The guilt offering was very similar to the sin offering: “The guilt offering is just like the sin offering; there is one law for them” (Lv 7:7). Although the offering was the same, the purpose was quite different. As the sin offering restored one’s standing with God, the guilt offering restored one’s standing with the one who was sinned against. Like the sin offering, it was for a specific sin (Lv 5:15-19).

If any of God’s commandments were broken, once a person realized it, he had to offer a guilt offering. It came with renumeration as well. To the offering he had to add 20% of its worth and give that to the priest. Then he had to make restitution to the one offended by repaying the value of whatever was involved with the sin committed and then add an additional 20% of its value and give that to the one sinned against. The purpose of the guilt offering was to absolve the offender of all legal and moral debt, and it restored one’s favor to one’s fellow man by absolving the guilt of the sin committed.

Whereas the sin offering had a vertical application, the guilt offering had a horizontal application. Paul stated that because we have forgiveness through Christ, we should do the following in our relationship to others: Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice (Ep 4:31). And Jesus stated that if that was not the case then we have mending to do: “So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift” (Mt 5:23-24).

While Christ’s death cancels our moral and legal debt, it does even more! Paul tells us this: “He [Christ] was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.” (Ro 4:25). We often state that Christ took care of our sin problem. Yet, we need to remember that he also took care of our guilt problem as well. This sacrifice therefore represents restoration of one being able to communicate with others without residual guilt.

So far, we have seen that our standing with God has been corrected, our relationship with him has been restored so we can communicate unhindered and even have a restored relationship with our neighbors. Does God have a significant part in all this other than Jesus’ death? Join me next time for the answer.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

The sin offering (Lv 4:1-35) was offered for the sin as the name implies. Yet what is sin? God defined it this way: doing any of the things the LORD commanded not to be done (Lv 4:1).

Yet, Scripture tells us this type of offering was performed for a sin of ignorance. It could be offered for the entire congregation, or for the ruler, or for the common people. If offering for an individual, it had to be a male or female lamb or goat, and it had to be accompanied by a burnt offering. Again, this shows the reason we desire God to act, because we are devoted to him.

What does “a sin of ignorance” mean? This means this sacrifice was for an unknown sin, that is, committing something at the time and not realizing it was a sin. This sacrifice could not be made for a willful sin. There was no sacrifice for a willful sin.

Forgiveness of willful sin did occur, and we have examples of that in Scripture, but there was a requirement that the individual be truly repentant. For example, King David was forgiven for his sin with Bathsheba (2Sa 12:13). It would seem only a truly repentant heart was needed and likely, the offering on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) covered willful sin of those truly repentant.

This offering required the fat, liver, & kidneys of the animal to be sacrificed. Again, this is showing one is offering their very essence to God. The remainder of the animal was taken outside the camp (or city) and burned to ashes if it was for a priest or the congregation as a whole. If performed for an individual sin, the flesh of the animal was given to the priests for their consumption. There were several sins mentioned that would be forgiven (Lv 5:2-4): realizing one unknowingly touched something unclean, or someone thoughtlessly took an oath. They had to confess their specific sin (Lv 5:5). This meant this sacrifice could not be done “just in case.” One had to know the sin they committed, even though at the time it was committed, they were unaware of the severeness of their actions. Yet, as soon as they knew their actions were sinful or they violated the Mosaic Law in some way, they were to make this offering for this specific sin.

There was also something unusual about this type of offering that was not true for any of the other offerings. Whatever touched the flesh of the sacrifice became holy or dedicated to the service of God. Therefore, special precautions had to be made for this sacrifice to ensure it did not accidentally touch something it should not touch.

Ignorance is not bliss! And was not allowed to be used as an excuse for sin. We are still held accountable for our sin even if we don’t know we are sinning. Once we become aware, we are to seek forgiveness immediately—just like the Israelites were expected to do.

Sin results in defilement. God stated there were sins which Israel committed which were said to defile the people, the land, and even the dwelling place of God. These were such things as sexual immorality (Lv 18:24-30), bloodshed (Nu 35:29-34), occult practices (Lv 19:31; 20:6), infant sacrifice (Lv 20:1-5), divorce (Jr 3:1), and false worship (Jr 16:18).

The sin offering was necessary to restore one’s broken relationship with God. Just as touching the sin offering made whatever it touched holy, Christ as our sin offering declares us righteous, even though we did nothing to deserve it. Paul said it this way, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Ro 5:1). This sacrifice therefore represented a restoration of being able to communicate with God.

The way Jesus healed was significant. Was he going against the Mosaic Law when he touched someone to heal them? No, because only he was the only one who could touch the unclean without becoming unclean. Jesus did not become unclean when he touched those unclean. Instead, those who were unclean became clean. Why? Because he was our sin offering. Anything that touched the sin offering became holy, or clean. Their uncleanness, i.e., their sickness, was immediately healed just from Jesus’ touch. See this post: Touch of Jesus. His miracles were just another way of demonstrating how he was fulfilling the Mosaic Law.

We see how the sin offering restored the vertical relationship we have with God, but what about the relationship with those around us. Sometimes our sin, even when done in ignorance, hurts those around us and causes conflict. Was their a sacrifice for that as well? Join me next time and find out.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

The peace or fellowship offering (Lv 3:1-17) was a way for an Israelite to express thanks to God, give God a gift, or make a special promise to God. It was offered on the bronze altar, either a male or female herd animal plus bread made with and without yeast. The blood and fat of the animal could not be eaten. These represented one’s life and their very best to be devoted to God. The fat, liver, and kidneys of the animal were sacrificed. These represented one’s devotion to God. In ancient times, the liver represented the essence of one’s life, the kidneys represented one’s inner emotions and seat of one’s inner thoughts, and the fat represented the very best of one’s life. This represented one was giving their very essence to God. Isn’t that what one does when they get to know someone they care deeply about? To really know someone, you share deep thoughts and ideas that you would not share with just anyone.

The offering could only be offered at the tabernacle (or later, the temple) as this represented where God dwelt. The one making the offering was intimately involved with the slaughter of the sacrifice, and the meat of the offering was eaten at the tabernacle or temple in the presence of God to represent one’s fellowship with God.

Christ became our peace offering. As the meal was eaten in God’s presence to represent having fellowship with him, likewise because of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection, we can have fellowship with him as well. The apostle Paul tells us, “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in the flesh the dividing wall of hostility” (Ep 2:13-14). This is saying that both Jew and Gentile are one and have fellowship with each other and with Christ in the same way. This sacrifice therefore represents our Fellowship with God.

We have seen how the first three sacrifices reveal our now right standing with God, our devotion to him, and how we share out deepest thoughts with him. Is there more? Join me next time and find out.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

The burnt offering was the first sacrifice mentioned in Leviticus (Lv 1:1-17). It could be offered in two ways: (1) a personalized offering by an individual with only males allowed to make this offering—likely on behalf of their whole family (e.g., Jb 1:5); or (2) as an offering for the community performed on its behalf by the priest. One of the unique characteristics of this offering was that it was totally consumed on the altar. Only the hide could be kept by the priest (Lv 7:8). Often, burnt offerings were required in conjunction with other types of sacrifices.

This type of offering was likely the offering God had Adam and Eve offer because he used the skin of the animal to make their clothing. It was the offering mentioned in Scripture by Noah (Gen. 8:20) when exiting the ark. It was frequently offered by the patriarchs long before the Mosaic Law was established. The Lord instructed Abraham to offer Isaac as a burnt offering (Gen. 22:2) and would have been the offering Moses performed in the desert after leaving Egypt (Ex. 5:3). Both Jethro (Ex. 18:12), Moses’ father-in-law, and Job (Job 1:5) offered this type of sacrifice long before the giving of the Law at Sinai.

It was continually offered as a perpetual sacrifice: night and day; on major feast days; and on new moons in Israel. This was a constant reminder that they were God’s people and were devoted to him.

So, what was the reason for this type of offering? It was made for man’s depravity (his sinful state). It was needed for one to be able to approach God. Christ became our burnt offering to restore our right standing with God by allowing us to be transferred from Satan’s Kingdom (which Adam yielded to him through his rebellion in the garden) into Christ’s Kingdom. Read my post, Are We Going Backwards? for more details on this topic. It was something Old Testament saints looked toward because they went to Sheol upon death. Because of Christ being our burnt offering, we go to be with him immediately (2Co 5:8) because our trust in Christ transfers us into his Kingdom. The apostle Paul tells us in Colossians 1:13, “For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the Kingdom of the Son he loves.”

The burnt offering was a principle of particularity. God, not man, dictates how we will and can approach Him. Jesus Christ said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (Jn 14:6).

It was a principle of acceptance of God. Self-help books tell how a person should accept themselves so they can feel better about themselves and overcome their depressive state or their lack of confidence, while the burnt offering was all about making a person right with God and seeing things from his perspective. We are more likely to feel good about ourselves and feel relevant because we are working within God’s design for us. Romans 3 :10 tells us, “There is no one righteous, not even one.” We are incapable of approaching God on our own merit.

It was a principle of atonement and transfer of state through the shedding of blood. Hebrews 9:22 tells us, that without the shedding of blood there is no remission, or forgiveness, of sin. Blood represented life. One was giving life for life as one’s sins were symbolically transferred to the animal. Our sins (past, present, and future sins) were transferred onto Christ as he hung on the cross (1Pt 2:24).

It was a principle of identification. The one making the offering had to identify with the animal and symbolically transfer his sin to the animal which is then worthy of death. We, today, identify with Christ who bore our sin and died for our sin. Paul tells us in Philippians 2:6-7: “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.” Christ identified with us in order to die for us in our place because our sins were transferred to him as he hung on the cross.

It was a principle of sacrifice. Neither the one making the offering, nor the priest benefited from this type of sacrifice. What was gained was a statement of devotion to God. We, too, are to offer ourselves as a living sacrifice to him. Romans 12:1 says, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.”

The burnt offering is, therefore, a symbol of our transfer into God’s kingdom. And this was the reason it was required in conjunction with other sacrifices to show one’s rightful standing with God for God to act. This sacrifice made the other sacrifices possible.

So, once we are in his kingdom, what comes next? Join me next time and find out.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

Many people make a commitment to read through their Bible cover to cover. They do great until they reach the book of Leviticus. Then their eyes roll, and they feel they have entered the Biblical wasteland. Words couldn’t be drier and the relatability to what is being read seems nonexistent. What is the purpose of such a book and how is it even relevant to us today? Believe it or not, it is highly relevant and reveals how blessed we are to be living post Christ’s crucifixion than before. Let’s take a closer look and see if I can make Leviticus become relevant for you. You may just never see this book the same way again. Wouldn’t that be nice!

The Mosaic Law was comprised of 613 commandments dealing with moral and ethical issues. Most of these were tied, whether directly or indirectly, to some type of sacrifice. There were eight different types of sacrifices or offerings that were required for different things. Sometimes, more than one sacrifice had to be made simultaneously. Likely you realized from your reading of Leviticus that sacrifices were a big part of this book and were crucial to the everyday life of a Jewish citizen. It all seems so confusing. It was likely more comprehensible for a Jew of that day as they grew up with these requirements. But why? What was the purpose of such sacrifices and so much detail as to how they were to be done?

Well, fast forward to the New Testament. Because of Christ’s teachings, many started to think he was advocating for the Jews to abandon the Mosaic Law. Yet, he told them that was not the case. Actually, far from abandoning the Law, he had come to fulfill the Law: Jesus stated, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished” (Mt 5:17-18).

You may be thinking that if that was true, and he was such an advocate of the Mosaic Law, then why did Jesus argue with the Pharisees so much? The Pharisees were obsessed with keeping the Law, so shouldn’t that have been a common bond, a common thread, between them? Well, we need to look more closely as to what Jesus argued with them about. Their arguments were not about the Law but about Oral Traditions which the Pharisees elevated to be as binding as the Law itself. By doing so, they lost the true intent of the Torah, the Law. The Pharisees (and the Sadducees) had turned obeying the Mosaic Law into a list of dos and don’ts rather than about the condition of one’s heart. They taught that the doing was what made one righteous rather than an actual change of heart. Jesus was teaching the original intent of Torah, the Mosaic Law, was to expose the condition of one’s heart. Following the Law was to be a response of realizing one’s heart condition. The Pharisees were putting the cart before the horse, so to speak.

If we go back to Leviticus, we find there were eight different types of offerings required under the Mosaic Law. Why so many? What was their purpose? Did Jesus really fulfill all of them? How did he do that, and for what purpose was he to fulfill them?

To answer these questions, we need to look at each of these different types of sacrifices, their requirements, and what they represented. I think you’ll see that each addresses a matter of the heart. Each sacrifice was to be a response to a change in heart.

Let’s look at each of these sacrifices individually. I have covered them previously in another series of blog posts (Leviticus), but our emphasis in this discussion will be slightly different. I hope you join me as we discuss how Jesus Christ fulfilled each of these types of offerings and how each relates to our accepting him today.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

There are many who feel the Old Testament is quite passé and irrelevant for us today. Yet such a belief couldn’t be farther from the truth. Let’s go over some of these thoughts and see if we can decipher the legitimacy of the rationale behind them.

It is sometimes stated that the Old Testament is about something that happened so long ago that the stories and information have no relevance for us today. The apostle Paul had a different opinion about this: “Now these things [Old Testament teachings] occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did (1Co 10:6). So, since God does not change (Ml 3:6), then how God acted in the examples provided in the Old Testament can be used to help guide our actions today as well.

Some say that God in the Old Testament was a vengeful God and quite different from the God of love portrayed to us in the New Testament. Yet is that really true? Have you actually read why God made certain decisions he did in the Old Testament? Also, consider that the Old Testament covers things that happened over a 4000-year time span whereas the New Testament covers only a period of less than 100 years. Therefore, you would have far more examples to draw from in the Old Testament as to how God acts than you do in the New Testament. I have talked about this in more detail in a previous post (Is God a God of Wrath?). I think the bottom line is that there are eventual consequences to one’s sin and God, while longsuffering, will eventually declare a reckoning to be done. This was true of both Gentiles (e.g., he gave the Amorites 500 years before their reckoning came [Gn 15:13-16]) as well as the Israelites (e.g., both the northern kingdom of Israel [2Ki 17:6] and the southern kingdom of Judah [25:11] were taken captive by foreigners) because of their disobedience to God. This will also be true in our future as well, which some call the time of Jacob’s Trouble (Jr 30:7) or the time of the Tribulation (Mt 24:21; Rv 7:14).

Some say the Old Testament was about Israel, but the New Testament Church has replaced her within God’s plan, so the Old Testament is irrelevant for us today. But is that really the case? The apostle Paul seems to disagree with this assessment. God has not rejected Israel (Ro 11:1) and at a future date, all of Israel will be saved (Ro 11:26). God has a plan for both the nation of Israel and his Church, his bride. This is somewhat explained in a previous post (Gentiles – World View). God’s plan for us and the entire world is far greater than we can imagine and his love for all of mankind is also greater than we can imagine.

There is another point to make about the connection between the Old Testament and New Testament. There is a saying attributed to St. Augustine: The Old Testament is the New Testament concealed; the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed. This is quite literally true. There are many prophecies in the Old Testament about the Jew’s coming Messiah. The New Testament reveals all these prophecies were fulfilled in Jesus Christ (see Prophecies of the Messiah).

Others argue Jesus made the Old Testament null and void at his coming. Yet Jesus stated that he did not come to abolish the Mosaic Law but to fulfill it in exact detail (Mt 5:17-18). The apostle Paul agreed with this when he said, “Christ is the culmination of the law so that here may be righteousness for everyone who believes” (Ro 10:4). Because Jesus Christ fulfilled the law, we are reconciled to God and are now declared righteous because of his actions on the cross. Jesus was everything the Mosaic Law required and fulfilled all the requirements necessary. He became the culmination of the Mosaic Law requirements.

So, you can see that the Old Testament is really important for us today just as is the New Testament. Without understanding the former we can’t truly appreciate the latter. Jesus is on every page of both the Old Testament and the New Testament, so it’s likely we need to understand how the Old Testament pointed to him and how the New Testament reveals him. We’ll be exploring this fact over the next several posts. I hope you join me.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens