LEVITICUS
Five most important offerings or sacrifices
1
📚And the LORD called to Moses, and spoke to him out of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying, 2 📚“Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, If any man of you brings an offering to the LORD, you shall bring your offering of animals from the herd, and from the flock.1:2 In the first seven chapters of this book five different offerings are described – burnt, grain, peace, sin, and guilt. Three of these are called “soothing aroma” (burnt, grain and peace), the remaining two are not. None of these offerings could take away sin or make the worshiper perfectly fit for God’s presence (Heb 10:1, 4). By bringing them the worshiper showed his faith and his desire for forgiveness and acceptance by God. God, seeing the believer’s offering, “covered” his sins and forgave him.
All of these offerings signify the Lord Jesus Christ the Lamb of God who was sacrificed to take away the sins of all His people, both those who lived before Christ and afterwards (John 1:29; Isa 53:7; Eph 5:2; Heb 10:12; 1 Pet 1:19; Rev 5:6, 8, 9, 12). It is Christ’s one offering that fits His people perfectly for God’s presence (Heb 10:14, 19-22). Each of these five offerings in Leviticus signifies a different element in Christ’s one sacrifice on the cross. In each offering there are types and symbols, some clear as to meaning, some perhaps not so clear. We suggest certain meanings. Let the reader carefully and prayerfully search out the matter himself, comparing scripture with scripture.🪶
3 📚“If his offering is a burnt sacrifice from 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.
1:3 The burnt offering signifies Christ in His entire obedience to God, His complete and willing offering of Himself in love to God (Matt 26:39; John 6:38; 10:11, 17, 18; Heb 10:5-7). This offering was burned completely on the altar (note at v 13). The ox probably signifies obedient service (Deut 25:4; Isa 1:3; Ezek 1:10), and here signifies Christ as the obedient servant of God (Phil 2:5-8). ⚜
4 📚And he shall put his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement 📖 for him.
1:4Lev 3:2, 8; Ex 29:10, 15, 19. Laying on of hands signified the acceptance of the offering in the place of the one bringing the offering. The person should have died for his sin; the animal died instead. Christ died for us, in our place, as our substitute (2 Cor 5:14-15; Gal 2:20). We must, so to speak, lay our hands on His head, that is, accept Him as our offering. Otherwise His offering will not save us.🪶
5 📚And he shall kill the young ox before the LORD. And the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall bring the blood, and sprinkle the blood all around on the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
1:5 Note on priests at Ex 28:1. Here both the priest and the offering signify Christ. When Christ became a sacrifice He was also the priest who made the offering (Matt 26:26-28; John 6:51; Heb 7:26-27; 9:11-14). Blood in all Old Testament sacrifices signifies Christ’s blood (Matt 26:28; Rom 3:25; Heb 9:12, 14, 22), and the altar speaks of the cross where the Lord Jesus died. Note at Ex 27:1-8.🪶
6 📚And he shall skin the burnt offering, and cut it into its pieces.
1:6 Note at Lev 7:8.🪶
7 📚And the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire on the altar, and arrange the wood on the fire.
8 📚And the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall arrange the parts, the head, and the fat, on the wood that is on the fire which is on the altar,
9 📚but he shall wash 📖 its inner parts and its legs in water. And the priest shall burn all of it on the altar as a burnt offering, an offering made by fire of a soothing 📖 aroma to the LORD.
10 📚“And if his offering is a burnt offering from the flocks, from the sheep 📖 or from the goats 📖, he shall bring a male without blemish. 11 📚And he shall kill it on the north side of the altar before the LORD, and the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall sprinkle its blood all around on the altar. 12 And he shall cut it into its pieces, with its head and its fat. And the priest shall arrange them on the wood that is on the fire which is on the altar, 13 📚but he shall wash the inner parts and the legs with water. And the priest shall bring it all and burn it on the altar. It is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, of a soothing aroma to the LORD.
1:13 Unlike some other offerings this one was completely consumed by fire on the altar. This was the only one of these five offerings which could not be eaten by the priests. The particular sin offering the blood of which was taken into the Most Holy Place also could not be eaten (Lev 16:27). The other sin offerings, and all the other offerings the priests were permitted to eat, except some that were offered by the priests themselves. The burnt offering was all for God. In other words, one aspect of Christ’s sacrifice was for God alone (John 8:29; 17:4).🪶
14 📚“And if his offering to the LORD is a burnt offering of birds, then he shall bring his offering from doves or from young pigeons. 15 📚And the priest shall bring it to the altar, and wring off its head and burn it on the altar. And its blood shall be drained out at the side of the altar. 16 📚And he shall take away its crop with its feathers, and throw it beside the altar on the east side, by the place of the ashes. 17 📚And he shall tear it by its wings, but shall not divide it completely in two. And the priest shall burn it on the altar, on the wood that is on the fire. It is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, of a soothing aroma to the LORD.
1:14-17 Doves and pigeons were the offerings of the poor who could not afford to bring bullocks, sheep, or goats (Lev 5:7; 12:8). Doves were the offering of Mary and Joseph at the birth of Jesus (Luke 2:22-24). This shows their poverty. Doves and pigeons are associated in the Bible with mourning and innocence (Isa 38:14; 59:11). They may possibly signify Christ as the innocent man of sorrows (Isa 53:3; Matt 23:37; Heb 7:26).🪶
1:17 Though the burnt offering signifies Christ, it also reveals what the believer should be and do (Rom 12:1-2).🪶