LEVITICUS LESSON 1 PART 1 - Introduction

LEVITICUS – INTRODUCTION – PART 1

I mentioned a podcast that relates to the phrase in Luke’s gospel that Jesus was laid in a manger.  Did God inspire Luke to use this word?  Of course the Lord did – the Bible is God’s inspired word.  What is a manger?  What is it used for?  It is not a word used today. Is God using it to shows us some spiritual meaning that we missed since we do not understand the historical context of the birth of Yeshua near 2000 years ago.  Hint – Jesus born in Bethlehem.  Bethlehem means the house of bread.  Bethlehem was an agricultural village and their main crop was wheat and barley.  This was used for making bread and bread was considered the primary staple of the diet then.  Bread meant life.  And, a manger was for feeding; feeding sheep.  Now with those hints check out the podcast …

https://lightofmenorah.podbean.com/e/truth-nuggets-8-he-was-laid-in-a-manger/

I did an A.I. search on the phrase “Leviticus a Difficult Book,” and these are the results that agree with both Jewish and Christian Bible scholars.  See below.

The Book of Leviticus is often considered one of the most difficult books in the Bible because it contains dense legal codes, intricate sacrificial rituals, and ancient purity rules that feel very distant from modern life.

Most agree that reading Leviticus feels dry and repetitive due to the heavy focus on ancient Israelite law.  There are some very basic reasons why Leviticus is hard to read and study and understand.

• Ancient Context: The rules were written for a specific bronze-age culture with customs very different from our own.
• Detailed Rituals: Long descriptions of animal sacrifices, skin diseases, and dietary laws slow down the narrative.
• Unclear Modern Application: It is hard for readers today to see how ancient priestly rules apply to daily life.

In part 1 of our introduction to Leviticus I used quotes from “The Archaeological Study Bible from Zondervan,” “The Archaeological Study Bible from Crossway” and “The JPS Torah Commentary on Leviticus.”  These quotes are shown below.

The first is from “The Archaeological Study Bible from Zondervan.”  It supports the fact that Leviticus is difficult to read and begs the question what do we get from reading it?

 

Another quote was from the “The Archaeological Study Bible from Crossway.”  Here the scholars emphasize Leviticus must be studied in its historical context.  We need to understand the book was written to the people THEN and NOT to us NOW.   For them then animal sacrifice was an everyday common ritual among the pagan nations of the ancient Middle East and not something strange or unfamiliar.  And God uses these familiar concepts to THEM THEN and NOT us NOW  to teach them how to be His people and follow His ways to make Israel the light to the nations and to bring His salvation to the ends of the earth (Isa. 49:6)

 

One final quote is from “The JPS Torah Commentary on Leviticus.”  Dr. Levine, the awesome Jewish scholar who wrote the commentary, shows that sin, intentional sin, did not have a sacrifice or a ritual so that one could be forgiven.  In the Hebrew Scriptures there were two types of sin, UNINTENTIONAL and INTENTIONAL.  Christians only understand sin as INTENTIONAL and are never taught that the Bible teaches are Unintentional sin.  Thus, these a major problem for Jewish believers.  How can they be forgiven if their sin was intentional?  These was not solution in the Bible just what the rabbis made up.  And that is exactly what they did, they made up ways all sin could be forgiven that are unbiblical and not found anywhere in scripture, just their own opinions or views.  Rabbis are just men.  Who gave them the right to make up rituals and methods that God never detailed or specified?   But, if there is a way for intentional sin to be forgiven, that would be extremely good news.  That would be the Gospel! 

Here's the quote from “The JPS Torah Commentary on Leviticus.” 

The key is this.  Leviticus is a tough book to read and study.  But, once we study it in its historical context we will see the GOSPEL.  We will see where the Gospel comes from and that the book of Leviticus is a witness to the coming of the Messiah and His sacrifice to complete the Torah and to make a way for us to have our intentional sins forgiven so we could be His righteous disciples. 

Rev. Ferret - who is this guy?

(John & Robin somewhere in the Middle East)

What's his background?  Why should I listen to him?  Check his background at this link - https://www.dropbox.com/s/ortnret3oxcicu4/BackgrndTeacher%20mar%2025%202020.pdf?dl=0