Introducing Leviticus

            We’ll have plenty of time over the next couple of weeks to talk about the sacrifices of Leviticus:  our reading schedule has us in Leviticus for 12 days.  Today, let me comment on the title of the book.  Leviticus refers to the tribe of Levi, although that seems to be a bit of an anachronism.  The tribe of Levi is not set apart for service in the tabernacle until Numbers 3-4).  Aaron and his sons are Levites, but the whole tribe won't given to the tabernacle’s service for a while yet.  Anyway, the name, Leviticus, which comes to us from the Greek translation of the Old Testament called The Septuagint, emphasizes the nature of the book as a series of instructions about the rules by which the Levitical priesthood was to administer the tabernacle.

            However, ancient Israelites tended to name their books for the first few words of those books, and the third book of the Bible was called “And the Lord called.”  (In Hebrew the title is arqyw, pronounced vikra).  Now, this practice of naming books by their first words was probably just a cultural practice.  (Think about it:  how do you identify a scroll?  It has no spine or cover on which to print the title, so you unroll the first little bit to see how it starts.)  Anyhow, there’s usually nothing significant about the Hebrew titles, being just the first words of the book, but in this case it highlights something important about the book.  Instead of highlighting the book as a book of arcane and seemingly irrelevant instructions about sacrifices and purity, the Hebrew title highlights the book as book about the Lord’s desires for Israel.  He calls out to Moses and enacts the system of worship that Israel would follow in honoring Him.

            That’s really where the emphasis needs to be.  It’s easy to get bogged down in the details of Leviticus, but the big picture is that the Lord intended the services of the tabernacle to be the means by which His grace and forgiveness were delivered to His people.  If we find the book overly exacting, hopefully we can at least consider that the nuance is because the subject matter—becoming and remaining God’s holy people—is important.

Updated from 1/28/2011