Leviticus 1:3 - Exposition

If his offering be a burnt sacrifice. The Hebrew term for "burnt sacrifice" is olah, meaning "that which ascends;" sometimes kaleel "whole offering," is found ( Deuteronomy 33:10 ); the LXX . use the word ὁλοκαύτωμα , "whole burnt offering." The conditions to be fulfilled by an Israelite who offered a burnt sacrifice were the following:—

1 . He must offer either

2. In case it were a bull, ram, or goat, he must bring it to the door of the tabernacle, that is, the entrance of the court in front of the brazen altar and of the door of the holy place, and there after or present it.

3 . In offering it he must place his hand firmly on its head, as a ceremonial act.

4 . He must kill it, either himself or by the agency of a Levite.

5 . He must flay it.

6 . He must divide it into separate portions.

7 . He must wash the intestines and legs.

Meantime the priests had their parts to do; they had

1 . To catch the blood, to carry it to the altar, and to strike the inner sides of the altar with it.

2 . To arrange the fire on the altar.

3 . To place upon the altar the head, and the fat, and the remainder of the animal, for consumption by the fro.

4 . To sprinkle or place a meat offering upon them.

5 . The next morning, still dressed in their priestly garments, to take the ashes off the altar, and to place them at the east of the altar ( Leviticus 6:10 ).

6 . To carry them outside the camp to a clean place, the bearer being dressed in his ordinary costume ( Leviticus 6:11 ).

There were, therefore, four essential parts in the ritual of the burnt offering—the oblation of the victim ( Leviticus 1:3 , Leviticus 1:4 ), the immolation ( Leviticus 1:5 ), the oblation of the blood, representing the life ( ibid. ) , and the consumption ( Leviticus 1:9 )—the first two to be performed by the offerer, the third by the priest, the fourth by the fire representing the action of God. The moral lesson taught by the burnt offering was the necessity of self-surrender and of devotion to God, even to the extent of yielding up life and the very tenement of life. As the offerer could not give up his own life and body and still live, the life of an animal belonging to him, and valued by him, was substituted for his own; but he knew, and by laying his hand on its head showed that he knew, that it was his own life and his very self that was represented by the animal. The mystical lessons taught to those who could grasp them were—

1 . The doctrine of substitution or vicarious suffering.

2 . The fact that without the shedding of blood there was no acceptance.

3 . The need of One who, being very man, should be able to perform an action of perfect surrender of his will and of his life. The fulfilment of the type is found in the perfect submission of Christ as man, throughout his ministry, and especially in the Garden of Gethsemane, and in the offering made by him, as Priest and willing Victim, of his life upon the altar of the cross. the burnt offering is to be without blemish , for had not the animal been perfect in its kind, it would not have served its moral, its mystical, or its typical purpose. The word ἄμωμος , used by the LXX . as equivalent to the Hebrew term, is applied to Christ in Hebrews 9:14 and 1 Peter 1:19 ; and St. Paul teaches that it is the purpose of God that those who are adopted in Christ should also be "holy and without blemish" ( Ephesians 1:4 ). A priest had to certify that the victim was free frorn all defects. He shall offer it of his own voluntary will should rather be translated, He shall offer it for his own acceptance. The animal, representing the offerer, was presented by the latter in order that he might be himself accepted by the Lord. This aspect of the offering is brought out more clearly by the minchah, or meat offering, which always accompanied the burnt offering. The place where the presentation took place was the door of the tabernacle , that is, the space immediately within the eastern entrance into the court of the tabernacle, immediately facing the brazen altar, which stood before the east end of the tabernacle, where was the door or entrance which led into the holy place. "The presenting of the victim at the entrance of the tabernacle was a symbol of the free will submitting itself to the Law of the Lord" (Clarke). Cf. Romans 12:1 : "I beseech you that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service."