LEVITICUS
The third book of Moses called "LEVITICUS"
The Greek title "Leviticus" means "That which pertains to the Levites"
The Jewish Bible title "Vayikra" means "He called"
The Talmud refers to this book as the "Law of the priests" and the "Law of the offerings"
The title of this book is somewhat misleading as it deals more with the priests (a small segment of the Levites) than with the actual tribe of Levites as a whole.
The book of Leviticus is a primer for moral and ethical instructions for the Israelites. It covers all the civil, ceremonial, sanitary, moral and religious laws. All of the offerings and laws served to remind Israel that God was holy and could be directly approached by the priests alone. The priests in turn would intercede for the people who came to offer sacrifices to God for the covering and forgiveness of their sins.
The sacrifices of animals for Man's sin were symbolic, and pointed to the ultimate sacrifice which would completely take away sin for the whole world, Jesus Christ.
JOHN 1:29
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
HEBREWS 7:11-28
11 Therefore, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the Law), what further need was there that another priest should rise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be called according to the order of Aaron?
12 For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of the law.
13 For He of whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe, from which no man has officiated at the altar.
14 For it is evident that our Lord arose from Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood.
15 And it is yet far more evident if, in the likeness of Melchizedek, there arises another priest
16 who has come, not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life.
17 For He testifies: "You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek."
18 For on the one hand there is an annulling of the former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness,
19 for the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.
20 And inasmuch as He was not made priest without an oath
21 (for they have become priests without an oath, but He with an oath by Him who said to Him: "The LORD has sworn and will not relent, 'You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek'"),
22 by so much more Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant.
23 Also there were many priests, because they were prevented by death from continuing.
24 But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood.
25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
26 For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens;
27 who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people's, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.
28 For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever.
LEVITICUS 1- Laws of sacrifice, types of animals acceptable and methods of offering
LEVITICUS 2 - Laws concerning grain offerings and offerings of first fruits
LEVITICUS 3 - Laws of peace offerings; prohibition against eating fat and blood
LEVITICUS 4 -Laws of unintentional sins, and sins committed in ignorance
LEVITICUS 5 -Laws of oaths, touching unclean things and trespass offerings
LEVITICUS 6 -Laws of swearing of oaths, burnt offerings, sin offerings, daily grain offerings
LEVITICUS 7 -Laws of trespass, peace offering and voluntary offerings
LEVITICUS 8 -Moses consecrates Aaron and sons; performs first of commanded sacrifices
LEVITICUS 9 -Aaron and sons perform commanded sacrifices as priests
LEVITICUS 10 -Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu destroyed by God for disobedience
LEVITICUS 11 -Laws of clean and unclean animals, fish, birds, insects; various hygienic laws
LEVITICUS 12 -Laws of circumcision; laws of impurity of women after childbirth
LEVITICUS 13 -Laws of leprosy, identification and types of leprosy; conduct of lepers
LEVITICUS 14 -Sacrifices for cleansing of leprosy; laws of leprosy in plastered walls of houses
LEVITICUS 15 -Laws of bodily discharges and hygiene
LEVITICUS 16 -Laws of High Priest' duties for the Day of Atonement
LEVITICUS 17 -Prohibition against offering sacrifices apart from the Tabernacle
LEVITICUS 18 -Laws against sexual immorality, adultery, homosexuality, bestiality
LEVITICUS 19 - Reiteration of God's commandments concerning social and domestic behavior
LEVITICUS 20 -Laws of witchcraft, sexual immorality, forbidding sacrificing children to Molech
LEVITICUS 21 -Laws of priestly behavior, laws of priests' family conduct
LEVITICUS 22 -Laws of unclean priests; eating holy offerings; perfection of sacrificial animals
LEVITICUS 23 - List of commanded feasts and sacrifices, offerings to be made when in Canaan
LEVITICUS 24 -Laws concerning murder and abuse; reiteration of daily offerings and showbread
LEVITICUS 25 -Laws of Sabbaths, servants and slaves, redemption of servants, Year of Jubilee
LEVITICUS 26 -Idolatry forbidden; lists of punishments for disobedience to God's laws
LEVITICUS 27 -Laws of vows, dedicated things, tithes, capital punishment
LEVITICUS 1:1-4
1 NOW the LORD called to Moses, and spoke to him from the tabernacle of meeting, saying,
2 "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'When any one of you brings an offering to the LORD, you shall bring your offering of the livestock of the herd and of the flock.
3 'If his offering is a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish; he shall offer it of his own free will at the door of the tabernacle of meeting before the LORD.
4 'Then he shall put his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him.
The animal sacrifices were to be male and without blemish (the best of your herd or flock) and given freely (not grudgingly) for atonement for sin.
LEVITICUS 1:5-9
5 'He shall kill the bull before the LORD; and the priests, Aaron's sons, shall bring the blood and sprinkle the blood all around on the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of meeting.
6 'And he shall skin the burnt offering and cut it into its pieces.
7 'The sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire on the altar, and lay the wood in order on the fire.
8 'Then the priests, Aaron's sons, shall lay the parts, the head, and the fat in order on the wood that is on the fire upon the altar;
9 'but he shall wash its entrails and its legs with water. And the priest shall burn all on the altar as a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the LORD.
For a bull sacrifice: the owner was to kill it
The priests were to sprinkle the blood around the altar
The owner was to skin the bull and cut it into pieces
The priests were to start the fire inside the altar and place the parts of the bull on the grate inside the altar.
The owner was to wash the insides and legs with water (to remove excrement and stomach contents)
The priests were to burn everything on the altar as an offering to the Lord.
LEVITICUS 1:10-13
10 'If his offering is of the flocks of the sheep or of the goats as a burnt sacrifice, he shall bring a male without blemish.
11 'He shall kill it on the north side of the altar before the LORD; and the priests, Aaron's sons, shall sprinkle its blood all around on the altar.
12 'And he shall cut it into its pieces, with its head and its fat; and the priest shall lay them in order on the wood that is on the fire upon the altar;
13 'but he shall wash the entrails and the legs with water. Then the priest shall bring it all and burn it on the altar; it is a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the LORD.
For a sheep or goat (without blemish) sacrifice:
The owner was to kill it on the north side of the altar
The priests were to sprinkle the blood around the altar
The owner was to cut it into pieces
The priests were to start the fire inside the altar.
The owner was to wash the insides and legs with water
The priests were to burn everything on the altar as an offering to the Lord.
LEVITICUS 1:14-17
14 'And if the burnt sacrifice of his offering to the LORD is of birds, then he shall bring his offering of turtledoves or young pigeons.
15 'The priest shall bring it to the altar, wring off its head, and burn it on the altar; its blood shall be drained out at the side of the altar.
16 'And he shall remove its crop with its feathers and cast it beside the altar on the east side, into the place for ashes.
17 'Then he shall split it at its wings, but shall not divide it completely; and the priest shall burn it on the altar, on the wood that is on the fire. It is a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the LORD.
For a bird (turtledove or pigeon) sacrifice, the priests killed it by twisting off their heads and burn the head on the altar. The blood was to be drained at the side of the altar, and the tail feathers were to be removed and put on the east side of the altar (where the ashes were). The bird was then split almost in half and placed on the wood of the fire to burn as an offering to the Lord.
Why the birds were to be split isn't known.
LEVITICUS 2:1-3
1 'When anyone offers a grain offering to the LORD, his offering shall be of fine flour. And he shall pour oil on it, and put frankincense on it.
2 'He shall bring it to Aaron's sons, the priests, one of whom shall take from it his handful of fine flour and oil with all the frankincense. And the priest shall burn it as a memorial on the altar, an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the LORD.
3 'The rest of the grain offering shall be Aaron's and his sons'. It is most holy of the offerings to the LORD made by fire.
A grain offering (voluntary): the owner brings grain crushed into a fine flour, oil and frankincense.
The priest takes a handful of the flour mixes that with the oil and frankincense. He burns the mixture on the altar, making a sweet smell before the Lord. (Frankincense is an aromatic sap which dries to a gum used to make perfumes. It cannot be eaten by humans, therefore all of the frankincense is burned before the Lord). The priests keep the rest of the flour to use for their food.
The oil used represented the Holy Spirit bringing the prayers (frankincense) before the Lord.
The apostle John in his vision of Revelation saw something similar to this;
REVELATION 8:3-4
3 Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne.
4 The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand.
LEVITICUS 2:4-10
4 'And if you bring as an offering a grain offering baked in the oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil.
5 'But if your offering is a grain offering baked in a pan, it shall be of fine flour, unleavened, mixed with oil.
6 'You shall break it in pieces and pour oil on it; it is a grain offering.
7 'If your offering is a grain offering baked in a covered pan, it shall be made of fine flour with oil.
8 'You shall bring the grain offering that is made of these things to the LORD. And when it is presented to the priest, he shall bring it to the altar.
9 'Then the priest shall take from the grain offering a memorial portion, and burn it on the altar. It is an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the LORD.
10 'And what is left of the grain offering shall be Aaron's and his sons'. It is most holy of the offerings to the LORD made by fire.
A baked grain offering (voluntary): The priest is to burn a portion on the altar for the Lord as a memorial. The rest is for the priests to consume as food. Unleavened oven baked cakes (mixed with oil) or wafers (covered with oil).
Pan baked: Unleavened fine flour mixed with oil.
Baked in a covered pan: Unleavened fine four mixed with oil.
The covering of the wafers or cakes with oil signified the resting of the Holy Spirit upon the congregation, for in Old Testament times He did not dwell within believers, for their sins, while covered by the blood sacrifices, were not yet taken away. The mixing of oil with the flour signified the dwelling of the Holy Spirit within believers, for after the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ, the sins of the believer were removed forever.
This offering was to be fulfilled in Jesus Christ, at His death on the cross. He said that He was the Bread of Life, come down from Heaven for the salvation of men, in that He spoke to us the words of God that we might follow His commandments and live.
This has a double meaning, in that God provides us with food for daily living of the body, but he also provides us with spiritual food for our spiritual life.
As He would tell Moses later;
DEUTERONOMY 8:1-3
1 "Every commandment which I command you today you must be careful to observe, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land of which the LORD swore to your fathers.
2 "And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.
3 "So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.
The Law of Moses was a physical law in that a person was required to do certain things (focused on works), and if you didn't do them, you were to be punished as God directed. This didn't require faith, therefore it was imperfect before God and was a temporary measure until He would change the Covenant of the Law for a new, everlasting perfect covenant.
The laws set down by Jesus Christ are spiritual laws, in that works are to be accompanied by faith and should be a product of that faith. In other words, if you do good works before God, it is to be because it is generated by your faith in Him, not because it is required of you.
As we shall see later, God at numerous times became weary with the sacrifices of Israel because they did so out of habit, rather than by fear of the Lord and by love and faith in Him. It had become a meaningless ritual to both Israel and God.
The New Covenant, which we call the New Testament, is the new Law set down by God through Jesus Christ in which works support faith and therefore are acceptable before Him. No man can do any perfect work before the Lord, as an imperfect thing cannot perform perfection.
Therefore we are justified by faith in God, not by works. We do works before Him that we might attain praise from Him at our judgment for our obedience to works that He commands us to do, but works alone will not save us at our judgment, it will be our faith in God and our obedience to Him. And through our faith in His grace, our works are made perfect in His sight, and we will receive praise from Him when our works are tried before His Throne.
The grain offerings, the cakes and pan-fried breads represented the physical and spiritual body of Jesus Christ, in that His physical body (represented by the broken bread), was broken for us at the cross.
The oil for the offering was the anointing of the Holy Spirit upon Him, and the offering by fire was the fact that His spiritual body, laden with our sins, went to Hell to burn for our redemption.
When the sins had been destroyed in the fire, He then arose from the dead, having accomplished what His Father had set for Him to do, namely offer Himself as the perfect, final sacrifice for Man's sins.
The soothing aroma before the Lord was the fact that His righteous justice required for our sins would be satisfied in the sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ, in that God Himself was taking His own punishment for sins upon Himself, as only the perfect sacrifice of a perfect life could overcome the eternal spiritual death brought about by sin.
So if one looks carefully and considers, one can see the fulfillment of this offering in Jesus Christ, which explains why there need be no more such offerings.
LEVITICUS 2:11
11 'No grain offering which you bring to the LORD shall be made with leaven, for you shall burn no leaven nor any honey in any offering to the LORD made by fire.
Leaven (yeast) was representative of sin before the Lord. The purpose of not burning honey is unknown, unless it represented some sort of impurity before the Lord.
LEVITICUS 2:12
12 'As for the offering of the firstfruits, you shall offer them to the LORD, but they shall not be burned on the altar for a sweet aroma.
All first fruits offered to God were not to be burnt offerings. This would allow the priests to enjoy the full nutritional benefit of the fruits.
LEVITICUS 2:13-16
13 'And every offering of your grain offering you shall season with salt; you shall not allow the salt of the covenant of your God to be lacking from your grain offering. With all your offerings you shall offer salt.
14 'If you offer a grain offering of your firstfruits to the LORD, you shall offer for the grain offering of your firstfruits green heads of grain roasted on the fire, grain beaten from full heads.
15 'And you shall put oil on it, and lay frankincense on it. It is a grain offering.
16 'Then the priest shall burn the memorial portion: part of its beaten grain and part of its oil, with all the frankincense, as an offering made by fire to the LORD.
Salt was to be offered with every grain offering. This was to provide the priests with their ration of salt which is required by the body to function. In hot desert climates such as Israel was in, it was vitally important that salt intakes be maintained for sake of health.
In some Middle Eastern cultures (especially in ancient times) salt was used in the place of money, or was used in barter for goods. Salt mining is still a vital industry in parts of Africa and the Middle East today.
LEVITICUS 3:1-5
1 'When his offering is a sacrifice of a peace offering, if he offers it of the herd, whether male or female, he shall offer it without blemish before the LORD.
2 'And he shall lay his hand on the head of his offering, and kill it at the door of the tabernacle of meeting; and Aaron's sons, the priests, shall sprinkle the blood all around on the altar.
3 'Then he shall offer from the sacrifice of the peace offering an offering made by fire to the LORD. The fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails,
4 'the two kidneys and the fat that is on them by the flanks, and the fatty lobe attached to the liver above the kidneys, he shall remove;
5 'and Aaron's sons shall burn it on the altar upon the burnt sacrifice, which is on the wood that is on the fire, as an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the LORD.
Peace offerings of a bull or cow:
The owner takes it the door of the tabernacle and putting his hand on the head of the animal, kills it.
The priests take part of the blood and sprinkle it around the altar.
The owner removes the fat on and around the intestines, the kidneys with the fat around them and the fatty part of the liver.
The priests are to burn these parts on the altar for a peace offering. The rest of the meat was the priests' food.
LEVITICUS 3:6-11
6 'If his offering as a sacrifice of a peace offering to the LORD is of the flock, whether male or female, he shall offer it without blemish.
7 'If he offers a lamb as his offering, then he shall offer it before the LORD.
8 'And he shall lay his hand on the head of his offering, and kill it before the tabernacle of meeting; and Aaron's sons shall sprinkle its blood all around on the altar.
9 'Then he shall offer from the sacrifice of the peace offering, as an offering made by fire to the LORD, its fat and the whole fat tail which he shall remove close to the backbone. And the fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails,
10 'the two kidneys and the fat that is on them by the flanks, and the fatty lobe attached to the liver above the kidneys, he shall remove;
11 'and the priest shall burn them on the altar as food, an offering made by fire to the LORD.
Peace offerings of a sheep (either a male or a female animal and without blemish):
The owner takes it the door of the tabernacle and putting his hand on the head of the animal, kills it.
The priests take part of the blood and sprinkle it around the altar.
The owner removes the fat, the fat from the tail and backbone area, the fat on and around the intestines, the kidneys with the fat around them and the fat part of the liver.
The priests are to burn these parts on the altar for a peace offering to the Lord. The meat was burned on the altar and pulled out with altar utensils for the priests' food.
LEVITICUS 3:12-16
12 'And if his offering is a goat, then he shall offer it before the LORD.
13 'He shall lay his hand on its head and kill it before the tabernacle of meeting; and the sons of Aaron shall sprinkle its blood all around on the altar.
14 'Then he shall offer from it his offering, as an offering made by fire to the LORD. The fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails,
15 'the two kidneys and the fat that is on them by the flanks, and the fatty lobe attached to the liver above the kidneys, he shall remove;
16 'and the priest shall burn them on the altar as food, an offering made by fire for a sweet aroma; all the fat is the LORD's.
Peace offerings of a goat:
The owner takes it the door of the tabernacle and putting his hand on the head of the animal, kills it.
The priests take part of the blood and sprinkle it around the altar.
The owner removes the fat on and around the intestines, the kidneys with the fat around them and the fat part of the liver.
The priests are to burn these parts on the altar for a peace offering to the Lord. The rest of the meat was the priests' food.
LEVITICUS 3:17
17 'This shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings: you shall eat neither fat nor blood.'"
God knew of the health dangers of eating fat and forbid Israel to eat of it. The prohibition against eating blood goes all the way back to Noah;
GENESIS 9:3-4
3 "Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs.
4 "But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.
It is interesting that the Roman Catholic Church teaches that through "transubstantiation" (miraculous conversion) the wafer and wine that they serve during their communion services becomes the real body and blood of Jesus Christ. Yet God very clearly states that no man is to eat blood! So by that very teaching they violate God's express commandment concerning this issue.
Protestant churches teach that the bread and juice they serve is only symbolic of eating Jesus' flesh and blood and that our spirits partake of the essence of Jesus Christ through the Communion covenant. This fits the Scriptural teachings concerning both issues.
LEVITICUS 4:1-12
1 Now the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
2 "Speak to the children of Israel, saying: 'If a person sins unintentionally against any of the commandments of the LORD in anything which ought not to be done, and does any of them,
3 'if the anointed priest sins, bringing guilt on the people, then let him offer to the LORD for his sin which he has sinned a young bull without blemish as a sin offering.
4 'He shall bring the bull to the door of the tabernacle of meeting before the LORD, lay his hand on the bull's head, and kill the bull before the LORD.
5 'Then the anointed priest shall take some of the bull's blood and bring it to the tabernacle of meeting.
6 'The priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of the blood seven times before the LORD, in front of the veil of the sanctuary.
7 'And the priest shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of sweet incense before the LORD, which is in the tabernacle of meeting; and he shall pour the remaining blood of the bull at the base of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of meeting.
8 'He shall take from it all the fat of the bull as the sin offering. The fat that covers the entrails and all the fat which is on the entrails,
9 'the two kidneys and the fat that is on them by the flanks, and the fatty lobe attached to the liver above the kidneys, he shall remove,
10 'as it was taken from the bull of the sacrifice of the peace offering; and the priest shall burn them on the altar of the burnt offering.
11 'But the bull's hide and all its flesh, with its head and legs, its entrails and offal
12 'the whole bull he shall carry outside the camp to a clean place, where the ashes are poured out, and burn it on wood with fire; where the ashes are poured out it shall be burned.
This was a special sin offering, for an unintentional sin against God or His commands by a person or an anointed priest (such as the High Priest) which brings guilt upon the people as a whole. The guilty person or priest is to offer a young bull without blemish.
The owner (or priest) was to bring the bull to the tabernacle, put his hand on the bulls head and kill it.
The priest dipped his finger in the blood and sprinkled it in front of the veil of the sanctuary seven times, then he put some of the blood on the horns of the incense altar (inside the holy place). He poured the remaining blood at the base of the burnt offering altar (outside the tabernacle).
The owner removed the same parts as the bull peace offering.
The priest burned these for the Lord. The rest of the bull was taken outside the camp to the place where the ashes from the sacrifices were put. He built a wood fire and burned everything left of the bull until it was all ashes. This was symbolic of the sins laid on the bull being destroyed outside of the camp.
In like fashion, Jesus Christ, taking the sins of the world upon Himself as a sin offering, needed to be burned "outside of the camp", but in this case the only place "outside of the camp" of the world was Hell, the designated "clean place" for the destruction of sins.
Knowing this, it was prophesied of Him;
PSALMS 16:8-10
8 I have set the LORD always before me; because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.
9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will rest in hope.
10 For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.
The New Testament records that Jesus Christ was crucified and rose from the dead three days later. Therefore He never "saw corruption" (decayed), neither was His soul left in Hell because of sins, as is the case with those who have died in their sins for the sins He bore were not His own, but those of all of Mankind.
Some have argued that king David was prophesying about himself, but he died and his body decayed. Neither was he described as God's "Holy One" as he was a sinner as much as the rest of mankind. So this refers to One that would be greater than he, One who was equal with God, namely Jesus Christ.
As the author of the book of Hebrews in the New Testament stated;
HEBREWS 13:11-12
11 For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp.
12 Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.
LEVITICUS 4:13-21
13 'Now if the whole congregation of Israel sins unintentionally, and the thing is hidden from the eyes of the assembly, and they have done something against any of the commandments of the LORD in anything which should not be done, and are guilty;
14 'when the sin which they have committed becomes known, then the assembly shall offer a young bull for the sin, and bring it before the tabernacle of meeting.
15 'And the elders of the congregation shall lay their hands on the head of the bull before the LORD. Then the bull shall be killed before the LORD.
16 'The anointed priest shall bring some of the bull's blood to the tabernacle of meeting.
17 'Then the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it seven times before the LORD, in front of the veil.
18 'And he shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar which is before the LORD, which is in the tabernacle of meeting; and he shall pour the remaining blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of meeting.
19 'He shall take all the fat from it and burn it on the altar.
20 'And he shall do with the bull as he did with the bull as a sin offering; thus he shall do with it. So the priest shall make atonement for them, and it shall be forgiven them.
21 'Then he shall carry the bull outside the camp, and burn it as he burned the first bull. It is a sin offering for the assembly.
Sin offering - for an unintentional sin against God or His commands by Israel as a whole. As soon as the sin is recognized, this offering must be made. The elders of Israel are to offer a young bull without blemish.
The elders bring the bull to the tabernacle, put their hands on the bulls head and kill it.
The priest dips his finger in the blood and sprinkles it in front of the veil of the sanctuary seven times, then he puts some of the blood on the horns of the incense altar (inside the holy place). He pours the remaining blood at the base of the burnt offering altar (outside the tabernacle). Then removes the same parts of the bull sin offering and burns these for the Lord. This will be an atonement for the people and they will be forgiven of this sin. The rest of the bull is taken outside the camp to the place where the ashes from the sacrifices are put. The priest builds a wood fire and burns everything left of the bull until it is all ashes.
LEVITICUS 4:22-26
22 'When a ruler has sinned, and done something unintentionally against any of the commandments of the LORD his God in anything which should not be done, and is guilty,
23 'or if his sin which he has committed comes to his knowledge, he shall bring as his offering a kid of the goats, a male without blemish.
24 'And he shall lay his hand on the head of the goat, and kill it at the place where they kill the burnt offering before the LORD. It is a sin offering.
25 'The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and pour its blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering.
26 'And he shall burn all its fat on the altar, like the fat of the sacrifice of the peace offering. So the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin, and it shall be forgiven him.
Sin offering - For an unintentional sin against God or His commands by any ruler (such as teachers, or judges of the Israelites. As soon as the sin is recognized, this offering must be made. The ruler of Israel is to offer a young male goat without blemish.
The ruler brings the goat to the tabernacle, puts his hand on the goats head and kills it.
The priest dips his finger in the blood and puts some of the blood on the horns of the burnt offering altar (outside the tabernacle). And pours the remaining blood at the base of the burnt offering altar (outside the tabernacle).
The ruler removes the same fat parts as the peace offering.
The priest burns these for the Lord. This will be an atonement for the ruler and he will be forgiven of this sin.
Note the difference between the offering of the priest and the ruler. The priest, being in a greater office before the Lord is held accountable to a higher standard, and therefore must sacrifice a bull before the Lord, whereas a teacher or judge must offer a goat kid from the flock as an offering.
This shows that those in important positions in the service of the Lord (such as pastors and Bible teachers today) are held more highly accountable to the Lord because of their service as examples to the rest of the congregation.
The apostle James spoke of this, when he warned;
JAMES 3:1
1 My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.
Those who teach God's Word will be held to a stricter judgment than those who hear, for teachers have been selected by God to teach His Word and therefore are held accountable for what they teach, and for the honorable position the Lord has placed them in. They are not only to teach God's Word accurately, they are to walk according to those teachings.
LEVITICUS 4:27-35
27 'If anyone of the common people sins unintentionally by doing something against any of the commandments of the LORD in anything which ought not to be done, and is guilty,
28 'or if his sin which he has committed comes to his knowledge, then he shall bring as his offering a kid of the goats, a female without blemish, for his sin which he has committed.
29 'And he shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering, and kill the sin offering at the place of the burnt offering.
30 'Then the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger, put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and pour all the remaining blood at the base of the altar.
31 'He shall remove all its fat, as fat is removed from the sacrifice of the peace offering; and the priest shall burn it on the altar for a sweet aroma to the LORD. So the priest shall make atonement for him, and it shall be forgiven him.
32 'If he brings a lamb as his sin offering, he shall bring a female without blemish.
33 'Then he shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering, and kill it as a sin offering at the place where they kill the burnt offering.
34 'The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and pour all the remaining blood at the base of the altar.
35 'He shall remove all its fat, as the fat of the lamb is removed from the sacrifice of the peace offering. Then the priest shall burn it on the altar, according to the offerings made by fire to the LORD. So the priest shall make atonement for his sin that he has committed, and it shall be forgiven him.
Sin offering - For an unintentional sin against God or His commands by a common Israelite. As soon as the sin is recognized, this offering must be made. He can offer a female goat or lamb without blemish.
The owner brings the lamb or goat to the tabernacle, puts his hand on the lamb head and kills it.
The priest dips his finger in the blood and puts some of the blood on the horns of the burnt offering altar (outside the tabernacle). He pours the remaining blood at the base of the burnt offering altar (outside the tabernacle).
The owner removes the same fat parts as the lamb or goat as that of the peace offering.
The priest burns these for the Lord. This will be an atonement for the owner and he will be forgiven of this sin.
LEVITICUS 5:1
1 'If a person sins in hearing the utterance of an oath, and is a witness, whether he has seen or known of the matter if he does not tell it, he bears guilt.
If you see or hear someone else say or do anything against God's commandments and keep silent, you are guilty also!!! This is to ensure honesty and prevent conspiracy and rebellion among the Israelites. There are no "innocent bystanders" in this matter. If you see or hear of a sin, you are a witness whether you like it or not.
LEVITICUS 5:2
2 'Or if a person touches any unclean thing, whether it is the carcass of an unclean beast, or the carcass of unclean livestock, or the carcass of unclean creeping things, and he is unaware of it, he also shall be unclean and guilty.
It is a sin to touch the dead carcass of any unclean animal or insect. (Hygienic law)
The Hebrew word for "unclean" is "tame" - to be foul in a religious sense: defiled, infamous, polluted, unclean
LEVITICUS 5:3
3 'Or if he touches human uncleanness whatever uncleanness with which a man may be defiled, and he is unaware of it when he realizes it, then he shall be guilty.
It is a sin to touch anything unclean that could defile a man, such as bodily discharges (blood, serum, saliva, etc.) The Hebrew word for uncleanness is "tumah" - religious impurity: filthiness, unclean(ness)
If the person is unaware of this sin, it would be shown to them by God somehow. They would then wash with water, and sit outside of the camp and be considered ritually unclean until evening. They could then enter the camp as a clean person.
LEVITICUS 5:4-6
4 'Or if a person swears, speaking thoughtlessly with his lips to do evil or to do good, whatever it is that a man may pronounce by an oath, and he is unaware of it when he realizes it, then he shall be guilty in any of these matters.
5 'And it shall be, when he is guilty in any of these matters, that he shall confess that he has sinned in that thing;
6 'and he shall bring his trespass offering to the LORD for his sin which he has committed, a female from the flock, a lamb or a kid of the goats as a sin offering. So the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin.
Listening to the way people talk today, some people would need huge flocks of goats and lambs to offer as a continual trespass offering! Too many times I have heard people take the Lord's name in vain and it means nothing to them. They have done it so much that it has become a repeated habit and no longer registers in their conscience as a sin. Woe to these people when they stand before God! And woe to us, when we hear and don't say anything, for we are witnesses to the oath sworn by the person(s) involved!
For a trespass offering,
The sinner brings a female lamb (or goat) as a sin offering.
The priest is to make the offering as an atonement for the sin.
LEVITICUS 5:7-10
7 'If he is not able to bring a lamb, then he shall bring to the LORD, for his trespass which he has committed, two turtledoves or two young pigeons: one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering.
8 'And he shall bring them to the priest, who shall offer that which is for the sin offering first, and wring off its head from its neck, but shall not divide it completely.
9 'Then he shall sprinkle some of the blood of the sin offering on the side of the altar, and the rest of the blood shall be drained out at the base of the altar. It is a sin offering.
10 'And he shall offer the second as a burnt offering according to the prescribed manner. So the priest shall make atonement on his behalf for his sin which he has committed, and it shall be forgiven him.
If he can't afford to bring a lamb or goat as an offering, then he is to bring 2 turtledoves or 2 pigeons, one as a sin offering and one as a burnt offering
The priest is to offer the sin offering first. He wrings off the first bird's head, but doesn't completely divide the rest of the bird. He sprinkles some of the blood on the side of the altar and drains the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. Then offers the second bird for the burnt offering, as described previously, for the atonement of the sin committed.
LEVITICUS 5:11-13
11 'But if he is not able to bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons, then he who sinned shall bring for his offering one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour as a sin offering. He shall put no oil on it, nor shall he put frankincense on it, for it is a sin offering.
12 'Then he shall bring it to the priest, and the priest shall take his handful of it as a memorial portion, and burn it on the altar according to the offerings made by fire to the LORD. It is a sin offering.
13 'The priest shall make atonement for him, for his sin that he has committed in any of these matters; and it shall be forgiven him. The rest shall be the priest's as a grain offering.'"
If he can't afford to bring 2 turtledoves or 2 pigeons (animals were expensive back then) he is to bring 2.08 quarts of fine flour (with no oil or frankincense on it) as a sin offering. The priest is to burn a handful on the altar for the sin offering and the rest of the flour is for the priests.
There was to be no frankincense or oil on the offering, for the burning of it signified God's wrath against such a sin. It wasn't meant to be a pleasing offering to God as other sin offerings which had frankincense (signifying prayers) and oil (the Holy Spirit) which were memorials before the Lord.
LEVITICUS 5:14-16
14 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying:
15 "If a person commits a trespass, and sins unintentionally in regard to the holy things of the LORD, then he shall bring to the LORD as his trespass offering a ram without blemish from the flocks, with your valuation in shekels of silver according to the shekel of the sanctuary, as a trespass offering.
16 "And he shall make restitution for the harm that he has done in regard to the holy thing, and shall add one-fifth to it and give it to the priest. So the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering, and it shall be forgiven him.
Trespass offering - If a man unintentionally sins against the holy things (such as firepans, an altar, spoons, other utensils) of God, he must offer a ram without blemish for the trespass offering, as well as 1/5 of the selling price of such a ram in common silver shekel ( the common shekel was .4 ounces). The money was to be given to the priests (more than likely to hire professional craftsmen to repair the damage). The priests offered the ram for the atonement and forgiveness of the sin.
The Hebrew word for "holy things" is "qodesh" ( pronounced ko' desh): a sacred place or thing; sanctity: consecrated (thing), dedicated (thing), hallowed (thing), holiness, most holy (day, portion, thing), sanctuary.
LEVITICUS 5:17-19
17 "If a person sins, and commits any of these things which are forbidden to be done by the commandments of the LORD, though he does not know it, yet he is guilty and shall bear his iniquity.
18 "And he shall bring to the priest a ram without blemish from the flock, with your valuation, as a trespass offering. So the priest shall make atonement for him regarding his ignorance in which he erred and did not know it, and it shall be forgiven him.
19 "It is a trespass offering; he has certainly trespassed against the LORD."
If anyone commits any of these sins, unintentionally, this is the trespass offering.
The guilty party brings a ram without blemish.
The priest offers the ram for atonement and forgiveness of the sin.
I believe that periodically people would come to the priests and ask if they were guilty of any of these sins committed in ignorance. The priest would then enquire of God to find out. If so, the person would do as the Law required to be forgiven of the sin.
Either that, or if some disaster happened to the person, they would go to the priest in the same manner to find out what they had done, and do the same.
Note that even if they were ignorant of any such sin, there were held accountable for that sin by God. This was to train the people to be very cautious in conduct and speech, so as to avoid sin.
LEVITICUS 6:1-7
1 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying:
2 "If a person sins and commits a trespass against the LORD by lying to his neighbor about what was delivered to him for safekeeping, or about a pledge, or about a robbery, or if he has extorted from his neighbor,
3 "or if he has found what was lost and lies concerning it, and swears falsely in any one of these things that a man may do in which he sins:
4 "then it shall be, because he has sinned and is guilty, that he shall restore what he has stolen, or the thing which he has extorted, or what was delivered to him for safekeeping, or the lost thing which he found,
5 "or all that about which he has sworn falsely. He shall restore its full value, add one-fifth more to it, and give it to whomever it belongs, on the day of his trespass offering.
6 "And he shall bring his trespass offering to the LORD, a ram without blemish from the flock, with your valuation, as a trespass offering, to the priest.
7 "So the priest shall make atonement for him before the LORD, and he shall be forgiven for any one of these things that he may have done in which he trespasses."
It is a sin and trespass against God to lie to your neighbor about receiving anything he had delivered to you. This includes lying about the disposition of;
- things used as collateral
- things you claim were robbed while in your possession
- finding what you claimed was lost of his things, and not reporting it or giving it back
The penalty is to restore its full value (not just the damaged portion) plus 20% to your neighbor. This must be paid on the same day you bring your trespass offering to the Lord. This would also make lying about such an item hurt financially!
The trespass offering will be a ram (without blemish). Then the priest will make the sacrifice to atone for your sin and you will be forgiven for this sin.
LEVITICUS 6:8-13
8 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
9 "Command Aaron and his sons, saying, 'This is the law of the burnt offering: The burnt offering shall be on the hearth upon the altar all night until morning, and the fire of the altar shall be kept burning on it.
10 'And the priest shall put on his linen garment, and his linen trousers he shall put on his body, and take up the ashes of the burnt offering which the fire has consumed on the altar, and he shall put them beside the altar.
11 'Then he shall take off his garments, put on other garments, and carry the ashes outside the camp to a clean place.
12 'And the fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it; it shall not be put out. And the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order on it; and he shall burn on it the fat of the peace offerings.
13 'A fire shall always be burning on the altar; it shall never go out.
The Law of burnt offerings:
The fire of the burnt offering will continue day and night, never to be put out. This shows graphically the change in climate between then and now, in the fact that even in what was considered desert there would be enough wood to keep the altar fires burning day and night.
LEVITICUS 6:14-18
14 'This is the law of the grain offering: The sons of Aaron shall offer it on the altar before the LORD.
15 'He shall take from it his handful of the fine flour of the grain offering, with its oil, and all the frankincense which is on the grain offering, and shall burn it on the altar for a sweet aroma, as a memorial to the LORD.
16 'And the remainder of it Aaron and his sons shall eat; with unleavened bread it shall be eaten in a holy place; in the court of the tabernacle of meeting they shall eat it.
17 'It shall not be baked with leaven. I have given it as their portion of My offerings made by fire; it is most holy, like the sin offering and the trespass offering.
18 'All the males among the children of Aaron may eat it. It shall be a statute forever in your generations concerning the offerings made by fire to the LORD. Everyone who touches them must be holy.'"
The Law of grain offerings:
The priests takes a handful of flour and oil, and all of the frankincense brought to them for the offering and burns it on the altar for the Lord. The remainder of the flour and oil are for the priests (to make unleavened bread), to be eaten in the holy place (where the lamp stand is located). Only the priests (descendants of Aaron) can touch or eat it. This food is considered holy by the Lord and only the priests that are sanctified may eat of it.
LEVITICUS 6:19-23
19 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
20 "This is the offering of Aaron and his sons, which they shall offer to the LORD, beginning on the day when he is anointed: one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour as a daily grain offering, half of it in the morning and half of it at night.
21 "It shall be made in a pan with oil. When it is mixed, you shall bring it in. The baked pieces of the grain offering you shall offer for a sweet aroma to the LORD.
22 "The priest from among his sons, who is anointed in his place, shall offer it. It is a statute forever to the LORD. It shall be wholly burned.
23 "For every grain offering for the priest shall be wholly burned. It shall not be eaten."
The priests twice daily offering: two quarts of fine flour offered half in the morning and half at night. The offering is to be made with oil and baked in a pan.
The High Priest is to be the one to offer it to the Lord. This offering is to be completely burned, with none left over for the priests to eat. Remember, the bread symbolized the future body of Jesus Christ, broken for our sins and the oil represented the anointing of the Holy Spirit.
LEVITICUS 6:24-30
24 Also the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
25 "Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, 'This is the law of the sin offering: In the place where the burnt offering is killed, the sin offering shall be killed before the LORD. It is most holy.
26 'The priest who offers it for sin shall eat it. In a holy place it shall be eaten, in the court of the tabernacle of meeting.
27 'Everyone who touches its flesh must be holy. And when its blood is sprinkled on any garment, you shall wash that on which it was sprinkled, in a holy place.
28 'But the earthen vessel in which it is boiled shall be broken. And if it is boiled in a bronze pot, it shall be both scoured and rinsed in water.
29 'All the males among the priests may eat it. It is most holy.
30 'But no sin offering from which any of the blood is brought into the tabernacle of meeting, to make atonement in the holy place, shall be eaten. It shall be burned in the fire.
The law of the sin offering: The offering will be killed outside the tabernacle beside the altar for the burnt offerings.
The priest that makes the offering gets to eat the meat of that sacrifice. All the males among the priests may eat of these sacrificial offerings in the holy place, if he is the one that makes the offering before the Lord.
If the offering is one that requires some of the blood to be brought into the holy place for atonement, this kind of offering must be thoroughly burned in the fire of the altar and none of the offering can be eaten by anyone.
If the meat is cooked in a clay pot of boiling water, the pot must be broken after the washing is done. (Again, a hygienic law to ensure that no harmful bacteria could grow within the clay after the meat has been boiled in it.)
If a bronze pot is used for the boiling water for cooking the meat, then it must be scrubbed and rinsed with water. (Again, for hygienic purposes)
If any blood from the sacrifice is spilled on the priests clothing, the clothing must be washed in a holy place.
LEVITICUS 7:1-6
1 'Likewise this is the law of the trespass offering (it is most holy):
2 'In the place where they kill the burnt offering they shall kill the trespass offering. And its blood he shall sprinkle all around on the altar.
3 'And he shall offer from it all its fat. The fat tail and the fat that covers the entrails,
4 'the two kidneys and the fat that is on them by the flanks, and the fatty lobe attached to the liver above the kidneys, he shall remove;
5 'and the priest shall burn them on the altar as an offering made by fire to the LORD. It is a trespass offering.
6 'Every male among the priests may eat it. It shall be eaten in a holy place. It is most holy.
The trespass offering is a most holy offering. All the males among the priests may eat of these sacrificial offerings. The priests must eat it in the Holy place.
It is interesting that as the number of the people increased, there would be an increase of the number of such offerings. This would ensure that the rising number of priests over time would always have enough to eat daily.
LEVITICUS 7:7-10
7 'The trespass offering is like the sin offering; there is one law for them both: the priest who makes atonement with it shall have it.
8 'And the priest who offers anyone's burnt offering, that priest shall have for himself the skin of the burnt offering which he has offered.
9 'Also every grain offering that is baked in the oven and all that is prepared in the covered pan, or in a pan, shall be the priest's who offers it.
10 'Every grain offering, whether mixed with oil or dry, shall belong to all the sons of Aaron, to one as much as the other.
The priest that offers a sin offering gets to have the priests portion.
The priest that offers a burnt offering gets to have the skin of the offering.
The priest that offers a grain offering (that is baked in an oven, covered or uncovered pan) gets to have the priests' portion.
The grain offering that is mixed or dry (unbaked) is shared by all male priests, equally.
The skin of the offerings could be used for clothing, tools, or could be sold for money which the priests could use to buy other things.
LEVITICUS 7:11-15
11 'This is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings which he shall offer to the LORD:
12 'If he offers it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer, with the sacrifice of thanksgiving, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, unleavened wafers anointed with oil, or cakes of blended flour mixed with oil.
13 'Besides the cakes, as his offering he shall offer leavened bread with the sacrifice of thanksgiving of his peace offering.
14 'And from it he shall offer one cake from each offering as a heave offering to the LORD. It shall belong to the priest who sprinkles the blood of the peace offering.
15 'The flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offering for thanksgiving shall be eaten the same day it is offered. He shall not leave any of it until morning.
The law of peace offerings for thanksgiving:
The offering may be of unleavened cakes with oil; unleavened wafers covered in oil, or cakes with blended flour and oil
Note that leavened bread can be included with this offering.
This is a thanksgiving offering, an offering of heartfelt joy to the Lord for His blessing upon the individual, and therefore is counted as different from all other offerings.
The priest uses one cake from each offering as a heave (wave) offering before the Lord . The priest that sprinkles the blood from the peace offering gets the heave offering.
The priests portion of the meat of the peace offering MUST be eaten the same day of the offering. None can be left until morning. (Again, a hygienic law, to prevent the priests from eating meat that may contract disease or spoilage overnight.)
LEVITICUS 7:16-18
16 'But if the sacrifice of his offering is a vow or a voluntary offering, it shall be eaten the same day that he offers his sacrifice; but on the next day the remainder of it also may be eaten;
17 'the remainder of the flesh of the sacrifice on the third day must be burned with fire.
18 'And if any of the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offering is eaten at all on the third day, it shall not be accepted, nor shall it be imputed to him; it shall be an abomination to him who offers it, and the person who eats of it shall bear guilt.
The law of peace offerings (voluntarily or for a vow):
The sacrifice is the same as above except that:
The leftovers may be eaten on the day of the offering and the day after.
Any food left over to the third day must be burned with fire.
If any is eaten on the third day, the offering to the Lord will NOT be accepted by the Lord, it
will NOT be credited to the person offering it to the Lord, the offering will be counted as an abomination to both the person that offered it and the priest who eats it. The person that eats any of it on the third day will bear the guilt of all of these things.
LEVITICUS 7:19-21
19 'The flesh that touches any unclean thing shall not be eaten. It shall be burned with fire. And as for the clean flesh, all who are clean may eat of it.
20 'But the person who eats the flesh of the sacrifice of the peace offering that belongs to the LORD, while he is unclean, that person shall be cut off from his people.
21 'Moreover the person who touches any unclean thing, such as human uncleanness, an unclean animal, or any abominable unclean thing, and who eats the flesh of the sacrifice of the peace offering that belongs to the LORD, that person shall be cut off from his people.'"
The flesh of any animal that comes in contact with anything unclean is not to be eaten, but is to be burned with fire. Again, a hygienic law to prevent food contamination and the spread of disease.
The priests must be clean to eat of the sacrificial food or they will be cut off from the Israelites. Any priest that even touches anything unclean and then eats of the sacrificial food will be cut off from the Israelites. There would be no salvation for them.
LEVITICUS 7:22-27
22 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
23 "Speak to the children of Israel, saying: 'You shall not eat any fat, of ox or sheep or goat.
24 'And the fat of an animal that dies naturally, and the fat of what is torn by wild beasts, may be used in any other way; but you shall by no means eat it.
25 'For whoever eats the fat of the animal of which men offer an offering made by fire to the LORD, the person who eats it shall be cut off from his people.
26 'Moreover you shall not eat any blood in any of your dwellings, whether of bird or beast.
27 'Whoever eats any blood, that person shall be cut off from his people.'"
Fat was not to be eaten ever by Israel. Fat could be used for other purposes, such as rendering for oil for lamps and soap or for rubbing into animal hides to soften them, etc. Again, this is a health law, in that eating animal fat can be harmful to the body.
The same restriction was for blood, for the life of an animal (or man) lies within the blood.
LEVITICUS 7:28-34
28 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
29 "Speak to the children of Israel, saying: 'He who offers the sacrifice of his peace offering to the LORD shall bring his offering to the LORD from the sacrifice of his peace offering.
30 'His own hands shall bring the offerings made by fire to the LORD. The fat with the breast he shall bring, that the breast may be waved as a wave offering before the LORD.
31 'And the priest shall burn the fat on the altar, but the breast shall be Aaron's and his sons'.
32 'Also the right thigh you shall give to the priest as a heave offering from the sacrifices of your peace offerings.
33 'He among the sons of Aaron, who offers the blood of the peace offering and the fat, shall have the right thigh for his part.
34 'For the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the heave offering I have taken from the children of Israel, from the sacrifices of their peace offerings, and I have given them to Aaron the priest and to his sons from the children of Israel by a statute forever.'"
Anyone that offers a peace offering has to bring the animal and prepare the sacrifice himself.
The priest makes a wave offering of the breast meat and burns the fat on the altar. He makes a heave (tribute) offering of the right thigh. The breast meat is for the priests and the right thigh meat is for the priest that makes the offering.
LEVITICUS 7:35-38
35 This is the consecrated portion for Aaron and his sons, from the offerings made by fire to the LORD, on the day when Moses presented them to minister to the LORD as priests.
36 The LORD commanded this to be given to them by the children of Israel, on the day that He anointed them, by a statute forever throughout their generations.
37 This is the law of the burnt offering, the grain offering, the sin offering, the trespass offering, the consecrations, and the sacrifice of the peace offering,
38 which the LORD commanded Moses on Mount Sinai, on the day when He commanded the children of Israel to offer their offerings to the LORD in the Wilderness of Sinai.
LEVITICUS 8:1-5
1 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying:
2 "Take Aaron and his sons with him, and the garments, the anointing oil, a bull as the sin offering, two rams, and a basket of unleavened bread;
3 "and gather all the congregation together at the door of the tabernacle of meeting."
4 So Moses did as the LORD commanded him. And the congregation was gathered together at the door of the tabernacle of meeting.
5 And Moses said to the congregation, "This is what the LORD commanded to be done."
The Israelites gathered to see the consecration of Aaron and his sons. Moses brought the priests clothing, anointing oil, a bull, two rams and a basket of unleavened bread with them.
LEVITICUS 8:6-9
6 Then Moses brought Aaron and his sons and washed them with water.
7 And he put the tunic on him, girded him with the sash, clothed him with the robe, and put the ephod on him; and he girded him with the intricately woven band of the ephod, and with it tied the ephod on him.
8 Then he put the breastplate on him, and he put the Urim and the Thummim in the breastplate.
9 And he put the turban on his head. Also on the turban, on its front, he put the golden plate, the holy crown, as the LORD had commanded Moses.
This would have been a sight to see, with the richly colored and embroidered clothing that they were to wear!
LEVITICUS 8:10-13
10 Also Moses took the anointing oil, and anointed the tabernacle and all that was in it, and consecrated them.
11 He sprinkled some of it on the altar seven times, anointed the altar and all its utensils, and the laver and its base, to consecrate them.
12 And he poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron's head and anointed him, to consecrate him.
13 Then Moses brought Aaron's sons and put tunics on them, girded them with sashes, and put hats on them, as the LORD had commanded Moses.
With the spices that went into the anointing oil, the area must have smelled sweet indeed! We can no longer seek to make this oil, as some of the plants used are now extinct.
LEVITICUS 8:14-17
14 And he brought the bull for the sin offering. Then Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the bull for the sin offering,
15 and Moses killed it. Then he took the blood, and put some on the horns of the altar all around with his finger, and purified the altar. And he poured the blood at the base of the altar, and consecrated it, to make atonement for it.
16 Then he took all the fat that was on the entrails, the fatty lobe attached to the liver, and the two kidneys with their fat, and Moses burned them on the altar.
17 But the bull, its hide, its flesh, and its offal, he burned with fire outside the camp, as the LORD had commanded Moses.
This was the sin offering for the sins of the entire congregation.
LEVITICUS 8:18-21
18 Then he brought the ram as the burnt offering. And Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram,
19 and Moses killed it. Then he sprinkled the blood all around on the altar.
20 And he cut the ram into pieces; and Moses burned the head, the pieces, and the fat.
21 Then he washed the entrails and the legs in water. And Moses burned the whole ram on the altar. It was a burnt sacrifice for a sweet aroma, an offering made by fire to the LORD, as the LORD had commanded Moses.
This was the trespass offering for the people, for sins committed in ignorance.
LEVITICUS 8:22-25
22 And he brought the second ram, the ram of consecration. Then Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram,
23 and Moses killed it. Also he took some of its blood and put it on the tip of Aaron's right ear, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.
24 Then he brought Aaron's sons. And Moses put some of the blood on the tips of their right ears, on the thumbs of their right hands, and on the big toes of their right feet. And Moses sprinkled the blood all around on the altar.
25 Then he took the fat and the fat tail, all the fat that was on the entrails, the fatty lobe attached to the liver, the two kidneys and their fat, and the right thigh;
This was the consecration offering for Aaron and his sons.
LEVITICUS 8:26-29
26 and from the basket of unleavened bread that was before the LORD he took one unleavened cake, a cake of bread anointed with oil, and one wafer, and put them on the fat and on the right thigh;
27 and he put all these in Aaron's hands and in his sons' hands, and waved them as a wave offering before the LORD.
28 Then Moses took them from their hands and burned them on the altar, on the burnt offering. They were consecration offerings for a sweet aroma. That was an offering made by fire to the LORD.
29 And Moses took the breast and waved it as a wave offering before the LORD. It was Moses' part of the ram of consecration, as the LORD had commanded Moses.
The wave offering of tribute of breast and breads. The breast was Moses' portion because he was the one doing the offerings.
LEVITICUS 8:30
30 Then Moses took some of the anointing oil and some of the blood which was on the altar, and sprinkled it on Aaron, on his garments, on his sons, and on the garments of his sons with him; and he consecrated Aaron, his garments, his sons, and the garments of his sons with him.
Moses anoints and sanctifies Aaron and his sons, with oil and blood on both them and their clothing. The oil was representative of the Holy Spirit resting upon them and the blood was for the cleansing of their sins.
LEVITICUS 8:31-36
31 And Moses said to Aaron and his sons, "Boil the flesh at the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and eat it there with the bread that is in the basket of consecration offerings, as I commanded, saying, 'Aaron and his sons shall eat it.'
32 "What remains of the flesh and of the bread you shall burn with fire.
33 "And you shall not go outside the door of the tabernacle of meeting for seven days, until the days of your consecration are ended. For seven days he shall consecrate you.
34 "As he has done this day, so the LORD has commanded to do, to make atonement for you.
35 "Therefore you shall stay at the door of the tabernacle of meeting day and night for seven days, and keep the charge of the LORD, so that you may not die; for so I have been commanded."
36 So Aaron and his sons did all the things that the LORD had commanded by the hand of Moses.
LEVITICUS 9:1-5
1 It came to pass on the eighth day that Moses called Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel.
2 And he said to Aaron, "Take for yourself a young bull as a sin offering and a ram as a burnt offering, without blemish, and offer them before the LORD.
3 "And to the children of Israel you shall speak, saying, 'Take a kid of the goats as a sin offering, and a calf and a lamb, both of the first year, without blemish, as a burnt offering,
4 'also a bull and a ram as peace offerings, to sacrifice before the LORD, and a grain offering mixed with oil; for today the LORD will appear to you.'"
5 So they brought what Moses commanded before the tabernacle of meeting. And all the congregation drew near and stood before the LORD.
This would be Israel's first set of sacrifices and offerings before the Lord. God Himself would then interact with the people directly for the first time since appearing at Mount Sinai.
LEVITICUS 9:6-11
6 Then Moses said, "This is the thing which the LORD commanded you to do, and the glory of the LORD will appear to you."
7 And Moses said to Aaron, "Go to the altar, offer your sin offering and your burnt offering, and make atonement for yourself and for the people. Offer the offering of the people, and make atonement for them, as the LORD commanded."
8 Aaron therefore went to the altar and killed the calf of the sin offering, which was for himself.
9 Then the sons of Aaron brought the blood to him. And he dipped his finger in the blood, put it on the horns of the altar, and poured the blood at the base of the altar.
10 But the fat, the kidneys, and the fatty lobe from the liver of the sin offering he burned on the altar, as the LORD had commanded Moses.
11 The flesh and the hide he burned with fire outside the camp.
Aaron makes the sin offering he had brought to atone for himself and all of Israel.
LEVITICUS 9:12-22
12 And he killed the burnt offering; and Aaron's sons presented to him the blood, which he sprinkled all around on the altar.
13 Then they presented the burnt offering to him, with its pieces and head, and he burned them on the altar.
14 And he washed the entrails and the legs, and burned them with the burnt offering on the altar.
15 Then he brought the people's offering, and took the goat, which was the sin offering for the people, and killed it and offered it for sin, like the first one.
16 And he brought the burnt offering and offered it according to the prescribed manner.
17 Then he brought the grain offering, took a handful of it, and burned it on the altar, besides the burnt sacrifice of the morning.
18 He also killed the bull and the ram as sacrifices of peace offerings, which were for the people. And Aaron's sons presented to him the blood, which he sprinkled all around on the altar,
19 and the fat from the bull and the ram the fatty tail, what covers the entrails and the kidneys, and the fatty lobe attached to the liver;
20 and they put the fat on the breasts. Then he burned the fat on the altar;
21 but the breasts and the right thigh Aaron waved as a wave offering before the LORD, as
Moses had commanded.
22 Then Aaron lifted his hand toward the people, blessed them, and came down from offering the sin offering, the burnt offering, and peace offerings.
Aaron made the sin, burnt, peace and grain offerings brought by the people. When he finished he blessed the people in place of the Lord, God blessing the people through Aaron.
LEVITICUS 9:23-24
23 And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of meeting, and came out and blessed the people. Then the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people,
24 and fire came out from before the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the altar. When all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces.
God shows His Presence and power by directly burning the offerings of the sacrifices. Note that it said the fire consumed the offerings, which meant that there was nothing left of the remains when the fire finished it's work.
LEVITICUS 10:1-3
1 Then Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it, put incense on it, and offered profane fire before the LORD, which He had not commanded them.
2 So fire went out from the LORD and devoured them, and they died before the LORD.
3 And Moses said to Aaron, "This is what the LORD spoke, saying: 'By those who come near Me I must be regarded as holy; and before all the people I must be glorified.' So Aaron held his peace.
Aaron's two oldest sons showed disrespect for the Lord by offering incense that God had commanded was to be done by the High Priest alone.
By not following God's commandments they showed disrespect, just as we do whenever we disobey God. The price they paid was that God killed them as an example of what happens when He is not obeyed, to the rest of the Israelites and Aaron and his other sons that would become the next priests. He will not be mocked!
LEVITICUS 10:4-5
4 Then Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel the uncle of Aaron, and said to them, "Come near, carry your brethren from before the sanctuary out of the camp."
5 So they went near and carried them by their tunics out of the camp, as Moses had said.
Notice that they were carried away by pulling on their clothing so the bodies weren't touched. The fire from the Lord was enough to kill them, but not enough to burn their clothing which was used to remove them from the camp. They were unclean because God had killed them.
LEVITICUS 10:6-7
6 And Moses said to Aaron, and to Eleazar and Ithamar, his sons, "Do not uncover your heads nor tear your clothes, lest you die, and wrath come upon all the people. But let your brethren, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning which the LORD has kindled.
7 "You shall not go out from the door of the tabernacle of meeting, lest you die, for the anointing oil of the LORD is upon you." And they did according to the word of Moses.
Aaron and his sons weren't to show the usual signs of mourning (tearing their clothing and putting ashes on their heads) for the two oldest sons of Aaron, because God had killed them for their disobedience.
The rest of the Israelites could mourn for them, but Aaron and his two youngest sons had not been in the tent for the required seven days to finish their sanctification and consecration by the Lord.
LEVITICUS 10:8-11
8 Then the LORD spoke to Aaron, saying:
9 "Do not drink wine or intoxicating drink, you, nor your sons with you, when you go into the tabernacle of meeting, lest you die. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations,
10 "that you may distinguish between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean,
11 "and that you may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the LORD has spoken to them by the hand of Moses."
Alcohol affects your judgement (both physical and moral) and this would affect their job of ministering to the Lord and teaching the Israelites the laws to obey the Lord.
LEVITICUS 10:12-13
12 And Moses spoke to Aaron, and to Eleazar and Ithamar, his sons who were left: "Take the grain offering that remains of the offerings made by fire to the LORD, and eat it without leaven beside the altar; for it is most holy.
13 "You shall eat it in a holy place, because it is your due and your sons' due, of the sacrifices made by fire to the LORD; for so I have been commanded.
The remains of the grain offerings have to be eaten in the Holy place of the tabernacle and only by the priests.
This may seem like it is redundant, but remember up to this point we have seen what God commanded Moses to do; now we are seeing Israel perform these commandments for the first time.
LEVITICUS 10:14
14 "The breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the heave offering you shall eat in a clean place, you, your sons, and your daughters with you; for they are your due and your sons' due, which are given from the sacrifices of peace offerings of the children of Israel.
The wave and heave offerings (the breast and right thigh) have to be eaten in a clean place (not the Holy place). These can be eaten by the priests and their immediate families (wives, sons and daughters).
LEVITICUS 10:15
15 "The thigh of the heave offering and the breast of the wave offering they shall bring with the offerings of fat made by fire, to offer as a wave offering before the LORD. And it shall be yours and your sons' with you, by a statute forever, as the LORD has commanded."
The wave, heave and fire offerings have to be brought to the Lord, before they can consume their portions.
LEVITICUS 10:16-20
16 Then Moses made careful inquiry about the goat of the sin offering, and there it was burned up. And he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron who were left, saying,
17 "Why have you not eaten the sin offering in a holy place, since it is most holy, and God has given it to you to bear the guilt of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the LORD?
18 "See! Its blood was not brought inside the holy place; indeed you should have eaten it in a holy place, as I commanded."
19 And Aaron said to Moses, "Look, this day they have offered their sin offering and their burnt offering before the LORD, and such things have befallen me! If I had eaten the sin offering today, would it have been accepted in the sight of the LORD?"
20 So when Moses heard that, he was content.
Aaron didn't eat the goat sin offering because it was for the sins of his sons that God had killed. The offering had to be completely burned and none of it was to be eaten.
LEVITICUS 11:1-3
1 Now the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying to them,
2 "Speak to the children of Israel, saying, 'These are the animals which you may eat among all the animals that are on the earth:
3 'Among the animals, whatever divides the hoof, having cloven hooves and chewing the cud that you may eat.
A clean animal must have both split hooves and chew the cud. Cows, sheep and goats are clean animals, as they have split hooves and chew the cud. These are herbivorous (plant-eating) animals, and therefore would not carry disease as carrion (carnivorous) animals would.
LEVITICUS 11:4-8
4 'Nevertheless these you shall not eat among those that chew the cud or those that have cloven hooves: the camel, because it chews the cud but does not have cloven hooves, is unclean to you;
5 'the rock hyrax, because it chews the cud but does not have cloven hooves, is unclean to you;
6 'the hare, because it chews the cud but does not have cloven hooves, is unclean to you;
7 'and the swine, though it divides the hoof, having cloven hooves, yet does not chew the cud, is unclean to you.
8 'Their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch. They are unclean to you.
An animal is unclean if doesn't have a split hoof and doesn't chew the cud. They must have and
do both, to be clean.
Camels, rock hyrax (coney or rabbit), hares and swine (pigs and boars) are all unclean animals. Israel was not to eat or even touch an unclean animal. This includes anything made from these animals, such as clothing, utensils, rope, fur, etc. This was to prevent disease among the people.
Also, rabbits and hares have been proven to have virtually no nutritional value in their meat. You could eat them in abundance and die of malnutrition.
LEVITICUS 11:9
9 'These you may eat of all that are in the water: whatever in the water has fins and scales, whether in the seas or in the rivers that you may eat.
Only seafood with fins and scales were clean and could be eaten.
LEVITICUS 11:10-12
10 'But all in the seas or in the rivers that do not have fins and scales, all that move in the water or any living thing which is in the water, they are an abomination to you.
11 'They shall be an abomination to you; you shall not eat their flesh, but you shall regard their carcasses as an abomination.
12 'Whatever in the water does not have fins or scales that shall be an abomination to you.
Sea life that doesn't have both fins and scales are unclean and can't be eaten or touched. This would protect against water-borne parasites like "red tide" (a poisonous reddish-colored one-celled animal that infects shellfish), etc.
All crustaceans (clams, oysters, crabs, shrimp, mussels), as well as sharks, whales, eels, turtles, octopus, squid, etc. were unclean. This includes anything made from these unclean forms of sea life.
LEVITICUS 11:13-19
13 'And these you shall regard as an abomination among the birds; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, the vulture, the buzzard,
14 'the kite, and the falcon after its kind;
15 'every raven after its kind,
16 'the ostrich, the short-eared owl, the sea gull, and the hawk after its kind;
17 'the little owl, the fisher owl, and the screech owl;
18 'the white owl, the jackdaw, and the carrion vulture;
19 'the stork, the heron after its kind, the hoopoe, and the bat.
The unclean birds are the: Eagles , vultures (ossifrages), buzzards, kites (night hawks), falcons, ravens, ostriches, owls, sea gulls, hawk, jackdaw, vulture (carrion), stork, heron, hoopoe (lap wing), bat.
Note that all are carrion or scavengers birds and animals. They ate dead animals, mice, mosquitoes and other unclean things and could contain diseases such as rabies, etc.
LEVITICUS 11:20-23
20 'All flying insects that creep on all fours shall be an abomination to you.
21 'Yet these you may eat of every flying insect that creeps on all fours: those which have jointed legs above their feet with which to leap on the earth.
22 'These you may eat: the locust after its kind, the destroying locust after its kind, the cricket after its kind, and the grasshopper after its kind.
23 'But all other flying insects which have four feet shall be an abomination to you.
Locusts (small), destroying locusts (large), grasshoppers, and crickets are clean insects and may be eaten. We may shudder to think of eating insects, but in many African and Asian cultures this is a common practice and has been practiced for thousands of years.
LEVITICUS 11:24-26
24 'By these you shall become unclean; whoever touches the carcass of any of them shall be unclean until evening;
25 'whoever carries part of the carcass of any of them shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening:
26 'The carcass of any animal which divides the foot, but is not cloven-hoofed or does not chew the cud, is unclean to you. Everyone who touches it shall be unclean.
If you touch or carry a carcass of an unclean animal you must wash your clothing and will remain unclean until evening (remember the new day starts in the evening, not morning). Again this is a hygienic law, meant to keep disease from the congregation.
LEVITICUS 11:27-28
27 'And whatever goes on its paws, among all kinds of animals that go on all fours, those are unclean to you. Whoever touches any such carcass shall be unclean until evening.
28 'Whoever carries any such carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening. It is unclean to you.
Any animal that walks on all four paws is unclean, including the entire cat family (lions, tigers, leopards, etc.), bears, the entire dog family (wolves, jackals, dogs). Again, these are carrion-eating animals and carry diseases.
LEVITICUS 11:29-31
29 'These also shall be unclean to you among the creeping things that creep on the earth: the mole, the mouse, and the large lizard after its kind;
30 'the gecko, the monitor lizard, the sand reptile, the sand lizard, and the chameleon.
31 'These are unclean to you among all that creep. Whoever touches them when they are dead shall be unclean until evening.
These animals are unclean because of what they eat. Mice eat anything, and the lizards eat unclean insects.
LEVITICUS 11:32-35
32 'Anything on which any of them falls, when they are dead shall be unclean, whether it is any item of wood or clothing or skin or sack, whatever item it is, in which any work is done, it must be put in water. And it shall be unclean until evening; then it shall be clean.
33 'Any earthen vessel into which any of them falls you shall break; and whatever is in it shall be unclean:
34 'in such a vessel, any edible food upon which water falls becomes unclean, and any drink that may be drunk from it becomes unclean.
35 'And everything on which a part of any such carcass falls shall be unclean; whether it is an oven or cooking stove, it shall be broken down; for they are unclean, and shall be unclean to you.
If the dead body (or parts of the dead body) touches any thing it will make that item unclean.
If it touches any wood, clothing, skin or a sack, the now unclean item must be soaked in water until evening to be made clean again.
Clay pots, dishes, cups, etc. The items must be broken and any food or drink they contain must be destroyed. They can't be made clean again, as they are porous and will absorb any unclean fluids they come in contact with. This also applies to an oven or cooking stove They must be taken apart and destroyed, because like the clay items they can't be made clean again.
LEVITICUS 11:36
36 'Nevertheless a spring or a cistern, in which there is plenty of water, shall be clean, but whatever touches any such carcass becomes unclean.
If a dead unclean animal is in a well, if there is plenty of water, the well is still clean. But the dead animal must be removed from the well and anything that touches the animal will be unclean.
LEVITICUS 11:37-38
37 'And if a part of any such carcass falls on any planting seed which is to be sown, it remains clean.
38 'But if water is put on the seed, and if a part of any such carcass falls on it, it becomes unclean to you.
If the carcass touches a seed before its planted, the seed is still clean. But if it happens after planting and watering, then its unclean, as the plant will absorb the corruption or disease (example: salmonella bacteria from contaminated chicken waste can enter plants and sicken humans who eat the plants in salads, etc.)
LEVITICUS 11:39-40
39 'And if any animal which you may eat dies, he who touches its carcass shall be unclean until evening.
40 'He who eats of its carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening. He also who carries its carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening.
If a clean animal dies of NATURAL causes, you can eat it, but.....the person that touches the animal or carries it is unclean. He must wash himself and his clothes, he will be unclean until evening, to ensure that any bacteria from the carcass does not proliferate. Remember, their new day started at evening.
LEVITICUS 11:41-43
41 'And every creeping thing that creeps on the earth shall be an abomination. It shall not be eaten.
42 'Whatever crawls on its belly, whatever goes on all fours, or whatever has many feet among all creeping things that creep on the earth these you shall not eat, for they are an abomination.
43 'You shall not make yourselves abominable with any creeping thing that creeps; nor shall you make yourselves unclean with them, lest you be defiled by them.
All creeping things are an abomination to God, such as snakes, spiders, flies, millipedes, reptiles. To touch or eat these things would defile Israel before God.
LEVITICUS 11:44-47
44 'For I am the LORD your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy. Neither shall you defile yourselves with any creeping thing that creeps on the earth.
45 'For I am the LORD who brings you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.
46 'This is the law of the animals and the birds and every living creature that moves in the waters, and of every creature that creeps on the earth,
47 'to distinguish between the unclean and the clean, and between the animal that may be eaten and the animal that may not be eaten.'"
LEVITICUS 12:1-4
1 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
2 "Speak to the children of Israel, saying: 'If a woman has conceived, and borne a male child, then she shall be unclean seven days; as in the days of her customary impurity she shall be unclean.
3 'And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.
4 'She shall then continue in the blood of her purification thirty-three days. She shall not touch any hallowed thing, nor come into the sanctuary until the days of her purification are fulfilled.
If a woman delivers a son: She is unclean for seven days (like during her menstrual cycle). On the eighth day the son is to be circumcised. This is fascinating, as on the eighth day the blood potassium levels (vitamin K, required for blood clotting) of babies reaches it's highest level.
The mother continues her purification for thirty-three more days. She cannot go any holy place or touch anything holy). Why thirty-three days was commanded is unknown.
LEVITICUS 12:5
5 'But if she bears a female child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her customary impurity, and she shall continue in the blood of her purification sixty-six days.
If a woman delivers a daughter: She is unclean for fourteen days (like during her menstrual cycle). She continues her purification for sixty-six more days. Note: when a daughter is born the unclean state is twice as long as when a son is born. Why this is, is unknown unless it has to do with a medical reason.
LEVITICUS 12:6-8
6 'When the days of her purification are fulfilled, whether for a son or a daughter, she shall bring to the priest a lamb of the first year as a burnt offering, and a young pigeon or a turtledove as a sin offering, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting.
7 'Then he shall offer it before the LORD, and make atonement for her. And she shall be clean from the flow of her blood. This is the law for her who has borne a male or a female.
8 'And if she is not able to bring a lamb, then she may bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons one as a burnt offering and the other as a sin offering. So the priest shall make atonement for her, and she will be clean.'"
When her days of uncleanliness are done, she must make an offering to the Lord to atone for the sin caused by being unclean. Remember, any kind of bodily discharge of blood would make a person ritually unclean.
LEVITICUS 13:1-3
1 And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:
2 "When a man has on the skin of his body a swelling, a scab, or a bright spot, and it becomes on the skin of his body like a leprous sore, then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons the priests.
3 "The priest shall examine the sore on the skin of the body; and if the hair on the sore has turned white, and the sore appears to be deeper than the skin of his body, it is a leprous sore. Then the priest shall examine him, and pronounce him unclean.
Leprosy (Hansen's disease) is a vicious, horrifying disease in which the flesh dies and literally sheds from the body. It causes terrible sores and eruptions on the skin and the fluids generated carry the highly-contagious disease. As the disease progressed it would cause horrible disfigurations in the flesh and would cause warping of the bones and joints.
The priests were to determine whether a sore was leprosy or just a pimple, scrape, boil, or any sort of common eruption on the skin. There are many forms of leprosy and God defines them to keep the Israelites healthy as a nation.
It is a leprous sore if: any hair on the sore turns white and goes deeper than the skin. Pimples, boils and the like are confined only to the skin.
LEVITICUS 13:4-8
4 "But if the bright spot is white on the skin of his body, and does not appear to be deeper than the skin, and its hair has not turned white, then the priest shall isolate the one who has the sore seven days.
5 "And the priest shall examine him on the seventh day; and indeed if the sore appears to be as it was, and the sore has not spread on the skin, then the priest shall isolate him another seven days.
6 "Then the priest shall examine him again on the seventh day; and indeed if the sore has faded, and the sore has not spread on the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean; it is only a scab, and he shall wash his clothes and be clean.
7 "But if the scab should at all spread over the skin, after he has been seen by the priest for his cleansing, he shall be seen by the priest again.
8 "And if the priest sees that the scab has indeed spread on the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is leprosy.
If the sore is white, but the hair is not white (hair follicle has not been killed) and it is only skin deep; then the priest isolated him for seven days. The priest rechecks the sore after seven days and if the sore has NOT changed; the man is isolated for seven more days.
After the second week of isolation, if the sore is healing, the priest declares him clean. The man must wash his clothes (to purify his clothes from the discharge of his skin) and he will be considered clean.
If the sore spreads over the skin, after the priest has declared him clean, he must return to the priest; the priest will publish that the person has leprosy and the person is declared unclean.
LEVITICUS 13:9-11
9 "When the leprous sore is on a person, then he shall be brought to the priest.
10 "And the priest shall examine him; and indeed if the swelling on the skin is white, and it has turned the hair white, and there is a spot of raw flesh in the swelling,
11 "it is an old leprosy on the skin of his body. The priest shall pronounce him unclean, and shall not isolate him, for he is unclean.
Anyone with a sore that looks leprous has to be seen by a priest. If the skin on the sore is white and the hair on the sore is white and there is any raw flesh in the sore, it is the return of a chronic leprosy. After declaring the person unclean the priest doesn't have to isolate them, they remain unclean.
LEVITICUS 13:12-17
12 "And if leprosy breaks out all over the skin, and the leprosy covers all the skin of the one who has the sore, from his head to his foot, wherever the priest looks,
13 "then the priest shall consider; and indeed if the leprosy has covered all his body, he shall pronounce him clean who has the sore. It has all turned white. He is clean.
14 "But when raw flesh appears on him, he shall be unclean.
15 "And the priest shall examine the raw flesh and pronounce him to be unclean; for the raw flesh is unclean. It is leprosy.
16 "Or if the raw flesh changes and turns white again, he shall come to the priest.
17 "And the priest shall examine him; and indeed if the sore has turned white, then the priest shall pronounce him clean who has the sore. He is clean.
If the leprosy is all white with no raw spots then you are declared clean, because the leprosy is no longer contagious. However if there are any raw places, you are declared unclean, because the raw flesh makes you contagious.
This is interesting, as there is no known cure for leprosy even today. Apparently either the body finds a way to kill the disease, or the leprosy consumes itself and dies.
LEVITICUS 13:18-23
18 "If the body develops a boil in the skin, and it is healed,
19 "and in the place of the boil there comes a white swelling or a bright spot, reddish-white, then it shall be shown to the priest;
20 "and if, when the priest sees it, it indeed appears deeper than the skin, and its hair has turned white, the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is a leprous sore which has broken out of the boil.
21 "But if the priest examines it, and indeed there are no white hairs in it, and it is not deeper than the skin, but has faded, then the priest shall isolate him seven days;
22 "and if it should at all spread over the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is a leprous sore.
23 "But if the bright spot stays in one place, and has not spread, it is the scar of the boil; and the priest shall pronounce him clean.
Apparently leprosy can enter through a boil or other such eruption in the skin. As the largest organ of the human body, the skin is our greatest barrier against disease and we should be more aware of this fact.
LEVITICUS 13:24-28
24 "Or if the body receives a burn on its skin by fire, and the raw flesh of the burn becomes a bright spot, reddish-white or white,
25 "then the priest shall examine it; and indeed if the hair of the bright spot has turned white, and it appears deeper than the skin, it is leprosy broken out in the burn. Therefore the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is a leprous sore.
26 "But if the priest examines it, and indeed there are no white hairs in the bright spot, and it is not deeper than the skin, but has faded, then the priest shall isolate him seven days.
27 "And the priest shall examine him on the seventh day. If it has at all spread over the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is a leprous sore.
28 "But if the bright spot stays in one place, and has not spread on the skin, but has faded, it is a swelling from the burn. The priest shall pronounce him clean, for it is the scar from the burn.
Again, it seems that leprosy can enter through an open wound. However when burns heal, the dead flesh in the wound can turn white as the wound heals, therefore the priest needed to examine the area for signs of leprosy.
LEVITICUS 13:29-37
29 "If a man or woman has a sore on the head or the beard,
30 "then the priest shall examine the sore; and indeed if it appears deeper than the skin, and there is in it thin yellow hair, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is a scaly leprosy of the head or beard.
31 "But if the priest examines the scaly sore, and indeed it does not appear deeper than the skin, and there is no black hair in it, then the priest shall isolate the one who has the scale seven days.
32 "And on the seventh day the priest shall examine the sore; and indeed if the scale has not spread, and there is no yellow hair in it, and the scale does not appear deeper than the skin,
33 "he shall shave himself, but the scale he shall not shave. And the priest shall isolate the one who has the scale another seven days.
34 "On the seventh day the priest shall examine the scale; and indeed if the scale has not spread over the skin, and does not appear deeper than the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean. He shall wash his clothes and be clean.
35 "But if the scale should at all spread over the skin after his cleansing,
36 "then the priest shall examine him; and indeed if the scale has spread over the skin, the priest need not seek for yellow hair. He is unclean.
37 "But if the scale appears to be at a standstill, and there is black hair grown up in it, the scale has healed. He is clean, and the priest shall pronounce him clean.
Apparently shaving the hair around the scaly area made it easier for the priest to recognize as to whether the scale had spread since the person was isolated. This type of leprosy was apparently isolated to the skin.
LEVITICUS 13:38-39
38 "If a man or a woman has bright spots on the skin of the body, specifically white bright spots,
39 "then the priest shall look; and indeed if the bright spots on the skin of the body are dull white, it is a white spot that grows on the skin. He is clean.
If anyone has a white spot on his skin, he must see a priest to determine if it is an old scar, an albino spot, or some such imperfection that was not leprosy.
LEVITICUS 13:40-41
40 "As for the man whose hair has fallen from his head, he is bald, but he is clean.
41 "He whose hair has fallen from his forehead, he is bald on the forehead, but he is clean.
If a man loses his hair and goes bald he is clean.
LEVITICUS 13:42-44
42 "And if there is on the bald head or bald forehead a reddish-white sore, it is leprosy breaking out on his bald head or his bald forehead.
43 "Then the priest shall examine it; and indeed if the swelling of the sore is reddish-white on his bald head or on his bald forehead, as the appearance of leprosy on the skin of the body,
44 "he is a leprous man. He is unclean. The priest shall surely pronounce him unclean; his sore is on his head.
If a reddish-white sore appears on a mans bald head, the priest must examine it. If it is leprosy, he is unclean.
LEVITICUS 13:45-46
45 "Now the leper on whom the sore is, his clothes shall be torn and his head bare; and he shall cover his mustache, and cry, 'Unclean! Unclean!'
46 "He shall be unclean. All the days he has the sore he shall be unclean. He is unclean, and he shall dwell alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp.
Becoming a leper made a person an outcast in society. They were to follow the camp but remain isolated from the people to prevent contagion from spreading through the camp. For many, it was a terrible death-sentence for the leprosy would eventually kill them.
Usually contracting leprosy was considered a punishment from God for some sin that the person had comitted.
LEVITICUS 13:47-59
47 "Also, if a garment has a leprous plague in it, whether it is a woolen garment or a linen garment,
48 "whether it is in the warp or woof of linen or wool, whether in leather or in anything made of leather,
49 "and if the plague is greenish or reddish in the garment or in the leather, whether in the warp or in the woof, or in anything made of leather, it is a leprous plague and shall be shown to the priest.
50 "The priest shall examine the plague and isolate that which has the plague seven days.
51 "And he shall examine the plague on the seventh day. If the plague has spread in the garment, either in the warp or in the woof, in the leather or in anything made of leather, the plague is an active leprosy. It is unclean.
52 "He shall therefore burn that garment in which is the plague, whether warp or woof, in wool or in linen, or anything of leather, for it is an active leprosy; the garment shall be burned in the fire.
53 "But if the priest examines it, and indeed the plague has not spread in the garment, either in the warp or in the woof, or in anything made of leather,
54 "then the priest shall command that they wash the thing in which is the plague; and he shall isolate it another seven days.
55 "Then the priest shall examine the plague after it has been washed; and indeed if the plague has not changed its color, though the plague has not spread, it is unclean, and you shall burn it in the fire; it continues eating away, whether the damage is outside or inside.
56 "If the priest examines it, and indeed the plague has faded after washing it, then he shall tear it out of the garment, whether out of the warp or out of the woof, or out of the leather.
57 "But if it appears again in the garment, either in the warp or in the woof, or in anything made of leather, it is a spreading plague; you shall burn with fire that in which is the plague.
58 "And if you wash the garment, either warp or woof, or whatever is made of leather, if the plague has disappeared from it, then it shall be washed a second time, and shall be clean.
59 "This is the law of the leprous plague in a garment of wool or linen, either in the warp or woof, or in anything made of leather, to pronounce it clean or to pronounce it unclean."
Apparently there is a form of leprosy that can attack wool, leather and flax fibers (linen). In these cases, the priest needed to determine whether the discoloration was a stain or an active plague of this type of leprosy.
If it was indeed an active leprosy, it had to be burned immediately (I suspect outside of the camp) to keep it from spreading and possibly infecting humans.
LEVITICUS 14:1-7
1 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
2 "This shall be the law of the leper for the day of his cleansing: he shall be brought to the priest.
3 "And the priest shall go out of the camp, and the priest shall examine him; and indeed, if the leprosy is healed in the leper,
4 "then the priest shall command to take for him who is to be cleansed two living and clean birds, cedar wood, scarlet, and hyssop.
5 "And the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed in an earthen vessel over running water.
6 "As for the living bird, he shall take it, the cedar wood and the scarlet and the hyssop, and dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water.
7 "And he shall sprinkle it seven times on him who is to be cleansed from the leprosy, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose in the open field.
I have often wondered at these requirements for ritual cleansing of lepers, but have not been able to find anything as to it's significance.
LEVITICUS 14:8-9
8 "He who is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, shave off all his hair, and wash himself in water, that he may be clean. After that he shall come into the camp, and shall stay outside his tent seven days.
9 "But on the seventh day he shall shave all the hair off his head and his beard and his eyebrows all his hair he shall shave off. He shall wash his clothes and wash his body in water, and he shall be clean.
Shaving of the hair was not only to prove that you had been cleansed of leprosy, but was also to keep any remnants of the disease virus in the hair from infecting anyone else. Staying outside of the tent for a week and shaving and washing again ensured that the person was indeed cleansed of leprosy. The person probably spent the week rejoicing at their cleansing! I know I would!
LEVITICUS 14:10-11
10 "And on the eighth day he shall take two male lambs without blemish, one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish, three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering, and one log of oil.
11 "Then the priest who makes him clean shall present the man who is to be made clean, and those things, before the LORD, at the door of the tabernacle of meeting.
The last part in a healed leper becoming clean is that he will bring to the priest that declared him clean at the door of the tabernacle......
Two male lambs (without blemish), one each for a trespass offering and sin offering
One ewe (female) lamb (without blemish), for the burnt offering
3 tenths of an ephah (about 1 gallon + 1 ½ quarts) of fine flour mixed with oil for the grain offering
1 pint of oil (1 log = 1 pint) as a wave offering
LEVITICUS 14:12-14
12 "And the priest shall take one male lamb and offer it as a trespass offering, and the log of oil, and wave them as a wave offering before the LORD.
13 "Then he shall kill the lamb in the place where he kills the sin offering and the burnt offering, in a holy place; for as the sin offering is the priest's, so is the trespass offering. It is most holy.
14 "The priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering, and the priest shall put it on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.
The priest takes one male lamb and the pint of oil waving them as a wave offering before the Lord. He kills the lamb by the burnt offering altar and offers it as a trespass offering for the Lord. He puts some of the blood from the trespass offering on the tip of the right ear, right hand thumb and big toe of the right foot of the person being cleansed, showing that he is ritually clean.
LEVITICUS 14:15-18
15 "And the priest shall take some of the log of oil, and pour it into the palm of his own left hand.
16 "Then the priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand, and shall sprinkle some of the oil with his finger seven times before the LORD.
17 "And of the rest of the oil in his hand, the priest shall put some on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on the blood of the trespass offering.
18 "The rest of the oil that is in the priest's hand he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed. So the priest shall make atonement for him before the LORD.
The oil is representative of the anointing of the Holy Spirit upon the person, showing that this person is again accepted by the Lord, and that he is clean in God's eyes.
LEVITICUS 14:19-20
19 "Then the priest shall offer the sin offering, and make atonement for him who is to be cleansed from his uncleanness. Afterward he shall kill the burnt offering.
20 "And the priest shall offer the burnt offering and the grain offering on the altar. So the priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be clean.
The priest makes the sin offering of the other male lamb for the atonement of the sin for the person being cleansed. He kills the ewe lamb for the burnt offering and makes the burnt offering and the grain offering for the atonement for the person being cleansed.
LEVITICUS 14:21-23
21 "But if he is poor and cannot afford it, then he shall take one male lamb as a trespass offering to be waved, to make atonement for him, one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering, a log of oil,
22 "and two turtledoves or two young pigeons, such as he is able to afford: one shall be a sin offering and the other a burnt offering.
23 "He shall bring them to the priest on the eighth day for his cleansing, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, before the LORD.
God makes provisions for the poor, for their sacrifices and offerings to give thanks and celebrate their cleansing.
LEVITICUS 14:24-32
24 "And the priest shall take the lamb of the trespass offering and the log of oil, and the priest shall wave them as a wave offering before the LORD.
25 "Then he shall kill the lamb of the trespass offering, and the priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering and put it on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.
26 "And the priest shall pour some of the oil into the palm of his own left hand.
27 "Then the priest shall sprinkle with his right finger some of the oil that is in his left hand seven times before the LORD.
28 "And the priest shall put some of the oil that is in his hand on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, on the thumb of the right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on the place of the blood of the trespass offering.
29 "The rest of the oil that is in the priest's hand he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed, to make atonement for him before the LORD.
30 "And he shall offer one of the turtledoves or young pigeons, such as he can afford
31 "such as he is able to afford, the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, with the grain offering. So the priest shall make atonement for him who is to be cleansed before the LORD.
32 "This is the law for one who had a leprous sore, who cannot afford the usual cleansing."
This atonement is the same as the other one stated above EXCEPT....... If he can't afford a
male lamb for the sin offering and a ewe lamb for the burnt offering he can bring 2 turtledoves
or 2 pigeons (one bird for the sin and one bird for the burnt offerings).
LEVITICUS 14:33-36
33 And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:
34 "When you have come into the land of Canaan, which I give you as a possession, and I put the leprous plague in a house in the land of your possession,
35 "and he who owns the house comes and tells the priest, saying, 'It seems to me that there is some plague in the house,'
36 "then the priest shall command that they empty the house, before the priest goes into it to examine the plague, that all that is in the house may not be made unclean; and afterward the priest shall go in to examine the house.
God says that after they are in Canaan, there will be times He will put leprosy in some houses. This could be because of some act that was performed in the house, or perhaps even a house that had been used for unclean rituals by the original Canaanite inhabitants.
LEVITICUS 14:37-42
37 "And he shall examine the plague; and indeed if the plague is on the walls of the house with ingrained streaks, greenish or reddish, which appear to be deep in the wall,
38 "then the priest shall go out of the house, to the door of the house, and shut up the house seven days.
39 "And the priest shall come again on the seventh day and look; and indeed if the plague has spread on the walls of the house,
40 "then the priest shall command that they take away the stones in which is the plague, and they shall cast them into an unclean place outside the city.
41 "And he shall cause the house to be scraped inside, all around, and the dust that they scrape off they shall pour out in an unclean place outside the city.
42 "Then they shall take other stones and put them in the place of those stones, and he shall take other mortar and plaster the house.
The house has leprosy if there are deeply ingrained streaks of green or red. This is different from molds and mildews as they are usually black in color and only infect the surface of whatever they dwell on.
If the priest sees these streaks the house is closed up for seven days (like the people are isolated for seven days) and rechecked. If the streaks have grown it is leprosy. The affected areas of the house are removed, placed outside the city and replaced with clean wood, mortar and stones.
Apparently this kind of leprosy cannot be transmitted to humans, or at least not easily. Therefore the walls could be scraped and the dust cast into an unclean place.
LEVITICUS 14:43-48
43 "Now if the plague comes back and breaks out in the house, after he has taken away the stones, after he has scraped the house, and after it is plastered,
44 "then the priest shall come and look; and indeed if the plague has spread in the house, it is an active leprosy in the house. It is unclean.
45 "And he shall break down the house, its stones, its timber, and all the plaster of the house, and he shall carry them outside the city to an unclean place.
46 "Moreover he who goes into the house at all while it is shut up shall be unclean until evening.
47 "And he who lies down in the house shall wash his clothes, and he who eats in the house shall wash his clothes.
48 "But if the priest comes in and examines it, and indeed the plague has not spread in the house after the house was plastered, then the priest shall pronounce the house clean, because the plague is healed.
If the plague returns, the house is dismantled and taken outside the city. This indicates an active disease and it cannot be contained.
This could be because of a spiritual abomination within the house. For just as the destruction of an idol removes the legal right of the demon(s) associated with the idol to remain, the destruction of a house dedicated to pagan gods removes their legal right to remain within the house.
If the plague has not spread, after replacing the affected areas, the priest declares the house clean. Either the leprosy has died, or it was just a stain.
Anyone that goes into, eats or sleeps in the house while it is shut up for the seven days is unclean. He has to wash his clothes (to rid himself of possible spores of the disease) and is unclean until evening.
LEVITICUS 14:49-53
49 "And he shall take, to cleanse the house, two birds, cedar wood, scarlet, and hyssop.
50 "Then he shall kill one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water;
51 "and he shall take the cedar wood, the hyssop, the scarlet, and the living bird, and dip them in the blood of the slain bird and in the running water, and sprinkle the house seven times.
52 "And he shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird and the running water and the living bird, with the cedar wood, the hyssop, and the scarlet.
53 "Then he shall let the living bird loose outside the city in the open field, and make atonement for the house, and it shall be clean.
The offering for cleansing a house of leprosy is the same as for a person.
LEVITICUS 14:54-57
54 "This is the law for any leprous sore and scale,
55 "for the leprosy of a garment and of a house,
56 "for a swelling and a scab and a bright spot,
57 "to teach when it is unclean and when it is clean. This is the law of leprosy."
LEVITICUS 15:1-3
1 And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,
2 "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'When any man has a discharge from his body, his discharge is unclean.
3 'And this shall be his uncleanness in regard to his discharge whether his body runs with his discharge, or his body is stopped up by his discharge, it is his uncleanness.
Any fluid discharge from a mans body is unclean (except urination). This applies to running sores or to those that are scabbed over. The Hebrew word used is: Zuwb (zoob) - to flow freely; gush out, overflow: - have a running issue.
LEVITICUS 15:4-7
4 'Every bed is unclean on which he who has the discharge lies, and everything on which he sits shall be unclean.
5 'And whoever touches his bed shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
6 'He who sits on anything on which he who has the discharge sat shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
7 'And he who touches the body of him who has the discharge shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
The bed and anywhere he sits is unclean. Anyone that touches the bed (cleaning the bed, sitting on the bed, touching the unclean man, etc.) must wash their clothes, bathe in water and will be unclean until evening. This is a general precaution to ensure the cause of the issue doesn't spread to others.
LEVITICUS 15:8-12
8 'If he who has the discharge spits on him who is clean, then he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
9 'Any saddle on which he who has the discharge rides shall be unclean.
10 'Whoever touches anything that was under him shall be unclean until evening. He who carries any of those things shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
11 'And whomever the one who has the discharge touches, and has not rinsed his hands in water, he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
12 'The vessel of earth that he who has the discharge touches shall be broken, and every vessel of wood shall be rinsed in water.
Anything or anyone that comes in contact with an unclean person becomes unclean. Any pottery must be broken, due to its porous nature. Any thing else must be cleansed with water and remain unclean until evening.
LEVITICUS 15:13-15
13 'And when he who has a discharge is cleansed of his discharge, then he shall count for himself seven days for his cleansing, wash his clothes, and bathe his body in running water; then he shall be clean.
14 'On the eighth day he shall take for himself two turtledoves or two young pigeons, and come before the LORD, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and give them to the priest.
15 'Then the priest shall offer them, the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering. So the priest shall make atonement for him before the LORD because of his discharge.
Apparently such a discharge is due to disease, not because of an accidental wound. Such disease would be brought about as a punishment from the Lord because of sin, therefore sin and burnt offerings were required.
LEVITICUS 15:16-18
16 'If any man has an emission of semen, then he shall wash all his body in water, and be unclean until evening.
17 'And any garment and any leather on which there is semen, it shall be washed with water, and be unclean until evening.
18 'Also, when a woman lies with a man, and there is an emission of semen, they shall bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
If a man has a discharge of semen (whether he is with a woman or by himself), he is unclean. Any clothing, leather and the woman (if she was involved) are unclean. All must be washed and remain unclean until evening.
LEVITICUS 15:19-27
19 'If a woman has a discharge, and the discharge from her body is blood, she shall be set apart seven days; and whoever touches her shall be unclean until evening.
20 'Everything that she lies on during her impurity shall be unclean; also everything that she sits on shall be unclean.
21 'Whoever touches her bed shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
22 'And whoever touches anything that she sat on shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
23 'If anything is on her bed or on anything on which she sits, when he touches it, he shall be unclean until evening.
24 'And if any man lies with her at all, so that her impurity is on him, he shall be unclean seven days; and every bed on which he lies shall be unclean.
25 'If a woman has a discharge of blood for many days, other than at the time of her customary impurity, or if it runs beyond her usual time of impurity, all the days of her unclean discharge shall be as the days of her customary impurity. She shall be unclean.
26 'Every bed on which she lies all the days of her discharge shall be to her as the bed of her impurity; and whatever she sits on shall be unclean, as the uncleanness of her impurity.
27 'Whoever touches those things shall be unclean; he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.
During a woman's menstrual cycle; everything that she touches becomes unclean. Anyone that touches her becomes unclean also and must wash and will be unclean until evening. Uncommon bleeding may refer to a miscarriage of a child in the early stages of pregnancy.
LEVITICUS 15:28-30
28 'But if she is cleansed of her discharge, then she shall count for herself seven days, and after that she shall be clean.
29 'And on the eighth day she shall take for herself two turtledoves or two young pigeons, and bring them to the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting.
30 'Then the priest shall offer the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, and the priest shall make atonement for her before the LORD for the discharge of her uncleanness.
Seven days after her bleeding stops, she is to bring an offering of two turtledoves or two pigeons to the priest to make atonement to be cleansed. Why the menstrual cycle was considered to be a sinful discharge is uncertain.
LEVITICUS 15:31-33
31 'Thus you shall separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness, lest they die in their uncleanness when they defile My tabernacle that is among them.
32 'This is the law for one who has a discharge, and for him who emits semen and is unclean thereby,
33 'and for her who is indisposed because of her customary impurity, and for one who has a discharge, either man or woman, and for him who lies with her who is unclean.'"
This was for their health and to teach them respect for God and His tabernacle.
LEVITICUS 16:1-2
1 Now the LORD spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered profane fire before the LORD, and died;
2 and the LORD said to Moses: "Tell Aaron your brother not to come at just any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat which is on the ark, lest he die; for I will appear in the cloud above the mercy seat.
The high priest could come into the Holy of Holies only at specific times and for specific reasons or He would suffer death. This is to reinforce the respect and holiness of God.
LEVITICUS 16:3-4
3 "Thus Aaron shall come into the Holy Place: with the blood of a young bull as a sin offering, and of a ram as a burnt offering.
4 "He shall put the holy linen tunic and the linen trousers on his body; he shall be girded with a linen sash, and with the linen turban he shall be attired. These are holy garments. Therefore he shall wash his body in water, and put them on.
The High Priest was to enter the Holy of Holies only after offering a bull for his sins and a ram for a burnt peace offering.
Jesus Christ fulfilled this requirement when He entered the presence of God through His own blood, and after having burned in Hell for the sins of Mankind. As the author of Hebrews stated;
HEBREWS 9:6-15
6 Now when these things had been thus prepared, the priests always went into the first part of the tabernacle, performing the services.
7 But into the second part the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people's sins committed in ignorance;
8 the Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing.
9 It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience
10 concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings, and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation.
11 But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation.
12 Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.
13 For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh,
14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
15 And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.
What is being said above, is that the earthly Tabernacle (and later the Temple) were but copies of the Heavenly Temple, an eternal Temple created by God Himself. The earthly ordinances required repeating because of the sins of the High Priests, the Heavenly ordinances needed to be done only once through the perfect offering of Jesus Christ.
And as it was He who gave the Law to Moses, it was His right to change the Law when the purpose of the Law had been fulfilled. For the Law required constant sacrifices and rituals, therefore the law wasn't perfect, for if it was perfect, it would not have required repeating.
But when Jesus Christ fulfilled the Law, the purpose of the Law was fulfilled, and therefore needed to be replaced with a better, perfect Law, which Law was set down in the New Testament, not a Law of works, but an eternal spiritual Law, which did not require repeated physical rituals of offerings for sin and atonement.
That is why there is no longer a Temple, priesthood, altar of sacrifices, etc. They are no longer needed, for the Law is no longer in effect, having been replaced with a better Covenant.
For those who may point to the priesthood of the Catholic Church and others, they are in direct violation of God's laws, for the priesthood was removed with the removal of the Law. Man can now go directly to God through Jesus Christ, we no longer need to have a priest intercede for us to God as was needed during the days of the Old Testament Law.
LEVITICUS 16:5-11
5 "And he shall take from the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats as a sin offering, and one ram as a burnt offering.
6 "Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house.
7 "He shall take the two goats and present them before the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of meeting.
8 "Then Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats: one lot for the LORD and the other lot for the scapegoat.
9 "And Aaron shall bring the goat on which the LORD's lot fell, and offer it as a sin offering.
10 "But the goat on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make atonement upon it, and to let it go as the scapegoat into the wilderness.
11 "And Aaron shall bring the bull of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house, and shall kill the bull as the sin offering which is for himself.
The purpose of the "scapegoat" was to symbolically carry the sins of Israel away from the camp as a graphic image of the removal of their sins by God. The goat was to be released in the wilderness, and could never return.
Apparently during the time of the Temple a goat did return, and it was considered such an evil omen that the goats were then taken to a steep place and shoved down the slope so that they couldn't get footing to climb back up, guaranteeing that they would not return.
LEVITICUS 16:12-14
12 "Then he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from the altar before the LORD, with his hands full of sweet incense beaten fine, and bring it inside the veil.
13 "And he shall put the incense on the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of incense may cover the mercy seat that is on the Testimony, lest he die.
14 "He shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy seat on the east side; and before the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.
As was stated earlier, the incense represented the prayers of the High Priest and the people.
The sprinkling of the blood on the east side of the mercy seat represented where Jesus Christ stood at the right hand of the Father, who sat on the mercy seat.
The mercy seat faced northward, therefore the east side would be on the right hand of God, considered the place of highest honor. As Jesus Christ became the blood sacrifice for us, the sprinkling of blood on the east side of the mercy seat would represent His shedding of His blood for our sins, honoring Him as He stood by His Father.
LEVITICUS 16:15-16
15 "Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering, which is for the people, bring its blood inside the veil, do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and before the mercy seat.
16 "So he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions, for all their sins; and so he shall do for the tabernacle of meeting which remains among them in the midst of their uncleanness.
The high priest kills the goat as a sin offering for the people of Israel; repeats the same things as the sin offering for himself and his household; and to atone for the Holy place and the tabernacle of meeting.
LEVITICUS 16:17
17 "There shall be no man in the tabernacle of meeting when he goes in to make atonement in the Holy Place, until he comes out, that he may make atonement for himself, for his household, and for all the assembly of Israel.
Only the high priest can be in the tabernacle when these atonements are made.
LEVITICUS 16:18-19
18 "And he shall go out to the altar that is before the LORD, and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat, and put it on the horns of the altar all around.
19 "Then he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, cleanse it, and consecrate it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel.
Some of the blood of the bull and the goat are put on the horns of the altar. This cleanses and consecrates the altar from the sins of the Israelites.
LEVITICUS 16:20-22
20 "And when he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place, the tabernacle of meeting, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat.
21 "Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man.
22 "The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness.
As mentioned earlier, the scapegoat is released into the wilderness and will bear the sins of the people.
LEVITICUS 16:23-24
23 "Then Aaron shall come into the tabernacle of meeting, shall take off the linen garments which he put on when he went into the Holy Place, and shall leave them there.
24 "And he shall wash his body with water in a holy place, put on his garments, come out and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people, and make atonement for himself and for the people.
The high priest changes his clothing (leaving the used clothes in the Holy place), washes himself and puts on his clothing for the burnt offerings, to atone for himself and the Israelites.
LEVITICUS 16:25-28
25 "The fat of the sin offering he shall burn on the altar.
26 "And he who released the goat as the scapegoat shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp.
27 "The bull for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the Holy Place, shall be carried outside the camp. And they shall burn in the fire their skins, their flesh, and their offal.
28 "Then he who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp.
As required for the atonement of the entire congregation, the bull and goat of the offering are taken outside the camp and burned entirely. The man that releases the scapegoat and the man that burns the sacrificed bull and goat; are unclean (and must stay outside the camp) until they bathe and wash their clothes.
LEVITICUS 16:29-31
29 "This shall be a statute forever for you: In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether a native of your own country or a stranger who dwells among you.
30 "For on that day the priest shall make atonement for you, to cleanse you, that you may be clean from all your sins before the LORD.
31 "It is a sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you shall afflict your souls. It is a statute forever.
The day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) is supposed to be the tenth day of the seventh month according to the lunar calendar (Tishri: September - October). This is a day of rest, soul searching and repentance for their sins by both native Israelites and any Gentiles who dwelt among them. This is to be observed FOREVER!!!
LEVITICUS 16:32-34
32 "And the priest, who is anointed and consecrated to minister as priest in his father's place, shall make atonement, and put on the linen clothes, the holy garments;
33 "then he shall make atonement for the Holy Sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tabernacle of meeting and for the altar, and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly.
34 "This shall be an everlasting statute for you, to make atonement for the children of Israel, for all their sins, once a year." And he did as the LORD commanded Moses.
LEVITICUS 17:1-9
1 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
2 "Speak to Aaron, to his sons, and to all the children of Israel, and say to them, 'This is the thing which the LORD has commanded, saying:
3 "Whatever man of the house of Israel who kills an ox or lamb or goat in the camp, or who kills it outside the camp,
4 "and does not bring it to the door of the tabernacle of meeting to offer an offering to the LORD before the tabernacle of the LORD, the guilt of bloodshed shall be imputed to that man. He has shed blood; and that man shall be cut off from among his people,
5 "to the end that the children of Israel may bring their sacrifices which they offer in the open field, that they may bring them to the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of meeting, to the priest, and offer them as peace offerings to the LORD.
6 "And the priest shall sprinkle the blood on the altar of the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and burn the fat for a sweet aroma to the LORD.
7 "They shall no more offer their sacrifices to demons, after whom they have played the harlot. This shall be a statute forever for them throughout their generations."'
8 "Also you shall say to them: 'Whatever man of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell among you, who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice,
9 'and does not bring it to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, to offer it to the LORD, that man shall be cut off from among his people.
The Israelites were to bring all offerings to the tabernacle for the priests to sacrifice them to the Lord. Some of the Israelites had been offering sacrifices on their own, and were doing so after the doctrines of demons or in ways of the inhabitants about them.
God was ensuring that all offerings to Him were done in the fashion and manner that He commanded, to ensure one law of offering, sacrifice and worship throughout Israel.
LEVITICUS 17:10-14
10 'And whatever man of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell among you, who eats any blood, I will set My face against that person who eats blood, and will cut him off from among his people.
11 'For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.'
12 "Therefore I said to the children of Israel, 'No one among you shall eat blood, nor shall any stranger who dwells among you eat blood.'
13 "Whatever man of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell among you, who hunts and catches any animal or bird that may be eaten, he shall pour out its blood and cover it with dust;
14 "for it is the life of all flesh. Its blood sustains its life. Therefore I said to the children of Israel, 'You shall not eat the blood of any flesh, for the life of all flesh is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off.'
No flesh can live without blood, proven medically. Blood carried the oxygen and nutrients required to sustain life as well as providing for defense against disease. Consuming blood in God's eyes is as if you were consuming the very life of the thing you are eating.
In some ancient cultures (and even in some cultures today) drinking the blood of an animal was believed to give you the power and attributes of that animal. For example, the blood of a bull would give a person strength and physical power, etc. Some cultures believed that eating the heart of an enemy or drinking his blood after you killed him would give you his courage and strength.
LEVITICUS 17:15-16
15 "And every person who eats what died naturally or what was torn by beasts, whether he is a native of your own country or a stranger, he shall both wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. Then he shall be clean.
16 "But if he does not wash them or bathe his body, then he shall bear his guilt."
This seems like it is a contradiction of Exodus 22:31 which says;
EXODUS 22:31
31 "And you shall be holy men to Me: you shall not eat meat torn by beasts in the field; you shall throw it to the dogs.
The only difference I can see here is if the animal is torn by predators within the sight of the person eating it (such as a shepherd), then it can be eaten immediately afterward. But if someone stumbles onto a carcass that has been torn without anyone seeing it, then they are not to eat of it.
Any carcass that was torn by predators (bears, wolves, lions, etc) that wasn't seen by anyone could have started to decay and disease could have set in without the person eating it knowing about it. But if they cooked and consumed it by sundown of the day it happened, this would prevent bacteria and disease from gaining a foothold on the dead flesh.
In any case, they were to wash themselves and their clothing thoroughly and remain outside of the camp as unclean until sundown.
LEVITICUS 18:1-5
1 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
2 "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'I am the LORD your God.
3 'According to the doings of the land of Egypt, where you dwelt, you shall not do; and according to the doings of the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you, you shall not do; nor shall you walk in their ordinances.
4 'You shall observe My judgments and keep My ordinances, to walk in them: I am the LORD your God.
5 'You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, which if a man does, he shall live by them: I am the LORD.
God is literally "laying down the law" to Israel.We may think it redundant in that He frequently repeats Himself concerning His Laws and His identity ("I am the LORD"), but He is ensuring that Israel knows for certain who is speaking to them, and understands what He requires of them.
That is why we need to keep reading the Bible daily, as Satan will take any opportunity he can to entice us to sin, and it is the conviction of God's Word in our hearts that keeps us from sinning.
LEVITICUS 18:6-17
6 'None of you shall approach anyone who is near of kin to him, to uncover his nakedness: I am the LORD.
7 'The nakedness of your father or the nakedness of your mother you shall not uncover. She is your mother; you shall not uncover her nakedness.
8 'The nakedness of your father's wife you shall not uncover; it is your father's nakedness.
9 'The nakedness of your sister, the daughter of your father, or the daughter of your mother, whether born at home or elsewhere, their nakedness you shall not uncover.
10 'The nakedness of your son's daughter or your daughter's daughter, their nakedness you shall not uncover; for theirs is your own nakedness.
11 'The nakedness of your father's wife's daughter, begotten by your father she is your sister you shall not uncover her nakedness.
12 'You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's sister; she is near of kin to your father.
13 'You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother's sister, for she is near of kin to your mother.
14 'You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's brother. You shall not approach his wife; she is your aunt.
15 'You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law she is your son's wife you shall not uncover her nakedness.
16 'You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother's wife; it is your brother's nakedness.
17 'You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter, nor shall you take her son's daughter or her daughter's daughter, to uncover her nakedness. They are near of kin to her. It is wickedness.
The word "uncover" is the Hebrew word "galah" (gaw law) - denude; cause to be naked in a disgraceful way.
God is stating what constitutes incest in His sight. Incest has been proven to be genetically degrading in that children born of such acts many times have physical and/or mental deficiencies. Such an act can cause demon possession of both parties, as they "become one flesh" before God. Their disobedience to God's commandments opens both of them to demon entrance.
LEVITICUS 18:18
18 'Nor shall you take a woman as a rival to her sister, to uncover her nakedness while the other is alive.
You are not to marry your wife's sister while your wife is still alive, either out of love or out of spite. This apparently happens in polygamous (plural marriage) communities, as I recently read where a Mormon man was convicted of marrying three women who were sisters.
Remember the strife and jealousy that erupted between Jacob's wives Leah and Rachel, when they fought for his affections in the book of Genesis!
LEVITICUS 18:19
19 'Also you shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness as long as she is in her customary impurity.
You are not to be intimate with a woman during her menstrual cycle.
LEVITICUS 18:20
20 'Moreover you shall not lie carnally with your neighbor's wife, to defile yourself with her.
Again, we are not to commit adultery. Here is a prime example of the difference between the physical law, and the spiritual law. The Law only required that you not physically commit adultery. Jesus raised the bar from following the letter of the Law to following the spirit and intent of the Law when He said;
MATTHEW 5:27-28
27 "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery.'
28 "But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
LEVITICUS 18:21
21 'And you shall not let any of your descendants pass through the fire to Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.
Molech was a Canaanite demon god. People would place their babies into the fire on his altar to be burned alive to appease him, essentially human sacrifice.
This is also similar to the abortions done by many, in that they sacrifice their unborn children to the "gods" of convenience, good times, and selfishness to name a few. At their judgment before God, the parent(s) of these children will face them and will answer to the children for their actions.
LEVITICUS 18:22
22 'You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination.
Homosexuality is a SIN, a willful act and is forbidden by the Lord God. There is no "genetic predisposition" determining whether a person is "gay", it is a demon-driven act, and is an abomination in the eyes of God and Man. Remember what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah.
LEVITICUS 18:23
23 'Nor shall you mate with any animal, to defile yourself with it. Nor shall any woman stand before an animal to mate with it. It is perversion.
Just as homosexuality, bestiality is a willful sin and is forbidden by the Lord God.
LEVITICUS 18:24-30
24 'Do not defile yourselves with any of these things; for by all these the nations are defiled, which I am casting out before you.
25 'For the land is defiled; therefore I visit the punishment of its iniquity upon it, and the land vomits out its inhabitants.
26 'You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations, either any of your own nation or any stranger who dwells among you
27 '(for all these abominations the men of the land have done, who were before you, and thus the land is defiled),
28 'lest the land vomit you out also when you defile it, as it vomited out the nations that were before you.
29 'For whoever commits any of these abominations, the persons who commit them shall be cut off from among their people.
30 'Therefore you shall keep My ordinance, so that you do not commit any of these abominable customs which were committed before you, and that you do not defile yourselves by them: I am the LORD your God.'"
God removed the Canaanites from their lands because of their abominations as spelled out above, using Israel as His means of vengeance.
Seeing the moral decay of the United States today, will not the same judgment soon happen to us? Do we think we can practice the same things and God will bless us?
LEVITICUS 19:1-3
1 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
2 "Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them: 'You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.
3 'Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and keep My Sabbaths: I am the LORD your God.
Honor your father and mother and remember keep the Sabbath as God has commanded. Honoring your Father and Mother teaches respect to those in authority over us. If we can't respect the authority of our parents over us, how can we respect the authority of God?
LEVITICUS 19:4
4 'Do not turn to idols, nor make for yourselves molded gods: I am the LORD your God.
God will not share His glory or worship with any created thing.
LEVITICUS 19:5-8
5 'And if you offer a sacrifice of a peace offering to the LORD, you shall offer it of your own free will.
6 'It shall be eaten the same day you offer it, and on the next day. And if any remains until the third day, it shall be burned in the fire.
7 'And if it is eaten at all on the third day, it is an abomination. It shall not be accepted.
8 'Therefore everyone who eats it shall bear his iniquity, because he has profaned the hallowed offering of the LORD; and that person shall be cut off from his people.
Peace offering sacrifices must be given freely. God doesn't want anything from us that we don't want to give to Him. Both the person offering the sacrifice and the priests can eat their portion of the peace offering on the day of the offering or the next day only. Eating it after then risks the contraction of disease.
LEVITICUS 19:9-10
9 'When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest.
10 'And you shall not glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather every grape of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger: I am the LORD your God.
When you harvest your fields, don't harvest the corners of the field and pick up any of the bits and pieces that fall on the ground. These bits and pieces and the corners are for the poor to gather for their food, that no one may go hungry. That way the poor will bless those who own the fields, and God will reward the owner of the fields.
LEVITICUS 19:11
11 'You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another.
Self-explanatory.
LEVITICUS 19:12
12 'And you shall not swear by My name falsely, nor shall you profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.
Don't bear false witness or use the Lords name as a curse.
LEVITICUS 19:13
13 'You shall not cheat your neighbor, nor rob him. The wages of him who is hired shall not remain with you all night until morning.
Don't cheat or steal. If you hire someone, pay him at the end of each day, so they can afford to eat.
LEVITICUS 19:14
14 'You shall not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind, but shall fear your God: I am the LORD.
Be kind and helpful to the disabled and those in need. Don't harm them in any way!!!
LEVITICUS 19:15
15 'You shall do no injustice in judgment. You shall not be partial to the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty. In righteousness you shall judge your neighbor.
Don't show partiality in your judgements. Don't take bribes or rule unfairly. (Don't you wish that more government officials would follow this?)
LEVITICUS 19:16
16 'You shall not go about as a talebearer among your people; nor shall you take a stand against the life of your neighbor: I am the LORD.
Don't gossip. You are not to be a judge of any neighbor (in a capital case) because you cannot be impartial.
LEVITICUS 19:17
17 'You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him.
Don't hate one another especially in secret. If your neighbor sins, tell him, or you are also guilty (accessory to the sin).
LEVITICUS 19:18
18 'You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.
Love one another as God loves us. He is kind to ungrateful and evil men, and we are to be the same with others.
LEVITICUS 19:19
19 'You shall keep My statutes. You shall not let your livestock breed with another kind. You shall not sow your field with mixed seed. Nor shall a garment of mixed linen and wool come upon you.
Animals must breed with their own kind. Planting must be with one type of seed, not a mixture. Your clothing fabrics are not to be combined. The seed and clothing are reminders that the children of Israel are not to intermarry with the nations around them. The breeding of livestock with others of their own kind ensures healthy breeds and a strong genetic base.
LEVITICUS 19:20-22
20 'Whoever lies carnally with a woman who is betrothed to a man as a concubine, and who has not at all been redeemed nor given her freedom, for this there shall be scourging; but they shall not be put to death, because she was not free.
21 'And he shall bring his trespass offering to the LORD, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, a ram as a trespass offering.
22 'The priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering before the LORD for his sin which he has committed. And the sin which he has committed shall be forgiven him.
If you have sex with another mans' concubine, the penalty is a scourging (public whipping). Then he must offer a trespass offering to the Lord to be forgiven.
LEVITICUS 19:23-25
23 'When you come into the land, and have planted all kinds of trees for food, then you shall count their fruit as uncircumcised. Three years it shall be as uncircumcised to you. It shall not be eaten.
24 'But in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, a praise to the LORD.
25 'And in the fifth year you may eat its fruit, that it may yield to you its increase: I am the LORD your God.
I am not sure why this was a statute, and have no real information concerning it.
LEVITICUS 19:26
26 'You shall not eat anything with the blood, nor shall you practice divination or soothsaying.
Don't follow any occult practices such as fortune telling or astrology.
LEVITICUS 19:27
27 'You shall not shave around the sides of your head, nor shall you disfigure the edges of your beard.
These were practices of the Egyptians and Canaanites as part of their religious rites.
LEVITICUS 19:28
28 'You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you: I am the LORD.
When the Canaanites were worshiping their deities it was a common practice to show their mourning for the dead by cutting themselves. Tattoos were religious in nature among the Canaanites, and was a good vehicle for contracting blood-borne diseases (just as it is today), with Hepatitis being a common ailment.
LEVITICUS 19:29
29 'Do not prostitute your daughter, to cause her to be a harlot, lest the land fall into harlotry, and the land become full of wickedness.
When a man was in debt, it was a common practice in many places to sell your daughter into prostitution for the money. This is still done today in Thailand and other Asian countries. God is warning them, if they do this the entire nation will turn from God.
LEVITICUS 19:30
30 'You shall keep My Sabbaths and reverence My sanctuary: I am the LORD.
Keep the Sabbath as a day of rest, and remember to show the proper reverence and honor for the tabernacle (later the temple) of the Lord and the One dwelling within it.
LEVITICUS 19:31
31 'Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek after them, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God.
Don't look for or listen to sorcerers. They cannot communicate with the dead, they communicate with demonic spirits. Only God knows the future!!!
LEVITICUS 19:32
32 'You shall rise before the gray headed and honor the presence of an old man, and fear your God: I am the LORD.
Show respect and honor to your elders, especially if you want to live to be an elder yourself!
LEVITICUS 19:33-34
33 'And if a stranger dwells with you in your land, you shall not mistreat him.
34 'The stranger who dwells among you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
You shall treat a Gentile living among you, especially if he worships the Lord as if he were a born Israelite. You are not to mistreat him, because he isn't a native-born Israelite!!!
The Jews (especially the ultra-Orthodox and Orthodox) need to remember this, as they do not want any Gentiles (or even non-religious Jews) living within the State of Israel today.
LEVITICUS 19:35-37
35 'You shall do no injustice in judgment, in measurement of length, weight, or volume.
36 'You shall have honest scales, honest weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin: I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
37 'Therefore you shall observe all My statutes and all My judgments, and perform them: I am the LORD.'"
Be honest in all business transactions, using honest weights and measures. (Back then, coins and precious metals were weighed to determine their value, unlike today where denominations of coins have a fixed value and metal composition.)
LEVITICUS 20:1-5
1 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
2 "Again, you shall say to the children of Israel: 'Whoever of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell in Israel, who gives any of his descendants to Molech, he shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones.
3 'I will set My face against that man, and will cut him off from his people, because he has given some of his descendants to Molech, to defile My sanctuary and profane My holy name.
4 'And if the people of the land should in any way hide their eyes from the man, when he gives some of his descendants to Molech, and they do not kill him,
5 'then I will set My face against that man and against his family; and I will cut him off from his people, and all who prostitute themselves with him to commit harlotry with Molech.
Anyone living in Israel (Israelite or foreigner) that allows a family member to "pass through the fire of Molech" (human sacrifice) is to be stoned without mercy, and cut off from God and Israel. If anyone knows that you have done this and turns a blind eye to it, that man and his family are to be cut off from God and Israel. You are to have NO other gods before the Lord!
LEVITICUS 20:6-8
6 'And the person who turns to mediums and familiar spirits, to prostitute himself with them, I will set My face against that person and cut him off from his people.
7 'Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am the LORD your God.
8 'And you shall keep My statutes, and perform them: I am the LORD who sanctifies you.
There are to be no "fortune tellers", sorcerers, "psychics", or any other Occult practitioners in any part of Israel. ANYONE that participates in this practice will be cut off from God and Israel and will be destroyed by God
LEVITICUS 20:9
9 'For everyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. He has cursed his father or his mother. His blood shall be upon him.
Honor and respect your father and mother. If you curse either of them, you are to be put to death without mercy; and your blood will be on your own head (you will bear your own guilt).
LEVITICUS 20:10
10 'The man who commits adultery with another man's wife, he who commits adultery with his neighbor's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress, shall surely be put to death.
BOTH the man and the woman were to be put to death.
LEVITICUS 20:11
11 'The man who lies with his father's wife has uncovered his father's nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them.
If a man sleeps with his mother or step-mother; BOTH are to be killed.
LEVITICUS 20:12
12 'If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death. They have committed perversion. Their blood shall be upon them.
If a man sleeps with his daughter in law; BOTH are to be killed.
LEVITICUS 20:13
13 'If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them.
If a man has sex with another man, BOTH are to be killed. Homosexuality is an abomination and perversion before the Lord.
LEVITICUS 20:14
14 'If a man marries a woman and her mother, it is wickedness. They shall be burned with fire, both he and they, that there may be no wickedness among you.
If a man marries a mother and her daughter; all three are to be burned by fire without mercy.
LEVITICUS 20:15-16
15 'If a man mates with an animal, he shall surely be put to death, and you shall kill the animal.
16 'If a woman approaches any animal and mates with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood is upon them.
If a man or woman commits bestiality; they and the animal are to be killed. This is an occult practice.
LEVITICUS 20:17
17 'If a man takes his sister, his father's daughter or his mother's daughter, and sees her nakedness and she sees his nakedness, it is a wicked thing. And they shall be cut off in the sight of their people. He has uncovered his sister's nakedness. He shall bear his guilt.
Incestuousness relationships are a sin. Even if they are only half siblings. They are both to be cut off from Israel, but God will place the guilt of the sin on the man.
LEVITICUS 20:18
18 'If a man lies with a woman during her sickness and uncovers her nakedness, he has exposed her flow, and she has uncovered the flow of her blood. Both of them shall be cut off from their people.
Because a woman is unclean during her menstrual cycle and being with her is forbidden; they will BOTH be cut off from Israel.
LEVITICUS 20:19-21
19 'You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother's sister nor of your father's sister, for that would uncover his near of kin. They shall bear their guilt.
20 'If a man lies with his uncle's wife, he has uncovered his uncle's nakedness. They shall bear their sin; they shall die childless.
21 'If a man takes his brother's wife, it is an unclean thing. He has uncovered his brother's nakedness. They shall be childless.
The price for these improper relationships is barrenness. During these times barren couples (especially women) were looked down on and scorned if they didn't have any children; almost like an outcast. Barrenness was considered by Israeli society back then as a punishment from God for sin.
LEVITICUS 20:22-26
22 'You shall therefore keep all My statutes and all My judgments, and perform them, that the land where I am bringing you to dwell may not vomit you out.
23 'And you shall not walk in the statutes of the nation which I am casting out before you; for they commit all these things, and therefore I abhor them.
24 'But I have said to you, "You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey." I am the LORD your God, who has separated you from the peoples.
25 'You shall therefore distinguish between clean animals and unclean, between unclean birds and clean, and you shall not make yourselves abominable by beast or by bird, or by any kind of living thing that creeps on the ground, which I have separated from you as unclean.
26 'And you shall be holy to Me, for I the LORD am holy, and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be Mine.
God commands that Israel be a separate people and He will take care of them; but if they turn away from Him, He will throw them out of the promised land.
LEVITICUS 20:27
27 'A man or a woman who is a medium, or who has familiar spirits, shall surely be put to death; they shall stone them with stones. Their blood shall be upon them.'"
Anyone that uses sorcery (or occult practices) are to be stoned to death without mercy. Allowing them to live would cause the Israelites to stray away from God, bringing destruction upon them.
LEVITICUS 21:1-4
1 And the LORD said to Moses, "Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them: 'None shall defile himself for the dead among his people,
2 'except for his relatives who are nearest to him: his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, and his brother;
3 'also his virgin sister who is near to him, who has had no husband, for her he may defile himself.
4 'Otherwise he shall not defile himself, being a chief man among his people, to profane himself.
The priests are not to prepare and bury the dead except for their immediate family members. Note the sister must never have had a husband, because if she had ever been married her husband would be responsible for her body after her death. A dead body is "unclean" and anyone that touches an unclean thing becomes unclean too.
LEVITICUS 21:5-8
5 'They shall not make any bald place on their heads, nor shall they shave the edges of their beards nor make any cuttings in their flesh.
6 'They shall be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God, for they offer the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and the bread of their God; therefore they shall be holy.
7 'They shall not take a wife who is a harlot or a defiled woman, nor shall they take a woman divorced from her husband; for the priest is holy to his God.
8 'Therefore you shall consecrate him, for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you, for I the LORD, who sanctify you, am holy.
The shaving of the head, cutting parts of the beard and cutting of the flesh were signs of mourning and the priests were not to do this, as it would disfigure them before God and the people. The priests were to keep themselves ritually clean because they ministered to the Lord.
The priests could marry only a virgin from among the tribes of Israel.
LEVITICUS 21:9
9 'The daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by playing the harlot, she profanes her father. She shall be burned with fire.
Any lewd daughter of a priest is to be burned to death without mercy, because she makes her father unclean by her dishonor to him and God as one of the ministers of the Lord.
LEVITICUS 21:10-15
10 'He who is the high priest among his brethren, on whose head the anointing oil was poured and who is consecrated to wear the garments, shall not uncover his head nor tear his clothes;
11 'nor shall he go near any dead body, nor defile himself for his father or his mother;
12 'nor shall he go out of the sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of his God; for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is upon him: I am the LORD.
13 'And he shall take a wife in her virginity.
14 'A widow or a divorced woman or a defiled woman or a harlot these he shall not marry; but he shall take a virgin of his own people as wife.
15 'Nor shall he profane his posterity among his people, for I the LORD sanctify him.'"
The High Priest couldn't prepare and bury the dead, even his parents, especially during the week of his consecration as High Priest.
He must marry a virgin from one of the 12 tribes of Israel, so as not to defile his descendants. Note that he MUST marry, the exact opposite of the Pope who is considered the "high priest" of the Roman Catholic church.
LEVITICUS 21:16-24
16 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
17 "Speak to Aaron, saying: 'No man of your descendants in succeeding generations, who has any defect, may approach to offer the bread of his God.
18 'For any man who has a defect shall not approach: a man blind or lame, who has a marred face or any limb too long,
19 'a man who has a broken foot or broken hand,
20 'or is a hunchback or a dwarf, or a man who has a defect in his eye, or eczema or scab, or is a eunuch.
21 'No man of the descendants of Aaron the priest, who has a defect, shall come near to offer the offerings made by fire to the LORD. He has a defect; he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God.
22 'He may eat the bread of his God, both the most holy and the holy;
23 'only he shall not go near the veil or approach the altar, because he has a defect, lest he profane My sanctuaries; for I the LORD sanctify them.'"
24 And Moses told it to Aaron and his sons, and to all the children of Israel.
Any man of the line of Aaron that was physically deformed could eat of the food of the priests, but could not offer sacrifices or go into the Holy of Holies. As the sacrifices were to be without blemish, so it was to be with the priests.
LEVITICUS 22:1-9
1 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
2 "Speak to Aaron and his sons, that they separate themselves from the holy things of the children of Israel, and that they do not profane My holy name by what they dedicate to Me: I am the LORD.
3 "Say to them: 'Whoever of all your descendants throughout your generations, who goes near the holy things which the children of Israel dedicate to the LORD, while he has uncleanness upon him, that person shall be cut off from My presence: I am the LORD.
4 'Whatever man of the descendants of Aaron, who is a leper or has a discharge, shall not eat the holy offerings until he is clean. And whoever touches anything made unclean by a
corpse, or a man who has had an emission of semen,
5 'or whoever touches any creeping thing by which he would be made unclean, or any person by whom he would become unclean, whatever his uncleanness may be
6 'the person who has touched any such thing shall be unclean until evening, and shall not eat the holy offerings unless he washes his body with water.
7 'And when the sun goes down he shall be clean; and afterward he may eat the holy offerings, because it is his food.
8 'Whatever dies naturally or is torn by beasts he shall not eat, to defile himself with it: I am the LORD.
9 'They shall therefore keep My ordinance, lest they bear sin for it and die thereby, if they profane it: I the LORD sanctify them.
All priests must be ritually clean before ministering to the Lord as they intercede with Him for the sins of the people, a duty and an office to not be taken lightly! If they fail to follow His ordinances they are to be cut off from Israel and God for defiling the Holy places and Holy things.
LEVITICUS 22:10-13
10 'No outsider shall eat the holy offering; one who dwells with the priest, or a hired servant, shall not eat the holy thing.
11 'But if the priest buys a person with his money, he may eat it; and one who is born in his house may eat his food.
12 'If the priest's daughter is married to an outsider, she may not eat of the holy offerings.
13 'But if the priest's daughter is a widow or divorced, and has no child, and has returned to her father's house as in her youth, she may eat her father's food; but no outsider shall
eat it.
Only the priests, their immediate family, anyone bought (not just a temporary hire) may eat the Holy food of the priests. If a daughter returns home with no husband and no children; she may eat these foods again. If a daughter marries someone not of the line of Aaron; she must eat
with her husband and no longer eat the food of the priests.
LEVITICUS 22:14-16
14 'And if a man eats the holy offering unintentionally, then he shall restore a holy offering to the priest, and add one-fifth to it.
15 'They shall not profane the holy offerings of the children of Israel, which they offer to the LORD,
16 'or allow them to bear the guilt of trespass when they eat their holy offerings; for I the LORD sanctify them.'"
The price for unintentionally eating the priests' food was to replace the thing(s) eaten, and add 20% to the restoration of the food. (Note that this was the price for stealing also.)
LEVITICUS 22:17-23
17 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
18 "Speak to Aaron and his sons, and to all the children of Israel, and say to them: 'Whatever man of the house of Israel, or of the strangers in Israel, who offers his sacrifice for any of his vows or for any of his freewill offerings, which they offer to the LORD as a burnt offering
19 'you shall offer of your own free will a male without blemish from the cattle, from the sheep, or from the goats.
20 'Whatever has a defect, you shall not offer, for it shall not be acceptable on your behalf.
21 'And whoever offers a sacrifice of a peace offering to the LORD, to fulfill his vow, or a freewill offering from the cattle or the sheep, it must be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no defect in it.
22 'Those that are blind or broken or maimed, or have an ulcer or eczema or scabs, you shall not offer to the LORD, nor make an offering by fire of them on the altar to the LORD.
23 'Either a bull or a lamb that has any limb too long or too short you may offer as a freewill offering, but for a vow it shall not be accepted.
All animal sacrifices and offerings must be perfect and without blemish. Just like with Cain, God expects everyone to offer only the best to Him, of their own free will. We should always give God our best in anything we offer Him or do for Him.
LEVITICUS 22:24-25
24 'You shall not offer to the LORD what is bruised or crushed, or torn or cut; nor shall you make any offering of them in your land.
25 'Nor from a foreigner's hand shall you offer any of these as the bread of your God, because their corruption is in them, and defects are in them. They shall not be accepted on your behalf.'"
Only perfect offerings as determined by the priests are to be offered from anyone.
LEVITICUS 22:26-28
26 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying:
27 "When a bull or a sheep or a goat is born, it shall be seven days with its mother; and from the eighth day and thereafter it shall be accepted as an offering made by fire to the LORD.
28 "Whether it is a cow or ewe, do not kill both her and her young on the same day.
The young animals can be as young as eight days old before being offered to the Lord. The mother animal and her baby are not to be killed on the same day. (Reasons unknown)
LEVITICUS 22:29-33
29 "And when you offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the LORD, offer it of your own free will.
30 "On the same day it shall be eaten; you shall leave none of it until morning: I am the LORD.
31 "Therefore you shall keep My commandments, and perform them: I am the LORD.
32 "You shall not profane My holy name, but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel. I am the LORD who sanctifies you,
33 "who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the LORD."
All thanksgiving offerings must be made freely. The priests must eat the food from this offering the same day it is offered.
The Lords name or any other holy thing is not to be defiled by anyone.
LEVITICUS 23:1-8
1 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
2 "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'The feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts.
3 'Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings.
4 'These are the feasts of the LORD, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times.
5 'On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the LORD's Passover.
6 'And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD; seven days you must eat unleavened bread.
7 'On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it.
8 'But you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD for seven days. The seventh day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it.'"
The holy days God has set aside for the people to observe are Gods holy days, and are to be
observed as He commands.
There was never a day designated as the "Sabbath". This is one day each week (we don't know which day God had them observe) that people were required to rest and do no work.
The apostle Paul in addressing the issue to the Gentile churches stated;
ROMANS 14:5-6
5 One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind.
6 He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks.
LEVITICUS 23:9-14
9 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
10 "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest.
11 'He shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.
12 'And you shall offer on that day, when you wave the sheaf, a male lamb of the first year, without blemish, as a burnt offering to the LORD.
13 'Its grain offering shall be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to the LORD, for a sweet aroma; and its drink offering shall be of wine, one-fourth of a hin.
14 'You shall eat neither bread nor parched grain nor fresh grain until the same day that you have brought an offering to your God; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
You were not to eat any grain at all until the day you had offered the first of your harvest to the Lord. This means that God was given the first portion of the harvest in thanksgiving for His blessing and bounty, after the Israelites went into Canaan.
LEVITICUS 23:15-21
15 'And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed.
16 'Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the LORD.
17 'You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They are the first fruits to the LORD.
18 'And you shall offer with the bread seven lambs of the first year, without blemish, one young bull, and two rams. They shall be as a burnt offering to the LORD, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering made by fire for a sweet aroma to the LORD.
19 'Then you shall sacrifice one kid of the goats as a sin offering, and two male lambs of the first year as a sacrifice of a peace offering.
20 'The priest shall wave them with the bread of the first fruits as a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the LORD for the priest.
21 'And you shall proclaim on the same day that it is a holy convocation to you. You shall do no customary work on it. It shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.
On the fiftieth day after the barley harvest is offered, the first of the wheat harvest is offered to the Lord. Wheat was a more nutritious grain than barley, and therefore was a more important staple food, and required more in the way of sacrifices to thank God for His blessing.
This feast is also known as the Feast of Pentecost in the New Testament.
LEVITICUS 23:22
22 'When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field when you reap, nor shall you gather any gleaning from your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the stranger: I am the LORD your God.'"
Again God reiterates the harvest laws.
LEVITICUS 23:23-25
23 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
24 "Speak to the children of Israel, saying: 'In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a Sabbath rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.
25 'You shall do no customary work on it; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD.'"
The seventh month is Tishri (mid-September to mid-October). On the first day of this month there was to be no work done, it was to be observed like a Sabbath day. The people were to gather together, trumpets are to be blown in memorial and an offering is to be made to the Lord.
The first day of Tishri: This begins the civil calendar, used to determine the seventh (Sabbatical) year for letting the farmland rest for one year and to determine the fiftieth (Jubilee) year in which all slaves were freed and land that was purchased and not inherited was restored to it's original owners or to their direct descendants.
This "New Year" became Rosh Hashanah on the modern calendar, however there isn't much known about how this happened except...
The name doesn't appear in the Torah.
One reason for making the first of Tishri into Rosh Hashanah may have been that many of the ancient Semitic people believed the fall to be the beginning of the agricultural year. Tishri is Aramaic and comes from the root for "to begin".
It is a tradition in Israel today to visit the graves of their loved ones during this time and pray to the dead peoples' souls to bring a good New Year. (Unfortunately this is necromancy, communication with the dead, forbidden by God.)
For the entire month of Elul (mid-August to mid-September, which precedes Tishri) there is a period of spiritual preparation for repentance for the ten days of penitence (Days of Awe) which follows Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement).
The Shofar (ram's horn, used in ancient days as a trumpet) is blown at every morning service and at some evening services. Many synagogues about a week before Rosh Hashanah begin to hold additional prayer services at dawn.
Beginning at midnight on the Saturday before Rosh Hashanah there is a musical prayer service preceded or followed by a buffet dinner. The prayers are called Selihot prayers and are believed to have originated while the Jews were in Babylonian captivity.
On Rosh Hashanah rabbis, cantors (male song leaders) and many worshipers wear white clothing to remind them of the white linen robes worn by the High Priest in the Temple in Jerusalem.
LEVITICUS 23:26-32
26 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying:
27 "Also the tenth day of this seventh month shall be the Day of Atonement. It shall be a holy convocation for you; you shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire to the LORD.
28 "And you shall do no work on that same day, for it is the Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before the LORD your God.
29 "For any person who is not afflicted in soul on that same day shall be cut off from his people.
30 "And any person who does any work on that same day, that person I will destroy from among his people.
31 "You shall do no manner of work; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
32 "It shall be to you a Sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict your souls; on the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you shall celebrate your Sabbath."
The tenth day of Tishri (mid-September to mid-October) is to be the Day of Atonement. On this day (for 24 hours) Israel was to gather together before the Lord and remember and repent of their sins; anyone that did not do so would be destroyed by God. An offering was to be made to the Lord and no work was to be done.
LEVITICUS 23:33-36
33 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
34 "Speak to the children of Israel, saying: 'The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to the LORD.
35 'On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it.
36 'For seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. On the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation, and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. It is a sacred assembly, and you shall do no customary work on it.
The fifteenth day of Tishri (mid-September to mid-October) was to be the Feast of Tabernacles (Feast of ingathering, Feast of Booths (Hebrew Sukkot)). When the last of the fruits have been gathered, this is the giving of the last fruits of the harvest to the Lord.
LEVITICUS 23:37-44
37 'These are the feasts of the LORD which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire to the LORD, a burnt offering and a grain offering, a sacrifice and drink offerings, everything on its day
38 'besides the Sabbaths of the LORD, besides your gifts, besides all your vows, and besides all your freewill offerings which you give to the LORD.
39 'Also on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the feast of the LORD for seven days; on the first day there shall be a Sabbath rest, and on the eighth day a Sabbath rest.
40 'And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days.
41 'You shall keep it as a feast to the LORD for seven days in the year. It shall be a statute forever in your generations. You shall celebrate it in the seventh month.
42 'You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths,
43 'that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.'"
44 So Moses declared to the children of Israel the feasts of the LORD.
Note that only those who are "native" Israelites are to live in booths (representing tents) for the Feast of Booths.
LEVITICUS 24:1-9
1 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying:
2 "Command the children of Israel that they bring to you pure oil of pressed olives for the light, to make the lamps burn continually.
3 "Outside the veil of the Testimony, in the tabernacle of meeting, Aaron shall be in charge of it from evening until morning before the LORD continually; it shall be a statute forever in your generations.
4 "He shall be in charge of the lamps on the pure gold lamp stand before the LORD continually.
5 "And you shall take fine flour and bake twelve cakes with it. Two-tenths of an ephah shall be in each cake.
6 "You shall set them in two rows, six in a row, on the pure gold table before the LORD.
7 "And you shall put pure frankincense on each row, that it may be on the bread for a memorial, an offering made by fire to the LORD.
8 "Every Sabbath he shall set it in order before the LORD continually, being taken from the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant.
9 "And it shall be for Aaron and his sons, and they shall eat it in a holy place; for it is most holy to him from the offerings of the LORD made by fire, by a perpetual statute."
The high priest was in charge of keeping the lamp in the Holy place burning continuously with olive oil from the Israelites. Fresh bread was placed there every Sabbath day with frankincense. The priests were to eat the old bread after the new loaves had been placed on the table for the Lord.
LEVITICUS 24:10-12
10 Now the son of an Israelite woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the children of Israel; and this Israelite woman's son and a man of Israel fought each other in the camp.
11 And the Israelite woman's son blasphemed the name of the LORD and cursed; and so they brought him to Moses. (His mother's name was Shelomith the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan.)
12 Then they put him in custody, that the mind of the LORD might be shown to them.
The reason the man was brought before Moses for judgement wasn't because of the fight or that his father wasn't an Israelite; it was because he had cursed and blasphemed the name of the Lord God. Also note that Moses asked God what the punishment should be, then waited for the Lord to answer.
LEVITICUS 24:13-16
13 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
14 "Take outside the camp him who has cursed; then let all who heard him lay their hands on his head, and let all the congregation stone him.
15 "Then you shall speak to the children of Israel, saying: 'Whoever curses his God shall bear his sin.
16 'And whoever blasphemes the name of the LORD shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall certainly stone him, the stranger as well as him who is born in the land. When he blasphemes the name of the LORD, he shall be put to death.
God's judgement was for the man to be stoned to death because he had cursed God. A law without teeth is useless. Therefore God used this as a graphic example that He was serious about His commandments.
LEVITICUS 24:17-23
17 'Whoever kills any man shall surely be put to death.
18 'Whoever kills an animal shall make it good, animal for animal.
19 'If a man causes disfigurement of his neighbor, as he has done, so shall it be done to him
20 'fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; as he has caused disfigurement of a man, so shall it be done to him.
21 'And whoever kills an animal shall restore it; but whoever kills a man shall be put to death.
22 'You shall have the same law for the stranger and for one from your own country; for I am the LORD your God.'"
23 Then Moses spoke to the children of Israel; and they took outside the camp him who had cursed, and stoned him with stones. So the children of Israel did as the LORD commanded Moses.
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a life for a life. The law is the same for the Israelites or any foreigner living with the Israelites.
LEVITICUS 25:1-7
1 And the LORD spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying,
2 "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall keep a Sabbath to the LORD.
3 'Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather its fruit;
4 'but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to the LORD. You shall neither sow your field nor prune your vineyard.
5 'What grows of its own accord of your harvest you shall not reap, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine, for it is a year of rest for the land.
6 'And the Sabbath produce of the land shall be food for you: for you, your male and female servants, your hired man, and the stranger who dwells with you,
7 'for your livestock and the beasts that are in your land all its produce shall be for food.
Even the land is to rest every seventh year. This would prevent the stripping of nutrients from the soil and allow the land to replenish itself. This also gives the farmers a year's sabbatical every seven years, so the people didn't get burned out. The produce from the seventh year could be eaten, but not sown or harvested for sale.
LEVITICUS 25:8-10
8 'And you shall count seven Sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years; and the time of the seven Sabbaths of years shall be to you forty-nine years.
9 'Then you shall cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement you shall make the trumpet to sound throughout all your land.
10 'And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee for you; and each of you shall return to his possession, and each of you shall return to his family.
On the day of Atonement, every forty nine years, a year of Jubilee is begun. It lasts for one full year, in which everyone who has been bought as a servant returns to their family's place in the land of Israel, and all homes and lands are to be released back to the original owners (or their descendants).
This would prevent land from being in the hands of a few families perpetually, and would prevent slavery of Israelites to each other.
LEVITICUS 25:11-12
11 'That fiftieth year shall be a Jubilee to you; in it you shall neither sow nor reap what grows of its own accord, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine.
12 'For it is the Jubilee; it shall be holy to you; you shall eat its produce from the field.
The year of Jubilee gave the land two years to replenish itself, as the forty ninth year would be a Sabbath year.
LEVITICUS 25:13-17
13 'In this Year of Jubilee, each of you shall return to his possession.
14 'And if you sell anything to your neighbor or buy from your neighbor's hand, you shall not oppress one another.
15 'According to the number of years after the Jubilee you shall buy from your neighbor, and according to the number of years of crops he shall sell to you.
16 'According to the multitude of years you shall increase its price, and according to the fewer number of years you shall diminish its price; for he sells to you according to the number of the years of the crops.
17 'Therefore you shall not oppress one another, but you shall fear your God; for I am the LORD your God.
When you sell a home or land back to the original owner, God will judge you if you are not fair in the sale price. Be fair to one another and don't scam or cheat anyone.
LEVITICUS 25:18-24
18 'So you shall observe My statutes and keep My judgments, and perform them; and you will dwell in the land in safety.
19 'Then the land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill, and dwell there in safety.
20 'And if you say, "What shall we eat in the seventh year, since we shall not sow nor gather in our produce?"
21 'Then I will command My blessing on you in the sixth year, and it will bring forth produce enough for three years.
22 'And you shall sow in the eighth year, and eat old produce until the ninth year; until its produce comes in, you shall eat of the old harvest.
23 'The land shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; for you are strangers and sojourners with Me.
24 'And in all the land of your possession you shall grant redemption of the land.
If you follow God's laws, He will give you enough produce in the sixth year to see you through the next two years. Any land that was sold had to be allowed to be sold back to the original owner in the year of Jubilee.
LEVITICUS 25:25-28
25 'If one of your brethren becomes poor, and has sold some of his possession, and if his redeeming relative comes to redeem it, then he may redeem what his brother sold.
26 'Or if the man has no one to redeem it, but he himself becomes able to redeem it,
27 'then let him count the years since its sale, and restore the remainder to the man to whom he sold it, that he may return to his possession.
28 'But if he is not able to have it restored to himself, then what was sold shall remain in the hand of him who bought it until the Year of Jubilee; and in the Jubilee it shall be released, and he shall return to his possession.
If a man or a relative (on his behalf) wants to buy back his family property, as long as he can pay a fair price the property can be purchased. If he doesn't have the money to buy it, he must wait until the year of Jubilee to regain his family's property.
LEVITICUS 25:29-30
29 'If a man sells a house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it is sold; within a full year he may redeem it.
30 'But if it is not redeemed within the space of a full year, then the house in the walled city shall belong permanently to him who bought it, throughout his generations. It shall not be released in the Jubilee.
A house in a walled city can be bought back if it is within one year's time. If it is over one year then the new owner may keep it in his family forever, even in the year of Jubilee. (Property within a walled city wasn't considered to be an inheritance like farm land.)
LEVITICUS 25:31
31 'However the houses of villages which have no wall around them shall be counted as the fields of the country. They may be redeemed, and they shall be released in the Jubilee.
Houses in villages without walls for protection are subject to redemption in the year of Jubilee.
LEVITICUS 25:32-34
32 'Nevertheless the cities of the Levites, and the houses in the cities of their possession, the Levites may redeem at any time.
33 'And if a man purchases a house from the Levites, then the house that was sold in the city of his possession shall be released in the Jubilee; for the houses in the cities of the Levites are their possession among the children of Israel.
34 'But the field of the common land of their cities may not be sold, for it is their perpetual possession.
The Levites had no portion of land granted to them as was with the rest of Israel, as the Lord was their possession. However, land could be donated to them, which would then be theirs forever.
LEVITICUS 25:35-38
35 'If one of your brethren becomes poor, and falls into poverty among you, then you shall help him, like a stranger or a sojourner, that he may live with you.
36 'Take no usury or interest from him; but fear your God, that your brother may live with you.
37 'You shall not lend him your money for usury, nor lend him your food at a profit.
38 'I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God.
Don't take advantage of those in need. Help them without making a profit off of them, just as God rescued the Israelites and gave them the land of Canaan without asking to be paid back with interest!
LEVITICUS 25:39-43
39 'And if one of your brethren who dwells by you becomes poor, and sells himself to you, you shall not compel him to serve as a slave.
40 'As a hired servant and a sojourner he shall be with you, and shall serve you until the Year of Jubilee.
41 'And then he shall depart from you he and his children with him and shall return to his own family. He shall return to the possession of his fathers.
42 'For they are My servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as slaves.
43 'You shall not rule over him with rigor, but you shall fear your God.
The Israelites can sell themselves to each other as hired servants, but NEVER as slaves!!! Anyone that sells himself to another Israelite as a servant will be released in the year of Jubilee as a free man. You are not to be cruel or mean to your servant, as God will judge you accordingly.
LEVITICUS 25:44-46
44 'And as for your male and female slaves whom you may have from the nations that are around you, from them you may buy male and female slaves.
45 'Moreover you may buy the children of the strangers who dwell among you, and their families who are with you, which they beget in your land; and they shall become your property.
46 'And you may take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them as a possession; they shall be your permanent slaves. But regarding your brethren, the children of Israel, you shall not rule over one another with rigor.
If you buy a slave from a stranger or one of his family members as a slave; that slave will remain your slave for their lifetime, belonging to your children as an inheritance. You will not be hard task masters of any Israelites working for you.
LEVITICUS 25:47-55
47 'Now if a sojourner or stranger close to you becomes rich, and one of your brethren who dwells by him becomes poor, and sells himself to the stranger or sojourner close to you, or to a member of the stranger's family,
48 'after he is sold he may be redeemed again. One of his brothers may redeem him;
49 'or his uncle or his uncle's son may redeem him; or anyone who is near of kin to him in his family may redeem him; or if he is able he may redeem himself.
50 'Thus he shall reckon with him who bought him: The price of his release shall be according to the number of years, from the year that he was sold to him until the Year of Jubilee; it shall be according to the time of a hired servant for him.
51 'If there are still many years remaining, according to them he shall repay the price of his redemption from the money with which he was bought.
52 'And if there remain but a few years until the Year of Jubilee, then he shall reckon with him, and according to his years he shall repay him the price of his redemption.
53 'He shall be with him as a yearly hired servant, and he shall not rule with rigor over him in your sight.
54 'And if he is not redeemed in these years, then he shall be released in the Year of Jubilee he and his children with him.
55 'For the children of Israel are servants to Me; they are My servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
If a foreigner (living in Israel) buys an Israelite, a fair price must be paid to redeem him according to the number of years until the next year of Jubilee. If he hasn't been redeemed by the Jubilee, he must be released in that year.
LEVITICUS 26:1
1 'You shall not make idols for yourselves; neither a carved image nor a sacred pillar shall you rear up for yourselves; nor shall you set up an engraved stone in your land, to bow down to it; for I am the LORD your God.
No images or representations of God or worshiping of these idols or any other gods will be tolerated by God.
Note: The Roman Catholic churches have many statues within their buildings, which while they claim to not worship them, still violates God's commandments about carved and standing images.
LEVITICUS 26:2
2 You shall keep My Sabbaths and reverence My sanctuary: I am the LORD.
Keep the Sabbath as a day of rest. This keeps you mentally and physically healthy, but just as important it shows respect and honor to God by our obedience to His commands.
Show honor and respect for the tabernacle. (Now our bodies are Gods Temple and Sanctuary as the Holy Spirit dwells within each one of us who believe).
LEVITICUS 26:3-10
3 'If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments, and perform them,
4 then I will give you rain in its season, the land shall yield its produce, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.
5 Your threshing shall last till the time of vintage, and the vintage shall last till the time of sowing; you shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely.
6 I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none will make you afraid; I will rid the land of evil beasts, and the sword will not go through your land.
7 You will chase your enemies, and they shall fall by the sword before you.
8 Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight; your enemies shall fall by the sword before you.
9 'For I will look on you favorably and make you fruitful, multiply you and confirm My covenant with you.
10 You shall eat the old harvest, and clear out the old because of the new.
These are the blessings that the Lord will perform if Israel will follow His Laws and statutes.
LEVITICUS 26:11-13
11 I will set My tabernacle among you, and My soul shall not abhor you.
12 I will walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people.
13 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves; I have broken the bands of your yoke and made you walk upright.
God will love and care for His people, and will dwell among them as His inheritance.
LEVITICUS 26:14-26
14 'But if you do not obey Me, and do not observe all these commandments,
15 and if you despise My statutes, or if your soul abhors My judgments, so that you do not perform all My commandments, but break My covenant,
16 I also will do this to you: I will even appoint terror over you, wasting disease and fever which shall consume the eyes and cause sorrow of heart. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.
17 I will set My face against you, and you shall be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you shall reign over you, and you shall flee when no one pursues you.
18 'And after all this, if you do not obey Me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins.
19 I will break the pride of your power; I will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze.
20 And your strength shall be spent in vain; for your land shall not yield its produce, nor shall the trees of the land yield their fruit.
21 'Then, if you walk contrary to Me, and are not willing to obey Me, I will bring on you seven times more plagues, according to your sins.
22 I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, destroy your livestock, and make you few in number; and your highways shall be desolate.
23 'And if by these things you are not reformed by Me, but walk contrary to Me,
24 then I also will walk contrary to you, and I will punish you yet seven times for your sins.
25 And I will bring a sword against you that will execute the vengeance of the covenant; when you are gathered together within your cities I will send pestilence among you; and you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.
26 When I have cut off your supply of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall bring back your bread by weight, and you shall eat and not be satisfied.
Here are some historical examples:
1 KINGS 17:1
1 And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, "As the LORD God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word."
1 KINGS 18:1-2
1 And it came to pass after many days that the word of the LORD came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, "Go, present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the earth."
2 So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab; and there was a severe famine in Samaria.
2 KINGS 6:24-25
24 And it happened after this that Ben-Hadad king of Syria gathered all his army, and went up and besieged Samaria.
25 And there was a great famine in Samaria; and indeed they besieged it until a donkey's head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and one-fourth of a kab of dove droppings for five shekels of silver.
2 KINGS 25:1-3
1 Now it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem and encamped against it; and they built a siege wall against it all around.
2 So the city was besieged until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.
3 By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine had become so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land.
LEVITICUS 26:27-33
27 'And after all this, if you do not obey Me, but walk contrary to Me,
28 then I also will walk contrary to you in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins.
29 You shall eat the flesh of your sons, and you shall eat the flesh of your daughters.
30 I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars, and cast your carcasses on the lifeless forms of your idols; and My soul shall abhor you.
31 I will lay your cities waste and bring your sanctuaries to desolation, and I will not smell the fragrance of your sweet aromas.
32 I will bring the land to desolation, and your enemies who dwell in it shall be astonished at it.
33 I will scatter you among the nations and draw out a sword after you; your land shall be desolate and your cities waste.
These are terrifying curses, and unfortunately as you read through the history of Israel in the Old Testament, Israel turned from God time and again and He brought upon them all of the curses He listed above, and more.
LEVITICUS 26:34-46
34 Then the land shall enjoy its Sabbaths as long as it lies desolate and you are in your enemies' land; then the land shall rest and enjoy its Sabbaths.
35 As long as it lies desolate it shall rest for the time it did not rest on your Sabbaths when you dwelt in it.
36 'And as for those of you who are left, I will send faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies; the sound of a shaken leaf shall cause them to flee; they shall flee as though fleeing from a sword, and they shall fall when no one pursues.
37 They shall stumble over one another, as it were before a sword, when no one pursues; and you shall have no power to stand before your enemies.
38 You shall perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up.
39 And those of you who are left shall waste away in their iniquity in your enemies' lands; also in their fathers' iniquities, which are with them, they shall waste away.
40 'But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers, with their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to Me, and that they also have walked contrary to Me,
41 and that I also have walked contrary to them and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if their uncircumcised hearts are humbled, and they accept their guilt
42 then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham I will remember; I will remember the land.
43 The land also shall be left empty by them, and will enjoy its Sabbaths while it lies desolate without them; they will accept their guilt, because they despised My judgments and because their soul abhorred My statutes.
44 Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, nor shall I abhor them, to utterly destroy them and break My covenant with them; for I am the LORD their God.
45 But for their sake I will remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God: I am the LORD.'"
46 These are the statutes and judgments and laws which the LORD made between Himself and the children of Israel on Mount Sinai by the hand of Moses.
Historically Israel was twice cast out of their land by God for their sins (by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. and the Romans in 70 A.D.), and twice He has brought them back, the latest return being in 1948 after the horrors of WW II were wreaked upon them. And in both cases, they again possessed the land as God promised.
And as God promised, He will not destroy Israel completely nor will He break His covenant that He made with Abraham. He will always leave a remnant to return to Him and return to the land.
LEVITICUS 27:1-8
1 Now the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
2 "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'When a man consecrates by a vow certain persons to the LORD, according to your valuation,
3 'if your valuation is of a male from twenty years old up to sixty years old, then your valuation shall be fifty shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary.
4 'If it is a female, then your valuation shall be thirty shekels;
5 'and if from five years old up to twenty years old, then your valuation for a male shall be twenty shekels, and for a female ten shekels;
6 'and if from a month old up to five years old, then your valuation for a male shall be five shekels of silver, and for a female your valuation shall be three shekels of silver;
7 'and if from sixty years old and above, if it is a male, then your valuation shall be fifteen shekels, and for a female ten shekels.
8 'But if he is too poor to pay your valuation, then he shall present himself before the priest, and the priest shall set a value for him; according to the ability of him who vowed, the priest shall value him.
When a man wants to dedicate himself or someone else to God, the promise is fulfilled by paying the prices listed to the priests. If the man making the vow is too poor the priest can name a smaller sum of money.
These people would then become servants to the priests until redeemed or the Year of Jubilee.
LEVITICUS 27:9-13
9 'If it is an animal that men may bring as an offering to the LORD, all that anyone gives to the LORD shall be holy.
10 'He shall not substitute it or exchange it, good for bad or bad for good; and if he at all exchanges animal for animal, then both it and the one exchanged for it shall be holy.
11 'If it is an unclean animal which they do not offer as a sacrifice to the LORD, then he shall present the animal before the priest;
12 'and the priest shall set a value for it, whether it is good or bad; as you, the priest, value it, so it shall be.
13 'But if he wants at all to redeem it, then he must add one-fifth to your valuation.
If it is an animal that is given to the Lord, it will be holy to the Lord. If the man wants to redeem the animal, the priest sets the value and the man must pay the set amount + 20%.
LEVITICUS 27:14-15
14 'And when a man dedicates his house to be holy to the LORD, then the priest shall set a value for it, whether it is good or bad; as the priest values it, so it shall stand.
15 'If he who dedicated it wants to redeem his house, then he must add one-fifth of the money of your valuation to it, and it shall be his.
If it is a house that is given to the Lord, it will be holy to the Lord. If the man wants to redeem the house, the priest sets the value and the man must pay the set amount + 20%.
LEVITICUS 27:16-25
16 'If a man dedicates to the LORD part of a field of his possession, then your valuation shall be according to the seed for it. A homer of barley seed shall be valued at fifty shekels of silver.
17 'If he dedicates his field from the Year of Jubilee, according to your valuation it shall
stand.
18 'But if he dedicates his field after the Jubilee, then the priest shall reckon to him the money due according to the years that remain till the Year of Jubilee, and it shall be deducted from your valuation.
19 'And if he who dedicates the field ever wishes to redeem it, then he must add one-fifth of the money of your valuation to it, and it shall belong to him.
20 'But if he does not want to redeem the field, or if he has sold the field to another man, it shall not be redeemed anymore;
21 'but the field, when it is released in the Jubilee, shall be holy to the LORD, as a devoted field; it shall be the possession of the priest.
22 'And if a man dedicates to the LORD a field which he has bought, which is not the field of his possession,
23 'then the priest shall reckon to him the worth of your valuation, up to the Year of Jubilee, and he shall give your valuation on that day as a holy offering to the LORD.
24 'In the Year of Jubilee the field shall return to him from whom it was bought, to the one who owned the land as a possession.
25 'And all your valuations shall be according to the shekel of the sanctuary: twenty gerahs to the shekel.
These are the laws for priests to purchase fields and lands, between the years of Jubilee.
LEVITICUS 27:26-28
26 'But the firstborn of the animals, which should be the LORD's firstborn, no man shall dedicate; whether it is an ox or sheep, it is the LORD's.
27 'And if it is an unclean animal, then he shall redeem it according to your valuation, and shall add one-fifth to it; or if it is not redeemed, then it shall be sold according to your valuation.
28 'Nevertheless no devoted offering that a man may devote to the LORD of all that he has, both man and beast, or the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed; every devoted offering is most holy to the LORD.
The first born animals are the Lord's anyway and can't be given for the priests to personally own. The unclean animals can be redeemed at their value + 20%. Everything given to the Lord is holy. Any person devoted to the service of the Lord cannot be redeemed and must serve the Lord for the rest of their lives. Any land given to the priests, if the priest didn't want it, became Holy to the Lord and could not ever be redeemed.
LEVITICUS 27:29
29 'No person under the ban, who may become doomed to destruction among men, shall be redeemed, but shall surely be put to death.
People (in this case servants and slaves) sentenced to death by God cannot be redeemed but must be put to death if God so commands.
LEVITICUS 27:30-34
30 '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 to the LORD.
31 'If a man wants at all to redeem any of his tithes, he shall add one-fifth to it.
32 'And concerning the tithe of the herd or the flock, of whatever passes under the rod, the tenth one shall be holy to the LORD.
33 'He shall not inquire whether it is good or bad, nor shall he exchange it; and if he exchanges it at all, then both it and the one exchanged for it shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed.'"
34 These are the commandments which the LORD commanded Moses for the children of Israel on Mount Sinai.
The tithes of grain, fruit and animals are the Lord's. They can be redeemed by paying their
value + 20 %. If they exchange the original animals given to the priests, the owner can't
redeem them.
Questions? Comments? E-mail: watchmen_777@yahoo.com