THE
FIVE OFFERINGS IN LEVITICUS
It has been said that it only took God one night to get Israel out of Egypt, but it took 40 years to get Egypt out of Israel. Now that the children are out of Egypt, they had to move from redemption to service, from deliverance to dedication.
In the book of Leviticus we find that God required five
offerings to be made. These
offerings were God's way of saying to the people "Get Right." It was God's direction to help the children of Israel in
their religious training. It was as
a simple picture book, with every picture pointing forward to the work that
would be accomplished in Jesus Christ.
God
desires his people to approach Him in worship.
By these five offerings, God shows redeemed Israel that the way to Him is
by sacrifice and the walk of separation.
Deep down in almost every heart lies a sense of guilt; the need to do
something to obtain pardon from the one wronged.
Even the pagan brings his sacrifice to the altar of his gods.
Mothers in India threw their babies into the river Ganges trying to
appease pagan gods until Britain stopped them.
Pagans see only their sacrifice and nothing beyond.
As we look at the sacrifices God required of His people, we see they were
only a symbol of the Perfect Sacrifice for sin that was to be made at Calvary by
the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. (John
1:29 - The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb
of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.)
Fellowship between God and man could not take place until sin had
been
dealt with through sacrifice. (Hebrews
9:22 - And almost all things are by
the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.)
This
was described as "that which goes up to God."
The entire offering was to be burnt upon the altar. (Leviticus
6:22 - And the priest of his sons that is anointed in his stead shall offer it:
it is a statute for ever unto the LORD, it shall
be wholly burnt.) It was a continual offering reminding Israel that
they required a complete and continual atonement.
(Exodus
29:38 - Now this is that which thou shalt offer upon the altar; two lambs of the
first year day by day continually.)
(Exodus
29:42 - This shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at
the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD: where
I will meet you, to speak there unto thee.) One lamb was to be
offered in the morning and the other at evening, making it a continual atonement
This sacrifice pointed to
Christ’s atoning death for sinners;
(2
Corinthians 5:21 - For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that
we might be made the righteousness of God in him); to His total
consecration to God (Luke
2:49 - And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me?
wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?); and
to His passive obedience and submission to the will of the Father in paying the
penalty required for man sinfulness. (Matthew
26:39 - And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O
my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I
will, but as thou wilt.)
Why was this offering first? It
was an offering of Dedication. Sacrifice comes first. Man must voluntarily yield
all to God to be in total fellowship with Him.
Dedication is man's part while consecration is God's part.
(Leviticus
1:3-4 - If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male
without blemish: he shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the
tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD. And he shall put his hand
upon
the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make
atonement for him.)
In some versions of the Bible this is translated Meat Offering, but since
it was both meatless and bloodless, it is more meaningfully rendered meal.
Meal Offerings were prepared and presented to God as a meal.
It symbolically presented the best fruits of human living to God to be
used as He desired.
The offering was to be of fine flour with oil poured upon it, and
frankincense. It was to be taken
into the priest and the priest was allowed to take out a handful, then burn the
memorial of it upon the altar to be an offering made by fire, a sweet savor unto
the Lord. There were different ways
that the Meal Offering could be prepared but there was to be no leavening used
in it. That which was not burned as a memorial belonged to Aaron and his sons.
See
Leviticus chapter 2.
There was no ground for boasting in this offering; instead, the
recognition of the person’s unworthiness is emphasized by the fact that the
Meal Offering must always be accompanied by a whole Burnt Offering or a Peace
Offering.
The Meal Offering is our sacrifice of daily devotion. Just as the Burnt Offering typifies Christ in death, so the
Meal Offering typifies Christ in life. The
fine flour represents the character of Christ - His perfection in thought, word,
action, and sinless service. It is
important for Christians to offer daily the
Meal Offering (our daily devotion to Christ).
We must first come to Him with our whole Burnt Offering, then we are to
give him our very best, our gift of our life.
The important thing to remember is that the slain offering must come
first!
This offering was also known as the heave offering or wave offering.
It was also a bloody offering presented to God.
Part of the offering was eaten by the priest and part was eaten by the
worshiper and his guests but the fat was always an offering made by fire unto
the Lord. (Deuteronomy
12:18 - But thou must eat them before the LORD thy God in the place which the
LORD thy God shall choose, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy
manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates: and
thou shalt rejoice before the LORD thy God in all that thou puttest thine hands
unto.)
God hosted the meal, communing with the worshiper and other participants.
This sacrifice celebrated forgiveness by God and the restoration of
relationship with God. It is an
offering of thanksgiving.
Christ
is our peace. (Ephesians
2:14-18 - For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the
middle wall of partition between us; Having
abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in
ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross,
having slain the enmity thereby: And
came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.
For through him we both have access
by one Spirit unto the Father.) It was thorough His blood on the
cross that we have privilege to this peace.
(Colossians
1:20 - And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to
reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in
earth, or things in heaven.)
This too was a bloody offering, also known as the guilt offering.
It was presented for unintentional or intentional sins, which had no
other possible restitution. (Leviticus
4:2-3 - Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a soul shall sin through
ignorance against any of the commandments of the LORD concerning things which
ought not to be done, and shall do against any of them: If the priest that is
anointed do sin according to the sin of the people; then let him
bring for his sin, which he hath sinned, a young bullock without blemish unto
the LORD for a sin offering.)
If the offering was not given in repentance, divine forgiveness was
not given. (Numbers
15:30 - But the soul that doeth ought presumptuously, whether he be born in the
land, or a stranger, the same reproacheth the LORD; and that soul shall be cut
off from among his people.) In
the other offerings, the person comes as the worshiper, but here he comes as a
convicted sinner.
Death
is the penalty for all sin; therefore, death was inflicted on the sacrificial
animal. The covering of sin was represented by the blood smeared on the horns of
the altar of incense or burnt offering and poured out at the base of the altar.
Guilt was transferred symbolically from the man to the animal by laying
on of the offerer’s hands.
God
holds us accountable for our sins. We
are criminals who have been tried, found guilty, and sentenced to death. But all is not lost. Christ
took our place on the cross and shed His blood in our place.
The reason all the other offerings could be made was that the blood of
pardon had been shed. God accepted the blood of animals as a typlification of the
one offering of His Son.
The
heathen brings a sacrifice to his god; the Christian accepts the sacrifice from
his God.
Another bloody offering, which was presented for unintentional
or intentional sins for which restitution could be made. (Leviticus
5:15-16 - If a soul commit a trespass, and sin through ignorance, in the holy
things of the LORD; then he shall bring for his trespass unto the LORD a ram
without blemish out of the flocks, with thy estimation by shekels of silver,
after the shekel of the sanctuary, for a trespass offering:
And he shall make amends for the harm that he hath done in the holy
thing, and shall add the fifth part thereto, and
give it unto the priest: and the priest shall make an atonement for him with the
ram of the trespass offering, and it shall be forgiven him.)
The blood was sprinkled on the sides of the altar instead of
the horns to indicate that this offering was for trespass sins.
The blood of the trespass offering cleansed the conscience and sent the
trespasser back to the one he had wronged, not only with the principal but with
the fifth part added. The injurer is forgiven and the injured gains more than he
lost.
Christ
has even taken care of our sin against others. (Isaiah
53:10-11 - Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when
thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall
prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. He
shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge
shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.)
Don't
think you are safe and right if you can live up to your own conscience. God has scales and it is impossible for us to comprehend His
holiness. None of the sacrifices
under the law forgave sin. They
only pointed toward the true Sacrifice, God’s very own Son.
Under the law, the offering was determined by the ability of the one who
brought it; therefore, bulls, oxen, goats, sheep, turtle doves and pigeons were
mentioned as sacrifices.
Today,
all we have to do is bring our sins; what Christ did was bring the offering and
atonement for our sins.
To
learn more about these offerings, read the first seven chapters of
Leviticus. There is much more than can be mentioned here.
Do your homework!!!!!