Let’s Read the Bible - Leviticus

Book of Leviticus open in the Bible with black ribbon bookmark with text overlay "let's read the book of Leviticus!"

This is about the time we stop our Bible reading for the year, isn’t it? Leviticus is a hard book to read, especially because we think: what does this have to do with me? In our previous articles from the Let’s Read the Bible series (Genesis and Exodus), the Bible isn’t about us at all. Yes, it serves as a mirror (James 1:22-25) to show us who we are and how we should become more like Christ.

The primary goal of the Bible is to tell the story of God. This is a great video to get started if you have ever wondered what the Bible is.

Leviticus fits into this story in amazing ways. Although this book might be hard to read, understand, or apply to our lives today, there are amazing truths and wonderful pictures of Christ in this book.

Moses wrote this book, as part of the 5 first books of the Bible, called the Pentateuch. (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.) The three books of Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy all give us the law and paint a picture of what life was like as the Jewish nation was being formed.

Leviticus overviews the various laws, sacrifices, and building of the tabernacle. It also provides us a picture of what regular life for the Jewish nation would look like when they entered the Promised Land.

white lily illustration with quote underneath in script font "leviticus shows us God's holiness"

Leviticus gives us a picture of God’s Holiness.

You might be tempted to think: THIS IS SO MUCH! There were endless laws, rituals, feasts, sacrifices, and more that they had to do. That’s the point. It highlights our need for a Savior and points to Jesus.

Jesus is seen in every law, every sacrifice, and every feast. As you read through Leviticus, look for connections to Jesus in the New Testament. Not only did Jesus live His human life, never disobeying anything from this book, but He died so that His life would be reflected in us.

You’ve heard that Jesus’ righteousness has been laid upon us. That means we are “right” before God because of Jesus. It was this law in Leviticus that we found the law Jesus fulfilled for us.

Study Tips for Leviticus:

You can either underline these things in your Bible, highlight them, or keep a notebook with the verses written down. If you use this Bible, you can write in the margins!

Underline all the times it says, “The Lord spoke to Moses….”
All of the mentions of holiness, sacrifice, and sin.
Use a colored pencil or highlighter to number the feasts.
What is the significance of Leviticus 16?
List the various items and furnishings of the tabernacle.
After reading the entire book, make a summary of how the book starts and how it ends.

There are countless ways you could study Leviticus or read it with intention. I encourage you to just start! But before you do, you can also check out these websites: