Leviticus 1

Leviticus 1:1

I. TYPES OF OFFERINGS (1:16:7) A. The Burnt Offering (Chap. 1)Leviticus opens with the LORD calling to Moses, speaking to him from the tabernacle of meeting. As Bonar said in our opening quotation, no other book “contains more of the very words of God than Leviticus,” which should show that we should study it “with singular interest and attention.” At the outset the Lord prescribes the five offeringsburnt, meal, peace, sin, and trespass. The first three were known as sweet-savor offerings, the last two as sin offerings. The first three were voluntary, the last two compulsory. The first message God has for the children of Israel is that they should bring their offerings to the LORD from their livestockboth from the herd and from the flock. Chapter 1 deals with the burnt sacrifice (Heb. `le3h). There were three grades, depending on what the offerer could afford: a bull from the herd (v. 3; cf. v. 5), a male without blemish; a sheep or a goat from the flock (v. 10), a male without blemish; turtledoves or young pigeons (v. 14). All were peaceful creatures; nothing wild was offered on the altar of the Lord. Peter Pell suggests that the bull speaks of our Lord as the patient, unwearied Laborer, always doing the Father’s will in a life of perfect service and a death of perfect sacrifice. The sheep represents the Lord as the meek and lowly One, submissive to God’s will in unresisting self-surrender. The goat speaks of Christ as our Substitute. The turtledove points to Him as the heavenly One, and also as the Man of sorrows (mourning dove). Behold! a spotless Victim dies, My Surety on the tree; The Lamb of God, the Sacrifice, He gave Himself for me! Author unknown Duties of the offerer: He brought the offering to the door of the tabernacle, near the brazen altar (v. 3); he put his hand on the head of the victim (v. 4) (or, “he leaned his hand as if in reliance”); he killed the bull (v. 5) or the sheep or goat (v. 11); he skinned the animal and cut it into its pieces (vv. 6, 12); he washed the entrails and legs with water (vv. 9, 13). In verse 3, the expression “of his own free will” is translated in some versions “to be accepted.” Note verse 4. Duties of the priests: They sprinkled the blood of the animal all around on the altar (vv. 5, 11); they put the fire and the wood on the altar (v. 7) and then placed the parts of the animal in order on the wood (vv. 8, 12). Everything was burned on the altar except the skin (v. 13; Lev_7:8); in the case of the birds, the priest wrung off its head, pressed out its blood at the side of the altar, put the crop (gullet) with its feathers on the east side of the altar, opened the body of the bird without cutting it in pieces, and burned it on the altar. The word for burn is the one used for burning incense; a different word is used in connection with the sin offerings. Distribution of the offering: All that was burned on the altar belonged to God; the skin was given to the priests (Lev_7:8); the offerer received no part of this particular offering. The person bringing a burnt offering was expressing his complete surrender and devotion to the Lord. We learn elsewhere that this offering was presented on many different occasions. (See a Bible dictionary for details.) Typically, the burnt offering pictures the offering of Christ without spot to God. On Calvary’s altar the Lamb of God was totally consumed by the flames of divine justice. Amelia M. Hull’s hymn captures the spirit of this: I have been at the altar and witnessed the Lamb Burnt wholly to ashes for me; And watched its sweet savour ascending on high, Accepted, O Father, by Thee.