Lesson

#20
Coda

Coda

Exodus 20 through Levi2cus 26 expresses Gods covenant with the

Israelites in its totality. Levi2cus 27 then func2ons much like an
appendix to the covenant, and its topic is vows and dedica1onsgiEs
to the sanctuary which cons2tute a large part of the income needed to
implement the covenant, operate the Tabernacle and compensate the
priests.
In Lesson #19 we examined these vows and dedica2ons in detail,
focusing especially on the diering redemp2on prices for men and
women, and on the act of placing under the ban an irredeemable,
conquered peoplea very troubling concept to modern readers.

Coda

Chris2ans oEen view Levi2cus as an impenetrable tangle of ancient laws

and rituals, things en2rely superseded by the sacrice of Christ on the cross
and the inaugura2on of the New Covenant.
Nothing could be farther from the truth! For Jews, Levi2cus sits at the very
heart of the Torah: from Gods lips, to Moses, to you. As we noted in
Lesson #1, from the Middle Ages onward Jewish children are introduced to
Scripture, not with the great stories of Genesis, Exodus, Numbers or
Deuteronomy, but through the study of Levi2cus, following the great rabbi
Rashis slogan, Let the pure ones come and study laws of purity.
For a Chris2an, studying Levi2cus and penetra2ng to the deeper levels of
the anagogical (future events of Chris2an history), typological (how events
in the Hebrew Scriptures foreshadow those in the New Testament) and
tropological (the moral meaning of the stories and how they are applied
to Chris2ans today), gives us the clearest picture we have of Gods plan of
redemp2on and of the person and work of his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Coda

In this concluding lesson we review and summarize what we have learned

from Levi2cus, placing the book in its proper context within the overall
linear narra2ve of Scripture.

Coda

When we began our study of

Scripture we laid out a set of
principles to guide us.
We noted that the world of the Bible is:
Patriarchal
Monarchial
Polytheis2c
Slaveholding
These were unques2oned reali2es of the
ancient Near Eastern world; it would
never occur to anyone to consider an
alterna2ve world view.
And we noted that all works of art mirror
the 2me and culture from which they
emerge, including the Bible.

Coda

Whats more, we noted that although wricen

over a period of at least 1,500 years, with each
book of the Bible passing through the hands
of editors and redactors, and each book of the
Bible having its own more or less complex
textual historythe Bible, as we have it in its
full 72-book Septuagint canonis a unied
literary work:
the curtain rises in Genesis and it falls in
Revela2on
the main character is God
the conict is sin
the theme is redemp2on

The Chris2an canon of Scripture has a set of

concrete images that create textual cohesion,
and it moves in a straight line from Genesis
through Revela2on, with recapitula2on
throughout the linear progression.

Coda

Our story begins in Genesis

with crea2on.

Coda

William Blake. The Ancient of Days Sehng a Compass to the Earth (Relief etching with
hand coloring), 1794. Plate from Europe a Prophecy (1794), copy K.
Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge University.

Coda

And it was good, indeed. In

the 2nd crea2on story God
walks with Adam and Eve in
the Garden of Eden in an
in2mate, loving
rela2onship.

Coda

Hieronymus Bosch. Garden of Earthly Delights [detail] (oil on oak panel), c. 1490-1510.
Prado Museum, Madrid.

And he said . . .

10

But very quickly conict

enters our story: sin.
In Genesis 3 we dene sin, not as an act that
we commit, but as a condi2on that we are in,
a condi2on of aliena2on and separa2on from
God that manifests itself in outward sinful
ac2on.
And we learned that sin has four
characteris2cs:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Sin is subtle
Sin distorts our judgment
Sin escalates
Sin cascades down through genera2ons

Coda

11

William Blake. Tempta1on and Fall of Eve (watercolor), 1808.

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

And he said . . .

12

Exactly who or what is this

serpent who tempts Adam
and Eve?
At the end of our story in Revela2on 20: 1-3
we are told:
Then I saw an angel come down from heaven,
holding in his hand the key to the abyss and a
heavy chain. He seized the dragon, the ancient
serpent, which is the Devil or Satan, and 1ed it up
for a thousand years and threw it into the abyss,
which he locked over it and sealed, so that it could
no longer lead the na1ons astray . . ..

Coda

13

And where did Satan come

from; how did he get into
the Garden of Eden?
Revela2on 12: 7-9 gives us a hint. In a
ashback to events prior to Genesis 1, we
read:
Then war broke out in heaven; Michael and his
angels baPled against the dragon. The dragon
and its angels fought back, but they did not
prevail and there was no longer any place for
them in heaven. The huge dragon, the ancient
serpent, who is called the Devil or Satan, who
deceived the whole world, was thrown down to
earth, and its angels were thrown down with it.

Coda

14

Isaiah 14: 12-15 gives us addi2onal

imagery associated with Satan:
How you have fallen from the heavens,
O Morning Star, son of the dawn!
How you have been cut down to the earth,
you who conquered na1ons!
In your heart you said:
I will scale the heavens;
Above the stars of God
I will set up my throne;
I will take my seat on the Mount of Assembly,
on the heights of Zaphon.
I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;
I will be like the Most High!
No! Down to Sheol you will be brought
to the depths of the pit!

Coda

15

This is the Scriptural context for John

Miltons Paradise Lost of 1667, the
greatest epic poem in the English
language.

Coda

16

William Blake. Satan Arousing the Rebel Angels (watercolor), 1808.

Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

And he said . . .

17

William Blake. God Judging Adam (color relief print with pen, ink and watercolor), c. 1795.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

And he said . . .

18

Once banished from Paradise,

Adam and Eve struggle with
pain, sickness and death, the
direct consequences of sin.

Coda

19

Peter Paul Rubens. Cane Slaying Abel (oil on oak panel), c. 1608-1609.
Courtauld Ins2tute of Art, London.

And he said . . .

20

And by Genesis 6: 5-6 we read:

When the Lord saw how great the
wickedness of human beings was on earth,
and how every desire that their heart
conceived was always nothing but evil, the
Lord regrePed making human beings on the
earth, and his heart was grieved.

So Genesis 6: 11 9: 17 God in
brought the ood to wash the
board clean and give humanity a
second chance.

Coda

21

John Mar2n. The Deluge (oil on canvas), 1834.

Yale Center for Bri2sh Art, Paul Mellon Collec2on, New Haven.

And he said . . .

22

Armenia !

Turkey

" Mt. Ararat

Iran

And he said . . .

23

Photography by Ana Maria Vargas

Photography by Ana Maria Vargas

Photography by Ana Maria Vargas

Photography by Ana Maria Vargas

Photography by Ana Maria Vargas

Photography by Ana Maria Vargas

Thats not
Not amrk!
e.
Noahs
Ill bet it is!

Coda

30

Once the Flood subsided, Noah got

o the ark, planted a vineyard, got
drunk, cursed his children and we
ended up at the Tower of Babel in
Genesis 11: 1-9.

It happened all over again!

Coda

31

Pieter Brueghel the Elder. The Tower of Babel (oil on panel), 1563.
Museum of Fine Arts, Vienna.

Rewards and Punishments

32

Clearly, leE to our own devices

humanity cannot resolve the issue of
sin, so in Genesis 12: 2-3 God takes
macers into his own hands and
introduces the plan of redemp2on,
making a covenant with Abraham, a
covenant which involves both
progeny (people) and property (land).

Coda

33

In the Abraham/Isaac story we have

our rst hint that Gods plan of
redemp2on will involve something
far more than God building Abraham
and his wife Sarah into a na2on and
giving them land.
It will also involve the sacrice of
Gods own son, foreshadowed in the
story of the sacrice of Isaac in
Genesis 22: 1-19.

Coda

34

Rembrandt. Sacrice of Isaac (oil on canvas), 1635.

Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia.

Rewards and Punishments

35

So, God makes good on his covenant

with Abraham: Abraham and Sarah
have Isaac; Isaac and Rebekah have
Jacob; and Jacob and his wives, Leah
and Rachel (and his concubines
Bilhah and Zilpah) have twelve sons
who become the founders of the
twelve tribes of Israel.
We leave Genesis with the en2re
family of 70 in Egypt with their
brother Joseph who is Prime
Minister of Egypt, second only to
Pharaoh himself.

Coda

36

When we turn the page to Exodus,

400 years ash by, and Jacobs family
of 70 have become nearly 2 million
and they are now slaves in Egypt.
We shouldnt be surprised. In
Genesis 15: 13, God said to Abraham:
Know for certain that your descendants will
reside as aliens in a land not their own,
where they shall be enslaved and oppressed
for four hundred years.

Why would God do that?

Coda

37

There are two reasons:

1. Slaves dont assimilate. With 400 years
of slavery God ensured that Jacobs
family of 70 would not assimilate into
the dominant Egyp2an culture, thereby
enabling them to achieve cri2cal mass,
retaining their iden2ty.
2. And 400 years of slavery taught the
Israelites very important moral and
ethical lessons about oppression, jus2ce
and social equality, lessons that would
become cri2cal for the Israelites, Gods
vehicle for redeeming humanity.

Coda

38

But 400 years of slavery is enough!

In Gods own 2me he raised up Moses
who would lead his people out of Egypt.
Finding him in a basket in the bulrushes of
the Nile River, Pharaohs daughter
adopted Moses and brought him up as a
prince of Egypt.
We all know the story of Exodus 2: 1-15.

Coda

39

Paul Delaroche. Moses in the Bulrushes (oil on canvas), 1857.

Private Collec2on.
Rewards and Punishments

40

Moses spent the next 40 years as a

fugi2ve, living in the land of
Midian, in northwestern Saudi
Arabia of today. There he married
Zipporah, daughter of Jethro, and
he tended sheep belonging to his
father-in-law.
Quite the comedown for a prince
of Egypt!
But in Exodus 3 God chose Moses
to perform a great task.

Coda

41

Henri Eugne Pluchart. God Appears to Moses in the Burning Bush (oil on canvas), 1848.
St. Isaacs Cathedral, St. Petersburg, Russia.
Rewards and Punishments

42

It took the 10 plagues to convince

Pharaoh to free the Israelites, and
when he does, they leave Egypt a
devastated land, ravaged by
supernatural disasters and the
death of every rstborn Egyp2an
child and animal.
The plagues did three things:
1. they taught the Israelites who God is;
2. they taught the Egyp2ans who God is;
and
3. they brought judgment on the
Egyp2an gods.

Coda

43

Once out of Egypt and across the

Red Sea the Israelites make their
way to Mount Sinai, where in
Exodus 19 God rearms the
covenant with them.

Coda

44

Land of Goshen

" Via Maris

Rameses !#
Succoth !#
" Bicer Lakes

# " Marah
# " Elim
# " Rephidim

" Mt. Sinai

Mt. Sinai
Photography by Ana Maria Vargas

At midnight, Dr. Creasys intrepid band of students prepare to climb Mt. Sinai.
Photography by Ana Maria Vargas

Dr. Creasy leads the way up the mountain in the black of night!
Photography by Ana Maria Vargas

Unlike Moses, we stop halfway up for coee and cookies, served by the Bedouins!
Photography by Ana Maria Vargas

Sunrise from atop Mt. Sinai.

Photography by Ana Maria Vargas

Early morning on the mountain of God.

Photography by Ana Maria Vargas

Accep2ng the terms of the

covenant, God gives his people
two great giEs: the Law and the
Tabernacle.
1. The Law is ten principles by which a
covenant people are to live with God
and one another; and
2. The Tabernacle is a physical structure
that enables a sinful people to gain
access to a holy God.

Coda

52

Turning the page to Levi2cus, we

learn how to apply the Law and
how to use the Tabernacle.
Importantly, the Tabernacle provides a
bridge between God and humanity, a
bridge mediated by the priesthood and
enabled by the 5 Great Sacrices:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Burnt oering
Grain oering
Peace oering
Sin oering
Guilt oering

Coda

53

The Tabernacle

The Law and the Tabernacle have great

intrinsic value in their own right, but
viewed through a Chris2an interpreta2ve
lens, they speak of the person and work
of Christ.
We learn in Hebrews 8: 1-6 that the Tabernacle
is a copy and shadow of the heavenly
sanctuary, and we learn that the 5 Great
Sacrices have a deeper spiritual meaning, as
well:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Burnt oering = Christ oers himself wholly to

God;
Grain oering = Christ is awless in his
humanity;
Peace oering = Christ is our peace, with whom
we share a meal, his body and blood in the
Eucharist;
Sin oering = Christ takes our sin upon himself;
Guilt oering = Christ pays the penalty for our
sins, making res2tu2on to God on our behalf.

Coda

55

Exodus 20 through Levi2cus 26

encompass the en2rety of Gods
covenant with Israel, following the
standard 6-part structure of
ancient Near Eastern covenants
between sovereigns and vassals:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Preamble, or introduc2on of the speaker;

Historical prologue;
S2pula2ons;
The document;
Calling the gods as witnesses; and
Blessings and curses.

Coda

56

When we leave Levi2cus and move on to

Numbers, we count the people, organize
them and march toward the land of
Canaan, the Promised Land:
In Deuteronomy Moses tells the new
genera2on their story, in light of spending 40
years in the wilderness;
In Joshua the Israelites conquer the land of
Canaan; and
In Judges the Israelites secle it.

By the end of Judges, however, the

Israelites have shacered the covenant:
they are far from being a kingdom of
priests and a holy na1on, a light to the
Gen1les; rather, we read: In those
days . . . everyone did what was right in
their own sight.
The Israelites had forgocen God, en2rely.
Coda

57

So, once again sin

corrupts humanity.
We really
do m
need
Not
e.
Christ.

Coda

Stay tuned for

the rest of the
story!

58

1. Adam and Eve live in paradise, a awless

garden where everything is as God intended:
yet they fall. Why?
2. The Abrahamic covenant consists of two
promises. What are they?
3. How does the sacrice of Isaac foreshadow
the sacrice of Christ?
4. Why were the Israelites enslaved in Egypt?
5. When God rearmed his covenant with the
en2re Israelite community at Mount Sinai, he
gave them two great giEs. What are they?

Coda

59

Copyright 2015 by William C. Creasy

All rights reserved. No part of this courseaudio, video,

photography, maps, 2melines or other mediamay be
reproduced or transmiced in any form by any means, electronic
or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any
informa2on storage or retrieval devices without permission in
wri2ng or a licensing agreement from the copyright holder.
[All Tabernacle illustra2ons in these lectures are taken from:
Paul F. Kiene. The Tabernacle of God in the Wilderness of Sinai,
trans. by John S, Crandall. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan
Publishing House, 1977. Used by permission.]

Coda

60