AUTHOR

The belief that Moses was the author of the Pentateuch (which includes the book of Leviticus) is clearly affirmed by a plain reading of the biblical text. Large amounts of the Pentateuch are attributed to Moses (Ex 24:4; 30:11,17; 33:1,5; 39:1,5,29; Lv 1:1; 4:1; 6:1; Nm 4:1; Dt 1:1,5; 5:1; 31:22,30; 33:1) and his authorship of the Pentateuch is assumed by Jews in the postexilic community (1Ch 15:15; 22:13; 2Ch 23:18; 24:6; 25:4; 30:16; 35:12; Ezr 3:2; 7:6; Neh 1:7; 8:1; 13:1; Mal 4:4) as well as the New Testament (Mt 8:4; Mk 12:26; Lk 16:31; 25:27,44; Jn 1:17; Ac 3:22). In John 5:46-47, Jesus responded to his own Jewish critics who questioned his practices by saying: “For if you believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about me. But if you don’t believe what he wrote, how will you believe my words?” Could it be any clearer that Jesus and the Jews of his day had no doubts about who wrote the Pentateuch? Similarly, in Romans 10:5 Paul claims that the expression, “The one who does these things will live by them,” was a statement written by Moses (see Lv 18:5). Jesus and the New Testament writers repeatedly refer to the Old Testament as “Moses and the prophets” (Lk 16:29,31; 24:27) or the law of Moses and the Prophets (see Lk 24:44; Ac 28:23).

THE SACRIFICIAL SYSTEM

Exodus closes with the glory of the Lord filling the tabernacle that his people built. Proper response to God’s presence is worship. Through Leviticus God instructs his people in how he is to be worshiped. Leviticus continues a major theme of Exodus—that God is holy and his people are to be holy. This manual of worship is highly detailed but makes clear that details are important to God. Leviticus gives instructions on the consecration of priests and clearly demonstrates the consequences of not worshiping God as he instructs. Although Israel has been set apart as God’s people, they are still a sinful people. Leviticus provides numerous pictures of how sinful human beings can commune with a holy God. Sacrifice is a pivotal concept in Israel’s worship.

The practice of slaying an animal for a sacrifice was not unique to the Israelite tradition. The slaughtering of an animal as a “religious” expression was a common practice in the ancient world, particularly in the ancient Near East. However, the purposes for offering sacrifices in Israel could not have been more different from the motivations for sacrifice among Israel’s neighbors. The rationale for sacrifices in the ancient world was confined to the maintenance and sustenance of the gods, as the gods were believed to have the same appetites and desires as humans. The motivation to present food to a god was to gain that god’s favor. Pagan worship was self-serving at its core, as the person presenting the offering was using the gift for his own advantage. The offering of sacrifice from the pagan conception was actually no different than magic—a mechanism employed to effect a supernatural intervention. It is thus not surprising that in Mesopotamia, for example, the magician was as important as the priest.

The purpose of the Israelite sacrificial system was twofold—to offer a gift to God and to effect atonement. The word atonement addresses the need for reconciliation in the disturbed relationship between God and humans brought about by sin. The need for atonement is necessitated by the universality of sin, the seriousness of sin, and humanity’s inability to remove or deal with sin. The word atonement is closely related to and frequently occurs in context with the prominent theological terms forgiveness and reconciliation. It specifically addresses the need for removal of sin (expiation) in order to effect reconciliation with God.

Sacrificial offerings preceded the era of the Mosaic law. God had prescribed offerings from the time of Abel (Gn 4). After the flood, Noah offered burnt offerings (Gn 8:20), as did Abraham (Gn 22:9). In harmony with the Old Testament prophets (see Hs 6:6; Am 5:21-24; also 1Sm 15:22), Jesus focused on the motivation underlying the sacrificial act and taught that the offering was only acceptable to God when the worshiper’s devotion was genuinely heartfelt (Mt 5:23-24; 9:13; 12:7; Mk 12:33). The Old Testament sacrifices to God were types of the ultimate, climactic sacrifice made by Jesus Christ, the Son of God. His sacrifice can never be repeated (Rm 6:10; Heb 7:27; 9:12; 10:10), and now the most desirable sacrifice that anyone, rich or poor, can bring to God is a consecrated life (see Rm 12:1; 15:15-16; 2Co 2:14-17; Php 2:17; 4:18; 2Tm 4:6; Heb 13:15; 1Pt 1:15-16; Rv 6:9).

Adherence to the Old Testament sacrificial system made the nation of Israel a holy nation and distinct from other nations. Perhaps no other category of laws would contribute more to Israel’s distinctiveness than the dietary laws (chap. 11). As God classified the world at creation, so God’s holy people were expected to classify their world. The driving force behind this novel consideration was surely the notion that Israel had been called to be a holy people. Observation of these laws goes beyond the more limited notion of personal purity in that it distinguishes not only clean people from those who are not, but also Israelites from other nations. The main reason for the purity instructions was to keep Israel separate from the neighboring nations (Lv 18:3; 20:24,26). The dietary laws prevented Israelites from participating in pagan worship to foreign gods, as well as made the possibility of intermarriage with a nonbeliever less likely (see 11:44-45; Dt 14:2,21).