“Lesson 63: Leviticus 8–18,” Old Testament Seminary Teacher Material (2018)
“Lesson 63,” Old Testament Seminary Teacher Material
Lesson 63
Leviticus 8–18
Introduction
Aaron and his sons were consecrated in front of all of Israel. As Aaron and his sons offered proper sacrifices, “the glory of the Lord appeared unto all the people” (Leviticus 9:23). The Lord revealed dietary laws, ordinances, and practices of cleanliness that were considered part of the law of Moses. The Lord also instructed Israel concerning the Day of Atonement. He further commanded the Israelites to not follow the wicked practices of the Egyptians and the Canaanites.
Suggestions for Teaching
Leviticus 8–11
Aaron and his sons are consecrated before the people and then offer sacrifices, and the Lord gives Israel a dietary law
Before class, write the following question on the board: How might the way Aaronic Priesthood holders prepare, administer, and pass the sacrament affect your experience with this ordinance?
Begin the lesson by inviting students to respond to the question on the board.
Invite students to consider, as they study Leviticus 8–11, how the Lord desires priesthood holders to prepare for and administer His ordinances to His people.
Display the picture Moses Gives Aaron the Priesthood (Gospel Art Book [2009], no. 15; see also lds.org/media-library).
Explain that after the Israelites had built the tabernacle, the Lord commanded Moses to fulfill His instructions to consecrate Aaron and his sons for their service as priests in the tabernacle (see Exodus 28–29). Leviticus 8 records how Moses obeyed these instructions by ceremonially washing Aaron and his sons, clothing them in their priestly robes, and anointing them with oil. Moses also offered sacrifices.
Leviticus 9 records that Moses instructed Aaron to gather the people and offer sacrifices for himself and all of Israel.
Invite a student to read Leviticus 9:23–24 aloud. Ask the class to follow along and look for what happened after the people and their priesthood leaders had been obedient to the Lord in building the tabernacle and performing ordinances properly. Invite students to report what they find. Then ask:
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What is a principle we can learn from verse 23? (Students may give a variety of principles, but be sure to emphasize the following: As those who hold the priesthood properly fulfill their responsibilities, they help people draw nearer to the Lord.)
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What responsibilities do Aaronic Priesthood holders have today? (Students’ answers should include preparing, blessing, and passing the sacrament; collecting fast offerings; ministering; performing baptisms; and doing baptisms for the dead.)
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How could Aaronic Priesthood holders fulfill these responsibilities in a way to help others draw nearer to the Lord?
Summarize Leviticus 10 by explaining that two of Aaron’s sons disregarded God’s warnings of punishment and transgressed the Lord’s commandments regarding how sacred ordinances were to be performed. Because of this unauthorized form of worship, they were consumed by fire sent down from the Lord (see Leviticus 10:1–2). The Lord then gave Aaron and the other priests further instruction regarding their priestly responsibilities.
Explain that the law of Moses included commandments concerning which animals were considered clean and fit for the children of Israel to eat and which were unclean and not proper to eat. Some of the animals that were designated as clean were cattle, fish with fins and scales, locusts, and beetles (see Leviticus 11:3, 9, 22). Some of the animals designated as unclean were rabbits, swine, and sea creatures without fins and scales (see verses 6, 7, 10–12).
Point out that although the Bible does not record detailed reasons for why the Lord gave these dietary laws, faithful Israelites showed their belief in and obedience to the Lord by following them even though they may not have known all the reasons for them.
Leviticus 12–15
The Lord gives laws and ordinances that pertain to physical cleanliness and sanitation
Ask students to think of a time when they were physically very dirty.
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How would you feel if, in that dirty condition, you had to go to a place where people are normally clean, such as a church meeting or a formal social gathering?
Ask students to ponder how they feel about being spiritually clean before the Lord. Invite students to look for truths, as they study Leviticus 12–15, that can help us learn how to become clean from our sins.
Invite a student to read Leviticus 13:1–3 aloud. Ask the class to follow along, looking for a circumstance that caused a person to be pronounced unclean under the law of Moses. Invite students to report what they find.
Explain that in the Old Testament, the term leprosy refers to a variety of skin diseases and conditions (see Bible Dictionary, “Leprosy”). The instructions in Leviticus 13 provided the priests with ways to diagnose leprosy and guidelines to help them determine when someone was no longer infected and contagious.
Write on the board: For a moment, we will liken leprosy to sin.
Explain that many of the skin diseases and conditions described as leprosy in Leviticus 13 would heal with time. However, before a leper could be considered ritualistically clean under the law of Moses, he or she needed to participate in two rituals outlined in Leviticus 14, one of which involved the sacrifice of lambs. While physical infirmities like leprosy did not make a person morally unclean, these rituals were designed by God to teach the people about the Savior’s Atonement and help them understand principles of repentance.
Invite a student to read Leviticus 14:1–3 aloud. Ask students to follow along, looking for who lepers went to for help so they could be pronounced clean. Ask students to report what they find.
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Who may the priest represent in our own experiences seeking to be cleansed from our sins?
Write the following on the board: The priest is like a bishop or branch president.
Ask a student to read Leviticus 14:12–14, 19–20 aloud. Invite the class to follow along and look for what was done with the lambs that the leper brought to the priest.
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What can the ritual with the lambs teach us about the Savior and what He does for those who repent?
Write the following statement on the board: The offerings are like our repentance.
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What can we learn from these rituals about what we must do to be cleansed from our sins? (Help students identify the following principle: To be forgiven of our sins, we must turn to the Lord and obey the conditions of repentance He has given.)
Point out that lepers were not allowed to perform these offerings for themselves. It was necessary to go to the priest. Similarly, repentance for some sins may require that we seek help from our bishop or branch president.
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How can a bishop or branch president help an individual to receive the blessing of forgiveness through the Savior’s Atonement? (You might want to explain that if a person has committed serious sin, such as sexual transgression or indulging in pornography, those sins must be confessed to the bishop. The bishop holds priesthood keys and has the authority to receive revelation to help the individual through the process of repentance [see Dallin H. Oaks, “Be Not Deceived,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2004, 43–46].)
You may want to briefly testify that repentance is a gift from the Lord that helps us to be forgiven of our sins. We receive this gift of repentance through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ. Encourage students to seek this gift as often as they need it.
Summarize Leviticus 14:33–57 and Leviticus 15 by explaining that the Lord set forth additional procedures and sacrifices to help them know how to cleanse other types of uncleanliness.
Leviticus 16–18
The Lord instructs Israel concerning the Day of Atonement and commands them to not follow the wicked practices of other nations
Ask students what day of the year they consider to be the most holy and why. Explain that in Leviticus 16, we read that the Lord gave instruction that helped Israel learn about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. This chapter describes a sacred ceremony the Israelites were commanded to perform on one day each year called the Day of Atonement (also known today as Yom Kippur). On this day the high priest offered a sin offering as a sacrifice for all the people. Many Jewish people today consider Yom Kippur to be the holiest day of the year.
Invite students to consider, as they study Leviticus 16, what this chapter can teach them about the Savior’s Atonement.
Summarize Leviticus 16:1–6 by explaining that Aaron, who served as the high priest, was required to change into linen clothing and offer sacrifice for himself before he could enter the tabernacle and perform the sacrifices the Lord required on the Day of Atonement.
Draw or display pictures of two goats on the board. Invite a student to read aloud Leviticus 16:7–10. Ask students to follow along, looking for what Aaron was commanded to do. Invite students to report what they find.
Write Leviticus 16:15–16 on the board next to one goat and Leviticus 16:21–22 next to the other goat. Ask students to read these verses silently, looking for how the rituals involving these two goats could teach the children of Israel about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. (See the Commentary and Background Information at the end of the digital lesson for additional understanding on the sin-offering symbolism.)
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What can the ritual described in verses 15–16 teach us about the Atonement of Jesus Christ?
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What can the ritual described in verses 21–22 teach us about the Atonement of Jesus Christ?
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What are some lessons that the Israelites might have learned through these rituals performed on the Day of Atonement? (Students may use different words, but they should identify doctrine similar to the following: Through His Atonement, Jesus Christ took away the sins of the world by taking them upon Himself. Jesus Christ’s Atonement included His infinite suffering and the shedding of His blood in Gethsemane and on the cross.)
Point out that the Savior’s Atonement also included His Resurrection, which enables all mankind to be resurrected and overcome physical death.
To conclude this lesson, invite students to sing “I Stand All Amazed” (Hymns, no. 193). Ask them to look for phrases in the song that relate to what they have learned today.
Invite students to testify of the importance of the Atonement of Jesus Christ in their lives.
Summarize Leviticus 17–18 by explaining that the Lord commanded the people to avoid idolatrous practices, forbade marriages of close relatives, and identified homosexual behavior and other sexual perversions as an abomination. Israel was to “keep [God’s] ordinances” (see Leviticus 18:4) and remain undefiled.
Commentary and Background Information
Leviticus 11. Why did the Lord designate “clean” and “unclean” animals?
Although we don’t know the reasons the Lord designated some animals “clean” and some “unclean,” the following paragraph explores some ideas:
“Doubtless sanitary and nutritional factors were among the criteria for designating clean and unclean flesh, but all the reasons are not known. Almost all the ‘unclean’ beasts and fowl were carnivores. Some flesh can cause diseases unless it is thoroughly cooked, and that may have been a factor” (Ellis T. Rasmussen, A Latter-day Saint Commentary on the Old Testament [1993], 132).
Leviticus 12–15. Clean and unclean
Throughout the scriptures, the word unclean can refer to both physical and spiritual uncleanliness. Additionally, in the law of Moses, “uncleanness referred to being ceremonially or ritually unclean” (Bible Dictionary, “Clean and unclean”). For example, Leviticus 12 teaches that women who underwent childbirth were to be pronounced unclean. This does not mean the mother was unworthy because of sins or misdeeds. Rather, the purification time would allow the mother time to recuperate from childbirth. After the designated period of time passed, she would bring the appropriate animal sacrifice to the tabernacle. The priest would then make an offering, after which she would be pronounced clean. She was then able to again participate in the ceremonies and rituals of the law of Moses.
Leviticus 16. The Day of Atonement
The Day of Atonement was the most sacred and holy day of the year for the Israelites. It was a day of fasting, prayer, and deep contemplation of the mission of the Messiah (Jesus Christ) (see Leviticus 16:29–30).
“On [the Day of Atonement] Israel’s high priest … enter[ed] the Holy of Holies in the house of the Lord, to … make an atonement for the sins of the people. … Sacrificial animals were slain and their blood sprinkled on the mercy seat and before the altar; incense was burned, and all of the imagery and symbolism of the ransoming ordinances was carried out. … Two goats were selected, lots were cast, and the name of Jehovah was placed upon one goat; the other was called … the scapegoat. The Lord’s goat was then sacrificed as the Great Jehovah would be in due course, but upon the scapegoat were placed all of the sins of the people, which burden the scapegoat then carried away into the wilderness. The high priest, as the law required, ‘lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat’ and confessed ‘over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat.’ [Leviticus 16:21.] The goat then bore upon him ‘all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited’ [Leviticus 16:22], even as the Promised Messiah should bear the sins of many” (Bruce R. McConkie, The Promised Messiah: The First Coming of Christ [1978], 435–36; see also Bible Dictionary, “Fasts”; Old Testament Student Manual: Genesis–2 Samuel, 3rd ed. [Church Educational System manual, 2003], 182–83).
Leviticus 18:22; 20:13. God forbids homosexual behavior
From the beginning, and consistently throughout the scriptures, the Lord has condemned violations of the law of chastity, including homosexual behavior. The Lord clearly stated in Leviticus 18:22 and Leviticus 20:13 that engaging in homosexual behavior is a sin. (For more information on this subject, see “Same-Sex Attraction,” Gospel Topics, topics.lds.org; and mormonandgay.lds.org.)