just made them common and common folk can’t be in service to the Lord. In this type of situation, sanctification happens through actions like the anointing of oil (note the sanctification of the tabernacle at the end of Exodus).
Cleanness is the natural state of most creatures. Holiness is a state of grace to which men are called by God and it is attained through obeying the law and carrying out rituals such as sacrifice. Uncleanness is a substandard condition to which we descend through bodily processes and sin.
We’ll develop this more as we go but the core concepts will be helpful at the outset so we approach it correctly as we get there.