Sacrifice

Types of Sacrifice

• All types of sacrifices are called a “soothing aroma”
• Leviticus 17
  • Tabernacle only (where God is)
  • Blood is never eaten, but poured out
  • “The life is in the blood” (Hebrews 9:22)
  • A small part of blood is used to anoint.
  • Fat and kidneys are burned except for the daily or special “whole burnt offering.”
• Peace offering (Leviticus 3)
  • Sealing a promise (Exodus 24:5, Leviticus 9:4, 23:19, Hebrews 9:18 – 20)
  • Fulfilling a vow (Leviticus 22:21, Numbers 6:14)
  • Reminder to God (Numbers 10:10)
  • Thanksgiving (Leviticus 7:11 – 15)
  • Freewill (Leviticus 7:16 – 18)
  • Grain offering (Leviticus 2)
  • Called Thank, Freewill, Votive, Heave, Wave, or Meal offering
• Sacrifice
  • Sin offering, also called guilt or meal offering (Leviticus 4:1 – 6:7, 6:24 – 7:10)
    • Unintentional sin by a priest (Leviticus 4:1 – 3)
    • Unintentional sin by the nation (Leviticus 4:13 – 14)
    • Unintentional sin by a common person (Leviticus 4:27 – 29, 5:14 – 19)
    • Other sins (Leviticus 5:1 – 13, 6:1 – 7)
    • Consecration (Exodus 29:36, Leviticus 8:2)
    • Yom Kippur (Leviticus 16:22)
    • Burnt Offering: a type of sin offering (also whole burnt or daily offering)
      • As a reminder to God (Numbers 10:10)
      • Continual (Numbers 28 – 29)
      • Unintentional sin by a leader (Leviticus 4:22 – 26, Numbers 15:22 – 24)
      • Consecration of priest (Leviticus 8)
      • Consecration of people (Leviticus 9)
      • Cleanness (Leviticus 12:6, 14:13, 15:15, 15:30)
      • All festivals (Leviticus 23:37)

Summary:

• Peace offering: Consecration and thanks
• Burnt offering: A reminder to people and to God of our consecration
• Sin offering: Atonement. The Israelites lived all over Israel, so many were more than a day’s walk from the tabernacle or Temple. Some were a week away. So, Israelites did not go to the tabernacle or Temple at every occurrence of sin, or many would be on the road constantly. Rather, the sin offering for an ordinary person was offered at one of the three major festivals, along with a peace offering. These were times of rejoicing, not mourning.
• Shared with others
• In the presence of God

Technical Data:

1. The same generic Hebrew word is used for peace offerings, the Passover lamb, burnt offerings, and sin offerings. The same word is used in Hosea 6:6 (quoted by Matthew 9:13, 12:7) and Psalm 40:6 (quoted by Hebrews 10:5, 8). No argument can be made based on which word was used. The context is the only clue concerning which type of sacrifice is referenced.
2. The same Greek word as in Matthew 9:13, 12:7, Hebrews 10:5, 8 is used in the New Testament to describe sin offerings (Hebrews 5:1, 7:27, 8:3, 9:9, 10:1, 10:3, 10:6, 10:11 ), Abel’s sacrifice (Hebrews 11:4), and temple sacrifices (Luke 13:1). Again, no argument can be made based on word choice. The context tells the type.
3. The same Greek word is used of:

• Christians (Romans 12:1, Philippians 2:17)
• Jesus (Ephesians 5:2, 1 Corinthians 5:7, Hebrews 9:23, 9:26, 10:12, 10:26)
• A gift (Philippians 4:18)
• Praise (Hebrews 13:15)
• Doing good and sharing (Hebrews 13:16)
• General Christian activities (1 Peter 2:5)

4. When an inspired writer is being poetic or wants to include all types of sacrifices, the phrase “sacrifice and offering” may be used (Hebrews 10:5, 8, quoting Psalm 40:6).
5. When Paul brought offerings for himself and four others, the exact type was not specified. If this were part of a Nazirite vow, the offerings were both sin and burnt offerings, perhaps including grain, drink, peace, wave, and heave offerings (Number 6:2 – 21). If the offerings were for some other type of uncleanness, the ritual would include sin and burnt offerings. There is not enough detail in Acts to establish a context. Offering is used in a generic sense.
6. The same Greek word as is used for grain offering (Hebrews 10:6, 8) is used for:

• Paul’s offering of the Gentiles (Romans 15:16)
• Jesus (Ephesians 5:2, Hebrews 10:14)
• Offering for sin (Hebrews 10:18)

7. Applications of sacrifices made concerning Jesus:

• Yom Kippur (2 Corinthians 5:21)
• Passover (1 Corinthians 5:7)
• Peace and sin offering (Ephesians 5:2)
• Cleansed heaven (Hebrews 9:23)
• Blood atonement (Hebrews 9:25, 10:12)
• Participation (1 Corinthians 10:16 – 21)
• Reminder (1 Corinthians 11:23 – 27)

8. Applications of sacrifices made concerning Christians:

• Evangelism (Romans 15:16)
• Praise (Hebrews 13:15)
• Doing good and sharing (Hebrews 13:16, Philippians 4:18)
• General Christian activities (1 Peter 2:5)
• Faith (Philippians 2:17)
• Our bodies (Romans 12:1)

Applications made in the New Testament of the Mosaic sacrificial system:

1. Specific comparisons are not made in the New Testament concerning heave or wave offerings.
2. Wave offerings are called such because they are waved before God, then given to the priest (Numbers 18:8 – 20). Heave offerings and wave offerings seem to be together. Usually the distinction is by weight (hard to wave a quarter of a calf), but at least once the heave offering is just a loaf of bread (Leviticus 7:14), but it could be a lot of loaves. In one place, only heave offerings are mentioned (Numbers 15:17 – 21), but I can see no distinction. Perhaps wave offerings are sheaves and heave offerings are products.

At Aaron’s ordination (Exodus 29:24 – 28, Leviticus 8:22 – 29)

Peace offering (Leviticus 7:11 – 34, 9:21)

Grain offerings (Leviticus 10:12 – 15)

Cleansing a leper (Leviticus 14:1 – 32)

Feast of Unleavened Bread, firstfruits (Leviticus 23: 6 – 15)

Feast of Pentecost, firstfruits (Leviticus 23:16 – 21)

Adultery test (Numbers 5:23 – 26)

Nazirite (Numbers 6:13 – 20)

3. Having no inspired commentary, all I can do is speculate. Wave and heave offerings are, in some cases, first fruits. Jesus, Christians, and the indwelling Spirit are all firstfruits.

Jesus is called a first fruit (1 Corinthians 15:20 – 23)

Christians who die before Judgment are called first fruits (James 1:18, Revelation 14:4)

First converts in a region (Romans 16:5, 1 Corinthians 16:15)

We have the first fruits of the Spirit (Romans 8:23)

4. The part of the sacrifice that became the portion of the priest was likened to gifts for those who spread the gospel (1 Corinthians 9:13 – 14)

Income for Levites

• A front quarter of the sacrifices from the consecration of priests became a heave offering, retained by the priests.[1] Peace or thank offerings of grain as fine flour in unleavened cakes was mostly returned to the offeror. None was burned; one cake from each offering was retained by the priest.[2] A front quarter of peace or thank offerings of animals went to the priest.[3]
• Grain offerings as fine flour (less a handful that was burned), or a grain offering as baked goods (less a loaf or two that were burned) went to the priests.[4]
• Sin and burnt offerings brought by the poor (one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour, less a handful which was burnt) went to the priest.[5]
• Sin offerings were retained by the priest.[6] Trespass offerings (less some fat and the kidneys which were burned) were retained by the priests.[7] The hide of the sin and trespass offerings were retained by the priest.[8]
• In connection with a Nazirite vow, the priest retained a boiled shoulder of the sacrificial ram, one unleavened cake, one unleavened wafer, and quarters of two lambs.[9]
• The priests were to receive 1.1% of the spoils of war.[10]

A Few Notes

1. The vast majority of sacrifices were eaten. Only the fat from around the kidneys, and sometimes the kidneys and liver, were burned. The exceptions were the sacrifices for leaders, priests, and the nation, which are called whole burnt offerings.
2. Sin offerings were eaten by the family of the officiating priest.[11]
3. Peace offerings were eaten by the family of the offeror.[12]
4. The butchered sacrifices were washed.[13] In the Temple, they had ten rolling carts with about 240 gallons of water each so as to clean up as they went along.[14] The Temple pavement had channels cut into it to carry away the bloody water so that blood did not accumulate anywhere.[15]
5. Someone claimed that the offeror did not wash for seven days. That is incorrect. That was for soldiers retuning from battle, and they washed on the third day, too.[16] Hygiene was different then. People did not wash very often, so this was more than usual.
6. The priests were the butchers. The offeror only presented it. Amateurs make messes.¹⁵

Hebrew Holidays

Concise References

Leviticus 23                               The feasts

Leviticus 25                               Sabbatical and Jubilee Years

Exodus 23                                  Sabbath

Numbers 28-29                          What sacrifices for which holidays

Deuteronomy 16                        A review

Annual Festivals

Trumpets            Rosh Hashanah           New Year         Sept. 19, 2020

Atonement         Yom Kippur                Fast         Sept. 28, 2020

Tabernacles       Booths                         Ingathering         Sept. 25 – Oct. 1, 2020

Passover                                                          Apr. 20, 2020

Unleavened Bread                                          Apr. 20 – 26, 2020

Pentecost            Harvest                        First Fruits         June 9, 2020

Required attendance for all males at Passover (Unleavened Bread), Pentecost, and Tabernacles (Exodus 23:17, Deuteronomy 16:16).

Seven days were set aside like Sabbaths (no work), as “convocations” to the Lord: Unleavened Bread days 1 and 7, Tabernacles days 1 and 8, Pentecost, Trumpets, and Yom Kippur.

The festivals were designed to celebrate certain things:

Passover                      The Exodus

Unleavened Bread      The haste with which they left Egypt

Barley harvest

No new growth could be eaten before the first sheaf was presented

on that Sunday

Pentecost                     Remember you were a slave, but now harvest in the promised land.

Wheat harvest, new grain offering

Tabernacles                Wilderness wanderings

General harvest

Other Holidays

Hanukah                      Feast of Lights            Dec. 4 – 11, 2019

Rededication of the Temple by the Maccabees

Purim                          March 21, 2020 Esther’s victory

Nicanor                       March 22, 2020 Victory by Nicanor over Syria (1 Maccabees 7:49)

Fast days in connection with the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. (Zech 7:3-5, 8:19)

[1]         Exodus 29:26 – 28

[2]         Leviticus 7:11 – 14

[3]         Leviticus 7:28 – 34, 10:13 – 15, Numbers 18:8 – 20

[4]         Leviticus 2:3 – 10, 6:14 – 18, 7:9 – 10

[5]         Leviticus 5:11 – 13, Numbers 28 – 29

[6]         Leviticus 6:24 – 30

[7]         Leviticus 7:1 – 6, Deuteronomy 18:1 – 8

[8]         Leviticus 7:7 – 8

[9]         Numbers 6:13 – 20

[10]        Numbers 31:25 – 31

[11]        Leviticus 7:6 – 10

[12]        Leviticus 7:15 – 18

[13]        Leviticus 1:9

[14]        1 Kings 7:23 – 39

[15]        Josephus description of the Temple of the first century

[16]        Numbers 31:19 – 24

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