Leviticus

God speaks in Leviticus to give Israel his instructions for the divine worship service. His prescriptions for the many kinds of sacrifices are attended by his promises for the forgiveness of sins and life with him. Purity and holiness come to God s people through his indwelling presence among them. The sacrificial rites maintain the status of God s redeemed people. Central to Leviticus is the Day of Atonement, when a special sacrifice dealt with the sin of the entire people. The sacrificial blood was sprinkled on the mercy seat in the Holy of Holies, foreshadowing the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and his ministry as our great high priest.

This unique commentary explores how each chapter of Leviticus finds its fulfillment in Jesus Christ and the present worship life of the church. Using the method of ritual analysis, it examines the agents, enactment, and theological purpose of each set of instructions in the divine speeches. Each section concludes with that specific text s Fulfillment in Christ his earthly life, atoning death, resurrection, and ongoing ministry in the heavenly sanctuary now on behalf of his people on earth. Then a hymn quotation poetically sums up the theology of the passage as it applies to the individual Christian s faith and the church s corporate life.