Missy’s Notes for
Survey of the Old Testament: Exodus & Leviticus
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Greetings and good morning, children of the Most High God. What another honor and privilege it is to be among God’s chosen this morning. My desire is to glorify God, edify you, the body of Christ and teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.
By now, I’m sure you all have been reading in advance what will be covered when we come together. With that being said, I will add to what you have already learned and possibly repeat some things that you’ve already know or have read.
Today. Lord willing, we will cover the books of Exodus and Leviticus.
EXODUS
We should all know who wrote the book of Exodus, right? Moses, correct. Exodus is a Greek word that means exit or departure and that’s what the Israelites did—they went out from the land of Egypt.
The Israelites had been under bondage of Egypt’s ruler, Pharaoh. Exodus describes how God delivered them from bondage. As we learned from Minister Betts last week, in Genesis we saw the ruin of man through the sin/fall of man. In Exodus we shall see the redemption by blood and power of God.
Let’s look at the structure of Exodus:
Write on the board:
1) The Exodus (Chapters 1-18)
2) The Law (Chapters 19-24)
3) The Tabernacle (Chapters 25-40)
So what is the Book of Exodus about?
- The overall theme of Exodus is redemption. This redemption is revealed in two ways in Exodus:
- First, by deliverance from Egypt (chapters 1-18); and
- Second, by the duties enjoined upon God’s people as His redeemed people (19-40).
The deliverance of the nation from bondage (1-18)
A. The depression of the people (1)
Exodus chapter 1 talks about the depression of the people (a new king rose up) who did not know Joseph, and did not show any special favor to the Israelites but in fact he begin to oppress them.
B. The deliverer for the people (2-6)
God heard the cry of His suffering people and raised up Moses to deliver them. Moses received preparation under God as a shepherd in the desert of Midian. At 80 years of age, Moses received the commission of God to return to Egypt. Upon his return Moses requested that Pharaoh let Israel go.
C. The deliverance of the people (7-18)
Moses called down ten plagues on Egypt because Pharaoh refused to let Israel go. Each plague seems to have been directed against a specific Egyptian god in order to show that Jehovah is the true God. Without looking in your book, can you name these plagues? Bloody water; Frogs; Lice/gnats;Flies; Disease on the cattle; Boils/sores on man and animal; Hail; Locusts; Darkness; Death of the first-born man and beast.
To ward off the last plague from their households the children of Israel were instructed to take a lamb and put its blood on their doors so the angel of the Lord would pass over them and spare the lives of their first-born. And this was called “the Passover.” I often pray for the blood of Jesus to be over my prayer list. I’m praying it figuratively that Jesus would keep them from harm or danger.
The crossing of the Red Sea “the passage from Egypt” is also included under the deliverance of the people.
Next we have the duties of the people (19-40) which is broken down into two parts.
The tables of the law—teaching obedience to God (19-24)
Duty follows deliverance. Complete redemption involved more than getting Israel out of Egypt. It also involved getting “Egypt” (i.e. the world) out of them. Not unlike believers today, the Israelites often lusted for the things of Egypt instead of fulfilling their duty—help us Jesus. Their duty was to follow God’s law in order to receive God’s blessing—that still applies today, right?
In chapter 19 you had the covenant sealed.
The redeemed people of God accepted the Mosaic covenant.
In chapter 20 you had the commandments revealed.
A divinely revealed summary of their moral duties to God and their fellow man was given to God’s people in the Ten Commandments. Did you ever notice that within the Ten Commandments that commandments 1-4 are duties to God and commandments 5-10 are duties to man? Likewise, did you notice that the duties are both positive and negative in tone because they speak for God and against His enemies? For example: Supremacy of God against polytheism: “have no other gods before me.” Supremacy of man against disrespect for parents: “honor your father and your mother.”
Jesus summed up these duties when He said, “You shalllove the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind (commandments 1-4); and You shall love your neighbor as yourself (commandments 5-10). Man has a twofold moral duty to love God and to love others. See the importance of how the OT connects with the NT?
In chapters 21-23: the civil laws were stated. The laws of civil society should be based on God’s moral laws.
Chapter 24: the covenant was confirmed.
How does the law effect us today?
Romans 8:3-4
3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Answer: The keeping of the “rules” of the law is not obligatory to salvation, but the spontaneous result of salvation.
Why was the law given?
Deuteronomy 4:2, 8
2 You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.
8 And what great nation is there that has such statutes and righteous judgments as are in all this law which I set before you this day?
Answer: To provide a standard of righteousness
Now, let’s move on to the last part of Exodus—The Tabernacle of Worship—Teaching on how to approach God, chapters 25-40.
You had directions from God in chapters 25-31 in which God provided instructions for building the Tabernacle. The Tabernacle was a demonstration on how to worship God. Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of its typology (tie-pology), for it sets forth a picture of earthly ministry.
I’ve provided you a chart on the Teaching of the Tabernacle that I found to be very helpful. Just like the Tabernacle, notice the comparison below on the Aaronic (air-roniK) priesthood that prefigured the life of Christ. Again, we must make the connection between the OT and the NT b/c without the Old we wouldn’t have the New.
Chapters 32-34 highlight Israel’s disobedience to God. While God was providing instructions for worship by His people, they fell into idolatry by worshipping the golden café.
The last chapters 35-40, highlight Israel’s dedication to God. The moral law demands duty just as worship demands dedication. In order to build the Tabernacle, the Israelites needed to dedicate their treasurers to God.
There are several purposes for the Tabernacle in the life of Israel. It was given to God’s people as a means of teaching them about Him.
1. It was an identification of the presence of God for Israel (v. 40:34)
2. It was an illustration of God’s plan of salvation for the world (Heb. 9:9-11)
3. It was an incarnation of the person of God for His people (John 1:14)
4. It was a prefiguration of the pattern of God in heaven (Heb. 9:23; 24, Rev. 4-5).
LEVITICUS
Exodus is a book of deliverance; Leviticus is a book of purification. Exodus tells of the redemption of the Jewish people; Leviticus relates their sanctification. It teaches that the way to God is through sacrifice and that one must be holy to walk with God.
It has been well said that it took God only one night to get Israel out of Egypt but it took forty years to get Egypt out of them. The former is an act of salvation; the latter is a life process of sanctification. The initial act of salvation (called justification) is that by which God declares a man righteous. This is illustrated in Exodus. Leviticus, on the other hand, is concerned with the process of making men righteous (called sanctification).
Who is the author of this book? Moses, correct. I never want to assume. I taught Bible Study last week and asked who wrote Genesis and out of five people, no one got it right.
Leviticus is called the Book of Atonement. Its main purpose was to show Israel how to live in fellowship with God.
The structure of Leviticus was: The Way to God and the Walk with God.
Write on the Board:
The Way to the Holy One
Sacrifice--Offering
Priesthood—Mediation
Offerings of Dedication (Godward)
Burnt offering
Cereal (meal) offering
Peace offering
Offering of Propitiation (Manward)
Sin offering
Guilt (trespass) offering
Leviticus can be neatly divided into two sections: the way to the Holy One (chapters 1-10) and the way of holiness (chapters 11-27)
According to these chapters, God must be approached by two means: sacrifice and the priesthood.
The revelation of the offering (chapters 1-5) stated what must be offered. There were 5 different kinds of offering. The first three were voluntary and the last two compulsory. The former were for acceptance by God; the latter were as atonement to Him.
The ritual of the offering was covered in chapters 6-7—how it must be offered. There were three aspects to the ritual of presenting an offering to God.
The reason for the offering—man is sinful
The rule of the offering—the sacrifice was a substitution for man’s sin.
The ritual of the offering—the process was a ceremonial illustration of how God is to be approached through Christ.
The second approach is by the Priesthood covered in chapters 8-10. Not only was a sacrifice necessary in approaching God, but more specifically the sacrifice had to be administered by a priest or mediator. A priest is someone who represents man before God. He serves as a mediator before God on behalf of man. Today, Jesus is our High priest and our mediator, amen!
The second half of the book of Leviticus is the way of holiness (chapters 11-27) and can be broken down to holiness demands sanitation (purity of body) chapters 11-16; and holiness demands sanctification (purity of soul) chapters 17-27.
The Way of Holiness (11-27)
Holiness demands sanitation (purity of body) (11-16)
Holiness demands sanctification (purity of soul) (17-27)
Under holiness demands sanitation, the children of Israel are told to maintain clean food, clean bodies, clean clothes, clean contacts and to be a clean nation. The first part shows God’s requirements (11-15); the last part His provision (16). The cleaning of the nation (16) occurred once each year on the Day of Atonement – what is that day in modern times for the Jews? Yom Kippur. That day is a pre-figuration of the work of Christ.
The final section of Leviticus—holiness demands sanctification—is concerned with both the requirements and provision for purity of life. The requirements call for holiness in diet, social contacts, the priesthood, as well as in worship and conversation. It is in this section that we have the holy feasts such as: Passover, Unleavened bread, First Fruits, Pentecost, Trumpets (aka Rosh Hashanah), Day of Atonement and Tabernacles.
During the course of Jewish History, two more feasts were added. Can anyone name them? The feast of Purim—celebrated in February (Esther 3:7; 9:21) and recalled Israel’s deliverance from the Persians. And the feast of Dedication (Lights) was celebrated in December (Dan. 11:31) in remembrance of Israel’s deliverance from the Greeks. This last feast is celebrated about the time of Christmas? Can anyone tell me what it is called? Hanukkah.
Another interesting aspect of the Jewish festal system is its (write on board) septenary (relating to the number seven) structure. It is readily arranged into groupings of seven. On the seventh day (the Sabbath) the people rest. Following the seventh week (after Passover) is Pentecost, when harvesters rest. During the seventh month at the Feast of Trumpets, the nation rests. Every seventh year is a sabbatical, during which the land rests. Finally, following the seventh of seven years (forty-nine years) comes the year of Jubilee when everything rest.
The symbolical significance of the number seven is that it is the number of earthly perfection and rest. There are seven days in a perfect or complete week and God rested on the seventh day after creating the world in six. Man too was asked to rest on the seventh day, week, month, year and seventh seven of years. As I was reading this, I marveled that this generation can’t even rest seven seconds.
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