CHAPTER ONE

Contents: The burnt offering laws.

Characters: God, Moses, Aaron's sons.

Conclusion: Utter dependence upon the sacrifices, typifying the great sacrifice of Christ on which the iniquity of us all was laid is God's requirement. (The laying on of the offerer's hands signified identification of the believer with his offering).

Key Word: Burnt sacrifice, v. 3.

Strong Verses: 4.

Striking Facts: The burnt offering stands for Christ who offered Himself without spot to God in delight to do the Father's will even unto death. Fire, symbol of God's holiness, consumes the offering.

CHAPTER TWO

Contents: Meat offering and first-fruits laws.

Characters: God, Moses, Aaron's sons.

Conclusion: Leaven, typifying malice, wickedness and human pride is not accepted in spiritual sacrifices. Take heed of those sins which will certainly spoil the acceptableness of worship.

Key Word: Fine flour offering, v. 1. First-fruits, v. 12.

Strong Verses: 11.

Striking Facts: Fine flour speaks of the balance of the character of Christ; fire of His testing by suffering; frankincense of the fragrance of His life to God; absence of leaven, His character as "The Truth;" absence of honey His life was not mere natural sweetness which may exist apart from God; oil mingled, Christ as born of the Spirit; oil upon, Christ baptized with the Spirit.

CHAPTER THREE

Contents: Peace offering laws.

Characters: God, Moses, Aaron's sons.

Conclusion: In Christ, God and the sinner meet in peace. God is propitiated and the sinner reconciled; both alike satisfied with Christ's work. "He is our peace."

Key Word: Peace offering, v. 1.

Strong Verses: 2.

Striking Facts: Details of the peace offering bring out the thought of fellowship, hence the peace offering is set forth as affording food for the priests, (7:31-34).

CHAPTER FOUR

Contents: Sin offering laws.

Characters: God, Moses.

Conclusion: Even sins done in ignorance need to be atoned for by sacrifice. To plead ignorance when charged with sin will not deliver. Our only hope is in acceptance of Him who "became sin for us."

Key Word: Sin offering, v. 3.

Strong Verses: 3.

Striking Facts: The sin offering is Christ seen laden with the believer's sins, absolutely in the sinner's place and stead, and not as in the sweet savor offerings, in His own perfections. Read Isa. 53.

CHAPTER FIVE

Contents: Trespass offering laws.

Characters: God, Moses.

Conclusion: Even when a man unwittingly breaks the laws of God, full restitution must be made, which is possible only through the presentation of the sacrifice.

Key Word: Trespass offering, v. 6.

Strong Verses: 17, 18.

Striking Facts: The chapter teaches us that we all have need to pray with David, "Cleanse thou me from secret faults." Psa. 19:12.

CHAPTER SIX

Contents: Further directions about offerings.

Characters: God, Moses, Aaron and sons.

Conclusion: Since Christ has "made His soul an offering for sin" we should seek to make restitution to any person we have injured or defrauded, and until we do, we will not enjoy the comfort of His forgiveness of our sins.

Key Word: Offerings.

Strong Verses: 6, 7.

Striking Facts: Trespass against our neighbor is trespass against God, because it is an affront to our Saviour who has redeemed us and the injury reflects upon God who has commanded that we should love our neighbor as ourselves.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Contents: Further directions concerning offerings.

Characters: God, Moses, Aaron and sons.

Conclusion: We are not left to our liberty in the solemn acts of religious worship, but are under obligation to perform them in the manner God directs in His Word.

Key Word: Offerings, v. 1.

Strong Verses: 37,38.

Striking Facts: Use of leaven, v. 13, is significant. In v. 12, as the believer thanks God for his peace, he first of all presents Christ, Eph. 2:13, so leaven is excluded. In v. 13, he gives thanks for his participation in the peace, and the leaven signifies, that although having peace through Christ, the believer in himself is not perfect.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Contents: Consecration of Aaron and sons for the priesthood.

Characters: God, Moses, Aaron and sons.

Conclusion: All who minister about holy things must have an eye to God's commands as their rule and warrant, for only in the observance of these may they expect to be owned of God in their service.

Key Word: Sanctification, v. 12.

Strong Verses: 13,36.

Striking Facts: Priests did not consecrate themselves. Moses was the appointed instrument of God to do this work. The sons of Aaron simply presented themselves for the work. See Rom. 12:1, where the believer presents himself unreservedly to Christ.

CHAPTER NINE

Contents: Priests begin their ministry before the Lord.

Characters: God, Moses, Aaron and sons.

Conclusion: God draws nigh to those who draw nigh to Him in the appointed way the offering of faith in His Son, the Great Sacrifice being acceptable to Him.

Key Word: Offering presented, v. 12.

Strong Verses: 6, 23, 24.

Striking Facts: God does not ordain priests to be idle. Without a days respite after their consecration, Aaron and his sons were immediately employed. God's spiritual priests have work laid out for them by Christ.

CHAPTER TEN

Contents: Strange fire of Nadab and Abihu.

Characters: God, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazer, Moses, Aaron, Ithamar, Michael, Elzaphan.

Conclusion: It is fatal to act in the things of God without seeking the mind of God (will worship, Col. 2:23.)

Key Word: Strange fire, v. 1.

Strong Verses: 9.

Striking Facts: Strange fire typifies any use of carnal means to kindle the fires of devotion and praise, which, if true, come only from Christ and the Holy Spirit.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Contents: The proper food for God's people defined.

Characters: God, Moses.

Conclusion: The body is the Lord's and it is sin against God to prejudice

health for the pleasing of appetite.

Key Word: Eating, v. 2.

Strong Verses: 45.

Striking Facts: God's covenant people, Israel, by having a diet peculiar to themselves would be kept from familiar conversation with idolatrous neighbors. The laws, however, were probably primarily sanitary and necessary to the good of the people.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Contents: The law of motherhood.

Characters: God, Moses.

Conclusion: All are conceived and born in sin (Psa. 51:5) for, if the root be impure, so is the branch. It is only by Christ, the great sin offering, that the corruption of the child nature is done away.

Key Word: Conceiving, v. 2.

Strong Verses : 8 .

Striking Facts: Our Lord, though not conceived in sin his mother accomplished the days of purification (Luke 2:22-24) and so poor were His parents that they could not bring a lamb.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Contents: Laws concerning those afflicted with leprosy.

Characters: God, Moses, Aaron.

Conclusion: Man is beset with troops of diseases on every side and all entered by sin. If not afflicted with any of these terrible sores, we are bound to praise God and glorify Him the more with our bodies.

Key Word: Leprosy, v. 2.

Strong Verses: 45, 46.

Striking Facts: Leprosy is a figure of the moral pollution of men's minds by sin, which is the leprosy of the soul, curable only through Christ's atoning work.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Contents: Laws concerning cleansing of lepers.

Characters: God, Moses.

Conclusion: As the leper was cleansed from his fearful malady through the water and the blood, so Christ comes into the soul for its cleansing "by water and blood" (1 John 5:6). See John 19:34.

Key Word: Cleansing, v. 2.

Strong Verses: 20.

Striking Facts: The leper did nothing toward his own cleansing. He was sought out by the priest and cleansed by him. Our cleansing is by Christ alone.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Contents: Imperative personal cleanliness.

Characters: God, Moses, Aaron.

Conclusion: Unclean diseases of the flesh are a wound and dishonor, the consumption of the body, and a sin which is often its own punishment more than any other.

Key Word: Unclean, v. 2.

Strong Verses: 30, 31.

Striking Facts: The chapter speaks to us of the contagion of sin and the danger of being polluted by conversing with those who are polluted. "Save yourselves from this untoward generation."

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Contents: Day of atonement laws.

Characters: God, Moses, Aaron.

Conclusion: "Without the shedding of blood there is no remission for sin."

Key Word: Atonement, v. 6.

Strong Verses: 30, 34.

Striking Facts: As the priest entered the holiest with the blood, so Christ entered heaven itself with His own blood for us (Heb. 9:11, 12). His blood makes the throne of God a mercy seat which otherwise must have been a throne of judgment.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Contents: The place of sacrifice and the sanctity of the blood.

Characters: God, Moses, Aaron.

Conclusion: God's people all meet at one altar in His appointed way, thereby preserving unity and family love among themselves.

Key Word: Blood, v. 11.

Strong Verses: 11.

Striking Facts: The worship of Christians is not now confined to one place (John 4:21; 1 Tim. 2:8) yet Christ is our altar and through Him, God dwells among us by His Spirit. It is in Him that our sacrifices are acceptable to God. 1 Pet. 2:5.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Contents: Relationship and walk of God's people.

Characters: God, Moses.

Conclusion: Fleshly lusts war against the soul and will certainly be the ruin of it, if God's mercy and grace prevent not.

Key Word: Abominations, v. 26.

Strong Verses: 3, 4, 5, 24, 26, 30.

Striking Facts: There are many sins which level men with the beasts but these here mentioned sink men lower than beasts.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Contents: Further laws concerning proper relationships.

Characters: God, Moses.

Conclusion: God's people being distinguished from all other people by a peculiar relationship with Him through Christ, should teach them real separation from the things of the world and flesh and entire devotedness to the will of God.

Key Word: Holy, v. 2.

Strong Verses: 2, 12, 18, 31.

Striking Facts: Notice the caution against having anything to do with spiritism. Seek not to them for discovery or advice and regard not their offers. It is an abomination to God.

CHAPTER TWENTY

Contents: Further laws on relationship and walk of God's people.

Characters: God, Moses.

Conclusion: God has distinguished His people from all others by a holy covenant with them through Christ, therefore they should distinguish themselves by consistent and holy living.

Key Word: Separated, v. 24.

Strong Verses: 6, 8, 22, 23, 24.

Striking Facts: Observe again the plain warning against spiritism. What greater madness than to go to an enemy for advice. Spiritualism is spiritual adultery, giving honor to the devil which is due to God.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Contents: Relationship and walk of the priests.

Characters: God, Moses, Aaron and sons.

Conclusion: Those whose office it is to instruct in God's truth must do it by example as well as precept.

Key Word: Holy, v. 6.

Strong Verses: 6, 8.

Striking Facts: We must honor those whom God has called as His ministers and every Christian should consider himself as concerned to be the guardians of their honor.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Contents: Separation of the priests; perfection of the sacrifices.

Characters: God, Moses, Aaron and sons.

Conclusion: Those contract great guilt who profane sacred things, doing in their own uncleanness, service which pretends to be hallowed to Him.

Key Word: Separate, v. 2.

Strong Verses: 3, 31, 32.

Striking Facts: v. 19 a law to make sacrifices fitter to be types of Christ, the great Sacrifice from which all these derive their virtue. He is called a "lamb without spot and without blemish" (1 Pet. 1:19).

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Contents: The feasts of Jehovah.

Characters: God, Moses.

Conclusion: The Sabbaths of the Lord in our dwellings will be their beauty, strength and safety (by rising on the first day of the week and meeting His disciples again and again on that day, Christ appointed that day a holy convocation).

Key Word: Feasts, v. 2.

Strong Verses: 3, 22.

Striking Facts: As given to Israel, there were seven great religious festivals. Passover, feast of unleavened bread, feast of first-fruits, feast of Pentecost, feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, feast of Tabernacles, all typical of Christ.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Contents: Penalty of blasphemy.

Characters: God, Moses, son of Israelitish woman.

Conclusion: If those who profane the name of God escape punishment from men, yet the Lord our God will not suffer them to escape His righteous judgments.

Key Word: Blasphemy, v. 11.

Strong Verses: 15.

Striking Facts: v. 12. Those who sit in judgment should sincerely desire, and by prayer to Christ for wisdom, should endeavor to know, the mind of the Lord.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Contents: Laws of the land. Sabbatic year and year of Jubilee.

Characters: God. Moses.

Conclusion: The blessing of God upon our provision will make a little go a long way and satisfy even the poor with bread. We can lose nothing by faith in God's promises and self-denial in our obedience.

Key Word: Sabbatic year, v. 4.

Strong Verses: 18,19,35,36,37.

Striking Facts: v. 25, the kinsman redeemer is an illustration of Christ who assumed our nature that He might be our kinsman, redeeming our inheritance which we by sin had forfeited. He made a settlement for all who become allied with Him by faith.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Contents: Conditions of blessing and warnings of chastisement.

Characters: God, Moses.

Conclusion: All adverse circumstances that come upon a people are God's servants, used often as a scourge wherewith He chastises a provoking people. If less judgments will not do their work, God will send greater, for when He judges a nation He will overcome.

Key Word: Punishment, v. 24.

Strong Verses: 8, 9, 40, 41, 42.

Striking Facts: If God's people faithfully observe His statutes they are assured that His hand (vv. 7, 8) will so signally appear with them that no disproportion of numbers could make against them.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Contents: Laws concerning dedicated persons and things.

Characters: God, Moses.

Conclusion: We should be cautious in making vows and constant in keeping those we have made. What is once devoted to the Lord should be His forever by a perpetual covenant.

Key Word: Vows, v. 2.

Strong Verses: 30.

Striking Facts: Let us not think because we are not tied to ceremonial laws that we are free of religious obligations. "Having boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith" saying "Blessed be God for the gift of His Son."