Will My Barbecue Suffice to deliver the Old Testament Sacrifices?

Leviticus 7:37-38:

³⁷ This is the law of the burnt offering, the grain offering and the sin offering and the guilt offering and the ordination offering and the sacrifice of peace offerings,³⁸ which the Lord commanded Moses at Mount Sinai in the day that He commanded the sons of Israel to present their offerings to the Lord in the wilderness of Sinai.

Thoughts on the Passage

The concluding two verses of Leviticus 7 simply name the five key sacrifices or offerings that the Israelites had to make and keep on a regular basis.

We note the following: These were ‘commanded’ by God at Mount Sinai through His servant Moses. And Moses was to pass that commandment on to the sons of Israel – they had to present their offerings to God “in the wilderness of Sinai”.

So, one can, if they try hard enough find solace in the fact that these offerings or practices were demanded of the Israelites – notice it does not say “this is a commandment for all who believe on Jehovah God”.  Second, they were to be practiced “in the wilderness of Sinai”. Many of us are in a wilderness, but it’s not Sinai.

So, relax, it’s okay if you don’t keep all these observances.  But here is what you can’t get away from – you can’t get away from the need to come to God for the same reasons that the Israelites offered these sacrifices. For example:

·      You come to God atoning for your sins and the sins of your people against the Lord and dedicating your life before Him – the purpose of the burnt offering.

·      You come to God offering your gifts, financial and otherwise, dedicating your entire life to a willingness to give and to be generous – the purpose of the grain offering.

·      You come to God asking forgiveness for your intentional and unintentional sins – the purpose of the sin offering.

·      You come to God expressing your desire for both peace and communion between you (a sinner) and God (Holy and righteous) in a form of praise and worship – the purpose of the peace or thanksgiving offering.

·      You come to God and then to man making wrong acts right to the best of your ability – the purpose of the trespass or guilt offering.

Okay, so you don’t an altar table at your home and you can’t regularly find the appropriate animals to sacrifice as God commanded the Israelites to do – but you can still worship and honour God with your time and relationship, expressing the same attitudes and worship that He wanted His people Israel to express through their sacrificial system.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.