Leviticus 1-6:7
Let me state the obvious: we no longer practice animal sacrifice, or even grain offerings, for that matter. Nor do we stand in the place of Aaron and his sons, priests responsible for carrying out these rituals. But that is not to say that there is nothing here for us to learn. On the contrary, there are numerous important lessons here. Let me just name a few.
First, we need to understand the deadly seriousness of sin, even unintentional sin. Sacrifices help paint that picture. If animal sacrifice, with all its blood and gore turns your stomach, good. It should. It is a graphic portrayal of the consequences of sin, transferred from the sinner (the responsible party) to an innocent victim. With sin, God never just lets it slide. Atonement must be made.
Second, we need to appreciate God’s merciful provision for atonement for sin. The LORD does not leave the Israelites stuck with the guilt of their sin. He provides these rituals as a path to atonement, to restore right relationship between Himself and the sinner. And let’s not forget that He provides the animals, too.
Third, we need to understand that God is the One Who sets the rules. We are not free to just “wing it” with Him, as much as that might run against our modern Protestant sensibilities. No, we need to walk in humility and accept His direction — and not demand that He accept our direction.
Finally, a spoiler alert: In the end, Jesus Christ is both our High Priest and the ultimate Victim. All these sacrifices and rituals point to Him and find their true fulfilment in Him. (See the entire book of Hebrews, but especially Heb. 8:1-10:14.)
Reading Leviticus this time I noticed in particular Leviticus 5:4-6: “or if anyone thoughtlessly takes an oath to do anything, whether good or evil (in any matter one might carelessly swear about) even though they are unaware of it, but then they learn of it and realize their guilt—when anyone becomes aware that they are guilty in any of these matters, they must confess in what way they have sinned. As a penalty for the sin they have committed, they must bring to the LORD a female lamb or goat from the flock as a sin offering…”
The reason I noticed this is because of an awful story in Judges 11 about a man named Jephthah who makes an oath to the LORD and ends up sacrificing his own daughter as a result. I am assuming that most of the members of this group have probably read this story sometime in the past. And here is a solution to Jephthah’s problem! Suddenly I realized that if Jephthah had known the law, all he needed to sacrifice was a lamb or a goat!!!!
I apologize for jumping probably two months ahead here—but reading this made me really appreciate all the details in the law in Leviticus in a way I never did before. I still don’t understand the difference between sin offerings and burnt offerings and guilt offerings. And I always think about what a mess that altar was with blood and ashes and pieces of animals everywhere. And jumping back to Judges I’ve always thought that these were mostly terrible stories about terrible people.
But now, I see that God supplied the law, in all its detail, to protect people from these horrors. And I’m also wondering how much of the law was generally known by the whole population, as opposed to the priesthood?
Thank God for Jesus!
Your last line says it all, Katey – Thank God for Jesus!!
Interesting observation, Katey!
I never thought that maybe Jephthah wouldn’t have had to sacrifice his daughter after all, although maybe he still would have had to fulfill the oath first, then atone for it…? But that doesn’t make sense, especially when it is SO clear, as John has pointed out, that God hated child sacrifice.
All of these laws emphasize just how much we have “fallen short of the glory of God” and need the redemption we have in Jesus.