Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Leviticus 1:15-17

15 And the priest shall bring it unto the altar, and wring off his head, and burn it on the altar; and the blood thereof shall be wrung out at the side of the altar:

16 And he shall pluck away his crop with his feathers, and cast it beside the altar on the east part, by the place of the ashes:

17 And he shall cleave it with 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 sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord.

With how much smaller a bird is than a livestock animal, it is not surprising that the method of slaughtering and offering it would be quite different. While it does not say so in this chapter, the Talmud explains that livestock animals were killed with a slash across the throat. The bird, however, had its entire head wrung off. Both cases, then, featured a severance of mind and heart.

The now-headless bird would have the crop and feathers pulled away, then torn partway in half, though not all the way through, and was finally burned upon the altar. This seems to reflect the way that the ram or bullock were divided into their various parts. These offerings were not cast upon the flame as an enclosed body. They were opened sufficiently for the purifying fire to touch every part, to play upon every secret place within.

So, too, it is meant to be with us. It doesn’t do to just commit ourselves to the Lord, generally. We must open ourselves up and give Him our heart, and our mind, and our strength, and our time, and our sexuality, and our reactions, and our hopes, and all our other individual and secret parts. His purifying fire must play on all we are made up of.

SacrificeEligible animalsStepsExplanation
Burnt offeringRam, Bullock, Pigeon, TurtledoveGiving our life to God’s purposes
Male, without blemishGive our very best
Hands placed on head, slaughteredAnimal takes the place of us
Slaughtered on the NorthRecommitment on the side of our journey
Blood sprinkled around altarOur life is sprinkled over God’s work
Cut in pieces, and washedEach part of us measured and made clean
Crop pulled off, torn nearly in halfEach inner part of us exposed to God’s purifying fire
The whole thing burned on the altarOur lives consumed in service to God

Full table.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Leviticus 1:14

14 And if the burnt sacrifice for his offering to the Lord be of fowls, then he shall bring his offering of turtledoves, or of young pigeons.

We already heard that the burnt sacrifice could be made with a ram or bullock, now we learn that it could also be made with a bird, either a turtledove or a pigeon. This is the first time we have heard of a bird sacrifice, so there is quite a bit to cover in how it was to be offered.

First of all, we have to acknowledge the great value disparity between a bird and the other animal types. Clearly the sacrifice of a ram or a bullock was much more substantial than a couple pigeons or turtledoves. The reason for this much cheaper option is not explained here, but it is addressed later on. “Anyone who cannot afford a lamb is to bring two doves or two young pigeons to the Lord as a penalty for their sin,” (Leviticus 5:7, NIV). Thus, if you could afford a livestock animal, you were to provide one, but so as not to make sacrifice unattainable to the poor, this other option was made available to them.

The sacrifice was therefore somewhat proportional to what you had. Like the widow with the two mites, your offering was relative to what you had. The ability to approach the Lord was meant for all of His people. So long as they were willing to come and offer something substantive to them, personally, then they could participate in all His blessings.

There is no record that suggests that there was any audit to compare the wealth of the Israelites and assign them which type of animal to bring as an offering. Perhaps it operated under a sort of honor system. You, yourself, would gauge if you had the means for a smaller or a larger sacrifice. Obviously, if anyone came to the tabernacle with a lesser sacrifice than they could afford, they would be undermining the very purpose for being there. God would know the truth of the matter, and they would be cultivating offense, not favor, with Him.

SacrificeEligible animalsStepsExplanation
Burnt offeringRam, Bullock, Pigeon, TurtledoveGiving our life to God’s purposes
Male, without blemishGive our very best
Hands placed on head, slaughteredAnimal takes the place of us
Slaughtered on the NorthRecommitment on the side of our journey
Blood sprinkled around altarOur life is sprinkled over God’s work
Cut in pieces, and washedEach part of us measured and made clean
The whole thing burned on the altarOur lives consumed in service to God

Full table.