Leviticus 17 Summary: A Short Breakdown in 5 Minutes

Leviticus 17 Summary - A Quick Overview

WHEN:

• Leviticus picks up where Exodus left off. The children of Israel are on their way through the wilderness to the Canaan land.

• According to Leviticus 8, the Tabernacle had already been erected, which would place the year at approximately 1490 B.C. (one year after the Israelites left Egypt).

DEFINITIONS:

• Goat Demons – This chapter informs us some of the Israelites worshipped goat idols. There is a long history of pagan worship to deities that took the form of goats. Herodotus, the ancient historian, records a particular reverence for goats in Egypt. Pagan worship of goat gods often included sexual practices, as the goat was viewed as a symbol of virility and fertility.

TABERNACLE DIAGRAM

OUTLINE:

• LAWS REGARDING THE PLACE OF SACRIFICE (17:1-9):

  • God told Moses to prohibit the Israelites from killing animals and sacrificing them somewhere other than the Tabernacle.

  • If a person killed an animal for a sacrifice and didn’t take it to the Tabernacle, he would incur “bloodguilt” and would be “cut off from among his people.”

  • God wanted worship to take place at His Tabernacle and be directed to Him, the people were not permitted to worship with sacrifices elsewhere.

  • This prohibition restricted the worship of idols and demons.

  • God specifically condemned worship to “goat demons,” which apparently some of the Israelites were accustomed to worshiping.

• PROHIBITION AGAINST EATING BLOOD (17:10-16):

  • If any Israelite or person who lived amongst the Israelites intentionally ate blood, God would “turn his face against that person” and “cut him off” from his people.

  • The reason they weren’t allowed to eat blood was because blood was the life source of an animal and because it was used to make atonement for their souls in their sacrifices.

  • Any butchered animal was to have its blood drained and the blood was to be covered with dirt.

  • “For the life of every creature is its blood: its blood is its life. Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, You shall not eat the blood of any creature, for the life of every creature is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off” (17:14).

APPLICATION:

• God doesn’t accept divided affections.

• He was not content with being worshiped as one god among many.

• He was/is the only God.

• 3,500 years later, in 2023, although we’ve changed, God remains the same.

• While we may not be worshipping goat demons and sacrificing animals in pagan temples, we do have the same bad habit of only giving God part of our affection and adoration.

• Many people have been convinced they can worship God on Sundays while worshipping other things the rest of the week: possessions, notoriety, education, hobbies, career, etc.

• But God still requires complete devotion.

• Anything that competes with our devotion and service to God is a competing idol.