The Old Testament is a great read with something for everyone’s taste. Poetry lovers enjoy the Psalms. History buffs devour the stories of the patriarchs, Moses, and the kings of Israel. Conspiracy theorists are right at home in the prophets. Romantics head for Song of Solomon. And Leviticus, which is the how-to manual for high priests, is a page turner for those who love to read directions.
But few people like to read directions. Especially long and complicated directions that go on for 27 chapters. For most of us Leviticus is skim-through reading at best.
That’s how I handled Leviticus when my Bible reading plan led me there. And when that plan reminded me that every book of the Bible, regardless of its human writer and content, is one story—the story of God’s redemptive plan for his people fulfilled in Christ—I assumed boring, rule-filled, detail-driven Leviticus was the exception to that rule.
Leviticus: Part of God’s Redemption Story
But then God used the New Testament book of Hebrews to help me understand the value of the Old Testament instructions in Leviticus. Hebrews showed me that two of the roles outlined by the levitical rules were completed through Christ’s life and death. First, Jesus stood before God as our perfect high priest to offer sacrifices on our behalf. Second, he not only offered the sacrifice, he became the final, atoning sacrifice for the sins of all believers.
Once Hebrews illustrated how Christ fulfilled the roles described in Leviticus, I understood the book’s place in God’s story of redemption. For Leviticus, with all its rules and details, provides an Old Testament shadow of Christ. Perhaps a closer look at those roles in Hebrews will make it clear to you, too.
Hebrews: A Guide for Leviticus
Though the author of Hebrews is not named, the recipients are identified in its title. The letter was written to former Jewish worshipers who accepted Jesus Christ as their Messiah. These believers struggled to reconcile the Old Testament laws with their new faith in Christ. Their temptation to return to the regulated old ways, the laws and the sacrifices detailed in Leviticus, was great. Many Hebrew believers had succumbed to temptation. They returned to offering sacrifices that anticipated the future work of a Messiah instead of moving ahead in the power of the completed work of Christ.
At this point the author said, “Hang on a second. Let’s compare the Old Testament priests and their sacrifices to the work of Christ. Then you can decide what to do.” And so he began in chapters 1 and 2 to assert that Christ is superior to the angels. Then in chapter 3:1 he made a second bold assertion. He said Christ is the apostle and high priest of our confession.
Christ as High Priest
That had to stun the Hebrew believers because they knew the levitical law. They knew the first eight chapters of Leviticus spelled out how the high priests and only the high priests could offer sacrifices before God. They knew about the elaborate cleansing and consecration rituals described in Leviticus 8, and how in chapter 9 Aaron, the first high priest, offered the first priestly sacrifices and saw the glory of the Lord.
They knew the high priest was set apart and holy to the Lord. In his holiness, according to Leviticus 21:21-23, the high priest could go near the curtain and approach the altar only if he was without defect. Because of his holiness the high priest could come before God on behalf of the people. But believers, the Hebrews were told, can approach God directly through Jesus their high priest.
Christ as Superior High Priest
But the writer doesn’t call Jesus the high priest once and leave it at that. As the author of Leviticus repeated and explained the rules for the Jewish high priest, the author of Hebrews repeated and explained how Christ is the final and superior high priest for all believers.
In Hebrews 4:14-16 Jesus is called the high priest who has passed through the heavens, a priest who sympathizes with weakness because he has been tempted, though he is without sin. Hebrews 5:5 explains that Christ was appointed high priest by the Father. In Hebrews 6:20, he is described as high priest forever. In Hebrews 7 the author says he “holds His priesthood permanently” (vs. 24, New American Standard Version), and “is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him” (vs. 25). And in Hebrews 8, Christ’s ministry as high priest is compared to that of his human counterparts and found to be superior.
Again, the author of Hebrews doesn’t stop with the superiority of Jesus as high priest. He shows Jesus as superior to earthly high priests in another way, and again he uses the details and rules of Leviticus to drive home his point.
Christ as the Sacrifice
In Hebrews 9:11-14 the author paints a picture of Jesus as both high priest and sacrifice. As high priest he entered into the holy place once and for all, using his own perfect blood to obtain eternal redemption.
The Hebrew audience understood what was being said because they knew Leviticus. Those first eight chapters of Leviticus spelled out not only the duties of the high priest, but also the standards required of the animals offered as sacrifices. Every sacrifice had to be spotless, without defect or blemish, the best that could be offered. So when Christ is called the perfect sacrifice, the Hebrews understood that to say he is equal or superior to any sacrifice offered in the temple.
Christ as the Superior Sacrifice
Again, this unknown writer didn’t stop with Christ being as good as the temple sacrifices. He shows that Christ is far superior in a number of ways. In the Hebrews 9 passage he is called the once and for all sacrifice, the eternal sacrifice. The completeness of his sacrifice, which ends the need for any other sacrifice, is repeated in 7:26-28, 9:26 and 10:10, 14.
The idea that Jesus is the final and eternal sacrifice must have knocked the Hebrews to their knees. They knew the book of Leviticus contained the rules for offering continual sacrifices. Because they sinned repeatedly, continual sacrifices were needed to restore their relationship with God. They knew that if Christ’s sacrifice was complete and eternal as Hebrews 10:1-14 claimed, their old form of worship was inferior and obsolete.
Christ’s sacrifice was eternal because, in addition to being wholly human, Jesus was wholly God (Hebrews 1:1-3). In contrast to the unwilling animals sacrificed according to Levitical law, Jesus became the willing sacrifice for our sins (Hebrews 10:9, 10; 13:12).
Through his willing sacrifice, Christ did not abolish the law. He fulfilled it by becoming the high priest who alone entered into the holy of holies on the day of atonement (Leviticus 16:17). He became both the atoning sacrifice placed upon the altar (Leviticus 16:11) and the scapegoat that bears our sins (vv. 20-23). No longer do you need to offer animal sacrifices through the high priest when you worship, Jewish believers were told. Instead they were told that out of gratitude for Christ’s complete and eternal work they should “offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name” (Hebrews 13:15, NASB).
Leviticus: A Picture Book of Christ
The first century Jewish believers found the same message in the letter to the Hebrews we find today. For Christians, the book of Leviticus is no longer an instruction manual to be religiously followed. As the author of Hebrews explained, everything changed when Christ completed the shadowy picture of the high priest and the sacrifices drawn in Leviticus.
Let the book of Hebrews help you understand the book of Leviticus a new way. Rather than plowing through obsolete rules and meaningless rituals until you close Leviticus in frustration, slow down and look for the hidden pictures. Look for the Messiah’s shadowy outlines, nearly covered by details, but clearly revealed when studied beside the vivid truths of Hebrews. Soon you’ll see the beautiful story of God’s redemption, replete with hidden and colorful pictures of the once and eternal high priest and sacrifice, Jesus Christ. |L
Jolene Philo is a freelance writer in Boone, Iowa.
