Lectionary Calendar
Sunday, July 20th, 2025
the Week of Proper 11 / Ordinary 16
the Week of Proper 11 / Ordinary 16
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Bible Commentaries
Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary Preacher's Homiletical
Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Bibliographical Information
Exell, Joseph S. "Commentary on Leviticus 1". Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary. https://studylight.org/commentaries/eng/phc/leviticus-1.html. Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1892.
Exell, Joseph S. "Commentary on Leviticus 1". Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary. https://studylight.org/
Whole Bible (48)Old Testament (1)Individual Books (4)
Verses 1-17
The Law of the Burnt Sacrifices
SUGGESTIVE READINGS
Leviticus 1:1.âLord called ⦠and spake. From within the Tabernacle: Godâs first habitation among men. Never before had He âdwelt with men on the earthâ; He speaks now for the first time from His holy tent in Israelâs midst. It foreshadowed the âWord tabernacling among usâ (John 1:14). âThe Lord calledâ is a phrase specially used when important communications were to follow; as from the burning bush (Exodus 3:4), and from Sinaiâs heights (Leviticus 19:3-20). The law of commandments was given to Moses amid flames and thunder, as being condemnatory of manâs sin. Now, the law of sacrifice is given in gracious communication through Moses, as revealing Godâs plan of mercy. For us, in these Christian times, the gentler teachings of the Mount of Beatitudes form our law of duty and of life.
Leviticus 1:2.âIf any man of you bring. God assumesâ
(1) That men would seek Him; would draw near to Him in the sacred tent, wherein He had come so near to men. If so, surely more readily and gratefully we should seek Him in Jesus. âGod was in Christ,â etc. (2 Corinthians 5:19).
(2) That men will seek Him, bringing offerings; some presentation as a token of homage and gratitude for His gifts to them; or some propitiation as a lament over their sin and an appeal to His mercy. God still looks for offerings as we âcome before His presenceâ; what shall we render? what worthiest presentation can we take?
Leviticus 1:3.âA burnt sacrifice. This expressed the offererâs surrender of himself unto God as âa living sacrificeâ (Romans 12:1). The victim must have no blemish, must be the choicest product of his pastures; for God asks, and will only receive, our best (Malachi 1:14). It must be offered âof his own voluntary will,â or rather âfor his own acceptance,â expressing his great concern to win Godâs gracious regard; and indeed, we ought to concern ourselves supremely for this; âin Thy favour is life.â And he must offer it âat the door of the tabernacle,â as being unworthy to enter. With humility and reverence, and a lowly sense of demerit, we should venture near God.
(a) Christ is herein typified; our Sacrifice âwithout blemish,â offered for manâs âacceptance,â ere He âentered the holy placeâ (Hebrews 9:12-24).
(b) The Christian is prefigured; âyielding himself alive unto God,â âholy and acceptable,â ere he is admitted into covenant privileges within the Church now, and finally into Godâs presence in heaven.
Leviticus 1:4.âPut his hand upon the head. An act of transfer: threefold; signifying transference of his right of possession in the victim, his sense of sin to the victim, and his substitution for suffering of the victim. Thus the Christian gives up all rights of self-possession (âYe are not your ownâ): thus also the sinner lays all his sin, and the believer all his hope, on Christ his sacrifice and substitute. It must be the individualâs own act, none can do it for another; every one must himself lay âhis handâ on Christ.
Leviticus 1:5.âHe shall kill the bullock. Thereby he identified himself with the victim designated to die, and thereby claimed the âatonementâ effected by its sacrificial substitution. To be saved we must also be identified with Christ in His death, and thereby inherit His atonement. âThe priest shall bring the blood,â not the offerer; for the priestly offices of Christ are essential; man must let Jesus do all the work of propitiation. âSprinkle the blood round about upon the altarâ; attesting thereby that life had been given up in sacrificial Buffering unto God. Christâs death is the sinnerâs death, and âthe blood of sprinklingâ testifies that âHe made His soul an offering for sin.â Diffused âround about upon the altar,â the blood is the memorial of an accomplished atonement, the seal of an accepted sacrifice.
Leviticus 1:6-9âFire upon the altar ⦠an offering made by fire. Once lighted, that fire was never more to go out (ch. Leviticus 6:13). Yet every part of the victim must be âwashedâ faultlessly clean before being placed on the altar: only the absolutely clean can be acceptable to God. And then the entire victim, every part thereof, must ascend in sacrificial fire unto God. Thus
(1) Christ our atonement-offering must Himself be âholy, harmless, undefiledâ; and must also be completely sacrificed for manâs sin. And
(2) Christian life must likewise be both thoroughly sanctified and wholly devoted unto God. âTherefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are Godâsâ (1 Corinthians 6:20).
A sweet savour unto the Lord. The very virtue and essence of the offering ascended by fire from the altar on earth to God in heaven. Duly offered by fire, the sacrifice was âa sweet savourâ to the Lord. Christâs sacrifice was: âHe gave Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savourâ (Ephesians 5:2). Christian self-consecration is: âFor we are unto God a sweet savour of Christâ (2 Corinthians 2:15). Christian life perpetuates on earth and yields continually to heaven the incense of a pure offering, âan odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to Godâ (Philippians 4:18).
Leviticus 1:10-13.âA burnt sacrifice of the flocks. Only the wealthier offerers could bring the oostlier sacrifice âof the herdâ (Leviticus 1:3). God equally provides for the less opulent among the people; gives directions for their sacrifices just as specific, denoting that He valued their presentation as much as the costlier offering. Our straitened lot does not release us from Godâs claims, neither is our humbler gift depreciated by God. But He requires entirety in all our sacrifices, that we devote to Him our utmost, our all. âBring it all and burn it upon the altar.â
Leviticus 1:14-17âA burnt sacrifice of fowls. Thus God, with minute care, arranges for the poorest, that none may feel Godâs requirements too heavy for them to meet, or deem their poverty a disqualification for approaching Him acceptably. In this instance, however, the priest was to bring the bird to the altar and slay it (Leviticus 1:15), thereby giving peculiar importance to the poor manâs offering as worthy special attention; for God has always put honour on the sacrifices of the poor, as our Lord did on the widowâs mite. Yet insignificant as was the offering of the poor, it must as fully denote entire self-devotion to God. He prizes the love which shows itself in our casting in âall our livingâ (Mark 12:44).
INTRODUCTORY HOMILIES
(A). THE LEVITICAL RITUAL
That Moses was the author of this Book is acknowledged by most competent scholars. The events of the Book cover only about a month of time, i.e., from the erection of the tabernacle to the numbering of the people, and they relate to the establishment of sacrificial worship among the Hebrews in the wilderness of Sinai.
I. Although the words of Leviticus were written by Moses, they were dictated by the Lord.
The first verse of the Book decides this point, Moses records the utterances that proceeded from the tabernacle. So far then as Leviticus is concerned, we have the thoughts of God in the words of God, and, as such, they deserve our reverent attention, as indicating Jehovahâs desire for our acceptable approach to Him.
Note that
(1) the pure ethical teaching of the Levitical ritual could not have been invented by a people so perverse and prone to corruption as Israel;
(2) and they would not voluntarily have put themselves under such restrictions if they could. The revelation of God to Israel, through His servant Moses, was the outcome of the Divine disposition to communicate to and commune with man, of His deep concern for human holiness and happiness; this the basis and spring of all revelation and blessing to our race. [See Illustrative Addenda, p. 18, Revelation.]
II. Although the rites of Leviticus have been superseded, its moral teaching has not been abrogated.
If read in connection with the Epistle to Hebrews (which is its best commentary) lessons upon Christian work, worship, witnessing may be gathered. Christ came not to destroy the law, but to give it a fuller and deeper significance, to exemplify and enforce the principles therein taught. The perfect ethics of the Gospel have their germs and roots in the law, both enjoin holiness to the Lord.
III. Although the sacrifices of Leviticus have been discontinued, the one offering of Christ abideth for ever.
We need no material altar or sacrifice; and, therefore, no human priest. Christ finished His atoning work upon the Crossâappears now as âLamb in the midst of the throne,â showing that while He was once a victim (âLambâ) He is now a victor (âthroneâ). The law is our schoolmaster to lead us to Christ. Except read in light of the New Testament, Leviticus becomes a form without power, shadow without substance. With joy we may draw water out of these wells of salvation. In its typical rites we may apprehend Him who hath obtained eternal redemption for us.âRev. F. W. Brown.
(B). COMMUNION WITH GOD BY A REDEEMED PEOPLE THROUGH ALTAR OFFERINGS
The Exodus sacrifices, those offered by the children of Israel while in Egypt, i.e., the paschal lamb and unleavened bread, had reference and significance wholly to their redemption: deliverance from death and bondage. The Levitical sacrifices were those of a saved people, and were appointed for their acceptable approaches to God their Saviour. Instead, therefore, of seeing Christ as redeeming us, we see Him in His work for those already redeemed; bringing them into fellowship with God and restoring them when they fail or fall. To hold communion with God they need Christ both as Offering and Mediator, Sacrifice and Priest; thus He appears in the tabernacle services. Gathering all the tabernacle offerings into one view, remark that:
I. Altar offerings and tabernacle ministries all reach their completion in Christ.
He is the Burnt Offering, Meat Offering, Peace Offering, Sin Offering, Trespass Offering for His people. âWhen He said, sacrifice and offering and burnt offering and offering for sin Thou wouldst not, neither hadst pleasure therein, which are offered by the law; then said He, Lo I come to do Thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that He may establish the secondâ (Hebrews 10:8-9). By the one oblation of Himself He has stood in all those relations; relations precious to God, needful to His Church.
1. In each offering three distinct objects are present: the offering, the priest, the offerer. Christ is each of and all these. So manifold are the relations in which Christ has stood for man and to man that all types are required to represent His fulness. First He comes as Offerer; but we cannot see the Offerer without the offering; and the Offerer is Himself the Offering; and He who is both Offerer and Offering is also the Priest.
(1) As offerer, we see Him our Substitute, âfulfilling all righteousness.â
(2) As priest, we see Him our Mediator, ministering between God and Israel.
(3) As offering, He is seen the Innocent Victim, a sweet savour to God, yet bearing the sin and dying for it.
(1) The offerer sets forth Christ in His Person; who became man to meet Godâs requirements.
(2) The offering presents Him in His character and work, as the victim by which atonement was ratified.
(3) The priest shows Him in His official relation as the appointed intercessor.
2. The difference in the several offerings asks notice; the Burnt, the Meat, the Peace offerings, etc. They represent different aspects of Christâs offering. [For their different meaning compare Homilies on each.]
3. The offerer himself also reflects Christ in His diverse aspects. The faithful Israelite stands, in one instance, as a sinless offerer, presenting a âsweet smelling savourâ for acceptance with God, not propitiating for sin; in another as a convicted sinner, offering an expiatory sacrifice which bears the pain and penalty of his transgressions.
The offering of Christ was but one, and but once offered; but as Christâs fulness and relations are so manifold, all aspects are needful to represent Him in those manifold relations and His various work for us.
4. The different grades in the various offerings is equally significant; the bullock, the lamb, the dove. And these denote the different estimates and apprehensions formed of Christ by His people. Christâs work is so complete that each aspect may be differently apprehended according to the measure of light in the believer. Some never go beyond the conception of Christ as their Paschal Offering, securing their redemption from Egyptian bondage and death. Others, however, see Him as their Burnt Offering, wholly devoted to God for them; while to others He is as the passive Lamb silent and submissive in affliction; and to others the mourning Dove gentle and sorrowful in His innocency.
II. Altar offerings and tabernacle ministries were designed for Israelâs acceptable communion with God.
The types of Leviticus, in distinction from the types of redemption or deliverance from doom, give us the work of Christ in its bearing on worship and communion.
1. They meet the needs of a ransomed people in providing for their access to God. If they come for consecration they bring the burnt offerings: if for grateful acknowledgment of Divine bounty and graciousness, they bring the food offerings; if for reconciliation after ignorant misadventure or neglect of duty or temporary transgression, they bring their peace or trespass offering, &c. But they all provide a basis for access to and acceptance with God.
How thoroughly all these qualities unite in the one offering of Jesus is manifest; so that we, redeemed by Him, come before God with His merits and graces, and are accepted in Him. âTherefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand.⦠and not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonementâ (Romans 5:1-2; Romans 5:11).
2. Christâs work as connected with the communion of His people, must be viewed under manifold representations. The Offering first: for His one oblation
âProvides for those who come to God
An all-prevailing plea.â
Yet how few believers enter earnestly into the manifold aspects and alms of Christâs one offering represented in the various victims and the arrangements for their sacrifice. They read of Him as the Sin Offering, the Burnt Offering, &c., but no corresponding thought is suggested to them by this distinction. It is enough for them that the blood of the Paschal Lamb has been sprinkled on their door post and they are saved: they inquire not more concerning Him. But they who would know the joy of communion must go from strength to strength in the knowledge of the grace and work of Jesus. Have they known Him as the Paschal Lamb? They will then seek to know Him as the offering within the Tabernacle. Have they learnt Him in His different relations as offering? They will then seek to know Him in His Offices as Priest: His ministrations for us within the Holy Place: His grace and acceptableness as our Mediator at the altar: His free entrance on our behalf into the presence of God.
Thus, redemption being known, the Levitical sacrifices relate to the access of a chosen people to God: and show Christ as He is discerned by one who already knows the certainty of redemption; Christ the Priest, the Offerer, the Offering: Christ as meeting all that a sinner saved needs in approaching to God: Christ for the believer, and all that Christ is to the believer as keeping up his daily communion with God, meeting his needs in his access to Jehovah.âHomiletically arranged by Editor from âJukes on the Offerings.â
SECTIONAL HOMILIES
Topic.âWORSHIP BY SACRIFICE (Leviticus 1:1-9)
A great change had now occurred in the conditions of worship. God had hitherto declared His will amid terrible manifestations. The people had stood afar off in fear. Only through Moses, as a daysman betwixt them, had God spoken to men, or men approached Him. Now the Lord had commanded, âBuild Me a tabernacle that I may dwell among themâ (Exodus 25:8). Within their camp was a smoking altar, whose incense was a voiceless but constant prayer; and a Holy of Holies, in whose mysterious recesses dwelt the unseen Jehovah. To Him all the people were to approach, presenting their sacrificial offerings to Him for propitiation and consecration.
I. ACCEPTABLE WORSHIP MUST BE IN ACCORDANCE WITH DIVINE DIRECTION.
1. Many approach God with the feeling that He is glad to have the attention of men, and will welcome them under any circumstances. But He has made conditions for acceptable worship. It must be with
(a) An obedient spirit. âNot every one that saith, Lord, Lord, etc., but he that doeth the will of My Father.â
(b) A reverent spirit. âPut thy shoes from off thy feet.â
(c) Faith. âHe that cometh to God must believe,â etc.
The people who had been so awestricken by the voice from the Mount that âthey entreated that the word should not be spoken to them any moreâ would not venture to approach Jehovah unless called, nor in any way than the appointed. God has a right to prescribe the methods by which He shall be worshipped, and it is a proof of His mercy that He entered into minute details.
2. In any way that God commands, worship is a priceless privilege.
Here He appoints approach through sacrifices. Origin of sacrifice seems to have been manâs feeling of sin and need, and conviction of obligation to God. First recorded sacrifice is Abelâs offering. From that time sacrifice became a common method of worship. God took this method of expressing religious feelings and thoughts, and taught the people to use it in approaching Him, but in elevated and refined forms. It was figurative and symbolic.
3. Godâs appointed way for the approach of men to Him has always been by sacrifice. The object of sacrifice was to awaken and maintain reverence for God, and express menâs feelings towards Him. Not now by the blood of bulls and goats, but the blood of Christ is the sacrifice by which we come to God. âHe taketh away the first that He may establish the second.â But except through sacrifice no man may draw near. True religion is a revealed way of approach to God.
II. SACRIFICIAL WORSHIP WAS ORDAINED AS EXPRESSIVE OF THE WORSHIPPERâS VOLUNTARY AND ENTIRE DEDICATION TO GOD.
The burnt offering was the oldest symbol by which was sought communion with God. Its Hebrew name means âan ascending.â They declared by it
(a) Their aspiration after Him; (b) Their desire to do His will; (c) Their self-surrender to Him.
It was this devotion of soul which made the offering a âsweet savour unto Him.â Therefore the worshipper took prominent part in the act of sacrifice. Laid his hand on the victim to make it his representative. Then slew it. Priest dashed its blood against the altar, then cut it up and burned it. Blood signified the life, that by which life is supported. The word used for âbloodâ in earliest Old Testament times was âsoul.â Blood was âholyâ; never to be taken as food; was symbol of the immaterial and immortal. It meant, when dashed against the altar, that the real inward life must be devoted entirely to God; that the sacrificer offered himself, soul and body, in submission to Godâs will.
III. SYMBOLIC WORSHIP BY SACRIFICE FINDS ITS FULL ELUCIDATION IN CHRISTIAN WORSHIP.
1. The burnt offering suggests the holiness of God. All Jewish sacrifices express the feeling from which a religious life flows as its source, the sense of sin and of the divine holiness. That ritual is pervaded with this recognition of holiness. The tabernacle, vessels, garments, the priests who minister and the people who worship, all must be holy. But in the burnt offering this was concentrated. Infinite holiness claims the life of men. Mounting upwards towards God by self-sacrifice; that is His will. That is the central idea of Christian livingââpresent your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,â etc.
2. The burnt offering suggests the spirit of acceptable Christian worship. It must be pure; and we are not pure. It is sacrilege to offer a polluted object in sacrifice to a holy God. New purposes, good resolutions, good acts, do not fit one already stained by sin to offer himself as an acceptable sacrifice. The burnt offering was always preceded by a sin offering. And âChrist has offered Himself a sacrifice for sins for everâ; we may therefore offer ourselves as living sacrifices, acceptable to God.
3. The burnt offering suggests the character of the acceptable Christian worshipper. He is indebted to Christ for access to the throne of grace; he knows that all his hope is in the sacrifice of Jesus. His only return, therefore, is the offering of himself as the sign and expression of the love of his heart. This offering of ourselves is (a) a whole self sacrifice; (b) a continual sacrificeâbreathing life out in voluntary consecration. Such a breathing forth of self to Christ requires a constant kindling of spirit in love and devotion; a strong faith, and a habit of regarding oneâs self, in all relations, as created to live for His glory.
All the solemnity of the temple, all the significance of its worship, and all the glory of the Divine presence in it, are realised in every consecrated life.
âFor man the living temple is:â
The mercy-seat and cherubim
And all the holy mysteries,
He bears with him.ââRev. Albert E. Durning.
Topic: A SWEET SAVOUR FOR ACCEPTANCE (Leviticus 1:9; Leviticus 1:13; Leviticus 1:17)
Thrice reiterated: âIt is a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord.â
Notable differences between the burnt offerings and the sin offerings: Burnt offerings were (a) sweet savour offerings (b) for acceptance; whereas sin offerings were (a) not of a sweet savour, and (b) were required as an expiation for guilt. (a) The sweet savour offerings, i.e., the burnt, the meat, and the peace offerings, were offered on the brazen altar, which stood within the court of the tabernacle. (b) The unsavoury offerings, i.e., the sin and trespass offerings, were not consumed on the altar, some being burnt on the earth without the camp, others were sprinkled by blood and ate by the priest. (a) In the âsweet savourâ offerings sin is not seen or thought of; it is the faithful Israelite giving a pleasant offering to Jehovah. (b) In the sin offerings it is the reverse, it is a sacrifice charged with the sin of the offerer. Thus: in the âsweet savourâ offerings the offerer comes for acceptance as a worshipper; whereas in the sin and trespass offerings he comes as a sinner to pay the penalty of guilt. Therein is suggested and pictured
I. A HOLY WORSHIPPER, PRESENTING BEFORE GOD A PERFECT AND PLEASANT OFFERING.
Not that the offerer himself is holy; but his offering, which God accepts in his stead, is a representative of perfectness, and its quality of perfection is transferred to the offerer. The act typifies a perfect man, in his approach to God, standing the test of fire, i.e., Godâs searching holiness, accepted as a fragrant savour; the offering all ascending as a sweet offering to Jehovah.
1. The transaction represents man giving to God what truly satisfies Him. It is not a transaction symbolic of a sinner bearing his sin (that appears in the sin offering), but of man giving to God an offering so pleasing to Him that the âsweet savourâ of it satisfies and delights Him. With our experience of what man is, it seems wondrous that he should ever perfectly perform his part. But in Christ man has so performed it; His offering was âa sweet savour unto the Lord.â Hence we are in the burnt sacrifice brought to consider, not Christ as the Sin Bearer, but
2. Christ, as man in perfectness, meeting God in holiness. The work of Jesus here is not âGod hath made Him to be sin for usâ; but rather, âHe loved us, and gave Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God of a sweet-smelling savourâ (Ephesians 5:2). He appears in the burnt offering for us as man offering to God something which is most precious and most pleasing to Him.
Here note:
(a) The altar is âthe table of the Lordâ (Malachi 1:12); whatever was put thereon was âthe food of God.â Here, therefore, God finds that which suffices His longings; an offering which satisfies Him.
(b) The fire from heaven, emblem of Godâs holiness, consumes the offering; and it all ascends as sweet incense before Him; betokening that all was worthy His acceptance, without fault.
(c) The victim was âwithout blemishâ; and because of Christâs unblemished sacrifice, His perfect spotlessness and devotedness was a sweet feast to the God of heaven.
II. A PERFECT AND PLEASANT OFFERING OFFERED TO GOD FOR HIS GRACIOUS ACCEPTANCE.
In itself âa sweet savour,â the burnt offering was presented âfor acceptanceâ [the words in Leviticus 1:3 âof his own voluntary willâ should read âto be acceptedâ; and are so rendered in the Sept. Vulgate, Targum, etc.]. It was offered to God to secure the acceptance of the offerer. Observe now Christâs position as Offerer. He stood as Man for man under the law; hence:
1. His acceptance depended upon His perfectness. God made man upright; he erred and fell. God gave him opportunities and aids, for age after age, that he might again render himself acceptable to God: but in vain his efforts. The law then came; it taught him the conditions of righteousness; but none could fulfil it, and âthere was none righteous, no not one.â How then could man be brought to meet Godâs requirements? One way only remained (Romans 8:3-4): the Son of God undertook it for us. As manâs representative, He took our place; and there offered a perfect obedience, âa sacrifice without blemish,â for our âacceptanceâ; and thus answered the question and demand, Could Man bring an offering so acceptable as to satisfy God? He offered Himself; and His offering was accepted (Titus 2:14).
2. His complete acceptance guarantees His peopleâs also. And that it was completely accepted is assured by its being âall burnt on the altarâ; nothing rejected, nothing left remaining. God gathered it all up in the incense of fire, as welcome and pleasant to Him; so that He received it all. All the virtue of that satisfactory offering is transferred from the offering to the offerer. And the believer is the offerer; his faith identifies him with Christ; he lays the hand of identifying trust on the Lord Jesus. Hence âby one offering He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctifiedâ (Hebrews 10:14). âWe are sanctified by the offering of the body of Jesus once for allâ (Hebrews 10:10). Christâs âatonementâ was the satisfaction God receives for the perfectness which the offerer presents to Him. Christ only ever did this perfectly, and was accepted for us; and we are âcomplete in Him.ââDeveloped from âJukes on the Offerings.â
Topic: SIGNIFICANCE OF THE BURNT OFFERING (Leviticus 1:3-9)
Probably we see the meaning of the Mosaic ritual more clearly than Hebrews did, for we look at it in the light of New Testament elucidation. Those who offered the sacrifices in the tabernacle knew only in part, and saw as through a glass darkly; now that the Great Sacrifice has been offered, we look at those rites face to face.
Among the Jews the burnt offering was the oldest and most significant, and announced, every day, truths of transcendent importance. Such sacrifices were symbolic of the kind of worship God requires of the human race. Notice:
I. THE NATURE OF THE BURNT OFFERING. Neither valueless nor unclean creatures were to be presented, but living, wholesome, sound, and valuable gifts; the pride and prime of the flocks and herds, âa male without blemish.â So God demands, as well as deserves, the first and best of all that we possess. He will not accept the refuse and dregs of our time and talents. Youth, strength, worth, and beauty are to be ungrudgingly, unreservedly given.
II. THE CHARACTER OF THE BURNT OFFERING.
(a) Voluntary. âHe shall offer it of his own voluntary will.â Though commanded, it was not extorted; obedience was to be willing, not compelled. God treated Israelites as men, not machines; as servants, not slaves. Men have always been allowed to âchoose whom they would serveâ; it is so still, we may accept or reject the Great Sacrifice; we must present ourselves voluntarily to the Lord, none other is acceptable service.
(b) Vicarious. âAnd he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him, to make atonement for him.â This act indicated the identification of the offerer with the offering, and the transference of his guilt to it. The perfect suffered for the imperfect, the guiltless for the guilty. So Christ suffered in our stead, and bore our sins, âthe just for the unjust, to bring us to God.â As we lay our hand, by faith, upon the spotless Lamb of God, we become identified with Him, and our guilt is transferred to Him. [See Addenda, p. 19 Propitiation.]
III. THE MANNER OF THE BURNT OFFERING. Not only strict injunction about what to be offered, and when, and where, but how the offering was to be presented.
(a) Orderly. âOrder Heavenâs first law.â Minute directions given even to washing inwards and legs of victim, the plucking away of the crops of the pigeons and doves. Thus obedience was enjoined, resignation taught, and respect paid to Divine sovereignty. Voluntaryism was not to be latitudinarianism; God still requires order in our worship; forms may exist without frigid formality; and method, without mechanical monotony. Unrestrained religious fervour is only fanaticism or âwill worshipâ and âstrange fire.â
(b) Openly. âAt the door of the tabernacle of the congregation,â not secretly in the tent, not away from open gaze in some hidden place, but publicly. Thus the worshipper became a witness and confessor before God and man. Witnessing for God, confession of Christ still required of all who profess to believe and worship. Our light is to âshine before men,â we are to be âliving epistles known and read of all men.â
(c) Devoutly. âBefore the Lord.â This expression repeated to remind the offerer he was observed and judged by the searching Eye that looks into the secrets of the heart. Consciousness of being âbefore the Lordâ would beget humility, sincerity, solemnity. Let us remember that all we think and say and do is in the light of God. âAll things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.â
(d) Cheerfully. âA sweet savour unto the Lord.â As the fragrant flame ascended from the sacrifice, gladness and gratitude were symbolised, indicative of a joyful heart, and willing mind. God still requires sincerity and truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden parts we need to know wisdom. The holocaust thus taught the need of ardent love, aspiring desire, entire surrender, as the first essentials of real religion. In the self-sacrificing life and love of Christ those features meet in harmony and perfection. Though we are exempted from repeating the burnt offerings, we may present to God the sacrifice of a broken and contrite heart with the assurance it will not be despised.âF. W. Brown.
Topic: VARIETY IN SACRIFICE (Leviticus 1:10-17)
He who had, in Egypt, appointed for every household the one sacrifice of the Passover, now directs sacrifices of a wider and various order, graduated to the personal ability, and spiritual condition of each worshipper. These sacrifices which are to be brought to the Lord to propitiate His graciousness to them, are themselves the appointment of His graciousness to them. So absolute are His decrees concerning what is to be presented, and how, when and by whom to be presented, that to vary them at any suggestion of priest or priests, under any impulse of devotion, gratitude or fear, or through sense of dread and distress, would be to commit one of these transgressions which the sacrifices themselves were provided to meet. [See Maurice, Doctrine of Sacrifice.]
I. THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF SIN AND NEED FOR PROPITIATION PERVADES THE VARIED RANKS OF HUMAN SOCIETY.
Guilt is universal. âRich and poor meet together,â in sense of personal transgression and necessity for a sacrifice. Hence the wealthy who could offer âsacrifice of the herd,â the middle class who could only bring âoffering of the flocks,â and the poorest whose impecuniosity compelled them to bring an âoffering to the Lord of fowls,â are all provided for in Godâs arrangements for propitiatory sacrifices. [See Addenda, p. 19, Sacrifices of the Poor.]
1. The condition and history of every people showed the desire for sacrifice; that it could only be stifled when the strongest and deepest convictions of humanity were stifled. But where there was sense of guilt, dependence, obligation, thankfulness, there sacrifices were offered.
2. The entire Jewish people, irrespective of social gradation, had experienced Godâs redeeming mercy, which constrained them all to seek Him with offerings. The Lord had ransomed them all, and was now drawing them into privileged relationship with Himself. He was âno respecter of personsâ: all alike were within Divine grace. And equally âthe grace of God which bringeth salvation hath appeared unto all menâ (Titus 2:11).
3. In every human heart there dwells the condemnation for sin and the promptings to seek propitiation with God.
For though each man bears his own special sin, and each class in society carries its own distinctive transgression; yet all know that âall have sinned,â and that God requires of every âwicked man that he forsake his way and return unto the Lordâ (Isaiah 55:7).
II. DIVINE PROVISION FOR PROPITIATION IS VARIED TO SUIT ALL GRADATIONS OF HUMAN SOCIETY.
In no demand He makes does He âexact more than our iniquity deservethâ Nay, He relieves the weight of requirement that none should find the yoke other than easy, and the burden light.
1. The resources and ability of the offerer are considered. God is no âhard taskmaster.â None can be discouraged by sense of inability.
2. No one is exempted from the demand of a propitiatory offering. The poorest are included in Godâs arrangement equally with the wealthiest.
3. Liberty of choice is allowed that each may prove his sincerity by bringing his utmost and best. God tests us thus.
4. Humblest offerings were as acceptable with God as the costliest: evidenced in the minuteness of Godâs directions for the poor manâs offering of the fowls.
5. Supreme importance was attached to the spirit in which the offering was brought (Leviticus 1:3). Thus âlet us draw near with a pure heartâ (Hebrews 10:22).
III. AMID ALL VARIETY IN SACRIFICES THE ONE QUALITY OF PROPITIATION WAS CONSPICUOUS AND INHERENT.
1. The quality of the offering, as faultless, was specified, indicating that substitution could only be effective as giving to God a sinless victim in place of a sinful offerer.
2. The identifying act of the offerer denoted his sense of deserving the fate of the victim about to die.
3. His being detained at the door of the tabernacle until the sacrifice was offered impressed the truth that God was too holy for sinful man to approach until propitiated by sacrifice.
4. By the process of cleansing, flaying, and burning, a typical foreshadowing was enacted of the atoning sufferings of Christ, as the worldâs atonement, the âpropitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the whole worldâ (1 John 2:2). And in that all-inclusive sacrifice every variety of the human family has a share; none too poor to be excluded, none too wealthy to be exempted; for âall have sinned and come short of the glory of God.â
OUTLINES ON VERSES
Leviticus 1:1.âTheme: GOD WITHIN THE TABERNACLE. âAnd the Lord spake unto him out of the tabernacle of the congregation.â
The tabernacle was erected in the midst of a people supernaturally separated from the rest of mankind to be the recipients and mediators of a revelation which Jehovah would make of Himself to the world. In it a constant worship was to be maintained by the priests in the name of the holy nation.
I. Within the sanctuary God makes His presence known.
He may do it by âcallingâ men to Him there, or by âspeakingâ to them in messages of truth and life. Many have found, who entered the sanctuary, âsurely God is in this place.â He is thereâ
1. Invisible. Moses saw not God; but âno man hath seen God at any time.â He is the âKing immortal, invisible.â Yet there are solemn realities which eye hath not seen. The material world has in it many invisible facts: forces and agencies hidden from physical sight. Life also is crowded with invisible activities, energies of vast influence which elude vision. Holy places are not void scenes, an Unseen Presence is there.
2. Recognised. A solemn symbol dwelt in the tabernacle: the shekinah cloud. We have no visible sign; but none the less God makes His presence realised in His tabernacles now. He has spiritual resources for attesting that He is amidst âthe congregationâ still.
3. Gracious. Not as on Sinai, too awful for men to bear the sight; but gently dwelling above the mercy-seat. How graciously the Lord reveals Himself in His holy place now; to arouse the heedless, allure the sinful, heal the stricken, reveal His compassion, cleanse the contrite, save the trustful soul.
II. Within the tabernacle God sends His messages of redemption to the congregation.
Here the Lord sent directions for sacrifices which should be for an âatonement.â The messages through Moses contained a system of religious truth answering all the spiritual necessities of Israel, revealing:
(1) The nature and character of God.
(2) The covenant relation between Him and them.
(3) Provision for the pardon and restoration of the penitent transgressor.
(4) The condemnation of the wilfully and persistently disobedient.
In these Christian times He sends tidings and offers of redemption unto His people; gracious messages of salvation in Christ to the congregations who gather.
1. By His minister and representative: as by Moses.
2. Based upon the merits of atoning sacrifice.
3. Requiring manâs response and cooperation.
III. Within the sanctuary God is willing to meet every soul who will seek Him.
âIf any of you,â etc. No restriction. True we may meet the Lord elsewhere than in His sanctuaries now; yet none but may find Him there. Only in order to meet Him acceptably, now as then, each must
1. Come with sacrificial offering: i.e., resting on the atonement of Christ.
2. With thorough earnestness of desire. Not perfunctorily, not in alien mind, but âof his own voluntary will,â i.e., with personal effort to meet Him acceptably, and in His own way.
3. With self-dedication. Suggested in the burnt offering. Lay yourself before God, He will âreceive you graciously.â
Leviticus 1:2.âTheme: REVELATION OF PROPITIATION. âSpeak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall bring your offering of the herd and of the flockâ.
I. The Author of Divine RevelationâGod. âThe Lord called unto Moses.â
God could reveal: He knew what man needed: would not remain silent, and let man perish for want of light additional to that of Nature.
II. The Medium of Divine RevelationâMan. To a representative and brother of our race Divine communications came. Most reasonable and appropriate vehicle. Glorifying to God: dignifying to man.
III. The Scene of Divine RevelationâTabernacle. Sacred place fitted to be audience chamber with Deity. Revelations given in sacred spots, as well as to select persons.
IV. The Means of Divine RevelationâSpeech. The Lord âspakeâ unto Moses, used human speech, though imperfect; other language would have been unintelligible and useless.
V. The Purpose of Divine RevelationâRedemption. To sanctify from guilt, to save from consequences of bin, to recover holiness in man here and for ever. Such redemption
(1) Mediatorialâthrough priest;
(2) Sacrificialâthrough oblations.âF. W. B.
Leviticus 1:2.âTheme: THE WAY OF ACCESS TO GOD. âIf any man of you bring an offering unto the Lord, ye shall bring your offering of the cattle, even of the herd, and of the flock.â
Human liberty is here recognised, but it is a liberty emphatically restricted. Any man might bring an offering if he desired; but if he did, he must bring it according to absolute directions. In our dealings with God there must be acceptance of a Will beyond our own will; obedience to commands; reverent and humble observance of Divine authority. âWho art thou that repliest against God?â âHath not the potter power over the clay?â etc. âWhatsoever He saith unto thee, do it.â âIf ye be willing and obedient,â etc.
I. In our approach to God nothing is left to human invention.
1. There are conditions to our acceptable approach. Therefore, he who would draw nigh should pause and ask solemnly: âWherewith shall I come before the Lord, or bow before the high God?â Do not ârush in where angels fear to tread.â Think Whom you approach, and inquire how to draw near aright.
2. There are minutely revealed conditions for our approach. Neither priest nor people might take one step except as directed (Leviticus 8:36; Leviticus 9:6-7). We may be sincere and even devout in spirit when adopting methods and ideas of our own in spiritual behaviour; but God will not have our way, but His way. It must be according to the revelation of God.
II. For our rightful approach to Him God has made full and gracious provision.
1. A place for meeting God (Leviticus 1:1). Within the sanctuary; at the mercy-seat; in the âsecret place of the tabernacle of the Most Highâ God asks us apart. âHaving boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus.â Israel had a âworldly sanctuary,â because then âthe way into the holiest was not yet made manifest while as the first tabernacle was yet standing.â Now there is no outer court for the people and inner temple for the priest; all may meet God in âheavenly places, in Christ, Jesusââdrawing near God in blessed privacy.
2. A sacrificial basis of acceptance.
Being guilty man needs propitiatory sacrifice. âWithout shedding of blood there is no remission.â This basis of a propitiatory sacrifice constituted Israel an acceptable people with God. The atonement of Christ is the guarantee of our welcome also. âThrough the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for allâ we may approach âin full assurance of faith.â
3. A mediatorial ministry âThe priests shall bring the bloodâ (Leviticus 1:5). âWe have such a High Priest ⦠a minister of the sanctuary,â etc (comp. Hebrews 8:1-2). Jesus represents us there continually; âin the presence of God for usâ; and He presents to God our sacrifices and gifts; âby Him, therefore, let us offer the sacrifice,â etc. (Hebrews 13:15)
III. By such arrangements for our acceptable approach, God has laid us under most solemn obligations to seek Him.
1. Shall God wait in vain within the holy place, and none draw near? He says, âSeek ye My face.â Surely our âhearts shall say to Him, Thy face, O Lord, will I seek.â
2. Can sinful man despise the sacrifice of Jesus offered for his propitiation? Nay! âMy soul looks backs to see,â etc.
3. With such a Priest within the Holy Place, have we no mediation to ask, no sins to confess, no offerings to bring?
Leviticus 1:3.âTheme: NECESSITY OF SACRIFICE. âIf his offering be a burnt sacrifice.â
The fall of man necessitated âthe republication of the religion of Nature (as Butler says) with additional truths and additional proofs.â Man required to be taught how depraved he had become, and how he might be delivered from the guilt and consequences of that fallen state. The burnt offering was eminently calculated to impress upon worshippers in the tabernacle services
I. The heinous nature of sin.
II. The wickedness of idolatry.
III. The oneness of Israelâs nationality.
IV. The duty and privilege of Divine worship.
V. The need of substitutionary sacrifice in order to salvation.
VI. The sovereign claim of Jehovah upon His peopleâs life and love.
The doctrine of mediation and vicarious sacrifice is taught in Nature, we get the principles there; but the eternal and spiritual truths, which those principles illustrate, are presented in the Levitical Ritual; and pre-eminently in the Redemption wrought by Jesus Christ. The directions concerning the burnt offering show that the recognition of the existence of sin and the need of its removal in order to acceptable service lies at the foundation of the Mosaic and Christian economies.âF. W. B.
Leviticus 1:3.âTheme: VOLITION IN WORSHIP. âHe shall offer it of his own voluntary will.â
As expressive of our Saviourâs act in devoting Himself to be manâs sacrifice, it accords with the grand statement, âLo I come to do Thy will, O God; Thy law is within My heart.â And as expressive of the soulâs act in coming before God with his own offerings of love and service, or with the free exercise of trust in Jesusâ atonement, it suggests the right state in which to seek God. The offering is not the chief thing in the transaction, but the spirit of the man occupied in it.
I. True worship springs from the soul. Should beâ
1. Spontaneous. As a joy, not constrained, not reluctant.
2. Grateful. Recognising the privilege, seizing the gracious opportunity.
3. Earnest. With a whole heart in the act.
II. Acceptable worship depends on the offererâs will. Onâ
1. The thoroughness of his purpose. Christ asks, âWhat wilt thou?â and makes His answer wait upon our desire.
2. The ardour of his approach. Come with intensity of aim, ask large things, cry, âI will not let Thee go except Thou bless me.â
3. The individuality of his suit. Every man must be himself in worship, not echo othersâ prayers, not repeat othersâ acts, but stand before God as a worshipper, having something which is âhis ownââto repent of, to ask for, to offer
III. Sacrificial worship is the transgressorâs personal transaction.
1. The victim must be one which the offerer himself brings. We must âbringâ our sacrifice now, come before God with the mention and merits of Christ.
2. The offerer must exert his own faith in the act of substitution. Claiming Christâs merit, identifying himself with the atonement of Calvary by his appropriating faith.
3. The transaction must be wholly one of volition. God does not force us unwilling. We must act with a prompt and earnest spirit, or miss the precious benefits of the Redeemerâs sacrifice.
Note: Faith, when real, acts eagerly. Love is always swift in volition. Misery (as over sin) goes willingly to the Lord with its âsacrifice of a broken heart,â or with trust in the redemption of the Cross.
IV. Self dedicatory worship draws its virtues from the free will which prompts it.
1. Only thus is it sincere. Yet some offer themselves to God moved by example, induced by companions, under transient excitement, agitated by alarm, but void of full, and earnest, and determined action of the will.
2. Only thus is it pleasing to God. He âloveth a cheerful giver.â Whatever we bring, it should be with enentirety, resoluteness.
3. Only thus can it gain us spiritual benefit. âWith what measure we mete it shall be measured to us.â If we are heedless and heartless in going to God, He will return leanness to our souls. But He has âabundant pardon,â âplenteous redemption,â âabounding grace,â for earnest souls.
They who give themselves wholly and voluntarily to the Lord, He âreceives graciously and loves freely.â [See Addenda, p. 19, Consecration.]
Leviticus 1:4.âTheme: ACCEPTANCE WITH GOD. âAnd he shall put his hand upon the head of the offering.â
This book might be called the Gospel according to Leviticus, for it exhibits the gospel in its spirit, though under figurative rites. One of the fathers says that every syllable of this book contains a mystery, and Paul tells us that âthe law was a shadow of good things,â etc.
If a man happen to find a monument of antiquity with inscriptions of old letters and characters, how anxious is he to decipher the meaning and reveal the hidden mystery! Much more should we be anxious to examine and investigate the figures of this book. Every sacrifice was a kind of silent sermon presented to the eye, indicating the nature of Christâs office and the design of His death. And by such visible signs the gospel was preached; just as when John said, âBehold the Lamb of God.â
I. That God alone is competent to reveal the nature of the sacrifice and the method of our acceptance.
He strongly resents every neglect of His prescribed institutions and every invasion of His prerogative.
âThe Lord called to Moses and spake unto him,â etc. In the setting up of the tabernacle, every particular is closed with âAs the Lord commanded Moses.â Learn, then, how sweet commanded obedience is. âIn vain do ye worship by tradition.â
If none of the outward offices were left to human invention, how much less able is man to originate the terms of acceptance with God! None but God knew the evil of sin, the value of the soul, the conditions of worthy approach, etc. God prescribes a method of acceptance and worship for all classes. All stand in equal need of an interest in the atonement; all must seek it on the same terms, by Godâs prescribed rule; all shall derive the same benefit. The rich were to present a bullock; but where the ability differed the offering differed. Those next in degree were to present a sheep or goat, and those poorer still were to present turtle doves or young pigeons.
It should be remembered that the offering of the Virgin Mary at the birth of our Lord was not a costly, but a simple, oneâthe humblest; no more than a turtle dove and two young pigeons. To put honour on humble poverty Jesus was born in a borrowed manger, and was buried in a borrowed grave. âFoxes have holes.â âGod dwells with the poor in spirit.â
II. That God prescribes not only the offering itself but the spirit in which it should be presented.
1. It was to be a bullock, to show that the best of our possessions are to be offered to the Lord; and without blemish. God condemns those who brought the blind and lame. And it intimates, too, the purity of the appointed sacrifice. âSuch an High Priest became us,â etc. The excellency and perfection of Christ had much to do with the efficacy of His sacrifice. âA lamb without blemish or spot.â âWho through the Eternal Spirit,â etc.
Some are desirous of a cheap religion, but when God provided a sacrifice it was the most costly; ânot silver and gold, but precious blood.â As God deemed nothing too precious for us, we deem nothing too precious for Him.
2. It was to be freely offered. âOf His own voluntary will.â To show that God does not accept constrained service. âThe people offered willingly.â âThy people shall be willing in the day of Thy power.â âWith my whole heart have I sought Thee.â âI beseech you,â etc. (Romans 12:1).
3. It was to be openly presentedâto show that we publicly confess Christ before men. âAt the door of the congregation.â âI am not ashamed of the gospel.â âWhosoever is ashamed.â A public avowalâfor the good of others and for the glory of God.
4. The offerer must take a distinct personal part in the transaction. âHe shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering,â to show that he was deeply sensible of his need of mercy; to show that he fully concurred in the appointed sacrifice, that he was anxious to transfer all his guilt to the victim, and derived all his hope from it. âMy faith would lay her hand.â
Our devout affections must centre in Christ; our only trust be reposed in Him. âWe receive the atonement.â Not merely driven by the stress of necessity, but a hearty concurrence.
5. Not only was the victim slain, but the blood sprinkled.
6. The whole was to be presented by the priest. Not only at the altar, but within the veil.
III. That God has left us in no doubt of our acceptance when thus approaching Him in faith and prayer. âIt shall be accepted for him, to make an atonement for him.â
1. The substitutionary offering is allowed by God to stand in the sinnerâs steadââaccepted for him.â
2. The provision of the substitute is even a more welcome arrangement than that the sinner should bear his own punishment. âIt shall be accepted.â God âdesires not the death of a sinner,â is well pleased that we find escape by laying our hand on the Sacrifice of Calvary.
3. It effects a full âatonementâ for the soul, satisfies the Divine requirements, and secures the justification of the believer. âThere is, therefore, now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.â
4. It makes the offerer himself an object of pleasure in Godâs regard Not merely is our substitutionary offering âacceptedâ by God, but we become ourselves beloved for the sake of our trust in the Sacrifice. âI will accept you, saith the Lord Godâ (Ezekiel 43:27).
Leviticus 1:9.âTheme: THE ALTAR FIRE âAn Offering made by Fire.â
The flame devours. The victim is consumed. Seek the truth reflected from the altar fire. The Cross flashes it out vividly. The fire consumes the sacrifice.
I. That fire tells what is sinâs due.
It portrays what the guilty must bear. Look on the consuming blaze, and think how the âfire shall be ever burning, it shall never go out.â Remember Christâs picture of the sinnerâs doomââeverlasting fireâ; âwhere their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched.â Ponder, therefore, sinâs sure doom!
II. That fire suggests the anguish of Christ.
Type of the Cross is that altar; and of the sufferings of Jesus, that burning fire. âHe made His soul an offering for sin.â
âO, the pangs His soul sustained!â
His anguish was as a âconsuming fire,â it raged within Him as a scorching blaze. It was as though Godâs wrath was hot and devastating upon Him. Mark, therefore, the Saviourâs redeeming grace!
III That fire portrays the fervour of Christian consecration.
With burning devotion, and flaming seal, and self-consuming love, ardent, glowing, manifest. Shall Christâs âzeal consume Him,â and ours lack intensity? The entire life of a Christian should be one continuous blaze of flaming love and ardent devotion. [See Addenda: p. 19, Consecration.]
Leviticus 1:9.âTheme: THE SPIRITâS EFFICACY. âAn offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord.â
The Holy Spirit is symbolised by fire. All the grace and virtue of sacrifices depend upon the Spirit
I. Altar sacrifices were consecrated by the element of Divinely kindled fire.
The fire came from heaven (comp. Leviticus 9:24): and any fire Lot thus supernaturally originated was offensive (comp. Leviticus 10:1). That fire coming âout from before the Lordâ symbolises the Holy Ghost, which came as fire from God on the Pentecost. Only through the Spiritâs sanctifying could those offerings have become holy.
II. Christâs sacrifice was rendered efficacious through the energy of the Holy Spirit.
He suffered in the spirit. âWho through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God.â That Divine fire burned within the soul of Jesus: the Spirit was given without measure unto Him; and His sacred unction consecrated the sufferings of Jesus to be a perfect atonement for human sin.
III. Spiritual sacrifices depend for their sanctity on the Spirit s grace.
Of Jesus it was declared âHe shall baptise you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.â Is not that the âSpirit of burningâ which rendered âholyâ everyone âwritten among the living in Jerusalem â? [See Isaiah 4:3-4.] This âmanifestation of the Spiritâ (1 Corinthians 12:7; 1 Corinthians 12:11) is the occasion of all Christian sanctity and of all acceptable sacrifice and service. His glowing grace and energy within the soul constrains and seals our devotions; and âthe unction from the Holy Oneâ (1 John 2:20) makes our lives and offerings âa sweet savour unto the Lord.â
IV. All sacrifices sanctified by the Spirit rise as a delightful incense unto God.
When Noah, saved by the ark, burned his sacrifice of gratitude upon the altar he reared, âthe Lord smelled a sweet savourâ (Genesis 8:21).
So from the holocaust in the tabernacle there arose âby fire a sweet savour unto the Lord.â The ransomed Israelites, brought again from captivity to Godâs âholy mountain,â should once more offer their oblations, and God would âaccept them with their sweet savourâ (Ezekiel 20:41). Supremely the Lord Jesus Himself was âan offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savourâ (Ephesians 5:2). And we, whom God âcauseth to triumph in Christ,â are âunto God a sweet savour of Christâ (2 Corinthians 2:15).
Every sacrifice which is the out-flowing of our love and zeal for the Lord, becomes, through the virtue of the Spirit consecrating our gifts, âan odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well pleasing to Godâ (Philippians 4:18).
The Holy Spirit is the sacred fire in the Christian life, by whose gracious influences our offerings ascend in sweetness and acceptableness âunto the Lord.â âQuench not the Spirit.â [See Addenda p. 19, The Ascending Fire.]
Leviticus 1:11. Theme: A LIFE-OFFERING. âHe shall kill it on the side of the altar.â
I. Its substitutionary significance.
1. That the offerer deserved to forfeit his life.
2. That he sought escape from the penalty of his sinfulness.
3 That he believed God would accept the victim in lieu of himself.
4. That substitution not alone sufficed Jehovah, but was more acceptable to Him than the sinnerâs death.
II. Its practical interpretation.
1. Life peculiarly belongs to God: it is supremely His part in creation. Lower things He gives to man; but life is His.
2. Representing thus His olaim on His creatures, it stands as the emblem of what we owe Him. What we owe we ought to pay. We should give our life to God. It is our duty.
3. It denotes that what is most precirus in us, and forms the supremely valuable element in our being, should all and wholly be the Lordâs. Not the inferior part, not the less essential qualities, not âpart of the price,â but everything in us of worth: our life.
III. Its Gospel foreshadowing.
1. The body of Jesus is the offering pourtrayed. âA body hast Thou prepared Me.â
2. He yielded to God manâs duty: the dutiful life man had failed to surrender to Him.
3. He gave life in its perfectness to God. In Himself perfect, He offered Himself wholly and absolutely and perfectly to God: and the perfectly obedient Man then âseeing that all things were now accomplished, cried, It is finished, and gave up the ghost.â
Leviticus 1:13.âTheme: COMPLETENESS IN SELF DEVOTION. âThe priest shall bring it all, and burn it on the altar.â
1. In this particular the Burnt offering differed from the Meat offering and Peace offering; for in these only a part was burnt with fire.
2. It differed also from the Sin offering, which though wholly burnt, was not burnt âon the alter.â
I. Manâs duty to God is the absolute surrender of all.
Not of one faculty or several; but the entirety.
1. This accords with Christâs summary of the first commandment: which demands all the mind, all the soul, all the affection, all the strength. âThou shalt love the Lord thy God with all,â etc. (Matthew 22:37).
2. The minute and all-inclusive devotion of the victim affirms the same truth. The âhead,â the âfat,â the âlegs,â the âinwardsâ all are enumerated. Symbolic: âheadâ of thoughts; âfatâ of vigour; âlegsâ of walk, conduct; âinwardsâ of affections and emotions.
II. Christâs performance of Manâs duty to God was characterised by absolute surrender of all.
1. Jesus reserved nothing; He gave up all. Had there been but one thought in the mind of Christ not perfectly given to God, one affection in His heart not yielded to His Fatherâs will, one step in the walk of Jesus not taken for God but for His own pleasure, then He would not have offered Himself, or been accepted, as âa whole burnt offeringâ to Jehovah. But all was offered, and all was consumed on the altar.
2. From first to last, in Jesus, self had no place. So entirely was His whole life devoted to His Father that it almost seems He could have had no will of His own. Everything He did or said was for God. His first recorded words were, âI must be about My Fatherâs businessâ; His last, âIt is finished.â Yet as perfect man, He had a human will, and human affections. But no one hour was spent, nor act performed for His own advancement or gratification; all was given in entire devotedness to God.
III. Christian self devotion will attempt to re produce Christâs absolute surrender of all.
1. True, this is a conception of life repudiated by the world. âMen will praise thee when thou doest well to thyselfâ (Psalms 49:18).
2. Few Christians exhibit such self devotion to God. Our thoughts are for self, our ease, our interest, etc. But if David resolved âNeither will I offer burnt offerings unto the Lord of that which doth cost me nothingâ; if Ananias was punished for grieving the Spirit by âkeeping back part of the priceâ; surely we whom âthe love of Christ constrainethâ should rise to highest devotion of our all to God; and, like our Lord who âgave Himselfâ (Ephesians 5:2) in all His perfectness, âyield ourselves unto God.â
ILLUSTRATIVE ADDENDA TO CHAPTER 1
Revelation. Varro, a Roman writer of the first century B.C., states, that in his day he had been at pains to collect the various opinions on the question âWhat is the true object of human life?â and had reckoned up as many as three hundred and twenty different answers. How much we need âthe wisdom which is from above,â teaching from God! He reveals what we need to know for our truest good on earth, our acceptance with Him now, and our entrance at last into His presence. We are to listen to Him, and obey His word.
â âTis revelation satisfies all doubts,
Explains all mysteries except her own,
And so illuminates the path of life
That fools discover it, and stray no more.â
âCowper.
Dr. Taylor of Norwich once said to me (wrote John Newton), âSir, I have collated every word in the Hebrew Scriptures seventeen times, and it is very strange if the doctrine of the atonement you hold should not have been found by me.â âI am not surprised at thisâ (John Newton answered); âI once went to light my candle, and could not, for the extinguisher was on it. Now prejudice, from education, learning, etc., often proves an extinguisher; it is not enough that you bring the candle, you must remove the extinguisher.â
The Ascending Fire. âThe symbolism of this combustion (upon the altar) is manifest. It was a sending of the gift to God. After arranging the divided or the selected portions of the carcase in the heaven-born fire, which had issued forth from the Divine presence at the consecration of the tabernacle, they were burned, that is to say, they were etherialised and they rose to heaven as âa sweet savour.â To burn was to effectually present.ââPrincipal Cave.
Sacrifices of the Poor. The Jews at Jassy still bring offerings of the fowls. âIn one houseâ records those who were observers of the incident, âwe came to the window of the house and saw distinctly what was going on within. A little boy was reading the prayers, and his widowed mother stood over him with a white hen in her hands. When he came to a certain place in the prayer, the mother lifted up the struggling fowl, and waving it round her head, repeated these words: âThis be my substitute, this be my exchange: this fowl shall go to death and I to a blessed life.â This was done three times over, and then the door of the house was opened, and out ran the boy carrying the fowl to the shocket, or slayer, to be killed by him in the proper manner.â This occurred on the eve of the Day of Atonement.
âSacrifice is the first element of religion, and resolves itself in theological language into the love of God.ââFroude, âShort Stories.â
Propitiation. Cowper, the poet, speaking of his religious experiences, says, âBut the happy period which was to shake off my fetters, and afford me a clear opening of the free mercy of God in Christ Jesus, was now arrived. I flung myself into a chair near the window, and seeing a Bible there, ventured once more to apply to it for comfort and instruction. The first verse I saw was the 25th of the 3rd of Romans: âWhom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God.â Immediately I received strength to believe, and the full beams of the Sun of Righteousness shone upon me. I saw the sufficiency of the Atonement He had made, my pardon sealed in His blood, and all the fulness and completeness of His justification. In a moment I believed and received the Gospel.â
Consecration. âAnd here we offer and present unto Thee, O Lord, ourselves, our souls and bodies, to be a reasonable, holy and lively sacrifice unto Thee,â etc.âCommunion Service.
âFrom henceforth thou shalt learn that there is love to long for, pureness to desire, a mount of consecration it were good to scale.ââJean Ingelow.
On the seal of the Baptist Missionary Society is the figure of an ox, standing patiently, with a plough on one side, and an altar on the other, with the inscription beneath: âReady for either,â to serve or suffer.
Calvinâs motto was: âI give Thee all; I keep back nothing for myself.â