Leviticus: Be holy, as I am holy
Scripture References: 2 Timothy 3:16-17, Leviticus 19:2, Exodus 40:34-35, 10:4-6, 1 Peter 2:9, Leviticus 3:3-5, Ezekiel 21:21, Psalm 51:16-17, Hebrews 10:3-4, 11-14, Revelation 4:8b
Introduction:
Have you ever come across a passage or book of the Bible and thought to yourself: ‘What on earth am I supposed to do with this?’
The book of Leviticus may feel like one those books to a lot of modern-day Christians. Once you start reading the book of Leviticus, it may not be long before you start to realize that you’re stepping into a very different world. A world that may seem foreign or confusing in our day and age. As I’m often reminded…
16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. -2 Timothy 3:16-17 ESV
All Scripture! Yes, even Leviticus. So how do we approach this book? How do we begin to understand what’s going on as we read through page after page of sacrificial instructions, laws and other elements that may seem ancient to us?
We will only scratch the surface in this devotional, but I hope to help get us started by providing a lens in which to start reading this book and see the application. This lens begins with one of our key verses for this week…
2 “Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy. -Leviticus 19:2 ESV
Devotional:
The book of Exodus ends with the completion of the Tabernacle…the place in which the God of Israel will dwell among His people…
34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 35 And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. -Exodus 40:34-35 ESV
L. Michael Morales in his book: ‘Who shall ascend the mountain of the Lord?: A biblical theology of the book of Leviticus.’ Comments:
“As the fiery glory of YHWH fills the tabernacle at the end of the book of Exodus, the drama of redemptive history thus far comes to a culminating pinnacle. There is even a sense where one could read Genesis 1 to Exodus 40 as a complete narrative, a story about being expelled from God’s Presence in Eden, then, finally being brought back into that Presence through the Tabernacle…” 1
This is truly a monumental moment in the history of God’s people! But there is now a big question to be answered: ‘How can a Holy God dwell among a sinful people?’
This is our first lens in which we must begin to read the book of Leviticus. As Pastor Chuck pointed out in last week’s sermon…the presence and glory of God is not something to be taken lightly or casually…it must be approached with fear and reverence.
Israel, in covenant with the Lord God were called to ‘be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy’ (See Lev 19:2). They were called to be a ‘kingdom of priests’ (Ex 19:4-6) reflecting God’s holiness to the nations. We have that same calling even today…
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. -1 Peter 2:9 ESV
So the next question to be answered: ‘What does it look like for Israel to be holy, as God is holy’? This is our second lens in which we must begin to read the book of Leviticus. So just to recap, we have two questions that give us a lens in which to read the book of Leviticus…
Lens #1: ‘How can a holy God dwell among a sinful people?’
Lens #2: ‘What does it look like for Israel to be holy, as God is holy?’
In simple terms, to be holy is to be ‘set apart’. God is holy because He is utterly unique and set apart from all else. There is no one or nothing like Him…nothing can compare to His glory. Christopher J.H. Wright in his book: ‘Old Testament Ethics for the People of God’ writes:
“The kind of holiness that reflects God’s own holiness is thoroughly practical…’Your quality of life must reflect the very heart of my character. This is what I require of you because this is what reflects me.’” 2
This brings up an important point. When we read over various sacrificial instructions in Leviticus, for example…we must ask: ‘How is this showing Israel how to reflect the heart of God’s character? What ‘heart’ message is this sending to the people of Israel?’ This is where a helpful commentary comes in handy! We are thousands of years removed from the culture of the ancient near east. That which may have been obvious or made sense to someone living at that time, may not be so obvious to us. Thankfully, we have Biblical scholars who take the time to study cultural and historical context in order to explain what would have been going on in an ancient Israelites head when they heard these various instructions and details. Let’s look at one example of an instruction that may sound strange to our modern ears:
3 And from the sacrifice of the peace offering, as a food offering to the Lord, he shall offer the fat covering the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails, 4 and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins, and the long lobe of the liver that he shall remove with the kidneys. 5 Then Aaron’s sons shall burn it on the altar on top of the burnt offering, which is on the wood on the fire; it is a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the Lord. – Leviticus 3:3-5 ESV
What in the world are we supposed to do with that? Scholars note that one thing this command is doing, is setting Israel apart from the worship of other surrounding nations in a unique way. Many nations in this culture practiced something called: extispicy. The Lexham Bible Dictionary defines this as:
“The practice of examining the entrails of slain animals (mostly sheep and goats) and predicting things about the future based on the entrails.” 3
This ‘long lobe of the liver’ was a particular part which was used in divination practices. We see a Biblical example of this type of divination practice in Ezekiel when the king of Babylon sets his aim on conquering Jerusalem…
21 For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination. He shakes the arrows; he consults the teraphim; he looks at the liver. -Ezekiel 21:21 ESV
In short, this was a practice of other nations in order to get information from their gods about the future. So when we go back to the sacrificial instructions of the peace offering in Leviticus 3, what strikes us as ‘different’ or ‘set apart’?
They are instructed to take them out and burn them!
Dr. Michael Heiser explains this piece of the instruction in very conversational terms saying:
“Oh, that liver thing that everybody uses to get information from their gods, or so they think they do in divination? Burn it – just burn it!” It’s a real slap in the face of the typical method—a ubiquitous method—of divination in the ancient world.” 4
This brings a world of color to a passage that we may otherwise see as confusing, or boring. Why? Because now we can see one of the messages that God was trying to communicate to Israel. A message that goes far deeper than a mere ritual or physical act…
They are not to worship the Lord in the same way the nations worship their gods. The Lord is holy and cannot be compared to any other. When we begin to understand this message, we find that it carries a timeless truth, even to us today…
We are not to let the culture around us dictate how we worship God. Worship is about approaching God on His terms, not ours.
There is a line in one of our worship songs this week that speaks to this:
“I’ll bring You more than a song
For a song in itself
Is not what You have required
You search much deeper within
Through the ways things appear
You’re looking into my heart“-Heart of Worship
This lyric speaks to looking past just the ‘stuff’ we do. When we sing praise to the Lord, it is not about the song in and of itself. God is more concerned with getting deeper into the heart of the matter.
The same is true when we read through Leviticus…It is more than just about the sacrifices themselves…there is something much deeper than just the instructions, rituals, laws and acts. The methods are about conveying a message that teaches us something about the holiness of God, and how we are to represent Him as holy to others.
David understood this very well, when in repentance for His own sin, he says…
16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;
you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. -Psalm 51:16-17 ESV
The message of Leviticus also points us towards God’s much greater plan, which the author of Hebrews explains…
3 But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. 4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. -Hebrews 10:3-4 ESV
11 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. -Hebrews 10:11-14 ESV
We have something even greater than the temple/tabernacle (See Matt 12:6). A great high priest who now ushers us into the presence of God. The veil of separation contained in the Tabernacle, the Temple has been torn. He is our ‘once and for all’ sacrifice. His name is Jesus.
Portions of Scripture, particularly books like Leviticus can be challenging to understand as people separated by thousands of years from the culture it was initially written in…but if we diligently seek to understand the message behind it…we will find that God is teaching us through His word about His holiness, and how we are to represent Him as holy. Most importantly, it points us to the need that each and every one of us has…the need for a savior, and a ‘once and for all’ sacrifice.
“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,
who was and is and is to come!” -Revelation 4:8b ESV
Amen.
Sean Wagner
- L. Michael Morales, Who Shall Ascend the Mountain of the Lord? A Biblical Theology of the Book of Leviticus, New Studies in Biblical Theology 37 (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2015), 75. ↩︎
- Christopher J.H. Wright, Old Testament Ethics for the People of God (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press 2004), 39. ↩︎
- “Extispicy,” in The Lexham Bible Dictionary, ed. John D. Barry et al. (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016), s.v. “Extispicy.” ↩︎
- Michael S. Heiser, “Exodus 28-29,” The Naked Bible Podcast, episode 306, January 19, 2020, transcript, Naked Bible Podcast, accessed July 29, 2026, http://nakedbiblepodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/NB-306-Transcript.pdf ↩︎