Leviticus 1:1–6:7: Lessons on faith, grace and worship from Tabernacle offerings

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Many think that the Tabernacle and Temple services were about works that pay for entrance into the Father’s presence and that the regimens of faith — prayer and repentance — made the Tabernacle obsolete. But what the Bible actually teaches about the Tabernacle is quite different from this common view.

God’s presence can’t abide with impurity, and the book of ויקרא Vayiqra/Vayikra (Leviticus) shows us God’s prescription to make us pure and ready to live in His presence. The animal and grain קרבנות qorbanot (offerings/sacrifices) described in the Torah reading  Vayiqra (“and He called,” Leviticus 1:1-6:7) were symbolic of the supplicant’s desire to abide with God.

How can one enter God’s presence and not die? By sending an animal or grain surrogate to die and be consumed and raised up to the heavens in the supplicant’s place.

Judaism went through a profound change of direction when the Temple was destroyed. How does one deal with sin without regular animal sacrifices?

In Judaism, everyone has good things they have done and bad things we have done. In Judaism, we have both a good inclination and a bad inclination. As long as the good outweighs the bad, we can reach to heaven, or so they say. Some Jews also believe in reincarnation as a vehicle for people to have multiple chances to pile up enough good deeds to be able to stay in heaven. Every sect has their own views of what is good and moral and most of those views aren’t aligned with Torah.

The Tabernacle was in operation for just a little over 400 years and Solomon’s tabernacle was in operation for about 400 years or so as well but there were also periods of apostasy when the tabernacle and the Temple were not very busy.

Why was the sin of the priest and the sin of the entire community the same offering? The priest is a representative of the entire community. When the priest sins, the entire community suffers. A priest who is living in unrepentant sin can’t cover anyone else’s sin until he deals with his own. If the priest hasn’t taken the plank out of his own eye, he is not in a right position to deal with the splinters in the community.

That’s what’s significant about Yeshua the Mashiakh being a high priest Who doesn’t have to bring a sin offering for Himself, according to Hebrews 9:

“For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a [mere] copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood that is not his own. 26 Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.” (Hebrews 9:24–26 NASB)

The king and the elders are in a similar position. If they sin, their sin affects those under them. Corruption flows from the top down. If the top is corrupt, that corruption will flow down.

Most of the offerings made in the Temple were grain offerings, not animal offerings, since most people were poor and rarely would have had enough means to afford an animal sacrifice.

The O’lah offering is an animal offering and it can be offered by anyone, it’s a freewill offering and burned up completely. It is an atonement offering, not a sin offering. It’s an offering from your body, symbolically. When you lay your hands on an animal for sacrifice, you have transferred a part of yourself to the animal so when the animal dies, in a sense, you die as well. The one who brought the animal had to kill it himself. The priest is the one who collects the blood (or life) of the animal and presents it to God. The animal is burned up. It’s a way to connect and come near to God. You can’t physically give God a “thank you” hug, but an atonement sacrifice, is the closest they could get. The more work you put into something, the more you love it, so if you gave it to God, it would be a very meaningful offering.

The Minchah offering is a grain offering and it can be offered by anyone, it’s freewill and partly burned and partly eaten by the priest. It is always unleavened, a symbol of humility and purity. It’s an offering from your soul.

The key to making a proper o’lah or minchah offering is to give the best you have, the best you can afford.

The Shalamim offering is a peace or a feast offering. They are offerings that everyone shares, not just the priests. Most of the festival meals are feast or peace offerings. It’s an offering from your soul.

If you have ever felt shame or been ashamed, that is an experience of your soul, not your body. When you are hungry, that is an experience of your physical body. When you are convicted of sin, that is an experience of your soul.

When people say that Christians and Jews don’t follow these offerings, that is not true. We don’t kill animals but that doesn’t mean we don’t make offerings to God.

Ever offering is given with salt, without exception. What does it mean?

“ ‘Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe to stumble, it would be better for him if, with a heavy millstone hung around his neck, he had been cast into the sea. “If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire, [where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.] If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame, than, having your two feet, to be cast into hell, [where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.] If your eye causes you to stumble, throw it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into hell, where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED. For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good; but if the salt becomes unsalty, with what will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.’” (Mark 9:42–50 NASB)

Everyone is tested and measured, every offering is measured and tested. What is it measured against? Your covenant with God.

“‘Every grain offering of yours, moreover, you shall season with salt, so that the salt of the covenant of your God shall not be lacking from your grain offering; with all your offerings you shall offer salt.” (Leviticus 2:13 NASB)

All of us will be tested with fire, and salt preserves, seasons and consumes. Are you over-seasoned, under-seasoned or just right. When God puts us to the test, we will find out which category we fit.

“Do not be carried away by varied and strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, through which those who were so occupied were not benefited. We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside the camp. Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate. So, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach. For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come. Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name. And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.” (Hebrews 13:9–16 NASB)

The offering for the high priest and for the community at large were burned outside the camp. Yeshua, the High Priest, was sacrificed outside the city. He was sacrificed because of our sins. Our offering, in response to this offering, is the “praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips.”

The author of Hebrews is referring to this passage from Hosea:

“Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, For you have stumbled because of your iniquity. Take words with you and return to the LORD. Say to Him, ‘Take away all iniquity And receive us graciously, That we may present the fruit of our lips.’” (Hosea 14:1–2 NASB)

The phrase “fruit of our lips” in the Hebrew literally means “the bull of our lips.” It isn’t what goes into the mouth that is the offering, but what comes out of the mouth. What comes out of the mouth is what represents you.

Whether you are a Christian or a Jew, whenever you praise God, you make an offering to Him. There’s no blood, no altar but we pour out our words to Him in offering. All of us are still making offerings, but they are offerings of praise, not of animals.

Summary: Tammy

Banner Photo: Our prayers, whether they are given at the Temple or at home, these are the sacrifices God desires. (Photo obtained via Creative Commons License. Photogapher M Nota/Freeimages.com) 

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