In Exodus 29:15-18, we find the first mention of the burnt offering, where Moses is to take one of the rams, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on its head, Exodus 29:15 / Leviticus 8:18. By placing the hands on the ram’s head, signified that the priests symbolically put their sins on the animal that was to be sacrificed.
Moses is then to slaughter the ram and take the blood and splash it against the sides of the altar, Exodus 29:16 / Leviticus 8:18. Then he is to cut the ram into pieces and wash the internal organs and the legs, putting them with the head and the other pieces, Exodus 29:17 / Leviticus 8:20-21.
He is to burn the entire ram on the altar, Exodus 29:18. It is a burnt offering to the LORD, a pleasing aroma, a food offering presented to the LORD, Exodus 29:18 / Leviticus 8:21.
Clements, in his commentary, says the following.
‘It is evident that the author has thought of God in spiritual terms, and not as though He needed a meal.’
Sin offerings and burnt offerings weren’t eaten by either the priests or the people, Leviticus 4:1 / Leviticus 4:12 / Leviticus 10:17-20. The burnt offering focused on the meaning that the one who gave the offering was surrendering his life to God, whereas the sin offering was made for the sins of the one who had given himself to God.
The burnt offering altar, Exodus 27:1-8, was the first item to be seen after entering through the door into the tabernacle’s outer court, Exodus 27:9-19. It was an impressive construction made from acacia wood overlaid with bronze. It stood 1.4 metres high and 2.3 metres wide and broad; it was square-shaped, Exodus 27:1-8.
Wood is a Biblical figure of man, Psalm 1:1-3 / Jeremiah 5:14. Acacia wood is a strong, high-quality wood, signifying the best humanity, that of Jesus. Bronze in the Bible speaks of God’s judgment, particularly His judgment over our rebellious thinking and speaking against Him, Numbers 16:29-40 / Jude 11.
Since the wood is overlaid with the bronze, the Burnt Offering Altar reminds us of man under God’s judgment for our rebellion against Him. Since the wood is acacia wood, this speaks of Jesus bearing the judgment of God for us on the cross.
At the burnt offering altar, the priests sacrificed various offerings to God; some offerings were for their own sins and for the sins of the people. The point of the burnt offering was that, by it, a person might become accepted before God and forgiven, Leviticus 1:4.
For the burnt offering, a male animal was sacrificed, a ram, a goat, a bullock or a turtle-dove or a pigeon, Leviticus 1:3-17. The offering had to be without blemish, the very healthiest and best available. This foreshadows the Lord Jesus, who was examined by Pontius Pilate, who declared, ‘I find no fault in Him at all,’ John 18:38.
The blood of the offering was poured out around the base of the altar, foreshadowing the Lord Jesus, whose precious blood flowed out when His side was pierced on the cross by a Roman spear, John 19:34 / 1 Peter 1:19.
The whole concept of blood sacrifices is quite disturbing to the 20th-century Western mindset. Some explanations may help to understand God’s perspective in the Bible. In Ezekiel 18:4, God says ‘All souls are Mine. The soul that sins shall die.’ The penalty of sin is death, Romans 6:23 ‘For the wages of sin is death’.
Sin was defined by the law, the ‘Torah’, the first five books of the Bible. The righteous requirement of the law was without pity, ‘a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,’ Deuteronomy 19:21.
This then is the legal position: we belong to God, He made us, and we are His by right. But we have done our own thing, living our own life without God: we have sinned. We always try and make out that our sinfulness is not so bad.
However, in God’s eyes, everything matters, every last little thing. Since we have robbed our lives back for ourselves from God to Whom we really belong, we have sinned.
According to the righteous requirement of the law, we should die for our sins. However, there is a provision, ‘the life of the flesh (of a burnt offering or sacrifice) is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul’, Leviticus 17:11.
So, either you must die, or the offering can die in your place, a life for a life. If the offering dies, then, through its life-blood, there is atonement for your soul, ‘at-one-ment’, restoration to the God to Whom you belong, Leviticus 1:4.
After its blood was poured out, the burnt offering was entirely consumed by burning, the only products being ashes and aroma. The ashes were removed from the camp to a ‘clean place’, Leviticus 6:8-13. The burning offering was a pleasing, sweet aroma to God, to make the person accepted before God and forgiven, Leviticus 1:9 / Leviticus 1:13 / Leviticus 1:17 / Leviticus 1:3-4.
In Ephesians 5:2, Paul shows us clearly that the burnt offering was an exact picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, who ‘loved us and gave Himself up for us’ on the cross, ‘an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma’.
Psalm 22 describes graphically and prophetically the utterances of Jesus from the cross as God lays upon Him the sins of the entire world, ‘My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?’ Psalm 22:1, and the agony of being crucified, ‘all my bones are out of joint,’ Psalm 22:14.
Then follows the heat of the fire of death, ‘My heart is like wax; it has melted within Me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and My tongue clings to My jaws.’ Psalm 22:14-15, the burnt offering. In His final gasp, the offering is complete, and Jesus cries ‘It is finished!’ John 19:30. ‘He has done it!’ Psalm 22:31.
The final part of the fulfilment, the carrying of the ashes to a ‘clean place’, came as Jesus’ dead body was taken down from the cross, John 19:41-42. John, an eyewitness to all this, wrote, ‘he who has seen bears testimony, true testimony, so that you also may believe,’ John 19:35.
When we were at the door of the outer court, we heard the words of Jesus, ‘I am the Door; if any man enters through Me, he shall be saved and will go in and out and find pasture,’ John 10:9.
Jesus is not only the Door, but He also tells us, ‘I am the Good Shepherd’ John 10:11, to help us to enter through the Door. Furthermore, ‘The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep’ John 10:11, so Jesus is the offering at the Burnt Offering Altar as soon as we get through the Door.
This is the good news of the burnt offering altar: whether we are Jew or Gentile, we are all under God’s judgment because of our evil thinking, speaking, and doing. However, the Lord Jesus, ‘Who did no sin, neither was there any deceit found in His mouth,’ 1 Peter 2:22, became the offering slaughtered in our place.
By believing in His death, ‘carrying up our sins in His body onto the tree’, 1 Peter 2:24, we can be made acceptable to God, restored to the Shepherd and to His flock, 1 Peter 2:25. Then we can enter into His courts with praise and thanksgiving, Psalm 100:3-4.
A lamb was burnt at the burnt offering altar every morning and every evening, Exodus 29:38-42. Learn to come to this altar every day to confess your sins to God and to remember, ‘by offering thanks and praise,’ Hebrews 13:15 that the Lord Jesus died in your place to forgive you and to cleanse you from all sin by His blood, 1 John 1:7-9 / Hebrews 8:12 / Hebrews 9:14, so that you might live not for yourself but to Him, 2 Corinthians 5:15.
The burnt offering altar and the laver, Exodus 30:17-21, form a combined experience of Christ. Moses is to take the other ram, Exodus 29:22, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on its head, Exodus 29:19 / Leviticus 8:22.
Moses is to slaughter the ram and take some of its blood and put it on the lobes of the right ears of Aaron and his sons, on the thumbs of their right hands, and on the big toes of their right feet and then he is to splash blood against the sides of the altar, Exodus 29:20 / Leviticus 8:23.
The blood on the tip of the right ear of the priests dedicated their hearing to God. The hands of the priests were dedicated to the service of God. The priests’ entire walk of life was also dedicated to God. The blood of atonement was mixed with the oil of spiritual healing.
Moses is then to take some blood from the altar, some of the anointing oil and sprinkle it on Aaron and his garments and on his sons and their garments, then Aaron, his sons and their garments will be consecrated, Exodus 29:21 / Leviticus 8:24.
In Leviticus 1:3-9, we find what the Israelites were to bring and do concerning the burnt offering. Notice that the offeror’s offering was done voluntarily, Leviticus 1:3 / Leviticus 1:10 / Leviticus 1:14. It was offered by their own free will and in accordance with what they could afford, 2 Corinthians 9:7.
Depending upon the financial status of the one making the offering, it could be comprised of a bull, Leviticus 1:3, a lamb, Leviticus 1:10, or a dove or a young pigeon, Leviticus 1:4. We are taught by this that the sacrifice must be a personal issue. Some things were done by the worshipper and some by the priest, but they must do this for themselves.
The word used to describe the burnt offering is ‘olah’, Leviticus 1:3, and is taken from the root verb meaning ‘to go up’ or ‘ascend’. It is an offering of ascension, which refers to the fact that the entire offering was burned and ‘ascended to God’. It was the foundational offering which allowed men to come into the presence of the Lord.
For this reason, a man makes this offering ‘that he may be accepted before the Lord’, Leviticus 1:3, and adds that ‘it may be accepted for him to make atonement on his behalf’, Leviticus 1:4.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘By the imposition of hands, the person bringing the victim acknowledged the following.
1. The sacrifice as his own.
2. That he offered it as an atonement for his sins.
3. That he was worthy of death because he had sinned, having forfeited his life by breaking the law.
4. That he entreated God to accept the life of the innocent animal in place of his own.
5. And all this, to be done profitably, must have respect to HIM whose life, in the fullness of time, should be made a sacrifice for sin.
6. The blood was to be sprinkled round about upon the altar, Leviticus 1:5, as by the sprinkling of blood the atonement was made; for the blood was the life of the beast, and it was always supposed that life went to redeem life, Exodus 29:10.’
Constable, in his commentary, says the following.
‘This offering satisfied God’s desire for the love of His redeemed creatures as well as His offended justice. This offering satisfied God by its wholeness quantitatively and qualitatively. The Israelite worshiper offered a whole spotless animal in place of himself.’
A life was offered upon the altar; it was to be completely burnt upon the altar. With the other sacrifices, the offering was eaten by the priests with the one who gave the offering, but the burnt offering was completely consumed by the fire of the altar. This showed that man’s duty to God was not in the mere giving up of a portion but the entire surrender of ALL.
The lesson for us in regard to Christ is clear; it must be made ‘at the door of the tent’, this would help to stop the creation of ‘high places’, that is, idolatrous shrines and would at the same time teach the worshipper submission to God, Leviticus 1:3.
Also, notice that the animal had to be ‘without defect’, Leviticus 1:3 / Leviticus 1:10 / Leviticus 4:4 / Exodus 20:24. This was one of the reasons Christ drove out the money merchants twice from the temple, they were selling all kinds of offerings to the masses and making lots of money from it, many were full of defects, John 2:13-22 / Mark 11:11-17. The animal’s condition had to be perfect, not having any blemishes, and it could not be less than eight days old, Leviticus 22:17-28.
It was then presented at the door of the tent, Leviticus 1:3. Before the tabernacle’s erection, the animals were to be offered at the Lord’s appointed place on an earthen altar, Exodus 20:24-25. After the tabernacle’s erection, the animals were to be offered on the bronze altar at the tabernacle’s entrance, Leviticus 17:1-5. After Israel settled in the land of Canaan, they would still bring offerings to the tabernacle’s entrance, or later to the temple entrance, Deuteronomy 12:10-14.
The practice of laying their hand upon the head of the animal was done for all the animal offerings, Leviticus 1:4 / Leviticus 3:2 / Leviticus 4:4 / Leviticus 8:22 / Leviticus 16:21 / Numbers 8:10. This gives us the idea that the offeror would be connected with the offering as well as the Lord, this had to be personal, Leviticus 1:2-3 / Leviticus 1:10 / Leviticus 1:14. The one who offered the animal had to place his hands upon its head, Leviticus 1:4 / Leviticus 3:1-2 / Leviticus 4:3-4 / Leviticus 4:13-15.
The word ‘atonement’ in Leviticus 1:4 means to cover up; later in the New Testament, the word ‘atonement’ means to reconcile, Romans 3:25 / Hebrews 2:17. God cannot be approached with the guilt of sin on our shoulders; atonement must be made for sin, Habakkuk 1:13.
The sacrifice was then killed, and the blood of the animal was sprinkled at appointed spots or poured at the altar base, Leviticus 1:5 / Leviticus 1:11 / Leviticus 4:5-6 / Leviticus 4:18-19. The animal was then burned, and the sacrificial meal took place, Leviticus 6:26 / Leviticus 7:8.
In the case of the burnt offering, there was no meal at all since the entire animal was burned. Christ is our perfect sacrifice, Hebrews 9:13-14 / 1 Peter 1:18-19. Of the five main sacrifices, only the meal-offering did not involve blood.
In the private offerings, except where it required skill, the sacrifice was slain by the offeror themselves. In the case of the national or public sacrifices, it was performed by the priest. It was to be slain before the Lord, not only in his presence but with his approval, Leviticus 1:5.
In the blood was the life, Leviticus 17:11; the blood represented the life given. In the burnt and peace offerings, the sprinkling of the blood, though it must be performed, played a subordinate role; in the sin offering, it was central, Leviticus 1:5 / Leviticus 1:11.
Aaron’s sons are to skin the burnt offering and cut it into pieces, Leviticus 1:6 / Leviticus 1:12 / Leviticus 7:8 / 2 Chronicles 29:34, and put fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire, Leviticus 1:7.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following concerning the fire, Leviticus 1:7.
‘The fire that came out of the tabernacle from before the Lord, and which was kept perpetually burning, Leviticus 9:24. Nor was it lawful to use any other fire in the service of God. See the case of Nadab and Abihu, Leviticus 10:1 / Leviticus 10:2.’
Then they are to arrange the pieces, including the head and the fat, on the wood that is burning on the altar, Leviticus 1:8. Finally, they are to wash the internal organs and the legs with water, and then burn all of it on the altar, Leviticus 1:9.
This washing probably symbolised the need for internal purity. It is a burnt offering, a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the LORD, Leviticus 1:9 / Leviticus 1:13 / Leviticus 1:17.
In Leviticus 1:10-13, you will notice that the offering of sheep and goats has more or less the same requirements as offering a bull, Leviticus 1:3-9. The offeror’s offering was done voluntarily; it was offered of their own free will and in accordance with what they could afford, Leviticus 1:10 / Leviticus 1:3 / Leviticus 1:14.
The sheep or the goats were to be a male without defect, Leviticus 1:10 / Leviticus 1:3. Notice the worshipper is told where to make the sacrifice, the northward direction from the altar, Leviticus 1:11, was designated by God as the place where the sacrifice was to be made. Over and over again, the Scriptures we read about not only how God wants to be worshipped but where He wants to be worshipped, John 4:21-24.
Aaron’s sons are to splash its blood against the sides of the altar, Leviticus 1:11 / Leviticus 1:5. They are to cut it into pieces, and arrange them, including the head and the fat, on the wood that is burning on the altar, Leviticus 1:12 / Leviticus 1:6-8 / Leviticus 7:8 / 2 Chronicles 29:34 / Genesis 15:10.
Then they are to wash the internal organs and the legs with water, and the priest is to bring all of them and burn them on the altar, Leviticus 1:13 / Leviticus 1:9. It is a burnt offering, a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the LORD, Leviticus 1:13 / Leviticus 1:9 / Leviticus 1:17.
The significance of the whole burnt offering was very great; the worshipper kept back nothing for themselves. Neither he nor his friends used or enjoyed any part of it; it belonged exclusively to God.
In Leviticus 1:14-17, we find that the offeror’s offering was done voluntarily; it was offered of their own free will and in accordance with what they could afford, Leviticus 1:14 / Leviticus 1:3 / Leviticus 1:10. If it were birds, they were to offer a dove or a young pigeon, Leviticus 1:14.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Among fowls, only pigeons and turtle-doves were commanded to be offered, except in the case of cleansing the leper, mentioned Leviticus 14:4, where two clean birds, generally supposed to be sparrows or other small birds, though of what species is not well known, are specified. Fish were not offered, because they could not be readily brought to the tabernacle alive.’
The priest is to bring a bird to the altar, wring off the head and burn it on the altar and allow its blood to be drained out on the side of the altar, Leviticus 1:13. Next, the priests are to remove the crop and the feathers and throw them down east of the altar where the ashes are, Leviticus 1:14.
Finally, the priest is to tear it open by the wings, not dividing it completely, and then burn it on the wood that is burning on the altar, Leviticus 1;17. It is a burnt offering, a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the LORD, Leviticus 1:17 / Leviticus 1:9 / Leviticus 1:13. Notice they weren’t required to wash the birds; it’s possible that they were regarded as clean already.
God always looks after the poor in society and always makes allowances for them, Leviticus 5:7-10 / Leviticus 12:8 / Leviticus 14:21-32. We see this happening with Mary and Joseph when they offered their sacrifice. They were obviously very poor, Luke 2:24. We must remember in all of these sacrifices that it was the act of the sacrifice itself that was more important to God, 2 Corinthians 9:7 / Mark 12:41-44.
The phrase, ‘an aroma pleasing to the LORD,’ is found three times in this chapter, Leviticus 1:9 / Leviticus 1:13 / Leviticus 1:17. When the Scriptures speak about an ‘aroma’, a pleasing aroma, this isn’t suggesting that God has a nose to smell the sacrifice, the idea behind it is that God smells or accepts the repentant heart of the person who has been obedient to Him through the offering of sacrifice, Ephesians 5:2 / Philippians 4:17-18.
This sacrifice sets forth Christ’s offering Himself without spot to God in performing the divine will with joy, even to the point of death, Hebrews 9:11-14. The offering is a sweet aroma, Ephesians 5:2. The whole burnt offering is both atoning and substitutionary; Christ dies in our place.
The animals sacrificed all symbolise Christ in some aspect of His redeeming character. The young bull, His patient endurance as a Saviour, 1 Corinthians 9:9 / Isaiah 52:13. The goat, a sinner, and when used of Christ, as He who was numbered with the transgressors, Isaiah 53:12.
The turtle doves or pigeons, mourning innocence, Isaiah 38:14 / Hebrews 7:26. Poverty, Leviticus 7 / Philippians 2:5-8, He who became poor that we might become rich, 2 Corinthians 8:9. Atonement, Romans 5:11, atoning blood of Christ, Deuteronomy 12:23 / Leviticus 3:17 / Acts 15:20. This is the only sacrifice in which the entire offering is burnt and given to God. Significance of total consecration and devotion to God, Romans 12:1.