During the time the book of Leviticus was written, most cultures of that day practiced with sacrificial systems. There are three main features to what separated Israel from the rest of the cultures of that day. First, most cultures of that day, especially Mesopotamians, believed that by studying the insides of an animal they could predict the future. This was not present in the Israelites religion. Second, the Israelites sacrificial system was linked to a conventional relationship with their God. Other cultures were not. The sacrifices were a huge component in the covenant bond between Israel and God. Third, there was the concept of holiness tied to the sacrificial system, which none of the other culture did not have. To Israel, “holy” was based on the moral and ethical nature of God.
The first seven chapters of Leviticus describes in detail the five general types of sacrifices. There were many different types of sacrifices through out the Old Testament, and many variations of the ones listed in Leviticus chapters 1 to 7. I believe that these five were the base to all of the sacrifices to come.
The first three sacrifices (burnt, cereal, and peace) are the most common through out the Old testament. Each of these offerings also concludes with the expression, “an offering made by fire an aroma pleasing to the Lord” (1:9, 13, 17; 2:2, 9, 12; 3:5, 16).
Leviticus 1 deals with the burnt offering. The term basically means an offering that goes up. The entire animal was completely burnt up on the altar with its smoke rising towards heaven. Various animals could have been offered, depending on your financiability of what you could afford. The animal had to be a male. This is the oldest form of atonement sacrifice.
The cereal or grain offering is covered in Leviticus 2. The term simply means “gift.“ There was an expiating sense with this offering. This offering was done very frequently with burnt and peace offerings. Also, those that probably used it quite a bit were those who could not afford an animal. So they would do this as there burnt offering.
The third offering is the peace or fellowship offering in chapter 3. This was the most basic form of offerings that were also consumed by humans. This offering was most often done along with the burnt offerings. It had to do more with restoration and reconciliation. This offering could be broken down into three sub-offerings, which were the thanksgiving sacrifice, vowed sacrifice, and freewill offering.
The last two sacrifices are more concerned with the types of sin, weather intentional or unintentional, than they are with the types of animals sacrificed. In chapter 4:1-6:7, there are many places were variations of “the priest shall make atonement on his behalf for his sin, and he shall be forgiven” (4:20, 26, 31, 35; 5:6, 10, etc.). There is a human element in these two offerings which emphasizes the result from the human perspective.
Leviticus 4:1-5:13 explains the sin offering. This offering was carried across four different classes of individuals. They would be priest, congregation, ruler, and individual. There was an emphasis on the act of purification and there was atonement for the offenses that were made against God. This offering did involve ceremonial defilement, deception, misappropriation, and seduction.
The guilt offering is covered in from 5:14-6:7. This is a subcategory of sin offering. Atonement is involved in this, but this offering is devoted to restitution and reparation. The offering generally deals with the profanation of sacred items and violations of a social nature.
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