I mentioned that the crowning item of clothing for the High Priest was the brass plate on his mitre/turban, engraved with the words “Holiness to the Lord.” This was consistent with God’s demand, “For I am the Lord your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy” (Lev.11:44, 45; 19:2; 20:7, 26; 21:8), there are 53 references to “holy” in Leviticus. The root meaning of the word in the Old Testament is “separation” unto the Lord. Obviously, holiness is the key theme of this book with an equal emphasis on sin and its remedy through sacrifice.
About Reading Leviticus Leviticus may pose a problem for us because it is a different kind of book and therefore, we stumble over it without realizing why. The reason is quite simple – this book cannot be read the same way we read other books in the Bible. You may remember I told you that each book is recognized by its genre. The lay-out of the OT books recognizes this by classification of the library of books under general headings. Leviticus is a book of legislation and detail and requires a different approach than our normal method of reading Scripture. We all read the Bible devotionally – by that I mean we read to edify our hearts and to love the Lord. Our ears are open to hear Him speak to us. I hope that is how you read the Bible! Paul describes the purpose of the prophetic word, which surely, includes Scripture, “But he that prophesies speaks unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort” (1Cor.14:3). If you only read the Bible devotionally you may be in danger of dreaming your way through your daily reading and you may even become lazy and make do with that and what we do not grasp, we skip over. Leviticus will not allow you to do that! Often New Life Radio – Talk No 18
4 Derrick Harrison
10/02/2021
