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.

Sacrifice	Eligible animals	Steps	Explanation
Burnt offering	Ram, Bullock, Pigeon, Turtledove		Giving our life to God’s purposes
		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
		The whole thing burned on the altar	Our lives consumed in service to God

Full table.