During January – February we will be tackling some of the major themes in the book of Leviticus in the sermons.
This third book of the Bible is often overlooked by most of us and you can see why. It’s full of commands about how to live, but how to live in a world we can barely recognise.
Does it have any relevance to us at all? Well it does if you are aware of a holy God and how often we fail to live as a holy people- is it really possible to be at peace with God. It is if you wonder about how our society seems to be so sex-obsessed, so unfair, so disconnected from one another. It is if you wonder about how you are supposed to live in a way that reflects God’s beauty that might be helpful.
If you get your info from the internet then you might want to explore WordLive at Scripture Union – it’s a free daily reading guide that has helpful devotional guides as well as images and films that might be helpful. You can do a search and find the readings that connect with Leviticus.
Commentaries are books that help you make sense of the Bible. If you want to buy a book that will give you an overview of all the books of the Bible I would suggest New Bible Commentary: 21st Century Edition by D. A. Carson/R. T. France/Alec Motyer/Gordon J. Wenham (IVP). It’s not cheap – on one bookseller’s site (the one that doesn’t pay all the tax it should!) it’s around £25. But it’s a great investment – and will last you longer than half a tank of petrol!
If you want a commentary on Leviticus alone, then I would suggest either The Message of Leviticus by Derek Tidball, or The Book of Leviticus by Gordon Wenham (this one is more technical, but is probably the best book on Leviticus).
The Sermons
- Leviticus 1-7 – Sacrifice
- Leviticus 8-10 – An anointed people
- Leviticus 11-15 – A holy people living in their real world
- Leviticus 16 – The Day of Atonement – One day like this!
- Leviticus 18 – Sex matters
- Leviticus 19 – Society matters
- Leviticus 25 – Money matters
- Leviticus 27 – I’ll go for that – Consecration to a new vision for life
