Leviticus 1:3-17

b. THE BURNT OFFERING 1:3-17
TEXT 1:3-17

3

If his oblation be a burnt-offering of the herd, he shall offer it a male without blemish: he shall offer it at the door of the tent of meeting, that he may be accepted before Jehovah.

4

And he shall lay 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 Jehovah: and Aaron's sons, the priests, shall present the blood, and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that is at the door of the tent of meeting.

6

And he shall flay the burnt-offering, and cut it into its pieces.

7

And the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire upon the altar, and lay wood in order upon the fire;

8

and Aaron's sons, the priests, shall lay the pieces, the head, and the fat, in order upon the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar:

9

but its inwards and its legs shall he wash with water. And the priest shall burn the whole on the altar, for a burnt-offering, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto Jehovah.

10

And if his oblation be of the flock, of the sheep, or of the goats, for a burnt-offering; he shall offer it a male without blemish.

11

And he shall kill it on the side of the altar northward before Jehovah: and Aaron's sons, the priests, shall sprinkle its blood upon the altar round about.

12

And he shall cut it into its pieces, with its head and its fat; and the priest shall lay them in order on the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar:

13

but the inwards and the legs shall he wash with water. And the priest shall offer the whole, and burn it upon the altar: it is a burnt-offering, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto Jehovah.

14

And if his oblation to Jehovah be a burnt-offering of birds, then he shall offer his oblation of turtle-doves, or of young pigeons.

15

And the priest shall bring it unto the altar, and wring off its head, and burn it on the altar; and the blood thereof shall be drained out on the side of the altar,

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and he shall take away its crop with the filth thereof, and cast it beside the altar on the east part, in the place of the ashes:

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and he shall rend it by the wings thereof, but shall not divide it asunder. And the priest shall burn it upon the altar, upon the wood that is upon the fire: it is a burnt-offering, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto Jehovah.

THOUGHT QUESTIONS 1:3-17

5.

When and why would a citizen of Israel make a burnt offering, i.e. for what purpose?

6.

Why no females of the herd or flock for an offering?

7.

The voluntary nature of this offering could teach something of its purpose. Explain.

8.

Just where was the door of the tabernacle? (i.e., east, west, north or south?) Cf. Exodus 29:42-43.

9.

In what sense before the Lord?

10.

What was indicated in placing the hands upon the head of the victim?

11.

Who accepted the sacrifice? For what purpose? Is at-one-ment a good definition of purpose?

12.

Who kills the young bull? Why? How?

13.

Just where was the blood to be sprinkled?

14.

All of this was done before the Lord. Why this thought is repeated so often?

15.

Is there some significance in skinning and cutting the animal into pieces?

16.

Wasn-'t the fire already upon the altar? (Cf. Leviticus 6:13) What is meant in Leviticus 1:7?

17.

Is there any possible symbolic meaning in the fire and the wood? Cf. Hebrews 12:29; Psalms 90:8.

18.

Who washes the insides and legs of the flayed animal? Why?

19.

The whole animal is burnedwhy? It would seem that the stench from such burning would be anything but a sweet savor. Explain.

20.

In the case of sheep or goats the particular place for the slaying is prescribed. Why?

21.

If there were 100 worshippers per day who wanted to make a burnt offering it would seem the priests would have quite a busy timebut supposing there were 1,000 per day? Discuss.

22.

Why prescribe the use of turtledoves or young pigeons?

23.

Who kills this sacrifice? Why?

24.

To where is the blood applied?

25.

What is removed from the birds? Why?

26.

In what sense was the fowl cut but not severed?

PARAPHRASE 1:3-17

If your sacrifice is to be an ox given as a burnt offering, use only a bull with no physical defects. Bring the animal to the entrance of the Tabernacle where the priests will accept your gift for the Lord. The person bringing it is to lay his hand upon its head, and it then becomes his substitute: the death of the animal will be accepted by God instead of the death of the man who brings it, as the penalty for his sins. The man shall then kill the animal there before the Lord, and Aaron's sons, the priests, will present the blood before the Lord, sprinkling it upon all sides of the altar at the entrance of the Tabernacle. Then the priests will skin the animal and quarter it, and build a wood fire upon the altar, and put the sections of the animal and its head and fat upon the wood. The internal organs and the legs are to be washed, then the priests will burn them upon the altar, and they will be an acceptable burnt offering with which the Lord is pleased. If the animal used as a burnt offering is a sheep or a goat, it too must be a male, and without any blemishes. The man who brings it will kill it before the Lord on the north side of the altar, and Aaron's sons, the priests, will sprinkle its blood back and forth upon the altar. Then the man will quarter it, and the priests will lay the pieces, with the head and the fat, on top of the wood on the altar. But the internal organs and the legs shall first be washed with water. Then the priests shall burn it all upon the altar as an offering to the Lord; for burnt offerings give much pleasure to the Lord. If anyone wishes to use a bird as his burnt offering, he may choose either turtle doves or young pigeons. A priest will take the bird to the altar and wring off its head, and the blood shall be drained out at the side of the altar. Then the priest will remove the crop and the feathers and throw them on the east side of the altar with the ashes. Then, grasping it by the wings, he shall tear it apart, but not completely. And the priests shall burn it upon the altar, and the Lord will have pleasure in this sacrifice.

The Varieties Of Burnt Offering

The Ritual Of The Burnt Offerings

The Work Of The Priest:

Purpose: Acceptance and Atonement 1:3, 4

1. General view of the Tabernacle and court

2. The encampments of Israel around the Tabernacle

COMMENT 1:3-17

Leviticus 1:3 This sacrifice is offered by the worshipper to God to make atonement for himself. It is of help to remember that our Lord offered Himself to God on our behalf. Cf. Hebrews 9:14. Could we then say that the burnt offering symbolizes the offering of our Lord for us and the acceptance by God of this offering? We are accepted in Him, i.e. God accepts us because He accepted Christ's offering (burnt-offering) of Himself in our place. It is not a matter of who we are but rather whose we are. We were in Christ when He died. God accepted the offering of Himself therefore He accepts us. The assurance of acceptance comes from the throne of God, on which the Risen One is seated. In that acceptance the believer is included. For He made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might become the righteousness of God in Him, (2 Corinthians 5:21)

To continue this thought: the offering was to be: a male without blemish. It is a joy to remember that our Lord was a son of the herd (for so is the meaning of the word bullock) a malebut without blemish. When Jesus came to Calvary, i.e. to God's altar to offer Himself, He did so of His own free will. No man took His lifeHe voluntarily laid it down. (Cf. John 10:11; John 10:17-18) It was God who needed to see the blood on the doorpost and lintel of the passover and it is God who needs to view our acceptance in the beloved that is in our burnt offering. To summarize the beautiful comparisons: (1) A male without blemish; (2) voluntarily given; (3) in the sight of God.

Leviticus 1:4 The act of laying on of hands was expressive of full identification. By that significant act, the offerer and the offering became one; and this oneness, in the case of the burnt offering, secured for the offerer all the acceptableness of his offering. (C. H. MacKintosh) This is a most precious thought of assurance for the Christian. 1 John 4:17 states: As He was in the world, so are ye. We can think of this reference in several applications, as indeed we have, but the minimal meaning would be that as God honored and accepted His son so in Him He accepts us. As He was in the world, approved of and accepted by the Father so are ye. We are in Him that is true. 1 John 5:20. In the expression, -It shall be accepted-' the word -shall-' in the original is not in the future tense, but it is in the short or aorist tense, expressive of decision and certainty; for all the promises of God in Christ are yea and amen, to the glory of God by us. (Newberry)

Leviticus 1:5 How well the young bull could typify our Lord! The bullock plowed the field, brought in the harvest, trod out the corn for the household. A life given in service for another and finally in sacrifice for the atonement. At the same time it is very important to recall that the burnt offering's primary purpose was not to meet the sinner's surface need of forgiveness but to answer his needs at a deeper level. The burnt offering is not so much for the conscience of the offerer as for the heart of the Father.. the cross in the burnt offering is not the exhibition of the exceeding hatefulness of sin, but of Christ's unshaken and unshakable devotedness to the Father; neither is it the scene of God's out-poured wrath on Christ the sin-bearer, but of the Father's unmingled complacency in Christ the voluntary and most fragrant sacrifice. (C. H. MacKintosh) The work of Aaron's sons is most instructive: (1) Sprinkle the blood, (2) put the fire upon the altar, (3) lay the wood in order upon the altar, (4) lay the parts of the animal upon the wood that is on the fire. These parts are: the head and the fat. But this was only done after the offerer had slain and flayed the sacrifice. It is the worshipper who slays the sacrifice. It is not done for him, he must do it himself! We put Him to death! He died for my sins, but my sins were also the cause of His death. Had we not sinned He would not have died. God, who was the all-seeing One before whom this death took place saw both our sins and the sacrifice. So the enormity of the transgression was met by the value of the sacrifice; the very spear that pierced His side drew forth the blood to save. (Newberry) Was it by chance or design that the blood was sprinkled by the priests on every side of the altarnorth, south, east and west? Is it not better to think that His blood offers to us a complete or perfect protection no matter how we are approached by Satan. There is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1-2

Leviticus 1:6 We have unavoidably overlapped our discussion of Leviticus 1:5-6. The original and primary purpose in flaying the animal was to show that there was indeed no defect within even as there was none without. The cutting of the victim into various parts was to further demonstrate its internal perfection. The more closely we examine our Lord the more we appreciate His utter perfection. Perhaps we could refer to the word of God as the dissecting knife in our hand used for this blessed purpose. Just where the animal was divided or how many parts were produced we are not told (except by tradition).

Leviticus 1:7 Please pay attention to the alternate actions of the priests and worshipper. The fire on the altar of burnt-offering was never allowed to go out. Cf. Leviticus 6:13. Hence the placing of the fire upon the altar was but an arrangement of the coals of fire in such a place as to be prepared to receive the offering. The fire on the altar was traditionally started by God Himself; indeed, our God is a consuming fire. (Hebrews 12:29) Such fire could well be likened to the holiness and righteousness of God; if so, then the wood could emblematically be the sin of man which provokes the righteous indignation of God. When our sins and iniquities are set before God even as the sacrifice, they must be consumed by His indignation. This He did for us in our burnt offering.

Leviticus 1:8 It should be important to note here, there are two actions in burning this sacrifice: (1) the head and the fat, (2) the dissected body of the animal. The skin and the entrails were burned without the camp. Whereas it would seem the head and the fat are not as vital a part of the offering as the body of the animal they are yet also offered. We find no obvious symbolic comparisons in this action. If no direct, obvious analogies suggest themselves we see no reason in forcing a comparison.

Leviticus 1:9 A large quantity of water must have been used for the washing of the multitude of burnt offerings. After the head and skin and fat were removed the inside and legs of the animal were washed by the offerer, i.e. just prior to its being burned by the priests upon the altar. Purity is the keynote here; perfection and wholeness must be found without and within. Since our Lord is our burnt offering we would expect Him to pass man's examination of purity without and within, and indeed He does! As a ray of sunlight remains pure, whatever objects it might shine upon, so the pathway of our Lord Jesus was unsullied by any of the scenes through which He passed. (Newberry)

It is important to notice that in Hebrew there are three or four words which signify to BURN.

First, SAHRAPH, to -consume by burning-' as in the sin offering, outside the camp (Leviticus 4:12)

Second, MOKDAH, -to consume by slow process,-' as the ascending offering was burning all night until the morning upon the altar (Leviticus 6:9).

Third, HIKTEER, -to convert by fire into incense,-' from Kahtar, to burn incense, which is the word here employed. This, again, is a priestly act, and by this is symbolized that Christ, in His entire service, person, experience, and walk, tested by the infinite holiness and righteousness of God, was found perfect and acceptable, a sweet savour unto God; and not only so, but also a savour of rest, for so the Hebrew word implies, being that on which God could rest with full satisfaction and delight, every attribute and perfection having been manifested, harmonized, and glorified thereby. To all this God has set His seal by raising Him from the dead, and setting Him on His own right hand. Thus the so-called burnt sacrifice is, properly speaking, the ascending offering, as it sets forth Christ, not only in life and death, but in resurrection and ascension. And in Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-16 the Spirit of God invites the believer to have fellowship with God in His sabbatic rest. (Newberry)

Leviticus 1:10-13 The instructions for the offerings from the flock parallel those of the herd. The exception is the mention made in the eleventh verse that the animal is to be slain on the north side of the altar.

We have found the word of T. Newberry in a little book entitled TYPES OF LEVITICAL OFFERINGS of real value; we quote him again here:

In the offerings from the FLOCK, Christ as the Son of God is presented especially in the excellency and perfection of His CHARACTER. First, as the LAMB of God without blemish and without spot, holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners, the meek and the lowly One; or secondly, under the figure of a GOAT, according to Romans 8:3, in the likeness of sinful flesh, though Himself sinlessthat is, made in all points like unto His brethren, yet without sin.

The offerer or worshipper, in drawing nigh to God, conscious of his own imperfection in character and conduct, approaches Him in the name of One in whom every human virtue and excellence was seen in full perfection, the chiefest among ten thousand, and the altogether lovely. To be accepted in the sweet savour of what Christ was in the estimate of God His Father, in the perfection of His life as well as in the value of His atoning death, this is signified by the offering of a SHEEP.

Under the figure of a GOAT for a burnt offering Christ is presented in another aspect, and as meeting a deeper need. The offerer in the apprehension of the sinfulness of his nature, his tendency to sin, and that in himthat is, in his fleshdwells no good thing, approaches God on the ground of the sacrifice of One in whom, though Himself sinless, God condemned sin in the flesh (Romans 8:3). For not only was sin laid upon Him as the spotless Lamb, but, under the emblem of a goat, sin was imputed to Him so that on the cross, whilst He bare and put away the iniquity of our outward transgressions, He also met our deeper need in atoning, not simply for what we have done, but for what we are; or, as Scripture expresses it, He made HIM sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Leviticus 1:14-17 All can make a burnt offering, even the most humble could purchase a turtledove or a pigeon for an offering. Indeed one of these would have been the choice of Mary and Joseph as they came to the Temple to worship. Please notice the details of this offering as carefully as the others: (1) the offering is made to Jehovah and was for the eyes of the Lord. As we have said before it is not so much am I satisfied with God, but is God satisfied with me. The most interested observer at Calvary was God Himself. Here is set forth the grounds upon which we can draw nigh to a righteous God. (2) The priest is to bring this offering to the altar and kills it by wringing its head off. The head is immediately burned on the altar. The blood is wrung out on the north side of the altar. The priest also removes the crop and the feathers. These are placed on the east side of the altar at the place where the ashes are gathered. (3) The fowls are cut or cleaved open but the body is not separated. The wings are left on the body. (4) It is burned in the same manner and for the same purpose as the others. Even though these birds are much less expensive than the animals, they are treated with the same care and are received with the same approval: it is a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto Jehovah.

Is it by chance that we have so many beautiful points of comparisons in these offerings? We think not. Consider some of the most obvious: (1) John the Baptist was to identify our Lord as the Messiah in observing the Spirit descending upon Him. But since the Spirit is invisible a dove became the identifying sign. Thus do we identify our burnt offering. When we see the dove we think of Him. (2) The dove from the days of Noah forward has been the symbol of peace. The water of God's wrath had receded and the new world made its appearancesuch was heralded by the dove with an olive branch in its beak. Is it too much to say that our Lord is our peace, in Him we have peace? (3) The dove-like attitude, (i.e. meek and quiet) that pervaded the whole life of Jesus points again to Him as our dove of acceptance. (4) Purity is also thought of as represented in the dove. Could we say undivided purity and peace in Him?

We are delighted to have had this little time in a careful study of this first chapter of a book we seldom read. How poor we have been for our neglect. Let's review the contents in a series of questions:

FACT QUESTIONS 1:3-17

5.

Is there some reason to say this burnt offering represents our Lord's sacrifice for us? Cf. Hebrews 9:14

6.

What is the primary emphasis of the burnt offering? i.e. for whose primary benefit was the offering made?

7.

List three beautiful comparisons found in this offering.

8.

What was the purpose of laying hands upon the offering?

9.

How do we relate 1 John 4:17 to this offering? Cf. 1 John 5:20

10.

Show how a bullock well represents our Lord.

11.

The burnt offering not only answers man's need for forgiveness, but meets him at a deeper level. Explain.

12.

List the four actions of Aaron's sons as related to the sacrifice.

13.

Mention three actions on the part of the worshipper.

14.

In what sense did we put Jesus to death?

15.

The blood was sprinkled on all four sides of the altar. What does this mean?

16.

Why was the animal flayed? Why dissected?

17.

Read Leviticus 6:13 and explain what is meant by the priests putting the fire on the altar.

18.

What is the possible significance of the fire and the wood? Cf. Hebrews 12:29

19.

The animal was divided twice. Explain.

20.

Why was the animal washed? How compared with our Lord?

21.

Show the meaning of the particular Hebrew word to burn as here used.

22.

Why include turtledoves and pigeons in the possible objects for a burnt offering?

23.

Who kills the animals? Who kills the birds?

24.

Who sprinkles the blood for each?

25.

In what manner or way are these fowls severed?

26.

Show three points of comparison in our Lord and the turtledove.

27.

What do you consider is the best lesson in this chapter?