Leviticus 1:3 ¶ 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. 4 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.
5 And he shall kill the bullock before
the LORD: and the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall bring the blood, and sprinkle
the blood round about upon the altar that is by the door of the
tabernacle of the congregation. 6 And he
shall flay the burnt offering, and cut it into his pieces. 7 And the sons of Aaron the priest shall put
fire upon the altar, and lay the wood in order upon the fire: 8 And the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall lay the
parts, the head, and the fat, in order upon the wood that is on the fire
which is upon the altar: 9 But
his inwards and his legs shall he wash in water: and the priest shall burn all
on the altar, to be a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a
sweet savour unto the LORD.
Previously, burnt sacrifices, apart from the Passover lamb, have
been referred to in Exodus 10:25; 20:24; and 30:9.
The burnt sacrifice is also called an offering.
Exodus 10:25 And Moses
said, Thou must give us also sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice unto the LORD our God.
See how by contrasting verses 3 and 4 a burnt sacrifice and a
burnt offering are the same thing. While I am not much for the so-called
nuggets from the Hebrew that many evangelical pastors like to use it is
interesting that the Hebrew word has its root in a meaning of ascending, to go
up. Think of Christ ascending to heaven after offering Himself as our
sacrifice.
Acts 1:9 And when he had
spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received
him out of their sight.
This animal, a male without
blemish, must be without defect, injury, or sickness, what we would call
today perfect without physical deformity. This would degenerate into pure
ritual without any regard for God’s authority over the Jews.
Malachi
1:8 And if ye offer the blind for
sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil?
offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy
person? saith the LORD of hosts.
Our Lord Jesus Christ was perfect spiritually without sin.
Hebrews 4:14 Seeing then
that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the
Son of God, let us hold fast our
profession. 15 For we have not an high
priest which
cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in
all points tempted like as we are, yet
without sin. 16 Let us therefore come
boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to
help in time of need.
The Christian also offers themselves a living sacrifice to God and
while we are all accepted male and female without restriction due to physical
defect our hearts must be perfect and complete toward God, even though as human
beings we will sin against Him but have our Advocate in Christ, who is our
ransom to God for our sin and our sacrifice.
Romans 12:1 ¶ I beseech you
therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a
living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye
transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and
perfect, will of God. 3 For I say,
through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought
to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the
measure of faith.
Galatians 3:28 There is
neither Jew nor Greek [used to refer to any Gentile in Paul’s
Roman world], there is neither bond nor
free [social status or condition of life], there is neither male nor female: for ye
are all one in Christ Jesus.
God required a ransom to be paid to Him for sin. Some modern
evangelicals and high churchmen like Westcott and Hort among some Baptist
preachers I have heard declared that Christ’s sacrifice was a ransom to Satan,
which is blasphemy, as Satan is NOT some kind of counter-God but can do nothing
without God permitting him within constraints set by God as we saw in Job.
Exodus 30:12 When thou
takest the sum of the children of Israel after their number, then shall they
give every man a ransom for his
soul unto the LORD, when thou numberest them; that there be no plague among
them, when thou numberest them.
Psalm 49:7 None of them can by any means redeem his
brother, nor give to God a ransom
for him:
Mark 10:45 For even the
Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his
life a ransom for many.
1Timothy 2:6 Who gave
himself a ransom for all, to be
testified in due time.
God will offer Himself, blameless and perfect, to Himself in a way
we could never accomplish and in a way the Hebrews never accomplished on their
own.
Christ, God in the flesh, is the propitiation for our rebellion
against God with a propitiation being an act of appeasing God’s anger at us.
God did it all Himself.
Romans 3:25 Whom God hath
set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his
blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past,
through the forbearance of God;
1John 2:2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for
ours only, but also for the sins of
the whole world.
1John 4:10 Herein is love,
not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
This sacrifice is offered of the Hebrew man or woman’s own voluntary will. As Paul will say in
the context of a church giving to assist other churches in need.
2Corinthians
9:7 Every man according as he purposeth
in his heart, so let him give;
not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God
loveth a cheerful giver.
The
Hebrew puts his hands on the head of his offering in the symbolic transferal of
ownership to God, knowing that it is he himself who is worthy of death, and
this animal is given completely to God’s service as atonement for sin. This
transfer is also noteworthy in Christian belief as first the Holy Ghost and
spiritual gifts were given at times by the laying on of hands of the Apostles
and then service and authority as a steward of the mysteries of God was given
also.
Acts 8:18 And when Simon
saw that through laying on of
the apostles’ hands the Holy
Ghost was given, he offered them money,
1Timothy 4:14 Neglect not
the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.
Hebrews
6:2 Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of
laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the
dead, and of eternal judgment.
This
burnt offering is not for a specific sin but for sin in general understanding
that the animal committed no sin but is being sacrificed for the sin of
another. Christ also will be cut off and killed, not for himself, but for
others.
Daniel
9:26a And after threescore and two weeks
shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself…
The
blood of the sacrifice, an atonement for sin, is sprinkled round about the
altar. This burnt sacrifice is a sweet-smelling savour to God, as Christ will
be.
Ephesians
5:2 And walk in love, as Christ also
hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God
for a sweetsmelling savour.
Now, as Matthew Henry pointed out, God accepts the spiritual
sacrifices of Christians. No longer are animal sacrifices, pointing to Christ,
required.
1Peter 2:5 Ye also, as
lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up
spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 13:15 By him
therefore let us offer the sacrifice
of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving
thanks to his name.
Think
of what the Old Testament prophet, Micah, wrote;
Micah 7:18 Who is a God like unto thee, that
pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his
heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. 19 He will turn again, he will have compassion
upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into
the depths of the sea.
One more thing about this offering from this passage. To draw
close to God with an offering for us is to draw close to God with Christ as our
offering. In this, Jew and Gentile are made of two, one new man and woman, in
the Church. The barrier between us is removed and between man and God is torn
asunder.
Ephesians 2:11 ¶ Wherefore
remember, that ye being in time
past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is
called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; 12
That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the
commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no
hope, and without God in the world: 13
But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by
the blood of Christ.
14 ¶ For he is our peace, who hath made both one,
and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; 15 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; 16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in
one body by the cross,
having slain the enmity thereby: 17 And came and preached peace to you which were
afar off, and to them that were nigh. 18
For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
19 Now therefore ye are no more
strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the
household of God; 20 And are built upon
the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the
chief corner stone; 21 In whom all the building fitly framed
together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: 22 In whom ye also are builded together for an
habitation of God through the Spirit.
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