INTRODUCTION TO PART 1 And they shall no more offer their sacrifices unto devils, after whom they have gone a whoring. This shall be a statute for ever unto them throughout their generations. And thou shalt say unto them, Whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers which sojourn among you, that offereth a burnt offering of sacrifice, And bringeth it not unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, to offer it unto the LORD; even that man shall be cut off from among his people. And whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood; I will even set my face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people. For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. Therefore I said unto the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger that sojourneth among you eat blood (Lev. 17:7-12).
Sacrifice is an inescapable concept. It is never a question of "sacrifice vs. no sacrifice." It is always this question: Sacrifice to whom? And also this subordinate question: Which kind of sacrifice?
The Bible makes it clear that fallen man owes his sacrifices to the God of creation. This is the absolutely sovereign God who rules in heaven and on earth, in eternity and time. The five sacrifices of Leviticus 1-7 were required because of the absolute holiness of an absolutely sovereign God. Men have broken God's law; as unholy covenant-breakers, they are in need of means of covenant renewal. The first point of the biblical covenant model, transcendence/immanence, appears in Leviticus in the section that presents laws establishing the five types of common sacrifice. These five sacrifices were not the mandatory corporate sacrifices associated with the national covenant renewal festivals of Passover, Pentecost (firstfruits), and Tabernacles, but rather the sacrifices of personal and familial covenant renewal that were available to the faithful on a year-round basis.
Because the judicial foundation of covenant renewal between God and man is ethics rather than ritual precision, the prophets made it clear that God would pay no attention to the sacrifices of covenant-breakers who persisted in their rebellion. "Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit. Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not; And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations?" (Jer. 7:8-10). "Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" (Mic. 6:6-8). Ethics is primary; this is why the laws governing the sacrifices are found in Book Three of the Pentateuch: Leviticus, the book of holiness. They are not found in Book Four, Numbers, the Pentateuch's book of sanctions.
Holiness and Sacrifice Before we begin an analysis of the meaning of the five sacrifices of Leviticus 1-7, we must have an understanding of the role of the family of Levi in Mosaic Israel. The Levites were the guardians of the sacramental boundaries (Num. 18). The family of Aaron within the tribe of Levi served as the priests, i.e., those who actually performed the sacrifices. They had legal access to the inner area of the temple that was closed even to the Levites. The high priest once a year had access to the holy of holies (Ex. 30:10). Thus, the ultimate boundaries in Mosaic Israel were judicial-spatial.(1) The temple, the place where the Ark of the Covenant resided -- the royal residence of the God on earth -- was supremely holy, geographically speaking.(2) Inside the Ark were the two tables of the law: the Ten Commandments (Deut. 31:9, 26). The holiest place on earth was where the original records of God's covenantal law rested. The judicial links among God's revealed law, Israel's national and cultural boundaries, holiness, and the priestly family of Levi constitute the central message of the Book of Leviticus.
What about the economics of Leviticus? We begin with this observation: based on God's ownership both of the land (Lev. 25:23) and the Israelites (Lev. 20:26), He established a unique set of property rights over Israel and inside Israel. As is true in all cases of property rights, these rights were marked by a series of legal boundaries. The Book of Leviticus, the third book in the Pentateuch, is most closely associated with these boundaries.(3)
The Five Year-Round Sacrifices There are five year-round sacrifices in Leviticus. Like the three mandated festival-feasts (Lev. 23),(4) all five sacrifices had to be offered to God at a central location. To get to this central location, most of the Israelites had to walk.
All five of these Levitical sacrifices had to be cut into pieces or divided before they were placed on the altar. Only the Passover lamb was placed on the altar whole. Its flesh was first penetrated, allowing the blood to flow out (Ex. 12:7), but there is no mention that it was to be cut into pieces before roasting.(5) This is consistent with the New Testament's identification of Jesus Christ as the Passover lamb (I Cor. 5:7): His body was not broken by the Roman guards, although one of them pierced His flesh with a spear (John 19:32-37).
The first section of Leviticus, chapters 1-7, deals with ritual offerings and the labor of the priests. James Jordan has divided Leviticus into five sections: 1) the sacrifices, five in number(6) (Lev. 1-7); 2) the cleansing of God's house (Lev. 8-16); 3) holy living before the Lord (Lev. 17-22); 4) holy times or feasts (Lev. 23); and 5) the historical perspective (Lev. 24-27).(7) I divide Leviticus differently: 1) the five sacrifices (Lev. 1-7); 2) the priestly, hierarchical cleansing of God's house and man's house, including the land -- a means of deliverance (Lev. 8-16); 3) laws of separation (Lev. 17-22); 4) covenant-renewal festivals and covenant-breaking acts (Lev. 23-24); 5) inheritance (Lev. 25-27).I divide Leviticus differently:
1. The five sacrifices (Lev. 1-7)
2. The priestly, hierarchical cleansing of God's house and man's house, including the land -- a means of deliverance (Lev. 8-16)
3. Laws of separation (Lev. 17-22)
4. Covenant-renewal festivals and covenant-breaking acts (Lev. 23-24)
5. Inheritance (Lev. 25-27)
The five-fold system of sacrifices parallels the five-point covenant model that Ray Sutton has elaborated.(8) Writes Jordan:
"The sacrifices that occupy the first seven chapters are themselves arranged by this pattern. The first section, chapters 1-3, concerns the relationship between God and man directly: The Burnt Offering affirmed God's transcendence, the Cereal or Tribute Offering affirmed the Israelite's fealty to God, and the Peace Offering affirmed God's fellowship with man. The Purification Offering had to do not with cleansing the individual sinner, but with cleansing God's house, society at large, which was symbolically defiled by the presence of sinners. The house of God was the place of mediation, so appropriately the Purification Offering is discussed next. The Compensation Offering had two purposes: to deal with theft (point three) and with perjury (point four). Finally, the last point of the covenant/re-creation sequence has to do with succession, the appointment of servants to continue the work begun by the master."(9)
Covenant Structure in the Sacrifices
By structuring the five offerings in terms of the five points of the biblical covenant, God reminded the Israelites of their covenantal obligations. Let us review this structure. First, except for the hide, which was retained by the priest (Lev. 7:8), the whole burnt offering was completely consumed; none of the edible portion remained in the possession of men, either the priests or the offerer. This pointed to God's complete transcendence. The hide, like the hides in which God wrapped Adam and Eve (Gen. 3:21), testified to God's presence with them in history.
Second, the grain offering represented point two of the covenant. This offering pointed back to the historical prologue (associated with point two)(10) of the nation: the exodus events. As with the Passover meal of the exodus, this offering could not be leaven (Lev. 2:4). Point two is also associated with the covenant itself, just as Exodus, the second book of the Pentateuch, is called the book of the covenant (Ex. 24:7). The grain offering was the unique offering of the covenant, for it was associated with salt, a mineral used to flavor or preserve something or else destroy it, e.g., salting the land (Jud. 9:45): the salt of the covenant. Salt was specifically associated with the grain offering. "And every oblation of thy meat [meal] offering shalt thou season with salt; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat [meal] offering: with all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt" (Lev. 2:13).
Third, the peace (well-being) offering, dealt with boundaries: how covenant-keeping man can lawfully cross the boundaries and come into God's presence in a shared meal. The priests -- guardians of the boundaries of holy places and things -- ate part of it (Lev. 7:14-15, 32-34). The offerer ate part of it, so long as he or she was ritually clean (Lev. 7:19). To violate this rule was to create a new judicial boundary: "But the soul that eateth of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace offerings, that pertain unto the LORD, having his uncleanness upon him, even that soul shall be cut off from his people" (Lev. 7:20).
Fourth was the sin (purification) offering. It was offered in order to avoid God's sanctions. The vessel in which it was prepared was either smashed or scoured afterward (Lev. 6:28).
Fifth, there was the trespass or guilt offering. The priest kept the skin of the animal (Lev. 7:9). Animal skins were also God's gift to Adam and Eve just before they were cast out of the garden (Gen. 3:21). These skins were the coverings that would preserve them: a testimony to God's grace to them by providing a future.
Atonement for Sin, Not Food for God Milgrom points out that all the food sacrifices were to be performed where laymen could view them: on the outer altar in the open courtyard.(11) This courtyard was open to all Israelites.(12) These sacrifices were public acts. Speaking of the altar of incense, which was inside the tent or tabernacle, God said: "Ye shall offer no strange incense thereon, nor burnt sacrifice, nor meat offering; neither shall ye pour drink offering thereon" (Ex. 30:9). The sacrifices were for the benefit of the nation. They were not for "the care and feeding of God" -- a fundamental error of Mesopotamian religion generally.(13)
The sacrifices atoned for men's sins. This also meant cleansing. "For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the LORD" (Lev. 16:30). By appeasing God through sacrifice, the nation was enabled to escape God's wrath in history. But the fundamental sacrifice is always ethical: avoiding sin after payment to God has been made. That is to say, the essence of acceptable sacrifice is ethical holiness, just as the judicial foundation of holiness is sacrifice.
Footnotes:
1. These ended forever with the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.
2. Meredith G. Kline, Images of the Spirit (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker, 1980), pp. 39-42.
3. The third commandment establishes a boundary around God's name: "Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain" (Ex. 20:7a). The eighth commandment (the third in the second table of the law) establishes property rights: "Thou shalt not steal" (Ex. 20:15).
4. See Introduction, above.
5. "And they roasted the passover with fire according to the ordinance: but the other holy offerings sod they in pots, and in caldrons, and in pans, and divided them speedily among all the people" (II Chron. 35:13).
6. Burnt offerings (Lev. 1), cereal offerings (Lev. 2), peace offerings (Lev. 3), purification offerings (Lev. 4:1), and compensation offerings (Lev. 5:14, 6:1).
7. James B. Jordan, Covenant Sequence in Leviticus and Deuteronomy (Tyler, Texas: Institute for Christian Economics, 1989), pp. 15-17. It is interesting that John E. Hartley has found a five-part message in Leviticus: God's holiness, presence, covenant, sacrifice, and continuity with the New Testament. Hartley, Leviticus, vol. 4 of Word Bible Commentary (Dallas, Texas: Word Books, 1992), pp. lvi-lxiii. Using Sutton's five-point covenant model, I would rearrange the list: God's presence (as in transcendence/presence), covenant (which Hartley identifies with God's deliverance of Israel from bondage, i.e., historical prologue), holiness (boundaries), sacrifice (sanctions), and continuity with the New Testament. Hartley sees a six-part division in Leviticus: ibid., p. xxxiv. He also refers to rival theories: two sections, four sections, and nine sections. Ibid., p. xxxii. He does not mention five sections.
8. Ray R. Sutton, That You May Prosper: Dominion By Covenant (Tyler, Texas: Institute for Christian Economics, 1987). Revised edition: 1992.
9. Jordan, Covenant Sequence, p. 22.
10. Meredith G. Kline, Treaty of the Great King: The Covenant Structure of Deuteronomy: Studies and Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1963), pp. 52-61. See also Kline, The Structure of Biblical Authority (rev. ed.; Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1972), pp. 53-57.
11. Jacob Milgrom, Leviticus 1-16, vol. 3 of The Anchor Bible (New York: Doubleday, 1991), p. 59.
12. Ibid., p. 148. He provides a suggested sketch of the outer court, which was separate from, but contiguous to, the tent and the inner court: p. 135.
13. Idem.
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