AN
EXPOSITION,
W I T H P R A C T I C A L O B S E R V A T I O N
S,
OF THE THIRD BOOK OF MOSES, CALLED
L E V I T I C U S
THERE
is nothing historical in all this book of Leviticus except the account which
it gives us of the consecration of the priesthood (ch. viii.-ix.), of
the punishment of Nadab and Abihu, by the hand of God, for offering strange
fire (ch. x), and of Shelomith's son, by the hand of the magistrate,
for blasphemy (ch. xxiv). All the rest of the book is taken up with the
laws, chiefly the ecclesiastical laws, which God gave to Israel by Moses,
concerning their sacrifices and offerings, their meats and drinks, and divers
washings, and the other peculiarities by which God set that people apart for
himself, and distinguished them from other nations, all which were shadows of
good things to come, which are realized and superseded by the gospel of
Christ. We call the book Leviticus, from the Septuagint, because it
contains the laws and ordinances of the levitical priesthood (as it is
called, Heb. vii. 11), and the ministrations of it. The Levites were
principally charged with these institutions, both to do their part and to
teach the people theirs. We read, in the close of the foregoing book, of the
setting up of the tabernacle, which was to be the place of worship; and, as
that was framed according to the pattern, so must the ordinances of worship
be, which were there to be administered. In these the divine appointment was
as particular as in the former, and must be as punctually observed. The
remaining record of these abrogated laws is of use to us, for the
strengthening of our faith in Jesus Christ, as the Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world, and for the increase of our thankfulness to God,
that by him we are freed from the yoke of the ceremonial law, and live in the
times of reformation.
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