Jesus Christ in the Offerings, Part 1
Estimated reading time: 9 minutes
The Passover: Sweet Savor Offerings
1 Corinthians 5:6–8 ESV:
6 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? 7 Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
There are five different offerings in the Old Testament, and they are divided into two classes:
- Sin Atoning Offerings
- Sin Offering
- Trespass Offering
- Sweet Savor Offerings
- Burnt Offering
- Meal Offering
- Peace Offering
The Sweet Savor Offerings are the primary offerings of the Passover.
The Burnt Offering
The Hebrew word for “burnt” is olah, and it means “to ascend.” It could also be called the Ascending Offering. It was offered morning and evening and on special feasts.
An interesting feature of the burnt offering is that the whole animal is burned; it is all given to God. The only thing kept is the skin. The skin is sold and the money given to the temple. The burnt offering could be a bull, sheep, goat, or even a pigeon if you were poor. It had to be without spot or blemish.
Leviticus 1:1–3 ESV:
The Lord called Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When any one of you brings an offering to the Lord, you shall bring your offering of livestock from the herd or from the flock.
3 “If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer a male without blemish. He shall bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting, that he may be accepted before the Lord.
In verse 3, the King James version says “he shall offer it of his own voluntary will,” whereas the ESV correctly translates it “that he may be accepted before the Lord.” The offering was completely burned up so that God could accept the person.
Leviticus 1:5 ESV:
Then he shall kill the bull before the Lord, and Aaron’s sons the priests shall bring the blood and throw the blood against the sides of the altar that is at the entrance of the tent of meeting.
Remember, Jesus Christ is the type of all the offerings.
Ephesians 5:2 ESV:
And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant [sweet smelling savor] offering and sacrifice to God.
Jesus was the burnt offering for our acceptance before God.
Acceptance is the major point of the burnt offering.
The Meal Offering
The meal offering is comprised of flour, oil, frankincense, and salt. The meal offering was not completely burned up. What was left was removed from the fire and then belonged to the priests.
Notice the progression:
- The first (burnt) offering belonged to God.
- The second (meal) offering belonged to the priests (and part to God).
The Peace Offering
The Hebrew word for “peace offering” is selamim, which sounds a bit like shalom. It could also be called a fellowship, thanksgiving, praise, or vow offering. Because it’s called different things, reading Leviticus can be confusing.
The word shalom does not mean simply “peace” (as in tranquility). The shalom kind of peace has more to do with wholeness or completeness.
Wholeness is the major point of the peace offering.
The peace offering could be a lamb or a goat, male or female. The Passover offering was more specific (male lamb of the first year, etc.). A regular peace offering could be brought at any time.
There was a kind of layering. The meal offering would be placed on top of the burnt offering, and the peace offering (when it was offered) would be placed on top of the meal offering.
On Passover, they would do the burnt offering an hour early so the burnt offering could be ready for the meal offering to be placed on top, and then the peace offering to cap it off. They fit together with the same idea of wholeness and God’s acceptance.
Leviticus 3:1– ESV:
“If his offering is a sacrifice of peace [wholeness] offering, if he offers an animal from the herd, male or female, he shall offer it without blemish before the Lord. 2 And he shall lay his hand on the head of his offering and kill it at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and Aaron’s sons the priests shall throw the blood against the sides of the altar. 3 And from the sacrifice of the peace offering, as a food offering to the Lord, he shall offer the fat covering the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails, 4 and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins, and the long lobe of the liver that he shall remove with the kidneys. 5 Then Aaron’s sons shall burn it on the altar on top of the burnt offering, which is on the wood on the fire; it is a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the Lord.
The fat belonged to God. The shoulder of the animal belonged to the priest. What was left belonged to the offeror and his family.
- The first (burnt) offering belonged to God.
- The second (meal) offering belonged to the priests (and part to God).
- The third (peace) offering belonged to the offeror and his family (and part to God and the priests).
The sweet savor offerings became a communal offering that tied together God, the priests, the offeror, and his family.
Romans 5:1–2 ESV:
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace [wholeness] with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
In the Old Testament offering, when they laid hands on the head of the animal, it identified the offeror with the animal.
An unholy person could not come before a holy God.
Ephesians 2:13 ESV:
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
This is talking about the blood that was in the burnt offering and peace offering, which emphasizes acceptance.
Ephesians 2:14–18 ESV:
14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17 And he came and preached peace [wholeness] to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.
Colossians 1:19–22 ESV:
19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,
The peace offering was the only offering where God got part, the priest got part, and the people got part.
Shalom or peace is achieved when the whole community (God, priest, and offeror) partakes of the same sacrifice. It becomes a bond which ties together God and all His people.
Ephesians 4:3 ESV:
eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
In communion, the blood represents forgiveness of sins, but it also represents the peace offering and the burnt offering; the bread represents the meal offering. Communion is kind of like the sweet-smelling savor offerings (the purpose is acceptance and wholeness).
1 Corinthians 10:16–18 ESV:
16 The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. 18 Consider the people of Israel: are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar?
The only time one could actually participate in the altar was with the peace offering.
So, wrapped up in Communion is the idea of wholeness, peace, and receiving God’s acceptance.
Passover combined the three sweet-smelling savor offerings.
And this at once gives us the key to the cause of our general and acknowledged lack of communion. Of intercourse, we have enough; perhaps too much. Of communion, how very little. The reason is so little of Christ’s offering is apprehended that when believers meet they have scarce anything of him to share.
And the same is true of our approaches to God, for there may be intercourse with God without communion. How often when we approach God, do we speak to him only about our feelings, our experiences, our sins, our trials? And all this is right, we cannot be without these, and we are right to tell them to our Father. But after all, this of itself is not communion. Nor will speaking of these things ever yield it to us.
Let us come before God to be filled with Christ. To be taken up with him. His life. His way to sweetness.
Let the confession of our failure and nothingness in ourselves be made the plea that we may be filled with him. And our intercourse will soon change to communion, for in him we shall have something we can share. And then may the Lord lead us more into his presence. There to be taught what we possess in Jesus Christ. And then when we meet our brethren, or our Father, we shall feast together on what there is in Him.
Scripture References
Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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