We are still in the first chapter of Leviticus which has to do with the burnt offering. In yesterday's study we only looked at verse 5. Verses 5 through 9 involve offering a bull to the Lord. Verses 10 through 13 are about offering a goat or a sheep. Verses 14 through 17 speak of an offering of birds. We'll be looking at the remainder of Chapter One today.
In verse 5 yesterday the bull was brought before the Lord and the bringer of the bull had to deliver the death blow. We talked about some reasons why the bringer had to be so "hands on" with his offering. After he killed the bull the blood was drained into basins and then the priests would splash the blood against the altar. Then, "You are to skin the burnt offering and cut it into pieces. The sons of Aaron the priest are to put fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire. Then Aaron's sons the priests shall arrange the pieces, including the head and the fat, on the wood that is burning on the altar. You are to wash the internal organs and the legs with water, and the priest is to burn all of it on the altar. It is a burnt offering, a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord." (Leviticus 1:6-9) In verse 6 we learn that the bull is skinned after it is killed but we are not told what happens to the skin until Leviticus 7:8 where we are informed that the priest who assists the person with his offering is allowed to keep the animal hide for himself.
The aroma of the sacrifice is pleasing to the Lord because the burnt offering is a complete surrender. Unlike with other types of sacrifices, the person who brings the burnt offering retains nothing from it. It is entirely given up to the Lord and it symbolizes an attitude of the heart that says to the Lord, "I surrender all. I hold nothing back from You." It is this attitude that is pleasing to the Lord. He can really do something with the lives of those who come to Him in this manner.
The burnt offering doesn't have to be made with a bull. Not every man of Israel is a cattle rancher. Some of them are sheep herders and goat herders, so an animal from among the herds is acceptable as a burnt offering. "If the offering is a burnt offering from the flock, from either the sheep or the goats, you are to offer a male without defect." (Leviticus 1:10) Just as with a bull offering, the man who brings a goat or sheep must bring a healthy male from the flock. The sacrifice must be an actual sacrifice. A man couldn't bring an animal that was of no value to him, such as one that is sick or disabled. It had to be one of the best of his flock or herd or else he had to purchase an acceptable animal for the purpose of sacrifice.
Later in the Bible we find many of the people only going through the motions of religion and bringing unacceptable sacrifices. The Lord will accuse them of showing contempt for His name by defiling His table with unholy sacrifices. The people will protest they have not done so and will ask Him to back up this claim and He will reply, "When you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice lame or diseased animals, is that not wrong?... When you bring injured, lame or diseased animals and offer them as sacrifices, should I accept them from your hands?" (Malachi 1:8a, 13b) The Lord is worthy of our best, and though in our day we don't bring animal sacrifices to Him, we are still to honor Him with our best efforts in everything we do. "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving." (Colossians 3:23-24)
The process of offering a goat or sheep is the same as that of offering a bull except we find no mention here of removing the hide. "You are to slaughter it at the north side of the altar before the Lord, and Aaron's sons the priests shall splash its blood against the sides of the altar. You are to cut it into pieces, and the priest shall arrange them, including the head and the fat, on the wood that is burning on the altar. You are to wash the internal organs and the legs with water, and the priest is to bring all of them and burn them on the altar. It is a burnt offering, a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord." (Leviticus 1:11-13)
Just as not every man of Israel was a cattle rancher, not every man of Israel owned sheep or goats. A man who was not a farmer could purchase a bull for the burnt offering if he could afford a bull. If he could not afford a bull, a sheep or a goat would cost less and he could purchase one of those to bring to the Lord. But not everyone could afford to bring an animal like this, so the Lord was willing to accept certain types of birds for the burnt offering, which is what the remainder of our passage today involves. "If the offering to the Lord is a burnt offering of birds, you are to offer a dove or a young pigeon. The priest shall bring it to the altar, wring off the head and burn it on the altar; its blood shall be drained out on the side of the altar. He is to remove the crop and the feathers and throw them down east of the altar where the ashes are. He shall tear it open by the wings, not dividing it completely, and then the priest shall burn it on the wood that is burning on the altar. It is a burnt offering, a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord." (Leviticus 1:14-17)
We find mention of the bird offering in Luke's account of the gospel, when Joseph and Mary travel to Jerusalem with the baby Jesus to fulfill the law that says every firstborn male must be presented to the Lord thirty-three days after his birth. (See Leviticus 12:1-8 for the full set of regulations.) Leviticus 12 says that when the parents of the child bring him to the temple, they are to offer a year-old lamb for a burnt offering and a young pigeon or a dove for a sin offering, but if they can't afford a lamb they can bring a young pigeon or a dove instead. When Joseph and Mary bring Jesus to the temple, Luke tells us that they offered two birds to the Lord, one as the burnt offering and one as the sin offering. (Luke 2:24) By this we know that the carpenter and his young wife were a lower-income family. The Lord Jesus Christ, crown-prince of heaven and heir to all that God the Father owns, the One who is King of kings and Lord of lords, was born into a family too poor to offer anything at the temple but a pair of doves or a pair of pigeons. The thought of such love and humility on the part of the Lord Jesus Christ is astonishing!
We owe our best to the Lord. He gave His best to us.
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