Commentary - Leviticus 1:10-13

Bird's-eye view

Here in the opening chapter of Leviticus, God is laying down the grammar of worship. He is teaching His people how to approach Him, and the first lesson is the burnt offering, or as it can be called, the ascension offering. This is an offering of total consecration, where the entire animal goes up in smoke to God. It is not primarily about dealing with a specific sin, but rather about the worshiper dedicating himself wholly to the Lord. The first nine verses dealt with an offering from the herd, a bull, which was a costly sacrifice. Now, the Lord makes provision for the common man, the one whose wealth is in the flock. This is a profound kindness from God. He does not despise the offering of the poor, but rather makes a way for everyone to approach Him. The principles remain the same, the substitute must be perfect, the blood must be shed, and the whole offering must be given to God. This is a picture of the complete devotion God requires, and a foreshadowing of the one perfect offering of Christ, who gave Himself completely for us.

As we walk through these verses, we must resist the modern temptation to view these instructions as primitive or irrelevant. This is the Word of God, and it is teaching us about the holiness of God, the gravity of our sin, and the nature of the substitutionary atonement that is ours in the Lord Jesus. Every detail here is a brushstroke in the grand portrait of Christ. If we have eyes to see, we will see Jesus everywhere in these instructions. The precision of the ritual is not a substitute for a right heart, but rather the God-given form for a right heart to express itself. Obedience here is the vessel that contains the worship.

Outline

Context In Leviticus

Leviticus begins immediately after the construction of the Tabernacle is completed at the end of Exodus. God has descended to dwell in the midst of His people, and the central question now is, "How can a sinful people live with a holy God in their midst?" Leviticus is the answer. It is God's instruction manual for worship and holy living. The book is not a random collection of laws, but a carefully structured guide that moves from the sacrifices (chapters 1-7), to the priesthood (chapters 8-10), to the laws of purity (chapters 11-16), and finally to the call for practical holiness in everyday life (chapters 17-27). Chapter 1, dealing with the burnt offering, is foundational. Before any other sacrifice is detailed, God explains the offering that signifies total surrender. This sets the tone for everything that follows. The worshiper must first understand that he belongs entirely to God before he can properly understand forgiveness, fellowship, or purity.

Verse by Verse Commentary

10 ‘But if his offering is from the flock, of the sheep or of the goats, for a burnt offering, he shall bring near a male without blemish.

The first thing to notice is the gracious provision of God. Not everyone could afford a bull. So, God makes a way for those of more modest means to bring an offering of total consecration. He is not interested in the market value of the gift so much as the heart of the giver. The God who owns the cattle on a thousand hills is not impressed by a man's large bank account. He is, however, attentive to the worship of a man who brings what he has. The offering is to be a sheep or a goat, but the standard of quality is not lowered. It must be a male, representing headship and strength, and it must be "without blemish." This is crucial. The substitute for the worshiper must be perfect. This points us directly to Christ, our perfect sacrifice, the Lamb of God without blemish or spot. We cannot approach God with our own flawed and broken righteousness. We must come with a perfect substitute, and God Himself provides that substitute. The worshiper was to select the very best of his flock, not the sickly one he was glad to be rid of. This teaches us that true worship is costly and requires us to give God our best, not our leftovers.

11And he shall slaughter it on the side of the altar northward before Yahweh, and Aaron’s sons the priests shall splash its blood around on the altar.

The worshiper himself is the one who kills the animal. This was not a detached, sterile event. The man who was identifying with this animal as his substitute had to feel its life drain away under his own hand. This was a visceral, bloody reminder of the wages of sin. Death is the penalty, and this animal is dying in his place. The location is specified: on the north side of the altar. This precision is not arbitrary; it teaches the people that we must approach God on His terms, not our own. We do not get to invent our own worship. We come "before Yahweh" in the way He prescribes. Then the priests, the appointed mediators, take over. Their job is to handle the blood. They splash it against the sides of the altar. The life of the creature is in the blood, and the blood is presented to God, signifying that a life has been given. This is the heart of substitutionary atonement. Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins. The altar becomes the place where death and life meet, where the penalty for sin is paid and the worshiper is accepted by God.

12He shall then cut it into its pieces with its head and its suet, and the priest shall arrange them on the wood which is on the fire that is on the altar.

After the death of the substitute, the worshiper dismembers the carcass. Again, this is a hands-on activity. He cuts it into its prescribed pieces. This is not a chaotic butchering, but an orderly presentation. The head, the suet (the fat), and all the other pieces are laid out. The priest then arranges these pieces on the wood of the altar. This is a picture of a life laid bare before God. Nothing is hidden. The entire animal, every part, is placed on the altar to be consumed. This represents the total surrender of the worshiper to God. It is not just a part of his life that he gives, but the whole thing, his thoughts (the head), his strength and richest parts (the suet), everything. This is what it means to be a living sacrifice, as Paul would later say in Romans 12. Our whole being is to be laid on the altar, consecrated to God.

13The entrails, however, and the legs he shall wash with water. And the priest shall bring all of it near and offer it up in smoke on the altar; it is a burnt offering, an offering by fire of a soothing aroma to Yahweh.

Before the offering can be completed, the inward parts and the legs must be washed. The legs represent the worshiper's walk, his path through the world. The entrails represent his inward being, his desires and motives. Both are stained by the filth of the world and must be cleansed with water, a symbol of purification. We cannot offer our inward corruption or our defiled walk to a holy God. There must be a cleansing. This points to the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, washing us with the water of the Word. Only then can the offering be acceptable. The priest then takes everything, the washed and the unwashed parts together as one whole, and offers it up. It all ascends to God in smoke. This is the 'olah, the ascension offering. The entire creature is consumed, going up to God. And the result? It is a "soothing aroma to Yahweh." This does not mean that God has a physical nose that enjoys the smell of barbecue. It is anthropomorphic language to describe God's good pleasure and satisfaction. He is pleased with this offering of total dedication from a cleansed worshiper, represented by a perfect substitute. This is the aroma of Christ's own perfect sacrifice, which was utterly pleasing to the Father. And when we offer ourselves to God through Christ, our lives also can become a sweet-smelling sacrifice, acceptable and well-pleasing to Him.

Application

We do not bring sheep and goats to a physical altar today. To do so would be an insult to the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, who was the final and perfect burnt offering. He gave Himself completely, holding nothing back. His entire being was consumed in the fire of God's wrath against sin on the cross, and His sacrifice was a soothing aroma to the Father, satisfying divine justice completely.

Because of His sacrifice, we are now called to present our bodies as "a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God," which Paul calls our spiritual worship (Rom. 12:1). This Levitical text shows us what that means. It means we must come to God through the perfect, unblemished substitute, Jesus Christ. It means we must confess that our sin deserves death, and that His blood was shed for us. It means we must lay our entire lives before Him, our thoughts, our strength, our walk, our inward desires, holding nothing back. It means we must be continually washed by the water of the Word, seeking to be cleansed from the filth of the world. When we live this way, a life of total consecration founded on the substitutionary death of Jesus, our lives become a pleasing, soothing aroma to God. Not because of our own merit, but because we are in Christ, the ultimate burnt offering.