Leviticus is a book about holiness: it's a list of rules that the ancient Israelites believed they had to follow in order to coexist with their God. The writers of the Bible believed that long ago, the most powerful being in the cosmos chose to manifest his presence on earth, in the midst of the young nation of Israel. This God was so sacred and heavenly that anything crass, common, profane, or contrary to God would burn up when it came close to him.

The Israelites believed that because God was "holy" (utterly sacred), then the whole nation of people who lived close to him needed to be holy, too. Leviticus is a book of rules that the ancients believed would help keep them ritualistically pure enough to coexist with this holy God.

Leviticus may not be the most popular book of the Bible, but if you understand why it was written, you have a head start on understanding the rest of the Old Testament. This video walks through the important themes and highlevel structure of this book.

You can learn more about the whole Bible (especially the reasons why God and Israel were in this tenuous situation in the first place) in my ebook: The Beginner's Guide to the Bible. And if you want to see a shot of the whiteboard, just check out my profile on Leviticus.

Beginner's Guide to the Bible: https://overviewbible.com/product/beg...
Quick guide to Leviticus: https://overviewbible.com/leviticus/