Revised by author (03/2024)
The place of ritual
Leviticus is filled with detailed instructions for various kinds of rituals–what parts of sacrificial animals are to be burned, what is to be done with the animals’ blood, how to lay the people’s sins on the head of a goat, when to wash in water in order to be ritually clean, etc. (See, for example, chapter 8 for the many rituals associated with ordination.) Much of this material, with its attention to blood, body parts, and sacrificeSacrifice is commonly understood as the practice of offering or giving up something as a sign of worship, commitment, or obedience. In the Old Testament grain, wine, or animals are used as sacrifice. In some New Testament writings Jesus’ death on the cross as the…, may seem rather arcane to modern readers. It is difficult to ascertain what the details of the rituals signify. Nevertheless, we can discern much of the theological worldview behind these rituals: that God made the world with certain boundaries between the holyHoly is a term that originally meant set apart for the worship or service of God. While the term may refer to people, objects, time, or places, holiness in Judaism and Christianity primarily denotes the realm of the divine and the common, the clean and the uncleanIn Hebrew law many regulations warned against impurity. Unclean things were numerous and included leprosy, menstruating women, dead bodies, shell fish, and pigs. (Genesis 1; Leviticus 10:10); that this ordered world is good; and that ritual helps maintain that good order so that the world does not descend into chaos. The rituals also help ensure that the holy God can dwell with God’s people (Leviticus 20:25-26).
Ritual impurity
There are many laws in Leviticus dealing with matters of ritual impurity, which is not to be equated with sin or moral failure. Many situations of daily life–menstrual period, sexual intercourse, skin disease, childbirth–make one ritually impure or unclean (see Leviticus 13-15). That is, these circumstances make one unable to approach the tabernacleThe tabernacle, a word meaning “tent,” was a portable worship place for the Hebrew people after they left Egypt. It was said to contain the ark of the covenant. The plans for the tabernacle are dictated by God in Exodus 26. until going through the necessary time and rituals to make oneself clean again. Sometimes a sacrifice is required to make a person clean (see, for example, 12:6-8), but this sacrifice is not to be equated with the guilt offering given by those who have, in fact, knowingly sinned (see 19:20-22). In other words, while sin imparts impurity, not all impurity is the result of sin.
Sacrifice and meaning
The sacrificial system of ancient Israel understands life, both animal and human, as immensely valuable. It also takes sin very seriously, as a contamination that can disrupt the good order God places in creationCreation, in biblical terms, is the universe as we know or perceive it. Genesis says that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. In the book of Revelation (which speaks of end times) the author declares that God created all things and… and that can potentially return the world to chaos. To cleanse sin from the community, and particularly from the sanctuaryA sanctuary is the consecrated area around the altar of a church or temple. It also means a place of safety where one can flee for protection. In the Old Testament, especially in the Psalms, God is referred to as a sanctuary, a refuge from…, life is required. Specifically, the life of an animal, and especially its blood, is required for atonement and cleansing of the people and the sanctuary. Life is so highly valued that the Israelites are strictly forbidden from eating blood, “for the life of every creature [is] its blood” (17:14). Even the blood of a non-sacrificial animal is to be poured out on the ground and covered with earth instead of being eaten (17:13). Blood, as the essence of life, is to be used for atonement, not casually consumed. The blood is given back to God who gave that animal life to begin with.
Tabernacle
The laws in Leviticus, especially in chapters 1-16, are centered around the tabernacle, the “tent of meeting” that accompanied the Israelites in the wilderness. The tabernacle is the visible sign of God’s presence. You might think about it as a sort of electrical power plant, a source of unimaginable power. If you approach that power carelessly, without the necessary preparations, you will be hurt, not through any malice on the part of God, but because God is wholly other, wholly holy (cf. 2 Samuel 6:1-10). So, the laws of ritual order are given in Leviticus in order for the necessary preparations to be made for approaching the tabernacle. The laws are about maintaining right order so that life can flourish, chaos is kept at bay, and God can dwell with God’s people.
Types of sacrifice
The first seven chapters of Leviticus describe several different types of sacrifice: the burnt offering, the grain offering, the offering of well-being, the sin offering, and the guilt offering. The first three of these offerings are voluntary; the last two are required. The burnt offering (in which the whole animal is consumed by fire) serves various purposes, including atonement for sin (1:4). The grain offering, as its name suggests, is a gift of grain, cooked or uncooked, of which a portion is burned on the altar and the rest is given to the priests for food (2:8-10). The well-being offering–the sacrifice of an animal in which much of the meat is consumed by the priests and the one who brings the sacrifice–is offered at times of joy and thanksgiving (chapter 3). The well-being offering, then, resembles something like a Thanksgiving meal. Both the sin offering and the guilt offering make restitution for sins against God and neighbor (chapters 4-5). When the one sinned against is the neighbor, the sinner must first make financial restitution to the one wronged before bringing his or her sacrifice to the altar (6:1-7).Â
Provision is made so that everyone can participate in the sacrificial system. If a person is too poor to offer a bull or even a sheep, he or she can offer a turtledove or a pigeon (1:14; 12:8). Mary and Joseph offer a pair of such birds at the TempleThe Jerusalem temple, unlike the tabernacle, was a permanent structure, although (like the tabernacle) it was a place of worship and religious activity. On one occasion Jesus felt such activity was unacceptable and, as reported in all four Gospels, drove from the temple those engaged… after Jesus is born (Luke 2:24).
Worship and justice
One can divide Leviticus roughly into two parts: chapters 1-16 and chapters 17-27 (the Holiness Code). The first part of the book is primarily concerned with sacrifices, ritual purity, and the duties of priests. The Holiness Code, while it discusses rituals and worship, also emphasizes holy living in all aspects of daily life: eating, sexual relationships, harvesting, relationships with neighbors and with foreigners, caring for the poor, caring for the land, honesty in financial transactions, etc. (see especially Leviticus 19). The structure of the whole book would seem to suggest, then, that holy living arises out of right worship and that worship of the LORD results in justice toward one’s neighbor.
