• Week 1:
• Leviticus
• Chapters 1,
• 7:
• 22-27
• 8, 9, 10:
• 1-11
• The Burnt Offering
• The Sin Offering
• No blood/fat to be eaten
• Aaron & the Priests are consecrated by Moses
• The Priestly Ministry beings
• Nadab & Abihu's deaths
• Key Verses and Themes
• Chapter 1
• “Offering to the Lord”:

Lev. 1:2

The word for offering here is “qoorban”. See the NT/Church Ref section regarding this.

• Chapter 4

See discussion questions.

• Chapter 7
• Law on fat & blood

Lev. 7:22-27

No fat nor blood are ever to be eaten by the Israelites; this is repeated several times throughout Leviticus.

• Chapter 8
• Anointing Oil

Lev. 8:11

The Holy Anointing Oil introduced in Exodus chapter 29 is now used by Moses to anoint Aaron and consecrate the Tabernacle and everything in it.

• Chapter 9
• The glory of the Lord

Lev. 9:23-24

The Lord’s glory appearing in the form of fire displays the validity of Aaron’s priesthood.

• The people's reaction

Lev. 9:24

The Lord's presence causes joy (shouting) & reverence (falling on their faces a.k.a prostration).

• Chapter 10

See discussion questions.

References to the New Testament & our Church practices

• Offering to the Lord
• Mark 7:11
• The word "Corban/Qorban" is used here, like in
• Lev 1:2

; see discussion questions.

• Discussion Questions

Summary of what we’ve read so far have so far from Genesis & Exodus

• Creation
• Adam, Eve. & Sin
• Wicked world leading to flood
• Abraham, Isaac, Jacob/Israel, Joseph
• Joseph in Egypt and as ruler
• 400+ years go by, Egyptians enslave Israelites
• Moses chosen by God to lead Israel out of Egypt
• 10 plagues, death of first born
• Israelites exit Egypt, hence “Exodus”
• Receive law, 10 commandments & Law
• Ark of the Covenant, altars, furnishings
• Priests & Tabernacle
• We end with the Tabernacle being put up
• Leviticus 1
• OUTLINE:

“Offering to the Lord”

The word in Hebrew and Aramaic here is Qoorban, which we know to be the same as Qoorbana. That’s because Qoorbana does not exactly mean the Eucharist we receive during Holy Liturgy.

Qoorbana means offering/sacrifice. That’s why we see the word Qorban in

Mark 7:11

, Christ is talking about sacrifices in that context. That is to say, an “offering on the altar”

• is what is being instituted here by God…

What was the offering in this chapter?

The burnt offering, which was offered on the altar of burnt offering, which we read about in

• Exodus 27:1-8
• . Important things to note are:
• V.3

— The offering has to be offered of “free will”, meaning the person has to

• want

to offer it; if not, it’s useless.

V.4

— The offering was for “atonement” for sin, but no specific sin is mentioned, i.e., it’s a general sacrifice.

Vv.5-9

— The person offering the sacrifice had a part in it, the priests had a major role too!

The offering is gruesome for the animal being sacrificed.

The daily offering (morning & evening) we read about in

• Exodus 29

, Week 6, was this type of offering.

• Leviticus 4

What was the offering in this chapter?

The is the “sin” or “purification” offering, which was for for breaking the Law without knowing/unintentionally, or for instances where someone would become ritually “unpure”, like someone who touched a dead body or a woman who just gave birth; that’s why it’s called both, because the man or woman becoming unclean in these instances are not sinning.

Ceremonial uncleanliness, or “ritual impurity”, or just simply being “unclean,” could happen from many things, which we’ll discuss later in Leviticus, but being unclean meant being separated from the Tabernacle and later the Temple, separation from the camp/community, and required a purification process involving the priest and time to pass.

Take away from this how much was required for these offerings, i.e. the animals and complex process as well as a priest.

Did everyone have the same requirement for this offering?

No, it changed based on who sinned: the high priest, the whole community, a leader, or an average person. Notice that the priest had the greatest sacrifice compared to the others, which was a young bull

• without

blemish.

St. John Chrysostom

“This explicitly proves that the priest’s wounds require greater help, indeed as much as those of all the people together. They would not have required greater help if they had not been more serious, and their seriousness is not increased by their own nature [the sins are the same] but by the extra weight of dignity belonging to the priest who dares to commit them”

So Priesthood and Holy orders in the Church abide by the cliche “with great power comes great responsibility”, which is why someone with a rank has to be very serious about how they portray themselves and what they do! They are representatives of Christ under more scrutiny, and they MUST behave as such, and that includes living it also in private.

• ***What’s in the other chapters?***
• Chapter 2-

Grain offering:

Mainly as a sort of thanks-giving and dedication of one’s labor to God, usually was an offering of flour and oil in which a handful was burned and the priests ate the rest. It was usually voluntary, but it was a apart of the daily offerings, also required in some contexts. Usually paired with other offerings, i.e. burnt or peace offerings.

• Chapter 3-

Peace offering:

optional, given in addition to the burnt offering, in thanks-giving, celebration, or fulfillment of a vow.

• Chapter 5-
• Guilt/Reparation offering:

Like a sin offering, but with restitution given for damage caused. Mandatory.

• Leviticus 7

What was the law regarding blood and fat?

No fat or blood were to be consumed; anyone who did so was to be cut off from the Israeli community. The fat and blood belonged to God, all the sacrifices burned the fat and used the blood for atonement. Remember, blood carries the life-essence of animals,

• Gen 9:4

, and the fat was seen as the best part of the animal, so not eating

• blood
• nor
• fat
• shows
• life
• and "
• the best

belongs to God.

• Leviticus 8

What happened in this chapter?

The actual consecration, or ordination, of Aaron and his sons to the priesthood, which we read about in Week 6,

Exodus chapter 29

Why does God make everyone stand at the Tabernacle door in v. 3 for the consecration?

So they would witness it! Why? Because Aaron as high priest, and his sons as subordinate priests, would minister to these very same people!

• In Greek, the word for church is
• ecclesia
• , meaning

assembly

, and here it is used for the first in the Bible, because the people, together with the priests, and Moses (who is consecrating the, sounds like a bishop…), are

assembled

together. The Church assembles people together, to hear the word of God, to be administered to by its priests, to worship God. etc.

That’s a reason Church ordinations are done for the whole Church to see; because those being ordained serve the people witnessing their ordination. Those with rank see who they will serve, and those being served see who is serving them, and with what rank/authority.

• Leviticus 9

What happens in this chapter?

Aaron and his sons, now consecrated after 7 days, are offering the inaugural sacrifices for worship at the tabernacle. At the end of this, we read

• Vv.23-24
• OUTLINE:

What’s the significance in Vv. 23-24?

God’s presence, which we again see in the form of fire, descends and consumes the blood and fat, showing divine approval and confirmation of the Priesthood that has just been fully established.

• Leviticus 10

What did Nadab & Abihu do?

They offered a “profane fire” in the Tabernacle, meaning they burned incense that they were not allowed to.

Why did they die?

• Remember back to

Lev. 9:23-24

, where Aaron’s offerings were consumed by fire that went out from the Lord’s glory, showing the approval of Aaron’s offering and his divine priesthood, and here that fire goes out and consumes Nadab and Abihu.

Why? To show the seriousness of their priesthood and ordinations.

Why could Aaron and his other sons not mourn and not carry the dead bodies away?

Later, in the book of Numbers, it’s explained that priests cannot touch a dead body or they will be unclean, so they had Aaron’s cousins do it.

• In

Vv.7-11

, God then gives instructions on priestly conduct, like not mourning, not drinking alcohol, and distinguishing between Holy and unholy, and clean and unclean.

Not mourning because the rituals called for things that defile them, like pouring ash on their heads or tearing clothes/hair.

Not drinking alcohol to be under control and not altered in the mind as a minister of God

Distinguishing between Holy/Unholy, Clean/Unclean, because that is what God’s people are,

set apart, not of this world.

So the priesthood trumps all else, even family, and a priest cannot be distracted on the altar, because he serves all the people. So take a hot topic, dancing, for example. It is not a sin, but you won’t see our priests dancing because they are set a part for the service, which is literally recited during their ordinations.

This Week's Study

—If you did not have your binder, pencils/pens, & highlighters for this week, have them ready for Week 2!

• —Be prepared to attend & listen for Week 2; it is

super important!

—Moses used Holy Anointing Oil to consecrate the Tabernacle & everything in it; watch this timestamped video of His Holiness Mar Dinkha IV using a special oil

(specific to church consecrations and NOT the Sacramental Oil of Unction)

to consecrate St. Andrew's parish in Glenview, Illinois.