Skip to main content

Leviticus 1:3 - The offering that goes up in smoke

Good morning friends,

An unusual Saturday morning without Men's D.

Here we are in Leviticus.  It has been a long time since our offering was in the shape of an animal.  So we tend to overlook this book.  But the sacrificial system points to Jesus.  So we really do need to learn from ancient writings.

Blessings

Jeff

Offering - qurbān: A masculine noun meaning an offering, a gift. This is the most general term, used eighty times in the Old Testament, for offerings and gifts of all kinds.

Burnt offering -‘ōlâ; feminine active participle of 5927; a step or (collectively, stairs, as ascending); usually a holocaust (as going up in smoke): — ascent, burnt offering (sacrifice), go up to.

In English, we have noun(offering) and adjective (burnt).  But Hebrew has a word for offering and another for burnt offering. A visual term.  An offering that goes up in smoke.  

The only permissible place to make this sacrifice is the door of the tent of meeting.  It time, effort and preparation to do this the way God commands.  If there were 100,000 family units and 1% wanted to sacrifice each day, that would be 1000 animals.  And the tribes were spread out.  So the family out on the edge of the camp would have a bit of a walk just to get to the tabernacle.  Then there was going to the place where the pillar of fire and smoke was, getting close to God's presence. 

In this offering everything is burnt.  There is no tangible benefit for making this offering.  

God is giving the positive requirements of the first two commandments.  No other gods, no images or likenesses.  Know what not to do, but what is it that I am supposed to do.  

Instruction - Personal preference is not considered in offering.  Only certain animal in certain place in a certain way.  God decides what is acceptable.  I don't have to experiment to see what He wants.

Thanksgiving - The God who reveals what is pleasing and acceptable.  From what You provide for Your people, You graciously accept offerings.

Confession - Not always diligent in considering offering.  I don't have the visual concept of offering going up in smoke.

Petition - Make us aware of Your zeal for Your own worship.  We gather to meet with You, not necessarily with others.  We can rejoice in seeing the offering of others going up in smoke.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Revelation 22:3-5 Final and eternal restoration - Day 365

Dear saints in the Lord, Congratulations!  You made it.  We have been through much turmoil in the last year ('20-'21).  But God is faithful to His promises.  I trust that you have been blessed in your reading and have drawn closer to God.   Since we didn't get the blog up and running at the beginning of the challenge, I am going to go back and post entries to cover that first month or so.   Blessings, Jeff Nothing accursed in the city of God, the new Jerusalem.  The presence of sin will be gone.  I am working on memorizing Westminster Shorter Catechism and currently on question 82.  Is any man able perfectly to keep the commandments of God? No mere man since the fall is able in this life perfectly to keep the commandments of God but does daily break them in thought, word and deed. I think our passage today points to the truth of this question.  Do you notice how this answer is not exactly the same as the question. "Any man" bec...
Post a Comment
Read more

Malachi 2:10-12 Here we go again!! Day 363

Good afternoon friends, As we draw to the end of the Old Testament, we see that Judah has rebuilt the temple and the walls of Jerusalem, but they are following in the footsteps of faithless fathers and not in the footsteps of Abraham and ultimately God.  The exile was a low point, but now a new low is about to happen.  The prophetic voice has once again become warning and not encouraging. Faithful reading and preaching of the word is all that keeps us from losing our way.  May we be faithful in our generation. Blessings, Jeff I am sure I have mentioned this before, but it bears repeating.  The section summary, chapter and verse are not in the original language.  They are all rather modern inventions to help us.  For example, the section title here is "Judah profaned the Covenant".  That is OK as far as it goes, but which Covenant?  So let's take a look. Observations Starts with 3 questions but who is asking the questions and to whom are they addre...
Post a Comment
Read more

2 Chronicles 33:7-9 Thoughts on Davidic covenant - Day 362

Good morning faithful readers, The finish line is in sight!!!  One of the themes of scripture is that God is a covenant keeping God.  There are many between God and man. Adam, Noah, David are examples.  Covenants are more than promises.  They are made between a superior and inferior with conditions for each side and blessing and penalties based on keeping the conditions.  These are covenants of works which fallen man was unable to keep.  Thanks be to God that the Father made a covenant of grace with Christ, the second Adam, which he fully kept. Blessings, Jeff The promise in v8 was made to David when he had planned to build the temple and God promised to build him a house forever. (2 Sam 7:10).  Seems like there are only two possibilities about Manasseh's disobedience.  Either he knew of this covenant that God had made with his 13th great grandfather and chose to disregard it, or he didn't know of it and was unaware of the penalty.  Let's con...
Post a Comment
Read more