The Five Offerings in the Book of Leviticus
| In loving memory of my father Robert Louis (Bob) Padgett July 28, 1931-May 22, 2023 |
The Book of Leviticus is the book of worship, just as the Book of Exodus is the book of redemption. The first seven chapters of Leviticus describe in great detail the construction and use of the five major Jewish offerings ... the burnt offering, meal offering, peace offering, sin offering, and trespass offering in that order. Under the Old Covenant, between God and man, the construction and use of those offerings were to be strictly followed in the natural realm. Under the New Covenant, between the Father and the Son, they no longer exist in the natural realm, but they are very important in the realm of the Spirit. The five offerings speak prophetically of their spiritual counterpart for the Church, the Body of Christ, not for unregenerated man and not for the orthodox Jew. Perhaps we should add here that there is no such thing as Judeo-Christianity, which speaks of a mixture. The five offerings have very little relationship if any, to what Christians today call tithes and offerings. Please keep in mind that all of the offerings speak about worship, which we defined, from Genesis 22, as the voluntary, unquestioned obedience to the rhema word of the Lord through the Holy Spirit.
All the offerings were what God had first given to man; only such can be accepted by Him. Deep calleth unto deep (Psalm 42:7). To be more specific, natural man can never worship God in a manner pleasing to Him. It is only the Christ within us that can truly worship God.
Christ fulfilled all of the offerings; Christ IS the fulfilment of all of the offerings. The Holy Spirit is not once named in Leviticus, though referred to in all the other books of the Pentateuch, because all here relates to Christ; and it is the Spirit's work to glorify Christ.
Leviticus 1 speaks of the burnt offering; Leviticus 2 details the meal offering; Leviticus 3 describes the peace offering; Leviticus 4-5 sets forth the sin offering; and Leviticus 6-7 speaks of the trespass offering. Man begins with the sin offering and hopefully ends with the burnt offering. The word of God in Leviticus begins with the burnt offering and ends with the sin offering. Why? because, as we will see shortly, the Lord is first of all looking for our total and complete, all-consuming commitment and devotion to Him.
The sin offering was a mandatory atonement for specific unintentional sin, confession of sin, forgiveness of sin, and cleansing from defilement. The sin offering is prophetic of the finished work of Christ at Calvary, and is thus associated with salvation. In addition, it represents an offering if we sin after we are born again, where we define sin as disobedience to God.
The trespass offering was a mandatory atonement for unintentional sin requiring restitution plus a 20% fine; for example, if a man accidentally killed another man's cow or sheep.
The burnt offering, meal offering, and peace offering were voluntary, sweet smelling offerings, not because of sin. The burnt offering is the oldest offering mentioned in the Bible. It was also the first and therefore the most important of the five major offerings under the Mosaic Law. The burnt offering was voluntary and was completely consumed. It was to be offered twice every day, continually (Exodus 29:42-43) and offered only to the Lord (Judges 13:16). The burnt offering speaks of a voluntary act of worship ... an expression of devotion, commitment, and complete surrender to God.
The burnt offering required a male animal because Christ was/is the only One who could fulfill the burnt offering, which was the only offering where the sacrifice was totally consumed by fire. The burnt offering and an altar are first mentioned in Genesis 8:20, when Noah offered burnt offerings on the altar, after the flood was over and he came out of the ark. That was long before the law was given to Moses. How did Noah know to do that? There is no indication that he was taught that by another man. The Lord must have told him.
The Hebrew word for burnt offering is olah, which means to cause to ascend, as the flame and smoke ascend by burning, symbolizing worship and prayer as its aroma ascended to the Lord. The Greek word is holocausts, which conveys the meaning of being wholly burnt.
The peace offering is described in detail in Leviticus 3. The peace offering was a voluntary act of worship consisting of thanksgiving and fellowship and included a communal meal. Two basic ideas are included in the peace offering: peace and fellowship. This offering symbolizes peace between God and man as well as the inward peace that results. The peace offering was the only sacrifice of which the offerer might eat a part. Fellowship was involved because the offerer, on the basis of the sacrifice, had fellowship with God and with the priest, who also ate part of the offering. The peace offering represents communion, fellowship or peace between the Lord and His people when the people live in conformity with their covenant obligations. Note that the peace offering is described after the burnt offering and the meal offering. That implies that we cannot have true fellowship or peace with God until we have voluntarily become a burnt offering and a meal offering. 400 different verses in Scripture speak of peace, such as the following:
Romans 14:17 seems to particularly relate to the three voluntary offerings: the burnt offering, meal offering, and peace offering. Salvation is free, but to enter into the kingdom of God costs us our self life, which we must voluntarily offer to the Lord.
The meal offering speaks of Christ in His human perfection, purity, tested through suffering. It also speaks of the body of Christ walking in a pure anointed life. Although the King James Version of the Bible speaks about a meat offering, there was never any meat in it. It should more accurately be called a meal offering.
Jesus was the first to become both the meal offering and drink offering in that He emptied Himself and poured Himself out. By law, the drink offering was never to be drunk by any man, but poured out unto the Lord. The drink offering speaks of a life of devotion. We (all Christians) are to identify with Jesus in every respect. We are likewise to become a meal offering and a drink offering. That is our reasonable service or worship.
The ingredients in the meal offering, from Leviticus 2:1, were fine flour, oil, and frankincense, seasoned with salt. Leviticus 2:11 says that the meal offering includes no honey (natural sweetener) or leaven (sin). Nothing of the natural man is acceptable to God, and sin cannot remain in the presence of God. The fine flour was made out of grain, particularly corn.
Jesus is the corn of wheat.
Bread corn (sons) is bruised (crushed or pulverized). Verse 29 says it is the working of God.
Leviticus 2:14-16 describes how we are to make the fine flour. First of all the meal offering is made by fire unto the Lord. That fire is no ordinary fire; it is the fire of the Holy Ghost. Further, the offering is unto the Lord. Everything that we say or do must be as unto the Lord.
The starting place to make the fine flour was to take green ears of corn, dried by the fire. I really like to eat fresh corn. Many years ago as we were eating some fresh corn on the cob, I counted the number of rows of corn around the ear and then counted the approximate number of corn kernels on each row. Somewhat to my surprise, a normal ear of corn has 500-600 individual kernels of corn on the ear. All of the individual kernels of corn are unique ... no two are alike, because God never makes a copy of anything!
After drying the ears of corn by fire, the kernels are beaten off (Verse 14) out of full ears (maturity) and placed between two rather large millstones. You can Google millstones and see a picture of what they used to look like. Two grinding stones or mill stones crushed the corn in order to make the fine flour (which speaks of the purity of the life of Christ). The corn is crushed or pulverized between the two mill stones, after which it no longer looks like corn. As long as we are a kernel of corn, we have our own identity. After crushing, we lose our identity in the whole. A mill stone on the earth speaks of our individual circumstances to take out all the coarseness of our natural self-life. The mill stone above represents the sovereignty or working of God. God is the engineer. We are called according to His purpose, not our purpose.
Oil speaks of anointing or the presence of the Holy Spirit. Numerous Scriptures testify to that.
In Verse 40, the place (from the account in Matthew 26) was Gethsemane. Gethsemane literally means the oil press of God; a place for squeezing the oil from olives. It represents inward suffering, which is greater than the outward suffering which Jesus endured on the cross. Please read again Verse 44. That was the beginning of the oil press. I suspect that very few men, if any, have prayed so earnestly that his sweat was like great drops of blood.
Frankincense is an aromatic, gummy, white, milky sap tapped from an incision on the very scraggly but hardy Boswellia tree by slashing the bark and allowing the resins to bleed out and harden. White speaks of purity ... the holiness of God. The hardened resins are called tears. Jesus, and others, wept over Jerusalem. The oil is then obtained by steam distillation of the dry resin. The greatest incisions on any Tree were the nails through the hands and feet of Jesus as He was crucified. The fact that the Boswellia tree is very scraggly reminds us of,
In Matthew 2:11, frankincense, along with gold and myrrh, were among the three gifts to Jesus by the magi from out of the East. Gold speaks of Deity ... the life of Christ; myrrh is a biter herb and speaks of suffering that we all must go through to enter the kingdom of God. Esther was purified for 6 months with bitter herbs followed by 6 months of sweet-smelling herbs.
Frankincense trees are also unusual for their ability to grow in environments so unforgiving that they sometimes grow directly out of solid rock. When we believers build our house on solid rock, we are more hardy and have a more fragrant aroma to the Lord. Frankincense resin is edible and often used in various traditional medicines in Asia for digestion and healthy skin. Frankincense also has been used for hundreds of years in some parts of the world for treating almost every physical ailment known to man. You can Google "frankincense" and get a wealth of information.
Salt, of course, is a preservative. Salt, when applied to most substances, also makes them burn faster. Salt represents character ... the character of God. So salt signifies purty and devotion. The first occurrence of the word, salt, is in Leviticus 2:13.
The drink offering is first mentioned in Genesis 35:9-15. When Jacob poured a drink offering and oil on the stone, it was symbolic of pouring out himself unto the Lord.
In Verse 7, "made Himself of no reputation" can be translated as emptied Himself or poured Himself out. Paul said the same thing.
What does it mean to be a disciple of Christ? First of all it means that we have voluntarily allowed the Holy Spirit to bring us to a place where we have become a burnt offering wherein all of self has been burned out by God, Who is a consuming fire. Then we must become a meal offering and a drink offering, which are the basis (or prerequisites) for revival or restoration. We can see that from Joel, Chapters 1:1- 2:17, all of which is very descriptive of the modern day Church in America. The question is ... who wants to become a meal offering and a drink offering as unto the Lord? In order to do that, we must first become a burnt offering ... totally committed to the Lord. Then we must become a meal offering and a drink offering. Help, Lord!
In our next message we will look at a brief overview of Joel, Chapter 1 to Joel 2:17 to see how these offerings apply to us Christians today.
All the offerings were what God had first given to man; only such can be accepted by Him. Deep calleth unto deep (Psalm 42:7). To be more specific, natural man can never worship God in a manner pleasing to Him. It is only the Christ within us that can truly worship God.
Christ fulfilled all of the offerings; Christ IS the fulfilment of all of the offerings. The Holy Spirit is not once named in Leviticus, though referred to in all the other books of the Pentateuch, because all here relates to Christ; and it is the Spirit's work to glorify Christ.
He shall glorify Me: for He shall receive of Mine, and shall shew it unto you.
John 16:14
Leviticus 1 speaks of the burnt offering; Leviticus 2 details the meal offering; Leviticus 3 describes the peace offering; Leviticus 4-5 sets forth the sin offering; and Leviticus 6-7 speaks of the trespass offering. Man begins with the sin offering and hopefully ends with the burnt offering. The word of God in Leviticus begins with the burnt offering and ends with the sin offering. Why? because, as we will see shortly, the Lord is first of all looking for our total and complete, all-consuming commitment and devotion to Him.
The sin offering was a mandatory atonement for specific unintentional sin, confession of sin, forgiveness of sin, and cleansing from defilement. The sin offering is prophetic of the finished work of Christ at Calvary, and is thus associated with salvation. In addition, it represents an offering if we sin after we are born again, where we define sin as disobedience to God.
The trespass offering was a mandatory atonement for unintentional sin requiring restitution plus a 20% fine; for example, if a man accidentally killed another man's cow or sheep.
The burnt offering, meal offering, and peace offering were voluntary, sweet smelling offerings, not because of sin. The burnt offering is the oldest offering mentioned in the Bible. It was also the first and therefore the most important of the five major offerings under the Mosaic Law. The burnt offering was voluntary and was completely consumed. It was to be offered twice every day, continually (Exodus 29:42-43) and offered only to the Lord (Judges 13:16). The burnt offering speaks of a voluntary act of worship ... an expression of devotion, commitment, and complete surrender to God.
The burnt offering required a male animal because Christ was/is the only One who could fulfill the burnt offering, which was the only offering where the sacrifice was totally consumed by fire. The burnt offering and an altar are first mentioned in Genesis 8:20, when Noah offered burnt offerings on the altar, after the flood was over and he came out of the ark. That was long before the law was given to Moses. How did Noah know to do that? There is no indication that he was taught that by another man. The Lord must have told him.
And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. Genesis 8:20
The Hebrew word for burnt offering is olah, which means to cause to ascend, as the flame and smoke ascend by burning, symbolizing worship and prayer as its aroma ascended to the Lord. The Greek word is holocausts, which conveys the meaning of being wholly burnt.
The peace offering is described in detail in Leviticus 3. The peace offering was a voluntary act of worship consisting of thanksgiving and fellowship and included a communal meal. Two basic ideas are included in the peace offering: peace and fellowship. This offering symbolizes peace between God and man as well as the inward peace that results. The peace offering was the only sacrifice of which the offerer might eat a part. Fellowship was involved because the offerer, on the basis of the sacrifice, had fellowship with God and with the priest, who also ate part of the offering. The peace offering represents communion, fellowship or peace between the Lord and His people when the people live in conformity with their covenant obligations. Note that the peace offering is described after the burnt offering and the meal offering. That implies that we cannot have true fellowship or peace with God until we have voluntarily become a burnt offering and a meal offering. 400 different verses in Scripture speak of peace, such as the following:
For He is our peace, Who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Ephesians 2:14
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusteth in Thee. Isaiah 26:3
The kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. Romans 14:17
Romans 14:17 seems to particularly relate to the three voluntary offerings: the burnt offering, meal offering, and peace offering. Salvation is free, but to enter into the kingdom of God costs us our self life, which we must voluntarily offer to the Lord.
The meal offering speaks of Christ in His human perfection, purity, tested through suffering. It also speaks of the body of Christ walking in a pure anointed life. Although the King James Version of the Bible speaks about a meat offering, there was never any meat in it. It should more accurately be called a meal offering.
Jesus was the first to become both the meal offering and drink offering in that He emptied Himself and poured Himself out. By law, the drink offering was never to be drunk by any man, but poured out unto the Lord. The drink offering speaks of a life of devotion. We (all Christians) are to identify with Jesus in every respect. We are likewise to become a meal offering and a drink offering. That is our reasonable service or worship.
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service [or worship]. Romans 12:1
The ingredients in the meal offering, from Leviticus 2:1, were fine flour, oil, and frankincense, seasoned with salt. Leviticus 2:11 says that the meal offering includes no honey (natural sweetener) or leaven (sin). Nothing of the natural man is acceptable to God, and sin cannot remain in the presence of God. The fine flour was made out of grain, particularly corn.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. John 12:24
Jesus is the corn of wheat.
28 Bread corn is bruised; because he will not ever be threshing it, nor break it with the wheel of his cart, nor bruise it with his horsemen.29 This also cometh forth from the LORD of hosts, Which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working. Isaiah 28:28-29
Bread corn (sons) is bruised (crushed or pulverized). Verse 29 says it is the working of God.
Leviticus 2:14-16 describes how we are to make the fine flour. First of all the meal offering is made by fire unto the Lord. That fire is no ordinary fire; it is the fire of the Holy Ghost. Further, the offering is unto the Lord. Everything that we say or do must be as unto the Lord.
The starting place to make the fine flour was to take green ears of corn, dried by the fire. I really like to eat fresh corn. Many years ago as we were eating some fresh corn on the cob, I counted the number of rows of corn around the ear and then counted the approximate number of corn kernels on each row. Somewhat to my surprise, a normal ear of corn has 500-600 individual kernels of corn on the ear. All of the individual kernels of corn are unique ... no two are alike, because God never makes a copy of anything!
After drying the ears of corn by fire, the kernels are beaten off (Verse 14) out of full ears (maturity) and placed between two rather large millstones. You can Google millstones and see a picture of what they used to look like. Two grinding stones or mill stones crushed the corn in order to make the fine flour (which speaks of the purity of the life of Christ). The corn is crushed or pulverized between the two mill stones, after which it no longer looks like corn. As long as we are a kernel of corn, we have our own identity. After crushing, we lose our identity in the whole. A mill stone on the earth speaks of our individual circumstances to take out all the coarseness of our natural self-life. The mill stone above represents the sovereignty or working of God. God is the engineer. We are called according to His purpose, not our purpose.
Oil speaks of anointing or the presence of the Holy Spirit. Numerous Scriptures testify to that.
39 And He came out, and went, as He was wont, to the mount of Olives; and His disciples also followed Him.40 And when He was at the place, He said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation.41 And He was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled down, and prayed,42 Saying, Father, if Thou be willing, remove this cup from Me: nevertheless not My will, but Thine, be done.43 And there appeared an angel unto Him fom heaven, strengthening Him.44 And being in an agony He prayed more earnestly: and His sweat was as it were great drops of blood, falling down to the ground. Luke 22:39-44
In Verse 40, the place (from the account in Matthew 26) was Gethsemane. Gethsemane literally means the oil press of God; a place for squeezing the oil from olives. It represents inward suffering, which is greater than the outward suffering which Jesus endured on the cross. Please read again Verse 44. That was the beginning of the oil press. I suspect that very few men, if any, have prayed so earnestly that his sweat was like great drops of blood.
Frankincense is an aromatic, gummy, white, milky sap tapped from an incision on the very scraggly but hardy Boswellia tree by slashing the bark and allowing the resins to bleed out and harden. White speaks of purity ... the holiness of God. The hardened resins are called tears. Jesus, and others, wept over Jerusalem. The oil is then obtained by steam distillation of the dry resin. The greatest incisions on any Tree were the nails through the hands and feet of Jesus as He was crucified. The fact that the Boswellia tree is very scraggly reminds us of,
He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. Isaiah 53:2
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In Matthew 2:11, frankincense, along with gold and myrrh, were among the three gifts to Jesus by the magi from out of the East. Gold speaks of Deity ... the life of Christ; myrrh is a biter herb and speaks of suffering that we all must go through to enter the kingdom of God. Esther was purified for 6 months with bitter herbs followed by 6 months of sweet-smelling herbs.
Frankincense trees are also unusual for their ability to grow in environments so unforgiving that they sometimes grow directly out of solid rock. When we believers build our house on solid rock, we are more hardy and have a more fragrant aroma to the Lord. Frankincense resin is edible and often used in various traditional medicines in Asia for digestion and healthy skin. Frankincense also has been used for hundreds of years in some parts of the world for treating almost every physical ailment known to man. You can Google "frankincense" and get a wealth of information.
Salt, of course, is a preservative. Salt, when applied to most substances, also makes them burn faster. Salt represents character ... the character of God. So salt signifies purty and devotion. The first occurrence of the word, salt, is in Leviticus 2:13.
And every oblation of thy meat offering shalt thou season with salt; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat offering: with all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt. Leviticus 2:13
For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt.Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another. Mark 9:49-50Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Matthew 5:13
The drink offering is first mentioned in Genesis 35:9-15. When Jacob poured a drink offering and oil on the stone, it was symbolic of pouring out himself unto the Lord.
Although the drink offering is not one of the five major offerings, it almost always accompanied the meal offering. The drink offering represents a life poured out to God; a life of devotion. The drink offering varied between 1/4 of a hin of wine up to 1/2 of a hin of wine, where a hin is roughly equivalent to our gallon. The drink offering represents complete consecration or devotion to God. The drink offering was never drunk but always poured out. Nothing for me; everything for the Lord. Everyone is familiar with the account when David longed for a drink of water from the well of Bethlehem. Surely David knew that the drink offering was never to be drunk (2 Samuel 23).
It is important to understand that Jesus became the drink offering. He fulfilled the drink offering, as well as all of the other offerings.
It is important to understand that Jesus became the drink offering. He fulfilled the drink offering, as well as all of the other offerings.
5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:7 But made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: Philippians 2:5-7
In Verse 7, "made Himself of no reputation" can be translated as emptied Himself or poured Himself out. Paul said the same thing.
For I am now ready to be offered [poured out, or become a drink offering], and the time of my departure is at hand. 2 Timothy 4:6
What does it mean to be a disciple of Christ? First of all it means that we have voluntarily allowed the Holy Spirit to bring us to a place where we have become a burnt offering wherein all of self has been burned out by God, Who is a consuming fire. Then we must become a meal offering and a drink offering, which are the basis (or prerequisites) for revival or restoration. We can see that from Joel, Chapters 1:1- 2:17, all of which is very descriptive of the modern day Church in America. The question is ... who wants to become a meal offering and a drink offering as unto the Lord? In order to do that, we must first become a burnt offering ... totally committed to the Lord. Then we must become a meal offering and a drink offering. Help, Lord!
In our next message we will look at a brief overview of Joel, Chapter 1 to Joel 2:17 to see how these offerings apply to us Christians today.