Continuing a chronological Bible study:
(Leviticus 1:1) And the LORD called to Moses, and spoke to him out of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying, (2) “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘If any one of you brings an offering to the LORD, you shall bring your offering of the cattle, of the herd, and of the flock.'"
In the last post, the last chapter of Exodus, Moses and the people had set up the tent tabernacle, and God had taken possession of it in a cloud over the tabernacle. The Lord now spoke to Moses from this cloud, more precisely from the mercy seat between the cherubim over the ark, where the glory of the Lord took up its residence, and from where the Lord had promised to commune with Moses in Exodus 25:22. He began to give him instructions on how to instruct the people when they brought offerings to the Lord. He began with what appears to be voluntary or freewill offerings to the Lord. Although the desire and act of bringing an offering to the Lord was voluntary, there were laws on how it was to be done. First they were told what the offering should be. The original word translated as "cattle" was "behemah", which was generally understood to be cattle, but more generally included cattle and sheep and goats, as indicated by the phrases following "cattle". Perhaps the translation used by some of the newer Bible translations such as NKJV and ESV, that is "livestock", might be more appropriate, but I don't like it, because that could also mean swine and poultry, etc., and this was certainly not the case. The only animals to be offered were those "of the herd", which referred to cattle or oxen, and "of the flock", which referred to sheep or goats.
(3) "‘If his offering is a burnt sacrifice of the
herd, let him offer a male without blemish; he shall offer it of his own
free will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD.'"
If the offering was to be a burnt sacrifice from the herd or cattle, it was to be a male without blemish, pointing to the sex and perfection of the Messiah, the perfect sacrifice. This is not to say that only a male is perfect before the Lord, but Jesus Christ was a male, so a male was used in this substitution, and Christ was perfect, and therefore, an animal without blemish must be offered as this substitute sacrifice. This offering was to be given by free will at the door of the tabernacle or tent of the congregation, whereat stood the brass altar and the laver, where sacrifices were to be offered.
(4) "'And he shall put his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.'"
The one offering the animal for sacrifice was to put his hand on the head of the animal, signifying that this sacrifice was his own, in substitution for his own sinful self who was worthy of death because he had sinned against God. The animal would then be accepted as sacrifice and atonement for the one offering it.
(5) "'And he shall kill the bull before the LORD; and the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall bring the blood and sprinkle the blood all around on the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.'"
The one offering the sacrifice was then to kill the bull, and then the priests, namely Aaron's sons, were to bring the blood that had been collected in basins and were to sprinkle the blood all around and on the altar that was by the door of the tabernacle. The blood being the life, it was this that made atonement for the soul, being illustrative of the sprinkling of the blood of Christ, as found in the following New Testament verses:
"And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaks better things than that of Abel." - Hebrews 12:24
"Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied." - 1 Peter 1:2
Now back to Leviticus:
(6) "‘And he shall flay the burnt offering and cut it into its pieces.'"
The sacrificer was to flay or skin the animal and cut it into pieces.
(7) "'And the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire on the altar, and lay the wood in order on the fire.'"
The sons of Aaron were to "put fire on the altar" and then lay the wood in order on the fire. It sounds as if they brought fire from another source and put it there for this first burnt offering on the newly-constructed altar. Perhaps this was to be illustrative of the fact that the fire that would be used there came from heaven as we'll see in Leviticus 9:24 and was to be carefully preserved there and never allowed to go out (Lev. 6:13). It was not a fire originally started by the sons of Aaron on this altar.
(8) "'And the priests, Aaron's sons, shall lay the parts, the head, and the fat, in order on the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar; (9) But its inwards and its legs he shall wash in water; and the priest shall burn all on the altar as a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet aroma to the LORD.'"
This begins to get confusing to me, so I will take it slowly. Aaron's sons, the priests, were to take the parts of the animal, that is, the head and the fat, and lay them in order on the fire on the altar. Or is it to be interpreted that they were to take the parts and the head and the fat and lay them in order? Dr. John Gill, in his Exposition of the Entire Bible, pointed to the wisdom of Aben Ezra (Jewish rabbi, scholar, and writer from 1100's), and suggested that the word "fat" here is not the same word translated as "fat" in most of the other scriptures, and more likely means the trunk of the animal's body. The next verse says that the inwards and the legs were to be washed, which sounds like the parts were divided and separated into head, trunk (which could be interpreted as the fatty middle), and legs, with the middle inwards being removed and washed. The parts were then to be placed back in order on the fire on the altar, which I believe means they were placed back together as they were as if the entire animal were originally placed on the altar. Indeed, verse 9 says the priest would burn "all". The parts being washed may signify purity of heart (the inwards) and ways and actions (the legs) which, along with the unblemished outside of the animal, might represent the perfect Christ offering Himself on the altar. This offering was a sweet aroma to the Lord. This doesn't mean the Lord loved the smell of it, but rather it was an acceptable sacrifice for atonement of sin, an acceptable facsimile of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for atonement of sin. Ephesians 5:2 tells us: "And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us,
an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma." As Christ didn't burn on an altar, it's obvious that sweet-smelling aroma doesn't refer to a smell.
(10) "'And if his offering is of the flocks, of the sheep or of the goats, for a burnt sacrifice, he shall bring a male without blemish.'"
God had said this freewill offering could be of cattle or of sheep and goats, and He now told Moses how to instruct the people if they chose to bring an offering of their sheep or goats. It again should be a male without blemish.
(11) "'And he shall kill it on the north side of the altar before the LORD; and the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall sprinkle its blood all around on the altar.'"
The one bringing the sacrifice was to kill the animal on the north side of the altar before the Lord. Although it was mentioned only here, probably the bull offering was to be killed on the north side of the altar, as well. Most of the old commentators agree that there was probably a practical basis for this, for as Albert Barnes pointed out in his Notes on the Bible, on the west side was the laver, on the east side was the place of ashes (Lev. 1:16), and "the south side, where appears to have been the slope by which the priests went up to the altar, must have been left clear for a path." Additionally, and more importantly, it was probably designed to be this way because Christ was crucified on the north side of Jerusalem, as stated in Psalm 48:2, "Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King." Once it was killed, Aaron's sons, the priests, were to sprinkle the animal's blood all around on the altar.
(12) "‘And he shall cut it into its pieces, with its head and its fat; and the priest shall lay them in order on the wood that is on the fire upon the altar; (13) But he shall wash the inwards and the legs with water; and the priest shall bring it all, and burn it on the altar; it is a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the LORD.'"
The male sheep or goat was to be cut up in pieces in the same manner as was the bull, and laid in order on the fire on the altar. The inwards and legs were to be washed in water, just as they were for the bull. Likewise, as with the bull, this offering would then be an acceptable offering to the Lord.
(14) "‘And if the burnt sacrifice for his offering to the LORD is of fowls, then he shall bring his offering of turtledoves or of young pigeons.'"
Although fowls were not listed in verse 2 as an acceptable freewill offering, it is believed that they were allowed for the poor who could not afford to bring a bull or lamb, as in Leviticus 5:7, "And if he is not able to bring a lamb, then he shall bring to the LORD, for his trespass which he has committed, two turtledoves or two young pigeons, to the Lord, one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering." Note the scripture stated the offering was to be "of turtledoves" (not stating whether young or old) or "of young pigeons". The old commentaries that I read were just about unanimous that the turtledoves were to be old, or mature, and only the pigeons were to be young. This was when each was at its best and most acceptable to be served at men's tables, and certainly no less should be brought to the Lord.
(15) "‘The priest shall bring it to the altar, wring off its head, and burn it on the altar; and its blood shall be wrung out at the side of the altar.'"
The priest was to bring the bird to the altar and he himself was to kill the bird by wringing its neck. Jewish tradition states that the bird was killed by twisting back its head and piercing its neck with a nail. Although scripture doesn't state here exactly how it was done, later verses do suggest that the head was not removed from the body, yet blood was to be poured out, so the nail puncture makes sense. I am struck with the image of the nails piercing Christ's body and His blood pouring out. Even this little bird could be used as a symbol of the Christ to come. The bird was to be burned on the altar and its blood poured out at the side of the altar.
(16) "‘And he shall pluck away its crop with its feathers and cast it beside the altar on the east side, by the place of the ashes.'"
The priest was to pluck away the bird's "crop" or craw (the bird's stomach), and probably its intestines, and cast that with the bird's feathers beside the altar on the east side where the ashes of the burnt sacrifices were put.
(17) "'And he shall cleave it with its wings, but shall not divide it completely; and the priest shall burn it on the altar, on the wood that is on the fire; it is a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet aroma to the LORD.'"
The priest was to "cleave" or split the bird probably down the middle with one wing on each side, but was not to divide the bird completely. He then burned the bird on the altar, and it was considered to be a burnt offering to the Lord, and acceptable to Him.
Leviticus is a book that begins with the laws concerning sacrifices, and this first chapter dealt with burnt offerings. When these offerings were made according to the instructions given by the Lord to Moses, they were said to be "of a sweet aroma to the LORD". However, this was only a symbol of the perfect sacrifice to come and illustrative of our giving our whole selves to the Lord, which was better than all burnt offerings and sacrifices:
“And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbor as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” - Mark 12:33
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