In God’s first Speech in Leviticus, He emphasizes the “burnt sacrifice.” (We often refer to this rite as the “Burnt Offering.”) The verb “to offer” in Hebrew (“qarab”) means “to come near!” This is the whole purpose of the Levitical sacrificial System … coming near to God, fellowshipping with the Lord!

Let’s listen to God instruct Israel … If a man chooses to offer the “burnt sacrifice” to Me! Yes, verse 3 of chapter 1 of Leviticus: “He shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD.

I am so impressed! “Of his own voluntary will!” (Now the “sin offering” is another story altogether! It is NOT voluntary! But compulsory! Because we all sin, of course.)

God wants us to approach Him, to adore and worship Him … because we LOVE Him. Not because He has beaten (coerced) us into such a decision, frame of mind! (Not a command here, the whole burnt offering … just an invitation!)

Wow!

Yes, the worshipper is to bring a little lamb (or a dove if he is poor) or an ox (bullock) if he is wealthy! And then three things will ensue …

The animal will be killed! (Not by the priest, but by the one bringing the sacrifice!) This is a visual picture of the fact that the “wages of sin is death!” Verse 5: “And he shall kill the bullock before the LORD: and the priests, Aaron’s sons.” Oh, the horrible cost of sin! I believe this is a picture of our being saved by Jesus’ Death … of our applying the blood (collected and sprinkled by the Priests) to our lives, our hearts. It is also a Picture of Jesus as Sacrifice … the Price He paid for our salvation!

DEATH!

Then the priests, continuing their holy work … “And the sons of Aaron the priest shall put FIRE upon the altar, and lay the wood in order upon the fire: And the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall lay the parts, the head, and the fat, in order upon the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar.” Leviticus 1:7-8

Next … “And the priest shall burn ALL on the altar, to be a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD.” Verse 9 of Leviticus chapter 1.

This innocent lamb (or dove or ox) gave ALL … to the Lord in worship! It is a picture of total CONSECRATION! Total dedication! This is a potent symbol of a person selling out totally to the Lord! (And where we get the hymn about our being “All on the Altar!”)

First … bloodshed, typifying salvation!

Second … fire, the altar (meat being turned into “smoke,” called a “sweet smell” in the nostrils of Almighty God.) He loves (takes pleasure) in our total yielding to Him!

Then third … (though it is not recorded until Leviticus chapter 3) … the Peace Offering, which illustrates (enacts) our being in harmony, FELLOWSHIP (at peace) with God our Creator and Redeemer!

Wow!

In communion with God (at-one-ment, the very idea behind blood atonement) … the goal of God’s loving Heart from the very beginning!

Bloodshed … Consecration … Fellowship!

That’s forever God’s order of progression!

And these Offerings in Leviticus’ early chapters portray this sequence again and again!

Are YOU saved, washed in the Blood of Jesus?

Are YOU totally ALL on His Altar of sacrifice laid? Consecrated?

And then (consequently) are YOU today living in Harmony/Communion with the Lord Jesus Christ?

The answers (all three) should be YES!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

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