First, verses 3-4 (KJV) stress that sacrifices must be conducted at the tabernacle.
What man soever there be of the house of Israel, that killeth an ox, or lamb, or goat, in the camp, or that killeth it out of the camp, and bringeth it not unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation ... that man shall be cut off from among his people.This requirement was meant to counter the widespread practice of offering spiritual sacrifices anywhere and everywhere, a practice that tended to foster attendant pagan activities.
Now, recognizing that the tabernacle (later Temple) was a precursor to Jesus, and also recognizing that Jesus replaced the system of animal sacrifices with deeper sacrifices of prayer, the implication of this passage for us is that our focus must be directed toward Jesus, and not toward the materialistic concerns of this world.
Second, verse 10 forbids eating blood.
Whatsoever man there be ... that eateth any manner of blood; I will even set my face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people.This rule about not eating blood also appeared at the Council of Jerusalem in the New Testament, indicating that even those early church fathers struggled to understand the meaning of this rule. Yet we clearly don't adhere to this in modern times. After all, people eat rare steaks, without concern for the spiritual implications. Is that a sin? Of course not; the bible makes clear that God is not concerned about dietary trivialities.
The prohibition on eating blood was meant to highlight that, in the system of animal sacrifices, the only way to remove sin was to shed blood. Something had to lose its life, and the dietary rule was a way to emphasize that point. Jesus, by shedding the ultimate blood, did away with animal sacrifices and removed sin forever. So once again, blood had to be shed. The "dietary" rule, as it applies to us, is that we must recognize the importance and meaning of Jesus' sacrifice, but that recognition does not, in turn, imply any sort of rule about food. For our sake, the Old Testament dietary rule was yet another precursor of Jesus.
So try re-reading Leviticus 17 with these points in mind. The chapter becomes something much more than a list of rules about animal sacrifice!
