20131023 Wednesday, October 23 2013
Leviticus 01: The Burnt Offerings Of The Ancients

by Wayne Blank
See also 1 Year Holy Bible Reading Plan

After the Flood (see also How Did The Flood Happen?), Noah made a burnt offering to the LORD (Who was and is Jesus Christ; see Genesis 1: In The Beginning Was The Word and The Kingdom Of The LORD God).

"8:18 And Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him [see Genesis 10: The First Nations Of The New World]:

8:19 Every beast, every creeping thing, and every fowl, and whatsoever creepeth upon the earth, after their kinds, went forth out of the ark.

8:20 And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 8:21 And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done. 8:22 While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease." (Genesis 8:18-22 KJV)

Abraham, like Noah, was judged by the LORD as righteous. He too was thereby chosen for a Christian purpose (see The LORD's Seed Covenants With The Two Men Of Iraq). Like Noah, Abraham was given a great test of faith; in Abraham's case, it was to sacrifice his son Isaac, as a burnt offering (see the Fact Finder question below).

"22:2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.

22:3 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him. 22:4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. 22:5 And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.

22:6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.

22:7 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son.

And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?

22:8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.

22:9 And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. 22:10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.

22:11 And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. 22:12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.

22:13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son." (Genesis 22:2-13 KJV)

The Levite priesthood was established for its Christian purpose (see Leviticus: The Prophecies Of Christianity, The Origin Of The Levite Priesthood, How Did The Messiah's Levite Priesthood Change? and The Levites Of Christ). Much of what the Levite priesthood was commanded to do was a continuance of what the ancients and the elders had already been doing for centuries in worship of the LORD - such as we read above, the burnt offerings that were offered to the LORD by Noah and Abraham, but also the observances of the LORD e.g. the family elders conducted the first Passover in Egypt (see Exodus 12: The First Passover and What Did The Elders Of Israel Do?), before the Levite Priesthood was established.

"1:1 And the LORD called unto Moses, and spake unto him out of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying, 1:2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If 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." (Leviticus 1:1-2 KJV)

Much of what was instructed to the Levites was a formal continuation of what the ancients had established by the LORD's Command - long before the Israelites or Jews existed (see Genesis 32: The Origin Of Israel and Who Were The First Jews?).

"1:3 If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish: he shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD. 1:4 And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him. 1:5 And he shall kill the bullock before the LORD: and the priests, Aaron's sons, shall bring the blood, and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. 1:6 And he shall flay the burnt offering, and cut it into his pieces. 1:7 And the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire upon the altar, and lay the wood in order upon the fire: 1:8 And the priests, Aaron's sons, shall lay the parts, the head, and the fat, in order upon the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar: 1:9 But his inwards and his legs shall he wash in water: and the priest shall burn all on the altar, to be a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD.

1:10 And if his offering be of the flocks, namely, of the sheep, or of the goats, for a burnt sacrifice; he shall bring it a male without blemish. 1:11 And he shall kill it on the side of the altar northward before the LORD: and the priests, Aaron's sons, shall sprinkle his blood round about upon the altar. 1:12 And he shall cut it into his pieces, with his head and his fat: and the priest shall lay them in order on the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar: 1:13 But he shall wash the inwards and the legs with water: and the priest shall bring it all, and burn it upon the altar: it is a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD.

1:14 And if the burnt sacrifice for his offering to the LORD be of fowls, then he shall bring his offering of turtledoves, or of young pigeons. 1:15 And the priest shall bring it unto the altar, and wring off his head, and burn it on the altar; and the blood thereof shall be wrung out at the side of the altar: 1:16 And he shall pluck away his crop with his feathers, and cast it beside the altar on the east part, by the place of the ashes: 1:17 And he shall cleave it with the wings thereof, but shall not divide it asunder: and the priest shall burn it upon the altar, upon the wood that is upon the fire: it is a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD." (Leviticus 1:3-17 KJV)

Fact Finder: How did Abraham believe that Isaac would return alive after he had been sacrificed as a burnt offering? What did Abraham understand about "dust and ashes"?
See Dust and Ashes and Isaac: Rising From The Ashes; also What Makes Physical Life Possible?