Leviticus 1

CHAPTER 1THEME: The burnt offering; regulations, ritual, and reason for the burnt sacrifice; the law of the burnt sacrificeThis is the oldest offering known to man. It was the offering of Abel, Noah, and Abraham. All the offerings were made on the brazen altar but because the burnt offering was made there, the brazen altar is also called the burnt altar. It received its name from this sacrifice. This offering is recorded first of the five offerings because of its prominence and priority. This offering is a picture of Christ in depth as well as in death. A man cannot probe the full meaning of this offering because it sets before us what God sees in Christ. We can’t see as much as He does. Here is a profound mystery that only the Holy Spirit can reveal. The burnt offering shows the person of Christ. He is our substitute. Paul reveals this in Eph_5:2: “And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour.”

Leviticus 1:1

REGULATIONS FOR THE BURNT SACRIFICEGod called unto Moses out of the tabernacle. No longer is He speaking from the top of Mount Sinai in thunder and lightning, as when He gave the commandments. Here He calls to Moses from the tabernacle in reconciliation. “And the LORD called"His call is for those who will hear His voice. That is important to see. God is calling to men today to be reconciled to Him. The church is a called-out body, and they are the elect because they are called. “For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: but we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God” (1Co_1:22-24). “Called” doesn’t mean those who only hear; it means those who have heard and responded. I would like to ask you this question: Have you heard Him and have you responded to Him?

Leviticus 1:2

“If any man” means “whosoever will may come.”

Leviticus 1:3

“He shall offer it of his own voluntary will.” May I say, this is free will with a vengeance. The Lord Jesus said, “If any man thirst, let him come….” This is an all-inclusive invitation to the human family. None are excluded except those who exclude themselves. The Lord Jesus gives only one condition, “If any man thirst.” You may say, “I don’t thirst.” Well, then maybe this isn’t for you. But if you do thirst, He asks you to come to Him. He can satisfy you. Isaiah included this in his invitation, “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters …” (Isa_55:1). Anyone can come to Christ if he chooses to come. There must be a need and a desire. If you have that, come! Two types of animals were used for the burnt offering. Animals of the herd are cattle and of the flock are sheep. Wild animals that were animals of prey were excluded. Carnivorous animals were forbidden in all sacrifices. Animals that live by slaying other animals could never reveal Christ, who came to give His life a ransom for many. A further restriction was that the animal must be a clean animal and it must be domesticated. It could not be taken in the hunt. Only that which was valuable and dear to the owner could be offered because it prefigures Christ. God spared not His own Son. Christ suffered on the Cross, but the Father suffered in heaven. The final restriction reveals that the animal was one that was obedient to man. My, what a picture this is! Christ was the obedient servant. He came to minister and He was obedient unto death. The burnt offering is the offering that is mentioned up to the time of Leviticus and it was the only offering that was made by those who wanted an approach to God. The burnt sacrifice is called olah in the Hebrew. It means “that which ascends.” It is not irreverent to say that the burnt sacrifice went up in smoke. It was wholly consumed on the altar; nothing remained but the ashes. This reveals that the burnt offering is what God sees in Christ. Paul said in Eph_5:2 that Christ gave Himself “…an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour.” Here in Leviticus 1 we find in verses Lev_1:9, Lev_1:13, and Lev_1:17 that the sacrifice is “a sweet savour unto the LORD.” This is what God sees in Christ.

It may not be what you see in Him or what I see in Him. It is what God sees in Him, and that is the thing that is all-important. God is saying that He is satisfied with what Jesus did for your sins and for my sins. God is satisfied that Jesus has paid it all for you and that He can save you to the uttermost if you will put your trust in Him. The question is, “Are you satisfied with that?” You will notice that it says the sacrifice is to be a male, and that speaks of strength. It speaks of the fact that the Lord Jesus is mighty to save, and that He is able to save to the uttermost (Heb_7:25). Then, the sacrifice was to be without blemish which means the animal was to be ideally perfect. This speaks of the perfections of Christ. “…In him is no sin” (1Jn_3:5). “Who did no sin …” (1Pe_2:22). “…Who knew no sin …” (2Co_5:21). “Who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners …” (Heb_7:26). He is the beloved Son of whom the Father could say, “…I am well pleased” (Mat_3:17). He shall offer it of his own “voluntary will” is translated “that he may be accepted before Jehovah” in the American Standard Version of 1901. Because of the atoning death of the little animal, the sinner was received by God. The animal had to be offered, not in life, but in death. This was absolutely imperative. It is not the spotless life of Christ and our approval of Him that saves us. Only His death can save the sinner. In the Gospels we find that when He died, the veil of the temple was torn in two. It was His death which opened the way to God; it was His death which saves the sinner. You see, the veil represents His flesh (Heb_10:20). His perfect life shuts us out from God. What God demands is a life that is perfect like the life of Christ, and you and I can’t reproduce it. His life is the standard.

The Father could say concerning Jesus, “…This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Mat_3:17). You and I just can’t measure up to that. The life of Christ therefore cannot save us. It shuts us out from God, just as the veil shut man out from God in the tabernacle. We must have another basis on which we can come to God. That way is through the death of Christ.

That is what tore the veil. The minute you and I come through the death of Christ, the way to God is open. It is the death of Christ that saves the sinner. The offering was to be brought of his own voluntary will. You don’t have to come to Christ. But if you want to be saved, then you will have to come to Christ. God has no other way. The Lord Jesus said, “…no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (Joh_14:6). You may think that is dogmatic and narrow.

I’ll tell you somethingit is! But the interesting thing is that it will bring you to God. Now, you don’t have to come; that is where your free will enters in. You do not have to come, but, if you want to come to God, then you must come this one way because God has elected that this is the only way! You cannot come to God on the basis of your own “righteousness.” He cannot accept your righteousness; He won’t have any of it. “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us …” (Tit_3:5). “At the door of the tabernacle” is another imperative. They couldn’t offer the sacrifice anywhere else. This was to keep Israel from idolatry. They were prone to lapse into idolatry again and again, and finally their idolatry was the reason for the Babylonian captivity. And this, by the way, has a message for us. It is to keep us from presuming that we can come to God our way, on our terms.

We do not make the terms by which we come to God. God makes the terms, my friend. “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags …” (Isa_64:6). God won’t accept our righteousness. A great many people think that the righteousness of God is just a projection, on a little higher level, of the righteousness of man. Nothing of the kind! It is altogether holy!

The only righteousness which God can accept is the righteousness of God which is through faith in Christ. You can’t work for it. You can’t buy it. God cannot accept our poor righteousnessit will simply go down the drain. The offering must be at the door of the tabernacle. Friends, there is no other way to come to God but His way.

The Lord Jesus said, “No man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (Joh_14:6).

Leviticus 1:4

“He shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering.” Dr. Kellogg calls this “an act of designation.” This is revealed in Lev_24:14 where the witnesses were to lay their hands on the blasphemer before he was stoned to death. Moses laid his hands on Joshua, designating him as his successor. Dr. Kellogg wrote a very fine book on Leviticus, which may be out of print now, but I would suggest you buy one if you can find it in a secondhand bookstore. Here is a quotation from it. He is speaking of the laying on of the hand upon the head of the animal, and he says, “It symbolized a transfer, according to God’s merciful provision, of an obligation to suffer for sin, from the offerer to the innocent victim. Henceforth, the victim stood in the offerer’s place, and was dealt with accordingly.” In other words, when the man went in and put his hand on the head of the little animal that was to be slain, he was designating this little animal to take his place. The man was confessing that he deserved to die. Friends, when you take Christ as your Savior, you are saying that you are a sinner and that you can’t save yourself. You want to turn from your sins and you want to turn to the Savior and you want to live for Him. The little animal was dying a substitutionary death in the place of the offerer. That is what Christ did for us. When you accept Christ, you put your hand on Him; that is, you designate Him as your Savior. People today seem to have the idea that there is some merit in the act of laying on of hands. They think there is some transfer of power. The only thing that can be transferred by laying on of hands is disease germs. But it does designate someone who is taking your place. When we as church leaders place our hands on a missionary, as the church in Antioch did to Paul and Barnabas, we are designating that one to go out in our place and as our representative. Christ took our place. This is what it means when it says, “…He hath made him to be sin for us …” (2Co_5:21) and “Who was delivered for our offences …” (Rom_4:25). The Hebrew here means to lay the hand so as to lean heavily upon another. “Thy wrath lieth hard upon me …” (Psa_88:7). This part of the ceremony speaks of atonement and acceptance through the death of the victim"it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.” We have said before that atonement means to cover, not to remove. “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins” (Heb_10:4). Only the Lamb of God can remove sin. This offering was done publicly. He went down to the tabernacle, he walked to the side of the altar, and there he slew the little animal. It was a public act. A sinner needs to confess Christ publicly. By faith, we place our hand on Christ, but the public needs to know that we do it. I think this is primarily the meaning of baptism today. Baptism means “to be identified with.” This is a public confession of being identified with Christ in His death and in His resurrection. This is the reason water baptism was so important in the early church.

Leviticus 1:5

THE RITUAL FOR THE BURNT SACRIFICENow we come to the ritual for the burnt offering. A proper offering having been chosenthat is, the right kind of animalthe sinner brings the victim to the entrance of the tabernacle where he is met by a priest. The sinner himself slays the victim. (There is an exception in verses Lev_1:14, Lev_1:15.) “For the wages of sin is death …” (Rom_6:23). Here the innocent dies for the guilty. Just so, “Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust …” (1Pe_3:18). Our sins put Jesus Christ to death. If you want it made very personal, my sin is responsible for the death of Christ; your sin is responsible for the death of Christ. I get a little weary of hearing people argue about who is responsible for the death of Christ. They indict the religious rulers, the nation Israel, or the Roman nation. My friend, people can argue all they wish; the fact is that if I hadn’t been a sinner and if you hadn’t been a sinner, nobody would have put Him to death. It was our sin that put Him to death! Every sacrifice had to be slain. Either the sinner or the priest acting for the nation slew the victim. There was no forgiveness apart from the shed blood of the victim. So today, only the blood of Christ can cleanse us from all sin. After the slaying of the victim, the priest took over by sprinkling the blood about the altar. The blood represented life and the sprinkling presented it to God.

Leviticus 1:6

Everything had to be done decently and in order. God is not the author of confusion. The offering was to be cut into pieces so that it might be exposed and so it could be more easily consumed by the fire. The inner life of the Lord Jesus has been open for inspection for over 1900 years. He has been examined more than any other person. There is more disagreement concerning Him than anyone else. This was true at the time He lived and it is still true today. He still asks the question, “Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?” There are all kinds of opinions today and some of them are blasphemous. Yet it is still true that He is “holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners.” Jesus Christ, who has been under examination all these years, is still the One who is altogether lovely.

Leviticus 1:10

Notice again, the offer is cut in pieces and totally exposed. Fire was to be used on the altar. The fire does not necessarily represent hell, vengeance, or wrath. I disagree with those who magnify that so much. Fire did not represent that at the burning bush. Fire oftentimes represents the purifying energy and the resistless power of God. “And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver …” (Mal_3:3). Fire is that resistless energy of God which sometimes destroys and sometimes cleanses and sometimes consumes. The nature of the object determines the process it will take. Here in the burnt offering, it speaks of the total commitment of Christ to God. It is absolute consecration. In our experience this is essential also, if we are to worship God in spirit and in truth. “For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God” (Deu_4:24). My friend, you cannot just play around and get very far with God. That is the reason there is so much that is phony in Christian service today. I want to say it kindly but emphaticallyyou are not serving God unless you are letting Him cleanse and purify your life. We have forgotten this matter of holiness today. How we need it in our churches and in our own lives!

Leviticus 1:14

Poverty was no excuse for not bringing an offering to God. A bird could be substituted for an animal. Anyone could have a bird and offer it. Did you notice that when our Lord was born, His parents offered turtledoves? His parents were poor and He was born in poverty.

Leviticus 1:17

THE REASON FOR THE BURNT SACRIFICEThis is the third time it is mentioned that it is a sweet savor to the Lord. This makes it clear that this was the reason for the sacrifice. It is what God sees in Jesus Christ. THE LAW OF THE BURNT SACRIFICEThe law of the burnt offering is found in Lev_6:8-13. The morning and the evening offerings were burnt sacrifices offered by Aaron and the priests for the nation to God (Exo_29:38-46). It was called the continual burnt offering. Christ in consecration ever lives to make intercession for us. This is most beautifully expressed in an ancient “Order for the Visitation of the Sick,” attributed to Anselm of Canterbury: “The minister shall say to the sick man: Dost thou believe that thou canst not be saved but by the death of Christ? The sick man answereth, Yes. Then let it be said unto him: Go to, then, and whilst thy soul abideth in thee, put all thy confidence in this death alone; place thy trust in no other thing; commit thyself wholly to this death; cover thyself wholly with this alone …And if God would judge thee, say: Lord! I place the death of our Lord Jesus Christ between me and Thy judgment; otherwise I will not contend or enter into judgment with Thee. “And if He shall say unto thee that thou art a sinner, say: I place the death of our Lord Jesus Christ between me and my sins. If He shall say unto thee, that thou hast deserved damnation, say: Lord! I put the death of our Lord Jesus Christ between Thee and all my sins; and I offer His merits for my own, which I should have, and have not. “And whosoever of us can thus speak, to him the promise speaks from out the shadows of the tent of meeting: ‘This Christ, the Lamb of God, the true burnt offering, shall be accepted for thee, to make atonement for thee!”’ This is the law of the burnt offering. God is satisfied with Jesus and He sees us in Christ. He is satisfied, then, with us. “But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom_3:21-24). My friend, do you have the sacrifice of Christ between you and your sins? Has His blood been shed that you might live? Have you trusted Him today? God sees Christ as the only One who can satisfy Him for your sins. Have you seen Him like that? Are you still trying to bring your little puny self and your little goodness to offer to God? God won’t take that. He only accepts what Christ has done for you and He counts the righteousness of Christ as your righteousness. Trust Him today and live!