The Burnt Offering
July 5, 2021
Commentary
Why are there such detailed regulations for each offering? We can be sure that God had a purpose in giving each of these commands. Starting from scratch, He was teaching, His people a whole new way of life. He wanted to cleanse them from the many heathen practices they had learned in Egypt and restoring them too true worship of Himself. These strict details were to keep Israel from slipping back into their old ways.
The burnt offering was the basic sacrifice that expressed devotion and dedication to the Lord. When we surrender ourselves to the Lord, we put our “all on the altar” and hold nothing back. The ritual of the offering could not be varied. The sacrifice had to be a male animal from the flock (vv. 10-14) or it could be a bird (vv. 15-17). The worshiper had to bring the sacrifice to the door of the tabernacle, where a fire was constantly burning on a brazen altar (6:13). The priest made sure it was without a blemish (22:20-24). In the same way Jesus Christ was made a sacrifice for our sin “without a blemish and without a spot” (I Peter 1:19). In the case of the burnt offering, the person offering the sacrifice was saying, “Just as this animal is wholly given to God, I wholly give myself to the Lord.” When the offer er laid a hand on the sacrifice (1:4) it symbolized this persons’ identification with the sacrifice and a transfer of something to the sacrifice. The shedding of blood and the laying on of hands meant the worshiper was symbolically transferring sin and the guilt of the sin to the animal who died in the place of the sinner.
Application
Am I willing to put my all on the altar for the Lord? When I do, the Lord will be well pleased (v. 13).
Leviticus 1:1– 9 (NET)
1 Then the Lord called to Moses and spoke to him from the Meeting Tent: 2 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘When someone among you presents an offering to the Lord, you must present your offering from the domesticated animals, either from the herd or from the flock.
3 “‘If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd he must present it as a flawless male; he must present it at the entrance of the Meeting Tent for its acceptance before the Lord. 4 He must lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted for him to make atonement on his behalf. 5 Then the one presenting the offering must slaughter the bull before the Lord, and the sons of Aaron, the priests, must present the blood and splash the blood against the sides of the altar, which is at the entrance of the Meeting Tent. 6 Next, the one presenting the offering must skin the burnt offering and cut it into parts, 7 and the sons of Aaron, the priest, must put fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire. 8 Then the sons of Aaron, the priests, must arrange the parts with the head and the suet on the wood that is in the fire on the altar. 9 Finally, the one presenting the offering must wash its entrails and its legs in water and the priest must offer all of it up in smoke on the altar —it is a burnt offering, a gift of a soothing aroma to the Lord.
Illustration: What now means
I used to have problems getting my son to clean his room. I would insist that he, “Do it now,” and he would always agree to do so, but then he wouldn’t follow through; at least, not right way. After high school, he joined the Marine Corps, which is where he is now. When he and I were on the plane together coming home for his leave after Boot Camp, he said to me, “My life makes sense now, Dad. Everything you said and did when I was growing up now makes sense. I really, really understand.” “Oh yeah, Dad,” he added. “I learned what ‘now’ means.” (Source Unknown, Lou Nicholes – Missionary/Author).