All On The Altar Of Sacrifice Series

There’s a true story of a church that had a parking problem. Right next door was a store that was closed on Sunday. So they asked the owner if they could use his parking lot. He said that they could use it for 51 Sundays out of the year but it would be chained off one week. They were happy with the deal, but curious why it would be chained off that one Sunday. He explained that he just wanted them to remember that it wasn’t their parking lot!

Today we’re going to be talking about sacrifices. In the Old Testament sacrifices were one of the major focuses of Jewish life. It seems that every day, sacrifices of one kind of another were offered continuously over and over again. Throughout the year, Israelites would offer all kinds of sacrifices - mostly bulls and sheep and goats. But there were also the doves and pigeons, and there were also drink offerings, and offerings of grain, flour, or corn.

Now, I’m not going to go too deep into the woods on this, but I thought this was interesting (and it won’t cost you anything extra). There were several different kinds of sacrifices offered throughout the year, but there were 5 major sacrifices offered on a regular basis. There was a:

• Burnt offering – this was a sacrifice you could offer to cover national sins; or as part of a prayer offered to God; or simply as an offering to please God (first-born male of herd or flock; or dove or pigeon).

• Sin offering –for forgiveness of a personal sin or ritual impurity (bull for priest or entire community; male goat for a community leader; female goat or lamb for a commoner; dove or pigeon for the poor)

• Guilt offering– often offered for personal sins requiring restitution (Ram of the flock or equivalent monetary value)

• Grain (or “meal”) offering – could be offered along with a burnt offering, but was often presented by the poor as a “sin” offering. (grain that was raw, baked, or fried mixed with oil and incense)

• And the Fellowship (or Peace) offering –a free-will sacrifice designed to celebrate God’s kindnesses or as an appeal to God for a closer relationship (male or female of flocks or herds)

(see footnote)

Now this last sacrifice (Fellowship) was the only sacrifice that the person who offered it was allowed to eat. Every other sacrifice was either entirely burned up on the altar or was partly burned up and the rest was given to the Priests for them to eat. But This Fellowship Offering was the only sacrifice the people who offered could partake of (eat). And this “Fellowship” meal was often shared with family and friends. Kind of like a potluck dinner or thanksgiving meal.

What’s interesting about ALL these sacrifices was that each offering cost the offerer something. The more wealthy were required to sacrifice part of their flock or herd. But the poor usually didn’t have flocks and herds, so they would sacrifice part of the grain they’d gathered or birds they’d caught.

And my point is this: no matter who offered up these sacrifices… it cost them something. That’s part of the reason we call them SACRIFICES. In addition, every sacrifice had to be the best that could be offered. No sacrifice was acceptable that had a blemish or deformity or a broken leg. It had to be a perfect sacrifice.

Question: WHY? Why did God want the Israelites to “sacrifice” anything? It wasn’t like God needed the food. In Psalms 50:12-13 God is angry at the sin of the people and He declares: “If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine. Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats?”

God didn’t need their sacrifices to satisfy his hunger. So why would God ask Israel to make these sacrifices? Well, one of the reasons He asked for sacrifices for the same reason that that restaurant we talked of earlier chained off their parking lot. That restaurant wanted the church to remember it wasn’t their parking lot. They didn’t own it!!!!

That’s one of the reasons (I believe) God asked the Israelites for sacrifices - to remind them they didn’t own anything. Even as a nation… they weren’t their own. All they had and all they were belonged to God.

Leviticus 20:26 (God told the Israelites) “You shall be holy to me, for I the LORD am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.” YOU BELONG TO ME!

The first of the 10 Commandments drives this home: “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.” Exodus 20:2-3