Day 30: Leviticus 1-3

(Leviticus was the third of five books written by Moses that made up the first section of the Old Testament known as the Torah. This third book of the Old Testament documented some of God's procedures necessary to carry out the Law presented in the Book of Exodus. This book was called "Leviticus" because God began with the leaders, the levitical priests.)

(Chapters 1-3 covered voluntary offerings concerned with offenses towards God.)

Leviticus 1
¹ And Jehovah called unto Moses, and spake unto him out of the tent of meeting, saying,

(Verse 1 began the entire book by saying, God called to Moses out of the tent of meeting. A "wild" God had been speaking to Moses from a "wild" setting. Now, God spoke to Moses in fellowship while living among the people. This book showed how God wanted to bring people into fellowship with Him through a covenant. This book was directed towards the priesthood. It could be seen as the job description for the Levites.)

² Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When any man of you offereth an oblation unto Jehovah, ye shall offer your oblation of the cattle, even of the herd and of the flock.

(Verses 3-17: the procedure for the burnt-offering.)

³ If his oblation be a burnt-offering of the herd, he shall offer it a male without blemish: he shall offer it at the door of the tent of meeting, that he may be accepted before Jehovah.

(A male without blemish offered of his own voluntary will.)

⁴ And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the burnt-offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.

(Laying his hand upon the animal represented the transference of guilt.)

(Verses 5-9: the procedure for offering a bull as a burnt-offering.)

⁵ And he shall kill the bullock before Jehovah: and Aaron's sons, the priests, shall present the blood, and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that is at the door of the tent of meeting.
⁶ And he shall flay the burnt-offering, and cut it into its pieces.
⁷ And the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire upon the altar, and lay wood in order upon the fire;
⁸ and Aaron's sons, the priests, shall lay the pieces, the head, and the fat, in order upon the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar:
⁹ but its inwards and its legs shall he wash with water: and the priest shall burn the whole on the altar, for a burnt-offering, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto Jehovah.

(God told Moses these details for how to offer an animal from the herd: male, with both hands on it to signify atonement, burned completely.)

(Verses 10-13: the procedure for offering a sheep or a goat as a burnt-offering.)

¹⁰ And if his oblation be of the flock, of the sheep, or of the goats, for a burnt-offering; he shall offer it a male without blemish.
¹¹ And he shall kill it on the side of the altar northward before Jehovah: and Aaron's sons, the priests, shall sprinkle its blood upon the altar round about.
¹² And he shall cut it into its pieces, with its head and its fat; and the priest shall lay them in order on the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar:
¹³ but the inwards and the legs shall he wash with water; and the priest shall offer the whole, and burn it upon the altar: it is a burnt-offering, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto Jehovah.

(God told Moses these details for how to offer an animal from the flock: male, north side of altar, burned completely.)

(Verses 14-17: the procedure for offering a bird as a burnt-offering.)

¹⁴ And if his oblation to Jehovah be a burnt-offering of birds, then he shall offer his oblation of turtle-doves, or of young pigeons.
¹⁵ And the priest shall bring it unto the altar, and wring off its head, and burn it on the altar; and the blood thereof shall be drained out on the side of the altar;
¹⁶ and he shall take away its crop with the filth thereof, and cast it beside the altar on the east part, in the place of the ashes:
¹⁷ and he shall rend it by the wings thereof, but shall not divide it asunder; and the priest shall burn it upon the altar, upon the wood that is upon the fire: it is a burnt-offering, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto Jehovah.

(God told Moses these details for how to offer birds: turtledoves or young pigeons, feathers to east side of altar, not cut in two, burned completely.)

(Each of these offerings gave a "sweet savor" to God, which appeased His anger. God alone received these offerings.)




Leviticus 2

(Verses 1-10: the procedure for the meal-offering, also known as grain-offering.)

(Verses 1-3: the presentation of the meal-offering.)

¹ And when any one offereth an oblation of a meal-offering unto Jehovah, his oblation shall be of fine flour; and he shall pour oil upon it, and put frankincense thereon:
² and he shall bring it to Aaron's sons the priests; and he shall take thereout his handful of the fine flour thereof, and of the oil thereof, with all the frankincense thereof; and the priest shall burn it as the memorial thereof upon the altar, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto Jehovah:
³ and that which is left of the meal-offering shall be Aaron's and his sons': it is a thing most holy of the offerings of Jehovah made by fire.

(God explained the details for how to offer grain/meal: fine flour, frankincense, burn a portion, rest goes to priests.)

(Verses 4-10: Different types of meal-offering.)

⁴ And when thou offerest an oblation of a meal-offering baken in the oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil.
⁵ And if thy oblation be a meal-offering of the baking-pan, it shall be of fine flour unleavened, mingled with oil.
⁶ Thou shalt part it in pieces, and pour oil thereon: it is a meal-offering.
⁷ And if thy oblation be a meal-offering of the frying-pan, it shall be made of fine flour with oil.
⁸ And thou shalt bring the meal-offering that is made of these things unto Jehovah: and it shall be presented unto the priest, and he shall bring it unto the altar.
⁹ And the priest shall take up from the meal-offering the memorial thereof, and shall burn it upon the altar, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto Jehovah.
¹⁰ And that which is left of the meal-offering shall be Aaron's and his sons': it is a thing most holy of the offerings of Jehovah made by fire.

(Moses was told details for how to offer grain/meal baked in an oven: unleavened, brought to the bronze altar, portion burned.)

(Verses 11-16: Special instructions regarding the meal-offering.)

¹¹ No meal-offering, which ye shall offer unto Jehovah, shall be made with leaven; for ye shall burn no leaven, nor any honey, as an offering made by fire unto Jehovah.

(No meal-offering brought to the Lord was to be made with leaven. They were not to burn leaven or honey. Leaven symbolized sin. Honey symbolized prosperity. Honey is the only food that has no expiration date.)

¹² As an oblation of first-fruits ye shall offer them unto Jehovah: but they shall not come up for a sweet savor on the altar.

(First-fruits were to be offered. However, the procedure was different in that thy would not be burned on the altar.)

¹³ And every oblation of thy meal-offering shalt thou season with salt; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meal-offering: with all thine oblations thou shalt offer salt.
¹⁴ And if thou offer a meal-offering of first-fruits unto Jehovah, thou shalt offer for the meal-offering of thy first-fruits grain in the ear parched with fire, bruised grain of the fresh ear.

(More detail was given on how to offer grain/meal offerings: seasoned with salt, grain, oil, frankincense. Every oblation (offering) should be seasoned with salt. The salt served as a preservative.)

¹⁵ And thou shalt put oil upon it, and lay frankincense thereon: it is a meal-offering.
¹⁶ And the priest shall burn the memorial of it, part of the bruised grain thereof, and part of the oil thereof, with all the frankincense thereof: it is an offering made by fire unto Jehovah.

(Each of these offerings gave a "sweet savor" to God, which made Him happy, except for the offering in verse 12. It appeared these offerings also went to the priests.)




Leviticus 3

(This chapter covered the peace-offerings.)

(Verses 1-5: Offering a bull or a cow as a peace-offering.)

¹ And if his oblation be a sacrifice of peace-offerings; if he offer of the herd, whether male or female, he shall offer it without blemish before Jehovah.
² And he shall lay his hand upon the head of his oblation, and kill it at the door of the tent of meeting: and Aaron's sons the priests shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about.
³ And he shall offer of the sacrifice of peace-offerings an offering made by fire unto Jehovah; the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards,
⁴ and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the loins, and the caul upon the liver, with the kidneys, shall he take away.
⁵ And Aaron's sons shall burn it on the altar upon the burnt-offering, which is upon the wood that is on the fire: it is an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto Jehovah.

(The details for a peace-offering from the herd: male or female, with both hands, at the door of the tent of meeting, burned completely.)

(Verses 6-11: Offering a sheep as a peace-offering.)

⁶ And if his oblation for a sacrifice of peace-offerings unto Jehovah be of the flock; male or female, he shall offer it without blemish.
⁷ If he offer a lamb for his oblation, then shall he offer it before Jehovah;
⁸ and he shall lay his hand upon the head of his oblation, and kill it before the tent of meeting: and Aaron's sons shall sprinkle the blood thereof upon the altar round about.
⁹ And he shall offer of the sacrifice of peace-offerings an offering made by fire unto Jehovah; the fat thereof, the fat tail entire, he shall take away hard by the backbone; and the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards,
¹⁰ and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, which is by the loins, and the caul upon the liver, with the kidneys, shall he take away.
¹¹ And the priest shall burn it upon the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire unto Jehovah.

(The details for a peace-offering that was a lamb: male or female, with both hands, before the tent of meeting, food offering to the Lord.)

(Verses 12-16: Offering a goat as a peace-offering.)

¹² And if his oblation be a goat, then he shall offer it before Jehovah:
¹³ and he shall lay his hand upon the head of it, and kill it before the tent of meeting; and the sons of Aaron shall sprinkle the blood thereof upon the altar round about.
¹⁴ And he shall offer thereof his oblation, even an offering made by fire unto Jehovah; the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards,
¹⁵ and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, which is by the loins, and the caul upon the liver, with the kidneys, shall he take away.
¹⁶ And the priest shall burn them upon the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire, for a sweet savor; all the fat is Jehovah's.

(The details for a peace-offering that was a goat: this did not specify male or female, with both hands, before the tent of meeting, burned on the altar as food, all the fat was the Lord's.)

¹⁷ It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings, that ye shall eat neither fat nor blood.

(They were told to eat neither fat nor blood. The herd and goat offering were said to give a "sweet savor." It did not say this about the lamb offering.)

(This series of offerings were also known as "fellowship offerings." This offering was not to make peace with God, it was to enjoy peace with God, which is fellowship. Some people believe the person who brought the offering and the priests ate of everything except the blood and fat, they had fellowship.)

(This post covered voluntary Offerings concerned with offenses towards God. The progression went from atoning for sins (Leviticus 1: God alone), recognizing what God had given (Leviticus 2: God and priests), sharing with God (Leviticus 3: God, priests, giver). Salvation, Reward, eternal life: The Gospel.)

Day 31