Synopsis of the Levitical Sacrificial System

Mag. Claudia R. Wintoch

Roots of Revival I

Ken Lundeen

World Revival School of Ministry

Spring Trimester 2002

Content

1. Introduction

2. Overview

3. The Burnt Offering – Lev 1, 6:8-13

3.1. Bull – Lev 1:3-9

3.2. Male Lamb Or Goat – Lev 1:10-13

3.3. Dove Or Pigeon – Lev 1:14-17

3.4. New Covenant Parallels

4. The Grain Offering – Lev 2, 6:14-23

4.1. Cooked Grain Offering – Lev 2:4-10

4.2. Ordination Offering – Lev 6:19-23

4.3. New Covenant Parallels

5. The Fellowship Offering – Lev 3, 7:11-36

5.1. New Covenant Parallels

6. The Sin Offering – Lev 4-5:13, 6:24-30

6.1. Priest – Lev 4:3-12

6.2. Community – Lev 4:13-21

6.3. Leader – Lev 4:22-26

6.4. Individual – Lev 4:27-35, 5:7-13

6.5. New Covenant Parallels

7. The Guilt Offering – Lev 5:14-6:7, 7:1-10

7.1. Inadvertent Sins – Lev 5:14-19, 7:1-7

7.2. Deliberate Sins – Lev 6:1-7

7.3. New Covenant Parallels

8. Conclusion

9. Bibliography

1. Introduction

These, then, are the regulations for the burnt offering, the grain offering, the sin offering, the guilt offering, the ordination offering and the fellowship offering. (Lev 7:37)

After the Lord had told Moses exactly how to build the Tent of Meeting and its furniture (Exodus 25-40), and everything was accomplished, His glory descended on the Tent of Meeting. God spoke to Moses and gave him instructions concerning the offerings and sacrifices, the feast and rituals, rules for every day life and situations. This paper treats the sacrifices the Lord instituted for generations to come (Leviticus 1-7) to provide a way for the sinner to “draw nigh to a righteous and holy God, and find acceptance with Him.” (Newberry 19?:10). Their ultimate fulfillment was found in the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

2. Overview

As we saw in Lev 7:37 above, there are five different offerings described in Leviticus (the ordination offering is a special case of grain offering). Four of those involved the shedding of blood, the grain offering being the exception. Having different purposes, the Lord prescribed exactly what type of animal to bring, depending on the offerer’s financial capability or social status:

Burnt offering: male bull

lamb or goat

dove or pigeon

Sin offering: male bull for a priest

for the community

goat for a leader

female lamb or goat for an individual

Guilt offering: male lamb

Fellowship offering: male or female bull/cow

lamb or goat

We can put all five offerings into two groups, “voluntary and involuntary offerings based on the presence or absence of the formulaic expression “pleasing to the Lord.’” (Rooker 2000:49f) – the offerings that were burned on the brazen altar (burnt, grain, fellowship offering), which were “an aroma pleasing to the Lord” (Lev 1:9, 1:13, 1:17, 2:2, 2:9, 3:6, 3:16), and those not consumed on the altar (sin, guilt offering). “In the first class […] the offerer came for acceptance as a worshipper. In the second class […] he came as a sinner to pay the penalty of sin and trespass.” (Jukes 1980:56).

“The entire sacrificial complex is an outworking and expression of Israel’s covenant relationship with God … While in the pagan world sacrifices were something the gods needed, in Israel the sacrifices were something the people needed … The offering of sacrifice was the principle act of Israel’s worship experience.” (Rooker 2000:48f)

3. The Burnt Offering – Lev 1, 6:8-13

“It is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the Lord.” (Lev 1:13)

The first burnt offering can be found when Noah set foot again on dry ground after the flood. “That offering was apparently a natural expression of Noah’s relationship with God” (Schultz 1983:52). The burnt offering is the first one described in Leviticus, and it is the one most frequently performed – every day “in the morning” and “at twilight” (Numbers 28:4). It is unique in that it is the only offering that was burned up completely (except for the animal’s skin) – an “expression of total obedience” (Rooker 2000:93). The Hebrew word for burnt offering is הלע (’olah), occurring 287 times[1] in the Old Testament, which means ascent, from its verbal root הלע (’alah), meaning to go up, to ascend. It was the smoke of the burning sacrifice that ascended to the Lord, as “an aroma pleasing to the Lord”. It completely belonged to the Lord, no part of it was to be eaten by the priest or offerer.

The Lord provided a way for everyone to bring this offering to Him, by either accepting a bull (the most valuable), or a male lamb or goat, or a dove or pigeon (for the poor). “It was offered to God to secure the acceptance of the offerer” (Jukes 1980:58). However, while some would say that atonement for sin was part of the burnt offering, others claim: “In the Burnt-offering the atonement is made by one who comes as a worshipper without sin” (Jukes 1980:61) “We may satisfy a loving and holy requirement, or satisfy offended justice. Either would be satisfaction: the Burnt-offering is the former” (Jukes 1980:60). “In the Sin-offering we find it expressly added that the atonement is an “atonement for the offerer’s sin.” This is never said in the Burnt-offering: on the contrary, it is said to be “offered for acceptance”” (Jukes 1980:60f).

3.1. Bull – Lev 1:3-9

The offerer would bring a bull “without defect” (verse 3) into the outer courtyard, where he would put his hand on the head of the animal, which represented a transfer of sin from the offerer to the animal: “The animal is dying in the worshiper’s stead … it is subject to the death penalty because of the sins it has now received.” (Rooker 2000:87). Rooker (2000:88) also holds that “atonement should be considered as part of the burnt offering’s primary function”. The offerer would then slaughter the bull by cutting its throat and the priests sprinkled the animal’s blood at the altar. The blood, which was considered having life in it (Lev 17:10-12), was the “most holy element of the sacrifice” (Rooker 2000:89). The offerer continued by skinning the animal and cutting it into pieces, while the priests arranged the wood on the altar. Before the priests burnt the pieces on the altar, the offerer had to wash the inner parts and legs with water.

3.2. Male Lamb Or Goat – Lev 1:10-13

Sacrificing lambs and goats became the most common practice in Israel, as they were affordable for most people. Scripture does not mention any – like with the bull – laying on of hands on the animal, or its skinning. While some scholars believe this was only done with the bull[2], others believe it is implied from the previous detailed description of the bull’s sacrifice[3]. Leviticus 7:8 seems to confirm the latter since it generically refers to the burnt offering’s animal’s skin which was kept by the priest.

3.3. Dove Or Pigeon – Lev 1:14-17

Contrary to the other animals, it was not the offerer who sacrificed the birds. It was the priest, and only one priest was necessary to handle a little bird. He would carry it to the altar, where he wrought off its head; “according to ancient Jewish rabbis the priest applied his fingernail next to the nape of the neck to cut through the windpipe and gullet (t. Zebah 7:4)” (Rooker 2000:92), draining the blood at the altar. Then the crop was removed and discarded, and the bird torn open by the wings.

3.4. New Covenant Parallels

Ironside (1955:15) claims, “It is the very voluntariness of the burnt offering that gives it such value.” God desires our free worship and praise. “As God was pleased with the burnt offerings in Old Testament times, so He is pleased with offerings of praise in which Jesus Christ is acknowledged and confessed.” (Schultz 1983:55) .

Jesus has become our burnt offering, whose fragrant aroma ascends to the sky, and we are now clothed with His skin[4], through which we stand righteous before God Almighty.

4. The Grain Offering[5] – Lev 2, 6:14-23

“When someone brings a grain offering to the Lord, his offering is to be of fine flour.” (Lev 2:1)

The Hebrew word for grain offering is החנמ (minchah), occurring 211 times in the Old Testament, meaning gift, present, tribute, offering, grain offering, derived from a verb root that either means to give, lend or another root that means to lead, conduct. Rooker (2000:94) notes that “the word probably was borrowed from the administrative or political arena, for we note the use of the term to refer to gifts that were brought.” It was a gift to the Lord that “honored him as the source of life and of the fertility of the land” (Rooker 2000:99).

The grain offering “almost always was offered with a burnt offering and often with the fellowship offering as well.” (Rooker 2000:94). The offerer brought fine flour and mixed it with oil and frankincense, seasoning it with salt, and took it to the priests who would then burn a handful on the altar as a “memorial portion”. Rooker (2000:95) states that “the offerer is being mindful of God’s grace in providing him with food, or possibly of God’s rule over all creation.” The grain offering was offered daily at 3 p.m., when the evening offering was presented, while the Israelites assembled in the outer court for prayer[6]. After the priest had burnt the handful, the rest was given to the priests to eat and constituted an important part of the food available to them. We know from Ezekiel 42:13 that they had to eat it in a certain area of the tabernacle.

Leviticus 2 is divided into three sections – the uncooked offering (as described above), the cooked offering, and additional regulations (concerning yeast, salt, and firstfruits offering).

4.1. Cooked Grain Offering – Lev 2:4-10

The cooked grain offering is divided into further three sections according to the vessel it is prepared in – an oven, griddle or pan. Independent from the vessel, it had to be prepared of fine flour, oil and without yeast. Verse 11 reemphasizes the prohibition of using yeast, including honey. Rooker (2000:97) suggest two possible reasons:

“(1) leavened material along with honey would be prone to ferment and decay and thus would change the nature of the offering, and (2) leaven and honey were used in pagan worship practices in the ancient Near East, so they were prohibited in the Israelite religion.”

Except for its preparation, the cooked grain offering did not differ from the uncooked one.

4.2. Ordination Offering – Lev 6:19-23

The grain offering for the priests were to be continued regularly from the day of their ordination. It differs from the regular grain offering in that it was wholly to be consumed by the fire, as it “illustrated the high priest’s sinfulness and need for daily forgiveness” (Rooker 2000:131) and was offered on behalf of the priests.

4.3. New Covenant Parallels

In the New Testament the Greek word commonly used for sacrifice is the same used to translate the Hebrew word for grain offering in the Septuagint[7]. As the Israelites brought their best wheat kernels as an offering to the Lord, we are to show the same dedication and worship to the Lord. And as the offering was to be holy, without honey or yeast, we are to be holy to the Lord; and as it had to be seasoned with salt, so are we to be the “salt of the earth” (Matthew 5:3).

The same way the priests lived off the Israelites’ offerings, the Lord’s ministers are to be provided for by His people. “This was Paul’s argument in 1 Corinthians 9, where the apostle appealed to the Old Testament practice.” (Rooker 2000:96)

Ultimately, Jesus became the bread of life who was offered to God for us, and who is all the nourishment we need for life.

5. The Fellowship Offering[8] – Lev 3, 7:11-36

“If someone’s offering is a fellowship offering…” (Lev 3:1)

The Hebrew word for fellowship offering is םלש (shelem), occurring 87 times in the Old Testament, meaning peace offering, requital, sacrifice for alliance or friendship, voluntary sacrifice of thanks[9]. It was a thank offering (Lev 7:12-15) or a votive offing or freewill offering out of gratitude to God (Lev 7:16-27). It is unique in that the offerer could share together with the priest in the consumption of the meat, hence the name fellowship offering. Rooker suggests that that is the reason why the fellowship offering is the only one not dictating the animal’s gender[10], as pointed out in 2. Overview.

The procedure for the sacrifice was analogous to the burnt offering. However, God commanded the animal’s fat to be removed and burned on top of the burnt offering as “an aroma pleasing to the Lord” (Lev 3:5). As with the burnt offering, the animal could either be a bull/cow, lamb or goat – birds not being suitable since the offering was eaten. However, while lambs and goats are one category with the burnt offering, they are treated separately here (Lev 3:12-16).

5.1. New Covenant Parallels

As the offerer had fellowship with God through his sacrifice, so can we today have fellowship with God through Christ. We are reminded of the last supper, when the believer was “invited to feast regularly upon the blood and body of the lamb of God” (Rooker 2000:105). And we are also warned by Paul “in 1 Cor 10:18-22 that partaking of a sacrifice offered to an idol or demon is in effect having fellowship with it” (Rooker 2000:103).

6. The Sin Offering – Lev 4-5:13, 6:24-30

“When anyone sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the Lord’s commands…” (Lev 4:2)

Leviticus 4 begins with “the Lord said to Moses”, indicating the beginning of a new section, namely the mandatory offerings to bring for offenses against the Lord and each other. The Hebrew word for sin offering is האתח (chata’ah), not carrying any other meaning. The regulations for the sin offering are divided into sections depending on who committed the sin – the priest, the community, a leader or an individual.

6.1. Priest – Lev 4:3-12

We can see the principle of the higher the responsibility, the greater the consequences of one’s actions. While the priest has to offer a bull, poor individuals can bring two doves or pigeons. The priest by sinning would bring “guilt on the people” (Lev 4:3), therefore making all of Israel unrighteous before God. His sin thus had more widespread consequences than the leader’s.

The priest would slaughter the bull, take its blood into the Tent of Meeting, sprinkling it against the curtain seven times and putting it on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense, pouring out the rest at the base of the altar. Only one other time was the sin so serious that the blood had to be brought close to the Holy of Holies[11]. As with the fellowship offering, the animal’s fat had to be removed and burned on top of the burnt offering – however, this time it is not “an aroma pleasing to the Lord”. The animal itself, including its skin, had to be taken outside the camp and burned there.

6.2. Community – Lev 4:13-21

The procedure for the community is similar to the one for the high priest, including the type of animal (a bull), since the guilt was on the community in both cases. A few differences are the mention of the community becoming aware of the sin, and the overt mention that they would be forgiven.

6.3. Leader – Lev 4:22-26

The sacrificial animal to atone for the leader’s sin was less costly than for the priest or community – a male goat. Its blood was not to be taken to the Holy of Holies but only to be put on the horns of the altar. Also, it does not mention that the animal was to be burnt outside the camp. Leviticus 6 indicates that the meat was eaten like the burnt offering was. The secular leader’s sin obviously had less severe consequences than the religious leader’s.

6.4. Individual – Lev 4:27-35, 5:7-13

The sin offering for the individual resembled the leader’s, with the exception that it was a female goat or lamb the offerer had to bring. Again, those Israelites, who could not afford that, could bring two doves or pigeons instead. And since the sin offering was mandatory, a way was made for those who could not even afford that: an offering of flour was also accepted as sin offering. However, not oil or frankincense was to be added as it atoned for sin, and was not a pleasing aroma to the Lord.

6.5. New Covenant Parallels

The Hebrew root for forgiveness

“occurs for the first time in Leviticus in 4:20. This is the unique term for forgiveness in the Old Testament, and it has only God as its subject. … The fact that only God is the subject and author of forgiveness explains the scribes’ reaction to Jesus’ announcement that the sins of the paralytic had been forgiven (Mark 2:7). Jesus’ pronouncement was in fact a claim to be equal with God.” (Rooker 2000:113).

The sin offering could only atone for inadvertent sin. The New Testament reflects that in Jesus’s prayer for the forgiveness of his murderers and mockers on the cross, and Paul’s statement that he was forgiven because of his ignorance.

Paul draws a parallel between the sin offering and Christ’s sacrifice in 2.Corinthians 5:21. Jesus died for our sins to bring us back into right relationship with God.

7. The Guilt Offering[12] – Lev 5:14-6:7, 7:1-10

“And as a penalty he must bring to the priest, that is, to the Lord, his guilt offering” (Lev 6:6)

The Hebrew word for guilt offering is םשא (’asham), occurring 46 times in the Old Testament, meaning guilt, offense, trespass, fault, compensation. It is distinct from the sin offering in that it required compensation; it can be divided into two categories – guilt offerings for inadvertent sins and for deliberate sins[13].

7.1. Inadvertent Sins – Lev 5:14-19, 7:1-7

The offerer had to bring a ram as penalty for his sin and make restitution by paying 120% of the offense’s worth to the one offended. The ram’s blood was sprinkled against the altar, the fat burned and the meat eaten by the priest and his family.

7.2. Deliberate Sins – Lev 6:1-7

In the case of deception, theft, cheating, extortion, false swearing against one’s neighbor, the offender had to bring a ram as a guilt offering and pay 120% of the stolen property’s worth.

7.3. New Covenant Parallels

Christ is called a guilt offering in Isaiah 53:10. He removed the debt we owed to God.

8. Conclusion

For man to have a right relationship with God, his sin had to be atoned for. But God did not only desire righteousness, but fellowship with His people, as they worshiped Him with their offerings. The sacrifices were not simply rituals that achieved their purposes; the Jews knew that “’neither sin-offering nor trespass-offering nor death nor the Day of Atonement can bring expiation without repentance’ (Tosifta Joma v. 9)” (Cohen 1995:105). Cohen (ibidem) states that “contrition was essential before an offering could prove acceptable to God”.

However, there are those Christians who claim that the sacrifices were insufficient. Some go so far as to claim that every little detail of the different sacrifices must be a foreshadowing of Christ: “Every Christian is satisfied that they [the offerings] represent Jesus; yet some doubt whether we are justified in expecting to find Him in every distinct and minute particular.” (Jukes 1980:47). “I have not a doubt that they [the differences between the offerings] are intended to represent different aspects of Christ’s offering.” (Jukes 1980:48).

We can certainly see how Christ became our every offering, sufficient to atone for our sins, pay our debts, restore our fellowship with God and make our praise an aroma pleasing to the Lord.

9. Bibliography

Cohen, Abraham, Everyman’s Talmud, Schocken Books: New York 1995

Ironside, Henry A., Lectures on the Levitical Offerings, Loizeaux Brothers: New York 1955

Jukes, Andrew, The Law of the Offerings, Kregel Publications: Grand Rapids 1980

Maccoby, Hyam, Ritual and Morality: The Ritual Purity System and its Place in Judaism, Cambridge University Press: Cambridge 1999

Newberry, Thomas, Types of the Levitical Offerings, Kilmarnock: UK 19?

Payne, W.L. “Sonny”, Bought With A Price, Milk & Honey Communications: USA 1987

Poorthuis, M.J.H.M. & J. Schwartz (eds.), Purity and Holiness: The Heritage of Leviticus, Brill: Leiden-Boston-Köln 2000

Rooker, Mark F., The New American Commentary: Leviticus, Volume 3A, Broadman & Holman Publishers: USA 2000

Schultz, Samuel J., Leviticus: God Among His People, Moody Press: Chicago 1983

Wenham, Gordon J., The Theology of Old Testament Sacrifice, in Sacrifice in the Bible, Roger T. Beckwith and Martin J. Selman (eds.), Baker: Grand Rapids 1995

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[1] The KJV Old Testament Hebrew Lexicon, http://bible.crosswalk.com/Lexicons/Hebrew/heb.cgi?number=05930& version=nas

[2] “In the first grade the offerer is seen to lay his hand on the offering, in the other grades this act is not observed.” (Jukes 1980:71). Jukes justifies all his conclusions by taking literal parallels with and fulfillments in Jesus to an extreme.

[3] “We should, however, presume that since the text is continuing the discussion on burnt offerings, these procedures are understood.“ (Rooker 2000:90f). “Unnecessary repetition is avoided … the author assumes that the reader is aware of the preceding context.” (Rooker 2000:93).

[4] Ironside 1955:19

[5] Traditionally also called meal offering or meat offering.

[6] According to the Mishna (Rooker 2000:95).

[7] According to Rooker 2000:99.

[8] Traditionally also called peace offering.

[9] The KJV Old Testament Hebrew Lexicon, http://bible.crosswalk.com/Lexicons/Hebrew/heb.cgi?number=08002 &version=

[10] Rooker 2000:102

[11] The sin offering for a leader.

[12] Traditionally also called trespass offering.

[13] In contrast, the sin offering was always and only for inadvertent sins.