To Workers For Jesus Online Bible Study Table of Contents

About this Bible Study........The King James Version of the Bible is written in a beautiful form of the English language. It can be hard for modern English readers to understand.  In this study, you will find notes and summaries in brown just above the the verses from the Bible. We recommend that you read the notes and summaries first, and then read the verses in their KJV form. 


The book of Leviticus

This book was written by Moses. It covers the time from when the tabernacle was finished until the time that the Israelites left Sinai (about 50 days). The purpose of this book was to give the laws and guidelines to live a moral and pure life. God would live there with the Israelites if they were clean and pure. They made sacrifices to give valuable things to God. Before they learned these laws, the Israelites only knew about worship from the Egyptians. The Egyptians worshipped idols;  they did not worship the one true God. 

Please visit
this page to see where the book of Leviticus fits into the whole Bible. 

 

Leviticus 26 - 27
God warns the Israelites that they should obey Him.
God tells the Israelites what will happen if they do not obey Him.
God gives rules about redeeming (buying back)
God gives rules about tithes

Leviticus 26 

Things that will happen if the Israelites obey God's laws


God is Lord. The Israelites should not make any statues and idols to worship. They should not worship anything else. They should only worship God.
[1] Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the LORD your God.


God is Lord. The Israelites should keep the sabbaths holy. They should not work on the sabbath. They should honor and respect the tabernacle.
[2] Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD.


If the Israelites obey God's laws, He will help them. He will make it rain so that their farms will grow a lot of food. He will also make their trees have a lot of fruit grow on them. 
[3] If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them;
[4] Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.

 

Photo from the web site, "Daily Life in Palestine at the time of Jesus".


They will have a lot of grain and grapes. After the grain grows, the grain must be threshed. That means beating the grain and throwing it up in the air. This makes the good part separate from the bad part. After the grain is finished, it is time to pick the grapes.  Later, it is time to plant more grain.  God said that if they obey Him, they will have a lot of grain. They will have so much grain that they will still be threshing the grain when it is time to pick the grapes.  There will be so many grapes that they will still be picking the grapes when it is time to plant the new grain. They will have a lot of bread to eat, and they will live in Canaan safely.
[5] And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time: and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely.


God will give the Israelites peace. They will go to sleep at night, and they will not be afraid of anything. God will make the bad animals leave the land. There will not be any war. 
[6] And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land.


They will defeat their enemies. Only 5 Israelites will defeat 100 enemies. Only 100 Israelites will defeat 10,000 enemies.   
[7] And ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword.
[8] And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.


God will treat the Israelites well. God will bless the Israelites. The will have many, many children. God will keep His promise to them. They will be His special people.
[9] For I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and establish my covenant with you.


The Israelites will grow a lot of food. They will have enough food to eat all year.  They will have so much food that they will have to throw the old food away when it is time for the new food.
[10] And ye shall eat old store, and bring forth the old because of the new.


God's tabernacle will be with the Israelites. He will live there with them. He will not reject them. God will walk with the Israelites. He will be their God, and the Israelites will be God's people.
[11] And I will set my tabernacle among you: and my soul shall not abhor you.
[12] And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people.


God is Lord. God brought the Israelites out of Egypt.  The Israelites were slaves in Egypt. But God made them free. God made them walk proudly and hold their heads high.
[13] I am the LORD your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made you go upright.


Things that will happen if the Israelites do not obey God's laws


These things will happen if the Israelites don't listen to God and don't obey His laws. 
[14] But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments;
[15] And if ye shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but that ye break my covenant:

These are the punishments:  they will be sick and afraid. The sickness will cause blindness, and they will be depressed.  They will plant seeds, but their enemies will eat the food that grows. 
[16] I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.


God will be against them, and their enemies will kill them. The people who hate them will be in control over them.  The Israelites will run away even when no one is chasing them. 
[17] And I will set my face against you, and ye shall be slain before your enemies: they that hate you shall reign over you; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you.


If the Israelites don't obey God after these things, He will punish them more--7 times as much.
[18] And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins.

 

Photo of drought from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations web site.


God will break their pride. They will think they are powerful, but He will show them that they have no power. God will make the sky like the metal iron. There will be no rain. The earth will be hard like the metal brass. 
[19] And I will break the pride of your power; and I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass:


They will work hard on their farms, but the food won't grow. Their trees will not grow fruit.
[20] And your strength shall be spent in vain: for your land shall not yield her increase, neither shall the trees of the land yield their fruits.


If the Israelites continue not obeying God, He will bring 7 times as much more trouble.
[21] And if ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto me; I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins.


God will make wild animals eat their children and their cows.  There will not be many Israelites left. There will not be many people out on the roads. 
[22] I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, and destroy your cattle, and make you few in number; and your highways shall be desolate.

If the Israelites continue to behave badly, God will punish them more. He will punish them 7 times as much. 
[23] And if ye will not be reformed by me by these things, but will walk contrary unto me;
[24] Then will I also walk contrary unto you, and will punish you yet seven times for your sins.


God will make the Israelites have a war. If they run away from their enemies and go into the cities with walls around them, God will send disease so that everyone will be sick.  Then the enemies will catch them.
[25] And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall avenge the quarrel of my covenant: and when ye are gathered together within your cities, I will send the pestilence among you; and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.


God will limit the bread so that there is not much left.  There will be only a little bread. 10 women will be able to bake their bread in only 1 oven.  Each person will get just a little bit of bread. They will eat the bread, but they will still feel hungry.
[26] And when I have broken the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight: and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied.

If the Israelites will not obey God, He will punish them more -- 7 times as much.
[27] And if ye will not for all this hearken unto me, but walk contrary unto me;
[28] Then I will walk contrary unto you also in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins.


The Israelites will be very hungry. They will be so hungry that they will eat their own children. 
[29] And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat.

God will destroy the places where the Israelites worship idols. He will destroy their statues of idols. He will leave the dead Israelite bodies on the destroyed idols. God will be very disgusted with the Israelites.
[30] And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your carcases upon the carcases of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you.


God will destroy the Israelites' cities and their places of worship. He will not smell the sacrifices they make. 
[31] And I will make your cities waste, and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation, and I will not smell the savour of your sweet odours.


God will destroy the Israelites' land. When the enemies move into the land, they will be shocked because it is empty and destroyed.
[32] And I will bring the land into desolation: and your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished at it.


God will make the Israelites move away into many different places. They will live with people who do not believe in God.  The other people will fight with the Israelites. The Israelites' land will be empty, and their cities will be destroyed.
[33] And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste.


After the Israelites are gone, their land will be able to rest. The Israelites were supposed to let the land rest every 7 years But if they did not, the land will rest after God makes them leave.
[34] Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, and ye be in your enemies' land; even then shall the land rest, and enjoy her sabbaths.
[35] As long as it lieth desolate it shall rest; because it did not rest in your sabbaths, when ye dwelt upon it.


After the Israelites are sent away, God will make them very afraid.  Even if they hear a leaf moving, they will run away and be afraid. They will run away because they think someone is chasing them. But no one will be chasing them. They will fall down on each other because they are trying to run away so fast. They will not be able to fight against their enemies.
[36] And upon them that are left alive of you I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies; and the sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them; and they shall flee, as fleeing from a sword; and they shall fall when none pursueth.
[37] And they shall fall one upon another, as it were before a sword, when none pursueth: and ye shall have no power to stand before your enemies.

The Israelites will die in the other country. Some of the Israelites will not die soon. They will live, and they will not be happy. They will live sad lives because of their sins. They will also be sad because of their ancestors' sins.
[38] And ye shall perish among the heathen, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up.
[39] And they that are left of you shall pine away in their iniquity in your enemies' lands; and also in the iniquities of their fathers shall they pine away with them.


Things that will happen if the Israelites start to obey God's laws again

Later on, the Israelites' children and grandchildren will confess and admit their sins. They will admit that they sinned and that their fathers sinned. They will understand why God made them leave Canaan and move away to other places. Then they will be humble -- they will stop thinking they are powerful. They will accept the punishment from God. 
[40] If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me;
[41] And that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity:


Then God will remember His promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  He will remember the Israelites' land in Canaan. 
[42] Then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land.


When the Israelites were living in Canaan, they did not let the land rest during the sabbath years. Now the land must have its rest. So the Israelites must stay away for many years. The land will rest to make up for the years that the Israelites did not let it rest. They must stay away until they admit they sinned, and they accept their punishment.
[43] The land also shall be left of them, and shall enjoy her sabbaths, while she lieth desolate without them: and they shall accept of the punishment of their iniquity: because, even because they despised my judgments, and because their soul abhorred my statutes.


Even when they are in other places away from Canaan, God will not destroy them. He will keep His promise. He is their Lord God. God made His promise to their ancestors (fathers, grandfathers, great grandfathers, great great grandfathers...). He brought their ancestors out of Egypt. 
[44] And yet for all that, when they be in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them: for I am the LORD their God.
[45] But I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the heathen, that I might be their God: I am the LORD.


Moses went up on the mountain Sinai 2 times. He talked to God on the mountain. God gave these rules to Moses while he was on the mountain.

[46] These are the statutes and judgments and laws, which the LORD made between him and the children of Israel in mount Sinai by the hand of Moses.


Levitcus 27

The Israelites gave offerings to God. These were offerings that God's law said they must give. But sometimes an Israelite wanted to give God something extra. For example, an Israelite might be thankful for a special reason. He would make a vow, or a promise.  Sometimes, people promised God that someone in their families would be dedicated to His work. Parents might promise that their children would work in the tabernacle.  Or a farmer might dedicate part of his land to God. Later, the person could redeem what he promised--that means he could pay money to the priest in exchange for the person, animal, or land that he promised to God. 


God talked to Moses about these special vows. An Israelite could redeem, or buy back, a person that was given to God in a promise.  The priest would tell the value or how much money should be paid.
[1] And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
[2] Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When a man shall make a singular vow, the persons shall be for the LORD by thy estimation.


The value of the people depended on how old they were.  It would affect how much work they could do. These are the values:  a man age 20 to 60 years old: 50 pieces of silver, a woman: 30 pieces of silver, a boy age 5 to 20 years old: 20 pieces of silver, a girl age 5 to 20 years old: 10 pieces of silver.
[3] And thy estimation shall be of the male from twenty years old even unto sixty years old, even thy estimation shall be fifty shekels of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary.
[4] And if it be a female, then thy estimation shall be thirty shekels.
[5] And if it be from five years old even unto twenty years old, then thy estimation shall be of the male twenty shekels, and for the female ten shekels.


A baby boy from 1 month old to 5 years old: 5 pieces of silver, a baby girl from 1 month old to 5 years old: 3 pieces of silver. A man 60 years old and older: 15 pieces of silver, a woman 60 years old and older: 10 pieces of silver.
[6] And if it be from a month old even unto five years old, then thy estimation shall be of the male five shekels of silver, and for the female thy estimation shall be three shekels of silver.
[7] And if it be from sixty years old and above; if it be a male, then thy estimation shall be fifteen shekels, and for the female ten shekels.


If anyone is too poor to pay these prices, he should go to the priest.  The priest will set a price that will depend on what the person can afford to pay.
[8] But if he be poorer than thy estimation, then he shall present himself before the priest, and the priest shall value him; according to his ability that vowed shall the priest value him.


Vows of animals


If a person promises animals to God,  the animal should be perfect.  The person cannot exchange it for a different animal. If he tries to do that, both animals will belong to God.
[9] And if it be a beast, whereof men bring an offering unto the LORD, all that any man giveth of such unto the LORD shall be holy.
[10] He shall not alter it, nor change it, a good for a bad, or a bad for a good: and if he shall at all change beast for beast, then it and the exchange thereof shall be holy.


If the animal is unclean and cannot be a sacrifice to God, the person should take the animal to the priest. The priest will set a price for it. Then the person can buy it back. He should pay the price and pay another 20%. 
[11] And if it be any unclean beast, of which they do not offer a sacrifice unto the LORD, then he shall present the beast before the priest:
[12] And the priest shall value it, whether it be good or bad: as thou valuest it, who art the priest, so shall it be.
[13] But if he will at all redeem it, then he shall add a fifth part thereof unto thy estimation.


Vows of houses and land


If someone promises his house to God, the priest will decide the value. The person can buy it back. He must pay the price that the priest said and add another 20%.

[14] And when a man shall sanctify his house to be holy unto the LORD, then the priest shall estimate it, whether it be good or bad: as the priest shall estimate it, so shall it stand.
[15] And if he that sanctified it will redeem his house, then he shall add the fifth part of the money of thy estimation unto it, and it shall be his.


If a man promises his land, he can buy it back. The price will depend on how much seed can be planted there. For every bushel of seed that can be planted, the price will be 10 pieces of silver.
[16] And if a man shall sanctify unto the LORD some part of a field of his possession, then thy estimation shall be according to the seed thereof: an homer of barley seed shall be valued at fifty shekels of silver.


If he promises his land during the Year of Jubilee, he must pay the full price. If he promises his land later, the price will be less. The priest will figure how many years are left until the next Year of Jubilee. Then he will set the price depending on how many years are left. 
[17] If he sanctify his field from the year of jubile, according to thy estimation it shall stand.
[18] But if he sanctify his field after the jubile, then the priest shall reckon unto him the money according to the years that remain, even unto the year of the jubile, and it shall be abated from thy estimation.


If the man buys back the land, he must pay the price and pay 20% more.
[19] And if he that sanctified the field will in any wise redeem it, then he shall add the fifth part of the money of thy estimation unto it, and it shall be assured to him.

If the man does not buy back the land, his family cannot buy it back later. If the man sells the land to someone else, he cannot buy it back.    
[20] And if he will not redeem the field, or if he have sold the field to another man, it shall not be redeemed any more.


At the next Year of Jubilee, the land becomes God's land permanently.  No one can buy it back. The priest will  be in charge of it.
[21] But the field, when it goeth out in the jubile, shall be holy unto the LORD, as a field devoted; the possession thereof shall be the priest's.


If a man promises land that he bought (not land that he was given from his family's inheritance), he can buy it back.  The priest will set the price. He will figure the number of years  until the next Year of Jubilee. Then he will use that number to set the price. At the Year of Jubilee, the land must go back to the original owner.
[22] And if a man sanctify unto the LORD a field which he hath bought, which is not of the fields of his possession;
[23] Then the priest shall reckon unto him the worth of thy estimation, even unto the year of the jubile: and he shall give thine estimation in that day, as a holy thing unto the LORD.
[24] In the year of the jubile the field shall return unto him of whom it was bought, even to him to whom the possession of the land did belong.


All of the prices should be set from the official standard.  This means that their coins should weigh the same as the coins in the tabernacle.

[25] And all thy estimations shall be according to the shekel of the sanctuary: twenty gerahs shall be the shekel.


They cannot promise the firstborn animals. The firstborn animals belong to God.
[26] Only the firstling of the beasts, which should be the LORD's firstling, no man shall sanctify it; whether it be ox, or sheep: it is the LORD's.


A person can buy back an unclean animal. The priest will set the price. The person must pay the price and pay 20% more.  If he does not want to buy it back, the animal can be sold for the price the priest set.
[27] And if it be of an unclean beast, then he shall redeem it according to thine estimation, and shall add a fifth part of it thereto: or if it be not redeemed, then it shall be sold according to thy estimation.


This is a special vow. The people, land, or animals are devoted to God. This means they are given to God for God's work. They cannot be bought back. They will belong to God until they die.  
[28] Notwithstanding no devoted thing, that a man shall devote unto the LORD of all that he hath, both of man and beast, and of the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed: every devoted thing is most holy unto the LORD.
[29] None devoted, which shall be devoted of men, shall be redeemed; but shall surely be put to death.


A tithe is giving part to God. A tithe is 10%.  The Israelites must give 10% of everything they grow to God. This includes things that grew from the seed they planted and also fruit that grows on trees.
[30] And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD's: it is holy unto the LORD.


If someone wants to buy back part of his tithe, he can do that. He must pay the value and add 20% more.

[31] And if a man will at all redeem ought of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof.


They should also give a tithe of their animals. 10% of all the baby animals belong to God.

[32] And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the LORD.


They should not pick out the bad animals for their tithe.  If they exchange one animal for another, both animals belong to God. They cannot buy them back.

[33] He shall not search whether it be good or bad, neither shall he change it: and if he change it at all, then both it and the change thereof shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed.


These are rules that God told Moses when Moses was up on the Mt. Sinai.

[34] These are the commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses for the children of Israel in mount Sinai.

 Workers For Jesus Online Bible Study Table of Contents