Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Leviticus 5:7-10

7 And if he be not able to bring a lamb, then he shall bring for his trespass, which he hath committed, two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, unto the Lord; one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering.

8 And he shall bring them unto the priest, who shall offer that which is for the sin offering first, and wring off his head from his neck, but shall not divide it asunder:

9 And he shall sprinkle of the blood of the sin offering upon the side of the altar; and the rest of the blood shall be wrung out at the bottom of the altar: it is a sin offering.

10 And he shall offer the second for a burnt offering, according to the manner: and the priest shall make an atonement for him for his sin which he hath sinned, and it shall be forgiven him.

In the last verses we heard how the person making a trespass offering could give a lamb or a young goat, now we hear that two birds were also acceptable if one could not obtain the larger animals. Interestingly, if one went with the birds, each one represented another sub-offering. The first bird would be a sin offering, the second would be a burnt offering.

The sin offering would merely involve taking the life of the animal and wringing out its blood, nothing burned upon the altar. This, of course, represents the person wringing that which is wrong out of their lives, giving up the sin that holds them back. Then, the burnt offering, that is laid on the altar and burned as a gift to the Lord. This represents the commitment of one’s life to God.

With a larger animal, presumably there was enough material to do both of these steps in one. Blood to be sprinkled or smeared and unclean body parts to be discarded, fulfilling the sin offering portion, and good meat to be consumed on the altar, fulfilling the burnt offering portion.

Having both of these offering types as a part of the trespass offering, we see that in the grammar of sacrificial offerings, sin and burnt offerings were fundamental components, individual words that could be combined together to create more advanced sentences of surrender to the Lord.

SacrificeEligible oblationStepsExplanation
Trespass offeringLamb, young goat, two turtledoves, two pigeonsFor minor offenses and mistakes
One bird for a sin offering, one for a burnt offeringGiving up of offense and recommitment to the Lord
Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 29:15-18

15 Thou shalt also take one ram; and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the ram.

16 And thou shalt slay the ram, and thou shalt take his blood, and sprinkle it round about upon the altar.

17 And thou shalt cut the ram in pieces, and wash the inwards of him, and his legs, and put them unto his pieces, and unto his head.

18 And thou shalt burn the whole ram upon the altar: it is a burnt offering unto the Lord: it is a sweet savour, an offering made by fire unto the Lord.

After sacrificing the bullock as a sin offering, the first ram would then be offered for a burnt offering. Here the blood was not to be smeared upon the horns of mercy, but to be sprinkled all around the altar. And instead of separating the body into key parts and handling each of them differently, instead the entire ram was burned directly on the altar, though only after it had been divided and washed.

While the sin offering seemed to do with getting rid of that which was dirty and undesirable, all of this offering is desirable, and its stated effect is to bring a sweet savor brought up to the Lord. There is something much more positive about this sort of sacrifice.

In the life of the disciple, after the sacrificing of his gross sins, what follows is the giving of his life in service to God. The proper life is defined both by the wrong things that we won’t do, and also the right things that we will do. Abstaining on the one hand, proactive on the other. The latter is what today’s offering represents. If the sin offering was the giving up of one’s life doing bad things, the burnt offering was the giving of one’s life to do good.