The Burnt Offering

First Read: Leviticus 1:1-17 

In Leviticus 1:1 we find an opening statement that will repeat throughout the book, “And the Lord called to Moses…saying…” That statement will mark new sections throughout the book.

Chapter 1 is all about the burnt offering. The burnt offering was the most common of OT sacrifices, performed every morning and evening. It was performed to make atonement (1:4). In other words to reconcile a person who by their nature is sinful to a holy God. Holiness and uncleanness cannot coexist. This chapter has 3 sections each of which tells how to perform a burnt offering with a different animal. 1:1-9 detail a burnt offering from the herd; 10-13 detail a burnt offering from the flock; 14-17 detail a burnt offering from birds.

Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them…  – The leader is to speak God’s directives to His people. What if Moses would have said, “They’ll never be able to do it, it’s too hard for them, too long.”? Moses would have allowed Israel to miss out on the most important thing in their history, would have allowed them to sin, and not enjoy the peace, prosperity, blessing, God’s presence, and all that went along with following the law. The leader must not be afraid to speak what and when God tells them to!

He shall offer…. – this will be repeated in verses 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, etc. Notice the law clearly points out what the worshipper’s role was and what the priest’s told was.  Realize the amount of work. and the nature of it, the worshipper must do himself. He shall:

• bring the animal
• offer it
• lay his hand on the head (notice how important laying hands are on throughout the Bible. It often symbolically transfers power, identification, etc). Here the worshipper is identifying his unholy self with all his sin onto an animal.
• kill it (the consequence of sin is always death Gen 2:17; 3:19; Romans 6:23)
• skin it
• cut it into pieces
• wash the legs and entrails (probably because the legs and entrails would be dirty and God demands pure sacrifices)

the priest:

• puts the fire on the altar (prepares the place for worship)
• arranges the pieces correctly
• offer up the sacrifice in smoke

Because the burnt offering was to make atonement for the person, he had to do most of the work, the priest as the mediator between God and men made sure the worship experience was in accordance with God’s will.

1:2 mentions, you shall bring your offering of animals from the herd of the flock. It couldn’t be a wild animal. For the sacrifice to be acceptable to God, it had to be an animal that cost the worshipper something. It had to be a male, and it had to be without defect. In a society where male animals were needed for producing more of the herd, this was an important animal. Yet they are told, to bring and sacrifice this animal. In other words: Sacrifice always costs the worshipper something. Israel will later get away from this (Mal 1:6-14). I imagine their line of thinking changed to something like this: God really knows my heart is all about Him. He’s not so much concerned with the exact type of sacrifice as He is with knowing that I love Him. After all, He couldn’t really expect me to give up something that costs so much. I mean that rule was something they did centuries ago, it’s outdated. Again the real issue and reason why God said it was all about the heart. God is all about the heart, and our heart is revealed by our actions. Bringing God less than what He asks for reveals a self-serving and prideful attitude. Partial obedience is still disobedience. As a result of Israel’s disobedience, later God says He will not accept their sacrifices (Jer 14:12; Hosea 8:13; Amos 5:22). In other words, just because they are doing an action doesn’t mean it’s pleasing to God. which leads me to:

if they follow the guidelines for how to offer an acceptable sacrifice it will be: an offering by fire of a soothing aroma to the LORD.  NOTE: God is the only One who deems the worshipper and his sacrifice acceptable. AND God is very powerfully present in the sacrifice/offering/worship experience. 

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR US: The burnt offering was fulfilled by Christ’s work on the cross. That’s why He had to be perfect. That’s why it had to be Him. As a man of our kind, without defect, His act redeemed us all. But though Christ fulfilled this offering, again Leviticus teaches us more about God’s character and will, than just a mere collection of rules. Which means there are still important aspects for us as a church:

• Leaders must not be afraid to speak God’s directives confidently and directly. Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith. – Hebrews 13:7; Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them to this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.” – Hebrews 13:17.
• When we bring God something, our offering/tithes, worship, service, OURSELVES, whatever we bring Him, WE MUST BRING THE BEST. Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. – Romans 12:1
• We as worshippers have to deal with the ugly issue of sin in our lives and take responsibility for it and making things right with God. Yes, the work of Christ on the cross dealt with in on the eternal scale and gives us power over it today, but we still have to deal with the sinful choices we continue to make.
• Only God can deem our sacrifices acceptable and a soothing aroma. Sometimes we believe a mere act (going to church, tithing, serving, etc) is pleasing to God in itself. But, if we’re doing it with wrong motives, or out of guilt and not worship, if it’s less than how He asks it’s not pleasing to Him. When we do it, we do it how He asks us to, and to the fullest we can. Because it’s our worship.
• Sacrifices always cost us something. Again: Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. – Romans 12:1. 
• HOW IS YOUR SACRIFICE? 

 

Here We Go! – Leviticus (Background)

Today we start a study on Leviticus. What follows is just how I go through the bible and study it, interact with it. It doesn’t mean it’s the only way, it’s simply the way God has wired me to connect with Him, learn about, and live for Him through His word. I’ll put down notes, thoughts, questions. Feel free church to interact with it, use it as a jumping off point, ask questions etc.

DAY 1: BACKGROUND  – I always start a study of a book of the bible with going through the background. When it was written, why, who wrote it, etc. That way I come at and understand it from the angle of the author and get an overall feeling for the point of book.

AUTHOR: Leviticus was written by Moses. It isn’t just a set of laws and sacrifices, but rather an important part of Israel’s history. It is set between the month of God occupying the tent (tabernacle) and the census being taken at Mount Sinai. God has just freed Israel from Egypt, but before they can enter the Promised Land, He has to teach them how to live. So THIS BOOK IS HUGELY IMPORTANT! Because in it we get to hear directly from God Himself: it teaches us about His character and His will, as He teaches His people about how they should live. In most of the text God is speaking directly which means if this was a red-letter bible (where Jesus’ words are highlighted in red) pretty much this entire book would be in red. It’s that important.

Leviticus used to be the 1st book that Jewish children studied in the synagogue. In the modern Church it tends to be the last part of the Bible anyone looks at seriously.  – Wenham

PURPOSE: It’s main purpose was to teach the Israelites how to be holy. As such it deals with how Israel should anoint it’s spiritual leaders – the priests. Because as the spiritual leaders goes, so goes the people. But, it also deals a lot with how the people should live, how they should be holy. For God is a great God, who had blessings and promises in store for His people. But holy cannot exist with unholy (aka unclean). For them to understand how to live holy, and when they have sinned, how to be restored to holy, God teaches them in Leviticus.

The central theme of the book is holiness. The book intends to show how Israel was to fulfill its covenant responsibility to be ‘a kingdom of priests and a holy nation’ (Ex 19:6; Lev 26:5 ) – Sailhamer.

TITLE: The Hebrew name for the book of Leviticus literally means: “And He called.” Which is the first Hebrew word of the book. The name “Leviticus” was taken from the Latin Vulgate version of the Bible and beyond that the Septuagint (LXX), because a large part of the book is priestly instructions. (Levites were priests). I like the Hebrew name because it sets it in the framework of the story going on in the 1st 5 books (commonly called the Pentateuch, from penta meaning 5) of the Bible.

It’s been noted by Gordon Wenham that it speaks of:

• God’s Presence – how’s he’s always present in our lives, both in worship and the smallest mundane details.
• Holiness – How we must be holy, we cannot live “unclean.” But uncleanness is contagious and when it happens how to sanctify ourselves. But it’s always 2 sides. We must sanctify ourselves AND God must sanctify us. Most of Leviticus deals with our actions.
• Role of Sacrifice – God is the one who forgives. Performance by itself is never enough. It is always God who determines if the sacrifice it acceptable.
• Sinai Covenant – the covenant God made with Israel in Exodus on Mt. Sinai. “Divine blessing depends on obedience, but disobedience will not result in total rejection (for God’s people), just continued divine judgement.” (Parenthetical note mine).

Note: usually when I go through a bible study I take it in pieces, for example if going through Philippians I will take a paragraph or two and digest it a day at a time. With Leviticus it’s broken up a bit differently due to repetitions under the same sacrifice so this study may encompass a larger portion of text each day (ex. tomorrow will cover all of Leviticus 1). I’ll put the reading for the day at the top of the blog post, I’d invite you to read the whole section first in your Bible, then look at my notes and interact with the text that way. 

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR US: – Knowledge is never just for the sake of knowledge. The Bible is something we are to interact with and it teaches us not just about God, but how to live for Him. So every day I always come back to how does what I read that day, affect how I live? Which as we’ll find out through our study, Leviticus has a lot to say…

In short Leviticus still is and will always be an important book that speaks to our time. It has the most pages of God speaking directly as we learn about His character and will from God Himself.   It’s a book about how we worship. How we live. How we love God. Why God hates it when His people live in a way that insults Him, but how to live in a way that we honor Him and in return how He blesses us.  It sets up most of what is to come in the rest of the Bible as O.T and N.T. writers allude to it. Although we may not have to offer animal or grain sacrifices anymore it still has much to say to the modern church as it teaches us about who we are and how great and awesome our God is.