Leviticus, Chapter 1
Remembering that it was the Levites who were the priests, those who served at God's altar, the book of Levi might be described as a book pertaining to the rules and regulations, the laws concerning serving God. It does not just outline what the priests must do, but involves instruction for the laity as well.
"If the offering is a burnt offering from the herd, you shall offer a male without blemish..." (vs 3) This instruction is to remind us that we are not to be bringing leftovers (what is useless to us) as an offering to God. It is to be the best of the best - without blemish. How many of us when buying a gift for a loved one spends hours thinking about what to give them and then even more time shopping for that gift in order to give them the best gift that you can possibly give them? But, when it is time to bring our offerings to the Lord - the God who created us, the God who saved us from ourselves - it is the leftovers?
One of the questions I often ponder is why God would want burnt offerings in the first place. I have no real answers - just conjecture. First of all maybe it is in part to see how faithful we are. Are we willing to give Him the best of all that he has first given us? And why burnt offerings? I'm not convinced that a slaughter house or burning entrails gives off an odor that most of us would find pleasing. But, apparently, God does, at least according to verse 9. And... why turn the whole of the offering into smoke? Was that in some fashion suppose to be a transformation of the offering from the physical world to the spiritual world (kingdom) of God. After all, it was in a cloud and fire that he often appeared to the Israelites and not in a form that one could actually touch.
Leviticus I think will be a challenge as we try to understand the world and the ways of the Israelites so we can put all these rituals into perspective. May God give us a clearer understanding of their meaning for the Israelites and hopefully for us overall as well.
Remembering that it was the Levites who were the priests, those who served at God's altar, the book of Levi might be described as a book pertaining to the rules and regulations, the laws concerning serving God. It does not just outline what the priests must do, but involves instruction for the laity as well.
"If the offering is a burnt offering from the herd, you shall offer a male without blemish..." (vs 3) This instruction is to remind us that we are not to be bringing leftovers (what is useless to us) as an offering to God. It is to be the best of the best - without blemish. How many of us when buying a gift for a loved one spends hours thinking about what to give them and then even more time shopping for that gift in order to give them the best gift that you can possibly give them? But, when it is time to bring our offerings to the Lord - the God who created us, the God who saved us from ourselves - it is the leftovers?
One of the questions I often ponder is why God would want burnt offerings in the first place. I have no real answers - just conjecture. First of all maybe it is in part to see how faithful we are. Are we willing to give Him the best of all that he has first given us? And why burnt offerings? I'm not convinced that a slaughter house or burning entrails gives off an odor that most of us would find pleasing. But, apparently, God does, at least according to verse 9. And... why turn the whole of the offering into smoke? Was that in some fashion suppose to be a transformation of the offering from the physical world to the spiritual world (kingdom) of God. After all, it was in a cloud and fire that he often appeared to the Israelites and not in a form that one could actually touch.
Leviticus I think will be a challenge as we try to understand the world and the ways of the Israelites so we can put all these rituals into perspective. May God give us a clearer understanding of their meaning for the Israelites and hopefully for us overall as well.
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