Jesus in the Old Testament 019:

Jesus and the Levitical Sacrifices, Pt 1

Lev 1-2

Thesis: People who love and are loved by God will do several things because of this love relationship.  Among these are gifts, thanksgiving, praise, and repentance.  In the Sinaitic covenant, these aspects of a relationship with God were all mediated by priests through sacrifice.  Christ is now the sole mediator for the people of God.  All Levitical sacrifices pointed to Him, and in him are all sacrifices fulfilled.   

1. Nutshell with Kids (<5min)
1. If you love someone, tell me some of the things you do to let them know? 
2. What about loving God?  What are some of the things that we do to let Him know that we love Him?
3. In the OT, right after the Israelites got the 10 commandments at Mt. Sinai, God told them the kinds of gifts he wanted to get from them in the form of 5 sacrifices.
1. When they wanted to worship God and give a gift out of love, they gave a burnt offering.
2. When they wanted to thank God for what he’d given them, they gave a grain offering.
3. When they wanted to celebrate the peaceful relationship they have with God (or take a step toward a more peaceful one), they gave a peace offering (or fellowship offering).
4. When they’d don something against God’s commands and had offended Him, they gave a sin offering.
5. When they’d done something against another person, they gave a guilt offering.
4. Do we give God animals as sacrifices today?  Why not, do you think?
1. Jesus has fulfilled all of these sacrifices for us. 
2. We don’t have to sacrifice animals anymore, but we should still be concerned about giving God gifts, thanking him, celebrating him, and repenting of our sins.

2. Deeper
1. Historical-Geographic setting: Israel is still camped at the base of Mt. Sinai.  From Exodus 19 to Numbers 10, there is no forward movement toward Canaan. They are camped there for a year.
2. Introduction to Leviticus:
1. All scripture is God-breathed, even Leviticus!
2. According to the Midrash, Jewish children in Rabbinical schools are taught out of Leviticus first, even before Genesis, so that the “purer hearts of children may be instructed in Holiness first and will remain pure.  These pure hearts can better be taught to draw near to a Holy God.”
3. The principal goal of Leviticus is an instruction in Holiness.  God is lifted up as infinitely Holy, and His people are repeatedly admonished to be Holy because God is Holy (Lev 11:44).

a)    It is a mistake to see Leviticus as only the civil or outmoded religious code of a different dispensation.

b)    We are not under this law because Christ has fulfilled it, not because it is no longer valid

(1)  Matt 5:17-20

(2)  Rom 8:3-4

4. There are six major kinds of sacrifices listed in the opening chapters of Leviticus.  One is only for the consecration of a priest.  The other five are to be employed by the people in the worship of God.

a)    Burnt offering: Supplication, repentance, devotion.

b)    Grain offering: an accompaniment offering that speaks to the constancy of God’s covenant and faithfulness toward His people.

c)    Peace offering (fellowship offering): speaks to the friendship and love between God, his priests, and His people.

d)    Sin offering: Seeking absolution for a sin against the Lord Himself (first 4 commandments). 

e)    Guilt offering: Seeking absolution for a sin against another person (last 6 commandments). There is a special subset for sins against priests or holy objects in the tabernacle.

5. All of these sacrifices point to Christ.  While He is no actually present here or specifically prophesied about in this passage, these are all types of Christ.
6. These sacrifices didn’t actually “do” what the people wanted.  The blood of bulls and goats does not actually remove the sin. These are only shadows of what Christ would do.

a)    Heb 10:1-4

b)    Rom 3:21-26

3. The setting of this revelation is the tent of meeting, the tabernacle which had just been described and built in the 25 preceding chapters.
1. The Moral law is given with smoke, fire, lightning, and a booming voice from the top of a mountain.
2. The remedial law is given in a still small voice in a tent.
3. Moses likely taking dictation in the Holy Place while God spoke from inside the Holy of Holies.
4. Should be read immediately after the end of Exodus, with the presence of God in the tabernacle.
4. Burnt Offerings (Lev 1)
1. An offering given by freewill of the supplicant. A joyful giving to God.
2. To happen daily in morning and evening Ex 29:38-42
3. Most costly offering.  All of it burned.  None of it goes to any person whatsoever.
4. Differing expenses allowed, dependent upon the ability of the worshipper: Bulls, Male Rams or Male Goats, or pigeons.

a)    Males without blemish (vs 3, 10)

(1)  Tamiym Used 91x in OT.  44x about sacrifices, as here.  “Without blemish.”

(2)  39x of people, “righteous,” “upright,” “blameless.”

(a)  Gen 6:9-- first usage.

(b)  Gen 17:1

b)    Gender not specified with the pigeons.

c)    Jesus, obviously male.

d)    Sinless:

(1)  I Pe 2:22

(2)  2 Cor 5:21

(3)  Heb 4:15

5. Participation of the worshipper:

a)    Two participants, “he,” the worshipper, and the priest.

b)    “He”:

(1)  Brings the offering (vs 3)

(a)  Jesus brought himself.  He was not forced into his death.

(b)  John 10:17-18

(c)  Luke 23:46

(d)  Psalm 31:5-8

(2)  Is accepted at the gate of the tabernacle (vs 3) and “North side of the Altar” (vs 11).

(a)  Jesus was condemned to death at Pilot’s Palace, (cf Lk 23)

(b)  Pilate’s palace was just outside the north gate of the temple complex.

(3)  Lays his hands on the sacrifice (vs 4) and kills it (vs 5)

(4)  Receives atonement (vs 4).

(5)  The one who lays his hands on it and kills it is atoned by the sacrifice.  Who “laid their hands on” Jesus?

(a)  Jesus’ own followers (Lk 22:47-48)

(b)  The Jewish leadership (Lk 22:66-23:5)

(c)  The Jewish people (Lk 23:18-23)

(d)  Gentile Governmental powers (Lk 23:24-25, 32-33)

(6)  Jesus was killed by representatives of every kind of person.  We all “laid our hands on him,” Consequently, we all share in the atonement provided.

c)    After the worshipper does his part, God, acting through the priest, does His.

(1)  Flaying the animal (vs 6)

(2)  Lighting the fire (vs 7)

(3)  Burning the animal (vs 8-9)

(4)  Cleaning up afterward (6:10-11)

(5)  God credits as righteousness the act of faith performed by the believer (As Abraham, Gen 15:6)

6. This is an act of total devotion that pleases the Lord (vs 9, 13, 17).

a)    Jesus’ death was prophesied to please the Lord!

(1)  Isa 1:11.  God does not find pleasure in offerings of animals since they can be done without a repentant heart.

(2)  God cannot derive pleasure from sinners.  In fact, he hates them.

(3)  God does not find pleasure in executing his judgment on sinners (Ezek 18:23, 33:11)

(4)  Yet, God can derive pleasure from His elect (Zeph 3:17).

(5)  How where does the pleasure come from?  Not from any action of the sinner (Romans 7:18; John 15:5)

(6)  The pleasure shows up in punishing Christ

(a)  Isa 53:10. Better translated “It pleased the Lord to crush Him.”

(b)  Only NIV and ESV “excuse God” by saying that it was merely His plan. 

                                                                                                    (i)        KJV: Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him

                                                                                                   (ii)        NKJV: Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him

                                                                                                  (iii)        NASB: But the LORD was pleased to crush Him

                                                                                                 (iv)        YLT: And Jehovah hath delighted to bruise him

(7)  Eph 5:2, direct reference.

5. Grain Offerings (lev 2)
1. Not about atoning for sin.  Purely for worship.
2. Probably meant to accompany other offerings (Numb 28:31). Completes the meal.
3. Some suggest it was the poorest person’s offering (5:11), although in this context, that is not present in the text.
4. Expensive as well.

a)    Fine flour, not the cheap stuff (vs 1)

b)    Hebrew word used specifies wheat flour. Twice the value per pound of barley flour.

c)    With Frankincense (vs 1, 2, 15, 16)

5. For the priest’s wage.  This is how he gets bread to eat while working.

a)    Only a small portion burned (memorial, vs 9-10)

b)    The rest is “most holy” to the Lord.  They need to eat it in the tabernacle (6:16).

6. It can be baked, fried, or given as raw ingredients (vs 4-7).
7. Ingredients constant:

a)    Fine flour, costly. Jesus is the highest version of mankind.

b)    Oil, symbolic of the Holy Spirit. The meal is “anointed” with oil. Zech 4, esp vs 6. Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit.

c)    Salt, not Leaven.

(1)  Leaven is scripture symbolizes sin and decay (yeast is a decomposer).

(a)  Pride 1 Cor 5:6

(b)  Puffs up, makes bread bigger than it is. 

(c)  Christ is sinless (above). No pride. Flattened out, Phil 2.

(2)  Why not honey? 

(a)  Honey can also cause bread to rise, as the naturally-occurring yeast in flour can feed on it when baking and bring some lift the bread. 

(b)  The same Hebrew word can also mean the sweet syrup of dates and figs. This explains why it’s okay during Firstfruits, when people are burning the first portion of their agriculture.  Fruit would be included.

(3)  Salt is a flavor enhancer, but also a preservative.

(a)  The offering testifies to preservation and longevity, not to decay.

(b)  Christ also taught about the preservative nature of salt and tied it to our witness (Matt 5:13).

(4)  Frankincense is a costly perfume and incense.  All of what is brought is thrown on the fire. 

(5)  Baking bread is a pleasing aroma, but burning bread is not.

(6)  Frankincense makes the whole thing pleasurable. 

(7)  Frankincense at Christ’s birth when he is in Bethlehem, the “house of bread.” When he is in the house of bread, Frankincense is given to accompany him.

8. Christ calls himself a bread sacrifice in Jn 6:51
5. Application
1. We don’t have to give God an animal sacrifice anymore, but there should be sacrificial acts of love to our God.  What can’t you do, that you would like to do, because you have given an offering to the Lord?
2. We aren’t called to give bread to the priests anymore to say “Thank you” to the Lord, but we ought to share what we have with others out of our supply, not just our abundance.
3. God is Holy and we are not.  Our relationship with God is freely provided by Christ, but that doesn’t mean that it is “cheap.”  Rather, it is so costly that there is no hope that we can pay the price ourselves.

Discussion Questions:

1. Why do you think that it is important that the worshipper burned the entire animal completely on the altar?
2. If the worshipper didn’t give the burnt sacrifice in order to get forgiveness of sin, what kinds of circumstances do you think would motivate someone to do this?
3. When someone brings a grain sacrifice, only some of it is burned.  The rest is given to the priest.  What can this teach us today?
4. Talk about what we can learn about Jesus from these sacrifices.

Discussion Questions:

1. Why do you think that it is important that the worshipper burned the entire animal completely on the altar?
2. If the worshipper didn’t give the burnt sacrifice in order to get forgiveness of sin, what kinds of circumstances do you think would motivate someone to do this?
3. When someone brings a grain sacrifice, only some of it is burned.  The rest is given to the priest.  What can this teach us today?
4. Talk about what we can learn about Jesus from these sacrifices.

Discussion Questions:

1. Why do you think that it is important that the worshipper burned the entire animal completely on the altar?
2. If the worshipper didn’t give the burnt sacrifice in order to get forgiveness of sin, what kinds of circumstances do you think would motivate someone to do this?
3. When someone brings a grain sacrifice, only some of it is burned.  The rest is given to the priest.  What can this teach us today?
4. Talk about what we can learn about Jesus from these sacrifices.

Discussion Questions:

5. Why do you think that it is important that the worshipper burned the entire animal completely on the altar?
6. If the worshipper didn’t give the burnt sacrifice in order to get forgiveness of sin, what kinds of circumstances do you think would motivate someone to do this?
7. When someone brings a grain sacrifice, only some of it is burned.  The rest is given to the priest.  What can this teach us today?
8. Talk about what we can learn about Jesus from these sacrifices.