Day 24: Leviticus 2:1-7:38

Today, I read all about the different types of offerings that were to be made at the Tabernacle. The burnt offering, grain offering, fellowship offering, sin offering, and guilt offering. I learned, among other things, that the first three were designed more like offerings made as praise to God or to find favour in his eyes. The last two are specifically for atonement of sin committed by an individual, a leader, or the whole community.

This was the first section of Scripture that I came across the phrase, "... and (they/he) will be forgiven" (Starting in Lev. 4:20, 26, 31, and 35). Forgiveness is first mentioned in the context of the slaughter of animals and the pouring out of blood at the base of the altar and sprinkling of blood on the altar horns. Then the fat was burned on the alter. (I giggled at Ex. 3:16, "All the fat is the LORD's."). The animal was killed, broken, cut, torn apart, and then burnt. The death in the place of the person or people heralds forgiveness.

This leads me to the next interesting thing I learned. The animal death was a symbol of the person's death. Starting in the first chapter, people are told to place their hands on the head of the animal to be slaughtered. They have their hands on the animal's head as its throat is slit, it bleeds out, an it dies. According to my study Bible, the placing of the hands on the animal's head is to "express identification between [the person offering the animal] and the animal, whose death would then be accepted in 'atonement'". Symbolically, they are saying, "I must die to atone for the wrong things I have done. I must let my blood pour out, be parted and burned. Only then will I become pleasing to the LORD (Ex. 1:9, 13, 17, 3:5, 16, etc.). The death of the animal atoned for the sin of the person. The body was parted and then burnt. This burning aroma was pleasing to the LORD.

This got me wondering. I could not help but notice some parallels between the death and disposal of the animals and the fate of those of us hell-bound. My impression is that it is a place of weeping, gnashing of teeth, suffering, disjointed-ness from God, being parted from God, cast into fire (Luke 16:24). Will the resulting aroma of the dead in Hell be pleasing to the LORD? I feel that perhaps my interpretation is a little far fetched, but I want to think big thoughts tonight.

Well, I'm tired. I hope I can get my reading done a little earlier tomorrow.

1794 pages to go!