A couple of years ago, I listened to a series of four teachings by Dan Lancaster (from the organization First Fruits of Zion, FFOZ) entitled, "What About the Sacrifices?" It is a deep dive into the sacrificial system from Leviticus, looking at all of the various elements of it, and attempting to help us 21st century folks understand it better. I would bet that most of us, myself included, have heard very little about the sacrificial system from our pulpits, and that our understanding of it is shallow at best. About a year ago, I came across a book entitled "Jesus and the Forces of Death" and again, it dealt heavily with the sacrificial system, with an emphasis on the ancient Israelite understandings of clean/unclean and pure/impure. Very recently I have found myself in conversations about this topic again and so as I am prone to do, I want to write out what I've learned so that I am clear in my own mind about the details of the system as well as the importance I feel there is in understanding the sacrificial system as a modern Gentile.
First - there are a few different types of sacrifices:
- The 'Old Offerings' - 'Old' here is meant to denote those offerings which were happening before the construction of the tabernacle/temple. These offerings were typically made at individual altars (for example Exodus 20:22-24) prior to the building of the tabernacle/temple:
- Burnt Offering (Korban Olah) - this is a voluntary (typically) sacrifice brought on the part of the worshipper who wishes to show complete devotion to God; it could also be an appeal for forgiveness or favor; it is the equivalent of presenting a gift to God. No part of the animal was reserved for consumption as in other sacrifices.
- Grain Offering - this is sometimes referred to as the 'cereal' offering or even the 'meat' offering, even though meat doesn't mean the same thing as we mean it today, it just referred to the 'meat' of the grain, which was the best part. This is a remembrance offering, or a memorial offering if you will. It is to remember the covenant made at Mount Sinai between God and Israel. Some of it was to be dedicated to God, but some of it is to be consumed by the worshipper, and some part of it was to be for the priests. It is a ceremonial meal offering of sorts, a literal communion with God. Read about all of the stipulations in Leviticus 2.
