Leviticus 1-7 (part 2)

REVIEW
Last time we learned that the sin and guilt offerings served as a type of checkpoint to make certain that the tabernacle and the people were ready and prepared for worship. Contamination was removed from the tabernacle by sprinkling the blood of the SIN offering on the furniture of the tabernacle. Likewise the SIN offering removed uncleanness from the people (although blood was not sprinkled on them BUT see Numbers 19 and the instructions for creating the water of purification). The GUILT offering on the other hand assured that people were truly repentant and desired to turn away from their sin. This was accomplished not only through the offering itself but also through the requirement that restitution be made (that is, damages be paid) for the harm caused to a person. Once everything was cleansed and true repentance was demonstrated, the worshipper was reconsecrated (that is, set apart for God's use) and allowed access to the three CORE sacrifices: the  burnt, grain, and sin offerings.

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Try to picture in your mind what a dysfunctional relationship might look like. Got it in your head? Personally, I picture a couple that is always screaming at each other in public because neither of them thinks they are ever wrong. I think of a guy who starts obsessively dating a girl and then puts his other friends on hold and doesn't make any time for them. Or a friend who will only hang out with you when he doesn't have anything better to do. To me these are relationships on a crash course to destruction. But this is not the type of relationship God wants to have with us. In fact, He shows us what a healthy and vibrant relationship with Him looks like through the three CORE sacrifices in Leviticus 1-7.

Before we go any further, though, we need to ask ourselves this question: Why were animals even sacrificed in the Old Testament? After all, at face value it seems like a sick and twisted practice. But if we understand how covenants were made in the Old Testament, we might not be so judgmental. First, we need to understand that a covenant is a formal relationship between two people that is held together by promises and obligations. And so, for instance, a covenant might exist between a farmer and a landowner. The farmer promises to pay for the land and the landowner promises the farmer use of the land. It's that simple!

But in the ancient world, people took covenants very seriously. We see this in the way they were formalized. No simple handshakes or signatures on the dotted line. NOPE. Instead, the two parties would slice animals down the middle, place each part across from each other, and then walk between the two halves (Jeremiah 34:18). This communicated to each party that if they failed to keep the promises and obligations of the covenant they would face the same fate as the dead animals. And so people didn't "make" covenants, they literally "cut" (hb. karat) them. After the covenant was "cut", the two parties would usually share a meal together to celebrate the formation of their relationship.

So how does this apply to our covenant relationship with God? Well, God created us and therefore expects us to function by His design (Genesis 1-2). In this way, we have made an implicit covenant with God. But when we rebel against God's creation design, we break our covenant relationship with Him and the consequence is...death (Genesis 3). But God deeply desires a relationship with us. This is why He setup the sacrificial system in Leviticus 1-7. The sacrificial system allows an animal to die in our place and (vicariously) pay for our death penalty. Theologians call this a substitutionary atonement. I hope in all of this that you can see that 'relationship' stands at the center of animal sacrifice.

THE CORE SACRIFICES (RELATIONSHIP OFFERINGS)
In fact, the three CORE offerings of Leviticus 1-7 paint the picture of a covenant meal being prepared so that friends can hangout and spend some quality time together (Exodus 29:38-41; 32:6). In this way, the three CORE sacrifices show us the kind of relationship God desires to have with us. God wants to nurture a healthy, life-giving relationship with us. Here's how...

The Burnt Offering (Remission)
One key ingredient to any healthy relationship is forgiveness. When people refuse to forgive someone, they are in essence closing the door to that relationship. The burnt offering was God's way of saying, "I want to forgive you because I don't want the door to our friendship to be closed."

To make a burnt offering, a person would bring the prescribed animal to the alter based on what he or she could afford (a bull, sheep, goat, dove, or pigeon). Now this animal had to be of utmost value to the person offering the sacrifice. This is why the animal had to be from the herd or flock (It had to come from a person's own possessions), it had to be without blemish (You couldn't sacrifice something you were looking to get rid of anyway), and it had to be a male (A male was simply more expensive than a female.) The worshipper would then lay his hand on the head of the animal (to identify himself with the animal) and then kill the animal. Finally, the priest would burn the entire animal on the alter (except for the animal's skin). In this way, the burnt offering pleased God (Lev. 1:13, 17).

Neither the priest nor the worshipper were allowed to eat any of the meat from the sacrifice because the burnt offering provided God's portion of meat for the covenant meal. Also, because the primary significance of the burnt offering was that the animal was paying the death penalty on behalf of the worshipper who had broken his or her covenant relationship with God, the worshipper was not allowed to benefit from his own sin by eating the sacrifice.

The Grain Offering (Recommitment)
A second key ingredient to a healthy relationship is commitment. After all, commitment breeds both trust and longevity. And so the grain offering was God's way of saying, "I don't want one of those one-sided, flimsy relationships with you. I want a relationship that will last where we both bring solid commitment to the table."

At the most basic level, the grain offering provided the bread for the covenant meal. But that's not all. Notice that salt was an important element added to the grain offering (Lev. 2:13). Salt was used as a preservative for meat in the ancient world (because refrigerators didn't exist). And so salt was often included in a covenant meal to symbolically indicate the steadfast commitment of a relationship. This is why Leviticus calls the salt that is added to the grain offering, "the salt of the covenant." And so, the grain offering symbolically demonstrated the commitment of both parties to the covenant relationship. And if a person had broken her covenant with God, the grain offering was the way to recommit herself to God after she had offered the burnt offering.

The Fellowship Offering (Relational Time)
A third key ingredient to a healthy relationship is spending quality time together. If you don't spend any time together with a friend then technically you don't have a relationship. The fellowship (or the peace) offering was God's way of saying, "Now that we've restored our relationship with each other I want to spend some quality time with you and create some lasting memories."

The fellowship offering provided the worshipper's portion of meat for the covenant meal. This is the only offering where the worshipper was allowed to eat the meat of the sacrifice (Lev. 7:15). The reason for this is simple. The worshipper had restored his relationship with God and now he was allowed to eat with God and celebrate this relationship.

To capture the entire significance of this offering, it is vital to understand the importance of table fellowship (that is, sharing a meal with someone) in the ancient world. Sharing a meal with another person made a social statement that directly impacted the reputations of both parties. As some have put it, "To share a meal was to share a life." And so you only ate with people with whom you wanted to be identified. By allowing the worshipper to eat with Him, God is expressing His desire to be identified with the worshipper (and vice versa). But table fellowship can only happen if the relationship has been restored. This is why the fellowship offering is always offered after the burnt and grain offerings (at least, on occasions when the burnt and grain offerings are required because of covenant failure).

THE BOTTOM LINE
Many people think that God is all rules and no grace in the Old Testament. But as we can see in Leviticus 1-7, while God desires for us to live by His rules, He setup a system where the Israelites could experience His forgiveness and grace when they made mistakes. The sacrificial system demonstrates to us that God truly desires to have a healthy relationship with us that is grounded in forgiveness, commitment, and time spent together. May these define your relationship with God!

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION
Think about your relationship with God. Are there sins in your life that are hurting your connection to God?

What words would you use to describe your commitment to God?

Based on how God has wired you, what might spending time with God look like for you?