“Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, but you are the same, and your years have no end.” (Psalm 102:25-26 ESV)
Patriotic wall mural, 100 block of W Dominick St, Rome NY
Overview of Chapters 20-22
Crimes & Punishment
0 The theme so far throughout the book of Leviticus is that because we have a holy god we are to be holy people. No fewer than 15 times in chapters 20-22 Yahweh says, “I am the Lord.”
0 Chapter 18 listed the detestable sexual relations (uncles, aunts, grandchildren, sacrificing children to gods, etc.) and it is in Chapter 20 that we are given the penalty for committing these offenses. Remember in chapter 18 when it mentioned sacrificing children to Molech in the middle of the forbidden sexual relations? Chpt 20 starts with mentioning this practice.
0 The reason for this was because sacrificing to the god Molech involved orgies and sexual acts and Yahweh finds this (along with sacrificing your children) detestable. 0 Next is a reminder not to turn to mediums or to (voodoo) curse your parents because the punishment is death.
0 The theme so far throughout the book of Leviticus is that because we have a holy god we are to be holy people. No fewer than 15 times in chapters 20-22 Yahweh says, “I am the Lord.”
0 Chapter 18 listed the detestable sexual relations (uncles, aunts, grandchildren, sacrificing children to gods, etc.) and it is in Chapter 20 that we are given the penalty for committing these offenses. Remember in chapter 18 when it mentioned sacrificing children to Molech in the middle of the forbidden sexual relations? Chpt 20 starts with mentioning this practice.
0 The reason for this was because sacrificing to the god Molech involved orgies and sexual acts and Yahweh finds this (along with sacrificing your children) detestable. 0 Next is a reminder not to turn to mediums or to (voodoo) curse your parents because the punishment is death.
Crimes & Punishment continued
0 The punishment for the crimes of adultery, sleeping with your daughter-in-law, sleeping with your mother, bestiality, and homosexuality all carry the penalty of death. The penalty for taking both a woman and her mother is burning (to death).
0 Keep in mind that in the Israeli justice system it required witnesses to the act in order to get a conviction.
0 In this chpt there is also a reminder to keep the clean and unclean food laws. “You shall be holy to me, for I the Lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.” (Lev 20:26)
0 Finally, anyone practicing witchcraft should be stoned to death
0 The punishment for the crimes of adultery, sleeping with your daughter-in-law, sleeping with your mother, bestiality, and homosexuality all carry the penalty of death. The penalty for taking both a woman and her mother is burning (to death).
0 Keep in mind that in the Israeli justice system it required witnesses to the act in order to get a conviction.
0 In this chpt there is also a reminder to keep the clean and unclean food laws. “You shall be holy to me, for I the Lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.” (Lev 20:26)
0 Finally, anyone practicing witchcraft should be stoned to death
Holy Priests
0 In chapts 21 & 22 the priests are told to remain holy and there is a list of various things that the priest could not be:
0 “For no one who has a blemish shall draw near, a man blind or lame, or one who has a mutilated face or a limb too long, or a man who has an injured foot or an injured hand, or a hunchback or a dwarf or a man with a defect in his sight or an itching disease or scabs or crushed testicles.” (21:18-20)
0 Why crushed testicles? This was a pagan castration ritual and our God did not want his people participating in these.
0 In chapts 21 & 22 the priests are told to remain holy and there is a list of various things that the priest could not be:
0 “For no one who has a blemish shall draw near, a man blind or lame, or one who has a mutilated face or a limb too long, or a man who has an injured foot or an injured hand, or a hunchback or a dwarf or a man with a defect in his sight or an itching disease or scabs or crushed testicles.” (21:18-20)
0 Why crushed testicles? This was a pagan castration ritual and our God did not want his people participating in these.
Overview of Chapter 23
Feasts to the Lord
0 Sabbath: No ordinary work, rest.
0 Passover: 1st Hebrew month, reminder of the Passover that killed every firstborn in Egypt.
0 First-fruits: A harvest celebration
0 Weeks (Pentecost- 50 days): This festival occurred 50 days after the First-fruits
0 Trumpets: today it is called Rosh-Hashanah or New Year, but it was not the new year in the Bible- it was the signaling of the end of the agricultural season. FYI- trumpets were blown on the first of every month to signal the new month, but this was an entirely separate occasion.0 Day of atonement (Yom Kippur): This day happened once a year, every year. The high priest would be allowed to enter the Holy of Holies on this day and this day only. The holy of holies was so holy that a rope was tied around the priests ankle in case he died in there. Yom Kippur foreshadowed the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.
0 Booths: The booth (or tabernacle) is called a sukkah in Hebrew. For an entire week the Hebrew people would leave their homes and stay in temporary dwellings (tabernacles) in order to remind them of the sacrifices that they endured while in Egypt.
0 Sabbath: No ordinary work, rest.
0 Passover: 1st Hebrew month, reminder of the Passover that killed every firstborn in Egypt.
0 First-fruits: A harvest celebration
0 Weeks (Pentecost- 50 days): This festival occurred 50 days after the First-fruits
0 Trumpets: today it is called Rosh-Hashanah or New Year, but it was not the new year in the Bible- it was the signaling of the end of the agricultural season. FYI- trumpets were blown on the first of every month to signal the new month, but this was an entirely separate occasion.0 Day of atonement (Yom Kippur): This day happened once a year, every year. The high priest would be allowed to enter the Holy of Holies on this day and this day only. The holy of holies was so holy that a rope was tied around the priests ankle in case he died in there. Yom Kippur foreshadowed the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.
0 Booths: The booth (or tabernacle) is called a sukkah in Hebrew. For an entire week the Hebrew people would leave their homes and stay in temporary dwellings (tabernacles) in order to remind them of the sacrifices that they endured while in Egypt.
Leviticus 24:1-23
Lights, bread, and blasphemers
0 Inside the Tabernacle there was a menorah that was kept burning all night long. The priests tended to this lampstand to make sure it didn’t go out and just in case you were wondering there was a special recipe to make the oil for the lamps.
0 The table of show bread was also kept in the Tabernacle and each Sabbath 12 loaves of flat bread were stacked on the table and the priests were allowed to eat these loaves.
0 If you have ever heard the term “eye for an eye” and been taught Hammurabi (which is also correct) Moses taught us fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth.
0 We also read the brief story (and fate) of a blasphemer- he was stoned.
0 Inside the Tabernacle there was a menorah that was kept burning all night long. The priests tended to this lampstand to make sure it didn’t go out and just in case you were wondering there was a special recipe to make the oil for the lamps.
0 The table of show bread was also kept in the Tabernacle and each Sabbath 12 loaves of flat bread were stacked on the table and the priests were allowed to eat these loaves.
0 If you have ever heard the term “eye for an eye” and been taught Hammurabi (which is also correct) Moses taught us fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth.
0 We also read the brief story (and fate) of a blasphemer- he was stoned.
Overview of 25-27
Sabbath Years
0 Every week had a Sabbath day- the 7th day of rest- and there was even a Sabbath year appointed for the crops to rest as well.
0 Every 7th year everyone was to give the land a year off to rest. After 7 of these Sabbath years (49 years) the next year was called the year of Jubilee (or ram’s horn) where all debts were cancelled out and slaves were returned to free status.
0 When it came to taking care of the poor it was the duty of family under the Hebrew system to support him until the year of Jubilee.
0 Every week had a Sabbath day- the 7th day of rest- and there was even a Sabbath year appointed for the crops to rest as well.
0 Every 7th year everyone was to give the land a year off to rest. After 7 of these Sabbath years (49 years) the next year was called the year of Jubilee (or ram’s horn) where all debts were cancelled out and slaves were returned to free status.
0 When it came to taking care of the poor it was the duty of family under the Hebrew system to support him until the year of Jubilee.
This is the End
0 In Chapter 26 we have the set up of blessings for obedience and punishment (or curses) for disobedience. This is a theme that is repeated later on in Deuteronomy. Basically it reminds us that if we obey Yahweh’s commands we will get rewarded for it by plentiful crops and food, and ease in battle but if we forsake Yahweh there are disease and famine and wartime failure. There is an ever increasing magnitude of punishments for disobedience.
0 Chapter 27 is the final chapter of Leviticus and it talks about making vows. Finally, this is how the Priestly book ends:
0 “These are the commandments that the Lord commanded Moses for the people of Israel on Mount Sinai.” (27:34)
0 In Chapter 26 we have the set up of blessings for obedience and punishment (or curses) for disobedience. This is a theme that is repeated later on in Deuteronomy. Basically it reminds us that if we obey Yahweh’s commands we will get rewarded for it by plentiful crops and food, and ease in battle but if we forsake Yahweh there are disease and famine and wartime failure. There is an ever increasing magnitude of punishments for disobedience.
0 Chapter 27 is the final chapter of Leviticus and it talks about making vows. Finally, this is how the Priestly book ends:
0 “These are the commandments that the Lord commanded Moses for the people of Israel on Mount Sinai.” (27:34)