ACCEPTANCE WITH GOD

THE BURNT OFFERING (Leviticus 1:1-17) 

A deep felt longing in life is to find acceptance. Dr Garry Collins[1] has this to say about the lack of it. 

   Parents communicate acceptance in a variety of ways; by touching, by spending time with their children, by listening, by discipline, by showing affection. When these clues are missing, or when children are ignored or excessively criticized, they begin to feel worthless. They begin to conclude that they don’t belong  and they either withdraw from others or force themselves on others in a way that brings more rejection. It then becomes difficult to trust people and this inability to trust prevents close relationships from forming.

   We who are older respond in similar ways when we feel unaccepted. Parents who feel they are no longer accepted or wanted by their children, spouses who feel rejected by their mates, pastors who feel unappreciated by their congregations, or employees who feel shunned by their employers and co-workers—all are examples of people who feel unaccepted, not needed, and often lonely.

An even deeper longing is that of our need to find acceptance with God. The people of Israel were able to find acceptance with Him by means of the burnt offering. Can we expect to find in this offering and those that follow, anything of significance for us today? Allen Ross[2], while acknowledging their complexity, tells us that we can.

   The biblical descriptions of sacrifices represent a complex system of ritual worship that is not entirely clear to the modern reader. This is partly due to the texts legislating and describing activities that span centuries, naturally involving change and developing within the prescribed ritual. It is also due to the biblical accounts not explaining the meaning of much of the material, apparently assuming that people would either know by experience or learn through Levitical instruction the reasons for all the details (Deuteronomy 33:10, Malachi 2:7). For us, what has been made clear in Scripture provides a framework for the interpretation of the details … All the sacrifices that were given to Israel find their fulfilment in the death of the Son of God on the cross—that was the plan all along … And in the fullness of time their true significance became clear in God’s plan of redemption. 

As we come now to explore the features of the burnt offering, let’s look for elements in it that will point us forward to the sacrificial death of Christ. If we look carefully we may be able to see in the burnt offering, “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29b). The first thing we notice is that the offering is … 

PROVIDED FROM AMONG THE PEOPLE 

The offering was to come from among the people—from the cattle, sheep, or bird life on their properties. 

   The LORD called Moses from the Tabernacle and said to him, ‘Give the following instructions to the Israelites: Whenever you present offerings to the LORD, you must bring animals from your flocks and herds. (vs. 2). 

‘From your flocks and herds.’ Is it too much of a semantic leap to be reminded by these words that the Saviour has come from among us? He took on manhood so that he could die as one of us. John tells us, “So the Word became human and lived here on earth among us.” (John 1:14). And Paul writes … 

   Though he was God, he did not demand and cling to his rights as God. He made himself nothing; he took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form. And in human form he obediently humbled himself even further by dying a criminal’s death on a cross. (Philippians 2:6-8). 

   The offering was also to be … 

WITHOUT ANY KIND OF DEFECT 

The people needed to choose the offering carefully. It was to be without a blemish of any sort. We take this to mean in temperament as well as physically. The Lord gives this further instruction to Moses to pass on to the people. 

   If the offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he is to offer a male without defect. He must present it at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting so that it will be acceptable to the LORD …

   If the offering is a burnt offering from the flock, from either the sheep or the goats, he is to offer a male without defect. (vs. 3, 10 NIV). 

Once again we can see Christ in this offering. He too was without defect of any kind. Both in his body and in his inner self. Those who wrote of him recognised his total perfection. 

   For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:21).

   For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And the ransom he paid was not mere gold or silver. He paid for you with the precious lifeblood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. God chose him for this purpose long before the world began, but now in these last days, he was sent to the earth for all to see. And he did this for you. (1 Peter 1:18-20).

   For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. (Hebrews 4:15 NIV).

   The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremoniously unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God. (Hebrews 9:13-14 NIV). 

Peter mentions that God had planned ‘long before the world began’ that Christ would become the sacrificial offering for sin. John writes of him as ‘the lamb who was killed before the world was made.’ (Revelation 13:8b). This is why we can say that God saw the sacrificial death of his son in the sacrificial offerings brought by the people of Israel. It is why we too may see Christ in them. The coming death of Christ cast its shadow over those former offerings. The New Testament writer puts it this way … 

   The old system in the law of Moses was only a shadow of the things to come, not the reality of the good things Christ has done for us. The sacrifices under the old system were repeated again and again, year after year, but they were never able to provide perfect cleansing for those who came to worship   …

   But our High Priest offered himself to God as one sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then he sat down at the place of highest honour at God’s right hand. (Hebrews 10:1, 12). 

Forgiveness was still possible under the former system of offerings however, because of the shadow cast over them, in the mind of God, by the cross of Christ. He saw in them the sacrificial death of Christ.

And now we see that the offering was  … 

ACCEPTED AS A PERSONAL SUBSTITUTE 

A person could identify with the offering and appropriate the acceptance it brought with God by laying hands on it. 

   Lay your hands on its head so the LORD will accept it as your substitute … (vs. 4a). 

What is a substitute? The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines a substitute as ‘a person performing some function instead of another,’ or ‘something put in exchange for something else.’ In the burnt offering, the animal was being put to death instead of the person. Why? Because the penalty for sin is death. The penalty was announced in the garden of Eden and remains to this day. 

   The LORD God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and to care for it. But the LORD God gave him this warning. ‘You may freely eat any fruit in the garden except fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat of its fruit, you will surely die.’ (Genesis 2:15-17). 

   The person who sins will be the one who dies. (Ezekiel 18:4). 

   For the wages of sin is death … (Romans 6:23). 

As God’s plan of salvation unfolds it becomes clear that Christ’s death was one of substitution. He died in our place—we who are under the sentence of death because of our sins. He bore the death penalty for us.  

   Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God for his own sins! But he was wounded and crushed for our sins. He was beaten that we might have peace. He was whipped, and we were healed! All of us have strayed away like lost sheep. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the LORD laid on him the guilt and sins of us all. (Isaiah 53:4-6). 

   But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s judgement. (Romans 5:8-9). 

   Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us. (1 Corinthians 5:7). 

The reason for the burnt offering is now mentioned. It was … 

TO MAKE ATONEMENT 

Laying hands on the burnt offering was the way people showed that they believed the sacrifice was being made on their behalf. It was an indication of faith. Faith brought the assurance that their sins were now atoned for—the sacrifice accepted as being in their place. 

   Lay your hands on its head so the LORD will accept it as your substitute, thus making atonement for you. (vs. 4). 

How are we to understand the term ‘atonement’? The Hebrew word is kaphar. Its basic meaning is ‘to cover’. It is derived from the word kopher, ‘the price of a life, a ransom.’ Based on the meaning of these two Hebrew words, Charles Swindoll[3] defines atonement this way. 

ATONEMENT: An all-inclusive word that describes, in general, all that Jesus Christ accomplished by his death on the cross. The term is found only in the Old Testament, where it means ‘to cover’ and carries with it the thought of putting sin out of sight, covering it over by blood. The New Testament counterpart for this term is redemption, as found in Romans 3:24 and Ephesians 1:7). 

Closely associated with the notion of redemption found in the word atonement, is the concept of God’s anger being satisfied by means of the sacrificial offering. Paul brings the two aspects together in one of his letters. Older translations use the word ‘propitiation’ in these sentences. The phrase, ‘to satisfy God’s anger against us’, found here in the New Living Translation which follows, gives us the actual meaning of the word. 

   For all have sinned and come short of God’s glorious standard. Yet now God in his gracious kindness declares us not guilty. He has done this through Christ Jesus, who has freed [redeemed] us by taking away our sins. For God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to satisfy God’s anger against us. (Romans 3:23-25a). 

It should be remembered that God is perfect in the expression of all his emotions whereas we are imperfect. In expressing his wrath he remains holy. We are anything but perfect in the expression of ours. John Stott[4] writes … 

   The reason why propitiation is necessary is that sin arouses the wrath of God. This does not mean, (as animists fear) that he is likely to fly off the handle at the most trivial  provocation, still less that he loses his temper for no apparent reason at all. For there is nothing capricious or arbitrary about the holy God. Nor is he ever irascible, malicious, spiteful or vindictive. His anger is neither mysterious or irrational. It is never unpredictable, but always predictable, because it is provoked by evil and evil alone. The wrath of God … is his steady, unrelenting, unremitting, uncompromising antagonism to evil in all its forms and manifestations. In short, God’s anger is poles apart from ours. What provokes our anger (injured vanity) never provokes his; what provokes his anger (evil) seldom provokes ours. 

The atonement made possible by the burnt offering has been fully realised in the sacrificial death of Christ. As John explains ... 

   My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defence—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2:1-2 NIV). 

It is important to remember that it is God who takes the initiative in all of this. The atoning sacrifice in both the burnt offering and Christ’s sacrificial death is the gift of God. It is he who is making the atoning sacrifice, not us. It is not presented by us. It is given on our behalf by God. John Stott[5] writes …

   In a pagan context it is always human beings who seek to avert the divine anger either by the meticulous performance of rituals, or by the recitation of magical formulae, or by the offering of sacrifices (vegetable, animal, or even human). Such practices are thought to placate the offended deity. But the gospel begins with the outspoken assertion that nothing we can do, say, offer or even contribute can compensate for our sins or turn away God’s anger. There is no possibility of persuading, cajoling or bribing God to forgive us, for we deserve nothing at his hands but judgement. Nor, as we have seen, has Christ by his sacrifice prevailed on God to pardon us. No the initiative has been taken by God himself in his sheer mercy and grace.

   This was already clear in the Old Testament, in which the sacrifices were recognized not as human works but as divine gifts. They did not make God gracious; they were provided by a gracious God in order that he night act graciously towards his sinful people. ‘I have given it to you’, God said of the sacrificial blood, ‘to make atonement for yourselves on the altar’ (Leviticus 17:11). And this truth is yet more plainly recognized in the New Testament, not least in the three main texts about propitiation[6]. God himself ‘presented’ (NIV) or ‘put forward’ (RSV) Jesus Christ as a propitiatory sacrifice (Romans 3:25). It is not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a propitiation for our sins (1 John 4:10). It cannot be emphasised too strongly that God’s love is the source, not the consequence of the atonement. As P. T Forsyth[7] expressed it, ‘the atonement did not procure grace, it flowed from grace.’ God does not love us because Christ died for us; Christ died for us because God loved us. If it is God’s wrath which needed to be propitiated, it is God’s love which did the propitiating. 

And now we notice that the burnt offering is said to be … 

PLEASING TO THE LORD 

After the animal is slain its blood is sprinkled on the sides of the altar. After it is skinned and cut into pieces the whole is placed on the wood fire burning on the altar. 

   Then the priests will burn the entire sacrifice on the altar. It is a whole burnt offering made by fire, very pleasing to the LORD. (vs. 9b. cf. vs. 13b, 17b). 

What was it about the burnt offering that pleased the Lord? Taking the words of David as being spoken prophetically by Christ, a New Testament writer explains that it is not the sacrifice itself that the Lord is pleased with. 

   For it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. That is why Christ, when he came into the world said,

   “You did not want animal sacrifices and grain offerings. But you have given me a body so that I may obey you.

   No, you were not pleased with animals burned on the altar or with other offerings for sin.

   Then I said, ‘Look, I have come to do your will, O God—just as it is written about me in the Scriptures.’ ”

   Christ said, “You did not want animal sacrifices or grain offerings or animals burned on the altar or other offerings for sin, nor were you pleased with them,” though they are required by the law of Moses. (Hebrews 10:4-8. cf. Psalm 40:6-8). 

No, it is not the burnt offering itself that is pleasing to the Lord. It is what happens as the result of the substitutionary sacrifice that pleases him—the forgiveness of sins and the acceptance of the sinner that he is able to offer to the sinner. He is also pleased to see the faith of the person bringing the offering. 

   “… it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him  must believe that there is a God and that he rewards those who sincerely  seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6). 

David understood this as he realised the sinfulness of his recent life style and sought forgiveness from the Lord. 

   Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me … You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. (Psalm 51:10, 16-17 NIV). 

We may now be wondering what the people’s response to the Lord’s instructions concerning the burnt offering may have been. In such a large community it can be expected that there would have been … 

A DIVERSITY OF VIEWS AMONG THE PEOPLE 

A Superior Attitude 

The offerings brought by the poor were just as acceptable to the Lord as those brought by the wealthy. But some of the more prosperous who brought a sacrifice from their extensive herds may have been tempted to look down on those who brought an offering from their flocks or the person who had only a bird to bring. They may have thought that they were superior because of the size of their farms. An attitude like this could so easily lead to acts of discrimination in the community. Like that which arose among the Christians who James wrote to. 

   My dear brothers and sisters how can you claim that you have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favour some people more than others?

   For instance, suppose someone comes into your meeting dressed in fancy clothes and expensive jewelry, and another comes in who is poor and dressed in shabby clothes. If you give special attention and a good seat to the rich person, but you say to the poor one, ‘You can stand over there, or else sit on the floor’—well, doesn’t this discrimination show that you are guided by wrong motives? (James 2:1-4) 

People may sometimes feel superior because of the Christian leaders they follow or the denomination they belong to. Paul warned the members of the church in Corinth that this was happening among them. 

   You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. Doesn’t that prove you are controlled by your own desires? You are acting like people who don’t belong to the Lord. When one of you says, ‘I am a follower of Paul,’ and another says, ‘I prefer Apollos,’ aren’t you acting like those who are not Christians?

   Who is Apollos, and who is Paul, that we should be the cause of such quarrels? Why, we were only servants. Through us God caused you to believe. Each of us did the work the Lord gave us …

   Dear brothers and sisters, I have used Apollos and myself to illustrate what I have saying. If you pay attention to the Scriptures, you won’t brag about one of your leaders at the expense of another. What makes you better than anyone else? What do you have that God hasn’t given you? And if all you have is from God, why boast as though you have accomplished something on your own? (1 Corinthians 3:3b-5, 4:6-7).

Some may feel superior because of the gifts they have been given, forgetting that different gifts[8] are given to different people according to the ministry they are called to. No particular gift makes one person superior to the other. This is why Paul offers this advice … 

   For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgement, in accordance of the measure of faith God has given you. Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts according to the grace given us. (Romans 12:3-6a). 

 While some may have felt superior in their affluence some may even have thought that … 

Any Old Offering Will Do 

The animals offered were to be in perfect condition. But some people in going out into the fields to make their selection may have spotted a sickly looking one and thought to themselves, that one is half dead anyway, it will do for the offering. Like those of Malachi’s time when the Lord said to them … 

   “You have despised my name by offering defiled sacrifices on my altar. Then you ask, ‘How have we defiled the sacrifices’?

   You defile them by saying the altar of the LORD deserves no respect. When you give blind animals as sacrifices, isn’t that wrong? And isn’t it wrong to offer animals that are crippled or diseased? Try giving gifts like that to your governor, and see how pleased he is!” says the LORD Almighty. 

There are also those today who think that any religious system will give them access to God. But the Scriptures make it clear that the only way is the way prescribed by the Lord. Paul insists that Jesus Christ is that way. 

   I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. As you make your requests, plead for God’s mercy upon them, and give thanks. Pray this way for kings and all others who are in authority, so that we can live in peace and quietness, in godliness and dignity. This is good and pleases God our Saviour, for he wants everyone to be saved and understand the truth. For there is only one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and people. He is the man Christ Jesus. He gave his life to purchase freedom  for everyone. This is the message that God gave to the world at the proper time. (1 Timothy 2:1-6). 

   And Jesus himself made it clear to Thomas that he was the only way. 

   “And you know where I am going and how to get there.”

   “No, we don’t know, Lord,’ Thomas said. “We don’t have any idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

   Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” (John 14:4-6). 

   Peter made known to the leaders and elders of the nation of Israel his certainty that what Jesus claimed of himself was true.

   Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Leaders and elders of our nation … Jesus is the one referred to in the Scriptures, where it says,

   ‘The stone that you builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.’[9]

   There is salvation in no one else! There is no other name in all of heaven for people to call on to save them.” (Acts 4:8, 11-12). 

   Others among the people may have fallen into the ways of … 

Religious Syncretism 

Some may have adopted some of the ways the Canaanites thought of the sacrifices they offered to their gods—thinking that following the prescribed rituals would give the sacrifices magical and manipulative powers and so bring them material prosperity. Some, like those who offered pagan sacrifices, may even have begun to think that in presenting the burnt offering they were actually giving the Lord food to eat. This possibility may suggest why some years later, the Lord said to his people ... 

   “O my people, listen as I speak. Here are my charges against you, O Israel: I am God, your God! I have no complaint about your sacrifices or the burnt offerings you constantly bring to my altar. But I want no more bulls from your barns; I want no more goats from your pens.

   For all the animals of the forest are mine, and I own the cattle on a thousand hills. Every bird of the mountains and all the animals of the field belong to me.

   If I were hungry, I would not mention it to you, for all the world is mine and everything in it. I don’t need the bulls you sacrifice; I don’t need the blood of your goats. What I want instead is your true thanks to God; I want you to fulfil your vows to the Most High.

   Trust me in your times of trouble and I will rescue you, and you will give me glory.” (Psalm 50:7-15). 

Others may have thought it would be a good idea to mix what they considered to be the good elements of the Canaanite rituals with theirs. Just like those who merge the concepts of philosophers and other religious systems with their Christian faith. It seems that religious syncretism created the climate for false teaching to trouble the church in Colosse. Both Judaism and the Gnosticism arising from Greek philosophy had become entwined with Christian truth in the teaching of the false teachers who were troubling the members of the church. Herbert Carson[10] writes … 

   The resultant religious amalgam is an attempt to advance beyond apostolic Christianity. There is no suggestion that Christ is openly rejected. He still has a place; but only as one among many angelic powers.

Paul wrote to the church to help them discern some of these errors. 

   So we have continued praying for you ever since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete understanding of what he wants to do in your lives, and we ask him to make you wise with spiritual wisdom. Then the way you live will always honour and please the Lord, and you will continually do good, kind things for others. All the while, you will learn to know God better and better … 

   And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to live in obedience to him. Let your roots grow down into him and draw up nourishment from him, so you will grow in faith, strong and vigorous in the truth you were taught. Let your lives overflow with thanksgiving for all he has done.

   Don’t let anyone lead you astray with empty philosophy and high sounding nonsense that comes from human thinking and from the evil powers of this world, and not from Christ. For in Christ the fullness of God lives in a human body, and you are complete through your union with Christ. He is the Lord over every ruler and authority in the universe. (Colossians 1:9-10, 2:6-10). 

This is good counsel for all who have strayed into religious syncretism, thinking that they have ‘advanced beyond apostolic Christianity’. 

In exploring the procedures for the burnt offering we have discovered the ways in which it is … 

A TYPE OF THE SACRIFICIAL DEATH OF CHRIST 

‘Type’ is the term given to refer to something that presents a picture of or represents something else. Allen Ross[11] defines the term. 

   Typology is a divinely prefigured illustration of a corresponding reality. It is a form of prophecy, but whereas direct prophecy announces its intent from the beginning, typology is not discernible as prophecy until it is fulfilled. Once it is fulfilled, once Jesus died as a sacrifice for sin, then one can look back and see how God prepared for it with this revelation. 

Ross[12] then goes on to point out the ways in which the burnt offering presents us with a type of the sacrificial death of Christ. 

    For the Christian the burnt offering carries even greater theological significance. because of the typology involved with the sacrifice, Christians know that the revelation of the burnt offering pointed to the sacrifice of Jesus, the promised Messiah, “whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins.” (Romans 3:25). In line with the burnt offering, the death of Christ on the cross completely satisfied the wrath of God against all sin. When Jesus was lifted up between heaven and earth, his blood was shed as a visible sign that his life had been given as a ransom (Matthew 20:28). Just as the animal in Israel’s rite had to be without blemish, so Jesus “did no sin” (1 Peter 2:22); thus we have been redeemed “with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” (1 Peter 2:22). By his oblation Jesus presents us spotless before the throne (Ephesians 5:27). And as with the requirement of the burnt offering, no one can come into the presence of God the Father except through the sacrifice he has provided, even Jesus Christ, his Son.

   In ancient Israel, faith was demonstrated by bringing the sacrifice and placing a hand on it. In the church today a Christian is someone who has appropriated the sacrifice of Christ by faith and is therefore said to be “in Christ.” Consequently, Christians have favour with God because of the merits of the shed blood of the Lamb of God. This is the eternal plan of God, revealed first in the law of the burnt offering and fulfilled in the sacrificial death of the Messiah, namely, that all who draw near to God on the basis of his atoning sacrifice made once and for all have been accepted by God, forever.

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