Rabbit Trail Week #1: The Burnt Offering (Leviticus 1:1-9) Series

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Are you hanging in there, or have I lost you? Let's run back to the outline for just a minute. We've seen three functions of the burnt offering so far. (1) The burnt offering is a way to worship God. (2) It's a way to be purified from accidental sin, and accidental uncleanness. (3) It's a way to become consecrated to God.

(4) The fourth reason to offer a burnt offering is to get God's attention for prayer.

This one is maybe a surprise to you. It reflects a very different way of looking at prayer.

We tend to think that God always listens to us when we pray. He's always watching. His ears are always open to us. He's just waiting for us.

And that's not really biblical. There are times when God doesn't listen to his people (1 Peter 3:7; 1 Peter 3:12). There are times when God is far off, or when God is hiding, or when God ignores us.

A burnt offering is designed to break through that. The smell from the burnt offering ascends to the heavens, to God. God smells it, and his attention is drawn to you. And at that point, you are more likely to get a response to your prayer.

There's several really good examples of this. Let's just look at one, in Numbers 23:1-6 (NRSV no reason):

23 1 Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.” 2 Balak did as Balaam had said; and Balak and Balaam offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 3 Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here beside your burnt offerings while I go aside. Perhaps the LORD will come to meet me. Whatever he shows me I will tell you.” And he went to a bare height.

4 Then God met Balaam; and Balaam said to him, “I have arranged the seven altars, and have offered a bull and a ram on each altar.” 5 The LORD put a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and this is what you must say.” 6 So he returned to Balak,[a] who was standing beside his burnt offerings with all the officials of Moab.

In these verses, Balaam wants to get God's attention, and have God come to meet him. What does he do, to encourage God to do this? He builds seven altars, and offers seven burnt offerings (it's like he knows Exodus 20:4). And his sacrifice is successful-- God comes to him, and gives him a word for Balak.

[Another great example is 1 Kings 18, where this is the central idea-- which God/god will show up, when his people offer burnt offerings to him. This is probably also the idea in 2 Samuel 24:10-- the sacrifice leads to God answering David's prayer, and stopping the plague. Also, in 2 Kings 3:26-27, a child is sacrificed to get a god's attention in a time of crisis. Baruch Levine, In the Presence of the Lord, focuses on this function as being the key to burnt offerings in general, but I think it's probably just one of the functions-- other examples don't fit well.]

(5) They are a way to fulfill a vow you made in a time of crisis. You would tell God, "If you rescue me from this, I will offer you a burnt offering, and publicly praise you for your help." And then you fulfill that vow at the Tabernacle/Temple (Leviticus 22:17-19; Numbers 15:3).