Leviticus Summery

We will review some things learned from the book of Leviticus.  First, we need to realize that God gave Moses many laws on Mt. Sinai, and not just the Ten Commandments.  God gave Moses many specific laws concerning worship, both the nature of the worship and the role of the priests in the worship service.  Today, God expects us to worship Him in accordance with His guidance and under His authority.  Moses did not just make up the rules for worship, but God gave them to Him.  Moses did not just make up the rules for the priests, but God gave them to Him.  God also had Moses to continually remind the people of Israel of their covenant relationship with God.  We must never forget that we are in a covenant relationship with God as followers of Christ.  God reminded the people of Israel that He was the One Who had delivered them from Egypt and that He had the right to have authority over them.  As Christians, God has forever delivered us from the power of sin in our lives and from the penalty of sin as well, so He has every right to expect us to be obedient to Him.  God also gave Moses the blueprint we might say for the tabernacle, and how it was to be set up after it was constructed.  As followers of Christ, our bodies are the tabernacle of the Holy Spirit and should be kept under the guidance of God.  God also gave Moses laws concerning sacrifices, both what was an acceptable sacrifice and how and when it was to be sacrificed.  We do not have to be concerned with these laws of sacrifice today, because Jesus Christ is the only acceptable sacrifice.  God gave Moses laws concerning holy days and years, which included laws concerning the sabbath day, the sabbath years, and the jubilee years.  All were to be kept holy to God, with limited work being done.  We today set aside the Lord's Day to worship God, but we often do not keep it holy unto Him for even the whole day.  God gave Moses laws concerning the redemption of property that was sold by one of the people of Israel.  God gave Moses many rules concerning the relationships between people and their redemption if they had been sold into servitude.  We today have only one way to redemption, and that is through putting our faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord. Of course, this was really true for the people of Israel in that day as well as they looked ahead to the Messiah that was to come.  God also told Moses that the priests were to be treated differently than the rest of the nation, and as Christians today we are a priesthood of believers, and we are to be different than the rest of the world. These are but some of the things learned from the book of Leviticus.

Leviticus 27:26

Leviticus 27:26 says, Only the firstling of the beasts, which should be the LORD’s firstling, no man shall sanctify it; whether it be ox, or sheep: it is the LORD’s.  People could not sanctify the first born or even the first of their crops to God because it already belonged to Him.  I believe that today our tithes already belong to God, and we cannot claim that we are giving some special gift to God if we use our tithes to do so.  Verse twenty-seven adds, And if it be of an unclean beast, then he shall redeem it according to thine estimation, and shall add a fifth part of it thereto: or if it be not redeemed, then it shall be sold according to thy estimation.  Unclean animals could be sanctified to God, and if they were redeemed, they were to be redeemed by adding twenty-cent to their estimated value.  If they weren't redeemed, they were to be sold for the estimated value.  Verse twenty-eight continues, Notwithstanding no devoted thing, that a man shall devote unto the LORD of all that he hath, both of man and beast, and of the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed: every devoted thing is most holy unto the LORD.  God told Moses that northing devoted to God could be redeemed or sold.  As followers of Christ we are devoted to Him and nothing will ever ever be able to separate us from Him.  Verse twenty-nine states, None devoted, which shall be devoted of men, shall be redeemed; but shall surely be put to death.  Matthew Henry basically says this means that foreigners who had been defeated and were therefore devoted to God were to be killed so that they would no longer be a problem to the people of Israel.  Whatever the case, anyone devoted to God, which went beyond just sanctifying his or her self, could not be redeemed so would therefore die still devoted to God.  As Christians today, we may not be put to death, but we will die still devoted to, or belonging to, God.  Verse thirty adds, And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD’s: it is holy unto the LORD.  The tithe belonged to God, just as it does today.  We may not give it to God, but it is still His.  We really have done nothing but what God had already told us to do when we tithe, so there is no reason to feel proud of our self for doing so.  Verse thirty-one continues, And if a man will at all redeem ought of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof.  If a person wanted to redeem something that was a art of his or her tithe, then he was to add twenty percent to it.  We must remember that the tithe included not just the money that people might make but the first of all crops and animals that they owned.  I believe that God expects us to tithe on everything that He blesses us with, and even then this is only the minimum that we should be doing.  Verse thirty-two says, And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the LORD.  This is just a further statement that a tenth of everything the people of Israel had belonged to God.  Verse thirty-three adds, He shall not search whether it be good or bad, neither shall he change it: and if he change it at all, then both it and the change thereof shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed.  If a person attempted to exchange something for the tithe, then both the original tithe and the exchange were to be considered holy and could not be redeemed.  Things of God belong to God, and we should not attempt to reclaim them as our own, even by exchanging something else for them.  Verse thirty-four concludes, These are the commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses for the children of Israel in mount Sinai.  We are then told that these are the commandments given to Moses by God on Mt. Sinai.  We sometimes see Moses as having gone up on Mt. Sanai and receiving the Ten Commandments, but he received much more than that.  He received the laws of God as well.  Today, when we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, we accept the law of God as well.  It does not save us, but it does tell us how to live in a right relationship with the world and God.

Leviticus 27:14

Leviticus 27:14 says, And when a man shall sanctify his house to be holy unto the LORD, then the priest shall estimate it, whether it be good or bad: as the priest shall estimate it, so shall it stand.  A man could sanctify his house to the LORD.  This was the house itself and not the people, and the priest would estimate the value for the man to pay to redeem it.  Verse fifteen adds, And if he that sanctified it will redeem his house, then he shall add the fifth part of the money of thy estimation unto it, and it shall be his.  To redeem the house, the man who sanctified it had to add twenty percent to the estimated value.  Of course, everything is really God's to start with, but when we sanctify, or set aside, something that is ours in the view of the world for God's use, if we later decide to use it for our own purpose, we should expect it to cost us more than what it is valued at.  Verse sixteen continues, And if a man shall sanctify unto the LORD some part of a field of his possession, then thy estimation shall be according to the seed thereof: an homer of barley seed shall be valued at fifty shekels of silver.  Matthew Henry says this is land that was inherited.  This had to do with set a value on a part of a field sanctified to God.  The value would be based on the yield of the field.  Verse seventeen states, If he sanctify his field from the year of jubile, according to thy estimation it shall stand.  Verse eighteen continues, But if he sanctify his field after the jubile, then the priest shall reckon unto him the money according to the years that remain, even unto the year of the jubile, and it shall be abated from thy estimation.  Once more, the year of the jubilee would come onto play.  If the land was dedicated in the year of jubilee, it would be redeemed for the price, but if after the year of jubilee, it would be reduced by a percentage based on the years left to the next jubilee.  Verse nineteen says, And if he that sanctified the field will in any wise redeem it, then he shall add the fifth part of the money of thy estimation unto it, and it shall be assured to him.  Again, the redemption price was a fifth more than the valuation price.  Verse twenty adds, And if he will not redeem the field, or if he have sold the field to another man, it shall not be redeemed any more.  If the man would not redeem the land or had sold it to another then it could no longer be redeemed.  Verse twenty-one continues, But the field, when it goeth out in the jubile, shall be holy unto the LORD, as a field devoted; the possession thereof shall be the priest’s.  A field unredeemed at jubilee would be God's forever, just as when we are redeemed by Christ we are God's forever.  There is no reduction in the value of our redemption, no matter how long we may have lived, but the redemption of any individual cost the same, and that is the death of Christ on the cross.  Verse twenty-two states, And if a man sanctify unto the LORD a field which he hath bought, which is not of the fields of his possession;   This had to do with land the man had purchased and not with inherited land.  Verse twenty-three adds, Then the priest shall reckon unto him the worth of thy estimation, even unto the year of the jubile: and he shall give thine estimation in that day, as a holy thing unto the LORD.  The man giving the land would pay the estimated value of the land to the priest and it would be considered a holy thing.  Verse twenty-four continues, In the year of the jubile the field shall return unto him of whom it was bought, even to him to whom the possession of the land did belong.  In the year of jubilee the land would be returned to the one who had originally owned it.  This I believe would prevent the one who purchased the land from simply claiming to give the land to God knowing that revert to the original owner in jubilee.  The one donating it would still be out the cost of the estimation.  We should be wary of trying to claim to give something to God because we figure that it is going to be lost to us anyway.  Verse twenty-five concludes, And all thy estimations shall be according to the shekel of the sanctuary: twenty gerahs shall be the shekel.  This once again was just assigning a monetary value to the land.

Leviticus 27:1

Leviticus 27:1 says. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,  Verse two adds, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When a man shall make a singular vow, the persons shall be for the LORD by thy estimation.  God was addressing people who made vows to Him and letting them know that God would set the value of their vow.  These were vows where a person dedicated themselves to service in the tabernacle according to Matthew Henry and were not something required by God but were voluntary vows.  It is good to do what God asks of us, but it is even better when we willingly go above and beyond what He asks.  Verse three continues, And thy estimation shall be of the male from twenty years old even unto sixty years old, even thy estimation shall be fifty shekels of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary.  Matthew Henry says that this was the value to redeem the person from their vow, so that the priests would have money to fund the tabernacle.  The amount of the redemption depended on the age and gender of the person making it.  Through Christ, all people are valued the same regardless of age or gender, and He paid the price to redeem each individual.  Verse four states, And if it be a female, then thy estimation shall be thirty shekels.  The price to redeem a female was less than the price to redeem a male in his prime.  Verse five adds, And if it be from five years old even unto twenty years old, then thy estimation shall be of the male twenty shekels, and for the female ten shekels.  Then there was the amount set to redeem a child between five and twenty, with the different amounts for the male and female.  These amounts were set based on the amount of work it was believed that the person could do, and once again these were voluntary vows made to God.  Verse six continues, And if it be from a month old even unto five years old, then thy estimation shall be of the male five shekels of silver, and for the female thy estimation shall be three shekels of silver.  Since children of this age would not be able to make a vow, it would have to be assumed that their parents were the ones making the vow.  When the children were dedicated to God, they could be redeemed for a price.  The price of redemption today so that we can be dedicated to God is the same for all individuals, and that is accepting Jesus Christ as one's Savior and Lord.  Verse seven says, And if it be from sixty years old and above; if it be a male, then thy estimation shall be fifteen shekels, and for the female ten shekels.  The redemption value between a man and a woman over sixty were still different, but the woman was considered to be of a closer value to the man.  Verse eight adds, But if he be poorer than thy estimation, then he shall present himself before the priest, and the priest shall value him; according to his ability that vowed shall the priest value him.  If a person was poor, then the priest was to set the value of their redemption if they made a vow to God.  Matthew Henry says this was to teach the people to not make rash vows, because a vow made to God had value.  We today likewise should not make rash vows to God.  Verse nine continues, And if it be a beast, whereof men bring an offering unto the LORD, all that any man giveth of such unto the LORD shall be holy.  If a person vowed an animal to the Lord, then it was to be considered holy, or set aside for God.  Verse ten states, He shall not alter it, nor change it, a good for a bad, or a bad for a good: and if he shall at all change beast for beast, then it and the exchange thereof shall be holy.  Once an animal was vowed, it could not be exchanged, but if a person attempted to exchange another animal for the one vowed, then both would be considered holy, or set apart for God.  Once we come to Christ vowing our faith to Him, we are forever His.  Verse eleven adds, And if it be any unclean beast, of which they do not offer a sacrifice unto the LORD, then he shall present the beast before the priest:  Unclean animals that were vowed to God, that could not be sacrificed, were to have a redemption value for them set by the priest.  Verse twelve continues, And the priest shall value it, whether it be good or bad: as thou valuest it, who art the priest, so shall it be.  Verse thirteen concludes, But if he will at all redeem it, then he shall add a fifth part thereof unto thy estimation.  The animal, if unclean, was to be for the use of the priest, and if the man vowing it wanted to redeem it, he would have to pay an additional twenty percent over the value.  God expects us to take our vows seriously.

Leviticus 26:40

Leviticus 26:40 says, If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me;  God told Moses that there was a way to restoration and that it began by the people confessing their sins.  In order for us to be restored to God today, we must confess our sins and ask His forgiveness by putting our faith in Jesus Christ as our Redeemer.  Verse forty-one adds, And that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity:  God said that when the people of Israel failed to live up to their part of the covenant relationship that He established with them, then He no longer walked with them.  God then added that a part of the restoration required the people of Israel to humble their uncircumcised hearts and accept punishment for their iniquities.  If we today as followers of Christ allow sin back into our lives, we must humble our hearts and confess them to God and accept responsibility for them.  Verse forty-two continues, Then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land.  I don't believe that this means that God ever forgot these covenants, but instead that He would again fulfill His part of the covenants.  The covenants always were conditional, based on the people being obedient to their part of the covenant, since God was always faithful to His when they were.  Verse forty-three states, The land also shall be left of them, and shall enjoy her sabbaths, while she lieth desolate without them: and they shall accept of the punishment of their iniquity: because, even because they despised my judgments, and because their soul abhorred my statutes.  God said that the land would enjoy her sabbaths until the people confessed and returned to Him.  There was quite an indictment against the people of Israel, God's chosen people.  They had despised God's judgments and abhorred His statutes.  As God's people today, we cannot just ignore His laws and then expect everything in life to be good.  Verse forty-four adds, And yet for all that, when they be in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them: for I am the LORD their God.  God said that even when He removed His protective hand and the people of Israel were carried away into the land of their enemies that He would not cast them away, because He is God and He had made a covenant with them.  I believe that once we enter into a covenant relationship with God by putting our faith in Jesus Christ that the covenant is an everlasting covenant.  We may suffer problems if we allow sin back in our lives, but we will never lose our salvation, because it is secured by God.  Verse forty-five continues, But I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the heathen, that I might be their God: I am the LORD.  God said that He would never forget the covenant that He made with the people of Israel when He brought them out of the land of Egypt, and He will never forget the covenant that He makes with us when we accept Christ as our Savior and Lord.  Verse forty-six concludes, These are the statutes and judgments and laws, which the LORD made between him and the children of Israel in mount Sinai by the hand of Moses.  These were the statutes and judgments and laws made by the LORD between Him and the people of Israel as given to Moses on Mt. Sinai.  We today can have a relationship with God only through accepting the way of salvation given by God when Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins and arose victorious over all sin, which was and is the only way to salvation.

Leviticus 26:30

Leviticus 26:30 And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your carcases upon the carcases of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you.  This is a continuation of what God said He would do to the people of Israel if they did not obey Him and chased after idols.  God would tear down their idols and cast their dead bodies on the idols.  If we do not accept Jesus as our Savior and Lord and follow after false gods instead, we will one day have our spiritually dead bodies cast away into hell.  Verse thirty-one adds,  And I will make your cities waste, and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation, and I will not smell the savour of your sweet odours.  God said that He would destroy their cities and sanctuaries and not accept their sacrifices.  Just because we say that we are sacrificing something to God does not mean that He has to accept it.  Verse thirty-two continues, And I will bring the land into desolation: and your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished at it.  God told the people of Israel that He would bring their land to desolation and that their enemies that lived in the land would be astonished by it.  We should not be surprised that the enemies of God live in our midst, even if we call our self a Christian nation.  Verse thirty-three states, And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste.  God said if the people of Israel did not obey His laws that He would once again scatter them among the heathen and leave their land desolate.  God had called them to be His people and had gathered them together in the promised land, and He could remove His protection and allow them to once again be a scattered and defeated people.  We are God's people today because of His calling us to salvation and providing it for us, and we must follow His guidance if we are to be spiritually powerful in the world.  Verse thirty-four adds, Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, and ye be in your enemies’ land; even then shall the land rest, and enjoy her sabbaths.  God said that if the people of Israel did not give the land its sabbaths that He would.  This should be a warning to us to keep the Lord's Day, our sabbath, devoted to God.  Verse thirty-five continues, As long as it lieth desolate it shall rest; because it did not rest in your sabbaths, when ye dwelt upon it.  Again, God told them that when He allowed them to be defeated that the land would have its sabbaths, which the people would have not observed.  Verse thirty-six declares, And upon them that are left alive of you I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies; and the sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them; and they shall flee, as fleeing from a sword; and they shall fall when none pursueth.  God said that when He removed His protection from them instead one man of Israel chasing many that they would become so weak that they would flee when their wasn't even anyone chasing them.  Verse thirty-seven adds, And they shall fall one upon another, as it were before a sword, when none pursueth: and ye shall have no power to stand before your enemies.  Without God, the people of Israel would be powerless before their enemies.  Without the empowerment of the Holy Spirit in our lives we are also powerless before the enemies that we face.  We must rely on God's guidance and empowerment if we are to be spiritually successful in the world today.  Verse thirty-eight continues, And ye shall perish among the heathen, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up.  Then verse thirty-nine concludes, And they that are left of you shall pine away in their iniquity in your enemies’ lands; and also in the iniquities of their fathers shall they pine away with them.  Those of the people of Israel who remained would live in the lands of their enemies and pine away in the iniquities of the land.  Until we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord, we will be enemies of heaven and will never be content in life but will always pine away wanting something more.

Leviticus 26:14

Leviticus 26:14 says, But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments;  Now, God issued the warning.  Obedience or disobedience were both possible, because God gives us free will, but disobedience has a penalty.  Verse fifteen adds, And if ye shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but that ye break my covenant:  God's warning continues to be spelled out.  When we defy God's law, we in effect show that we despise Him.  Verse sixteen continues, I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.  Again. I believe that when God removed His protective hand that these things happened more than that He caused them to happen, but the result is the same.  Without God's power behind them, the people of Israel were not really a powerful nation at all, just as we are spiritually powerless without the Holy Spirit guiding us.  Verse seventeen states, And I will set my face against you, and ye shall be slain before your enemies: they that hate you shall reign over you; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you.  When God set His face against them, the people of Israel would realize how powerless they were, fleeing from even non-existent enemies.  How often today do we flee from imagined enemies because we are not looking to God for guidance and strength?  Verse eighteen adds, And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins.  God said that as long as the people continued to rebel against Him that they would continue to be punished.  As long as we refuse to accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, we will be under the judgment of God, and we will stand guilty.  Verse nineteen continues, And I will break the pride of your power; and I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass:  God said that He would break the pride that they had in their power.  Until we admit that we are helpless to save our self, we never accept God's salvation made available through faith in Jesus Christ, which is the only way to salvation. Verse twenty says, And your strength shall be spent in vain: for your land shall not yield her increase, neither shall the trees of the land yield their fruits.  God had given them a land flowing with milk and honey, but He said that even that would cease to exist if they did not obey His laws.  As followers of Christ, we know that we have a home in heaven, but if we disobey God's law after we accept Christ, then life here may become less than blessed.  Verse twenty-one adds, And if ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto me; I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins.  Then verse twenty-two continues, I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, and destroy your cattle, and make you few in number; and your high ways shall be desolate.  God had freed them from Egypt by sending plagues on the people there, ending with the death of their children, and God said that He could allow the same thing to happen to the people of Israel if the would not obey Him.  They were not a special people because of who they were but because of who God is, and the same is true of Christians today.  Verse twenty-three states, And if ye will not be reformed by me by these things, but will walk contrary unto me;  God said that there was a way to avoid this, and that was to be reformed by Him.  We must always come to God on His terms.  The next few verses continue to pronounce God's warning.  Verse twenty-four adds, Then will I also walk contrary unto you, and will punish you yet seven times for your sins.  If the people of Israel turned away from God then He would turn away from them.  Verse twenty-five continues, And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall avenge the quarrel of my covenant: and when ye are gathered together within your cities, I will send the pestilence among you; and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.  God said that He would allow other nations to defeat Israel.  Verse twenty-six says, And when I have broken the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight: and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied.  The people would not be able to satisfy their physical needs.  Verse twenty-seven adds, And if ye will not for all this hearken unto me, but walk contrary unto me;  Verse twenty-eight continues, Then I will walk contrary unto you also in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins.  If we do not accept God's salvation and obey His laws, then we can expect His judgment.  Verse twenty-nine concludes. And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat.  I don't believe that this means that they would literally eat the flesh of their children, but when we fail to obey God then we may cause our children to face eternity without accepting Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord, which is a greater punishment.