LEVITICUS Windows into the Heart of God
Sacrifice: A Robust Theology The theology of sacrifice will make clear to us the complexity of sin, the grandeur of grace, and fullness of forgiveness.
The Law: Regulation vs. Revelation You have to get behind the external regulation in order to find the eternal revelation. Then you apply the revelation not the regulation. Allen Ross
Kept Near: Regulation vs. Revelation Leviticus, rightly understood, is primarily about relationship, rather than regulation. It speaks of how people may be kept near to God. Derek Tidball
Sacrifice: A Robust Theology Sin and Death Gift and Sacrifice Burden and Delight Provision and Protection
Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither whatever they do prospers. Psalm 1:1-3
Grace: Acceptance Made Possible Unlike [pagan sacrifices] designed to twist the arm of a reluctant deity, the sacrifices of Israel were provisions of God's grace to bestow grace. Derek Tidball
An Invitation: When any of you [Then] the Lord called to Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting. He said, Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When anyone among you brings an offering to the Lord, bring as your offering an animal from either the herd or the flock. Leviticus 1:1-2
Sacrifice: Chronological Order Sin (Purification) Offering Trespass (Reparation) Offering Burnt (Whole Burnt) Offering Grain (Meal) Offering Peace (Fellowship) Offering
Sacrifice: Logical/Theological Order Burnt (Whole Burnt) Offering Grain (Meal) Offering Peace (Fellowship) Offering Sin (Purification) Offering Trespass (Reparation) Offering
Holy of Holies Tabernacle Ark of Covenant Tent of Meeting Altar Laver
From the Herd If the offering is a burnt offering from the herd, you are to offer a male without defect. You must present it at the entrance to the tent of meeting so that it will be acceptable to the LORD. Leviticus 1:3-4
Acceptance: Welcomed Into His Presence acceptance ( רצ ון) This word communicates the idea of divine pleasure and willing acceptance. God is a consuming fire who wants to fellowship with us, so making sure you are accepted is of critical importance for the worshipper. On the basis of atonement we are accepted.
From the Herd You are to lay your hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted on your behalf to make atonement for you. You are to slaughter the young bull before the LORD, and then Aaron s sons the priests shall bring the blood and splash it against the sides of the altar at the entrance to the tent of meeting. Leviticus 1:3-5
Grace: A male from the herd Why was the male required? It has been pointed out that the male might actually have been more dispensable in Israelite society because of the female s value in producing milk and offspring. Derek Tidball
Humility: A male from the herd The choice of the male may reflect the dominance of that sex in that society. It may well have embraced a more pragmatic purpose also. Where a choice was involved, male animals were more expendable than females in a society in which livestock was equivalent to both capital and income. Fewer males than females were necessary for the survival of the herds and flocks, since the male was used only periodically for purposes of breeding. R.K. Harrison
Sprinkle: Visible Display of Blood spinkle, splash, dash, throw, toss (ז רק) This blood is taken and displayed on the sides of the altar. The English word sprinkle is a bit soft for the meaning here. The idea of a throwing or making a splash with the blood is more accurate. The overt display of blood is emphasized.
From the Herd You are to skin the burnt offering and cut it into pieces. The sons of Aaron the priest are to put fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire. Then Aaron s sons the priests shall arrange the pieces, including the head and the fat, on the wood that is burning on the altar. You are to wash the internal organs and the legs with water, and the priest is to burn all of it on the altar. It is a burnt offering, a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the LORD. Leviticus 1:6-9
Identification: A Substitute Dies lay, press, lean, prop (ס מ ך) This is not a causal touch. This is the worshipper leaning hard against the animal and even holding it in place. The worshipper is propping himself on the animal or the animal on him as the life of the animal ebbs away and dies in his arms after he slits the animal s throat.
From the Flock If the offering is a burnt offering from the flock, from either the sheep or the goats, you are to offer a male without defect. You are to slaughter it at the north side of the altar before the Lord, and Aaron s sons the priests shall splash its blood against the sides of the altar. You are to cut it into pieces, and the priest shall arrange them, including the head and the fat, on the wood that is burning on the altar. You are to wash the internal organs and the legs with water, and the priest is to bring all of them and burn them on the altar. It is a burnt offering, a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the LORD. Leviticus 1:10-13
From the Birds If the offering to the Lord is a burnt offering of birds, you are to offer a dove or a young pigeon. The priest shall bring it to the altar, wring off the head and burn it on the altar; its blood shall be drained out on the side of the altar. He is to remove the crop and the feathers and throw them down east of the altar where the ashes are. He shall tear it open by the wings, not dividing it completely, and then the priest shall burn it on the wood that is burning on the altar. It is a burnt offering, a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the LORD. Leviticus 1:14-17
Sacrifice: The Ritual Lay his hand on his head slaughter it before the LORD splash the blood
Burnt Offering: Active Involvement [The worshipper] was actively involved in the worship. He had to choose an unblemished animal from his own flock, bring it to the sanctuary, kill it and dismember it with his own hands, then watch it go up in smoke before his very eyes. Gordon Wenham
An Aroma: Pleasing to YHWH ( ריה נ יח וח ) an aroma pleasing to the LORD (1:9, 13, 17)
An Aroma: Pleasing to YHWH As the smoke ascended to heaven, the idea of the pleasing smell was transferred to God to express the effect of the offering. God did not simply accept the worshipper and the offering it gave him pleasure. Allen Ross
Burnt Offering: Access to God The most important question that anyone can ask is: how can an impure, sinful, and mortal creature find access into the presence of God both now and in the world come? Scripture, of course, reveals that God in his infinite wisdom has graciously provided the way. And a significant part of that revelation about that way unfolds in the ritual of the burnt offering. Allen Ross
Burnt Offering: Holocaust Burnt Offering, Whole Burnt Offering (ע ל ה) This word means to go up or ascend. The idea is that this offering creates a column of smoke that rises up to God. The complete offering is burnt on the altar. It totally belongs to God and God takes all of it.
Burnt Offering: Up in Smoke The characteristic feature of the burnt offering was that the whole animal (apart from the skin, Lev. 7:8, or crop, 1:16) was burned on the altar. The Hebrew term for burnt offering (ע ל ה) probably means ascending, i.e. to God in smoke. Gordon Wenham
Burnt Offering: Total Surrender The essential meaning of the sacrifice is explicitly and powerfully captured in the ritual itself. The distinguishing feature of this sacrifice, as opposed to others, was that the whole of it was burnt up on the altar. It speaks of total surrender, entire consecration and complete dedication to God. None of it is held back. It is offered without reserve. No less than an unqualified and unreserved giving of oneself, as represented by the substituted victim, was or is an adequate response to the saving grace and covenant love of God. Derek Tidball
Total: Surrender and Acceptance No portion of the animal was consumed by priests or worshippers; rather, the animal was consumed on the altar. Thus it signifies both complete surrender to God by the offer and complete acceptance by God of the worshipper who brought it. Allen Ross
Reason: The Revelation of the Offering The LORD invites everyone to draw near. (1:1-2)
Leviticus: Windows into the Heart of God The majestic God of the exodus and of Sinai coveted a close friendship with His people. Yet they were not to take this privilege lightly. Derek Tidball
Reason: The Revelation of the Offering The LORD must be approached on the basis of substitutionary atonement. (1:3-17)
Identification: A Substitute Dies As the ritual began, the worshipper pressed on the animal s head and held it while he slit the throat. This dramatic act was an emotional experience the animal died at the hand of the offerer, crumpled to the ground at the offerer s feet. Perceptive worshippers knew, as later revelation confirmed, that it should have been their blood that was shed and their bodies that lay lifeless before the altar. Allen Ross
Identification: A Substitute Dies Ownership Identification Transferred Sin
Sacrifice: A Robust Theology There is no access to a holy God in heaven or in our spiritual walk without the death of the sinner. It is impossible unless God graciously makes the way.
Reason: The Revelation of the Offering The LORD makes a way for anyone to come to Him. ( herd 1:3, flock 1:10, bird 1:14)
Leviticus: Windows into the Heart of God The unmistakable message is that God wishes to exclude no one from enjoying His presence on the grounds of cost. God does not expect the ordinary Israelite to give what they could not afford. His grace is inclusive and His welcome is wide. Derek Tidball
Reason: The Revelation of the Offering The LORD requires that the blood and the body be sacrificed. (1:4-9, 11-13, 15-17)
Blood: Life Given to Make Atonement For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one s life. Leviticus 17:11
Without Blemish: Only the Best God was not to be passed off with second best. He deserved nothing but the best. To this extent the sacrifice was to be costly to the giver. Derek Tidball
Reason: The Revelation of the Offering The LORD allows the substitute to make atonement. (1:4)
Atonement: Appease, Satisfy atone, appease, pacify, expiate, ransom (כ פ ר) This important word (Yom Kippur = Day of Atonement) carries the idea of appeasement or satisfying the wrath or anger of God because of sin. The reaction over sin is removed so that fellowship between God and man can begin or begin again. Forgiveness and fellowship is the result because the barrier of sin has been removed.
Atonement: Appease, Satisfy The verb (כ פ ר) means to appease, pacify, expiate ; it indicates the removal of sin or defilement so that the potential wrath of God is stayed; the result is that the sinner is at peace with God. Allen Ross
Ransom: A High Price to Pay Access to God through atonement has always been by grace, through faith. God in his mercy allowed sinful man to offer a ransom payment for sins, so that he escaped the death penalty that his iniquities merit. As ransoms are want to be, the burnt offering was a high price to pay. Gordon Wenham
Reason: The Revelation of the Offering The LORD is pleased with the atonement sacrifice. (1:9, 13, 17)
Atonement: Gracious Provision Through provision of a sacrifice, sin and defilement are purged so that the offerer once again can enjoy communion with the holy LORD God. Such atonement is possible only because of the idea substitution. Allen Ross
Leviticus: Windows into the Heart of God The Lord accepts with pleasure whoever comes into His presence on the basis of substitutionary atonement by the shedding of blood.
Christ: Fulfillment and Full Revelation The rituals of Leviticus were all written with Christ in mind.
Christ: Fulfillment and Full Revelation First he said, Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them though they were offered in accordance with the law. Then he said, Here I am, I have come to do your will. He sets aside the first to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Hebrews 10:8-10
Reality: Realization in Christ God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood to be received by faith. Romans 3:25
Reality: Realization in Christ For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 1 Peter 1:18-19
Application: Just One Life to Give Believers who truly appreciate the wonder of God s grace have no life of their own, nor do they desire one. For nothing pleases them more than being an aroma that is acceptable to God; an offering, composed of the totality of their beings, that He accepts. Derek Tidball
LEVITICUS Windows into the Heart of God