Understanding the Book of Leviticus and Its Foreshadowing of Christ's Final Sacrifice

The Old Testament lays out for us many foreshadows of why God’s people needed a Messiah and how God would accomplish our redemption. In this essay I would like to highlight some of the examples we see of this in the book of Leviticus and the insights they give us to God’s plan that was working through the centuries before the advent of the Lord Jesus Christ. Ultimately, the crux of this plan was to achieve reconciliation between God and sinners, through the means of a sacrifice. 

The Book of Leviticus

The book of Leviticus is a handbook for priests. It is the third book of the Torah and a book of Moses. As we look into this book we see the early example of the concept of sacrifices for sins and why it is required. In fact, this book provides a whole outline and picture of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and all the aspects of how God's people were to be saved and why salvation is necessary. John Stott sums up the essence of what the book of Leviticus outlines, when he stated, “The problem of forgiveness is constituted by the inevitable collision between divine perfection and human rebellion, between God as he is and us as we are..” (Stott, The Cross of Christ, p. 88). This is why the sacrificial system was a necessary precursor to highlight why the final sacrifice in Jesus Christ was required. As sinners we are in need of reconciliation with a Holy God and the only means by which this can be achieved is by the shedding of blood through a sacrifice. We saw a foreshadow of this in the blood of a lamb that had to be smeared on the door post in the book of Exodus ch. 12:13, in order that the Judgment of God would pass over the dwellings of God's people. We see an explanation of the typology of the shedding of blood in the book of Hebrews, which reveals to us that, “Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.” (Hebrews 9:22). Through these examples, we can begin to build a picture of the typology behind the concept of sacrifice and why the Hebrews were instructed to provide an animal sacrifice for sin covering, which originally stemmed from the Garden of Eden in the book of Genesis. The sacrifice was provided by God in response to Adam and Eve’s sin, whereby God replaced the fig leaves with the garments of the skin of an animal in Genesis ch. 3:21. This was a merciful act from the Lord in order to cover the shame of their sin and was the first indication that the forgiveness and covering of sin would be provided by His grace. This concept is then echoed and developed further in the story of Abraham and Isaac, where the Lord reveals to us that the Father would sacrifice His own Son and it would be by our faith in this final sacrifice that we would be made righteous (Genesis ch. 15:6). At the moment Abraham is instructed not to complete the sacrifice of his son, we see the animal that God was to provide for the sacrifice (Genesis 22:13). Sacrificial System

The sacrificial system in Leviticus showed the people how serious sin was. And that God’s grace is the only way to deal with sin. In this, we see many of the foreshadows and patterns by which the foundation of the Gospel is being laid for us in these first books of the Old Testament. We learn that God is “Holy” in Leviticus 11:44-45. Thus that our sin separates us from Him as it defiles us and has a destructive influence in our lives. We learn of our need for a blood atonement for forgiveness of our sins in Leviticus 17:11. That God’s anger is removed through the death of a substitute. Further to this, the Day of Atonement in Leviticus 16 introduces us to the concept that sins must be transferred onto a scapegoat or a “sin bearer”, another prophecy that points to Christ. It is clear from these patterns we have been shown that salvation can only come by the Grace of God Himself. As we are helpless in our sinful condition, God has shown Himself to be the one who can provide for our needs. For example, a few chapters later in the book of Leviticus, the Hebrews are told, “Refrain from doing any work on the Day of Atonement, for it is to be a day when you make offerings before Me, your God, that cover your sins.” (Lev. 23:28). The Hebrews must not work on the Day of Atonement, just like the Sabbath, and the Gospel itself, we are exhorted that salvation is by grace through faith alone.. “not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:9). Salvation cannot be earned by good works. God is the only one who provides a substitute for our sins, which we could not accomplish ourselves, due to our own sin nature. The substitute must be Perfect and Holy, which we see fulfilled in the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. He who is both fully God, and fully man. The temporal sacrificial system in the book of Leviticus points toward the coming of the final sacrifice, the true Mediator, that would atone for all of our sins, once for all. This is summarized for us in the book of Hebrews chapter 10.

A copy and shadow of the Heavenly Things There is also the detail that the sacrificial system serves as a “..copy and shadow of the heavenly things.” (Hebrews 8:5). This is a concept that John Murray expounds on in his book ‘Redemption Accomplished and Applied’, where he states that “Christ’s own sacrifice is the great exemplar after which the Levitical sacrifices were patterned” (Murray, Redemption Accomplished and Applied, pg. 9). Through the sacrificial system in Leviticus we learn that a priest is required, but yet that Hebrew priest was still sinful. This points us to the need for our Great High Priest, Jesus Christ, who intercedes for us in Heaven itself, who is without sin. And the sprinkling of the blood atonement which is sufficient for eternity. Conclusion

God ordains mediators. God ordained the priesthood. God provided sacrifices to cover our sins and bring to us the message of reconciliation. As sinners we needed the way to be brought into a right relationship with Him. The only way this could be accomplished was through His One True Mediator Jesus Christ, by which the penalty of our sins could be paid in full, and the Blood atonement could be given for us at the cross of Calvary. The Levitical sacrificial system laid the foundation for all God's people to see what would be achieved in Christ through the Gospel. God was pleased to see us through His finished work and the sacrifice of redemption He achieved on our behalf.

An ancient scroll representing the Book of Leviticus