Leviticus

The Offerings of the Law

If any man of you bring an offering unto the Lord.—Leviticus 1:2

David Rice

Leviticus, the third book of Moses, records the regulations from the Lord for the various offerings and sacrifices of the Law. The book of Exodus ended with the construction of the tabernacle, and the instructions given in Leviticus were received by Moses from God who "spake unto him out of the tabernacle of the congregation" (Leviticus 1:1), evidently by a voice from above the mercy seat (compare Numbers 7:89).

Portions of this book, namely chapters 8, 9, and 16, are well known because they are treated in Tabernacle Shadows. Chapter 25 is well known for its account of the law of Jubilee, and chapter 26 for its warning of "seven times" punishment if Israel neglected the commands of the Law. Chapter 14 receives attention from time to time. It is about the cleansing of lepers and pictures the cleansing of mankind from the leprosy of sin. Chapter 23 is generally consulted at memorial season for its laws concerning Passover. Also the death of Nadab and Abihu is familiar to many, recorded in the tenth chapter, though not often observed is that this episode, a continuation of chapter 9, occurred just one day after the priesthood was inaugurated.

The first seven chapters, however, are not sofrequently considered. These contain all the detailed ordinances of the Law for the four basic kinds of offerings the Israelites presented to God: burnt offerings, meal offerings (meat offerings in the King James Version, chapter 2), peace offerings (consecration, vow and thank offerings were varieties of peace offerings), and sin offerings (guilt and trespass offerings were forms of sin offering). The first three are described in one chapter each, and the fourth in chapters 4:1 to 6:8.

Then, curiously, the offerings are repeated (the last two in reversed sequence): the burnt offering (6:9-13), meal offering (6:14-23), sin offering (6:24 to 7:10), and peace offering (7:11-21). This "second pass" through these offerings gives details pertinent to the priests, and specifies some differences in how the offerings are presented when the offerer is a priest rather than another Israelite. Modern translations, such as the NIV and some editions of the NASB insert helpful subheads which make these segments much clearer to the reader.

The seventh chapter finishes with three segments. It proscribes the eating of fat and blood (verses 22-27), explains the priests’ share of the offerings (verses 28-36), and ends in a brief summary of these seven chapters (verses 37 and 38).

Burnt Offerings

The broadest type of offering an Israelite could present was a burnt offering. It could be either from the herd (cattle), the flock (sheep or goat), or a bird (dove or pigeon). If from the herd or flock, it must be a male, and in every case evidently a young animal. The animal was presented at the door of the tabernacle, killed by the offerer on the north side of the altar, then skinned (flayed), and the hide given to the officiating priest for his use (Leviticus 7:8). The blood was sprinkled on the sides of the altar. The carcass was cut in pieces, the inwards and legs washed with water, and all the pieces with the head laid on the wood on the altar and consumed with fire, as a "sweet savor unto the Lord."

In these two aspects—that the offering was fully consumed, and that it ascended to God as a sweet savour—lie the meaning of this offering. It represents a full, complete yielding of one’s life to God, resulting in a full acceptance by God as a sweet aroma of devotion.

This kind of offering is referred to explicitly by the apostle Paul in two cases. "Walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour" (Ephesians 5:2). "Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of this knowledge of him. For we are to God the aroma ofChrist among those who are being saved" (2Corinthians 2:14,15, NIV). It is probable, also, that this is the kind of offering referred to in Romans 12:1, "present your bodies a living sacrifice," and in Revelation 6:9 where the "souls of them that were slain" are represented as ashes beneath the altar.

Leviticus 1:4 says the offering "shall be accepted for [the offerer] to make atonement for him." That is, it brings the offerer into harmony with God through whole-hearted devotion to God. This is not a sin offering, which brings atonement in a legal sense, but it is predicated upon a previous sin offering having established the basis for reconciliation. In instances such as the ceremonies of Leviticus 8, 9, and 16, the burnt offering always followed a sin offering. In the case of the Israelites presenting burnt offerings to God during the year, they were acceptable because of the previous cleansing of the Day of Atonement offerings. (For this reason such burnt offerings are sometimes referred to as "after Day of Atonement" offerings.)

God’s "acceptance" is specially expressed in these offerings ascending directly to God as a sweet aroma. This is unlike the usual sin offerings which were eaten or "accepted" by the priests, or the peace (fellowship) offerings, consumed in part by the priests and in part by the offerer. Thus the concept of God’s "acceptance" has become uniquely attached to burnt offerings. This emphasis is illustrated by the use of a burnt offering on the third day after the Passover. On the 16th of Nisan, when the first sheaf of the barley harvest was waved before the Lord (representing Jesus’ resurrection as the firstfruit from the dead—1 Corinthians 15:20), a lamb as a burnt offering was offered, as though to show that the resurrection of Christ from the dead on Nisan 16 was the evidence by which God manifested his acceptance of Jesus as the Passover lamb sacrificed on Nisan 14. Thus it intimates God’s acceptance of a previous offering.

The burnt offerings in Leviticus 8, 9, and 16, which followed the sin offerings, may carry a similar thought. They show that the offering of Christ (and the church) is a wholly devoted offering, a sweet aroma to God, evidencing his acceptance of the offerings just preceding.

Meal Offerings

A meal offering (Leviticus 2) was a "bloodless" offering, and in this way is distinct from the other offerings of these seven chapters. "The meaning involves neither of the main ideas of sacrifice—the atonement for sin and the self-dedication to God. It takes them for granted and is based on them. Accordingly, the [meal] offering ... seems always to have been a subsidiary offering, needing to be introduced by the sin-offering, which represented the one idea, and forming an appendage to the burnt-offering, which represented the other" (McClintock and Strong Cyclopedia, "Meat-offering").

Burnt offerings, sin offerings and peace offerings were evidently to be accompanied by meal offerings (Numbers 28:3-6; 6:14,15,17; Leviticus 9:4). Perhaps it is for this reason that after considering the widely observed burnt offering, Leviticus next considers the meal offering as a customary part of the former.

The meal offering was of "fine flour." Oil was poured on it, and together with frankincense it was presented to the priest. A handful of this offering, together with all the frankincense, was burned on the altar as "a memorial portion ... an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the Lord" (verse 2, NIV). The remainder was classified a "most holy" offering, eaten by Aaron and his sons together with unleavened bread in the court, or in the case a priest was the offerer it was wholly burned and thus ascended to God (Leviticus 6:16-19,23).

The meal offering could also be presented cooked. It could be baked in an oven (unleavened cakes mixed with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil), cooked on a griddle (unleavened mixed with oil, then broken into pieces and anointed with oil), or fried (with oil). Or it could be presented as "green ears of corn dried by the fire, even corn beaten out of full ears" (verse 14), anointed with oil. In each case a portion was burned on the altar with all the frankincense.

This offering of flour, as the main support of life and nourishment, evidently represented to the Israelites their thanks and appreciation to God for the life sustaining bounty they received from him. "Riches and honor come of thee ... in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all. Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name ... for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee" (1 Chronicles 29:12-14).

To spiritual Israel it represents our acknowledgement that all we have is from God, our favors and blessings, our sustenance, our hopes in Christ. For this we offer back to God a token of what we have received, and the frankincense of praise. This recognition, and this spirit, should attend all our sacrifices and offerings to God.

Two things were specifically forbidden—leaven and honey. "For ye shall burn no leaven, nor any honey, in any offering of the Lord made by fire" (verse 11). This pictures that God will not accept in sacrifice anything sinful (we must be justified), and though mixed with oil, the influence of the holy spirit, we do not sacrifice "honey" which pictures the sweetness of our heavenly call.

Peace Offerings

A worshipper could choose from a wide variety of peace offerings. The offering could be of the herd or flock, male or female, but as always, "without blemish." It was slain near the door of the tabernacle, and as with the burnt offering the blood sprinkled about the altar. The fat and purifying organs were burned on the burnt offering which was on the wood, where it ascended to God, "the food of the offering made by fire unto the Lord" (Leviticus 3:11).

The specification that "ye eat neither fat nor blood" in Leviticus 3:17 implies that the residual meat of the animal was eaten by the worshipper, but this vital information is not explicitly affirmed until chapter 7. If the peace offering was for thanksgiving, he was to eat it that day, just as we should not defer to express our thanksgiving to God with rejoicing. If it were a vow or voluntary offering, he had two days to consume it—perhaps to indicate the completeness of his vow, allowing more if not all to be consumed during the extra day. (Any remainder was disposed of by burning.)

Leviticus 7:19 (NIV or NASB) indicates that other clean persons could assist in consuming the meat also, but no one who was unclean. This offering was intended for those who were at peace with God, as a celebration of the benefits of fellowship they enjoyed. When sin, burnt, and peace offerings were given on one occasion (as in Leviticus 8 and 9), this sequence is observed: first the sin offering because atonement for sins is primary, then the burnt offering as we yield ourselves fully to God, third the peace offering, celebrating the benefits of our relationship of peace with God.

In this age the peace offerings pertain to those who have come into Christ and are thus at peace with God. "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God" (Romans 5:1,2). Paul refers to the thank offering, one form of peace offering, in Hebrews 13:15. "By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name."

A unique feature of the peace offering was the waving of a portion of the offering before the Lord. Leviticus 7:30 specifies that the breast and the fat are waved before the Lord, the fat then burned upon the burnt offering on the altar, the breast given to the priests and consumed by their families. (It was not designated a "most holy" offering, for those could be eaten only by the priests.) The right shoulder (KJV verse 32) or thigh (NIV, NASB) were also allotted to the priests. Leviticus 7 does not include this element as part of the wave offering, though it was included in the wave offering in the ceremonies of Leviticus 8 and 9.

The waving before the Lord represents our appreciative recognition of all our benefits, and in turn our thanks and consecrated devotion to him, much as the waving of the sheaf of firstfruits each year by the Israelites expressed their thanks to God for his bounty. In Leviticus 8, though not in Leviticus 7, the animal offered was termed a ram "of consecration." The Hebrew word for "consecrate" means literally "to fill," and the wave offering filled the hands of the offerer as it was waved before the Lord.

As this offering was consumed jointly by God (the "food" that ascended in flame), the offerer, and the priest, and even the offerer’s friends and the priest’s family, it signified the joyous participation—fellowship—by all parties in the blessings of our fellowship and peace with God. The NIV in fact renders the term "Fellowship Offering."

Sin Offerings

Sin offerings are the subject of Leviticus 4, and they cover sins of ignorance (as opposed to intentional, froward sin, for which punishment was administered). Sins by four categories of persons are discussed: priests, the congregation, rulers, and common people. As on the Day of Atonement there was a difference between priests and the people—the former required a bullock, the latter a goat as a sin offering—so here there are distinctions. If a priest sinned, or the congregation, they were to bring a bullock for a sin offering. If a ruler or common person sinned, he was to bring a goat for a sin offering, the status of the sinner making a difference in the animal offered for atonement.

These sin offerings were the usual offerings brought by the Israelites from time to time as they recognized a need for cleansing. The annual Day of Atonement sin offerings had atoned for their sins collectively, and these additional ones were a remembrancer of the annual ones, as though to suggest the sinner came in recognition of his need for continued forgiveness, bringing an offering to recognize his culpability in the matter, and that some sacrifice on his part was appropriate in the circumstance. It served to renew their standing based on the Day of Atonement offerings. In a similar way we have been atoned for by the blood of Christ, but as we recognize our slips and sins we too humbly request forgiveness, remembering the sacrifice of the past as the basis for our standing. The world, in the kingdom, will do the same.

We think, as others have suggested, that the priest represented a member of the church, and the congregation a congregation of the Lord’s people during this age. In each case they brought a bullock for a sin offering. The ruler probably represented the leaders in the kingdom—the ancient worthies who though perfect in body may have slips through inexperience, and the common people any person during the kingdom. These brought a goat for a sin offering in remembrance of the application of the goat’s blood in the Day of Atonement offerings.

The additional details seem to bear out this distinction. When a bullock was used, its blood was taken into the tabernacle and sprinkled before the vail, and some put on the horns of the golden altar. When a goat was used, its blood was used in the court, sprinkled before the door, and applied to the horns of the brazen altar. (In each case the excess blood was poured at the base of the brazen altar.) So in the Gospel age the blood is used in the holy, as the church is in the holy. In the kingdom the blood will be used in the court, as the world will be in the court.

In both cases the fat and internal purifying organs were burned on the altar in the court. But the carcass was handled differently. In the case of a bullock the carcass was burnt "without the camp" (verse 12); in the case of a goat the flesh was eaten by the priests. So in the Gospel age the offering is accepted by God (and hence ascends in flame), but during the kingdom the offerings of the people will be appropriated by the priests, the church.

The matter of the "congregation" is of special interest because the law stipulated for them in Leviticus 4, which pertained to the period in the wilderness, was different than the law in Numbers 15:24 which was to become effective "when ye come into the land" (verse 18). Then a goat for a sin offering was to be used rather than a bullock. The wilderness period, as compared to residing in the promised land, represented the Gospel age as compared to the kingdom. In the Gospel age the "congregation" is part of the church, in the kingdom the "congregation" is part of the world. We look back to the application of the bullock’s blood, they will look back to the application of the goat’s blood. Thus there is a difference in animals at different times.

Leviticus 5 outlines a variety of faults for which sin offerings should be offered, and the sinner was able to bring such offering as he could afford. In the same way when we now, or the world later, recognize a deficiency or slip, we offer according to our ability what we may as evidence of our contrition. Beginning with verse 14, and through chapter 6, "trespass" or "guilt" offerings are discussed. The difference between these and the former are evidently that these trespasses involved particular offenses (or sins of omission) with a greater degree of willfulness, and which have caused material damage to the "Lord" (as by neglect of "the holy things") or a neighbor (as by deceit or misrepresentation). Offerings are prescribed, but the offerer additionally was required to make restitution for the loss, and add 20% extra as a penalty.

Thus should we—and the world in the kingdom—concern ourselves for our transgressions, applying to God for forgiveness, and making restitution, and even more, to those injured or disadvantaged by our conduct.