The Burnt Offering

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. Wh … More

Obedience

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 (English Standard Version)


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