Viewing entries tagged
Leviticus
This is the last study in our Doctrine of Scripture series. We started our series with a speaking God, and we went through some of the attributes of Scripture — sufficient, clear, authoritative and necessary. Then we studied about the Canon of the Bible, how we have the set of books in our bibles today. Last week, we spoke about how Scripture cannot be broken. And we come to this week, where we want to trace the storyline of the Bible, because we know that what God says will come to pass!
Through this series, we hope to drive home the fact that you do not need a seminary degree to read the Bible. Wait what? Yes, because sometimes in our churches, we talk about the Bible as if the Old Testament were only for seminarians. That is wrong. The OT is for God’s children, and all Christians are His children.
Today, we look at the first 5 books of the Old Testament, also known as the Torah, the Pentateuch, and the books of Moses. Read on to see the big structure and key sections to fill in that structure, so that you would have confidence to fill in everything in-between!
Here's a summary of Leviticus at a glance.
In this summary study, we'll take a look at Leviticus as a whole, and try to understand some of the broad principles and lessons from this book.
We've come to the end of Leviticus, and this is a passage detailing laws about vows. Why does Leviticus end like this? In fact, we would expect it to end with Lev 26 which is about the blessings and consequences of obeying and disobeying God's word respectively. Let's let this question stay at the back of our minds as we proceed to look at the text in greater detail.
Have you ever felt that God was distant? Are you feeling spiritually dry? Tucked within Leviticus 26 are some truths about God's heart for His people that might be surprising for us!
To understand Lev 25:23-55, we need to know what the Year of Jubilee is, which was covered in the previous study. The Year of Jubilee is essentially a massive socio-economic, religious practice. Today, we'll see further implications for their land and how they are to treat each other.
In these verses in Leviticus, we learn of a special Year -- Sabbath Year and Year of Jubilee -- that the people were to observe. Rest, restoration and redemption were very much built into the lives of the people of God, and not only for themselves, but also for the land that they lived in. Through it all, the command for rest was to teach them to obey and trust in God's provisions.
These verses in Lev 24:10-33 differ from the rest of the book thus far, as it suddenly switches into a narrative. Let's take a closer look at how it differs, and why it's important.
We're now done with the feasts, and in today's study, we're taking a look at 2 items in the Tabernacle -- the lampstands and the bread.
Our study on the Feasts in Lev 23 takes us to the Day of Atonement this week. Lev 16 also mentions the Day of Atonement, but there, it focused on the work of the priests on behalf of the people. Then, God gave instructions to His priests to observe this Day. In Lev 23, this focuses on God speaking to His people as He details how they are to celebrate this Day of Atonement.
For us as Singaporeans, National Day marks the most nationalistic event in our calendar.The nation of Israel also celebrated their national day in the form of the Passover, and today we will understand why they are celebrating, and why another nation’s “national day” even matters to us.
This study focuses on the Sabbath, and while it is only mentioned in one verse in Lev 23, we'll also use other passages in the Bible to understand the value and purpose of the Sabbath.
Every nation has a national narrative. For us in Singapore, the annual National Day Parade is a special time set aside to tell our story, and to shape our identity. Each segment of the Parade is designed to remind us of where we came from, what we enjoy now, and to project our hopes for the future. In some sense, then, the feasts were given by God to teach the people of God and reinforce something about their identity too.
As we continue to make our way through this section on the Feasts, we may get easily thrown off by events that don't seem to have much bearing on our lives today. But as we read through these verses, it would be helpful for us to remember 2 Tim 3:16, that this too, is Scripture breathed-out by God. What use then, does God have for us from this book and these laws.
This is the first of another section in Leviticus. Through studies on the feasts and instructions for worship, we'll learn how God's people are to worship Him in holiness.
We finish this series in Leviticus with this study, where we see once more how the people of God are to worship a God who is holy and demands that His people are holy.
Last week, we learnt about how the priests were set apart for God’s work. This study is a continuation of the previous study, and it focuses on holiness as a lifestyle and requirement for the people of God.
Leviticus 21 focuses on God's priests, who have been set apart to serve Him. These might seem foreign and even distant to us today, but if we believe that it has been breathed out by God, we know that even these passages in Leviticus can teach, rebuke and reprove us.
Leviticus 20 emphasises the need for God’s people to be holy in every way. Today, we finish up this section by taking a look at what holiness looks like, and how we ought to reflect it.
