Christ in the Old Testament

Leviticus 1:9

You are to wash the internal organs and the legs with water, and the priest is to burn all of it on the altar. It is a burnt offering, a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord. (NIV)

Today’s Reading: Leviticus 1:1-17 and 2 Corinthians 2:14-17

We made it through Exodus! On to the very exciting book of Leviticus – the book of the law. But it’s actually a book about God providing a way for His people, who have proven to be selfish and rebellious, to be reconciled to Him. We will discover in the book of Leviticus, God providing a way for sinful people to live in His holy presence.

The first chapter begins with God laying down the rules for conducting a Burnt Offering. The Hebrew word for burnt offering actually means to ascend or go up in smoke. “It is a burnt offering, a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord” (Lev 1:9). A burnt offering could be given by anyone at any time. It was a sacrifice of general atonement which is simply an acknowledgement of man’s sin nature and a request for renewed relationship with God. But God also set some of the following specific times for the priests to give a burnt offering for the benefit of the entire community of Israelites:

• Every morning and evening (Exodus 29:38-42; Numbers 28:2)
• Each Sabbath (Numbers 28:9-10)
• The beginning of each month (Numbers 28:11)
• At Passover (Numbers 28:19)
• With the new grain/firstfruits offering at the Feast of Weeks (Numbers 28:27)
• At the Feast of Trumpets/Rosh Hashanah (Numbers 29:1)
• At the new moon (Numbers 29:6)

God gives three different animals that could be given as a burnt offering – from the herd, flock or bird. In terms of affordability, the bull from the herd would be a very expensive animal and likely raised just to be sacrificed. Only the wealthy could afford to sacrifice a bull. A sheep or goat sacrifice from the flock would be for the middle-class. Finally, a bird would be affordable to anyone even the lowest income class because a bird could be caught in the wild.

But regardless of the size of the offering, they all accomplished the same thing – access to God. Each type of sacrifice emits a pleasing aroma to God and they all point to Jesus. Characteristics of Christ are found in each animal:

• The bull is strong and powerful like a king but also ready to serve and even bred for sacrifice. Jesus willingly laid down his life – it was not taken from him. (John 10:18)
• The lamb is gentle, lowly and innocent. Silent before its shearer. (John 1:29 and Acts 8:32)
• The dove is innocent and from above. We see the Holy Spirit take the form of a dove. (John 1:32)

I find it interesting that for the bull and the lamb, their internal organs and their legs were to be washed. Anything that is washed inside the tabernacle is symbolic of being free of sin – cleansed. So this would seem that God is calling attention to the inside of the animal and to its legs and to make them clean. Being symbolic of Jesus, clean internal organs would mean that inside Jesus there was no sin and clean feet would mean that he committed no sin.

The ultimate fulfillment of the burnt offering is in Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. His physical life was completely consumed and he ascended to God. His sacrifice atoned for our sins and restored our relationship with God. “For we are to God the fragrance of Christ” (2 Cor 2:15, NKJV). So now we can approach God with confidence. And more than that, we are a sweet pleasing aroma to Him because of Jesus.

Today’s Prayer: Thank you Lord for giving us a way to be in your presence. All glory to Jesus for the sweet fragrance of his sacrifice.