Leviticus?!

[GuanYuWarGod]

So what is the use of Biblical book, Leviticus for Catholics?

The text has another purpose for Jews in their Torah. But what is the purpose of Leviticus for Catholics?

 

[fellowChristian]

Leviticus

The third book of the Pentateuch, so called because it treats of the offices, ministries, rites, and ceremonies of the priests and Levites.

Leviticus Chapter 1. Of holocausts or burnt offerings.

Leviticus Chapter 2. Of offerings of flour, and firstfruits.

Leviticus Chapter 3. Of peace offerings.

Leviticus Chapter 4. Of offerings for sins of ignorance.

Leviticus Chapter 5. Of other sacrifices for sins.

Leviticus Chapter 6. Oblation for sins of injustice: ordinances concerning the holocausts and the perpetual fire: the sacrifices of the priests, and the sin offerings.

Leviticus Chapter 7. Of sacrifices for trespasses and thanks offerings. No fat nor blood is to be eaten.

Leviticus Chapter 8. Moses consecrateth Aaron and his sons.

Leviticus Chapter 9. Aaron offereth sacrifice for himself and the people. Fire cometh from the Lord upon the altar.

Leviticus Chapter 10. Nadab and Abiu for offering strange fire, are burnt by fire. Priests are forbidden to drink wine, when they enter into the tabernacle. The law of eating the holy things.

Leviticus Chapter 11. The distinction of clean and unclean animals.

Leviticus Chapter 12. The purification of women after childbirth.

Leviticus Chapter 13. The law concerning leprosy in men, and in garments.

Leviticus Chapter 14. The rites of sacrifices in cleansing the leprosy. Leprosy in houses.

Leviticus Chapter 15. Other legal uncleannesses.

Leviticus Chapter 16. When and how the high priest must enter into the sanctuary. The feast of expiation.

Leviticus Chapter 17. No sacrifices to be offered but at the door of the tabernacle: a prohibition of blood.

Leviticus Chapter 18. Marriage is prohibited in certain degrees of kindred: and all unnatural lusts.

Leviticus Chapter 19. Divers ordinances, partly moral, partly ceremonial or judicial.

Leviticus Chapter 20. Divers crimes to be punished with death.

Leviticus Chapter 21. Ordinances relating to the priests.

Leviticus Chapter 22. Who may eat the holy things: and what things may be offered.

Leviticus Chapter 23. Holy days to be kept.

Leviticus Chapter 24. The oil for the lamps. The loaves of proposition. The punishment of blasphemy.

Leviticus Chapter 25. The law of the seventh and of the fiftieth year of jubilee.

Leviticus Chapter 26. God’s promises to them that keep his commandments. And the many punishments with which he threatens transgressors.

Leviticus Chapter 27. Of vows and tithes.

 

[fellowChristian]

For me I learned about confession in its earliest form.

Leviticus 4

27’Now if anyone of the **common people sins **unintentionally in doing any of the things which the LORD has commanded not to be done, and becomes guilty,

28if his sin which he has committed is made known to him, then he shall bring for his offering a goat, a female without defect, for his sin which he has committed.

29’He shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and **slay the sin offering **at the place of the burnt offering.

30’The priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering; and all the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar.

31’Then he shall remove all its fat, just as the fat was removed from the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall offer it up in smoke on the altar for a soothing aroma to the LORD. Thus the **priest shall make atonement for him, and he will be forgiven. **

Then Jesus became our sin offering, our sacrifice. We still take our sins to the priest but now because of Jesus we do not need to kill an animal in place of our sins.

 

[fellowChristian]

I also learned that this:

Leviticus 10

8The LORD then spoke to Aaron, saying,

9"Do not drink wine or strong drink, neither you nor your sons with you, when you come into the tent of meeting, so that you will not die–**it is a perpetual statute throughout your generations-- **

ties in with this----

Luke 1

Birth of John the Baptist Foretold

5In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah; and he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth

And this-----

15"For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb.

 

[fellowChristian]

Leviticus Chapter 18—

All about sex laws.

 

[LilyM]

While a lot of the provisions don’t apply there are some that still do even today (prohibitions on witchcraft, homosexuality, incest, and so forth).

Some have done in the past - lepers were, sadly, still excluded from communities on Levitical principles until about a century ago when it was first properly understood how leprosy was transmitted.

Then again, looking at how animal sacrifice was regulated is very revealing. For instance it was most always required to be an animal without blemish (ie from among the best of the animals, not the unhealthy or malformed ones that would have to be destroyed anyway). The blood of the sacrifice was reserved for special uses and regarded as specially significant, and parts of each animal were eaten!

Then the non-animal sacrifices - the fact that special bread (‘shewbread’) was always kept reserved as we do the Host in our churches.

Shows how much of our Jewish roots Christianity really has kept!

 

[Lev23]

So how does the Vatican define the differences or similarites of the religious order priesthood and the “royal priesthood” Peter calls all believers in Jesus in 1Peter2:9?

 

[zemi]

So how does the Vatican define the differences or similarites of the religious order priesthood and the “royal priesthood” Peter calls all believers in Jesus in 1Peter2:9?

Our friend by the name of CCC has the answer

1591 The whole Church is a priestly people. Through Baptism all the faithful share in the priesthood of Christ. This participation is called the “common priesthood of the faithful.” Based on this common priesthood and ordered to its service, there exists another participation in the mission of Christ: the ministry conferred by the sacrament of Holy Orders, where the task is to serve in the name and in the person of Christ the Head in the midst of the community.

1592 The ministerial priesthood differs in essence from the common priesthood of the faithful because it confers a sacred power for the service of the faithful. The ordained ministers exercise their service for the People of God by teaching (munus docendi), divine worship (munus liturgicum) and pastoral governance (munus regendi).

Browse paragraphs 1536-1600 for more detail

 

[Turtullian]

So how does the Vatican define the differences or similarites of the religious order priesthood and the “royal priesthood” Peter calls all believers in Jesus in 1Peter2:9?

Israel was called a priestly kingdom or a kingdom of priests that doesn’t mean that everybody was a priest as Korah’s rebellion showed us. So we do participate in that priesthood but not every Christian is a priest.

Ver. 5. You also…a holy [2] priesthood; and, as he saith again, (ver. 9.) a royal priesthood. 1. Because they had ministers of God, who were truly and properly priests, of whom Christ is the chief. 2. Every good Christian in a less proper sense may be called a priest, inasmuch as he offers to God what in a less proper and metaphorical sense may be called sacrifices and oblations; that is, the sacrifice of an humble and contrite heart, (Psalm l.) the sacrifice of self-denials and mortifications, or prayer, almsdeeds, &c. And it is called a royal priesthood, as Christians may be called metaphorically kings, by governing their passions, or because they are invited to reign with Christ in his kingdom, to sit on his throne, &c. See Apocalypse iii. 21. &c. (Witham)

 

[lak611]

Then again, looking at how animal sacrifice was regulated is very revealing. For instance it was most always required to be an animal without blemish (ie from among the best of the animals, not the unhealthy or malformed ones that would have to be destroyed anyway). The blood of the sacrifice was reserved for special uses and regarded as specially significant, and parts of each animal were eaten!

Then the non-animal sacrifices - the fact that special bread (‘shewbread’) was always kept reserved as we do the Host in our churches.

Shows how much of our Jewish roots Christianity really has kept!

I never got Leviticus until a priest who is a professor at a local university gave the sermon for the closing ceremony of my parish’s 40 hour devotion. He mentioned the animals and the shewbread and compared it to the Sacrifice of the Mass. He mentioned all the parallels, for instance the unblemished animals/Jesus being the perfect Sacrifice since He is God. The priest also compared Leviticus and Hebrews. It was one of the best sermon’s I have ever heard.

 

[Beachcomber]

I had always wondered about Leviticus and its relevance for today, so I decided to do a study on it. Got me a commentary and a couple of different translations and went to work.

Very enlightening. The commentary I used pointed out the presence of Christ in Leviticus and related it to the church. It was one of the best Bible studies I’ve ever done.

 

[lak611]

I had always wondered about Leviticus and its relevance for today, so I decided to do a study on it. Got me a commentary and a couple of different translations and went to work.

Very enlightening. The commentary I used pointed out the presence of Christ in Leviticus and related it to the church. It was one of the best Bible studies I’ve ever done.

What is the title and who is the author of the commentary? I am interested.

 

[GuanYuWarGod]

What is the title and who is the author of the commentary? I am interested.

Yes I am also interested. Until now, I have never understood Levticus and its true relevance to either modern or ancient life or both.

Apparently, Leviticus and its passages are used as an argument by non Christians against Christianity when it is usually quite apparent that these people themselves cannot understand what exactly takes place within Leviticus. Even sadder, many Christians cannot decipher the true meaning of the text.

 

[GuanYuWarGod]

bump

To whom does Leviticus address? It addresses the Hebrews but do these laws reflect the Catholics as well?

---

Ive always wondered why the rules seemed rather funny and odd.

 

[patg]

To whom does Leviticus address? It addresses the Hebrews but do these laws reflect the Catholics as well?

No, true to our “cafeteria” nature and the relativity of morality, we ignore most of the things which are clearly stated as being abominations to God. Unless of course the abomination has anything to do with sex…

Ive always wondered why the rules seemed rather funny and odd.

Apparently God also realized this and to avoid further embarrassment and admitting a mistake, allowed most of them to quietly fade away .

 

[GuanYuWarGod]

No, true to our “cafeteria” nature and the relativity of morality, we ignore most of the things which are clearly stated as being abominations to God. Unless of course the abomination has anything to do with sex…

Apparently God also realized this and to avoid further embarrassment and admitting a mistake, allowed most of them to quietly fade away .

God made a mistake? Surely laws must reflect on something. There must be a certain intention behind each law in Leviticus (and Exodus & Deuteronomy). There is a certain rational reason behind each law no matter how vague or odd it seems.​

So what exactly is that intention behind each law? We cannot justify God as all - loving at the very beginning only to say otherwise later on when an odd set of rules by Yahweh appear. If so, we will have a contradiction and we MUST take the Biblical text in unison with the other pieces of the puzzle, else the puzzle is not complete and the pieces do not fit well. There must be something behind each of these rules, even if that intention/s do not reflect us Catholics in particular. So what are these intentions then?

 

[Teeliumtrozzle]

Leviticus does NOT apply anymore, but it is useful for learning about the way Gods people lived back then.

 

[GuanYuWarGod]

Leviticus does NOT apply anymore, but it is useful for learning about the way Gods people lived back then.

Yes, the laws of Leviticus do not apply anymore. That is obvious. Certain laws, on morality, however, do apply. Moral law is universal and with law we have a universal Legislator.

However, what is the implication behind each of these laws then if they reflect Hebrew society? What is God’s special purpose/ intent in making laws? Why is there that NEED to delve into such small details such as Loss of Hair (Leviticus 13:40 - 46)?

 

[Lev23]

Leviticus does NOT apply anymore, but it is useful for learning about the way Gods people lived back then.

Take a gander at Leviticus 23, at the 7 feasts of Israel that God gave the people to hold as holy convocations each year.
They are-
1.Passover
2.Unleavened Bread
3.Firstfruits
4.Pentecost or Weeks
5.Trumpets
6.Atonement
7.Tabernacles

Then look at the events of Jesus in the New Testament. Well Jesus was crucified, its was on Passover, he was buried on the the feast of Unleavened Bread, and he rose from the dead on Firstfruits, which always falls on Sunday. And what do you know? 50 days after firstfruits, on the day if Pentecost(Acts2:1) Jesus sent the Holy Spirit. Jesus fulfilled the first 4 feasts in order on the right dates. The seven feasts is truely Gods prophetic schedule of events in Messiah!

One can search with no luck the fulfillment of the last 3 feasts in the New Testament-Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles. But one will find the prophecies concerning these events that some of the church considers “fulfilled”. Remember those verses about the rapture?(1Cor15:51-52 /1Thess4:16-17) It seems the rapture, however one wants to place it in order of events, is very closely related to trumpets, or the rams horn-“shofar”. But remembering that Jesus fulfilled the first four feasts in their order, the fifth feast of Trumpets, could very well be this event of “catching up” St. Paul reveals in his epistles.

Which makes sense, because the 6th feast is Atonement. Who is prophesized about that needs atonement for their sins and will be saved? St. Paul states in Romans 11:25-27-ALL ISRAEL The last feast that Jesus would fulfill is Tabernacles. Some say the 1000 year reign that is spelled out so clearly in Revelations has already happened or has been happening the last 2000 years. Well, if all Israel is not yet saved like the scriptures say they will be, how can this be so?

Anyways, study this amazing chapter and compare it to the prophecies and fulfilled events in Jesus Christ.

 

[GuanYuWarGod]

Yes, the laws of Leviticus do not apply anymore. That is obvious. Certain laws, on morality, however, do apply. Moral law is universal and with law we have a universal Legislator.

However, what is the implication behind each of these laws then if they reflect Hebrew society? What is God’s special purpose/ intent in making laws? Why is there that NEED to delve into such small details such as Loss of Hair (Leviticus 13:40 - 46)?

bump

So what exactly then are these laws in relation to the salvation of Israel? Why does Moses make that claim that Yahweh has made laws pertaining to such small details like the above, “loss of hair”?
Why does Leviticus include laws on slaves? Why must a woman who intervenes a fight between two men via grabbing of the male testicles have her hand cut off? What are the purposes of these seemingly cold - hearted rules? Why does Leviticus even delve into these things?