Does Dad gain by giving his little ones money to buy him a gift? Yes! They turn his money into love.
Although there were differences in the ways of preparing offerings from the herds, the flocks, and the fowls, the basic principle was always the same. The Hebrew word qorb?n, translated 36 times in Leviticus as “offering” or “oblation,” means something brought near. That was the role of the offerer. Then it was priestly work to place it “in order on the wood that is on the fire upon the altar” (1:8). That which had been brought near would then begin to go up as a sweet aroma to the Lord. The Hebrew word for “burnt sacrifice” (vv 3, 9, 10, 13, 14, 17), as we noted, is olah, meaning “ascending.” So here is the vital point. It was the individual who brought it, but it was God’s plan to bring it. It was God’s priest who presented it. It was also God’s fire that consumed it, as we will see in chapter 9. And, most importantly, it was God’s sacrifice that was offered. David noted this in his prayer as Solomon was about to build the temple: “But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly as this? For all things come from You, and of Your own we have given You” (1 Chron 29:14). Who could make a bull or a lamb or a dove, or even a sheaf of grain, but the Lord? And today who gives us the thoughts and words and ability to speak in worship? Who stirs the love in our hearts? “We love Him because He first loved us” (1 Jn 4:19). And yet… We do bring the offering to Him. We do agree with Him that His Son is as wonderful as He thinks He is. And we do, and forever will, find childlike delight in opening up His endless supply of exquisite gifts found in the Person we adore. Will we ever come to the end of it? “For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen” (Rom 11:36).