NOTE: Typically I put an introduction to a book in a separate post. Not doing that for Leviticus. I didn’t really have much to say about the introduction.
Introduction to Leviticus: Nothing really to address here. The main thing I remember ever hearing about Leviticus is how tedious and dry it can be. Clearly the person who wrote this introduction had a similar thought:
Leviticus is difficult to understand and appreciate because it is highly technical and regularly assumes knowledge of its ritual system. Its sparse narrative structure is also easily obscured due to the large blocks of laws that dominate the book. In addition, its authors’ approaches to the issues they treat and their assumptions about them are o en far removed from modern Western views. (p. 142)
Not necessarily the best argument for reading this book.
I did see that this book picks up right where Exodus ended and according to scholars, the thought is this book occurred over a time of 1 month. So…onward.
Leviticus 1: Burnt offering to the lord. The notes indicate that this type of offering is the most holy. This chapter gives detailed instructions for how one is to sacrifice the different animals to the lord. Very specific.
Leviticus 2: Grain offering to the lord. This is the second most holy type of offering. As with the first chapter, there are detailed instructions for how to prepare the offering depending on if it is cooked or not.
Leviticus 3: well-being offering to the lord. I’m not entirely sure what this is. It seems this refers to animals and not grain. The primary difference between this type of offering and the burnt offering from chapter 1 is that in a burnt offering, everything is burned. Nothing is consumed. This is not the case in a well-being offering. As with the first two chapters, the text provides detailed instructions.
Acts 3: We start to see that Peter seems to be the one who takes up Jesus’ work. In this chapter Peter heals a crippled man, telling him “in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth” (Acts 3.6). That’s interesting that he is able to do this now. It’s like the power of Jesus flows through Peter now that Jesus is no longer around. As expected, the people are surprised by this action, but Peter pretty much tells them to stop acting like this. He makes it clear that he doesn’t have the power to heal others, instead it was Jesus. He chastises the people here:
The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him. ¹⁴But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you, ¹⁵ and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. ¹⁶ And by faith in his name, his name itself has made this man strong, whom you see and know; and the faith that is through Jesus has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you. (Acts 3.13-16)
This leads to Peter telling everyone to repent and turn to God so their sins would be gone. He brings in Moses during this part too. An effective strategy to convince others that following Christ is a better way.