This third book might be first in the number of its portraits of Christ in the Old Testament.
Each book of the Bible—in fact, the Bible itself—was not given a title by its author. Bible is simply an English form of the Greek word for “book.” And the Hebrew readers of Leviticus distinguished it by its first line, “And He called.” The name Leviticus was borrowed from the Greek and Latin versions. To refresh our memory, recall that Jacob had twelve sons. But then he adopted Joseph’s two boys to give his favored son a double blessing. That made 13 tribes, not twelve. But then the children of Levi, Leah’s third son, were selected by God to be His servants in the tabernacle ministry, and so were not counted with the tribal families. This was the tribe to which Moses and Aaron belonged. Now Levi had three sons: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari (Gen 46:11). This produced the four divisions of the Levitical service. Aaron and his sons were the actual priestly line. The other three, called the Kohathites, the Gershonites, and the Merarites, were collectively called Levites—servants to God’s servants, the priests. They oversaw the putting up, taking down, and transporting of the tabernacle, plus the many tasks involved in maintaining the holy services. That’s where we get the name of the book. Interestingly, the Levites are only mentioned explicitly in the book twice (Lev 25:32-33), but the book is full of the vocabulary and behind-the-scenes activities of these Levites. There are two main divisions in the book. Chapters 1–10 describe the way in, and a relationship with God, with sections on the sacrifices (chs 1–7) and the priesthood (chs 8–10). Then chapters 11–27 prescribe the way on, and fellowship with God. How vital this book is for us today—God’s primer on worship and the path of holiness!