Deeper Commentary
Lev 1:1 Yahweh called to Moses and spoke to him out of the Tent of
Meeting, saying-
The style of Moses' writing in Num. 20:12-14 reveals this submerging
of his own pain. He speaks of himself in the third person, omitting any
personal reflection on his own feelings: "The Lord spake unto Moses...
Because you believed me not... you shall not bring the congregation into
the land... and Moses sent messengers from Kadesh unto the King of
Edom...". Likewise all the references to “the Lord spake unto Moses” (Lev.
1:1). Moses submerged his own personality in writing his books. It could
of course be argued that these are the words of a Divinely inspired
editor. But consider this alternative.
Lev. 1:1 appears to follow straight on from the previous narrative in
Exodus. It could be that all of Leviticus is an account of the words of
Yahweh to the Levites during the eight days of consecration after the
tabernacle was built. For the whole book specifically addresses the
Levites, and how they were to conduct priestly work.
Lev 1:2 Speak to the children of Israel and tell them, ‘When anyone of you
offers an offering to Yahweh-
"Of you" means that the invitation to offer freewill offerings which
now follows was limited to the community of Israel. But within them,
"anyone" could offer- including women, who were typically excluded from
such religious opportunities in the surrounding cults.
You shall offer your offering of the
livestock, from the herd and from the flock-
They were not to keep some animals specially for
sacrifice; they were to take the sacrificial animals out of the herd, just
as the Lord Jesus was One taken out of the herd of humanity. We
are to be living sacrifices (Rom. 12:1), not reserving just part of our
lives for God. The Lord Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice, and He was taken
out of the common herd of humanity, not preserved specially for His work.
Lev 1:3 If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer
a male without blemish-
No animal actually is without blemish. God recognizes
that we will not attain perfection in this life, but we are to do our best
towards it; and His love imputes righteousness to us, counting us as
unblemished because of our status in Christ. For only Christ was the
sacrifice totally without moral blemish (1 Pet. 1:19).
The offerer personally was to bring it. It was not to be brought by
someone else, for sacrifice was to involve personal engagement and not be
performed as mere tokenistic ritual through a third party. And that is an
abiding principle. The offerer firstly had to enter through the gate into
the court, before approaching the altar. The height of the gate meant that
most would had to bow their heads. Humility was the first requirement, and
this is what made sacrifice acceptable.
Lev 1:4 He shall put his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it
shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him-
Putting the hand on the animal’s head was to show
that the animal represented the offerer. He showed thereby that he
deserved to die, and wished to give his total life to God just as the
animal would be totally offered to God. We see here God’s principle of
accepting us on the basis of the representative sacrifice of Christ; the
equivalent of our putting our hand on the head of the sacrifice is the act
of baptism into Christ and abiding “in Christ”, He being our
representative and we being His.
Lev 1:5 He shall slaughter the bull before Yahweh. Aaron’s sons, the
priests, shall present the blood and sprinkle the blood around on the
altar that is at the door of the Tent of Meeting-
To sprinkle
blood upon something didn't necessarily mean the object was forgiven.
For an inanimate altar didn't need forgiving. The blood of the covenant
was sprinkled (s.w.) upon the people as a sign of their involvement with
the covenant process of salvation, rather than as a statement of their
forgiveness (Ex. 24:8). Likewise with the sprinkling of the blood of the
Passover lamb (2 Chron. 35:11). This was an act of identification rather
than forgiveness of sin. The function of the altar was valid before God,
or efficacious, because of its association with the blood of Christ; for
the blood of the animals slain upon it couldn't bring salvation of itself,
but only through God's way of looking at that blood is looking ahead to
that of His Son (Heb. 10:4). And so the altar was associated with the
blood which represented His blood.
Lev 1:6 He shall flay the burnt offering, and cut it into pieces-
Every part of our lives, including our most inward
parts, are to be offered to God. The process of splitting the offering
into its parts speaks of our self-examination, defining each part of our
lives and offering them to God consciously.
Lev 1:7 The sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire on the altar, and lay
wood in order on the fire-
In all the many commands about sacrifices, we must remember that God
was not in need of them. If He were hungry, He would not tell us
(Ps. 50:12). The legislation and concepts were therefore purely for our
benefit, and that of His people at the time. We therefore need to discern
the teaching.
Lev 1:8 and Aaron’s sons, the priests, shall lay the pieces, the head, and
the fat in order on the wood that is on the fire which is on the altar-
The wood was to be placed in order on the fire (Lev. 1:7), suggesting
the use of several bits of wood to be laid in order, with the parts also
laid in order upon them. This was as if each part of the Lord's life (and
ours) had its own cross. We think of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus upon
the stake of wood, effectively done by the priests who arranged His
crucifixion.
Lev 1:9 but its inward parts and its legs he shall wash with water. The
priest shall burn the whole on the altar, for a burnt offering, an
offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to Yahweh-
There is huge emphasis upon the “inward parts” in the
regulations about sacrifices. Our inward parts and thoughts of the heart
are laid open before God and should be offered to Him, not just the
externalities which men see (Heb. 4:12). The same word is used of Sarah's
laughing "within herself" (Gen. 18:12). The sacrifice of Christ was so
perfect because His innermost thoughts were offered to God.
Lev 1:10 If his offering is from the flock, from the sheep, or from the
goats, for a burnt offering, he shall offer a male without blemish-
This looked ahead to the unblemished character of the Lord Jesus. The
offering of sacrifices "without blemish" uses a word which is used about
Abraham and Noah being "without blemish" (AV "perfect") before God (Gen.
6:9; 17:1). Although the word is used about the sacrifices, it is really
more appropriate to persons- "you shall be perfect with Yahweh your God"
(Dt. 18:13), "serve Him in sincerity (s.w. "without blemish")" (Josh.
24:14). The idea, therefore, was that the offerer was invited to see the
animal as representative of himself. Our lives too are to be as "living
sacrifices" (Rom. 12:1). And yet in practical terms, no animal is without
blemish. They were to give the best they could, and God would count it as
without blemish; as He does with us.
David frequently uses the term in the Psalms about himself and the
"upright", even though he was far from unblemished in moral terms.
Lev 1:11 He shall kill it on the north side of the altar before Yahweh.
Aaron’s sons, the priests, shall sprinkle its blood around on the altar-
Golgotha was on the north side of Jerusalem, and all these sacrifices
look ahead to the Lord's death there. The laver was on the west side of the
altar, the place of ashes on the east (Lev. 1:16), and the approach to the
altar from the south would have been up a slope to avoid approaching the
altar by steps and uncovering nakedness. The north side would have been
the only appropriate place for this. So there is an impressive
corroboration of the records here, with this command to kill the animals
on the north side of the altar.
Lev 1:12 He shall cut it into its pieces, with its head and its fat. The
priest shall lay them in order on the wood that is on the fire which is on
the altar-
The offerer "shall cut it into his pieces" (Heb.)- the pieces of the
animal were the pieces of the offerer, so the ambiguous genitive suggests.
The offerer was represented by the sacrifice. The parts were washed in the
water (of the word) before the final crucifying of flesh. But the
sacrifice also represented that of the Lord Jesus, as well as of the
offerer; for He on the cross was the representative of all God's people.
Lev 1:13 but the inward parts and the legs he shall wash with water. The
priest shall offer the whole, and burn it on the altar-
This is picked up by Paul in Rom. 7 where he says that he delights in
God's law after the inward man, or innards. He sees himself as cut open
and offered to God. All this provokes powerful self-examination. Does the
zeal of God's house consume every part of the offering of our lives as we
lay ourselves before Him at the Passover meal? Does it eat us up? Do our
faces and words and way of speaking reflect the crucifixion of every part
of our lives? Or does our triviality, our inability to spiritually
concentrate our minds, our lack of sustained enthusiasm for the Lord's
work reflect the fact that we are not like that animal as it lay dead and
still in its parts on that altar, that we are not in the spirit of Christ.
Our attitudes to money, holidays, relationships, standard of living,
commitment to study of the word, zeal for preaching, all raise question
marks in our minds. It is easy to take immediate refuge in the fact that
salvation is through the grace of the Lord's sacrifice, not works. But
before we go on to those sentiments, let us accept that we do all have an
urgent need for improvement.
It is a burnt
offering, an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to Yahweh-
“A pleasant aroma” is a very common phrase. This concept is important
to God. It first occurs in Gen. 8:21 where it means that God accepted
Noah's sacrifice and vowed that the pole of saving mercy in His character
was going to triumph over that of necessary judgment. Under the new
covenant, it is persons and not sacrifices or incense which are accepted
as a "pleasant aroma" (Ez. 20:41). The word for "pleasant" means strong
delight; this is how God's heart can be touched by genuine sacrifice.
Those pleasing offerings represented us, the living sacrifices (Rom.
12:1). And so it is applied to us in 2 Cor. 2:15- if we are in Christ, we
are counted as a pleasant aroma to God. The offering of ourselves to Him
is nothing of itself, but because we are in Christ and counted as Him, we
are a delight to God. Hence the colossal importance of being “in Christ”.
Lev 1:14 If his offering to Yahweh is a burnt offering of birds, then he
shall offer his offering of turtledoves, or of young pigeons-
Those who couldn't afford larger animals could offer birds. But these
regulations may also apply to those rituals which required a bird to be
offered for all (Lev. 15:14,29; Num. 6:10). Even within the bird offerings
there was a gradation. Turtledoves were larger than pigeons and more
valuable, but they are only in Israel at certain times of the year (Song
2:12; Jer. 8:7); whereas pigeons are in Israel all year round, were easier
to catch and were therefore cheaper. The various possible levels within
God's law reflect our opportunities to serve on different levels, just as
the good soil of the sower parable brings forth different amounts. Some
will make more of God's truth than others. The very existence of these
levels, rather than a simple binary demand of obedience / disobedience,
pass / fail, of itself inspires us to serve God as extensively as we can.
For who can be a minimalist in response to His love.
Lev 1:15 The priest shall bring it to the altar, and wring off its head,
and burn it on the altar; and its blood shall be drained out on the side
of the altar-
Lev. 1:15 A.V. mg. stipulates that if the offering was a bird, "pinch
off the head with the nail" - as if a nail used in the process, perhaps
for nailing the parts to the wood (cp. the nailing of the Lord Jesus to
the cross).
Lev 1:16 and he shall take away its crop with its filth, and throw it
beside the altar on the east side, in the place of the ashes-
LXX describes the removal of the feathers, and apparently taking away
"the crop with its filth" apparently sounds "as when made ready for
cooking". The idea was that this was a meal being prepared, for the idea
was that the offerer was eating with God. And despite the humble nature of
the meal, God was eating with this offerer. For the altar was effectively
the table of Yahweh. The east side was nearest to the exit to the court,
so this was the logical place for any refuse to be placed. We marvel at
the consistent internal corroboration of the Biblical record.
Lev 1:17 He shall tear it by its wings, but shall not divide it apart-
The tearing of the wings was equivalent to the dividing into parts of
the larger sacrifices (Lev. 1:6,12). Only the small size of the bird
precluded dividing it.
The priest shall burn it on the altar, on the wood that is on the
fire. It is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, of a pleasant
aroma to Yahweh’-
“A pleasant aroma” is a very common phrase. This concept is important
to God. It first occurs in Gen. 8:21 where it means that God accepted
Noah's sacrifice and vowed that the pole of saving mercy in His character
was going to triumph over that of necessary judgment. Under the new
covenant, it is persons and not sacrifices or incense which are accepted
as a "pleasant aroma" (Ez. 20:41). The word for "pleasant" means strong
delight; this is how God's heart can be touched by genuine sacrifice.
Those pleasing offerings represented us, the living sacrifices (Rom.
12:1). And so it is applied to us in 2 Cor. 2:15- if we are in Christ, we
are counted as a pleasant aroma to God. The offering of ourselves to Him
is nothing of itself, but because we are in Christ and counted as Him, we
are a delight to God. Hence the colossal importance of being “in Christ”.
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