The purpose of this research is to provide a survey of the nature and significance of the various sacrifices presented in the early chapters of Leviticus. The plan of the research will be to set forth the cultural and narrative context in which Leviticus appears and then to discuss the pattern of ideas in the part of the text that deals with sacrifice as well as the latent meanings and implications that derive from its preoccupation with sacrifice.
If it can be said that the book of Exodus presents the narrative of the Hebrews' escape from Egypt and the Lord's gift of the Decalogue, the tabernacle, and the Ark of the Covenant (Exod. 20, 31, and 37), then it is instructive to remember that Exodus also presents the spectacle of Aaron's constructing the golden calf and the mass rush to worship the idol instead of God (Exod. 32-33). The pattern that the children of Israel had of acknowledging His supreme, cosmic greatness but then drifting into polytheistic idol worship is a recurrent theme throughout the pre-Christian books of the bible, and it drives the narrative thread of the conclusion of the book of Exodus. Although God forgives the people after Moses pleads for mercy for them, what is withheld is just as significant as what has earlier been promised: quick passage to the Promised Land. In Exodus 40, the people find themselves bound to the behavior of the cloud over the tabernacle, sometimes journeying and sometimes journeying not (Exod. 40.36-37).
The big picture of the Israelites' situation at the end of Exodus is that they are stalled on their travels to the Promised Land, somewhat in awe of the fact that "the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle" (Exod. 40.35 KJV). While they are in this holding pattern, the narrative of the journey is interrupted to present the narrative of Leviticus, which could be interpreted as an effort to reinforce the conditions under which the children of Israel may still consider themselves the...