An Overview of the Sacrificial System

Summary of the Offering System

This morning we are going to be concluding our study of the sacrificial system by doing two things. First of all, I want to give you an overview of the five offerings highlighting their similarities, their differences, and each one‟s primary significance. After that, we are going to look quickly at how each of these offerings draws our attention to Jesus. Remember the concept of an object lesson. These offerings were object lessons for the nation of Israel. They were designed by God to convey a deeper truth, and we‟ll see that deeper truth this morning.

Before we get into this, let‟s go over our memory project again. “Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, „Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, „I am the LORD your God. You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes. You are to perform My judgments and keep My statutes, to live in accord with them; I am the LORD your God. So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which a man may live if he does them; I am the LORD.‟”

Something to keep in mind as you are reading in Leviticus is the nature of chapter 6:8 through 7:38. This segment is a recap of the offering system from the perspective of the priesthood. In other words, the first five chapters of Leviticus all deal with the offerings from the perspective of the one bringing the offering: what animal is needed, the condition of the animal, how it is to be cut up, what part gets burned and what part goes to the priest, what the offering accomplishes, etc. The final chapter and a half focuses primarily on the role of the priest: what kind of clothes should he wear, what does he do with the ashes when the altar gets full, where does he eat the parts of the sacrifice and how much of it does he eat, etc.

So by the time you get to the end of chapter 7, you have finished the first segment of Leviticus, the offering system. It was a provision for them to be able to draw near to God. Starting in chapter 8, God turns His attention to the priesthood. God, in His goodness, provided the nation with mediators between Himself and the nation. The offering system certainly helped them draw near to God, but those animals couldn‟t communicate with God on the behalf of the people, and God couldn‟t communicate with the animals. There needed to be a mediator.

BURNT – symbolizes total consecration
 Lev. 1, a voluntary offering – used a bull ox, male sheep or goat – each animal representing a significant financial cost
 Involved atonement, but no forgiveness: 1:4
 Unique to this offering: it was totally consumed
 Provided a soothing aroma to God: 1:9, 13, 17

GRAIN – symbolizes daily provision
 Lev. 2, a voluntary offering – used a variety of grains
 No atonement was accomplished – this was purely an expression of gratitude for God‟s provision of food
 Emphasis on purity, no honey or yeast
 Emphasis on permanency as seen in the use of salt
 Only a portion burned, remainder went to the priests: 2:3
 Provided a soothing aroma to God: 2:2, 9
 Unique to this offering: it was bloodless

PEACE – symbolizes spiritual fellowship
 Lev. 3, a voluntary offering – used an ox, lamb, or goat
 No atonement was accomplished – this was a meal celebrating the existence of peace between God and the one bringing the offering
 Only a portion was burned
 Unique to this offering: remainder eaten by priest and offerer: 7:14
 Provided a soothing aroma to God: 3:5, 16

SIN – symbolizes substitutionary atonement
 Lev. 4:1 – 5:13, a mandatory offering – used an ox, lamb, goat, dove / pigeon, fine grain
 Involved atonement with forgiveness, unlike the burnt:4:20, 31, 35
 Instructions given for four different groups: high priest, whole congregation, a leader, a common person
 A portion was burned, remainder went to the priests: 5:13
 unique to this offering: part was burned outside the camp – 4:12 – very symbolic!
 Provided a soothing aroma to God only in the case of offering for a common person: 4:31
 Covered sins where it was impossible to undo the damage

TRESPASS – symbolizes reparation and satisfaction
 Lev. 5:14 – 6:7, a mandatory offering – used a ram exclusively
 Involved atonement with forgiveness: 5:16, 18
 A portion was burned, remainder went to` the priests: 7:5-7
 Unique to this offering: it involved a payment of an additional 20%
 It was not a soothing aroma

Summary: so this is the overview of the five offerings. They were graphic. They were full of sensory stimuli, and they vividly portrayed significant spiritual truths. But from our perspective, they were deficient! They were exactly what God established for them, and to the extent they obeyed God‟s directions they were in fellowship with Him, but they only accomplished a temporal restoration. They were a short-term solution to a long-term problem. And this was by design, because each of these offerings was pointing the way to Jesus – the eternal solution to an eternal problem.