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.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Leviticus 1:10-13

10 And if his offering be of the flocks, namely, of the sheep, or of the goats, for a burnt sacrifice; he shall bring it a male without blemish.

11 And he shall kill it on the side of the altar northward before the Lord: and the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall sprinkle his blood round about upon the altar.

12 And he shall cut it into his pieces, with his head and his fat: and the priest shall lay them in order on the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar:

13 But he shall wash the inwards and the legs with water: and the priest shall bring it all, and burn it upon the altar: it is a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord.

Now we hear the variant of the burnt offering where a sheep or goat is used, and it matches the first description that we heard back in Exodus. There is one new detail here, though, that of the offering being slaughtered on the north side of the altar.

We learned earlier that the tabernacle itself was oriented from East to West, with the entrance being on the East side, facing the rising sun. The altar was a square, and it was aligned with the walls of the tabernacle. Thus, the slaughter was performed not on the side of the altar pointing towards the entrance, nor the one pointing towards the holy place, but on the left-hand side.

That orientation perhaps suggests that our sacrifices occur along the way from the beginning of our faith to our ultimate reward. As we traverse from the entrance, continuing towards our destination, we must occasionally stop to make a sacrifice on the side, to rededicate ourselves to the journey.

Another possible meaning comes from understanding the symbolic significance of the cardinal directions to the ancient Jew. East was often seen as the good direction, progressing forward, the direction of new beginnings. In many ways it was viewed similarly to how we view North today. Whereas to the ancient Jew, North represented the mysterious and the unknown. Thus, the slaughter on the North side might be linking the animal’s death to the great unknown, the great mystery of where we go to after this life is over.

I have updated our table of sacrifices with this new information, marking the new portions in bold. The entire table can be viewed at any time at this link.

SacrificeEligible animalsStepsExplanation
Burnt offeringRam, BullockGiving 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
Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Leviticus 1:3-9

3 If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of 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.

4 And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.

5 And he shall kill the bullock before the Lord: and the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall bring the blood, and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

6 And he shall flay the burnt offering, and cut it into his pieces.

7 And the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire upon the altar, and lay the wood in order upon the fire:

8 And the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall lay the parts, the head, and the fat, in order upon the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar:

9 But his inwards and his legs shall he wash in water: and the priest shall burn all on the altar, to be a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord.

The first sacrifice described in Leviticus is a burnt offering. We heard about this kind of offering in the second half of Exodus. The description given here largely follows the pattern of that earlier record, though it provides a few new details.

First, we now know that a bullock was also an acceptable animal for the burnt offering, previously we only knew of a ram. Secondly, we learned that the offering must be an unblemished male. The significance of being unblemished is clear, one was to offer to God from the very best of his flocks.

As for being male, obviously one healthy male is able to impregnate many healthy females. Many shepherds might even have a couple dozen females for each one male. The other males would be destined for slaughter or sold as beasts of burden. Thus, to offer a male is to offer your root of life, or your personal food, or your strength of labor. Excellent symbols for the burnt sacrifice, which stood for committing one’s life and efforts to God.

I have updated our table of sacrifices with this new information, marking the new portions in bold. I have realized that this table will probably get quite large, so I will only post the most relevant portion of it here in these daily posts, but the entire table can be viewed at any time over here.

SacrificeEligible animalsStepsExplanation
Burnt offeringRam, BullockGiving our life to God’s purposes
Male, without blemishGive our very best
Hands placed on head, slaughteredAnimal takes the place of us
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
Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Leviticus 1:1-2

1 And the Lord called unto Moses, and spake unto him out of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying,

2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man of you bring an offering unto the Lord, ye shall bring your offering of the cattle, even of the herd, and of the flock.

There are quite a few offerings described in the Bible, and their symbolism and meaning can be cryptic in our modern culture. But we already saw three types of offerings at the end of Exodus and were able to find some insights on the symbolism there. If you need a refresher, here are links to each offering that was discussed:

Sin offering
Burnt offering
Consecration offering, part one
Consecration offering, part two
Daily offering

With so many offerings, it can be hard to keep separate in the mind all their different parts and purposes. Thus, as an aid to our study, I am introducing a table that we will fill out as we go, providing a clear record of each sacrifice, the rituals surrounding it, and the possible meanings that each of those might have. Hopefully this will allow us to see any repeating patterns, and to build up the grammar of sacrifice.

For now, I will populate the table with the sacrifices we already saw at the end of Exodus, then we will expand upon it with the information gained in tomorrow’s verses.

SacrificeEligible animalsStepsExplanation
Sin offeringBullockSacrifice of sin
Hands placed on head, slaughteredAnimal takes the place of us
Blood placed on horns of the altarA heartfelt plea to the Lord for mercy
Fat and kidneys burned on altarCleansing our behavior and desire
Skin, dung, and flesh burned beyond the campThe sinful behavior purged out of us
Burnt offeringRamGiving our life to God’s purposes
Hands placed on head, slaughteredAnimal takes the place of us
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
Consecration offeringRamGod and the priests sharing His portion
Hands placed on head, slaughteredAnimal takes the place of us
Blood placed on tip of ear, thumb, and toeReceiving the word, work, and path of God
Blood mixed with oil and sprinkled on personGod’s spirit given to us
Wave and Heave offeringsRam, bread, oilPart of the Consecration offering
Loaves of bread and fat, kidney, shoulder, rump, and kidneys of ram waved in the air, then burnedUs participating in the work with the Lord, and Him receiving His portion of it
Shoulder and breast of ram are also waved and heaved on the shoulders, then given to us to eatUs participating in the work with the Lord, and us receiving our portion of it
Daily offeringLamb, flour, wine, oilRegular, daily renewal of all prior covenants
All parts offered on the altar, presumably burnedGiving our time, energy, and effort for regular communion and recommitment to the Lord