WORK STUDY ASSIGNMENT
LEVITICUS 1

1. In your own words, explain the burnt offering Leviticus 1. The burnt offering in Leviticus 1 is an offering that was given by the children of Israel through Moses from the Lord. The purpose of this offering was about not about a specific sin, but the state of sinfulness . The sacrifice was personal and private. The burnt offering was to take place at the Tabernacle of meeting, (which is the place where the Lord met with his people).
Three different types of sacrifices were acceptable as a burnt offering, (bull, sheep, and birds). This allows people of all status to be able to offer a sacrifice. For example, the bull, would be the sacrifice of someone who had a high status, where the birds were the only sacrifice someone of meager ability could offer. Although, this was concerned a personal and private offering, it could not have been performed with the Priest acting as a liaison between God and the offerer.
The offering of the bull had to be a young and unblemished male, signifying the pureness of the sacrifice and its limited exposure to any uncleaned food, work, or people. This had to be offered of a person’s own free will. A bull during this time was valuable due to its potential to the owner. By offering it willing a person, could not concerned about what was being killed. You had to bring your best and most valuable life possession as an offering. The offering of the sheep was similar to the bull; the sacrifice had to be an unblemished young male. However, this offering had to be given at the north side of the altar, whereas the bull had to be sacrificed at the door of the Meeting of the Tabernacle. The sprinkling of the blood was also different, with the bull it had to be sprinkled by the priest all around the altar by the door. The offering of the sheep‘s blood had to be sprinkled by priest around the altar, not by the door.
The dismembering of the body (separation), the draining of the blood (pouring out), and cleaning of the insides (purification) had to be followed with precision, otherwise the offering could be rejected (Lev. 22:17:31). Now, the offering of the birds (turtledoves/pigeons) did not have as many directives as the other offering, there is no mention of the sex of the sacrifice, but it did have to be young. Another distinction this offering was it was given on the east side of the altar. The studying of this chapter led me to some questions; hopefully, I will answer in the next question.

2. Explain how Jesus is our burnt offering. Jesus is the Lamb of God according to John 1:29. He came into the world to take away the sin of the world. Jesus was being prepared as a burnt offering even before going to the cross. He was an innocent man (unblemished) the same of the sacrifice. He knew no sin. The physical punishment his body endured (beaten, broken, and bruised beyond recognition); and then to have His blood and water pour out of his side had similar traits of the burnt offering in Leviticus 1. Wood was used to place the sacrifice on; just as a wooden cross was used for Jesus. These are just some surface similarities between the burnt offering and Jesus’ sacrifice, and not the reason why Jesus is our burnt offering. Jesus is our permanent burning offering , because what he did allowed us to have direct access to the Father without all the restrictions and requirements needed in Leviticus 1; and the fear of the offering being rejected, if not followed precisely. Jesus is the entire sacrifice in one, the physical body (including the blood and water); the sin; and the sweet aroma to the Lord. By doing and being all this, we now have a personal relationship with the Lord, and we can now access Him through his Son, and no other means or persons are needed. We now have the ability and freedom to go to the Father, whenever we want and not have to worry about our sin, because it was already taken away.

SERMON – Leviticus 1
“Then he shall put his hand on the head of the burnt offering”. Leviticus 1:4

The beginnings of the book of Leviticus are laws written to the Israelites after being delivered from slavery in Egypt. It is written by Moses on the Mt. of Sinai. This is when Moses gave the Ten Commandments and other laws, and the plans for the portable Tabernacle. This is also where the Israelites wandered for 38 years due to their rebellion. This entire book is about laws, laws, and more laws. There are moral laws, ritual laws, worship laws, and laws for living holy. There are basically 5 different types of offerings outlined in the book in the event, a person breaks any of these laws, as well as the blessings a person would receive if he abided by the law. The offering we are going to look at tonight is the burnt offering in Leviticus 1.

The first five chapters of Leviticus describe the 5 different types of offerings given to the Lord for various reasons. There is burnt offering; the grain offering; the peace (fellowship) offering; the sin or purification offering; and the guilt offering. The grain offering was about a person devotion to God and grain or bread was the offering. The fellowship/peace offering was about peace and an unblemished herd or flock had to be used; the sin offering was about making atonement for sin or uncleanness. An animal was used; the type depended on what a person had to offer. The fifth offering was the guilt offering that a valuable lamb or ram was used to atone for sins violating other rights.

Outline:

1. The unblemished male represented Jesus 2. Giving himself as a willing sacrifice was how the offering was to be given the same as Jesus. 3. When you laid your hand upon the head of the burnt offering, you are actually making a personal connection with the sacrifice. You are now giving your sins to that sacrifice and he has taken the place of your sins and making atonement for them. 4. The offerer killing the sacrifice before the Lord and the priests could indicate your desire to no longer wanting to be a part of sin and you are “physically” killing the sin. 5. The sprinkling of the blood acknowledges the atonement of your sins and new life ( lev. 17:11). 6. Skinning the animals could be a separation of flesh from the spirit and the dismembering of the body could mean the destruction of sin. Anything in pieces can have power over a person. 7. There is order in the sacrifice, the wood, the arts, the head, and the fat had to be in order prior to sacrifice handled by priests (Aaron’s sons). It stood out to me the interaction between the offerer and his sacrifice and the involvement of the priests. The offerer appeared to have a “hands-on” when it came to the physical killing of the animal, but when it came to the sprinkling of the blood, and the sacrifice of the offering, it had to be handled by the priests. The offerer was involved in the washing of the insides and the legs of the animals which could be considered purification. 8. It worth mentioning that with the other offering a priest could keep a portion of the offering for himself, but not with the burnt offering, the offering had to be the whole animal, whereas the other offering spoke of specific body parts. However, in Lev. 7:8, it does say the priest could keep the skin of the offering. 9. When comparing this burnt offering to the sacrifices of Jesus there are a lot of similarities. Jesus has now taken the place of the sacrifice and has become our permanent sacrifice. He taken bore our sins and became the Lamb of God. Our transgressions and sins is now with him.
**Noteworthy: Although, Leviticus goes into great details about the burnt offering, this not the first time the burnt offering was mentioned. In Genesis 8, Noah offered a burnt offering after the flood. In Genesis 22:2, Abraham was instructed by God to offer up his only son as a burnt offering. Burnt offering is also outlined in Exod. 10: 25-26 and Exod. 32:6).