Offerings and Sacrifices

I'm reading through Leviticus in the Old Testament right now. It is basically an instruction manual to the Israelite Nation, God's chosen people.

God's instruction book, the Bible

There are instructions as to how to love God and how to love one another (Matthew 22:36-40). There are instructions for building the Tabernacle, God's dwelling place. There are instructions for the priests as well as for the people.

And there are commands along with the consequences for not obeying them - burning in fire, stoned, and that kind of thing.

Basically, we encounter a just God expecting an obedient people. He's not messing around. No counting to 3. No "I'm not going to tell you again!"

Old Testament Offering

What is amazing about this book are the number of offerings or sacrifices found at the beginning of it. I counted no fewer than 6 DIFFERENT offerings ordained by God to be performed by the priests.

• The Burnt Offering
• The Grain Offering
• The Fellowship/Peace Offering
• The Sin Offering
• The Guilt Offering
• The Wave Offering

The question arises in my mind: "Why do you think God set up so many different sacrifices for the Israelites?" I believe the answer relates to the purpose of each of the offerings. If we know the purpose, we should be able to clearly see the reason for each.

So, let's play a matching game. See if you can match up the Levitical Offering with it's purpose. Click on over to the Offering Game and see how well you do!

So, how long did it take to complete all the matches!? If you beat my time of 1:24, that's impressive!

The bottom line with all the Offerings set up by God, is that He desires a JUST and GUILT-FREE RELATIONSHIP with His people. All of these Offerings pointed in one way or another to the ultimate Offering - that of Jesus Christ Himself on the cross.

Play the Offering Game!

"For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man" (Romans 8:3)

Thank God we have a High Priest (Jesus), we can can come to, as we are, and receive forgiveness for our mistakes (sins), both known and unknown. If you don't yet know how this works, contact myself or another staff member at the Kalkaska Church of Christ. We'd love the chance to share this incredible story with you!