Chapters 1-4
Leviticus 1:3 - This animal had to be without defect as a symbol of innocence. If it was not innocent, it would have to atone for its own sin and not be able to atone for another's. Hence Jesus was without sin.
Leviticus 1:4 - Furthermore, notice that the animal had to die in the worshiper's place. Sin always requires the penalty of death ("...you will surely die.").
Leviticus 2:3 - One handful of flour from the grain offering was sacrificed on the altar. The rest of the flour was given to the priest to live on. Here we see that only a little of what was brought as an offering actually is sacrificed for the Lord. The rest is given to the priest to live on. What does this tell us about the Lord? (1) He is not greedy. He is not looking to take everything and leave nothing for others. (2) He mitigates the suffering of those who have already sacrificed so much to serve Him by giving to them a greater portion of that which was first given to Him. (3) The Lord doesn't need what we give Him, per se, for Himself. Some conceptions of idols say that the idol needs all these things. The Lord doesn't. He takes a small portion to satisfy Himself and gives the rest away. Sounds like a good model for us humans aspiring to be like the Lord to follow.
Leviticus 2:8 - This is a clear example of the priest being the intermediary between God and the person. Jesus has replaced the priesthood by becoming the great high priest. Now we need no human as an intermediary. We have Jesus. However, the Levitical priesthood played an important part in reinforcing the concept of an intermediary in preparation for Jesus to come. In this way, Jesus is a supplanter as also Jacob. People often wonder how God could have blessed Jacob. Well, Jacob was an unsanctified supplanter. He went about his divine role in a sinful manner. Had he sanctified his role, it would have looked much different.
Leviticus 2:13 - "...salt of the covenant of your God..." (NASB). There is a lot of speculation about what it means to have a covenant of salt. The phrase occurs numerous times throughout the Bible. Clearly salt is a symbol of something. Modern Christianity parrots that "salt is a preservative." But there must be something more. I just don't know right now.
Leviticus 4:23 & 28 - Why do priests present a male and commoners present a female?
Leviticus 4:29 - Notice that the language suddenly changes between vs. 24 and here. In vs. 24, the priest "lay his hand on the head of the male goat." Here the priest "lay his hand on the head of the sin offering." This is a powerful illustration of substitutionary atonement, i.e., Jesus took our place. In the words of Paul, "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Cor 5:17, NASB). In the Hebrew of Leviticus, instead of the word for "male goat" there is the word for sin, which is translated "sin offering." Notice that Paul says of Jesus, "...to be sin on our behalf..." This goat, during this ritual, was no longer a goat but sin, according to the literal language.
