<Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> <P> The Book of Leviticus (/ lɪˈvɪtɪkəs /) is the third book of the Torah and of the Old Testament . Most of its chapters (1--7, 11--27) consist of God's speeches to Moses, in which he is commanded to repeat to the Israelites . This takes place within the story of the Israelites' Exodus after they escaped Egypt and reached Mt . Sinai (Exodus 19: 1). The Book of Exodus narrates how Moses led the Israelites in building the Tabernacle (Exodus 35--40) based on God's instructions (Exodus 25--31). Then in Leviticus, God tells the Israelites and their priests how to make offerings in the Tabernacle and how to conduct themselves while camped around the holy tent sanctuary . Leviticus takes place during the month or month - and - a-half between the completion of the Tabernacle (Exodus 40: 17) and the Israelites' departure from Sinai (Numbers 1: 1, 10: 11). </P> <P> The instructions of Leviticus emphasize ritual, legal and moral practices rather than beliefs . Nevertheless, they reflect the world view of the creation story in Genesis 1 that God wishes to live with humans . The book teaches that faithful performance of the sanctuary rituals can make that possible, so long as the people avoid sin and impurity whenever possible . The rituals, especially the sin and guilt offerings, provide the means to gain forgiveness for sins (Leviticus 4--5) and purification from impurities (Leviticus 11--16) so that God can continue to live in the Tabernacle in the midst of the people . </P> <P> Scholars generally agree that Leviticus developed over a long time and that it reached its present form in the Persian period (538--332 BC). </P>

What is the purpose of the book of leviticus