Hello and welcome to today’s exciting Bible study on Leviticus 1-7. In these seven chapters, we will read and study about the various laws for sacrifices and offerings. According to biblical scholars, the events of Leviticus 1-7 occurred around 1445 B.C.
As usual, I encourage you to turn to Leviticus 1,2,3,4,5,6, and 7 in your Bible. Kindly invite the Holy Spirit to guide you as you read and study these chapters with me. I mention this in all the Bible Studies because it is only through the Holy Spirit that we get fresh revelation and knowledge to understand the word of God. No one else can teach you better than the Holy Spirit Himself. I am using the New King James Version (NKJV) of the Bible, just in case you want to know.
Backstory on Exodus 35-40
In Exodus 35-40, we read about the building of the tabernacle, the ark of the testimony and all its articles, the construction of the gold lampstand, the altar of incense, and the preparation of the anointing oil. We also read about the making of the priesthood garments by skilled artisans who were anointed and appointed by the Lord. The tabernacle was erected, and the cloud of glory rested over it. It was a cloud by day and a fire by night.
Now, without any further delay, let us study together and learn what Leviticus 1-7 is about, shall we?
Leviticus 1-7 Summary
The Lord instructed Moses to tell the Israelites to bring offerings from their livestock. A burnt sacrifice from the herd must be a male without blemish, willingly presented at the tabernacle. The individual places their hand on the animal’s head, kills it, and the priests sprinkle its blood around the altar. The animal is then skinned, cut into pieces, and burned entirely as a pleasing aroma to the Lord.
If the offering is from the flock, a male sheep or goat without blemish is required, with the same procedures followed. For birds as a burnt offering, turtledoves or young pigeons are acceptable; the priest will wring off the bird’s head and burn it on the altar. The blood of the bird should be drained at the side of the altar. The burnt offerings create a sweet aroma to the Lord.
When anyone offers a grain offering to the Lord, it should consist of fine flour, oil, and frankincense. The priests will burn a memorial portion on the altar as a sweet aroma, while the remainder belongs to Aaron and his sons.
If baked, it must be in the form of unleavened cakes or wafers, with oil. Offerings baked in a pan must also be unleavened, mixed with oil, and broken into pieces with additional oil.
Grain offerings must not contain leaven or honey, and firstfruits offerings should not be burned but brought to the Lord. All grain offerings should be seasoned with salt to emphasize the covenant with God. For firstfruits, green grains roasted with oil and frankincense are used, with a portion burned as a memorial offering.
When someone makes a peace offering from the herd, whether male or female, it must be without blemish and presented at the tabernacle’s door. The individual lays their hand on the animal’s head, which is then killed, and its blood is sprinkled around the altar. Specific parts, including the fat covering the entrails and certain kidneys, are burned on the altar as a pleasing aroma to the Lord.
For offerings from the flock, such as a lamb, similar procedures apply, with the blood sprinkled and specific parts burned. The same process is followed for goat offerings.
These guidelines serve as a lasting statute, prohibiting the consumption of fat and blood by the people throughout their generations.
The Lord instructed Moses to share guidelines for sin offerings with the children of Israel. If someone sinned unintentionally against the Lord’s Commandments or if the priest himself sinned, they were to offer a young bull without blemish. The priest would lay hands on the bull, kill it, and sprinkle its blood in the tabernacle for atonement.
If the entire congregation sinned unknowingly against the Lord’s commandments, they would also bring a bull, with the elders laying hands on it. Rulers could offer a male kid of the goats, while common people were to bring a female kid or a lamb, following similar rituals. The fat from the offerings was burned on the altar, symbolizing atonement and forgiveness.
If anyone of the common people sinned unintentionally against any of the Lord’s commandments, then he shall bring a female kid of the goats without blemish as a sin offering. If he brings a lamb as a sin offering then it must be a female without blemish.
If a person hears an oath but stays silent, they are guilty. Likewise, if someone unknowingly touches something unclean, they are considered unclean and guilty once aware. A thoughtless oath, whether good or evil, also incurs guilt upon realization.
When someone recognizes their guilt, they must confess and bring a trespass offering to the Lord—typically a female from the flock, a lamb or a kid of goats. If they cannot afford a lamb, they may bring two turtledoves or pigeons (one for a sin offering and one for a burnt offering). If the sinner cannot afford turtledoves or pigeons then he must bring one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour. He should not put any oil nor frankincense on the flour as it is a sin offering.
For unintentional trespasses regarding holy things, they must bring a blemish-free ram and make restitution, adding one-fifth of its value. If someone unknowingly sins against the commandments, they must bring a ram to the priest for atonement, and the sinner will be forgiven.
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Laws about the burnt offering, grain offering, and the sin offering
The Lord instructs Moses on the consequences of lying to a neighbor about entrusted items, pledges, theft, or extortion. If guilty, a person must fully restore what was taken, including lost items and add a fifth of the stolen or lost items value when they restore it. Additionally, they must present a blemish-free ram as a trespass offering to the priest, who will atone for their sins, leading to forgiveness.
The Law of the Burnt Offering
The Lord instructed Moses about the burnt offering regulations. The offering must stay on the altar overnight with a continuous fire. The priest, wearing specific linen garments, handles the ashes, placing them beside the altar before changing his clothes and taking the ashes outside the camp. The fire on the altar must always be kept burning, with wood added daily, and the burnt offering and fat from peace offerings arranged properly. The fire must never go out.
The Law of the Grain Offering
The grain offering law states that Aaron’s sons must present it on the altar to the Lord, burning a portion as a sweet aroma while the remaining part is reserved for them to eat in a holy place, accompanied by unleavened bread. It is considered most holy, similar to sin and trespass offerings, and only males among Aaron’s descendants can partake of it. Additionally, from the day of Aaron’s anointing, a daily grain offering of fine flour—prepared with oil—must be presented. One half of it was to be presented in the morning and the other half at night. The baked pieces of the grain offering were to be offered to the Lord for a sweet aroma. Every grain offering for the priest is to be wholly burned and not eaten.
The Law of the Sin Offering
The Lord commanded Moses to instruct Aaron and his sons about the sin offering, which must be killed where the burnt offering is killed. The sin offering is considered most holy. The priest who offers it must eat it in a holy place – the court of the tabernacle of meeting. Everyone who touches the flesh of the sin offering must be holy. Blood of the sin offering sprinkled on garments must be washed in a holy place, and earthen vessels used for boiling the offering must be broken. If the sin offering was boiled in a bronze pot, it must be scoured and rinsed with water. Only male priests may eat it. The sin offerings whose blood is taken into the tabernacle, should not be eaten but must be burned in the fire.
Law of the trespass offering
The trespass offering is considered most holy and should be slaughtered at the same place as the burnt offering, with its blood sprinkled around the altar. Specific parts of the animal’s fat are to be offered to the Lord by burning them on the altar, while the male priests are permitted to eat the offering in a holy place. The law for the trespass and sin offering is the same.
Law of the peace offering
Peace offerings can be made as a gesture of thanksgiving, accompanied by unleavened cakes and wafers mixed with oil. Besides the cakes, the leavened bread is to be offered as a peace offering. And, one cake from each offering should be offered as a heave offering to the Lord. A portion of it goes to the priest who sprinkles the blood of the peace offering. The flesh of the peace offering must be eaten the same day for thanksgiving offerings, while vow or voluntary offerings can be consumed the next day but must be burned if uneaten by the third day. Eating any flesh of the offerings on the third day or consuming while unclean is unacceptable and incurs guilt.
Flesh that contacts something unclean must be burned, while clean flesh can be eaten by those who are clean. Anyone eating from the sacrifice while unclean will be cut off from their people.
Fat and blood of animals may not be eaten
The Lord instructed Moses to tell the Israelites not to eat the fat of oxen, sheep, or goats. Fat from animals that die naturally or are torn by wild beasts may be used for other purposes but must not be eaten. Anyone consuming fat from sacrificial animals or blood will be cut off from their people.
The portion of Aaron and his sons
The Lord instructed Moses to tell the children of Israel about their peace offerings. Those making offerings were to present them to the Lord, with specific portions designated for the priests, including the fat and the breast, which was to be waved before the Lord. The breast was reserved for Aaron and his sons, while the right thigh was given to the priest as a heave offering, established as a statute forever for Aaron’s descendants.
This consecrated portion was given when Moses appointed Aaron and his sons as priests and included laws for various offerings such as burnt, grain, sin, trespass, and peace offerings, all commanded by the Lord at Mount Sinai for the Israelites in the wilderness.
Leviticus 1-7 Commentary
1. Leviticus 1:4
The person who sins shall place his hand on the head of the burnt offering, which is a bull without blemish. This offering will be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him. The unblemished bull will bear the sin of the person who sinned. The wages of sin is death; therefore, instead of the person dying, the bull is sacrificed as atonement for the person’s sin. When Jesus drank the cup of iniquity in the Garden of Gethsemane, our sins were transferred onto Him.
2. Leviticus 2:1-2
The significance of Frankincense
Frankincense was one of the most sacred oils, meant exclusively for the Lord. Not all of the grain offering was to be sacrificed to Him; only a portion that included frankincense was to be burned, producing a more pronounced aroma. Our pure worship is like frankincense, which creates a pleasing fragrance for the Lord.
3. Leviticus 2:11
No grain offering shall be made with leaven, and no leaven or honey shall be burned in any offering to the Lord made by fire. Leaven symbolizes corruption because it ferments and causes the bread to rise. Similarly, honey is highly fermentable. Although it is a sweet substance for humans, this does not mean it is pleasing to God. These substances are prohibited because they represent a lack of purity as an offering, and offerings to the Lord should be pure and holy.
4. Leviticus 3:3-5
The fat and all its entrails, when burnt as a peace offering, produced a sweet aroma to the Lord. The animal fat represented the best and most vital part of the animal, considered a luxury in those times. The visceral fat surrounding the kidneys and the entrails was the choicest and most nutrient-dense part of the animal. Only the finest parts of the animal were to be offered to God.
5. Leviticus 3:17
Animal Fat and blood were not to be consumed because they were reserved for God. Blood was used for atonement around the altar, while the fat that was burned was completely consumed by the fire, leaving nothing behind. These elements were sacred and set apart exclusively for the Lord.
6. Leviticus 4:5-6
The anointed priest shall take some of the blood from the bull and bring it to the tabernacle of meeting. He will dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it seven times before the Lord, in front of the veil of the sanctuary. The number seven signifies completeness biblically, indicating that the atonement for the person’s sin is fully accomplished.
7. Leviticus 5:1,4
A person who hears someone uttering an oath and does not reveal it is guilty. When an individual swears—speaking thoughtlessly with their lips to do evil or to do good—whatever they pronounce by an oath holds weight, even if they are unaware of it at the time. Once they realize it, they shall be guilty concerning any of these matters. Oaths are a serious matter in God’s eyes, and our words are powerful.
That is why Jesus said in Matthew 5:37, “Let your yes be yes and your no be no.” He also said in Matthew 12:36-37 “But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
8. Leviticus 6:1-5
When a person lies to their neighbor about an item that the neighbor entrusted to them for safekeeping, or if they find an object and conceal it from the neighbor, it constitutes an offense against the Lord. This is why scripture advises us not to covet what our neighbor possesses and to love our neighbor as ourselves.
When you sin against your neighbor, you are also sinning against the Lord.
9. Leviticus 7
The laws regarding various offerings were established. A law is a rule that must be followed without exception. There were strict regulations for both the people and the priests concerning these offerings, and violating them was not permitted in any way. Also, note that through these chatpers most of the offerings that were offered to the Lord were male animals a symbol of strength such as bulls, goats, and rams and they were pointing to the eternal sacrifice that was to happen through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Leviticus 1-7 Lessons/Revelations
What can we learn from Leviticus 1-7?
1. The Old covenant was full of rules and laws and not grace
People had to abide by the rules and laws because no one could perfectly keep the Ten Commandments. These commandments were given to highlight what sin is, and because we are born into Adam’s transgressions, we are naturally prone to sin. As a result, no one is able to fully uphold the law. This should have led people to confess to the Lord how difficult it is to avoid sin and that they cannot do it on their own ability. Thank God for Jesus! We are no longer subject to the law; instead, we have been given grace.
2. Worship the Lord with a pure heart
The Lord expects pure offerings from His people. Only the best of the flock, without blemish, should be presented. The rules for the offerings illustrate how the Lord requires His people to give Him the best of that which they have, pure and holy to Him. He was teaching them how to worship Him and the cost of sin. The law pointed to the sinful nature of man.
The Lord, who is the same yesterday, today, and forever, still expects us as believers to offer pure worship to Him. All believers must worship Him in spirit and truth; this is untainted worship. Worship is not simply about the singing songs or praising the Lord for the sake of it, but it must come from the heart. As believers, we no longer need to offer any sacrifices to the Lord except the sacrifice of praise on our lips for the redemption of sins through the blood of the Eternal Lamb—Jesus Christ.
Conclusion
This concludes the bible study on Leviticus 1-7. I hope you enjoyed this free bible study and found it helpful in your Bible study journey. Feel free to share it with your friends and family. Also, share your thoughts and what the Holy Spirit has revealed to you about Leviticus 1-7. If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below. I will get back to you as soon as I can. This brings us to the end of the book of Exodus. The next bible study will be on Leviticus.
Until next time!