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New American Standard Bible
Leviticus 1:1
Then the LORD called to Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting, saying,
Leviticus 1:2
“Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When any man of you brings an offering to the LORD, you shall bring your offering of animals from the herd or the flock.
Leviticus 1:3
If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer it, a male without defect; he shall offer it at the doorway of the tent of meeting, that he may be accepted before the LORD.
Leviticus 1:4
He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, that it may be accepted for him to make atonement on his behalf.
Leviticus 1:5
He shall slay the young bull before the LORD; and Aaron’s sons the priests shall offer up the blood and sprinkle the blood around on the altar that is at the doorway of the tent of meeting.
Leviticus 1:6
He shall then skin the burnt offering and cut it into its pieces.
Leviticus 1:7
The sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire.
Leviticus 1:8
Then Aaron’s sons the priests shall arrange the pieces, the head and the suet over the wood which is on the fire that is on the altar.
Leviticus 1:9
Its entrails, however, and its legs he shall wash with water. And the priest shall offer up in smoke all of it on the altar for a burnt offering, an offering by fire of a soothing aroma to the LORD.
Leviticus 1:10
‘But if his offering is from the flock, of the sheep or of the goats, for a burnt offering, he shall offer it a male without defect.
Leviticus 1:11
He shall slay it on the side of the altar northward before the LORD, and Aaron’s sons the priests shall sprinkle its blood around on the altar.
Leviticus 1:12
He shall then cut it into its pieces with its head and its suet, and the priest shall arrange them on the wood which is on the fire that is on the altar.
Leviticus 1:13
The entrails, however, and the legs he shall wash with water. And the priest shall offer all of it, and offer it up in smoke on the altar; it is a burnt offering, an offering by fire of a soothing aroma to the LORD.
Leviticus 1:14
‘But if his offering to the LORD is a burnt offering of birds, then he shall bring his offering from the turtledoves or from young pigeons.
Leviticus 1:15
The priest shall bring it to the altar, and wring off its head and offer it up in smoke on the altar; and its blood is to be drained out on the side of the altar.
Leviticus 1:16
He shall also take away its crop with its feathers and cast it beside the altar eastward, to the place of the ashes.
Leviticus 1:17
Then he shall tear it by its wings, but shall not sever it. And the priest shall offer it up in smoke on the altar on the wood which is on the fire; it is a burnt offering, an offering by fire of a soothing aroma to the LORD.
Cross References
Leviticus 1:1: Exodus 19:3; 25:22; Numbers 7:89; Leviticus 1:2: Mark 7:11; Leviticus 22:18; Leviticus 1:3: Leviticus 6:8-13; Exodus 12:5; Leviticus 22:20-24; Deuteronomy 15:21; 17:1; Leviticus 17:8, 9; Deuteronomy 12:5, 6, 11; Leviticus 1:4: Exodus 29:10, 15, 19; Leviticus 3:2, 8; Exodus 29:33; Leviticus 4:20, 26, 31; 2 Chronicles 29:23, 24; Leviticus 1:5: Exodus 29:11, 16, 20; Leviticus 1:5: Leviticus 17:11; Leviticus 1:11; 3:2, 8, 13; Hebrews 12:24; 1 Peter 1:2; Leviticus 1:6: Leviticus 7:8; Leviticus 1:7: Leviticus 6:8-13; Leviticus 1:8: Leviticus 1:12; 3:3, 4; 8:20; Leviticus 1:9: Exodus 12:9; Numbers 15:8-10; 28:11-14; Genesis 8:21; Exodus 29:18, 25; Leviticus 1:13; Numbers 15:3; Ephesians 5:2; Leviticus 1:10: Exodus 12:5; Leviticus 1:3; Ezekiel 43:22; 1 Peter 1:19; Leviticus 1:11: Leviticus 24:6; Leviticus 1:5; 8:19; 9:12; Leviticus 1:12: Leviticus 3:3, 4; Leviticus 1:13: Numbers 15:4-7; 28:11-14; Leviticus 1:14: Genesis 15:9; Leviticus 5:7, 11; 12:8; Luke 2:24; Leviticus 1:15: Leviticus 5:9; Leviticus 1:16: Leviticus 6:10; Leviticus 1:17: Genesis 15:10; Leviticus 5:8; Leviticus 9:13
Easton's Bible Dictionary
Amminadab
Kindred of the prince. The father was chief of the tribe of Judah. His daughter was married to Aaron. The second son of Levi. Chief of the 112 descendants of the Levites.
Bird
Birds are divided in the Mosaic law into two classes, the clean, which were offered in sacrifice; and the unclean. When offered in sacrifice, they were not divided as other victims were. They are mentioned also as an article of food.
The art of snaring wild birds is referred to. Singing birds. Their timidity is alluded to. The reference to the swallow and the sparrow may be only a comparison equivalent to, What her house is to the sparrow, and her nest to the swallow, that thine altars are to my soul.
Burnt Offering
Ascending, the whole being consumed by fire, and regarded as ascending to God while being consumed. Part of every offering was burnt in the sacred fire, but this was wholly burnt, a whole burnt offering. It was the most frequent form of sacrifice, and apparently the only one mentioned in the book of Genesis. Such were the sacrifices offered by Abel, Noah, Abraham, and by the Hebrews in Egypt.
The law of Moses afterwards prescribed the occasions and the manner in which burnt sacrifices were to
be offered. There were the continual burnt offering, the burnt offering of every sabbath, which was double the daily one, the burnt offering of every month, the offerings at the Passover, at Pentecost, the feast of Trumpets, and on the day of Atonement. On other occasions special sacrifices were offered, as at the consecration of Aaron and the dedication of the temple.
Free will burnt offerings were also permitted, and were offered at the accession of Solomon to the throne, and at the reformation brought about by Hezekiah. These offerings signified the complete dedication of the offerers to God.
Fire
For sacred purposes. The sacrifices were consumed by fire. The ever burning fire on the altar was first kindled from heaven and afterwards rekindled at the dedication of Solomon's temple. The expressions fire from heaven and fire of the Lord generally denote lightning, but sometimes also the fire of the altar was so called.
Fire for a sacred purpose obtained otherwise than from the altar was called strange fire. The victims slain for sin offerings were afterwards consumed by fire outside the camp. For domestic purposes, such as baking, cooking, warmth.
But on Sabbath no fire for any domestic purpose was to be kindled. Punishment of death by fire was inflicted on such as were guilty of certain forms of unchastity and incest. The burning of captives in war was not unknown among the Jews.
The bodies of infamous persons who were executed were also sometimes burned. In war, fire was used in the destruction of cities. The war chariots of the Canaanites were burnt. The Israelites burned the images of the house of Baal.
These objects of worship seem to have been of the nature of obelisks, and were sometimes evidently made of wood. Torches were sometimes carried by the soldiers in battle. Figuratively, fire is a symbol of Jehovah's presence and the instrument of his power.
God's word is also likened unto fire. It is referred to as an emblem of severe trials or misfortunes, and of eternal punishment. The influence of the Holy Ghost is likened unto fire. His descent was denoted by the appearance of tongues as of fire.
Gershom
The eldest son of Levi. The elder of the two sons of Moses. On his way to Egypt with his family, in obedience to the command of the Lord, Moses was attacked by a sudden and dangerous illness, his wife believed to have been sent because he had neglected to circumcise his son.
She accordingly took a sharp stone and circumcised her son, saying, surely a bloody husband art thou to me, by the blood of her child she had, as it were, purchased her husband, had won him back again. A descendant who returned with Ezra from Babylon.
Iddo
The father of Abinadab. A descendant of Gershom, son of Levi. Son of Zechariah, ruler of the tribe of Manasseh east of Jordan in the time of David. A seer whose visions against Jeroboam incidentally contained some of the acts of Solomon. He appears to have written a chronicle or story relating to the life and reign of Abijah. The grandfather of the prophet Zechariah. The chief of those who assembled at Casiphia at the time of the second caravan from Babylon. He was one of the Nethinim.
Jahath
Son of Libni, the son of Gershom, the son of Levi. Head of a later house in the family of Gershom, being the eldest son of Shimei, the son of Laadan. A man in the genealogy of Judah, son of Reaiah ben-Shobal. A Levite, son of Shelomoth. A Merarite Levite in the reign of Josiah.
Kish
A bow. The father of Saul; a Benjamite of the family of Matri. Son of Jehiel and uncle to the preceding. A Benjamite, great-grandfather of Mordecai. A Merarite of the house of Mahli, of the tribe of Levi.
Law of Moses
It will be the object of this article to give a brief analysis of the substance of this law, to point out its main principles, and to explain the position which it occupies in the progress of divine revelation. In order to do this the more clearly, it seems best to speak of the law, first. In relation to the past; second.
In its own intrinsic character. In reference to the past, it is all important, for the proper understanding of the law, to remember its entire dependence on the Abrahamic covenant. That covenant had a twofold character. It contained the spiritual promise of the Messiah; but it contained also the temporal promises subsidiary to the former. The nature of this relation of the law to the promise is clearly pointed out.
The belief in God as the Redeemer of man, and the hope of his manifestation as such int he person of the Messiah, involved the belief that the Spiritual Power must be superior to all carnal obstructions, and that there was in man spiritual element which could rule his life by communion with a spirit from above. But it involved also the idea of an antagonistic power of evil, from which man was to be redeemed, existing in each individual, and existing also in the world at large.
Nor is it less essential to remark the period of the history at which it was given. It marked and determined the transition of Israel from the condition of a tribe to that of a nation, and its definite assumption of a distinct position and office in the history of the world.
Yet, though new in its general conception, it was probably not wholly new in its materials. There must necessarily have been, before the law, commandments and revelations of a fragmentary character, under which Israel had grown up.
So far therefore as they were consistent with the objects of the Jewish law, the customs of Palestine and the laws of Egypt would doubtless be traceable in the Mosaic system. In close connection with, and almost in consequence of, this reference to antiquity, we find an accommodation of the law to the temper and circumstances of the Israelites, to which our Lord refers int he case of divorce, as necessarily interfering with its absolute perfection.
In many cases it rather should be said to guide and modify existing usages than actually to sanction them; and the ignorance of their existence may lead to a conception of its ordinances not only erroneous, but actually the reverse of the truth. In close connection with this subject we observe also the gradual process by which the law was revealed to the Israelites. In direct connection with the revelation from Mount Sinai, that which may be called the rough outline of the Mosaic law is given by God, solemnly recorded by Moses, and accepted by the people.
There is a similar outline of the Mosaic ceremonial. On the basis of these it may be conceived that the fabric of the Mosaic system gradually grew up under the requirements of the time. The first revelation of the law in anything like a perfect form is found in the book of Deuteronomy. yet even then the revelation was not final; it was the duty of the prophets to amend and explain it in special points, and to bring out more clearly its great principles. In giving an analysis of the substance of the law, it will probably be better to treat it, as any other system of laws is usually treated, by dividing it into:
Laws Civil; Laws Criminal: Laws Judicial and Constitutional; Laws Ecclesiastical, Father AND Son. the power of a father to be held sacred; cursing or smiting, and stubborn and willful disobedience, to be considered capital crimes. But uncontrolled power of life and death was apparently refused to the father, and vested only in the congregation.
Right of the firstborn to a double portion of the inheritance not to be set aside by partiality. Inheritance by daughters to be allowed in default of sons, provided, that heiresses married in their own tribe. Daughters unmarried to be entirely dependent on their father.
The power of a husband to be so great that a wife could never be, or enter independently into any engagement, even before God. A widow or a divorced wife became independent, and did not against fall under her father's power. Divorce allowed, but to be formal and irrevocable. Marriage within certain degrees forbidden.
A slave wife, whether bought or captive, not to be actual property, nor to be sold; if ill treated, to be free. Slander against a wife's virginity to be punished by fine, and by deprived of power of divorce; on the other hand, ante-connubial uncleanness in her to be punished by death; the raising up of seed a formal right to be claimed by the widow, under pain of infamy, with a view to preservation of families.
MASTER. Power of master so far limited that death under actual chastisement was punishable, and maiming was to give liberty. The Hebrew slave to be freed at the sabbatical year, and provided with necessaries, unless by his own formal act he consented to be a perpetual slave. In any case, it would seem, to be freed at the jubilee, with his children. If sold to a resident alien, to be always redeemable, at a price proportioned to the distance of the jubilee. Foreign slaves to be held and inherited as property forever, and fugitive slaves from foreign nations not to be given up.
STRANGERS. These seem never to have been able to protect themselves, and accordingly protection and kindness toward them are enjoined as a sacred duty. All land to be the property of God alone, and its holders to be deemed his tenants. All sold land therefore to return to its original owners at the jubilee, and the price of sale to be calculated accordingly; and redemption on equitable terms to be allowed at all times.
A house sold to be redeemable within a year; and if not redeemed, to pass away altogether. But the houses of the Levites, or those in unwalled villages, to be redeemable at all times, in the same way as land; and the Levitical suburbs to be inalienable. Land or houses sanctified, or tithes, or unclean firstlings, to be capable of being redeemed, at 6/5 value; if devoted by the owner and unredeemed, to be hallowed at the jubilee forever, and given to the priests; if only by a possessor, to return to the owner at the jubilee. Inheritance.
LAWS OF DEBT. All debts to be released at the seventh sabbatical year; a blessing promised to obedience, and a curse on refusal to lend. Usury not to be taken. Pledges not to be insolently or ruinously exacted.
TAXATION. Census money, a poll tax, to be paid for the service of the tabernacle. All spoil in war to be halved; of the combatants' half, 1/500, of the people's, 1/50, to be paid for a heave offering to Jehovah. Tithes. Tithes of all produce to be given for maintenance of the Levites. Of this 1/10 to be paid as a heave offering for maintenance of the priests. Second tithe to be bestowed in religious feasting and charity, either at the holy place or at home. First fruits of corn, wine and oil at least 1/60, generally 1/40, for the to be offered at Jerusalem, with a solemn declaration of dependence on God the King of Israel.
Firstlings of clean beasts; the redemption money of man and of unclean beasts to be given to the priests after sacrifice. Poor laws. Gleanings to be a legal right of the poor. Slight trespass to be allowed as legal. Wages to be paid day by day. Maintenance of priests. 10th of Levites' tithe. The heave and wave offerings. The meat and sin offerings, to be eaten solemnly and only in the holy place.
First fruits and redemption money. Price of all devoted things, unless specially given for a sacred service. A man's service, or that of his household, to be redeemed at 50 shekels for man, 30 for woman, 20 for boy and 10 for girl.
LAWS CRIMINAL AND OFFENSES AGAINST
First Command. Acknowledgment of false gods and generally all idolatry. Second Command. Witchcraft and false prophecy. Third Command. Blasphemy. Fourth Command. Sabbath breaking. Punishment in all cases, death by stoning. Idolatrous cities to be utterly destroyed. Fifth Command. Disobedience to or cursing or smiting of parents, to be punished by death by stoning, publicly adjudged and inflicted; so also of disobedience to the priests or the Supreme Judge. Sixth Command. Murder to be punished by death without sanctuary or reprieve, or satisfaction. Death of a slave, actually under the rod, to be punished. Death by negligence to be punished by death. Accidental homicide : the avenger of blood to seek safety by flight to a city of refuge, there to remain until the death of the high priest. Uncertain murder to be expiated by formal disavowal and sacrifice by the elders of the nearest city. Assault, or damages.
Seventh Command. Adultery to be punished by death of both offenders; the rape of a married or betrothed woman, by death of the offender. Rape or seduction of an unbetrothed virgin to be compensated by marriage, with dowry, and without power of divorce; or, if she be refused, by payment of full dowry. Unlawful marriages to be punished, some by death, some by childlessness. Eight command. Theft to be punished by fourfold or double restitution; or nocturnal robber might be slain as an outlaw. Trespass and injury of things lent to be compensated. Perversion of justice, and especially oppression of strangers, strictly forbidden. Kidnapping to be punished by death. Ninth Command. False witness. Slander of a wife's chastity, by fine and loss of power of divorce. A fuller consideration of the tables of the Ten Commandments is given elsewhere.
LAWS JUDICIAL AND CONSTITUTIONAL AND JURISDICTION. Local judges appointed, for ordinary matters, probably by the people with approbation of the supreme authority, through all the land. Appeal to the priests, or to the judge ; their sentence final, and to be accepted under pain of death, appeal to Moses, Two witnesses required in capital matters. Punishment, except by special command, to be personal, and not to extend to the family.
Stripes allowed and limited, so as to avoid outrage on the human frame. All this would be to a great extent set aside 1st. By the summary jurisdiction of the king; which extended even to the deposition of the high priest. The practical difficulty of its being carried out is seen in and would lead of course to a certain delegation of his power. By the appointment of the 70, with a solemn religious sanction.
In later times there was a local Sanhedrin of 23 in each city, and two such in Jerusalem, as well as the Great Sanhedrin, consisting of 70 members, besides the president, who was to be the high priest if duly qualified, and controlling even the king and high priest. The members were priest, scribes, and elders. A court of exactly this nature is noticed as appointed to supreme power by Jehoshaphat.
ROYAL POWER. The king's power limited by the law, as written and formally accepted by the king; and directly forbidden to be despotic. Military conquest discouraged by the prohibition of the use of horses. For an example of obedience to this law see and of disobedience to it see.
Yet he had power of taxation and of compulsory service, the declaration of war. There are distinct traces of a mutual contract, a league, the remonstrance with Rehoboam being clearly not extraordinary. The princes of the congregation. The heads of the tribes, seem to have had authority under Joshua to act for the people, and in the later times the princes of Judah seem to have had power to control both the king and the priests.
ROYAL REVENUE. Tenth of produce. Domain land. Note confiscation of criminal's land. Bond service, chiefly on foreigners. Flocks and herds. Tributes from foreign kings. Commerce ; especially in Solomon's time.
ECCLESIASTICAL AND CEREMONIAL LAW AND LAW OF ORDINARY SACRIFICES. The whole burnt offering, of the herd or the flock; to be offered continually, and the fire on the altar never to be extinguished. The meat offering, of flour, oil and frankincense, unleavened and seasoned with salt. The peace offering, of the herd or the flock; either a thank offering or a vow or free will offering. The sin offering or trespass offering. For sins committed in ignorance. For vows unwittingly made and broken, or uncleanness unwittingly contracted. For sins wittingly committed.
EXTRAORDINARY SACRIFICES. At the consecration of priests. At the purification of women. At the cleansing of lepers. On the great day of atonement. On the great festivals.
LAW OF HOLINESS AND HOLINESS OF PERSONS. Holiness of the whole people as children of God, shown in The dedication of the first-born. Distinction of clean and unclean food. Provision for purification. Laws against disfigurement, against excessive scourging. Laws against unnatural marriages and lust. Holiness of the priests. Their consecration. Their special qualifications and restrictions. Their rights, and authority.
HOLINESS OF PLACES AND THINGS. The tabernacle with the ark, the vail, the altars, the laver, the priestly robes. The holy place chosen for the permanent erection of the tabernacle, where only all sacrifices were to be offered and all tithes, first fruits, vows, to be given or eaten.
HOLINESS OF TIMES. The sabbatical year. The year of jubilee. The passover. The feast of weeks. The feast of tabernacles. The feast of trumpets. The day of atonement. Such is the substance of the Mosaic law.
THEOCRATIC CHARACTER. Its reference, that is, of all action and thoughts of men directly and immediately to the will of God. It follows from this that it is to be regarded not merely as a law, that is, a rule of conduct based on known truth and acknowledged authority, but also as a revelation of God's nature and his dispensations.
But this theocratic character of the law depends necessarily on the belief in God, as not only the creator and sustainer of the world, but as, by special covenant, the head of the Jewish nation. This immediate reference to God as their king is clearly seen as the groundwork of their whole polity.
From this theocratic nature of the law follow important deductions with regard to the view which it takes of political society; the extent of the scope of the law; the penalties by which it is enforced; and the character which it seeks to impress on the people. The Mosaic law seeks the basis of its polity, first, in the absolute sovereignty of God; next, in the relationship of each individual to God, and through God to his countrymen.
It is clear that such a doctrine, while it contradicts none of the common theories, yet lies beneath them all. The law, as proceeding directly from God and referring directly to him, is necessarily absolute in its supremacy and unlimited in its scope.
It is supreme over the governors, as being only the delegates of the Lord, and therefore it is incompatible with any despotic authority in them. On the other hand, it is supreme over the governed, recognizing no inherent rights in the individual as prevailing against or limiting the law. It regulated the whole life of an Israelite.
His actions were rewarded and punished with great minuteness and strictness and that according to the standard, not of their consequences but of their intrinsic morality. The penalties and rewards by which the law is enforced are such as depend on the direct theocracy.
With regard to individual actions, it may be noticed that, as generally some penalties are inflicted by the subordinate and some only the supreme authority, so among the Israelites some penalties came from the hand of man, some directly from the providence of God. But perhaps the most important consequence of the theocratic nature of the law was the peculiar character of goodness which it sought to impress on the people.
The Mosaic law, beginning with piety as its first object, enforces most emphatically the purity essential to those who, by their union with God, have recovered the hope of intrinsic goodness, while it views righteousness and love rather as deductions from these than as independent objects.
The appeal is not to any dignity of human nature, but to the obligations of communion with a holy God. The subordination, therefore, of this idea also to the religious idea is enforced; and so long as the due supremacy of the latter was preserved, all other duties would find their places in proper harmony.
Pigeon
Pigeons are mentioned as among the offerings which, by divine appointment, Abram presented unto the Lord. They were afterwards enumerated among the sin offerings, and the law provided that those who could not offer a lamb might offer two young pigeons.
Talmon
The head of a family of door keepers in the temple, the porters for the camps of the sons: of Levi. Some of his descendants returned with Zerubbabel, and were employed in their hereditary office in the days of Nehemiah and Ezra.
Turtle Dove
Its peculiar peaceful and gentle habit its often referred to in Scripture. A pair was offered in sacrifice by Mary at her purification. The pigeon and the turtle-dove were the only birds permitted to be offered in sacrifice. The Latin name of this bird is derived from its note, and is a repetition of the Hebrew name.
Three species are found in Palestine, the turtle dove, the collared turtle, and the palm turtle. But it is to the first of these species which the various passages of Scripture refer. It is a migratory bird. Search the glades and valleys, even by sultry Jordan, at the end of March, and not a turtle dove is to be seen.
Return in the second week of April, and clouds of doves are feeding on the clovers of the plain. They overspread the whole face of the land. Immediately on its arrival it pours forth from every garden, grove, and wooded hill its melancholy yet soothing ditty unceasingly from early dawn till sunset. It is from its plaintive and continuous note, doubtless, that David, pouring forth his heart's sorrow to God, compares himself to a turtle dove.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
The offering of sacrifices was an ordinance of true religion, from the fall of man unto the coming of Christ. But till the Israelites were in the wilderness, no very particular regulations seem to have been appointed. The general design of these laws is plain. The sacrifices typified Christ; they also shadowed out the believer's duty, character, privilege, and communion with God. There is scarcely any thing spoken of the Lord Jesus in Scripture which has not also a reference to his people.
This book begins with the laws concerning sacrifices; the most ancient were the burnt offerings, about which God here gives Moses directions. It is taken for granted that the people would be willing to bring offerings to the Lord. The very light of nature directs man, some way or other, to do honor to his Maker, as his Lord. Immediately after the fall, sacrifices were ordained.
In the due performance of the Levitical ordinances, the mysteries of the spiritual world are represented by corresponding natural objects; and future events are exhibited in these rites. Without this, the whole will seem unmeaning ceremonies.
There is in these things a type of the sufferings of the Son of God, who was to be a sacrifice for the sins of the whole world? The burning body of an animal was but a faint representation of that everlasting misery, which we all have deserved; and which our blessed Lord bore in his body and in his soul, when he died under the load of our iniquities.
The beast to be offered must be without blemish. This signified the strength and purity that were in Christ, and the holy life that should be in his people. The owner must offer it of his own free will. What is done in religion, so as to please God, must be done by love.
Christ willingly offered himself for us. It must be offered at the door of the tabernacle, where the brazen altar of burnt offerings stood, which sanctified the gift: he must offer it at the door, as one unworthy to enter, and acknowledging that a sinner can have no communion with God, but by sacrifice.
The offerer must put his hand upon the head of his offering, signifying thereby, his desire and hope that it might be accepted from him, to make atonement for him. The sacrifice was to be killed before the Lord, in an orderly manner, and to honor God. It signified also, that in Christians the flesh must be crucified with its corrupt affections and lust.
The priests were to sprinkle the blood upon the altar; for the blood being the life, that was it which made atonement. This signified the pacifying and purifying of our consciences, by the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ upon them by faith.
The beast was to be divided into several pieces, and then to be burned upon the altar. The burning of the sacrifice signified the sharp sufferings of Christ, and the devout affections with which, as a holy fire, Christians must offer up themselves, their whole spirit, soul, and body, to God. This is said to be an offering of a sweet savior.
As an act of obedience to a Divine command, and a type of Christ, this was well pleasing to God; and the spiritual sacrifices of Christians are acceptable to God, through Christ. Those who could not offer a bullock, were to bring a sheep or a goat; and those who were not able to do that, were accepted of God, if they brought a turtle dove, or a pigeon.
Those creatures were chosen for sacrifice which were mild, and gentle, and harmless; to show the innocence and meekness that were in Christ, and that should be in Christians. The offering of the poor was as typical of Christ's atonement as the more costly sacrifices, and expressed as fully repentance, faith, and devotedness to God.
We have no excuse, if we refuse the pleasant and reasonable service now required. But we can no more offer the sacrifice of a broken heart, or of praise and thanksgiving, than an Israelite could offer a bullock or a goat, except as God hath first given to us. The more we do in the Lord's service, the greater are our obligations to him, for the will, for the ability, and opportunity.
In many things God leaves us to fix what shall be spent in his service, whether of our time or our substance; yet where God's providence has put much into a man's power, scanty offerings will not be accepted, for they are not proper expressions of a willing mind. Let us be devoted in body and soul to his service, whatever he may call us to give, venture, do, or suffer for his sake.
Leviticus 1:1
Then the LORD called to Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting, saying,
Leviticus 1:2
“Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When any man of you brings an offering to the LORD, you shall bring your offering of animals from the herd or the flock.
Leviticus 1:3
If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer it, a male without defect; he shall offer it at the doorway of the tent of meeting, that he may be accepted before the LORD.
Leviticus 1:4
He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, that it may be accepted for him to make atonement on his behalf.
Leviticus 1:5
He shall slay the young bull before the LORD; and Aaron’s sons the priests shall offer up the blood and sprinkle the blood around on the altar that is at the doorway of the tent of meeting.
Leviticus 1:6
He shall then skin the burnt offering and cut it into its pieces.
Leviticus 1:7
The sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire.
Leviticus 1:8
Then Aaron’s sons the priests shall arrange the pieces, the head and the suet over the wood which is on the fire that is on the altar.
Leviticus 1:9
Its entrails, however, and its legs he shall wash with water. And the priest shall offer up in smoke all of it on the altar for a burnt offering, an offering by fire of a soothing aroma to the LORD.
Leviticus 1:10
‘But if his offering is from the flock, of the sheep or of the goats, for a burnt offering, he shall offer it a male without defect.
Leviticus 1:11
He shall slay it on the side of the altar northward before the LORD, and Aaron’s sons the priests shall sprinkle its blood around on the altar.
Leviticus 1:12
He shall then cut it into its pieces with its head and its suet, and the priest shall arrange them on the wood which is on the fire that is on the altar.
Leviticus 1:13
The entrails, however, and the legs he shall wash with water. And the priest shall offer all of it, and offer it up in smoke on the altar; it is a burnt offering, an offering by fire of a soothing aroma to the LORD.
Leviticus 1:14
‘But if his offering to the LORD is a burnt offering of birds, then he shall bring his offering from the turtledoves or from young pigeons.
Leviticus 1:15
The priest shall bring it to the altar, and wring off its head and offer it up in smoke on the altar; and its blood is to be drained out on the side of the altar.
Leviticus 1:16
He shall also take away its crop with its feathers and cast it beside the altar eastward, to the place of the ashes.
Leviticus 1:17
Then he shall tear it by its wings, but shall not sever it. And the priest shall offer it up in smoke on the altar on the wood which is on the fire; it is a burnt offering, an offering by fire of a soothing aroma to the LORD.
Cross References
Leviticus 1:1: Exodus 19:3; 25:22; Numbers 7:89; Leviticus 1:2: Mark 7:11; Leviticus 22:18; Leviticus 1:3: Leviticus 6:8-13; Exodus 12:5; Leviticus 22:20-24; Deuteronomy 15:21; 17:1; Leviticus 17:8, 9; Deuteronomy 12:5, 6, 11; Leviticus 1:4: Exodus 29:10, 15, 19; Leviticus 3:2, 8; Exodus 29:33; Leviticus 4:20, 26, 31; 2 Chronicles 29:23, 24; Leviticus 1:5: Exodus 29:11, 16, 20; Leviticus 1:5: Leviticus 17:11; Leviticus 1:11; 3:2, 8, 13; Hebrews 12:24; 1 Peter 1:2; Leviticus 1:6: Leviticus 7:8; Leviticus 1:7: Leviticus 6:8-13; Leviticus 1:8: Leviticus 1:12; 3:3, 4; 8:20; Leviticus 1:9: Exodus 12:9; Numbers 15:8-10; 28:11-14; Genesis 8:21; Exodus 29:18, 25; Leviticus 1:13; Numbers 15:3; Ephesians 5:2; Leviticus 1:10: Exodus 12:5; Leviticus 1:3; Ezekiel 43:22; 1 Peter 1:19; Leviticus 1:11: Leviticus 24:6; Leviticus 1:5; 8:19; 9:12; Leviticus 1:12: Leviticus 3:3, 4; Leviticus 1:13: Numbers 15:4-7; 28:11-14; Leviticus 1:14: Genesis 15:9; Leviticus 5:7, 11; 12:8; Luke 2:24; Leviticus 1:15: Leviticus 5:9; Leviticus 1:16: Leviticus 6:10; Leviticus 1:17: Genesis 15:10; Leviticus 5:8; Leviticus 9:13
Easton's Bible Dictionary
Amminadab
Kindred of the prince. The father was chief of the tribe of Judah. His daughter was married to Aaron. The second son of Levi. Chief of the 112 descendants of the Levites.
Bird
Birds are divided in the Mosaic law into two classes, the clean, which were offered in sacrifice; and the unclean. When offered in sacrifice, they were not divided as other victims were. They are mentioned also as an article of food.
The art of snaring wild birds is referred to. Singing birds. Their timidity is alluded to. The reference to the swallow and the sparrow may be only a comparison equivalent to, What her house is to the sparrow, and her nest to the swallow, that thine altars are to my soul.
Burnt Offering
Ascending, the whole being consumed by fire, and regarded as ascending to God while being consumed. Part of every offering was burnt in the sacred fire, but this was wholly burnt, a whole burnt offering. It was the most frequent form of sacrifice, and apparently the only one mentioned in the book of Genesis. Such were the sacrifices offered by Abel, Noah, Abraham, and by the Hebrews in Egypt.
The law of Moses afterwards prescribed the occasions and the manner in which burnt sacrifices were to
be offered. There were the continual burnt offering, the burnt offering of every sabbath, which was double the daily one, the burnt offering of every month, the offerings at the Passover, at Pentecost, the feast of Trumpets, and on the day of Atonement. On other occasions special sacrifices were offered, as at the consecration of Aaron and the dedication of the temple.
Free will burnt offerings were also permitted, and were offered at the accession of Solomon to the throne, and at the reformation brought about by Hezekiah. These offerings signified the complete dedication of the offerers to God.
Fire
For sacred purposes. The sacrifices were consumed by fire. The ever burning fire on the altar was first kindled from heaven and afterwards rekindled at the dedication of Solomon's temple. The expressions fire from heaven and fire of the Lord generally denote lightning, but sometimes also the fire of the altar was so called.
Fire for a sacred purpose obtained otherwise than from the altar was called strange fire. The victims slain for sin offerings were afterwards consumed by fire outside the camp. For domestic purposes, such as baking, cooking, warmth.
But on Sabbath no fire for any domestic purpose was to be kindled. Punishment of death by fire was inflicted on such as were guilty of certain forms of unchastity and incest. The burning of captives in war was not unknown among the Jews.
The bodies of infamous persons who were executed were also sometimes burned. In war, fire was used in the destruction of cities. The war chariots of the Canaanites were burnt. The Israelites burned the images of the house of Baal.
These objects of worship seem to have been of the nature of obelisks, and were sometimes evidently made of wood. Torches were sometimes carried by the soldiers in battle. Figuratively, fire is a symbol of Jehovah's presence and the instrument of his power.
God's word is also likened unto fire. It is referred to as an emblem of severe trials or misfortunes, and of eternal punishment. The influence of the Holy Ghost is likened unto fire. His descent was denoted by the appearance of tongues as of fire.
Gershom
The eldest son of Levi. The elder of the two sons of Moses. On his way to Egypt with his family, in obedience to the command of the Lord, Moses was attacked by a sudden and dangerous illness, his wife believed to have been sent because he had neglected to circumcise his son.
She accordingly took a sharp stone and circumcised her son, saying, surely a bloody husband art thou to me, by the blood of her child she had, as it were, purchased her husband, had won him back again. A descendant who returned with Ezra from Babylon.
Iddo
The father of Abinadab. A descendant of Gershom, son of Levi. Son of Zechariah, ruler of the tribe of Manasseh east of Jordan in the time of David. A seer whose visions against Jeroboam incidentally contained some of the acts of Solomon. He appears to have written a chronicle or story relating to the life and reign of Abijah. The grandfather of the prophet Zechariah. The chief of those who assembled at Casiphia at the time of the second caravan from Babylon. He was one of the Nethinim.
Jahath
Son of Libni, the son of Gershom, the son of Levi. Head of a later house in the family of Gershom, being the eldest son of Shimei, the son of Laadan. A man in the genealogy of Judah, son of Reaiah ben-Shobal. A Levite, son of Shelomoth. A Merarite Levite in the reign of Josiah.
Kish
A bow. The father of Saul; a Benjamite of the family of Matri. Son of Jehiel and uncle to the preceding. A Benjamite, great-grandfather of Mordecai. A Merarite of the house of Mahli, of the tribe of Levi.
Law of Moses
It will be the object of this article to give a brief analysis of the substance of this law, to point out its main principles, and to explain the position which it occupies in the progress of divine revelation. In order to do this the more clearly, it seems best to speak of the law, first. In relation to the past; second.
In its own intrinsic character. In reference to the past, it is all important, for the proper understanding of the law, to remember its entire dependence on the Abrahamic covenant. That covenant had a twofold character. It contained the spiritual promise of the Messiah; but it contained also the temporal promises subsidiary to the former. The nature of this relation of the law to the promise is clearly pointed out.
The belief in God as the Redeemer of man, and the hope of his manifestation as such int he person of the Messiah, involved the belief that the Spiritual Power must be superior to all carnal obstructions, and that there was in man spiritual element which could rule his life by communion with a spirit from above. But it involved also the idea of an antagonistic power of evil, from which man was to be redeemed, existing in each individual, and existing also in the world at large.
Nor is it less essential to remark the period of the history at which it was given. It marked and determined the transition of Israel from the condition of a tribe to that of a nation, and its definite assumption of a distinct position and office in the history of the world.
Yet, though new in its general conception, it was probably not wholly new in its materials. There must necessarily have been, before the law, commandments and revelations of a fragmentary character, under which Israel had grown up.
So far therefore as they were consistent with the objects of the Jewish law, the customs of Palestine and the laws of Egypt would doubtless be traceable in the Mosaic system. In close connection with, and almost in consequence of, this reference to antiquity, we find an accommodation of the law to the temper and circumstances of the Israelites, to which our Lord refers int he case of divorce, as necessarily interfering with its absolute perfection.
In many cases it rather should be said to guide and modify existing usages than actually to sanction them; and the ignorance of their existence may lead to a conception of its ordinances not only erroneous, but actually the reverse of the truth. In close connection with this subject we observe also the gradual process by which the law was revealed to the Israelites. In direct connection with the revelation from Mount Sinai, that which may be called the rough outline of the Mosaic law is given by God, solemnly recorded by Moses, and accepted by the people.
There is a similar outline of the Mosaic ceremonial. On the basis of these it may be conceived that the fabric of the Mosaic system gradually grew up under the requirements of the time. The first revelation of the law in anything like a perfect form is found in the book of Deuteronomy. yet even then the revelation was not final; it was the duty of the prophets to amend and explain it in special points, and to bring out more clearly its great principles. In giving an analysis of the substance of the law, it will probably be better to treat it, as any other system of laws is usually treated, by dividing it into:
Laws Civil; Laws Criminal: Laws Judicial and Constitutional; Laws Ecclesiastical, Father AND Son. the power of a father to be held sacred; cursing or smiting, and stubborn and willful disobedience, to be considered capital crimes. But uncontrolled power of life and death was apparently refused to the father, and vested only in the congregation.
Right of the firstborn to a double portion of the inheritance not to be set aside by partiality. Inheritance by daughters to be allowed in default of sons, provided, that heiresses married in their own tribe. Daughters unmarried to be entirely dependent on their father.
The power of a husband to be so great that a wife could never be, or enter independently into any engagement, even before God. A widow or a divorced wife became independent, and did not against fall under her father's power. Divorce allowed, but to be formal and irrevocable. Marriage within certain degrees forbidden.
A slave wife, whether bought or captive, not to be actual property, nor to be sold; if ill treated, to be free. Slander against a wife's virginity to be punished by fine, and by deprived of power of divorce; on the other hand, ante-connubial uncleanness in her to be punished by death; the raising up of seed a formal right to be claimed by the widow, under pain of infamy, with a view to preservation of families.
MASTER. Power of master so far limited that death under actual chastisement was punishable, and maiming was to give liberty. The Hebrew slave to be freed at the sabbatical year, and provided with necessaries, unless by his own formal act he consented to be a perpetual slave. In any case, it would seem, to be freed at the jubilee, with his children. If sold to a resident alien, to be always redeemable, at a price proportioned to the distance of the jubilee. Foreign slaves to be held and inherited as property forever, and fugitive slaves from foreign nations not to be given up.
STRANGERS. These seem never to have been able to protect themselves, and accordingly protection and kindness toward them are enjoined as a sacred duty. All land to be the property of God alone, and its holders to be deemed his tenants. All sold land therefore to return to its original owners at the jubilee, and the price of sale to be calculated accordingly; and redemption on equitable terms to be allowed at all times.
A house sold to be redeemable within a year; and if not redeemed, to pass away altogether. But the houses of the Levites, or those in unwalled villages, to be redeemable at all times, in the same way as land; and the Levitical suburbs to be inalienable. Land or houses sanctified, or tithes, or unclean firstlings, to be capable of being redeemed, at 6/5 value; if devoted by the owner and unredeemed, to be hallowed at the jubilee forever, and given to the priests; if only by a possessor, to return to the owner at the jubilee. Inheritance.
LAWS OF DEBT. All debts to be released at the seventh sabbatical year; a blessing promised to obedience, and a curse on refusal to lend. Usury not to be taken. Pledges not to be insolently or ruinously exacted.
TAXATION. Census money, a poll tax, to be paid for the service of the tabernacle. All spoil in war to be halved; of the combatants' half, 1/500, of the people's, 1/50, to be paid for a heave offering to Jehovah. Tithes. Tithes of all produce to be given for maintenance of the Levites. Of this 1/10 to be paid as a heave offering for maintenance of the priests. Second tithe to be bestowed in religious feasting and charity, either at the holy place or at home. First fruits of corn, wine and oil at least 1/60, generally 1/40, for the to be offered at Jerusalem, with a solemn declaration of dependence on God the King of Israel.
Firstlings of clean beasts; the redemption money of man and of unclean beasts to be given to the priests after sacrifice. Poor laws. Gleanings to be a legal right of the poor. Slight trespass to be allowed as legal. Wages to be paid day by day. Maintenance of priests. 10th of Levites' tithe. The heave and wave offerings. The meat and sin offerings, to be eaten solemnly and only in the holy place.
First fruits and redemption money. Price of all devoted things, unless specially given for a sacred service. A man's service, or that of his household, to be redeemed at 50 shekels for man, 30 for woman, 20 for boy and 10 for girl.
LAWS CRIMINAL AND OFFENSES AGAINST
First Command. Acknowledgment of false gods and generally all idolatry. Second Command. Witchcraft and false prophecy. Third Command. Blasphemy. Fourth Command. Sabbath breaking. Punishment in all cases, death by stoning. Idolatrous cities to be utterly destroyed. Fifth Command. Disobedience to or cursing or smiting of parents, to be punished by death by stoning, publicly adjudged and inflicted; so also of disobedience to the priests or the Supreme Judge. Sixth Command. Murder to be punished by death without sanctuary or reprieve, or satisfaction. Death of a slave, actually under the rod, to be punished. Death by negligence to be punished by death. Accidental homicide : the avenger of blood to seek safety by flight to a city of refuge, there to remain until the death of the high priest. Uncertain murder to be expiated by formal disavowal and sacrifice by the elders of the nearest city. Assault, or damages.
Seventh Command. Adultery to be punished by death of both offenders; the rape of a married or betrothed woman, by death of the offender. Rape or seduction of an unbetrothed virgin to be compensated by marriage, with dowry, and without power of divorce; or, if she be refused, by payment of full dowry. Unlawful marriages to be punished, some by death, some by childlessness. Eight command. Theft to be punished by fourfold or double restitution; or nocturnal robber might be slain as an outlaw. Trespass and injury of things lent to be compensated. Perversion of justice, and especially oppression of strangers, strictly forbidden. Kidnapping to be punished by death. Ninth Command. False witness. Slander of a wife's chastity, by fine and loss of power of divorce. A fuller consideration of the tables of the Ten Commandments is given elsewhere.
LAWS JUDICIAL AND CONSTITUTIONAL AND JURISDICTION. Local judges appointed, for ordinary matters, probably by the people with approbation of the supreme authority, through all the land. Appeal to the priests, or to the judge ; their sentence final, and to be accepted under pain of death, appeal to Moses, Two witnesses required in capital matters. Punishment, except by special command, to be personal, and not to extend to the family.
Stripes allowed and limited, so as to avoid outrage on the human frame. All this would be to a great extent set aside 1st. By the summary jurisdiction of the king; which extended even to the deposition of the high priest. The practical difficulty of its being carried out is seen in and would lead of course to a certain delegation of his power. By the appointment of the 70, with a solemn religious sanction.
In later times there was a local Sanhedrin of 23 in each city, and two such in Jerusalem, as well as the Great Sanhedrin, consisting of 70 members, besides the president, who was to be the high priest if duly qualified, and controlling even the king and high priest. The members were priest, scribes, and elders. A court of exactly this nature is noticed as appointed to supreme power by Jehoshaphat.
ROYAL POWER. The king's power limited by the law, as written and formally accepted by the king; and directly forbidden to be despotic. Military conquest discouraged by the prohibition of the use of horses. For an example of obedience to this law see and of disobedience to it see.
Yet he had power of taxation and of compulsory service, the declaration of war. There are distinct traces of a mutual contract, a league, the remonstrance with Rehoboam being clearly not extraordinary. The princes of the congregation. The heads of the tribes, seem to have had authority under Joshua to act for the people, and in the later times the princes of Judah seem to have had power to control both the king and the priests.
ROYAL REVENUE. Tenth of produce. Domain land. Note confiscation of criminal's land. Bond service, chiefly on foreigners. Flocks and herds. Tributes from foreign kings. Commerce ; especially in Solomon's time.
ECCLESIASTICAL AND CEREMONIAL LAW AND LAW OF ORDINARY SACRIFICES. The whole burnt offering, of the herd or the flock; to be offered continually, and the fire on the altar never to be extinguished. The meat offering, of flour, oil and frankincense, unleavened and seasoned with salt. The peace offering, of the herd or the flock; either a thank offering or a vow or free will offering. The sin offering or trespass offering. For sins committed in ignorance. For vows unwittingly made and broken, or uncleanness unwittingly contracted. For sins wittingly committed.
EXTRAORDINARY SACRIFICES. At the consecration of priests. At the purification of women. At the cleansing of lepers. On the great day of atonement. On the great festivals.
LAW OF HOLINESS AND HOLINESS OF PERSONS. Holiness of the whole people as children of God, shown in The dedication of the first-born. Distinction of clean and unclean food. Provision for purification. Laws against disfigurement, against excessive scourging. Laws against unnatural marriages and lust. Holiness of the priests. Their consecration. Their special qualifications and restrictions. Their rights, and authority.
HOLINESS OF PLACES AND THINGS. The tabernacle with the ark, the vail, the altars, the laver, the priestly robes. The holy place chosen for the permanent erection of the tabernacle, where only all sacrifices were to be offered and all tithes, first fruits, vows, to be given or eaten.
HOLINESS OF TIMES. The sabbatical year. The year of jubilee. The passover. The feast of weeks. The feast of tabernacles. The feast of trumpets. The day of atonement. Such is the substance of the Mosaic law.
THEOCRATIC CHARACTER. Its reference, that is, of all action and thoughts of men directly and immediately to the will of God. It follows from this that it is to be regarded not merely as a law, that is, a rule of conduct based on known truth and acknowledged authority, but also as a revelation of God's nature and his dispensations.
But this theocratic character of the law depends necessarily on the belief in God, as not only the creator and sustainer of the world, but as, by special covenant, the head of the Jewish nation. This immediate reference to God as their king is clearly seen as the groundwork of their whole polity.
From this theocratic nature of the law follow important deductions with regard to the view which it takes of political society; the extent of the scope of the law; the penalties by which it is enforced; and the character which it seeks to impress on the people. The Mosaic law seeks the basis of its polity, first, in the absolute sovereignty of God; next, in the relationship of each individual to God, and through God to his countrymen.
It is clear that such a doctrine, while it contradicts none of the common theories, yet lies beneath them all. The law, as proceeding directly from God and referring directly to him, is necessarily absolute in its supremacy and unlimited in its scope.
It is supreme over the governors, as being only the delegates of the Lord, and therefore it is incompatible with any despotic authority in them. On the other hand, it is supreme over the governed, recognizing no inherent rights in the individual as prevailing against or limiting the law. It regulated the whole life of an Israelite.
His actions were rewarded and punished with great minuteness and strictness and that according to the standard, not of their consequences but of their intrinsic morality. The penalties and rewards by which the law is enforced are such as depend on the direct theocracy.
With regard to individual actions, it may be noticed that, as generally some penalties are inflicted by the subordinate and some only the supreme authority, so among the Israelites some penalties came from the hand of man, some directly from the providence of God. But perhaps the most important consequence of the theocratic nature of the law was the peculiar character of goodness which it sought to impress on the people.
The Mosaic law, beginning with piety as its first object, enforces most emphatically the purity essential to those who, by their union with God, have recovered the hope of intrinsic goodness, while it views righteousness and love rather as deductions from these than as independent objects.
The appeal is not to any dignity of human nature, but to the obligations of communion with a holy God. The subordination, therefore, of this idea also to the religious idea is enforced; and so long as the due supremacy of the latter was preserved, all other duties would find their places in proper harmony.
Pigeon
Pigeons are mentioned as among the offerings which, by divine appointment, Abram presented unto the Lord. They were afterwards enumerated among the sin offerings, and the law provided that those who could not offer a lamb might offer two young pigeons.
Talmon
The head of a family of door keepers in the temple, the porters for the camps of the sons: of Levi. Some of his descendants returned with Zerubbabel, and were employed in their hereditary office in the days of Nehemiah and Ezra.
Turtle Dove
Its peculiar peaceful and gentle habit its often referred to in Scripture. A pair was offered in sacrifice by Mary at her purification. The pigeon and the turtle-dove were the only birds permitted to be offered in sacrifice. The Latin name of this bird is derived from its note, and is a repetition of the Hebrew name.
Three species are found in Palestine, the turtle dove, the collared turtle, and the palm turtle. But it is to the first of these species which the various passages of Scripture refer. It is a migratory bird. Search the glades and valleys, even by sultry Jordan, at the end of March, and not a turtle dove is to be seen.
Return in the second week of April, and clouds of doves are feeding on the clovers of the plain. They overspread the whole face of the land. Immediately on its arrival it pours forth from every garden, grove, and wooded hill its melancholy yet soothing ditty unceasingly from early dawn till sunset. It is from its plaintive and continuous note, doubtless, that David, pouring forth his heart's sorrow to God, compares himself to a turtle dove.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
The offering of sacrifices was an ordinance of true religion, from the fall of man unto the coming of Christ. But till the Israelites were in the wilderness, no very particular regulations seem to have been appointed. The general design of these laws is plain. The sacrifices typified Christ; they also shadowed out the believer's duty, character, privilege, and communion with God. There is scarcely any thing spoken of the Lord Jesus in Scripture which has not also a reference to his people.
This book begins with the laws concerning sacrifices; the most ancient were the burnt offerings, about which God here gives Moses directions. It is taken for granted that the people would be willing to bring offerings to the Lord. The very light of nature directs man, some way or other, to do honor to his Maker, as his Lord. Immediately after the fall, sacrifices were ordained.
In the due performance of the Levitical ordinances, the mysteries of the spiritual world are represented by corresponding natural objects; and future events are exhibited in these rites. Without this, the whole will seem unmeaning ceremonies.
There is in these things a type of the sufferings of the Son of God, who was to be a sacrifice for the sins of the whole world? The burning body of an animal was but a faint representation of that everlasting misery, which we all have deserved; and which our blessed Lord bore in his body and in his soul, when he died under the load of our iniquities.
The beast to be offered must be without blemish. This signified the strength and purity that were in Christ, and the holy life that should be in his people. The owner must offer it of his own free will. What is done in religion, so as to please God, must be done by love.
Christ willingly offered himself for us. It must be offered at the door of the tabernacle, where the brazen altar of burnt offerings stood, which sanctified the gift: he must offer it at the door, as one unworthy to enter, and acknowledging that a sinner can have no communion with God, but by sacrifice.
The offerer must put his hand upon the head of his offering, signifying thereby, his desire and hope that it might be accepted from him, to make atonement for him. The sacrifice was to be killed before the Lord, in an orderly manner, and to honor God. It signified also, that in Christians the flesh must be crucified with its corrupt affections and lust.
The priests were to sprinkle the blood upon the altar; for the blood being the life, that was it which made atonement. This signified the pacifying and purifying of our consciences, by the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ upon them by faith.
The beast was to be divided into several pieces, and then to be burned upon the altar. The burning of the sacrifice signified the sharp sufferings of Christ, and the devout affections with which, as a holy fire, Christians must offer up themselves, their whole spirit, soul, and body, to God. This is said to be an offering of a sweet savior.
As an act of obedience to a Divine command, and a type of Christ, this was well pleasing to God; and the spiritual sacrifices of Christians are acceptable to God, through Christ. Those who could not offer a bullock, were to bring a sheep or a goat; and those who were not able to do that, were accepted of God, if they brought a turtle dove, or a pigeon.
Those creatures were chosen for sacrifice which were mild, and gentle, and harmless; to show the innocence and meekness that were in Christ, and that should be in Christians. The offering of the poor was as typical of Christ's atonement as the more costly sacrifices, and expressed as fully repentance, faith, and devotedness to God.
We have no excuse, if we refuse the pleasant and reasonable service now required. But we can no more offer the sacrifice of a broken heart, or of praise and thanksgiving, than an Israelite could offer a bullock or a goat, except as God hath first given to us. The more we do in the Lord's service, the greater are our obligations to him, for the will, for the ability, and opportunity.
In many things God leaves us to fix what shall be spent in his service, whether of our time or our substance; yet where God's providence has put much into a man's power, scanty offerings will not be accepted, for they are not proper expressions of a willing mind. Let us be devoted in body and soul to his service, whatever he may call us to give, venture, do, or suffer for his sake.
Genesis to Revelation Verse by Verse
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