(2) Five types of sacrifices

 

(2) Five types of sacrifices

① Burnt offering

The burnt offering is the burning of a sacrifice as an atonement for sins, symbolizing the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. The baptism of fire spoken of by Jesus corresponds to this.

Leviticus 1:4-5 "He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be acceptable to him, and it shall be an atonement for him. He shall slaughter the bull before the LORD, and the priests, the sons of Aaron, shall take the blood and sprinkle it on all four sides of the altar at the entrance of the tabernacle."

The act of a sinner laying hands on the head of the burnt offering signifies the transfer of sin. Therefore, the sinner slaughters the animal, and the priest takes the blood and sprinkles it at the entrance of the tabernacle. The sinner's role ends here. What follows is the work of the priests, the descendants of Aaron.

God chose Israel from among all the peoples of the world, gave the people the law, and commanded them to offer sacrifices. Therefore, whenever a sinner broke the law and committed a sin, they performed the act of slaughtering a sacrificial animal and sprinkling blood in this way.

People living in the world today were beings who had turned away from God, but there are those who realize the sin of turning away from God, repent, and return to Him. Therefore, people call them Christians. There are three types among Christians.

The first group consists of those who live under the law. They are those who, although they sought to turn to God, still wish to display their own righteousness. Looking to the Ten Commandments, the representative of the law, they examine themselves to see whether or not they are sinning; if they commit even the slightest sin, they confess it and ask God for forgiveness in the name of Jesus Christ. Then, they believe that they have been forgiven.

This type consists of those who come and go in the courtyard of the tabernacle. They perform the act of laying their hands on the head of the sacrificial animal to transfer sins to it and kill it. That person is demanding the blood of Jesus to receive forgiveness for their sins from God. Therefore, they perform this act whenever they sin. However, they must not violate even a single commandment of the law.

These people tread the courtyard of the tabernacle, yet they are slaves to sin. They are those who fail to discover the promised seed (Christ), the descendant of the woman, and continue to perform only rituals. Ultimately, they cannot be seen as those who have entered into Christ. They are no different from the Jews of Jesus' time. The Jews of that time, especially the Pharisees, believed that keeping the law well would make them righteous, but Jesus called them offspring of vipers.

The second type is the priest. They realize that they have departed from God, repent, and return to Him; however, at first, unable to escape the law, they wander back and forth in the courtyard of the sanctuary. Then, while repeating the act of killing sacrificial animals, they realize that the offering is the seed of the promise, and they become those who discover Jesus Christ who is to come.

Therefore, they are those who realize that "He is the eternal High Priest of Melchizedek whom Abraham met." They have come to understand that their sins are forgiven once and for all through the death of Jesus Christ. They become those who realize that the sacrifice is themselves, and that the sacrifice burning to death means that they themselves are burning to death. Thus, they become those who believe that they, too, have burned to death, just as God brought down judgment by fire upon Sodom and Gomorrah. They become like those who drowned in the flood of Noah's time. This is the baptism of fire and the baptism of water. Those who have been baptized become those who have died with Jesus. The priestly group signifies those in whom a temple has been built within their hearts. When a temple is built within the heart, the Kingdom of God comes upon them.

The third type is the High Priest. The High Priest enters the Most Holy Place once a year to meet God. Moses heard the voice of God in the midst of the burning bush on Mount Horeb. Mount Horeb (Mount Sinai) is like a temple within the hearts of believers. The burning bush symbolizes the human body, and the flames represent the Holy Spirit. Even though it is the body, when the Holy Spirit descends, it becomes a temple. That is why God is present. It becomes Immanuel.

Just as God did for Moses, He allows the saints to have such experiences. The heavens open, God gives revelations through His voice, grants the power of healing, and permits the authority to raise the dead. Jesus' disciples were such people. They were given the grace to know the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven. While this type of person occasionally appears among the saints, there were those who fell into arrogance, believing that they possessed divine power through God's gifts, and strayed into falsehood. They healed diseases and performed miracles, but having fallen into Gnosticism, they considered themselves to be beings possessing divinity.

 

② Grain Offering

The grain offering was a sacrifice primarily offered to express gratitude and devotion to God. It is characterized as the only one of the five major sacrifices offered by the Israelites in the Old Testament era that was offered with grain flour or bread without shedding blood.

Leviticus 2:1-2 “When anyone offers a grain offering to the Lord, he shall make an offering of fine flour, pour oil on it, and put frankincense on it, and bring it to the priests, the sons of Aaron. The priest shall take a handful of the fine flour, the oil, and all the frankincense, and burn it on the altar as a memorial offering; it is a burnt offering, a sweet aroma to the Lord.”

It signifies the whiteness of the grain offering. It is called a grain offering because the flour used in the sacrifice is white. Among the five types of sacrifices, it is the one that does not involve the shedding of blood. Therefore, grain is used in the sacrifice. The grain offering was offered when appointing priests, when building and dedicating the tabernacle, and after a leper was healed. The grain offering is an important expression representing the life of a saint. In other words, it represents the life of a born-again believer clothed in the garments of righteousness.

The grain offering was offered as fine flour. Fine flour is broken and ground, so that the original form disappears, representing the form of one who is born again. In other words, the former has died. As in Romans 6:7, all sin disappears only when one dies. However, in many churches today, believers think that becoming fine flour is achieved through their own determination, suffering, and devotion. Before God, this is not effort, but the surrender of one's own strength.

Oil symbolizes the Holy Spirit. When the old dies as fine flour, He enables us to be born from heaven through the Holy Spirit. In John 3:5, it says, "Jesus answered, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.'"

Frankincense represents fragrant prayer. Prayer is offered to God. In Revelation 8:3, it says, "And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and he received much incense, which was to be offered with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne." There were two altars in the sanctuary: the altar of burnt offerings and the altar of incense; the altar mentioned here is the altar of incense. Burning incense on the altar of incense signifies prayer.

Only the holy can enter the Holy of Holies. Prayer in the Holy of Holies becomes a prayer of conversing with God about establishing the Kingdom of God on this earth.

At the altar of incense, incense had to be burned as God commanded. Today, the altar of incense is the person in whom the temple has been built within the hearts of the 144,000 saints. Praying with a faith focused on material blessings makes one burn a different kind of incense. Prayer is the fulfillment of Heaven's will on earth. To pray only for the earth is the prayer of the dead. It means one has already received their reward.

Revelation 8:4 states, "And the smoke of the incense ascended from the hand of the angel to God, along with the prayers of the saints." This depicts Jesus Christ ascending before God as the High Priest. This is represented by the act of burning incense and praying. When the saints are united with Christ, their prayers ascend to God. God does not accept prayers that stem from a faith focused on material blessings.

 

③ Peace Offering

The peace offering was offered for reconciliation with God, thanksgiving, and fellowship with neighbors. It was a sacrifice offered to express gratitude to God, to restore relationships distanced by sin, and to share a joyful feast with those with whom the offering was shared.

Leviticus 3:1-5 "If a man offers a peace offering, if he offers an ox, he must offer it before the Lord without blemish, whether male or female."

The peace offering is called *shelamim* (שְׁלָמִ֖ים) in Hebrew, with the base form *shelem*. It is derived from *shalom*. It refers to a sacrifice for fellowship. What distinguishes the peace offering from the burnt offering or the grain offering is that it is not a sacrifice offered out of obligation. It is a sacrifice offered voluntarily.

The burnt offering is offered by burning, so nothing remains. The grain offering is partially burned, and a portion goes to the priest. The peace offering is partially given to God, partially to the priest, and a large portion to be eaten by the people together.

The characteristic of the sacrifice of reconciliation is that one comes before God with an offering. Those who are in Jesus Christ have already been reconciled. Therefore, through the Bible, in Romans 12:1, God says, "Therefore, brothers and sisters, I urge you, by the mercy of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God—this is your spiritual worship." Offering oneself means to work to bring a dead spirit to life.

Leviticus 3:12-13 "If his offering is a goat, he shall bring it before the LORD, and lay his hand on its head and slaughter it before the tabernacle; and the sons of Aaron shall sprinkle its blood on all four sides of the altar."

When offering a peace offering, oxen and sheep were to be without blemish, whether male or female; however, there is no such expression regarding goats in Chapter 3, Verse 13. Nevertheless, it must be understood in the same sense. Those who wished to offer a peace offering brought unblemished livestock (oxen, sheep, or goats), regardless of sex, before the LORD, that is, before the entrance of the tabernacle. The one offering the sacrifice laid his hands on the head of the animal. The laying on of hands is a symbolic act of identifying oneself with the offering.

For the peace offering ritual, the animal was slaughtered after the laying on of hands. The priest sprinkled the blood on all four sides of the altar, skinned the animal, and cut it into pieces; although this does not appear in Leviticus 3, it can be inferred from the burnt offering. Up to this point, the peace offering ritual proceeded in the same manner as the burnt offering.

However, the difference between the peace offering and the burnt offering is that, unlike the burnt offering where the entire animal was burned on the altar, the peace offering burned only the fat covering the intestines, the fat covering the kidneys, and the fat surrounding the liver (including the fat of the tail in the case of a sheep) as a burnt offering to Jehovah.

The peace offering ritual concludes with the person offering the sacrifice and the people or family members participating in the sacrifice eating the remaining meat in a sacred meal. This is why it bears the closest resemblance to the Holy Communion of the New Testament.

In the New Testament, the institution closest to the peace offering is the Lord's Supper. In 1 Corinthians 11:25, the Lord pointed to the cup of wine at the Last Supper and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood.” This expression recalls the blood of the Old Covenant appearing in Exodus 24:8.

The "Last Supper, in which Jesus ate and drank with the priests," is similar to the peace offering in this respect. The similarity between the Holy Communion and the peace offering is that those participating in each meal had to be clean. Just as worshipers in the Old Testament had to be clean to eat the sacrifices, the New Testament warned of God's judgment against those who participated in the Lord's Supper without examining their own bodies.

The peace offering was a sacrifice that revealed the holy fellowship enjoyed by God and Israel. Therefore, the peace offering resembled a wedding feast. It was a feast of joy where the worshipper ate and shared at God's table—that is, the altar—taking God as the bridegroom and the worshipper as the bride. The peace offering is a gift shared with one another (Heb 13:16). The peace offering is precisely the sacrifice that shares and confirms God's grace with one another.

Christians have been reconciled with God through the atoning death of Jesus Christ. It is purely thanks to the blood of Jesus that believers can approach God. It is stated, “Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus” (Hebrews 10:19).

 

④ Atonement Sacrifice

The atonement sacrifice was a sacrifice offered to receive forgiveness for sins committed in violation of God's will and to restore one's relationship with God. Its purpose was to atone for sins committed unintentionally, and the offerings varied depending on the status or financial circumstances of the person who committed the sin.

Leviticus 5:1 "If anyone hears a curse and does not become a witness to what he saw or knew, he shall bear his own guilt, and the fault shall fall upon him."

In the Bible, the sound of cursing is *kol arah* (קֹ֣ול אָלָ֔ה), where *ara* means oath. It is the sound of a judge making a witness swear an oath to testify. The witness had an obligation to testify about what he had seen and knew. "Witness" was a legal term. Israel is a multitude of God's witnesses (*edah*: congregation, assembly), and true testimony reveals God's justice within the covenant community.

Likewise, in a secular court, if a person hears the judge swearing an oath to testify but fails to do so, and as a result the truth is distorted, he bears the sin of what arises from his failure to testify. However, God is proclaiming the word of the Gospel to the people of the world, and if a prophet who has heard the word of the Gospel testifies falsely, sin and fault fall upon him. This is because a false Gospel brings destruction to those who hear it.

Leviticus 5:2-3 "If anyone touches anything unclean—the carcass of an unclean wild animal, or an unclean livestock, or an unclean insect—even if unintentionally, he is in fault because he is defiled. If he unintentionally touches another person's uncleanness, and when he realizes it is whatever uncleanness that person is, he is in fault."

In the Old Testament era, the carcasses of unclean animals, livestock, or insects were considered impure. Furthermore, touching the body meant becoming an unclean being. Through this, God reveals to the people of Israel that they are sinners. He makes them realize that humans cannot escape the law. Therefore, He instructs them to discover the coming Christ through the atonement sacrifice. He tells them to discover the Gospel within the law.

The Hebrew word for "to become defiled" is tametha (טְמֵאָ֗ה, base form tame). The word for "unwitting" is weneram (וְנֶעְלַ֣ם, base form aram). It was through the Word of God that one came to realize that something was a sin, after having been unaware of having committed it. Even today, people in the church will likely fall into falsehood without realizing it. This is because false prophets preach falsehoods, causing them to unwittingly become absorbed in that false gospel. Weshem (וְאָשֵֽׁם׃, base form asham), translated as "transgression," was a crime entailing punishment or the responsibility for restitution.

Leviticus 5:4-6 "If anyone swears rashly with his lips, whether for good or evil, when he comes to realize what he swore without realizing it, he is at fault in one of them. When he is at fault in one of them, he must confess, 'I have done wrong in such and such,' and offer a sin offering to the Lord for the fault, bringing a female lamb or a goat from the flock. The priest shall make atonement for his fault."

Speaking carelessly is equivalent to making a vow. It means that one swears to do evil or good by running their mouth without thinking.

Regarding oaths, the teaching of the Old Testament is to "keep them." The Ninth Commandment of the Ten Commandments also strictly prohibits false oaths. Jehovah God did not forbid the people from voluntarily making oaths, but commanded that if they did swear, they must keep them.

"Confess" (Wehith-wa-da, the base form is Yada). Yada means to cast out or bring out. It means to pour out all sins before God. It also means having a heart that desires God's mercy. In Proverbs 28:13, it says, "He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will find mercy."

The term for the sin offering is "hatat" in Hebrew (to stray from the path) and "hamartia" in Greek (to stray from the goal). Sin refers to deviating from God's path. It means beings who have turned away from God. It means that all people of the world are beings who have turned away from God. The sacrifice offered for such transgressions is the sin offering.

"You shall offer a sin offering to the Lord, bringing a female lamb or a goat from the flock; and the priest shall make atonement for her transgression." The female symbolizes one who has turned away from God. The female must be with the male to become one. By offering the female as a sacrifice, one becomes one with God.

A saint becomes one who offers a spiritual living sacrifice to God. In Romans 12:1, it says, "Therefore, brothers and sisters, I urge you, by the mercy of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship."

Leviticus 5:7-10 “If he is unable to offer a lamb, he shall bring to the Lord two turtledoves or two young pigeons to make atonement for his sin: one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering. He shall bring them to the priest. The priest shall offer the sin offering first, twisting its head off at the neck and not cutting the body in half. He shall sprinkle the blood of the sin offering at the foot of the altar and let the remaining blood flow at the base of the altar. This is the sin offering. The next is the burnt offering according to the ordinance, which the priest shall make atonement for his transgression, and he shall be forgiven.”

Doves were used as sacrifices, and the poor used them. In Luke 2:24, it says, "And to offer a sacrifice of a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons, as the law of the Lord says."

"You shall bring one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering to the priest."

 

This allowed for the simultaneous offering of the obligatory sin offering and the voluntary burnt offering. The sin offering is, quite literally, a sacrifice offered to atone for sin. "Twist the head off at the neck and do not cut the body in half; sprinkle the blood of the sin offering near the altar, and let the remaining blood flow at the base of the altar."

This depicts the image of Jesus Christ dying on the cross. It shows that a sinner is a being destined to die in this manner. Therefore, Jesus Christ died in the likeness of a sinner. Only when the sinner dies united with Jesus Christ on the cross can that sinner truly be considered dead.

Leviticus 5:11-13 "If his hand does not reach even two turtledoves or two pigeons, he shall bring as a gift an ephah of fine flour for his transgression, as a sin offering; it is a sin offering, so that no oil shall be poured on it, nor incense placed on it, but he shall bring it to the priest. The priest shall take a handful of it as a memorial offering and burn it on the altar over the burnt offerings of the Lord; it is a sin offering. When the priest makes atonement for the transgression incurred by him for one of these, he shall be forgiven. The remainder shall be given to the priest as a grain offering."

Fine flour is broken and ground, causing its original form to disappear, representing the form of one who has been born again. In other words, the former has died. A tenth is a concept similar to a tithe, representing the whole. It is an expression of having offered one's entire self. Among the biblical units of volume, the ephah (אֵיפָה) means "basket." It is an amount sufficient to fit in a basket and, like the seah, is a unit used to measure flour or roasted grain. It is equivalent to approximately 22 liters, which is the same amount as 12 taels.

In the case of the grain offering, it was to be offered as a burnt offering with oil and frankincense, whereas the sin offering prohibited the use of oil and frankincense. In the Bible, oil symbolizes the Holy Spirit, and frankincense symbolizes prayer. Comparing the grain offering and the sin offering, the grain offering is the only one of the five sacrifices that does not involve bloodshed. Therefore, grain is used in the sacrifice..

The grain offering is a sacrifice offered when appointing priests, when building and dedicating the tabernacle, and after a leper is healed. The grain offering is an important expression representing the life of a saint; that is, it represents the life of a born-again believer clothed in the garments of righteousness. However, since the sin offering is a sacrifice performed to obtain the forgiveness of sins, such things must not be included.

"The priest shall take a handful of it as a memorial and burn it on the altar over the burnt offering of the Lord; this is a sin offering." The offering was completely burned. God commands that the old self, deeply rooted within human beings, and the attempt to achieve righteousness on one's own be burned away. In other words, it is a command to deny oneself. The death of Jesus on the cross, who became the sacrifice, is akin to a baptism of fire. Those united with Jesus Christ on the cross are themselves burned to death by the fire of the Holy Spirit. To those who believe that they have been burned to death, God also resurrects them by the Holy Spirit and grants them new life.

"The remainder shall be given to the priests as a grain offering." The grain offering remaining after being offered to God became food for the priests. The remaining signifies "the remnant." In Isaiah 1:9, it says, "If the LORD of hosts had not left us a few survivors (a remnant), we would have been like Sodom and Gomorrah."

 

⑤ Guilt Offering

The guilt offering is called "Asham" in Hebrew and carries the meanings of guilt, compensation, and restitution. This sacrifice was offered when a sinner caused harm to others (neighbors). The significance of this guilt offering is included in receiving the forgiveness of sins through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

The sin offering was offered when sacred objects were violated due to carelessness (Chapters 5:14-15), and sacred objects refer to items that have been set apart as holy. The word "set apart" means, from a human perspective, being extinguished before God. A sacred object is violated when a person who should not have eaten the offering eats it, or when one is unable to offer an offering when one is supposed to.

Some people in the church argue that since the church is a temple and the objects within it can be considered sacred, causing damage constitutes violating those sacred objects. However, this is not about damaging the sacred objects, but rather damaging the church's property.

In particular, when discussing tithes, he speaks of the Old Testament tithe as having the same concept as the spirit of the New Testament tithe. Therefore, he asserts that it must be offered. He also states that this is a sin against God.

Therefore, when offering the guilt offering, Leviticus 5:15-16 states, "You shall bring a flawless ram from the flock, equivalent to a few shekels of silver in the shekel of the sanctuary according to the value you have designated, and offer it as a guilt offering to make amends for the fault with the holy things, and you shall give it to the priest, adding one-fifth to it."

It serves to demonstrate the seriousness of the sin through compensation. Today, the church building is not a temple, nor are the objects within it sacred; therefore, it is only natural that compensation be provided in accordance with the laws of each country when the church or its contents are damaged. Since tithing also falls under the law, believers must make offerings if they wish to support the operation of the church.

Second, when violating the commandments of the LORD (Chapter 5, Verse 17), a sin offering was offered. The reason God gave the law to the people of Israel is to let them know that they are all beings who have departed from the Kingdom of God. Therefore, He is letting them know that they can never attain God's righteousness through the law. Thus, He is telling them to discover Christ through sacrifice, and to have hope for the Kingdom of God by looking toward the Christ who will come to God in the future.

Many people in the church speak about the law, saying, "Although keeping the law does not lead to God's righteousness, those who are saved by believing in Jesus try to keep the law." Therefore, they say that if one fails to keep the law, one does not lose salvation, but one loses God's blessings. Jesus was put to death by the law. Therefore, those who are in Christ have also been put to death by the law. Since those who are in Christ have been freed from the law, they become those who have nothing to do with the law. They become those who are guided solely by the Holy Spirit. To enter into Christ, it is not enough to simply confess to believing in Jesus; one must become one who dies with Jesus to be able to enter into Christ.