Leviticus from a Messianic Jewish Perspective
To Vicky Persley, faithful friend and research assistant. Always ready to find resources for my commentaries, this mature partner in ministry, as a grafted believer in Yeshua, couldn’t love the Torah more. God and His Word is what she is all about.
The Hebrew Bible expresses the central concerns of the hearts and minds of ancient people. One such concern underlines the question posed by the prophet Micah: With what can I come before ADONAI to bow down before God on high? Should I come before Him with burnt offerings? With calves in their first year? Would ADONAI take delight in thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Could I give my firstborn to pay for my transgressions, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you, but to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God (Micah 6:6-8). Like other Israelite prophets, Micah questioned the accepted norms of religious behavior, which required that God be worshiped through sacrifice. How shall the human being honor his Creator? What does God require of His creatures? The prophet’s response regards burnt offerings as a poor substitute for justice and mercy.
We should regard Leviticus 19:2b as a priestly response to the same question posed by Micah: What does ADONAI require of us? Be holy because I, ADONAI your God, am holy!
The priestly traditions emphasized the proper worship of ADONAI, undertaken in the pursuit of holiness, which, in turn, could only be realized in the context of an Israelite society governed by the Torah. Justice and mercy, also, were a dimension of holiness, and at points, the priestly and the prophetic response converged. But the priests were concerned with the celebration of holiness, the preservation of purity, and the formation of a religious community that acknowledged the true God.
Leviticus takes its cue from the conventional charge delivered by Ha’Shem, “Although the whole earth is Mine, you will be for Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:5b-16). How Isra’el was to realize the divine program is the burden of the book of Leviticus.1
Title: We now come to the third book of Moses. The title Leviticus comes from the Septuagint (LXX), or the Greek translation of the TaNaKh. It probably reflects the oldest title for the book in Hebrew, which means, “The instructions to the priests.” The present Hebrew title comes from the opening words in Hebrew, which mean, “and He called.” However, the title of this book is deceiving. Even though it is called Leviticus, Levites are only mentioned in Chapter 25, and only a few mitzvot apply to them. The mitzvot that apply to them are actually found in the book of Numbers. To whom, then, is the book directed?
To us as believers.
Authorship and Date: Though the author is not specifically identified in the book, Moshe should be accepted as its author for these reasons: (1) Since the contents of the book were revealed to him at Mount Sinai (Leviticus 7:37-38, 26:46, 27:34) and mostly to or through Moses (1:1, 4:1, 6:1, 8, 19 and 8:1, etc), he is, without a doubt, the one who recorded these divine revelations. (2) The book is a sequel to Exodus which specifically claims Moshe as the author (Exodus 17:14, 24:4 and 7, 34:27-28). (3) Yeshua affirmed that Moses was the author when referring to the Torah cleansing from leprosy (see the commentary on The Life of Christ, to see link click Cn – The Healing of a Jewish Leper). Therefore, Leviticus was written by Moshe probably shortly after the composition of Exodus in the second half of the fifteenth century BC.
Historical and Theological Setting: The historical and theological context of Leviticus is implied in the opening and closing verses of the book (1:1 and 27:34). Historically, Leviticus was the sequel to Exodus, the Levitical sacrificial system was a divine revelation to Isra’el given through Moses as a part of the covenant obligation at Sinai. The book opens: ADONAI called Moses and spoke to him from the Tabernacle (1:1). Thus, the legislation contained in Leviticus follows the historical narrative concerning the construction of the Tabernacle (Exodus 25-40) and precedes the next major narrative of the Israelite tribes for the decampment from Sinai (Numbers 1-4). The intervening exceptions are the historical narrative of the ordination of the priests (Leviticus 8-10) and the brief interlude in 24:10-13. Theologically, the Levitical sacrificial system was instituted for a people redeemed from Egypt and in covenant relationship with their God. Thus, sacrifice in Isra’el was not a human effort to obtain favor with a hostile God but a response to ADONAI who had first given Himself to Isra’el in covenant relationship. Yet, whenever sin or impurity, whether ethical or ceremonial, disrupted this fellowship, the individual or the nation (whichever was the case) renewed covenant fellowship with the LORD through sacrifice, the particular sacrifice, depending on the exact circumstance of the description.
Contents and Literary Genre: Did you know that there is no other book of the Bible which contains more of the very words of ADONAI than in Leviticus? Here, God is the direct speaker on almost every page. Surely there is a message He wants us to grasp. That is one very important reason why we consider this book so vital to read through.2 Leviticus deals with the worship of Isra’el – its sacrifices, priesthood, mitzvot rendering a person ceremonially unclean and so disqualifying him for worship, and various special appointed times for worship. It also contains many mitzvot pertaining to daily living and practical holiness, both ethical and ceremonial. The literary genre of Leviticus is legal literature, including both mitzvot expressing necessary conduct, like: Do not make idols or set up an image or a sacred stone for yourselves (26:1), and mitzvot expressed in case decisions, like: If the anointed priest sins, bringing guilt upon the people, he must bring to ADONAI a young bull without defect as a sin offering for the sin he has committed (4:3). Through these literary forms within the historical framework of the covenant between YHVH and Isra’el, God chose to reveal certain truths about sin and its consequences, and holiness of life before the LORD.
Theme and Structure: The theme of Leviticus is the Israelite believer’s worship and walk before a holy God. By way of application this theme is significant for believers today (First Peter 1:15-16). The theme verse, as stated above, is Leviticus 19:2b: Be holy because I, ADONAI your God, am holy! Leviticus, therefore, is the book of holiness (Hebrew: badal, meaning, being set apart) as in 20:26. While much stress is placed on ceremonial holiness, where people, animals or objects are set apart for the service of YHVH, such holiness is ultimately symbolic and foundational for ethical holiness (11:33 and 19:2). ADONAI Himself is separate from all that is sinful. Thus, Ha’Shem, who was present in the midst of His people Isra’el (26:11-12), demanded that they be holy (20:22-26). The structure of the book corresponds with its theme. Chapters 1-16 basically deal with the worship before a holy God, while Chapters 17-27 relate primarily to the daily walk in holiness before God and people.3
The Use of the Complete Jewish Bible: Because I am writing this commentary on the book of Second Corinthians from a Jewish perspective, I will be using the Complete Jewish Bible unless otherwise indicated.
The use of ADONAI: Long before Yeshua’s day, the word ADONAI had, out of respect, been substituted in speaking and in reading aloud for God’s personal name, the four Hebrew letters yod-heh-vav-heh, variously written in English as YHVH. The Talmud (Pesachim 50a) made it a requirement not to pronounce the Tetragrammaton, meaning the four-letter name of the LORD, and this remains the rule in most modern Jewish settings. In deference to this tradition, which is unnecessary but harmless, I will be using ADONAI where YHVH is meant. In ancient times when the scribes were translating the Hebrew Scriptures, they revered the name of YHVH so much that they would use a quill to make one stroke of the name and then throw it away. Then they would make another stroke and throw that quill away until the name was completed. His name became so sacred to them that they started to substitute the phrase the Name, instead of writing or pronouncing His Name. Over centuries of doing this, the actual letters and pronunciation of His Name were lost. The closest we can come is YHVH, with no syllables. The pronunciation has been totally lost. Therefore, the name Yahweh is only a guess of what the original name sounded like. Both ADONAI and Ha’Shem are substitute names for YHVH. ADONAI is more of an affectionate name like daddy, while Ha’Shem is a more formal name like sir.
613 Mitzvot of ADONAI
Genesis 2 mitzvot
Exodus 110 mitzvot
Leviticus 243 mitzvot
Numbers 58 mitzvot
Deuteronomy 200 mitzvot
The use of TaNaKh: The Hebrew word TaNaKh is an acronym, based on the letters T (for “Torah”), N (for “Nevi’im,” the Prophets), and K (for “Ketuvim,” the Sacred Writings). It is the collection of the teachings of God to human beings in document form. The term “Old Covenant” implies that it is no longer valid, or at the very least outdated. Something old, to be either ignored or discarded. But Jesus Himself said: Don’t think I have come to abolish the Torah and the Prophets, I have not come to abolish but to complete (Matthew 5:17 CJB). I will be using the Hebrew acronym TaNaKh instead of the phrase the Old Testament, throughout this devotional commentary.
The Use of the phrase, “the righteous of the TaNaKh,” rather than using Old Testament saints: Messianic synagogues, and the Jewish messianic community in general, never use the phrase Old Testament saints. From a Jewish perspective, they prefer to use the phrase, “righteous of the TaNaKh.” Therefore, I will be using “the righteous of the TaNaKh,” rather than Old Testament saints throughout this devotional commentary.4
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