Key Text: His inwards and his legs shall he wash in water; and the priest shall burn all on the altar, to be burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto the Lord. And if his offering be of the flocks, namely, of the sheep, or of the goats, for a burnt sacrifice; he shall bring it a male without blemish (Leviticus 1:9-10).
God has already spoken from the mountaintop with His commandments and now, with the tabernacle erected, He gives Israel instructions on holy living which includes continual cleaning, sacrifice, fellowship, offerings (absolution), priesthood (mediation), purification, and altar (reconciliation). The Levitical System of Sacrifice had a long development behind it. “Cain brought fruit from the ground and offered it unto the Lord. And, Abel, he also brought the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof” Genesis 4:3-4. After the flood, “Noah builded an altar of ever clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar” Genesis 8:20. Sacrifices are also attributed to Abraham who was prepared to kill Isaac, but God provided a ram instead of his son. The Bible also provides a record of Jephthad who actually did sacrifice his daughter. Moses asked Pharaoh for permission to go into the wilderness for the purpose of offering sacrifice Exodus 3:18. God can be approached, and He has always made a way possible for sinful man to approach Him formally. The material found in Leviticus is divinely intended to picture, in many ways, aspects of the believer’s salvation today. For example, we put this to practice in our Lord’s Supper worship experience: “Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, who of Thy tender mercy dist give Thine only Son Jesus Chirst to suffer death upon the cross for our redemption, who made there by His oblation of Himself (Sufficient & Perfect Sacrifice) once offered…and satisfaction of the sins of the whole world…” The Leviticus System of Sacrifice and our sacrifice today must be the property of the one who identifies with the offering–at cost. “Up his hand upon the head” v4 suggests identifying oneself with the offering in obedience and with a penitent heart behind the sacrifice.
All of the burnt sacrifice of the animal, except its hide, was burned on the altar unto the Lord. A male was required, which speaks of the largest and strongest animal without blemish v 5. Care was taken of the blood and it was applied to the altar; because “it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.” The descendants of Aaron, i.e., Nadab, Abihu, Eleasar, and Ithamar served as high priest. They had to collect the blood in a basin and then offer it to God as a sacrifice to indicate that a life had been taken. The price of sin is always death Gen. 2:17. In our Lord’s Supper ritual, we are instructed to “Drink ye all of this; for this is My blood of the New Testament, which is shed for you and for many, for the remission of sins…” Naturally, some Israelites would be poorer than others and unable to afford the larger burnt offerings. In such cases this offering was accepted on an equal par with the larger, more expensive offerings. However, unlike the livestock being killed by the one offering the sacrifice, the bird was killed by the priests. Gloria In Excelsis!
Leave a Reply