This introductory study of the OT offerings presents a good framework to help us in a deeper appreciation of the Lord and His mighty work.
The book of Leviticus was the handbook of the Aaronic priest in OT times, giving instruction about how he should approach God with various physical offerings and describing their accompanying ceremonies. Thankfully, in our day, the sacrifice of Christ has done away with this complex, arduous, yet God-given system of animal sacrifices. We read “But this man [Christ], after He had offered one sacrifice for sin forever, sat down at the right hand of God” (Heb. 9:11).
Now, although the Levitical system has been superseded, nevertheless the principles contained in it regarding priesthood and its function are invaluable to the NT priesthood in the offering of spiritual sacrifices. This article is intended to stimulate renewed interest in this important book and to promote intelligent worship among the Lord’s people.
Overall Comments
The book opens by describing to us five offerings, some of which were mandatory, and others which were voluntary. These are:
• The voluntary (or gift) offerings: the burnt, peace, and meal offerings
• The mandatory (or guilt) offerings: the sin and trespass offerings.
It should be observed that when God begins to describe how man can approach Him, He begins with the burnt offering which was wholly for Himself, and the offerings proceed downwards, until we reach the point where sin and trespass are being dealt with. In this order, we see God reaching out to man.
In our experience the order is reversed. Our first appreciation of Christ is that He died for our sins, as seen in the trespass offering, and that He died to put away sin, as seen in the sin offering. But as we mature spiritually, we begin to appreciate something of what Christ and Calvary meant to God, altogether apart from ourselves and our needs. We begin to appreciate what is spoken of in the peace, meal, and burnt offerings.
It must also be noted that, without exception, all the animal offerings are specified by God to be “without blemish.” Since these offerings prefigured Christ, God was careful to preserve the thought of His sinless impeccability—even in type—because, apart from this, the sacrifice of Christ would have been meaningless. Thank God He was “holy, harmless and undefiled, separate from sinners”: a fit sacrifice for sin.
The Voluntary (Gift) Offerings
The Burnt Offering (Lev. 1; 6:9-13)
The burnt offering was the highest grade of offering that one could offer. The animals had to be males of the first year and without blemish. A turtle dove was another possibility. In this offering all was for God, with nothing for man, except that the priest got the skin. Here we have the highest appreciation that humankind can ever arrive at in worship—where all is seen from God’s viewpoint without any thought of man. The poet captured this thought when he wrote “Blessed Lord, our hearts would treasure All the Father’s thoughts of Thee.”
The Gospel of John most vividly displays Christ at the burnt offering. There we learn what Christ meant to God, and the delight that the Son gave to the Father. We read, “for I do always those things that please Him” (Jn. 8:29). And “Glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son may also glorify Thee” (Jn. 17:1).
The Meal Offering (Lev. 2; 6:14-23)
The meal offering was not a blood offering. Its basic constituents were fine flour, oil, frankincense, and salt, with the prohibition of honey or leaven. As such, it prefigures the perfect sinless life of the Lord Jesus. The fine flour portrayed His perfect humanity; the oil signified the activity of the Holy Spirit in connection with Christ, from His incarnation (fine flour mingled with oil; Lk. 1:35) to His public annunciation when the Spirit rested on Him at His baptism (wafers anointed with oil; 3:22).
Then we have His sufferings portrayed in the preparation of the meal offering:
• baked in a flat pan—sufferings that were open for all to see
• baked in a pan with sides—sufferings where man was only able to see the surface, without appreciating the depths
• baked in an oven—sufferings that were completely hidden from view; the hidden sufferings that the Lord Jesus endured alone such as in the wilderness of Judea, in Gethsemane, and in the darkness of the cross; sufferings which man can never appreciate.
It is also noteworthy that the meal offering does not appear to have been offered by itself but always as an accompanying offering to the animal sacrifices. This is particularly seen in the book of Numbers. This tells us that, while the perfect life of Christ did not atone for sin, it was an essential accompaniment to the effectiveness of His sacrifice at Calvary.
The Peace Offering (Lev. 3; 7:9, 11, 29-34)
In this case the offerer could offer from the herd, or a lamb, or a goat, male or female. This offering is the first where the priest had a portion of the animal sacrifice once God’s altar had been satisfied. The priest was given the heave shoulder and the wave breast for food. This offering prefigures our peace with God and the resulting fellowship we enjoy with Him, through the death of Christ (cf. Rom. 5:1; Col. 1:20; Eph. 2:13). It also introduces us to the fact that we must daily feed on the perfections of Christ in order to sustain our priestly activity. The breast indicates His affections, and the shoulder, His sustaining strength. How critical it is for saints to be occupied with these things.
The Mandatory (Guilt) Offerings
The Sin Offering (Lev. 4; 6:25-30)
The regulations for the sin offering were the most complex and rigorous of all the offerings. Referring to the chart (p. 23), it will be seen that the required sacrifice differed depending on who committed the sin. A different procedure had to be followed for a priest, the congregation, a ruler, and the common people. We learn that the greater the office occupied, the greater the consequences.
So also in our day, the sin of a person holding a public place in the assembly has farther-reaching effects than the sin of other saints. We learn that an increase in privilege brings a corresponding increase in accountability and responsibility.
Note that after blood was brought into the holy place and the altar had been satisfied (in the case of the priest or congregation that sinned), the remainder was taken outside the camp and burned. So we read, “Wherefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered without the gate” (Heb. 13:12). This offering prefigures the death of Christ as related to the principle of sin rather than its fruit, sins. In cases where the blood was not taken into the holy place, the priest could have the remainder for food, provided it was eaten in the holy place.
The Trespass Offering (Lev. 5:1-6:7; 7:1-7)
In the sin offering, no specific sins are identified, but the trespass offering is much more definitive and deals with particular sins. This is the earliest appreciation that the sinner has of Christ and the cross—that it had to do with his sins. We read, “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3). Note the variety of possible offerings to accommodate the poorest of people. We read twice over: “If he be not able to bring…” (Lev. 9:7, 11) and are then given alternates that he could afford. What a picture of the mercy and grace of God, reaching out to us in all our sinful bankruptcy, and yet making His great salvation available to us through Christ.
Space does not allow us to deal with this great subject exhaustively, as there are so many other hidden truths to help us understand the person of Christ and His Sacrifice, but these thoughts should hopefully stimulate the desire to follow-up on this great topic.