Product description
This new Preaching the Word commentary reveals how the regulations detailed in Leviticus point to the perfection and fulfillment of Christ in the New Testament age.
It
is the message that God spoke to his people through Moses as they
prepared to depart for the Promised Land. It details regulations for
holy living and sacrificial worship in Old Testament Israel. But does
Leviticus have anything to say to Christians today?
Knowing that readers of the Bible often get hung up on the seeming irrelevance of Leviticus, Kenneth Mathews counters with this insightful Preaching the Word commentary. His chapter-by-chapter analysis reveals much about not only the demands of a holy God but about the kind of relationship he wants with his people and his standards for worship in any age.
As Mathews illuminates the significance of Israel's sacrificial system and symbols, he draws parallel after parallel to Jesus as their perfect fulfillment. His commentary will train pastors, teachers, and serious readers in how Leviticus foreshadows the saving work of Jesus, and the many ways God made accommodation for human sin through Christ.
The Book of Leviticus by Gordon J. Wenham
Product desription
Knowing that readers of the Bible often get hung up on the seeming irrelevance of Leviticus, Kenneth Mathews counters with this insightful Preaching the Word commentary. His chapter-by-chapter analysis reveals much about not only the demands of a holy God but about the kind of relationship he wants with his people and his standards for worship in any age.
As Mathews illuminates the significance of Israel's sacrificial system and symbols, he draws parallel after parallel to Jesus as their perfect fulfillment. His commentary will train pastors, teachers, and serious readers in how Leviticus foreshadows the saving work of Jesus, and the many ways God made accommodation for human sin through Christ.
The Book of Leviticus by Gordon J. Wenham
Product desription
Leviticus used to be the first book that
Jewish children studied in the synagogue. In the modern church it tends
to be the last part of the Bible that anyone looks at seriously. Because
Leviticus is largely concerned with subjects that seem incomprehensible
and irrelevant today -- rituals for sacrifice and regulations
concerning uncleanness -- it appears to have nothing to say to
twenty-first-century Christians.
In this excellent commentary on
Leviticus, Gordon Wenham takes with equal seriousness both the plain
original meaning of the text and its abiding theological value. To aid
in reconstructing the original meaning of the text, Wenham draws from
studies of Old Testament ritual and sacrifice that compare and contrast
biblical customs with the practices of other Near Eastern cultures. He
also closely examines the work of social anthropologists and expertly
utilizes the methods of literary criticism to bring out the biblical
author’s special interests.
In pursuit of his second aim, to illumine the enduring theological value of Leviticus, Wenham discusses at the end of each section how the Old Testament passages relate to the New Testament and to contemporary Christianity. In doing so, he not only shows how pervasive Levitical ideas are in the New Testament but also highlights in very practical ways the enduring claim of God’s call to holiness on the lives of Christians today.
Word Biblical Commentary: Leviticus by John E. Hartley
Product description
Although it is at the heart of the Pentateuch, the book of Leviticus is sometimes dismissed as dry and legalistic material with little relevance to modern religious concerns. But in this commentary Dr. John Hartley perceives that the message of Leviticus—the significance of pure worship and holy living—is also the heart of vital faith in any age. Amid the prescriptions for sacrifice and ritual to be observed by Israel in the wilderness, the author finds useful observations for the people of God today.
The emphasis of Leviticus on true worship,
and on ordering the ethical life according to the will of Yahweh
instead of idols, was at the heart of Israel’s raison d’etre, Dr.
Hartley notes. Viewed in this light, such prescriptions as the “Holiness
Code” (chapters 17-26) are far more than a list of ritual observances;
they are Israel’s response to God’s charge to “be holy, for I, Yahweh,
your God, am holy.”
Leviticus’ focus on the Aaronic priesthood also receives special attention in this treatment. The Levites are the designated communicators charged with transmitting God’s law through Moses—indeed, the purpose of the book “to preserve divine sermons for the instruction of the congregation in cultic and ethical matters.” Yet, despite their insistence on correct form and content in worship, the Levites do not become authoritarian protectors of a secret code in the manner of pagan priests. Since the formulas were proclaimed to the congregation, they became an informed laity exerting a balancing dynamic on the priests as well as receiving ministry from them.
In this excellent commentary on
Leviticus, Gordon Wenham takes with equal seriousness both the plain
original meaning of the text and its abiding theological value. To aid
in reconstructing the original meaning of the text, Wenham draws from
studies of Old Testament ritual and sacrifice that compare and contrast
biblical customs with the practices of other Near Eastern cultures. He
also closely examines the work of social anthropologists and expertly
utilizes the methods of literary criticism to bring out the biblical
author’s special interests.In pursuit of his second aim, to illumine the enduring theological value of Leviticus, Wenham discusses at the end of each section how the Old Testament passages relate to the New Testament and to contemporary Christianity. In doing so, he not only shows how pervasive Levitical ideas are in the New Testament but also highlights in very practical ways the enduring claim of God’s call to holiness on the lives of Christians today.
Word Biblical Commentary: Leviticus by John E. Hartley
Product description
Although it is at the heart of the Pentateuch, the book of Leviticus is sometimes dismissed as dry and legalistic material with little relevance to modern religious concerns. But in this commentary Dr. John Hartley perceives that the message of Leviticus—the significance of pure worship and holy living—is also the heart of vital faith in any age. Amid the prescriptions for sacrifice and ritual to be observed by Israel in the wilderness, the author finds useful observations for the people of God today.
The emphasis of Leviticus on true worship,
and on ordering the ethical life according to the will of Yahweh
instead of idols, was at the heart of Israel’s raison d’etre, Dr.
Hartley notes. Viewed in this light, such prescriptions as the “Holiness
Code” (chapters 17-26) are far more than a list of ritual observances;
they are Israel’s response to God’s charge to “be holy, for I, Yahweh,
your God, am holy.”Leviticus’ focus on the Aaronic priesthood also receives special attention in this treatment. The Levites are the designated communicators charged with transmitting God’s law through Moses—indeed, the purpose of the book “to preserve divine sermons for the instruction of the congregation in cultic and ethical matters.” Yet, despite their insistence on correct form and content in worship, the Levites do not become authoritarian protectors of a secret code in the manner of pagan priests. Since the formulas were proclaimed to the congregation, they became an informed laity exerting a balancing dynamic on the priests as well as receiving ministry from them.
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