“These, then, are the regulations for the burnt offering, the grain offering, the sin offering, the guilt offering, the ordination offering and the fellowship offering, which the Lord gave Moses at Mount Sinai in the Desert of Sinai on the day he commanded the Israelites to bring their offerings to the Lord.” (Leviticus 7:37–38, NIV)
In the first seven chapters of Leviticus, we’re introduced to five offerings:
- Burnt offering
- Grain offering
- Fellowship offering
- Sin offering
- Guilt offering
Burnt Offering
This offering of an animal sacrifice was burned up completely to the Lord to atone for sins. It was a bull, or, for those who did not have a bull, it was a sheep or goat. Or, for those who did not have a sheep or goat, it was birds. Anyone could worship through giving this offering; being poor was not an excuse.
Unlike the other offerings, the priest kept nothing from the burnt offering, and the worshipper kept nothing from the burnt offering. God consumed it all. Why? Because worship is not first and foremost a consumer act. When we come before the Lord in worship, our expectation shouldn’t be only that we would be “fed.” We also need to give our best.
“When we come before the Lord in worship, our expectation shouldn’t be only that we would be “fed.” We also need to give our best.”
Grain Offering
This offering was given after the burnt offering as an expression of thanks to God for his blessing and provision. God owns everything, and so the Israelites gave back a portion of what he had given them. Some was burned up as a gift to God; some was given to the priests for food since they did not have their own land to provide their own food.
Consider this: If the heart of an old covenant worshipper was moved to give a grain offering of thankfulness because an animal had just been provided to atone for their sins, how much more should we be moved to give, knowing that Christ has died for our forgiveness and redemption?
Fellowship Offering
This offering was given as an appeal for peace and fellowship with God, because atonement for sins was needed before the worshipper could seek peace with God.
The offering was burned following the burnt offering for atonement. The fat of the animal was then given to God as it was considered the best part. The breast and right thigh were given to the priest. The rest of the animal was for the worshipper to be able to eat as a communal meal with his family and anyone else he invited—having fellowship with God after receiving atonement for sins. This type of grateful fellowship is pictured today in our communion service:
“Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf. Consider the people of Israel: Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar?” (1 Corinthians 10:16-18, NIV)
“This type of grateful fellowship is pictured today in our communion service.”
Sin Offering
The directive for the sin offering varied based on who had sinned. Leviticus gives instructions for when a priest sins, when the congregation as a whole sins, when a leader of the community or tribe sins, and when a common Israelite individual sins.
Sin basically means “to miss the mark,” and the sin offering dealt with this shortcoming when it was unintentional or inadvertent—perhaps committed due to ignorance of God’s command or just because of human weakness. (There is a difference between those who sin “unintentionally” and those who know God’s will and just don’t care.) If the priest or the whole congregation sinned, the offering had to be burned outside the camp, thus picturing sin’s infectious nature. It needed to be removed from the spiritual leadership and the spiritual community so that it did not spread.
Guilt Offering
This offering was given to make restitution for a sin that resulted in tangible, quantifiable damage. This is different from the sin offering for wrongdoing that didn’t necessarily have an amount that could be put forward for restitution (such as a sin that hurt someone emotionally, for example).
A lesson here: We can’t “right” every wrong; but when we can, we should. Before this animal sacrifice could be offered, the offender had to make this restitution and add 20% to the loss of the victim. Jesus reiterated the concept of restitution in the New Testament:
“Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.” (Matthew 5:23-24, NIV)
“First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.”
Zacchaeus modeled this repentance:
“But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, ‘Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.'” (Luke 19:8, NIV)
Check out Tina Wilson’s 365-day chronological Bible study Step into Scripture: A Daily Journey to Understanding Your Bible
