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Total Sacrifice
(From Forerunner Commentary)

Leviticus 1:1-4  (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up) This is commonly called the burnt offering, but sometimes the whole burnt offering. The reason "whole" is added is because other offerings are burned on the altar but not the whole animal. This offering represents Christ, or in parallel, us, being completely, wholeheartedly devoted to God. John W. Ritenbaugh The Offerings of Leviticus (Part Two): The Burnt Offering

Leviticus 1:1-17  (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up) Leviticus 1 gives instruction on the whole burnt offering, which represents Christ's total devotion to God, revealing in broad strokes the ideal we are to strive for in our relationship with God. The burnt offering has four distinctive characteristics that set it apart from all others. To glean the most from it, it is essential that we remember that these characteristics all describe the same person but from different perspectives, much as the gospel accounts present four views of Christ, or as one would turn a piece of art or craftsmanship to inspect it from different angles. With each little turn, the viewer picks up a new feature that pleases or instructs. The four distinctive characteristics are: 1. It is a sweet savor to God, given not because of sin but out of sincere and heartfelt devotion. 2. It is offered for acceptance in the stead of the offerer. The animal represents the offerer. 3. A life is given, representing total devotion in every area of life. 4. It is completely burned up, also representing total devotion but from a different angle: that it was truly carried out. The animal was cut into four distinct parts, each signifying an aspect of Christ's character and life: The head represents His thoughts; the legs, His walk; the innards, His feelings; and the fat, His general vigor and health. Every part was put on the altar and totally consumed by the fire. The variety of animals sacrificed as burnt offerings identify additional characteristics: The bullock typifies untiring labor in service to others; the lamb, uncomplaining submission even in suffering; the goat, strong-minded leadership; and the turtledove, humility, meekness, and mournful innocence. John W. Ritenbaugh The Offerings of Leviticus (Part Three): The Meal Offering

Leviticus 1:9  (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up) During the preparations for the burning, the entrails and legs—representing our innermost being: the heart from which conduct springs; the viscera, our emotions; and the legs, our walk—must be cleansed with water before all is burned on the fire. The burnt offering is cleaned on the inside and then completely consumed. Here is pictured the standard of devotion to God; this is what God is aiming His children toward due to our access to Him through Christ. We are to be a cleansed, total sacrifice. We are to withhold nothing; we are to give our all. This is the hardest of all the offerings God calls upon us to perform because, like the rich young ruler, we want to reserve things for ourselves. Whatever it is, it is like a child's security blanket, and we love it and do not want to let it go. David understood sacrificing, which II Samuel 24:24 reveals: Then the king said to Araunah. "No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price; nor will I offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God with that which costs me nothing." So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. The burnt offering is painful because it is costly. It is so costly because it costs us our life. This is what we give in exchange for the forgiveness of our sins! Jesus Himself says this in Luke 14:26: "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple." Hebrews 5:7-8 informs us that Jesus Christ felt His sacrifices—not just His sacrifice on the stake, but also the multitude of sacrifices He made after emptying Himself of His godly prerogatives to live as a burnt offering for 33½ years. John W. Ritenbaugh The Offerings of Leviticus (Part Nine): Conclusion (Part Two)

 

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