The Significance of the Old Testament Offerings

The third book of Moses is called Leviticus. It means, “matters of the Levites” The title and meaning come from the Latin Vulgate version of the Greek OT (LXX or Septuagint which means seventy). The Levites were the priestly tribe of the twelve tribes (or sons) of Israel. The Levites are the descendants of their ancestor Levi who was the third son born to Jacob with his wife Leah (Genesis 29:34b).

Moses and his brother Aaron the High Priest were from the tribe of Levi or the Levites.

Now, what was the purpose of the OT offerings? What did they signify? The short answer is the OT offerings were a foreshadowing that prefigured the once and for all sacrifice of Jesus Christ dying on 

Calvary’s cross for mankind’s sins.

The sacrifice was accompanied with great ceremony and had to be executed the right way for God to accept it.

Let us take a look at a couple.

The Burnt Offering

Now the Lord called to Moses, and spoke to him from the tabernacle of meeting saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘When any one of you brings an offering to the Lord, you shall bring your offering of the livestock of the herd and of the flock. If his offering is a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish (italics added for emphasis), he shall offer it of his own free will at the door of the tabernacle of meeting before the Lord. Then he shall put his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him. He shall kill the bull before the Lord; and the priests, Aaron’s sons shall bring the blood and sprinkle the blood all around the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of meeting. And he shall skin the burnt offering and cut it into pieces. The sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire on the altar and lay the wood in order on the fire. Then the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall lay the parts, the head, and the fat in order on the wood that is on the fire upon the altar, but he shall wash its entrails and its legs with water. And the priest shall burn all on the altar as a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the Lord” (Leviticus 1:1-9).

The Sin Offering

Now the Lord spoke to Moses saying, “Speak to the children of Israel saying, ‘If a person sins unintentionally against any of the commandments of the Lord in anything which ought not be done, and does any of them, if the anointed priest sins, bringing guilt on the people, then let him offer to the Lord for his sin which he has sinned a young bull without blemish (italics added for emphasis) as a sin offering. He shall bring the bull to the door of the tabernacle of meeting before the Lord, lay his hand on the bull’s head, and kill the bull before the Lord.

Then the anointed priest shall take some of the bull’s blood and bring it to the tabernacle of meeting. The priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of the blood seven times before the Lord, in front of the veil of the sanctuary. And the priest shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of sweet incense before the Lord, which is in the tabernacle of meeting; and she shall pour the remaining blood of the bull at the base of the altar of the burnt offering which is at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. He shall take from it all the fat of the bull as the sin offering. The fat that covers the entrails, the two kidneys and the fat that is on them by the flanks, and the fatty lobe attached to the liver above the kidneys, he shall remove, as it was taken from the bull of the sacrifice of the peace offering; and the priest shall burn them on the altar of the burnt offering.

But the bull’s hide and all its flesh, with its head and legs, its entrails and offal – the whole bull he shall carry outside the camp to a clean place where the ashes are poured out, and burn it on wood with fire; where the ashes are poured out it shall be burned (Leviticus 4: 1-12).[1]

Commentary

As we read, OT sacrifices involved the brutal killing of an innocent animal in place of the person offering it. Depending upon the sacrifice, the High Priest would sprinkle the blood of a bull seven times[2] on the altar of incense before the veil in the holy place if he was making atonement for himself and the people for sinning in ignorance, or if it was burnt offering, a bull or lamb, a male would be sacrificed with the blood being sprinkled all around the bronze altar used for sacrifice.

When one placed his hands on the head of the animal being sacrificed, it was symbolic of the sinner transferring his sins to that animal. As a result, the animal was killed instead of the person. Blood would always have to be shed. Why? Because blood atones for the soul (Leviticus 17:11).

This act of worship would be acceptable to God and the person would be forgiven (Leviticus 1:4).

Keep in mind certain sacrifices were compulsory or obligatory (i.e. the trespass and sin offering. The burnt, peace, and grain offering were freewill offerings).

The sacrifices were also a demonstration of the nation’s faith in their God to forgive them when they obeyed.

God used the most graphic illustration possible; the slaughter of countless innocent (would to have been in the millions over nearly fifteen hundred years) animals to die and shed its blood for the guilty.

Sin always kills.

Why did the Israelites have to offer sacrifices every day for centuries? What was the purpose of brutalizing, and killing so many animals?

The perpetual daily sacrifices were a constant reminder of the nation’s sinfulness, and as a result they needed perpetual forgiveness from God; the one who they kept offending with their sins. When could they stop offering these brutal sacrifices?

When Jesus Christ came and offered up Himself for the sins of the world. Once He died, the OT sacrificial system became obsolete.

In Hebrews we read some revelatory passages regarding the OT sacrificial system vs the sacrifice (singular) of Christ.

Who does not need daily, as those high priests to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself (Hebrews 7:27).

For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins (Hebrews 10:4).

In the OT sins were atoned for; meaning sin was covered with the shedding of an animal’s blood. The blood was the purifying agent.

With the sacrifice of Jesus’ shed blood, sin is removed forever, washed away when one repents and believes (Revelation 1:5).

That means sin is gone from a judicial, legal standpoint as far as God is concerned. Jesus took away our sin debt and placed it on Himself so we would not have to suffer its penalty – eternal death (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Hopefully, the reader sees the significance of the OT sacrificial system. It foreshadowed Christ’s perfect sacrifice for our sins. It was never meant to take away sins; only to drive those who practiced it to the cross, but no further. The OT law was holy and good in that it revealed to man his inability to keep all the commands it contained; reminding him of his sinfulness, and his desperate need for a deliverer – namely a perfect, spotless sin-bearer (Hebrews 7:26; 9:14).

“He will not always strive with us; Nor will he keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. As far as the heavens are high above the earth, so His great mercy toward those who fear Him; As far as the east is from the west, so far He has removed our transgressions from us. As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear Him.

For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.”

                                                                            Psalm 103: 9-14

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[1] The removal of the dead animal outside the camp of Israel was symbolic of removing sin from their midst since the animal was a sin sacrifice. The law of the sin offering prohibited consumption of the animal if any of its blood was sprinkled on the altar of incense in the tabernacle of meeting before the veil in the holy place. The entire animal had to be burned (Lev 4:13-21). If the animal’s blood was sprinkled on and poured at the base of the altar of burnt offering before the door of the tabernacle (not inside it), then a portion of it could be eaten by the priests for it is holy (Lev 6:24-30).

[2] The number seven in scripture represents perfection or completion depending

upon the context.