All scripture is relevant and a great deal of the Book of Leviticus concerns offerings and sacrifices to be made by Israel. These instructions were given by God to Moses, after he had carried out God’s instructions in the construction of the Tabernacle, but before the people entered the land.
In these notes I want to consider the offerings and sacrifices prescribed for individual Israelites to make, rather that the sacrifices made by the priest on behalf of the people as at Sabbaths, New Moons, the festivals etc.
In so doing, we must remember that these offerings were prescribed for God’s covenant people only.
Deuteronomy 7:6
“For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth. The Lord did not set His love on you nor chose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; but because the Lord loves you … “
Our focus will be mainly on Leviticus Chaters 1 – 5 where the offerings and sacrifices to be made by individuals are outlined. Two of them are compulsory; the Sin offering and the Trespass Offering. Whilst the other three (which are our main interest) were to be made completely voluntarily by the individual as he felt moved; rather than at a set time or occasion or frequency.
The origins of the making of offerings and sacrifices to God.
Genesis 4: 3
“And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat.”
The term “in the process of time” suggests that Cain and Abel were given instructions about bringing an offering to the Lord. Probably these offerings were made at the Shekinah glory at the entrance to the Garden. However, the actual instructions are not recorded but it seems clear that they had instructions about what to do and when. We just cannot be sure what they were.
Some commentators say that Cain was at fault by not bartering with his brother to obtain an animal to sacrifice. Others point out that a grain offering can be accepted by God. Without knowing the instructions, they were given, it is difficult to be definite about this.
But all agree that Cain’s attitude was all wrong. Abel willingly brought of his best; “the first born of his flock and their fat”. Cain, probably reluctantly, brought what was at hand. This attitude of indifference was made worse when he took umbrage at God’s criticism. Of course, God gave Cain the opportunity to repair the damage done (Genesis 4: 6 and 7), but sadly Cain failed to respond.
So, it would appear that Cain and Abel had their instructions about making offerings to God. However, it is clear that it was extremely important not only that these instructions were carried out but that they were carried out with the correct attitude.
With Noah, we see, that when the floods subsided and they left the ark, his first action was to make burnt offerings.
Genesis 8: 20 and 21.
“Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bid, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And the Lord smelled a soothing aroma. Then the Lord said in His heart, “I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done.”
Noah’s offerings after the flood provides the first mention of animal sacrifices since Abel’s offering, and indeed this is the first mention of an altar. But we can probably assume that worship through sacrifices were perpetuated through the lives of the ancients even if they were rare by Noah’s time.
But Noah in joy and devotion to the Lord, sacrifices animals and birds which he had preserved in the ark. These burnt offerings were “a soothing aroma” to God. By these words we can understand that the sacrifices were acceptable to God because they reflected Noah’s faith.
The Lord received Noah’s offerings as an act of devotion, and this led to the Noahic covenant.
We can also find evidence of the prevalence of offerings and sacrifices in the stories of Abraham, Jacob and Moses.
In Genesis 22: 2 – 16, we see Abraham was instructed by God to take Isaac as a “burnt offering”. Abraham knew exactly what God meant if not His actual intention.
In Genesis 28: 18, we see that when God appeared to Jacob in a dream as he made his way to Padam Aram. God renewed the covenant He had made with Jacob’s grandfather. Jacob’s response was that “took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on it.”
Then finally here we can see, in Exodus 10: 25, that when Moses was arguing with Pharoah over letting the people go I into the desert he said, “You must also give us sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God. Our livestock also shall go with us; not a hoof shall be left behind.”
We can see that offerings and sacrifices were clearly fundamental to the worship of God by His ancient people from the very start of life outside of the Garden. Perhaps this is why the Pentateuch gives no direct explanation of the origins of such practices. They were very much part of the traditions of the people who would read what Moses had written.
Some general principles concerning the offerings and sacrifices made by individuals as described in Leviticus Chapters 1 – 5.
The instructions for individual making sacrifices and offerings came from God to Moses in a codified manner to be transmitted to His covenant people. They could not be more important.
Leviticus 1: 1 and 2.
“Now the Lord called to Moses and spoke to him from the tabernacle of meeting saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ”When any one of you brings an offering to the Lord, you shall bring your offering of the livestock – of the herd and of the flock.”
These are personal offerings by individuals (not the sacrifices made by the priests on behalf of the people). Leviticus 1: 2 speaks of “any one of you”.
The individual making the offering must come before God in person. He cannot employ any agent such as a priest. He is to “offer it … at the door of the tabernacle of meeting”. The offering was to be made at the “door”, indicating that a person’s sin had to be dealt with before he came before God.
The offering must be of the best: an animal “without blemish” or the finest flour.
The individual had to be directly involved in the offering; killing the animal, skinning and cleaning it and cutting it into pieces.
Thus, we see that these individual offerings had to be done whole-heartedly in reverence to God with the individual offeror central to the process of sacrifice.
The compulsory offerings.
We will now look at the offerings which were compulsory for God’s covenant people.
The Sin Offering (Leviticus Chapter 4). We should emphasise that the Sin Offering was to be made by individuals who were part of God’s covenant people. This was not for sinners outside of the covenant seeking salvation.
The Sin Offering was for the atonement of sins which were “slip-ups” or “errors” rather than deliberate acts of rebellion against God. Such rebellions were dealt with very differently. Such “errors” that could be dealt with by the Sin Offering might be committed through weakness or impulsiveness.
In those situations, we must seek immediate forgiveness through regret and repentance.
The Trespass Offering (Leviticus Chapter 5) was to cover the same sort of situation as the Sin Offering but where there was the possibility of restitution for the losses of others.
Making restitution was a guiding principle of Levitical law and ethics. In general, a ram was offered as a sacrifice. The loss incurred was refunded plus one-fifth of the value of the loss as a fine.
So, when a person was responsible for causing harm to God or to another human being, the offender had to make good the loss. The restitution and the fine were paid first as evidence of the offender’s contrition. Then the ram was sacrificed as an atonement.
We have been given examples of conduct where the Trespass Offering was required.
Leviticus 6: 2 and 3.
“If a person sins and commits a trespass against the Lord by lying to his neighbour about what was delivered to him for safe-keeping, or about a pledge or about a robbery, or if he has found what was lost and lies concerning it, and swears falsely … “
For us, it could be a situation where we have unthinkingly harmed someone or hurt their feelings unintentionally. The same principle of restitution (perhaps of hurt feelings) applies as evidence of regret. Then we seek God’s forgiveness.
Thus, the situations which required the individual Israelite to make a Sin or Trespass offering are relevant to us. And we should keep short accounts with God.
The three voluntary offerings individuals could make when he felt it was appropriate for him.
The Burnt Offering made voluntarily by an individual (Leviticus Chapter 1).
For the Burnt Offering the required sacrifice was an “unblemished bull” or an “unblemished male sheep or goat” or “turtle doves or pigeons” depending on the wealth of the offeror. The purpose of this offering was to signify complete dedication to God. It is the only sacrifice that was completely consumed on the altar; hence it is known as the “whole burnt offering”. The symbolism of this was that the worshiper wanted to hold nothing back from God. Everything is consumed in the relationship between God and the sincere worshiper.
The significance of offering a perfect male animal is that this was a valuable sacrifice because of the breeding potential of a perfect specimen. Obviously, for breeding purposes more females than males are required (a ratio of 5 to 1 perhaps) but giving the best male was a significant offering through the loss of is genetic makeup to the herd.
For the individual Israelite it was a completely free-will offering. There was no instruction about making this offering at any specific time or concerning the frequency or the number of times a person would sacrifice. These offerings were simply for the individual to express his dedication to God as he was moved.
For us, we may be able to remember times when our focus on God had faltered. When we realize that this has happened perhaps, we, like the Israelite making his burnt offering, will experience the need and desire to re-commit ourselves to God in Worship.
The Grain Offering (Leviticus Chapter 2) is the second of the voluntary offerings an individual Israelite might choose to make. Again, it had to be made with the finest materials; the best flour without impurities, oil as a symbol of blessing, costly frankincense (a gum resin from Arabia or East Africa), and salt (a symbol of the covenant between God and Israel). No leaven or honey could be added as these symbolised sin and fermentation.
The Grain Offering represented homage and thanksgiving to God. It accompanied the Burnt Offering (which as we have seen represented the individual’s dedication to God) and signified thanksgiving and symbolised past and present blessings. The person who brought the offering was acknowledging the bounty of God in providing the good things in life represented by the flour, the frankincense and the oil.
Symbolically the offering speaks of the recognition of the moral perfection of God, His glory and His greatness.
For us, we may at times (like the Israelite making his grain offering) feel that we have been neglectful in recognising God’s loving kindness towards us and have slipped in our recognition of His true role in our lives and in our duty to honour Him. We may wish to reflect in our worship our regret for our negligence and express our gratitude to the Lord. We should perhaps have special gratitude for His continuous readiness to receive our confession as we seek to make restitution through our worship.
The third voluntary offering is the Peace or Fellowship Offering (Leviticus Chapter 3). The Hebrew term for peace carries the meaning of wholeness, completeness, soundness and health. When a person has these, he does indeed have peace.
The making of the peace offering was a time of feasting, socializing, singing and the celebration of God’s great gift of salvation. Paul described Yeshua as our “peace offering” (Colossians 1: 20).
The peace offering was unique among the sacrifices in that the worshiper received part of the animal to produce a feast for his family and friends. Having rededicated himself to God through the Burnt Offering, the worshiper could enjoy fellowship with God through a shared meal. God’s portion was the fat etc which was burned producing a sweet-smelling aroma. Repentance and reconciliation must come before genuine fellowship. But with matters dealt with, a person can express genuine gratitude and connection with God.
For us, when we have dealt with our errors, our loss of focus on God and our neglectful attitude to his bounty, we can, in our worship, express our joy in the relationship we have with the Lord and our loving heavenly Father. Thus, our worship can be our peace/fellowship offering.
Conclusion.
I’m sure that there is much more for us in the study of the book of Leviticus than I have considered here. But there is value especially in looking at the three voluntary offerings which an individual Israelite could make and the meaning behind them for us in our worship.
When we come to worship, we, like the fellow making his burnt offering, can cast off those things which have taken our focus off the Lord and re-dedicate ourselves to follow Him.
Again, when we come to worship, we should distance ourselves from those moments when we have been neglectful in recognizing God’s goodness towards us and be ready to fully embrace His role in our lives (like the fellow offering his grain offering).
When we get these things sorted out, we can come to worship (like the fellow offering his peace offering) with joy over our communion with our Lord and Saviour.
AMEN.