10 Interesting Facts About Different Books of the Bible – Leviticus

Moses authored the Book of Leviticus from 1445 to 1444 BC. It is the third book of the Hebrew Bible as well as of the Christian Bible. It is basically a book of law which administers the offering of the sacrifices, the liturgical calendar, the priests’ duties as well as dietary, social, and sexual practices of the people of Israel. It also tackles the many issues pertaining to moral and ritual holiness.

The book is set in Mount Sinai during the time of the people’s wanderings in the wilderness. The purpose of this book is to provide laws and instructions to give guidance to the Israelites — who had long been held captive by the pagan Egyptians — in their relationship with the true and holy God. This book emphasizes the people’s need to be holy in their everyday living in response to Him.

While Moses received the Ten Commandments on Mt. Sinai, he did not receive all of the laws of Leviticus there – Moses received all of the law of Leviticus within the Tabernacle of Meeting. Moses was faithful to God’s command to build the Tabernacle, and all of Israel’s law was received from it

The Israelites were allowed to make grain offerings to the Lord, but were forbidden to burn two things with the grain – These two things were honey and leaven. They were forbidden because of the fermentation properties they possessed and how they represented the corruption of sin

One of the unusual laws was that a woman was unclean for a period of time after having a baby boy – For a period of 7 days the woman was considered lawfully unclean after having a baby boy

A newborn baby boy was required to be circumcised on the 8th day of its life - Circumcision is a common enough practice today, and was a required act to be done to all newborn baby boys during the Israelites time

The Israelites planted fruit trees within the Land of Canaan but were not allowed to eat of them until the 5th year after they were planted – This was most likely to let the trees mature and grow. Birds would also have the opportunity to eat the fruit and spread the seeds of the trees around the Israelites land

There are five different types of offerings discussed within Leviticus – They are the burnt offering, the peace offering, the meal offering, the sin offering, and the trespass offering

The trespass offering required the fat of a ram to be burnt upon an altar – This offering was to atone for trespasses against the government of God

Bible Verse Leviticus

Aaron, the first high Priest, had four sons in order to carry on his lineage – Aaron’s sons were Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar

Israelites, when loaning services or money to the poor, were not allowed to charge interest