Page 25 - Biblical Backgrounds student textbook

God gave the Mosaic Law at Sinai to Moses. The giving of law was accompanied by several dramatic
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signs (Ex. 19:18-20; 20:18; 24:17-18). As is well known, the law is detailed and regulates much of
Israel’s life. On receiving the law, the people of Israel strongly committed themselves to follow it.
There are many parts of the law that deserve detailed comment—far more than we can go into here.
The first part of the Law is the Ten Commandments. As noted, God also provide legislation about special
days, festivals, and feasts. There were a number of these. These days and festivals included: the
Sabbath, the Feast of Passover, the Harvest or firstfruits, Pentecost or the Feast of Weeks, the Feast of
Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles. Space does not period us to comment
on each of these days and festivals, but it should be clear that there was a deeply ordered and symbolic
calendar that Israel was a part of.

The Tabernacle was the central site of Israelite worship during this period. God communicated several
details about tent. As is well-known, there was a holy place and a most holy place inside the tabernacle.
In the holy place, there were three pieces of furniture—the table for the bread of the Presence, the
golden lampstand, and the altar of incense. Inside the most holy place was the Ark of the covenant. It
was the central feature of the most holy place. The ark of the covenant was filled important items from
Israel’s wildness wanderings. The cover the ark of covenant was symbolic of Go’s presence. Two
cherubim of gold stood on the lid of the ark of the covenant. As Christians, we should become familiar
with the features of the tabernacle. There are many more details to learn about than we have been able
to comment on here.

The priesthood was a central part of religion in this period. As noted, the priesthood represented the
people to God. This was their primary function. The priests offered the prescribed offerings to God.
These sacrifices provisionally meet God’s demands for the sacrifice of sins (as Christians, we known that
Christ provided the ultimate remedy for sins).

Finally, in terms of the religion of God’s people in this period, the priest specifically offered sacrifices for
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sins. The key word of the book of Leviticus is holy, which appears 87 times in the book. A second key
word is atonement, which occurs 45 times. Overall, the book shows how a sinful people can approach
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a holy God through the basis of a sacrifice. It is a book about worship—how people can approach the
Holy God.

There were several offerings which were outlined in the Old Testament. These include the burnt offering
(Leviticus 1, 6:8-13), the grain offering (Leviticus 2:1-16; 6:14-18; 7:9-10; 10:12-13), the peace offering
(Leviticus 7:11-21), the sin offering (Leviticus 4, 15:11-15, Numbers 15), and the guilt or trespass offering
(Leviticus 5:14–19; 7:1–7; and 14:12–18). Each offering had a unique purpose, set of rituals, and
outcomes.

Social and economic culture during the wilderness wandering.

During the wilderness wandering, as we can imagine, everything was different. The Israelites had lived in
large tents. It is likely they still used goat skin tents, but they would have had to have been smaller to
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accommodate travel. We are not certain how they economically engaged except that it likely involved

62 Voss, Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Manners and Customs, 90.
63 Ibid., 98.
64 Ibid., 98.
65 Voss, Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Manners and Customs, 101.

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