A Journey Through The Old Testament - Elmer Towns

The tabernacle was erected according to the plan and pattern given by God. “So Moses
finished the work” (40:33). Perhaps it was then that Moses prayed a prayer which has since then
become a source of inspiration to all who seek to do a work for God. “Lord, You have been our
dwelling place in all generations.... Let Your work appear to your servants, and Your glory to
their children. And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our
hands for us; yes, establish the work of our hands” (Ps. 90:1, 16-17).
It may well have been in answer to the “prayer of Moses, the man of God” that God
moved into His new dwelling place in the wilderness. “Then the cloud covered the tabernacle of
meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle” (Ex. 40:34). And there from the
tabernacle, God began to speak to Moses and the Children of Israel. The various statements of
God made during the next month have been preserved in the third Book of Moses called
Leviticus.
THE LEVITICAL SYSTEM OF WORSHIP
(Lev.)
Ironically, the one book of the Bible specifically said to contain more of the actual
spoken words of God than any other is the book least likely to be read by a Christian today.
Because so much of the Book of Leviticus is attributed to the direct statements from God, Jewish
rabbis coined the phrase, “Let the pure read the pure.” By this they meant children who were
thought to be pure should be taught to read by reading the Book of Leviticus which came to be
known as the, pure Word of God. This means the first book to be read by Jesus as He grew up in
Nazareth is probably the last book to be read by Christians today.
There are several highlights in the Book of Leviticus which are of special significance to
Christians today. The book begins with instructions concerning the five major offerings in the
levitical system of worship. Most commentators agree the first of these, the whole burnt offering,
is the model on which the Apostle Paul’s challenge to the Romans to be “a living sacrifice” (cf.
Rom. 12:1). This sacrifice involved burning the complete animal as an offering to God and came
to represent the highest expression of commitment to God in the Law. There is even greater
agreement that Christ offered Himself as each of these five sacrifices in His death on Calvary.
The first seven chapters of the Book of Leviticus became the manual of sacrifice for
Israel and her priests. The first part of this manual was addressed to the people and stressed their
responsibility in the area of sacrifice (Lev. 1:1-6:7). The second part of this section of the book
was addressed to the priests and outlined their privilege regarding the sacrifices (6:8-7:38). Only
one of the five sacrifices was offered without blood, the meal offering.