Hello, I'm Gary Stevens, and welcome to the History in the Bible podcast.

All the history, in all the books, in all the Bibles.

Thank you. Episode 1.17, God's Barbecue.

But first, a word from someone who is not my sponsor.

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And now, back to the show after our research gap.

The third book of the Old Testament is known to Jews as Vakra, now he called after its opening line.

Christians call it Leviticus, following its title in the Septuagint Leviticon.

That name comes from the old rabbinic title, the instruction of the Levites.

Levites is the middle book of the Pentateuch.

It starts at the beginning of the second year after the Israelites left Egypt when they were encamped at the foot of Mount Sinai. Leviticus is part of a long

unit of the Pentateuch stretching from Exodus chapter 25 to Numbers chapter 10, almost a third

of the entire Torah. You could call it the tabernacle at Sinai.

By the end of Exodus 25, God's abode, the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, has been constructed, and the priesthood created.

God has moved into his new home and sanctified his priesthood, headed by Moses

Nitwit Brother Aaron. The Israelites do not move off towards Canaan until Numbers

Chapter 11. Apart from a few unexpected and violent deaths, Leviticus has little narrative.

The book is preoccupied with demonstrating how the Israelites are to maintain God's presence amongst them, and they are to do that

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