Leviticus 3:12

Leviticus 3:12 says, And if his offering be a goat, then he shall offer it before the LORD.   Once again, the offering was of less value overall than some in material terms, but I believe this was a provision for those who were unable to give something that was of more material value.  I don't believe that those who were able to give a greater offering were to look for the lesser offering to give.  If we don't have much, we cannot give much, but we must give our best to God.  When it comes to our life, we cannot afford to hold back the best parts and give God the lesser parts.  We must give all that we are and all that we have to God, and if we do, then He will meet our every need.  Verse thirteen adds, And he shall lay his hand upon the head of it, and kill it before the tabernacle of the congregation: and the sons of Aaron shall sprinkle the blood thereof upon the altar round about.  The way the goat was to be sacrificed was the same as the other, more expensive animals were sacrificed.  No matter how wealthy or poor we are materially in the world, we must all come to God the same way, and that is through the cross of Calvary.  Verse fourteen continues, And he shall offer thereof his offering, even an offering made by fire unto the LORD; the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards,  Once more, there were specific instructions for the way the sacrifice was to be prepared.  We today must lay it all on the altar for God as well, and we must come to Him by His terms.  Verse fifteen states, And the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, which is by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away.  Then verse sixteen adds, And the priest shall burn them upon the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire for a sweet savour: all the fat is the LORD’s.  As with all the sacrifices, the one making offering brought the sacrifice to the priest, and the priest presented the actual sacrifice to God.  Jesus is our High Priest, and we must present ourselves to Him and He makes the actual sacrifice to the heavenly Father through His shed blood.  Verse seventeen concludes, It shall be a perpetual statute for your generations throughout all your dwellings, that ye eat neither fat nor blood.  These rules of sacrifice were to apply for all generations, until the coming of Jesus Christ as the forever sacrifice for our sins.  There was also the restriction of eating no fat or blood, but we know that after the death of Christ that the dietary rules were no longer in effect, because as God told Peter, what God has made clean we are not to call unclean.  This is not to say that God's law changed, but that it was fulfilled through Jesus Christ.

Leviticus 3:1

Leviticus 3:1 says, And if his oblation be a sacrifice of peace offering, if he offer it of the herd; whether it be a male or female, he shall offer it without blemish before the LORD,  Peace offerings were to be from the herd, or cattle, and could be either male or female.  It to was to be without blemish, or in other words not some sickly or deformed bull or cow.  Though what we bring to God may change, He always expects us to bring the best that we have.  Verse two adds, And he shall lay his hand upon the head of his offering, and kill it at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and Aaron’s sons the priests shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about.  The man making the sacrifice was to put his hands on the head of the sacrifice and kill it in front of the tabernacle and Aaron's sons the priests would sprinkle the blood around the altar.  Once more, the blood was to represent the bringing of peace, just as the blood of Jesus should bring us peace today.  Verse three continues, And he shall offer of the sacrifice of the peace offering an offering made by fire unto the LORD; the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards,  Certain portions of the animal were to be offered as a burned sacrifice.  Verse four states, And the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away.  Verse five adds, And Aaron’s sons shall burn it on the altar upon the burnt sacrifice, which is upon the wood that is on the fire: it is an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD.  These specific parts were to be burned and they would be a sweet savor, or scent, to the LORD.  We must come to God on His terms, which is through the blood of Christ, and we must then present our lives to Him to be used as He sees fit, which will bring a sweet scent unto God.  Verse six continues, And if his offering for a sacrifice of peace offering unto the LORD be of the flock; male or female, he shall offer it without blemish. Once more it is stated that the sacrifice should be without blemish.  Sometimes God tells us things more than once to make sure that we understand what He is telling us is important.  Verse seven says, If he offer a lamb for his offering, then shall he offer it before the LORD.  There are now instructions for offering a lamb that would be without blemish.  Of course, Jesus is referred to as the Lamb of God, and He was certainly without blemish spiritually, and when we accept His sacrifice for our sins, then He makes us the same way.  Verse eight adds, And he shall lay his hand upon the head of his offering, and kill it before the tabernacle of the congregation: and Aaron’s sons shall sprinkle the blood thereof round about upon the altar.  The same instructions were to apply to the killing sacrifice and sprinkling of the blood as before. Verse nine continues, And he shall offer of the sacrifice of the peace offering an offering made by fire unto the LORD; the fat thereof, and the whole rump, it shall he take off hard by the backbone; and the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards,  Verse ten states, And the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, which is by then flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away.  Some of the inward parts of the animal that were to be burned differed from before, just as each individual today will differ in what he or she can offer to God.  Verse eleven adds, And the priest shall burn it upon the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire unto the LORD.  Once more, this was to be burned as an offering to the LORD.  This will be repeated several times in Leviticus, and I believe that it says to us today as followers of Christ that once we bring a sacrifice to God that it is His to do with as He sees fit.  All we can do is bring ourselves and the best that we have to God.

Leviticus 2:9

Leviticus 2:9 says, And the priest shall take from the meat offering a memorial thereof, and shall burn it upon the altar: it is an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD.  The priests were to take a portion of the sacrifice and burn it as an offering made by fire.  This would once again be a sweet savor, or scent, to the LORD.  This was not because God wanted the thing sacrificed, but because by sacrificing it in the way that God prescribed, they would show their obedience to Him.  God does not want what we can give Him today, because it is all His anyway, but He does want us to be willing to give everything to Him.  The only thing we can offer is our own sinful nature through our faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.  Verse ten adds, And that which is left of the meat offering shall be Aaron’s and his sons’: it is a thing most holy of the offerings of the LORD made by fire.  What was left was to belong to Aaron and his sons, but it was to be considered a thing most holy.  God allows us to use what is left over after we offer our tithes and offerings to Him, but we need to realize that if we are a Christian that what is left over is still a thing most holy, since we gave everything to God when we accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.  Verse eleven continuees, No meat offering, which ye shall bring unto the LORD, shall be made with leaven: for ye shall burn no leaven, nor any honey, in any offering of the LORD made by fire.  The meat offering, or bread in this case, was to be unleavened.  In other words, it was simply to be as plain as possible.  God does not need our offerings to be ornate, but should be given in simplicity.  Verse twelve states, As for the oblation of the firstfruits, ye shall offer them unto the LORD: but they shall not be burnt on the altar for a sweet savour.  First fruits were to be offered to God, but were not to be burned.  The first fruit that anyone can offer today is himself or herself, and then that person should offer the first of all that God blesses them with to Him, to be utilized for the work of His kingdom.  Verse thirteen adds, And every oblation of thy meat offering shalt thou season with salt; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat offering: with all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt.  All the offerings were to be seasoned with salt.  This would have enhanced the flavor, but salt was also a preservative.  Verse fourteen continues, And if thou offer a meat offering of thy firstfruits unto the LORD, thou shalt offer for the meat offering of thy firstfruits green ears of corn dried by the fire, even corn beaten out of full ears.  Another of the first fruits was that of corn, and it was to be dried by the fire before being offered to God.  Verse fifteen says, And thou shalt put oil upon it, and lay frankincense thereon: it is a meat offering.  The corn was to have oil and frankincense put on it.  Verse sixteen adds, And the priest shall burn the memorial of it, part of the beaten corn thereof, and part of the oil thereof, with all the frankincense thereof: it is an offering made by fire unto the LORD.  The priest was to burn a portion of the meat offering as a burnt offering to God.  We have it much easier today since we only have to accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and live with Him as our Lord which the Holy Spirit enables us to do,

Leviticus 2:1

Leviticus 2:1 says, And when any will offer a meat offering unto the LORD, his offering shall be of fine flour; and he shall pour oil upon it, and put frankincense thereon:  Though referred to as a meat offering, these next few verses actually refer to offerings of crops that had been made into flour.  Not everyone had flocks to make offerings from, but God made provision for them as well.  This was still a free offering of the best that the person had.  It is not the cost of the gift that we bring to God that is important, but the attitude with which we bring it.  It must be a free gift, and it should be the best that we have to offer.  Of course, as followers of Christ, we are to present ourselves as living sacrifices, and when we do we are to give the best of our life to God.  Verse two adds, And he shall bring it to Aaron’s sons the priests: and he shall take thereout his handful of the flour thereof, and of the oil thereof, with all the frankincense thereof; and the priest shall burn the memorial of it upon the altar, to be an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD:  As with the other offerings, this offering was to be brought to the priests, Aaron's sons, and they were to offer it to God on the altar.  As Christians today, we present ourselves to Christ in faith, and He offers Himself as a sacrifice to God.  Verse three continues, And the remnant of the meat offering shall be Aaron’s and his sons’: it is a thing most holy of the offerings of the LORD made by fire.  Anything left of the offering after it was offered to God would be the possession of the priests.  This was one way that God provided for the needs of the priests, but it did not mean that they could just offer the smallest amount possible and keep the rest for themselves.  Also, only the priests were to eat of the offering.  We today must give our best to God, and He will bless us by meeting our every need.  Verse four states, And if thou bring an oblation of a meat offering baken in the oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil.  Then, there were instructions for how to prepare the offering.  We cannot decide how we are going to give to God outside of giving by His instructions in the Bible.  Verse five adds, And if thy oblation be a meat offering baken in a pan, it shall be of fine flour unleavened, mingled with oil.  There were different ways to prepare this offering, but all ways were under the guidance of God.  There are different ways to reach the cross today, but we must all come in obedience to God through our faith in Christ.  Verse six continues, Thou shalt part it in pieces, and pour oil thereon: it is a meat offering.  Again, there were specific instructions for giving this offering.  It was to be separated into pieces and covered with oil, I believe to make it more useable to the priests.  Verse seven says, And if thy oblation be a meat offering baken in the fryingpan, it shall be made of fine flour with oil.  Again, there were different ways to prepare the offering.  Verse eight adds, And thou shalt bring the meat offering that is made of these things unto the LORD: and when it is presented unto the priest, he shall bring it unto the altar. The offerings were to be presented to God by the priests, just as our offering, which is our self, is to be presented to God by our high priest, Jesus Christ.

Leviticus 1:1

Leviticus 1:1 says, And the Lord called unto Moses, and spake unto him out of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying,  God called to Moses out of the tabernacle of the congregation.  I believe that God still speaks to His people today as we are gathered together ro worship Him.  Of course, He speaks to us to other times as well, but I believe that preachers and teachers must especially have God talking to them. Verse two adds, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man of you bring an offering unto the Lord, ye shall bring your offering of the cattle, even of the herd, and of the flock.  God began to give Moses instructions concerning offerings, specifying that it mut cattle of the flock.   Of course, the only offering thar we can offer God today that really matters is ourself.  Verse three continues,  If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish: he shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord.  The offering was to be a male without blemish and was to be offered willing.  Of course, we cannot offer ourselves without blemish to God, which is why it was necessary for Jesus Christ to offer Himself in our place, since He alone is the only person to ever live without blemish.  Verse four states, And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.  God said when the person offering the sacrifice put his hand 0on the head of the burnt offering, it would be accepted as atonement for that person.  Of course, the only way we cn have atonement today is by accepting Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord.  Verse five adds, And he shall kill the bullock before the Lord: and the priests, Aaron's sons, shall bring the blood, and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.  The bullock was to be killed before the LORD, and the priests, Aaron’s sons, were to bring the blood and sprinkle it on the altar by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.  The sacrifice was to be made so that all could see, and when we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord today, it should be don so that all can see.  Verse six says, And he shall flay the burnt offering, and cut it into his pieces.  Verse seven adds, And the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire upon the altar, and lay the wood in order upon the fire:  They offering was to be cut in small pieces and Aaron, the priest, was to put it on the fire.  We today can only accept the blood that Jesus shed on the cross for forgiveness of sin.  Verse eight states, And the priests, Aaron's sons, shall lay the parts, the head, and the fat, in order upon the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar:  Aaron’s sons were to lay the head and the fat of the bullock in that order on the wood that was on the fire of the altar. God still expects us to follow His directions in the order that He gives them to us today.  Verse, nine adds, But his inwards and his legs shall he wash in water: and the priest shall burn all on the altar, to be a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord.  The innards and the legs were to be washed and offered as a burnt sacrifice to God, which would be a sweet savor to the LORD.  Of course, I don’t believe God really was just wanting to smell the aroma of the sacrifice but was wanting to see the obedience of the people in obeying His commands.  There is nothing that we can offer God today that He needs, except ourselves.   

Leviticus 1:10 says, And if his offering be of the flocks, namely, of the sheep, or of the goats, for a burnt sacrifice; he shall bring it a male without blemish.  Provision was made for more than one type of sacrifice, I believe because not all the people could afford to offer the same thing.  Of course, today, we have one sacrifice for all our sins and that is Jesus Christ, and everyone can afford His sacrifice, because it is free.  Verse eleven says, And he shall kill it on the side of the altar northward before the LORD: and the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall sprinkle his blood round about upon the altar.  There were specific instructions for sacrificing the sheep or goat as well.  We must always come to God on His terms and not on our own.  We are to always offer the best that we have to God.  Verse twelve adds, And he shall cut it into his pieces, with his head and his fat: and the priest shall lay them in order on the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar:  The instructions for the sacrificing of the animal were the same.  The sacrifice of Christ on the cross is the same for all individuals.  We can only come to salvation by accepting Christ's sacrifice on the cross, which actually applied to those who had lived in this time as well.  We can only come in obedience to God's call. Verse thirteen continues, But he shall wash the inwards and the legs with water: and the priest shall bring it all, and burn it upon the altar: it is a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD.   As before, the burnt offering was to bring a sweet savor to the LORD.  Verse fourteen states, And if the burnt sacrifice for his offering to the LORD be of fowls, then he shall bring his offering of turtledoves, or of young pigeons.  There was even another provision for the animal that was to be sacrificed, and this time it was for birds.  I don't believe that this means that those who were able to offer the more costly sacrifices were supposed to sacrifice the less costly sacrifices.  This was a provision those who could not offer anymore.  We today can offer no less than our self on the altar of God through the blood of Christ.  Verse fifteen adds, And the priest shall bring it unto the altar, and wring off his head, and burn it on the altar; and the blood thereof shall be wrung out at the side of the altar:  In all the sacrifices, the sacrifice was to be offered through the priest, and when we offer ourselves to God today it must be through Christ, our high priest.  Verse sixteen continues, And he shall pluck away his crop with his feathers, and cast it beside the altar on the east part, by the place of the ashes:  Not all of the sacrifice was to be burned this time, since the crop and feathers were to be placed by the altar.  Then verse seventeen concludes, And he shall cleave it with the wings thereof, but shall not divide it asunder: and the priest shall burn it upon the altar, upon the wood that is upon the fire: it is a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD.  The wings were to be cut off, but the rest of the bird was to be burned whole.  The sacrificial system of the Jews is hard to understand at times, but it was all spelled out by God's instruction to Moses.  Some would make salvation a complicated thing today, but it is all very simple and dictated by God, and that is that we give ourselves to God by faith in Christ.  This is God's salvation plan, and the only one available.

Levitcus 1:1 says And the LORD called unto Moses, and spake unto him out of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying, God called to Moses and spoke to him out of the tabernacle of the congregation.  For us to know what God has to say, He must speak to us, and He will often do it when are assembled together in His name.  Of course, we must first recognize His voice in order to hear Him.  Verse two states,  Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man of you bring an offering,  God did not say when, but if.  I believe this is because an offering is not a debt, but a free gift.  God does not demand that we give Him anything, even our life, but if we do, God can determine how He will use the gift or our life.  Verse three says, If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish: he shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the altar.  God said if the offering was to be a burnt sacrifice, that it should be a male without blemish.  We might want to offer something less than perfect if it was going to be burned up anyway, but God expects us to offer the best that we have, and we are to do so willingly.  Verse four states, LORD. And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.  We do not live under the sacrificial system, so it may be difficult to truly understand it, but I believe that putting the hands on the head of the sacrifice would represent transferring one's sins to the sacrifice.  We are not under the old sacrificial system because Christ died as a sacrice for all sins for all time, and putting our faith in Him transfers our sins to Him without any physical act.  Verse five says,  And he shall kill the bullock before the LORD: and the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall bring the blood, and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.  The sacrifice was to be killed before God and the priests, the sons of Aaron, and the blood sprinkled on the altar.  When we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, it is done before God and His people and all the world.  The blood of Christ has already been shed for us.  Verse six states, And he shall flay the burnt offering, and cut it into his pieces.  Then verse seven adds,  And the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire upon the altar, and lay the wood in order upon the fire:  Verse eight continues,  And the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall lay the parts, the head, and the fat, in order upon the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar:  The sacrifice was to be cut in to pieces, and the priests were to place the majority of it on the wood of the sacrifice to be burned.  Verse nine concludes, But his inwards and his legs shall he wash in water: and the priest shall burn all on the altar, to be a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD.  Parts were to be washed and burned on the altar itself.  This was to be a burnt offering to the LORD, and would be a sweet savor, or scent, to God.  When we accept Christ as our Savior and Lord, our sins are burned away and we are washed by His blood to be a living sacrifice to God, which will be a sweet savor or scent to Him.

Philippians Review

We will do a quick review of the things we learned from the book of Philippians.  First, we need to realize that our status in the world should not determine our joy in the LORD.  We should learn to be like Paul and be content in the Lord no matter what.  Next, we need to learn the value of other Christians in our life.  Paul sincerely cared for the Christians at Philippi.  He was concerned with their welfare, and so should we be with the welfare of our fellow believers.  Then, we need to realize that earthly attributes mean nothing to God, but that only our relationship with Christ does.   Paul said his birth, his education, and his religious standing meant nothing before God.  Only his relationship with God did.  The same is true for everyone who ever has or ever will live.  Finally, we need to learn to help our fellow Christians whenever we can.  We will next look at the book of Leviticus.