7 As the sin offering is, so is the trespass offering: there is one law for them: the priest that maketh atonement therewith shall have it.
8 And the priest that offereth any man’s burnt offering, even the priest shall have to himself the skin of the burnt offering which he hath offered.
9 And all the meat offering that is baken in the oven, and all that is dressed in the fryingpan, and in the pan, shall be the priest’s that offereth it.
10 And every meat offering, mingled with oil, and dry, shall all the sons of Aaron have, one as much as another.
11 And this is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings, which he shall offer unto the Lord.
These verses repeat that the priests would eat their portion as part of the sin and meat offerings. It is new information at this point that the priests would also take part of the burnt offering, specifically the skin. While we do make food from the skin of some animals today, it does not seem likely that the priests would eat this portion. Notice that it says the priest is to “have it to himself,” suggesting that it became a possession. The skins would likely have been made into leather and crafted, or sold for money.
It does seem strange that we are finding out details of each sacrifice in such a piecemeal fashion. Why not hear everything about a burnt offering in one set of instructions, rather than getting one part here and one part there? Personally, I think it doubtful that the original instructions were so fractured. We have already seen elsewhere that the books of Moses seem to be composited together from multiple separate accounts, and I assume that that is what is happening here also.
That being said, the fractured form that we see in the Bible today is not a bad analogy for the experience of anyone seeking truth. Typically, principles and doctrine are not appreciable in their entirety all at once. We have to learn progressively, “line upon line; here a little, and there a little” (Isaiah 28:10). From many sources and lessons, we accumulate a coherent model of God and His truths, rather than receiving it whole at once. Again, I don’t necessarily think this was an intended symbol, but it is fitting, nonetheless.
| Burnt offering | Giving our life to God’s purposes | ||
| Ram, Bullock | Male, without blemish | Give our very best | |
| Hands placed on head, slaughtered | Animal takes the place of us | ||
| Slaughtered on the North | Recommitment on the side of our journey | ||
| Blood sprinkled around altar | Our life is sprinkled over God’s work | ||
| Cut in pieces, and washed | Each part of us measured and made clean | ||
| Skin given to priests | Outer behavior that supports the mission of God | ||
| Pigeon, Turtledove | Crop pulled off, torn nearly in half | Each inner part of us exposed to God’s purifying fire | |
| The whole thing burned on the altar | Our lives consumed in service to God |
Spiritual Wanderings 