BIBLE BOOK GUIDE
Leviticus
27 chapters
How Israel, through sacrifice, purification, and holy living, lives as a people set apart before a holy God.
Leviticus
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Why this book was written
Written by Moses after Israel entered covenant at Sinai, Leviticus instructs the redeemed congregation of Israel on God's holiness, the handling of sin, and how they must live; its purpose is to make them a holy, priestly nation through sacrifice and statutes.
Structure
- 1–7Laws of Sacrifices
- 8–10Consecration and Service of the Priests
- 11–16Laws of Clean and Unclean
- 17–22Commands for Holy Living
- 23–27Feasts, the Sanctuary, and Vows
Major themes
Holiness and Purification
Leviticus provides detailed instructions on how Israel was to maintain holiness in body, ritual, and morality—covering clean and unclean laws, priestly purification, and separation from defilement—emphasizing that God's holiness requires a corresponding holiness in His people (Lev. 11–15).
Atonement and Intercession
The Day of Atonement (Lev. 16) stands as the book's climax, with the high priest entering the Most Holy Place once a year to atone for himself and the people, foreshadowing Christ's ultimate atoning work. The priestly mediator role pervades the book.
Sacrifice and Substitution
The five offerings—burnt, grain, fellowship, sin, and guilt offerings (Lev. 1–7)—provided substitutionary atonement, teaching that sin demands a price while revealing God's grace and forgiveness.
Holiness in Covenant Community
Leviticus 17–27 emphasizes ethical and communal life within the covenant—sexual morality, justice toward neighbors, Sabbath and Jubilee years, festivals, and faithful stewardship—calling Israel to live out its covenant identity (Lev. 17–27).
God's Sovereignty and Provision
God's detailed directions for offerings, priesthood, festivals, and land sabbaths reveal His sovereignty over every aspect of life, while Sabbath years, Jubilee, and festivals demonstrate His faithful provision and mercy.
Consecration and Service
The consecration of priests (Lev. 8–10) and the setting apart of the Levites for service show that ministering to God requires cleansing, anointing, and full dedication to His service.
How it points to Christ
Leviticus points to Christ as the ultimate High Priest and the ultimate sacrifice. He is the mediator of a better covenant (Heb. 8:6), whose one offering of His body forever accomplishes what the repeated Day of Atonement could only foreshadow (Heb. 9:11–14; 10:1–14). The offerings typify Christ: the burnt offering (perfect consecration), the sin offering (bearing the penalty of sin), and the fellowship offering (restored communion with God). The Sabbath and Jubilee years foreshadow the true rest and liberty Christ brings. The command, "Be holy, because I, the LORD your God, am holy" (Lev. 19:2), is fulfilled in believers through Christ's holiness imputed and imparted.
Key verses
- 1:3–4The burnt offering foreshadows Christ offering Himself without blemish as the substitute.
- 16:30The Day of Atonement — God's provision of atonement for the whole congregation, the supreme OT picture of redemption.
- 17:11'For the life of the flesh is in the blood' — the theological foundation of substitutionary atonement.
- 19:2'You shall be holy, for I am holy' — the central summons of the book.
- 20:7–8Holiness is God's own work, sanctifying the people from within.
- 23:5The Passover points to Christ, our Passover Lamb.
- 25:10The Jubilee year foreshadows the freedom and restoration accomplished in Christ.
- 27:30The tithe belongs to the Lord, echoing the NT principle of giving all to God.
Reflections on Leviticus
Questions for reflection
- ·How do the purity laws in Leviticus deepen your understanding of the seriousness of sin and God's demand for holiness?
- ·How does the detail of the Day of Atonement point you to Christ as the once-for-all sacrifice for your sin?
- ·As a New Covenant believer, how do you understand the relationship between grace and the call to "be holy"?
- ·How does the Jubilee command to free slaves and return inheritance reflect the freedom and restoration Christ brings in the gospel?
- ·The priest had to first atone for himself before atoning for the people (Lev. 16)—how does this show that no one can approach God on their own merit?
Want to read Leviticus start to finish? Open the reader for parallel Chinese/English text and ask anything as you go.
Start reading LeviticusLeviticus
Chapter 13
1And Jehovah spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
2When a man shall have in the skin of his flesh a rising, or a scab, or a bright spot, and it become in the skin of his flesh the plague of leprosy, then he shall be brought unto Aaron the priest, or unto one of his sons the priests:
3and the priest shall look on the plague in the skin of the flesh: and if the hair in the plague be turned white, and the appearance of the plague be deeper than the skin of his flesh, it is the plague of leprosy; and the priest shall look on him, and pronounce him unclean.
4And if the bright spot be white in the skin of his flesh, and the appearance thereof be not deeper than the skin, and the hair thereof be not turned white, then the priest shall shut up him that hath the plague seven days:
5and the priest shall look on him the seventh day: and, behold, if in his eyes the plague be at a stay, and the plague be not spread in the skin, then the priest shall shut him up seven days more:
6and the priest shall look on him again the seventh day; and, behold, if the plague be dim, and the plague be not spread in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean: it is a scab: and he shall wash his clothes, and be clean.
7But if the scab spread abroad in the skin, after that he hath showed himself to the priest for his cleansing, he shall show himself to the priest again:
8and the priest shall look; and, behold, if the scab be spread in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is leprosy.
9When the plague of leprosy is in a man, then he shall be brought unto the priest;
10and the priest shall look; and, behold, if there be a white rising in the skin, and it have turned the hair white, and there be quick raw flesh in the rising,
11it is an old leprosy in the skin of his flesh, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean: he shall not shut him up, for he is unclean.
12And if the leprosy break out abroad in the skin, and the leprosy cover all the skin of him that hath the plague from his head even to his feet, as far as appeareth to the priest;
13then the priest shall look; and, behold, if the leprosy have covered all his flesh, he shall pronounce him clean that hath the plague: it is all turned white: he is clean.
14But whensoever raw flesh appeareth in him, he shall be unclean.
15And the priest shall look on the raw flesh, and pronounce him unclean: the raw flesh is unclean: it is leprosy.
16Or if the raw flesh turn again, and be changed unto white, then he shall come unto the priest;
17and the priest shall look on him; and, behold, if the plague be turned into white, then the priest shall pronounce him clean that hath the plague: he is clean.
18And when the flesh hath in the skin thereof a boil, and it is healed,
19and in the place of the boil there is a white rising, or a bright spot, reddish - white, then is shall be showed to the priest;
20and the priest shall look; and, behold, if the appearance thereof be lower than the skin, and the hair thereof be turned white, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is the plague of leprosy, it hath broken out in the boil.
21But if the priest look on it, and, behold, there be no white hairs therein, and it be not lower than the skin, but be dim; then the priest shall shut him up seven days:
22And if it spread abroad in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is a plague.
23But if the bright spot stay in its place, and be not spread, it is the scar of the boil; and the priest shall pronounce him clean.
24Or when the flesh hath in the skin thereof a burning by fire, and the quick flesh of the burning become a bright spot, reddish-white, or white;
25then the priest shall look upon it; and, behold, if the hair in the bright spot be turned white, and the appearance thereof be deeper than the skin; it is leprosy, it hath broken out in the burning: and the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is the plague of leprosy.
26But if the priest look on it, and, behold, there be no white hair in the bright spot, and it be no lower than the skin, but be dim; then the priest shall shut him up seven days:
27and the priest shall look upon him the seventh day: if it spread abroad in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is the plague of leprosy.
28And if the bright spot stay in its place, and be not spread in the skin, but be dim; it is the rising of the burning, and the priest shall pronounce him clean: for it is the scar of the burning.
29And when a man or woman hath a plague upon the head or upon the beard,
30then the priest shall look on the plague; and, behold, if the appearance thereof be deeper than the skin, and there be in it yellow thin hair, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is a scall, it is leprosy of the head or of the beard.
31And if the priest look on the plague of the scall, and, behold, the appearance thereof be not deeper than the skin, and there be no black hair in it, then the priest shall shut up him that hath the plague of the scall seven days:
32And in the seventh day the priest shall look on the plague; and, behold, if the scall be not spread, and there be in it no yellow hair, and the appearance of the scall be not deeper than the skin,
33then he shall be shaven, but the scall shall he not shave; and the priest shall shut up him that hath the scall seven days more:
34and in the seventh day the priest shall look on the scall; and, behold, if the scall be not spread in the skin, and the appearance thereof be not deeper than the skin; then the priest shall pronounce him clean: and he shall wash his clothes, and be clean.
35But if the scall spread abroad in the skin after his cleansing,
36then the priest shall look on him; and, behold, if the scall be spread in the skin, the priest shall not seek for the yellow hair; he is unclean.
37But if in his eyes the scall be at a stay, and black hair be grown up therein; the scall is healed, he is clean: and the priest shall pronounce him clean.
38And when a man or a woman hath in the skin of the flesh bright spots, even white bright spots;
39then the priest shall look; and, behold, if the bright spots in the skin of their flesh be of a dull white, it is a tetter, it hath broken out in the skin; he is clean.
40And if a man's hair be fallen off his head, he is bald; yet is he clean.
41And if his hair be fallen off from the front part of his head, he is forehead bald; yet is he clean.
42But if there be in the bald head, or the bald forehead, a reddish - white plague; it is leprosy breaking out in his bald head, or his bald forehead.
43Then the priest shall look upon him; and, behold, if the rising of the plague be reddish - white in his bald head, or in his bald forehead, as the appearance of leprosy in the skin of the flesh;
44he is a leprous man, he is unclean: the priest shall surely pronounce him unclean; his plague is in his head.
45And the leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and the hair of his head shall go loose, and he shall cover his upper lip, and shall cry, Unclean, unclean.
46All the days wherein the plague is in him he shall be unclean; he is unclean: he shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his dwelling be.
47The garment also that the plague of leprosy is in, whether it be a woollen garment, or a linen garment;
48whether it be in warp, or woof; of linen, or of woollen; whether in a skin, or in anything made of skin;
49if the plague be greenish or reddish in the garment, or in the skin, or in the warp, or in the woof, or in anything of skin; it is the plague of leprosy, and shall be showed unto the priest.
50And the priest shall look upon the plague, and shut up that which hath the plague seven days:
51and he shall look on the plague on the seventh day: if the plague be spread in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in the skin, whatever service skin is used for; the plague is a fretting leprosy; it is unclean.
52And he shall burn the garment, whether the warp or the woof, in woollen or in linen, or anything of skin, wherein the plague is: for it is a fretting leprosy; it shall be burnt in the fire.
53And if the priest shall look, and, behold, the plague be not spread in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in anything of skin;
54then the priest shall command that they wash the thing wherein the plague is, and he shall shut it up seven days more:
55and the priest shall look, after that the plague is washed; and, behold, if the plague have not changed its color, and the plague be not spread, it is unclean; thou shalt burn it in the fire: it is a fret, whether the bareness be within or without.
56And if the priest look, and, behold, the plague be dim after the washing thereof, then he shall rend it out of the garment, or out of the skin, or out of the warp, or out of the woof:
57and if it appear still in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in anything of skin, it is breaking out: thou shalt burn that wherein the plague is with fire.
58And the garment, either the warp, or the woof, or whatsoever thing of skin it be, which thou shalt wash, if the plague be departed from them, then it shall be washed the second time, and shall be clean.
59This is the law of the plague of leprosy in a garment of woollen or linen, either in the warp, or the woof, or anything of skin, to pronounce it clean, or to pronounce it unclean.