Leviticus 17-18

What’s Happening?

From the very beginning, God’s purpose has been to dwell with his people and spread his life and flourishing to the world. Eden was the first holy space, where God walked with Adam and Eve and charged them to be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth with his life (Genesis 1:28). That mission was renewed through Abraham, whose family God promised would inherit a land and become a blessing to all nations (Genesis 12:1–3).

Now, in Leviticus, God’s presence has filled the tabernacle—a new Eden planted in the midst of his people as they journey toward Abraham’s promised land. But that land is already overrun by nations ruled by the serpent. These nations fill the earth not with life, but with evil and death. To bring flourishing back to his creation, God tells Israel three times in Leviticus 17–18 not to live as the inhabitants of the land do (17:7; 18:3, 24). His people must be different—holy as he is holy.

First, Israel must not sacrifice to demons as the nations do (17:7). When they shed blood in pagan worship, they join themselves to the demonic powers that rule the nations. But Israel’s blood belongs only to God. Blood is life (17:11), and life is God’s gift. Israel’s sacrifices were to be brought to the tabernacle, where blood could cleanse, cover, and restore fellowship with the God who rescues them from death.

Second, Israel must not use their bodies as the nations do (18:6–23). The surrounding peoples practiced sexual immorality without limit: incest, adultery, homosexual acts, and even bestiality. Their corrupted sexuality recalls the “sons of God” and “daughters of man” who intermingled in Genesis 6, filling the world with violence and corruption that prompted God to bring the flood. Israel must not repeat that pattern. Their sexuality was to reflect God’s order, faithfulness, and gift of life.

The whole point is that Israel was to be holy—set apart from the nations, distinct from them. God wanted to raise up a people who could spread his life and flourishing, not the serpent’s death and evil. His presence in the tabernacle and in the land would be the seed of a new Eden that could one day bless the whole world.

Where is the Gospel?

Jesus fulfills these chapters by being the holy one who sets apart a new people in God’s life.

Leviticus prohibited Israel from drinking blood because life was in the blood and it belonged to God (Leviticus 17:11). But Jesus does something astonishing: he commands his followers to drink his blood (John 6:53–56). Why? Because his blood is not like animal blood that belongs to God alone, nor like the blood consumed in pagan rituals that joined people to demons. His blood *is* God’s life, freely given and shared. By drinking his blood, we are joined to his eternal life, consecrated and made holy in God’s presence.

Where the nations distorted sexuality, Jesus embodied covenant faithfulness. He calls himself the bridegroom (Mark 2:19; John 3:29), laying down his life to cleanse and present his people as a pure bride (Ephesians 5:25–27). His marriage to the church fulfills what Israel’s marriages were meant to picture: the covenant-keeping love of God.

And where Israel failed to be distinct, Jesus creates a new people who are holy as he is holy. Through his Spirit, he separates us from the powers of darkness and makes us God’s new priesthood, charged again to spread life and holiness into the world (1 Peter 2:9).

God’s purpose from Eden to Abraham to Leviticus is fulfilled in Jesus. He is the holy one who gives us his own life so that, through him, God’s presence and flourishing might fill the earth again.

See for Yourself

I pray that the Holy Spirit would open your eyes to see the God who calls his people to be holy and distinct from the nations. And that you would see Jesus as the one who gives you his blood, filling you with his eternal life, and making you holy so you can spread God’s presence and flourishing into the world.