You will find a quick visual overview of the movement of the Book of Leviticus. It will help orient you and your hearers as you preach through the entire book or sections of the book. It provides, at a glance, one way to divide the book into pericopes. The chart includes key verses in the book, an overarching title for the book, the overall message of the book, and some historical background. It is color-coded to highlight certain defining aspects of the book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This chart could be used as a slide in your church service. It could serve as an introduction to a new series or a weekly check-in before you begin preaching. It could even be printed out and given to the members of your church, as a resource to help them grasp the message of the book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The following is a series through Leviticus in 18 sermons. The book provides literary headings in the form of \u201cthe Lord spoke to Moses saying \u2026\u201d throughout its pages. These function as natural section markers and, for the most part, I followed these breaks in determining the preaching units with some exceptions. Sometimes I did not create a break when I saw that marker (like at 21:16 and 22:17, 26). Toward the end I determined a preaching unit without<\/em> the familiar heading (at 26:1).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Literary markers are helpful, but they were not put there to help preachers determine homiletical units. So you must exercise wisdom and not make your decisions too simplistically. There is no real right or wrong here\u2014you need to decide what constitutes a thematic section such that two back-to-back sermons do not have essentially the same thrust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can break the book down into many tiny units if you are willing to see applications in minute details, but you have to ask yourself, \u201cIs this really<\/em> what the text is driving at or am I just searching for varied application material?\u201d Conversely, if you are going to resist the urge to foist applications onto these passages that are not really prompted by the text, then you will have to get comfortable preaching larger units than you might be accustomed to. This is a good discipline for preachers!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some of the prominent motifs that you will be challenged to grapple with throughout this series include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Obedience: <\/em>The theme of holiness is still applicable today. We are to strive for it, conform to it. You will explain that it is a result of grace, so this is not merit-based worship. Remind your listeners that obedience flows from<\/em> grace not toward it, but do not be afraid to put the accent on obedience and conformity to God\u2019s standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sin: <\/em>The heavy theme of our depravity is repeated. You might consider taking a break in the series here and there if you feel your congregation might need it \u2013 for example, perhaps between the sermons on 12:1-15:33 and 20:1-27 since both these units hit hard. But resist the urge to soften the darker sections or preaching sermons that mute their voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sacrifices & Offerings: <\/em>Each kind of sacrifice and each type of offering provide varying nuances to worship. While there is great overlap between them, tease out the differences by pointing out the emphases that make each required ritual special.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As you move through the book, you will see the same few themes arise repeatedly. Rather than wedging in ideas that are not really there for the sake of variation, think of different ways the same truths might apply. Once you have your units mapped out with their respective \u201cBig Ideas,\u201d you can determine in advance how one week\u2019s pericope can apply a repeated theme one way, and how another unit with a similar thrust can be applied a different way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are some examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sacrifice and Worship:<\/em> In 1:1-3:17 you can emphasize the role gratitude plays in what God is looking for in his worshipers, and at 16:1-34 you can focus on our need for a sacrfice that provides complete atonement. One prompts us to think about how grateful we should be before the Lord, the other focuses on how complete the atonement is for us\u2014praise God!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Clean and Unclean:<\/em> In 11:1-47 the availabitliy of forgiveness is a prominent feature, but in 12:1-15:33 you have the unclean status given for reasons that do not seem to stem from personal cuplability. Thus your focus here can be on how profound our separation from God really is\u2014it goes beyond intentional actions and goes to the root of fallenness. Sometimes application can be mere reminders: that God makes real forgiveness available or that our need for it is deep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Law-keeping:<\/em> 18:1-30 focuses on various laws but you can focus on the sexuality laws given our current climate of confusion on such matters. Then at 19:1-37 you can show how these laws are meant to regulate our actions toward neighbor. The former lends itself to application that helps the listener unravel knotty issues. The latter allows you to get really practical when it comes to living among unbelieving neighbors without \u201cmixing\u201d with them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Separation from God: W<\/em>ith 20:1-27 you can show the text\u2019s burden to demonstrate the severity of sin. Application can focus on how easily we can dismiss sin and how we must remain alert with regard to obedience. With 21:1-22:33 the theme of separation is still there but the unit climaxes in priestly marriage laws. You can use that as leverage to talk about what marriage represents (Eph. 5:32) which points to our hope in the bridegroom. Even singles in the church can see the rich symbolism of marriage and how it billboards the gospel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This series at our church was titled, Leviticus: A Call to Holiness. <\/em>The first word of the book in Hebrew is the same as its Hebrew title: the word for \u201ccall.\u201d The book emphasizes holiness and I did not want to shy away from it. Being saved by grace does not conflict with Scripture\u2019s demands concerning conformity to God through Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I used the first sermon to let my congregation know that this journey through Leviticus is going to beckon us to live in obedience to God and the book is going to lay it on thick. But doesn\u2019t this demonstrate just how gracious God is\u2014that he would not leave us guessing as to his wants and desires for us? He communicates to us through harsh images, strict regulations, and difficult rituals, so that we might worship what we know in spirit and in truth (John 4:22-24).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Preaching through Leviticus was a challenge, but the benefits were obvious. We mined a portion of the Bible that is often ignored, maybe even feared. We got to take material that many regard as boring and see it come alive. We took passages that seem off-putting at first, and saw how God graciously uses warnings and laws to show how much we need him. He provides guardrails for living.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As a preacher, I was forced to flex theological muscles that would otherwise atrophy: how to handle laws that do not transfer immediately to our context today, how to see Christ projected in ancient rituals, and how to preach about the deep problem of sin even in the presence of first-time visitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As a church we got to visit important topics as well: sexual immorality that the world says is normal, the sacredness of blood and its connection to abortion, and living for holiness when surrounded by cultures antagonistic to it to name a few. As a result, our church was stretched in fresh ways from a sometimes neglected book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2026\/01\/chart-leviticus.jpg?w=640\")
Sermon Series<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Text: Leviticus 1:1<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Text: Leviticus 1:1-3:17<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Text: Leviticus 4:1-5:13<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Text: Leviticus 5:14-6:7<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Text: Leviticus 6:8-10:20<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Text: Leviticus 11:1-47<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Text: Leviticus 12:1-15:33<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Text: Leviticus 16:1-34<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Text: Leviticus 17:1-16<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Text: Leviticus 18:1-30<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Text: Leviticus 19:1-37<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Text: Leviticus 20:1-27<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Text: Leviticus 21:1-22:33<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Text: Leviticus 23:1-44<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Text: Leviticus 24:1-23<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Text: Leviticus 25:1-55<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Text: Leviticus 26:1-46<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Text: Leviticus 27:1-34<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Theological Themes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Application<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
My Encounter with Leviticus<\/h2>\n\n\n\n