Leviticus 1
EasyEnglishLeviticus 1:1
Leviticus – Bible Study Commentary *Worship the *LORD in the Beauty of *Holiness An EasyEnglish Bible Version and Commentary (2800 word vocabulary) on the Book of Leviticus www.easyenglish.info Gordon Churchyard This commentary has been through Advanced Checking.
Words in boxes are from the Bible, except for the words in brackets (…).
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‘The best book about Leviticus is Hebrews.’ (R.K. Harrison) (Hebrews is a book in the *New Testament of the Bible.) What does the word ‘Leviticus’ mean? Moses, or one of his helpers, wrote Leviticus in the *Hebrew language. All the people called *Jews spoke the *Hebrew language. They belonged to the family that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob started. The *Jews called the Book of Leviticus ‘wayyiqra’. This is actually two *Hebrew words, ‘way’ and ‘yiqra’. They mean ‘and’ and ‘he called’. These words are the first words in the book in the *Hebrew language. When the *Jews translated their Bible into the *Greek language, they gave the book a new title. The new *Greek title meant ‘about the *Levites’. Our title ‘Leviticus’ is the *Latin word for ‘about the *Levites’. The people who lived in Greece spoke *Greek. The people who lived in Rome spoke *Latin. When Jesus came to the earth, many people spoke *Latin and *Greek.
Jacob had 12 children. One of them was called Levi. His *descendants became the *tribe of Levi. *Descendants are members of your family that live after you. A *tribe is a very large family. Members of this family were called *Levites. They had a special job to do. Some of them worked in the house of God. They were called priests. Other priests worked in every town in the country. They helped people to understand the Bible. The Book of Leviticus, (‘wayyiqra’), helped the priests to do their work. Remember that all the priests were *Levites.
But now there are no *Jewish priests with the same duties as they had at the time of Moses. But the Book of Leviticus is still important. The reason for this is that many things in the book *point to (describe) the life and death of Jesus! Leviticus was important after the *Jews left Egypt. Today, it is important after a person becomes a Christian. There is more about this below. But today, we could call the Book of Leviticus by another name. That name would be, ‘*Worship the *LORD in the Beauty of *Holiness’. ‘*Worship’ means many things. They include ‘love and obey’. *LORD is a special name for God. It probably means ‘always alive’. ‘*Holiness’ means that people always try to please God. God always thinks that this makes people beautiful.
Normally, it would not be possible for anyone to *worship the *LORD in the beauty of *holiness. The Bible says that all people are *sinners. By our own efforts, we cannot please God. But God has provided a method so that we can *worship him properly.
For the *Jews, that method was *sacrifice. They would give to God parts of the animals that they killed. Sometimes they gave the whole animal. The priests burned the gift on the *altar at the house of God. God accepted the animal’s death so that the *Jews could *worship him. The animal had suffered death so that the *Jews could live as friends with God.
For Christians, that method is also *sacrifice. But it is not the death of an animal. God has provided his own precious son, Jesus, to be the perfect *sacrifice. His death deals with every *sin of the people who invite him into their lives. He has freed them from *sin’s power so that they can *worship the *LORD in the beauty of *holiness. So we can all please God because of Jesus’ *sacrifice on the *cross. Why is Leviticus important for Christians? Before we read the Book of Leviticus, we must link Leviticus with Exodus. There are three main reasons for this.
Moses wrote Leviticus in the *Hebrew language. The first *Hebrew word in Leviticus is ‘way’. This *Hebrew word means ‘and’. It links the first sentence in Leviticus with the last sentence in Exodus. Moses wanted his people to read the two books together.
In Exodus, Moses described how his people should build the ‘house of God’. This was not God’s house in Jerusalem, called The *Temple. The *Jews did not yet live in Jerusalem. This house was a tent, which people could carry with them. Many ancient people did this, like the *Egyptians. A tent like this showed everybody that their god was with them. Moses’ tent showed people that the God of *Israel was with the *Jews. In Exodus we read how the *Jews made the tent. But in Leviticus, we learn what the priests had to do in God’s tent. All the priests belonged to the *tribe of Levi. They were God’s special servants.
The first 5 books of the Bible tell us about several periods in the life of each person. If that person is a Christian, then the books mean this:
Genesis … *Sin makes a person into a slave of the devil. *Sin is when we do not obey God. Everybody is in this group of people. ‘Everybody has *sinned’, Romans 3:23. We *sin when we do not obey God’s laws. Genesis also tells us about people who tried to obey God, including Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph.
Exodus … God makes people free. So they are not slaves. They are like the *Jews who came out of Egypt. Christians are free. In other words, *sin does not still control them like slaves. God makes them free when they first believe in Jesus. They believe that Jesus died to save them from the devil. Now they are not the devil’s people. Instead they are God’s people. We call this ‘conversion’.
Leviticus … God wants his people to be friends with him. This is a special type of friendship that we call ‘*fellowship’. God brought the *Jews out of Egypt so that they could have *fellowship with him. And God frees Christians from *sin so that they can have *fellowship with him. This is what God wants very much. Leviticus tells us that we can have *fellowship with God. We can have *fellowship with God because Jesus died for us! That is why Leviticus is important for Christians.
Numbers … God’s people look for the *Promised Land. For the *Jews, it was the country called Israel. For Christians it is Heaven and the New Earth. Heaven is the home of God. We call this the Christian’s ‘walk’ with God. God shows his people the way to go. We often call this ‘guidance’, because God is guiding his people.
Deuteronomy … God’s people have reached the *Promised Land. They are ‘home’! Here are the rules that they must obey while still on this earth. There are no such rules in Heaven. What is in the ‘house of God’? Here is a map of the ‘house of God’ that the *Jews made. The Book of Exodus describes it.
North
West
A
B
C
D
East
South
A and B was a tent. This is where God met Moses. This translation calls it the ‘*meeting tent’. The name reminded people that God met Moses there. After Moses, the only people who could go into the *meeting tent were the priests. All the priests could go into B, but only the chief priest could go into A. He could only go into A once every year. B was called the ‘holy place’, but A was called the ‘most holy place’. In A was a special box. It was called ‘the *ark of the *covenant’. ‘*Ark’ here is another word for box. The *covenant was a special promise that God made with the *Jews. In B there were other things:
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An *altar, where the priests burned *incense. An *altar is a special table. When they burned *incense, it gave a nice smell.
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A table, where the priests put some bread each week, on the *Sabbath day. It was called ‘the *showbread’.
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A *lampholder that the *Jews had made from gold. A *lampholder is something that holds an oil lamp while it burns.
C was a large basin of water. The priests washed themselves and animals in it.
D was another *altar. The priests burned *sacrifices on this *altar. It was a wooden table with a metal top. The *sacrifices were animals, birds or corn. The people brought the animals, birds or corn to the priests. Leviticus chapters 1 to 7 tell us about these various *sacrifices. Also, there is a list of them below, in the section called ‘The 5 *sacrifices’. The *sacrifices are also called ‘*offerings’. ‘*Offering’ is another word for ‘gift’. They burned these *sacrifices, or gifts, for three reasons:
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God told them to do it. This is one of the messages of the Book of Leviticus. If the people obeyed God, he would be very kind to them. But if they refused to obey him, they would not avoid their punishment.
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God was pleased when his people gave *sacrifices. They realised that, like the animal, they should die because of their *sins. But God accepted the *sacrifice instead of the person who gave it.
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After the *sacrifices, they could have *fellowship (special friendship) with God. God wanted his people to have friendly relations with him. And by means of the *sacrifices, God had made this possible.
For Christians, each *sacrifice has a special meaning. It tells them something about the death of Jesus Christ. The Book of Hebrews in the *New Testament explains this.
Round the ‘house of God’, there was a yard, where ordinary people could go. It was called a ‘*courtyard’. There was a wall all round it. The *Jews made the ‘wall’ from curtains and animal skins. What is in the Book of Leviticus? We can divide the Book of Leviticus into 8 sections.
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Rules about the *sacrifices. (Leviticus 1:1 to 7:38)
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Rules about how to make a priest. (Leviticus 8:1 to 10:20)
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Rules about what is *clean and what is not *clean. (Leviticus 11:1 to 15:33)
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The Day of *Atonement. (Leviticus 16:1 to 16:34)
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Rules about religion. (Leviticus 17:1 to 22:33)
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Holy days, weeks and years (Leviticus 23:1 to 25:55)
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*Blessings and punishments. (Leviticus 26:1 to 26:46)
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Rules about promises and *offerings. (Leviticus 27:1 to 27:34) The 5 *sacrifices In Leviticus chapters 1 to 7 we read about 5 types of *sacrifices. Below is a series of boxes. We call it a ‘table’. It helps us to understand the description and purpose of each *sacrifice.
Name of *sacrifice
Where to find it in Leviticus
The purpose of this *sacrifice
What the people offered (or gave as a *sacrifice)
What they did with it
*Whole offering
To make God favourable. To give yourself humbly to God.
A perfect *bull, sheep, goat, or birds (called *pigeons or *doves).
They burned everything.
*Corn offering
To thank God and also to make him favourable to the offerer. To give your goods and your work to God.
Cake or bread with no salt or *yeast (*yeast makes bread to rise).
They burned some and the priests ate some.
*Peace offering
Leviticus 3:1-17 and 22:18-30
To thank God; to be at peace with God; to be happy with other people; to express love to God.
Also, after you have carried out a promise completely.
A perfect male or female animal, whatever you can afford.
They burned the *fat; the priests and the offerer ate the rest of the animal.
*Sin offering
Leviticus 4:1 to 5:13
To ask God to forgive you when you *sinned by accident.
It depended who you were. There were various kinds of *sin offerings.
They burned the *fat for God; they burned the rest outside the camp
*Guilt offering
To ask God to forgive you when you *sinned against his holy things, or when you hurt somebody else.
A perfect male sheep.
They burned the *fat for God, but the priests ate the rest.
The note at the start of this Commentary tells us that Leviticus is about God’s people. 3500 years ago, they were the *Jews. But Leviticus also tells us about Jesus. So, it also tells us about Christian people.
The *Jews gave these 5 *offerings at the *meeting tent. Christians do not give animals as their *offerings. Instead, Jesus is their *offering; he is their *whole, *corn, *peace, *sin and *guilt offering. Normally, only *Jews and Christians give these types of *offerings. They are gifts to God from God’s people.
That helps us to understand that the first three *offerings are not for *sin. They are for *fellowship. They bring God and his people together. They become ‘at one’. In other words, they have friendly relations with him; they are united as friends with him.
That is why Leviticus 1:4 has *atonement (or ‘at-one-ment’) in it. But it is not the usual meaning of at-one-ment. The usual meaning is when God forgives a *sinner for the first time. They become ‘at one’. In Leviticus chapters 1 to 3, it is when a *Jew or a Christian wants to be ‘at one’ with God in his daily life. That is why the word ‘wants’ in Leviticus 1:3 is so important. Also, it tells us why they burned everything in chapter 1. The Christian who wants *fellowship with God gives everything to God. Something to do number 1 tells us how Jesus did this for Christians (see the end of chapter 1).
So, as you read Leviticus chapters 1 to 7, remember this. It is only about God’s people. In Moses’ time, they were *Jews. Now, also, they are Christians. Chapter 1 The *Whole Offering v1 And the *LORD called Moses. (The *LORD) spoke to him from the *meeting tent. This is what he said.
v2 ‘Speak to the *Israelites. Say this to them. “Anyone among you may bring an animal as an *offering to the *LORD. But you must bring your *offering from the *herd or from the *flock.” ’ Notes These two verses introduce (provide the initial information to explain) the whole Book of Leviticus. They also introduce the first section, Leviticus chapters 1 to 7.
Verse 1 The word ‘and’ links Leviticus with Exodus. Read the note at the start of this Commentary. *LORD is a name for God. In *Hebrew, it is YHWH. It probably means ‘always alive’. *LORD is not a translation of YHWH. It represents the *Hebrew word. There is a map that includes the *meeting tent in the opening sections of this Commentary. The *meeting tent is the place where the *LORD met Moses (Exodus 25:22).
Verse 2 The *Hebrew word for *Israelites in this verse is ‘sons of *Israel’. *Israel is another name for Jacob. Jacob was Abraham’s grandson. Jacob had 12 sons. Each son’s family became one of the 12 *tribes of *Israel. So ‘sons of *Israel’ is a name for all the *Jews. Note two things about the phrase: ‘anyone among you may bring… an *offering’.
‘Anyone’ means only one person. This is not an *offering for the whole nation. It is for only one person. The *Hebrew word for ‘anyone’ in this verse is ‘adam’. Also, ‘anyone’ need not be *Jewish.
‘*Offering’ means that the person wanted to offer something to the *LORD. It was not something that he had to do. The person wants *fellowship with God. So, by means of the *sacrifice, the person offers himself to God. The *Hebrew word for ‘*offering’ is ‘carban’. The word is in Mark 7:11: ‘It is Corban, which means a gift.’
‘*Herd’ means a ‘group’ of *cattle. Cows are *cattle. ‘*Flock’ means a ‘group’ of sheep or goats. So, ‘from the *herd or from the *flock’ means *cattle, sheep or goats. But verse 3 says that the *cattle must be male. A male cow is called a *bull.
Because the animals were valuable, the *offering cost the offerer something. This is important. It reminds us of what the death of Jesus cost God. Also, the *offering could not merely be the gift of money. The animal had to die. This too is important. We can only have a right relationship with God because Jesus died for us.
v3 ‘If someone wants to offer a *whole offering (from the *herd), he must do it at the door of the *meeting tent. It must be a perfect male (animal) from the *herd. Then the *LORD will accept it.
v4 He must lean (with) his hand on the head of the *whole offering. Then (the *LORD) will accept it on behalf of him. Then it will make *atonement for him.
v5 He must kill the *bull in front of the *LORD. Then the priests, who are Aaron’s sons, will bring the (animal’s) blood to the *altar. They will splash it all round the *altar, which is at the door of the *meeting tent.
v6 (The offerer) must take the skin off the *whole (animal). Then he must cut the *offering into pieces.
v7 The sons of Aaron, who is the priest, must put fire onto the *altar. Then they must put wood onto the fire.
v8 Aaron’s sons are the priests, They will then arrange the pieces (of the animal) onto the wood that is burning on the *altar. They will include the head (of the animal) and its *fat.
v9 (The offerer) must wash (the animal’s) legs and its inside parts with water. The priest will then burn it all on the *altar. It is a *whole offering. It is a gift that (people) offer by fire. Its smell pleases the *LORD.
v10 If someone wants to offer a *whole offering from the *flock, it will be either a sheep or a goat. He must offer a male (animal) that is perfect.
v11 He must kill it in front of the *LORD, at the north side of the *altar. Aaron’s sons, (who are) the priests, will splash its blood onto all the sides of the *altar.
v12 (The offerer) must cut (the animal) into pieces. The priest will then arrange the pieces on the wood that is burning on the *altar. He will include the head and the *fat.
v13 (The offerer) must wash the legs (of the animal) and its inside parts with water. Then the priest must bring it all and he must burn it on the *altar. It is a *whole offering. It is a gift that (people) offer by fire. Its smell pleases the *LORD.
v14 If someone wants to offer a bird as a *whole offering, he must offer a *dove or a young *pigeon.
v15 The priest shall bring (the bird) to the *altar. He will screw off its head and he will burn it on the *altar. He will drain its blood on the side of the *altar.
v16 (The priest) must remove the bird’s stomach and everything that is in it. He must throw it to the east side of the *altar, where the ashes are.
v17 He must pull the bird open by its wings, but he must not pull it apart completely. Then the priest must burn it on the wood that is burning on the *altar. It is a *whole offering. It is a gift that (people) offer by fire. Its smell pleases the *LORD.’ Notes Verse 3 The offerer must want to give something to the *LORD.
The *Hebrew word for ‘*whole offering’ is olah. The *Hebrew word means something that ‘goes up’. As they burned the whole animal, we translate ‘olah’ as ‘*whole offering’. Its smell ‘goes up’ to the *LORD in the smoke. This pleased the *LORD very much. It is the thing that he wants most of all: to be at one with his people. (In other words, to have friendly relations with his people, or to be united as friends with them.)
That is why the *whole offering is the first of the five *offerings in the Book of Leviticus. Many English Bibles call the *whole offering ‘the *burnt offering’. This was because the priests burned it. But ‘*whole offering’ is a better name, because they also burned the other 4 *offerings.
The important word in this verse is ‘accept’. God really wants *fellowship with his people. This *offering is not about *sin. It is about the *sinner whom God has forgiven. It is about that *sinner who wants *fellowship with God. The *sinner gives himself to God, and his *offering is really himself. We can only find this *fellowship because Jesus offered himself for us. Jesus is our ‘carban/Corban’. (See my note on verse 2 for the meaning of ‘carban/Corban’.)
Verse 4 ‘*Atonement’ is a special word. When we do not obey God, we *sin. We become ‘apart’ from him. *Atonement means that we are not apart from God. We are ‘at one’ with him. In other words, we have friendly relations with him. When he forgives us, we are ‘at one’, or ‘together’ with him. When the offerer leaned his hand onto the animal’s head, he became at one with it. (In other words, he became the same as the animal.) So he felt that he should die like the animal. He may have said part of a psalm, such as Psalms 40, 51 or 66. Perhaps the priest replied with parts of Psalm 20 or 50.
But the important thing is this. The offerer is already one of God’s people. He is free. He is not a slave any longer. He has come through ‘the Red Sea’ (Exodus chapter 14). Now, *atonement means that he wants whole *fellowship with God. So he offers a *whole offering! The word ‘lean’ is the important word in this verse. The offerer must press on the animal’s head. This makes him one with (in other words, ‘the same as’) the animal. He unites himself with it.
Verse 5 It is the blood that is important. Christians know that the blood of animals cannot bring *atonement, Hebrews 10:4. This says, ‘The blood of *bulls and goats cannot take away *sins’. Only the blood of Jesus can take away the *sin that is part of human nature. By means of Jesus’ death, God gives us life that will never end.
But God provided animal *sacrifices so that the *Jews could have *fellowship with him. They could not know everything that we know now because of Jesus’ death. But God would forgive them and they would have friendly relations with him.
That is why in verse 5, the priest splashed the blood of the animal on all 4 sides of the *altar. He gave the animal’s blood to the *LORD instead of the offerer’s blood. Not only does this forgive *sin, it also makes the offerer at one (united as friends) with God. This is what God wants most of all. He wants *fellowship with his people.
The *Hebrew words for ‘*bull’ mean ‘son of the *herd’. That may mean *bull, but it may mean ‘young *bull’.
Verse 6 They must not burn the animal’s skin on the *altar. The offerer must remove it from the animal. Later the priests and *Levites removed the animal’s skin, 2 Chronicles 29:34. Perhaps this was because so many people offered animals for *sacrifices. The animal’s skin became the property of the priests.
Verse 7 The priests made the first fire. After this, the fire always burned. Sometimes they had to make many fires on the *altar, because there were so many *sacrifices, 1 Kings 8:64.
Verse 8 The head of the animal and its *fat were for God alone. The priests and the offerer never ate the *fat. (See the section called ‘the 5 *sacrifices’ near the start of this *commentary). Something to do number 2 tells us what each part probably means.
Verse 9 The offerer must wash the inside parts of the animal with water. It would not be right to make the *altar dirty with what is in the animal. The *Hebrew word for ‘burn’ means ‘make into smoke’. It is this smoke that pleases the *LORD. Because the smell is pleasant, we call this a ‘good smell’ *sacrifice. The first three *sacrifices in Leviticus are ‘good smell’ *sacrifices. The *Hebrew words ‘pleases the *LORD’ really mean this. ‘The *LORD now has rest.’
Verse 10 A *flock is a group of sheep or goats. As with the animal from the *herd, the offerer must want to offer something to the *LORD. Perhaps they included goats because of the *scapegoat in Leviticus chapter 16.
Verse 11 This time, the offerer does not put his hand onto the animal’s head. But he does kill the animal, as with the *bull, but not the birds (verse 15). Some Bible students think that ‘lean with his hand’, verse 4, also refers to all the *whole offerings.
Verse 12 Again, as with the *bull, the offerer must cut the animal into pieces. Then the priest put the pieces onto the *altar.
Verse 13 Again, the rules are similar to the rules for *bulls. Note again that the smell pleases the *LORD. It is a ‘good smell’ *sacrifice.
Verse 14 The rules allow birds because poor people could not afford *bulls, sheep or goats. Neither do the rules say that the birds must be male or perfect. This would make it easier for the poorer people.
Verses 15-17 The priest does everything. He kills the bird and pulls off its head. Then he pours out its blood and he burns the body. The priests took the ashes away regularly. Note again that the smell pleases the *LORD. It is a ‘good smell’ *sacrifice. Further Note
The *whole offering means that the *worshipper offers the whole of themselves to God. God gives that person a humble attitude so that they will please God. Read Micah 6:6-8 and Romans 12:1-2.
Something to do
- There are three things in this chapter: the offerer, the *offering and the priest. In Moses’ time, they were all different. But for Christians, they are all the same. They all *point to Jesus! Study the verses in the table below.
Christ was the offerer
They did not kill Christ. He offered himself so that they could kill him.
Christ was the *offering
This was the body that God had prepared for Christ. He offered his body to live for us and to die for us.
Christ was the priest
Christ was a special priest.
He was not a *Levite. He was ‘after the type of Melchizedek’.
Then remember this. The offerer ‘must lean with his hand upon the head of the *whole offering’ (Leviticus 1:4). A Christian is ‘in Christ’. So Jesus did this for every Christian! He made it possible for them to have *fellowship with God. He made it possible for every Christian to *worship God.
- There are several *offerings. They all *point to Jesus! Study the verses in the table below.
*Bulls (male cows)
The *bull was a strong animal.
Jesus was strong and he worked hard with people.
Mark 1:35-38 and 3:20
Sheep or goats
The *lamb did not complain when it suffered.
Jesus did not complain when he suffered.
1 Peter 2:23
*Pigeons or *doves
*Doves make a noise that sounds like people who are very sad. *Doves do nothing that is wrong. (That is, they are gentle birds.)
Isaiah 38:14 and 59:11
- There are 4 things that make the *offerings important for Christians.
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‘Its smell pleases the *LORD’, verses 9, 13 and 17. God liked the *offering. So the offerer could come to where God was. Then there could be *fellowship.
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God accepted the offerer, verse 3.
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A life became the gift upon the *altar, verse 5.
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Everything burned up completely on the *altar, verse 9. Nothing remained.
Think about the life of Jesus on this earth. Did he do these 4 things?
© 2010, Wycliffe Associates (UK)
This publication is in EasyEnglish Level B (2800 words).
July 2010
Visit our website: www.easyenglish.info
var w0 = new Array;w0[0]=’<b%3Eworship</b%3E ~ to praise someone (usually God). You tell him that you believe him to be very, very great. Also, you love him and you will obey him.’;w0[1]=’<b%3ELORD</b%3E ~ a special name for God. In the Hebrew Bible it translates <I%3EYHWH</I%3E. <I%3EYHWH</I%3E probably means ‘he is always alive’. So the word LORD (which means ‘master’) is not a proper translation.