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 as 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. 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.
The flaying of the
burnt offering represents the scourging of Christ and His suffering. The Romans
would scourge a condemned man, using a Flagrum or Flagellum, which was designed
to rip, to flay the skin off that condemned man. It was a short whip of leather
with metal pieces in the thongs and sometimes it even had a hook on the end to
make the result more horrible.
Isaiah 52:14 As many were
astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more
than the sons of men: 15 So shall he
sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them
shall they see; and that which
they had not heard shall they consider.
Matthew 27:26 ¶ Then
released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.
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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