Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Leviticus 1:14
And if the burnt sacrifice for his offering to the LORD [be] of fowls, then he shall bring his offering of turtledoves, or of young pigeons.
( c) Fowls (14 17)
This kind of offering is not included in the general introduction in Lev 1:2. The ritual is slightly altered; the laying the hand on the victim is omitted, the bringing in the hand being equivalent; and the priest performs all the ceremonial.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Of turtledoves, or of young pigeons – The offering of a bird was permitted to one who was too poor to offer a quadruped. (Compare the marginal references.) But in certain rites of purification birds were appointed for all, whatever might be their circumstances. See Lev 15:14, Lev 15:29; Num 6:10. The limitation of the age of the pigeons may be accounted for by the natural habits of the birds. It would seem that the species which are most likely to have been the sacrificial dove and pigeon are the common turtle and the bluerock pigeon, a bird like our stock-dove, and considerably larger than the turtle. The turtles come in the early part of April, but as the season advances they wholly disappear. The pigeons, on the contrary, do not leave the country; and their nests, with young ones in them, may be easily found at any season of the year. Hence, it would appear, that when turtledoves could not be obtained, nestling pigeons were accepted as a substitute.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Lev 1:14-17
Bring his offering of turtledoves.
The burnt sacrifice of birds
I. We observe, in the first place, that worship and dedication to god are the general ideas connected with sacrifices in the sacred scriptures, and this is most important to a right understanding of them. His own Divine love induced the Saviour to glorify His humanity through sufferings, that He might be a Saviour for ever to bring His children to Himself; and thus He suffered, as the apostle says, the just for the unjust, to bring us to God. He suffered to satisfy His love, not as a punishment to appease the anger of another Divine person. In the sacrifice before us, it is a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord. A symbol this of the offering of interior worship from love, the fire of the soul, on the altar of the heart.
II. But secondly, the objects offered up were correspondences of good principles or powers in the mind. The animals used in the sacrifices were lambs, sheep, oxen, goats, turtledoves, and pigeons, and a consideration of the typical character of each will assist us to confirm the truth of our first proposition. The lamb is used in Scripture as the symbol of innocence, and is so expressive of this grace that it is almost a household word for those who are in possession of it. I send you forth, said our Lord, as lambs in the midst of wolves. Sheep are the types of the gentle principles of charity, or sympathising brotherly love. The sheep described by the Lord Jesus in Mat 25:1-46. were those who had fed the hungry, clothed the naked, visited the sick and the prisoners, and succoured the strangers. Oxen are the types of the dispositions to duty and obedience. It was the animal chiefly devoted to the plough, and ploughing, in the spiritual sense, means the preparation of the soul to receive the knowledge of heavenly things. The goat, whose delight is in leaping from rock to rock, is the symbol of the disposition to regard the truths of faith with great pleasure, which sometimes degenerates into a love of faith only, and then is strongly condemned by the Lord (Eze 34:1-31.; Mat 25:1-46.). Birds, from their soaring power, are the symbols of thoughts. Turtledoves and pigeons are correspondences of those tender thoughts and yearnings after the heavenly life which the soul has in the early part of its regeneration. The cooing of the turtledove was first heard in the groves of Palestine, on the return of spring. Its sweet sound was the sign of the approach of a brighter and warmer season. When the soul, therefore, is coming to a more genial condition, the sweet thoughts of hope and trust that encourage its advance towards the heavenly state and kingdom are like the soft notes of a God-sent turtledove. All these types, then, of good affections and thoughts, as well as the mode of offering up by fire, abundantly confirm the view we have drawn from tile Holy Word, that the sacrifices were representative of good things and principles dedicated to the Lord in worship, not of punishment for human sin. May I not ask you if you have no spiritual sacrifice to make? Have not the turtledove, or the young pigeon of heavenward thought, begun to make themselves heard within you? Have you no yearnings after a better land? Have you not felt the aspirations after a fuller conformity to the Lord, after greater purity of heart, and greater usefulness on earth? If you have, follow their leadings, and offer them up to the Lord in love. Let the fire glow on the altar of your heart. Acknowledge that these first yearnings for good are from Him. He will not despise the gift, but bless it, as an offering made by fire, a sweet savour unto the Lord.
III. We observe that so far from the idea of sacrifices being regarded as symbolical of punishment by the Divine Being, the truth is, that outward sacrifices never were in accordance with the divine command at all, but were mere permissions to serve as types during human darkness and degeneracy. A common idea has been entertained that outward sacrifices are frequently commanded by God, and He originated the Divine arrangement with the Israelites; but this is altogether an error. Sacrifices were prevalent among the nations of the East before God spoke from Sinai at all. Pharaoh told the Hebrews they could sacrifice in his land, before a single law respecting sacrifice was given them (Exo 8:25). In the Book of Leviticus, where the laws respecting sacrifices are all expressly given, they do not command sacrifices, they only regulate them. The language is, If any man of you bring an offering unto the Lord, as in Lev 1:2; If his offering be of the flocks (Lev 1:10); If the burnt sacrifice for the offering of the Lord be of fowls (Lev 1:14); and so on through the book, evidently implying no command, but regulation. The Israelitish people, like all their neighbours, had sunk from worshipping God in the heart and mind, with those affections and thoughts to which animals are the figures and correspondences, and were only too ready to offer up animals instead of offering up themselves. God only regulated this disposition to be a shadow of a better worship to come. The graces of the heart are what God requires, not the slaughter of animals (see Jer 7:22-23; 1Sa 15:22; Mic 6:7-8). Let us never suppose, then, that any sacrifice will be acceptable to Him, instead of that devotion of all the principles of the soul to do His holy will, which is the inward meaning of all the sacrifices.
IV. Lastly, To enable us to do this, and thus to return to the order of heaven, and to offer spiritual sacrifices again, the lord himself took human nature upon himself, and purified, perfected, and glorified this, so that all the sacrifices have their highest fulfilment in the lord Jesus Christ, the great high priest and the supreme sacrifice. Now we have seen that in relation to man the sacrifices represent the dedication of the several principles of his nature to the Divine will, by the destruction of selfishness in him, and his consequent regeneration. In our blessed Lord this sanctification of His humanity was far higher; it was the making of it Divine, and thus tile supreme sacrifice. He had the same principles in His humanity which we have in ours, thus He had the innocence represented by the lamb, the charity of which the sheep is the symbol, the obedience typified by the ox, the desire for faith of which the goat is the emblem, the thought and yearnings for the salvation of the human race represented by the turtledoves and young pigeons. As His humanity was from Jehovah interiorly, being the Son of God, but clothed with infirm coverings from His mother, He needed to sanctify and perfect it by a process precisely similar to that by means of which His children are prepared for heaven. (J. Bayley, Ph. D.)
Our Lords tenderness in dealing with the offerings of the poor
Then he shall bring his offering of turtledoves, or of young pigeons. There is a great deal of tenderness in the Lords way of dealing with the offerings of the poor among men; but there is a great deal of meanness in mans way of giving poor offerings to the Lord. The Lord says, If the offering is of the herd, let it be of the best; if the offerer is too poor to bring a bullock, let him take a choice offering from his sheep or his goats; if indeed he has neither herd nor flock, let him bring the best he can find from among his fowls or his pigeons, and the willing spirit shall enlarge the small offering in the sight of the Lord. But man says, My cows are all Alderney or Durham stock; I must hold on to them. My sheep are South Down and Cotesworth; they are needed for wool and mutton. Some of my fowls and pigeons are of fancy breed: I dont see how I can let them go. But there is a sickly pigeon, and a chicken with the pip. Theyll do for an offering. And the close-fisted believer goes up smilingly to the sanctuary, and passes in his shabby offering, with a self-gratulatory likening of his gift to the widows mites. There is a world of beauty in the Lords regard for the circumstances and necessities of His children. There is a shameful perversion, by ungrateful men, of Gods goodness in His call for offerings according to the means–not according to the meanness–of those who profess to love and serve Him. (H. C. Trumbull.)
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Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
These birds were appointed for the relief of the poor who could not bring better. And these birds are preferred before others, partly because they were easily gotten, and partly because they are fit representations of Christs chastity, and meekness, and gentleness, for which these birds are remarkable. The pigeons must be young, because then they are best; but the turtle-doves are better when they are more grown up, and therefore they are not confined to that age.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
14-17. if the burnt sacrifice . . .be of fowlsThe gentle nature and cleanly habits of the doveled to its selection, while all other fowls were rejected, either forthe fierceness of their disposition or the grossness of their taste;and in this case, there being from the smallness of the animal noblood for waste, the priest was directed to prepare it at thealtar and sprinkle the blood. This was the offering appointed for thepoor. The fowls were always offered in pairs, and the reason whyMoses ordered two turtledoves or two young pigeons, was not merely tosuit the convenience of the offerer, but according as the latter wasin season; for pigeons are sometimes quite hard and unfit for eating,at which time turtledoves are very good in Egypt and Palestine. Theturtledoves are not restricted to any age because they are alwaysgood when they appear in those countries, being birds of passage; butthe age of the pigeons is particularly marked that they might not beoffered to God at times when they are rejected by men [HARMER].It is obvious, from the varying scale of these voluntary sacrifices,that the disposition of the offerer was the thing looked tonot thecostliness of his offering.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And if the burnt sacrifice for his offering to the Lord be of fowls,…. As it might be for the poorer sort, who could not offer a bullock, nor a sheep, or a lamb, Le 5:7:
then he shall bring his offering of turtledoves, or of young pigeons; the Jewish writers all agree, that the turtles should be old, and not young, as the pigeons young, and not old; so the Targum of Jonathan, Jarchi, Aben Ezra and Gersom l; the latter gives two reasons for it, because then they are the choicest and easiest to be found and taken: no mention is made of their being male or female, either would do, or of their being perfect and unblemished, as in the other burnt offerings; but if any part was wanting, it was not fit for sacrifice, as Maimonides m observes. These creatures were proper emblems of Christ, and therefore used in sacrifice, whose voice is compared to the turtle’s, and his eyes to the eyes of doves, So 2:12 and who is fitly represented by them for his meekness and humility, for his chaste and strong affection to his church, as the turtledove to its mate, and for those dove like graces of the Spirit which are in him.
l Vid. T. Bab. Cholin, fol. 22. 1, 2. m Issure Mizbeach, c. 3. sect. 1, 2. Vid. Misn. Zebachim, c. 7. sect. 5. & Maimon. & Bartenora, in ib.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The burnt-offering of fowls was to consist of turtle-doves or young pigeons. The Israelites have reared pigeons and kept dovecots from time immemorial (Isa 60:8, cf. 2Ki 6:25); and the rearing of pigeons continued to be a favourite pursuit with the later Jews (Josephus, de bell. jud. v. 4, 4), so that they might very well be reckoned among the domesticated animals. There are also turtle-doves and wild pigeons in Palestine in such abundance, that they could easily furnish the ordinary animal food of the poorer classes, and serve as sacrifices in the place of the larger animals. The directions for sacrificing these, were that the priest was to bring the bird to the altar, to hip off its head, and cause it to ascend in smoke upon the altar. , which only occurs in Lev 1:15 and Lev 5:8, signifies undoubtedly to pinch off, and not merely to pinch; for otherwise the words in Lev 5:8, “and shall not divide it asunder,” would be superfluous. We have therefore to think of it as a severance of the head, as the lxx ( ) and Rabbins have done, and not merely a wringing of the neck and incision in the skin by which the head was left hanging to the body; partly because the words, “and not divide it asunder,” are wanting here, and partly also because of the words, “and burn it upon the altar,” which immediately follow, and which must refer to the head, and can only mean that, after the head had been pinched off, it was to be put at once into the burning altar-fire. For it is obviously unnatural to regard these words as anticipatory, and refer them to the burning of the whole dove; not only from the construction itself, but still more on account of the clause which follows: “and the blood thereof shall be pressed out against the wall of the altar.” The small quantity that there was of the blood prevented it from being caught in a vessel, and swung from it against the altar.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
Verses 14-17:
The provision that the whole burnt sacrifice may be a turtledove or a pigeon, rather than a four-legged animal, is a concession to poverty. None might offer the excuse that he could not afford the cost of this sacrifice, see Le 12:8. This typifies God’s provision for salvation to all, regardless of their economic status, see Isa 55:1, 2; Mt 11:5.
“Turtledove,” yor, a wild, migratory bird similar to the common mourning dove.
“Pigeon,” yonah, the common rock dove, a non-migratory bird. This was the variety of dove sent by Noah from the ark, see Ge 8:8-12.
The difference in the ritual between the offering of the animal and the offering of the fowl was fourfold:
1. The offerer was not required to lay his hand upon the head of the sacrifice.
2. The altar itself, rather than the space northward, is the place where the victim was to be slain.
3. The priest, rather than the offerer, must slay the sacrifice.
4. The blood is to be squeezed from the sacrifice and smeared upon the altar, rather than to be caught in a basin.
The feathers, along with the crop and its contents, were placed beside the altar to the east, in the place where the ashes were deposited.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(14) Be of fowls.The fowls here are in contrast to the cattle in Lev. 1:2. And as the quadrupeds there are immediately defined to consist of bullocks, sheep and goats, so the generic term winged creature is here restricted to the dove and pigeon. It will thus be seen that five different kinds are allowed for the burnt offering, viz., the bullock, lamb, goat, dove and pigeon, the same that Abram was commanded to offer (Gen. 15:9).
Of turtledoves.Though in the case of the burnt offering, as well as of the sin offering, pigeons were permitted to those who were too poor to offer quadrupeds, yet in certain other cases birds were prescribed for all irrespective of their circumstances. Not only did turtledoves regularly come in large flocks (Son. 2:11-12; Jer. 8:7) into Palestine at certain periods, but owing to these sacrifices the Jews have always kept dove-cots and reared pigeons (2Ki. 6:25; Isa. 60:8; Joseph. Wars, v. 4, 4). To supply the demand for them, dealers in these birds sat about with them in cages on stalls in the Temple court (Mat. 21:2; Joh. 11:16, &c.).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
14. Offering of fowls In a descending scale Jehovah adjusts his requirements to the ability of the offerer, from a bull to a pigeon.
Turtledoves These are first spoken of as appropriate for sacrifice in Gen 15:9, where Abram is commanded to offer one, together with a young pigeon, in addition to larger sacrifices. The admission of a pair of turtledoves for a burnt offering is a step of condescension lower than the concession of the young pigeons, since the former are not property, not being domesticated. For the practicability of the sacrifice of the turtledove in the wilderness see Introduction, (4.) For a few months in winter this bird was absent from Palestine seeking a warmer climate. Hence “the voice of the turtle in the land” (Son 2:12) was the grateful sign of spring. Thus the poor could bring their tame pigeons, and the poorest, with a little effort, might capture and offer to the Lord a pair of turtledoves, an offering eminently appropriate on account of their imagined fidelity and devotion to each other, which might be taken as symbolizing devotion to God.
Young pigeons These are too well known to require description. This offering was always possible. See Introduction, (4.)
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Alternative Offering of Birds ( Lev 1:14-17 ).
A further offering was available as an alternative for the poorer members of the community. It differs in presentation because of the nature of the offering but for all practical purposes it follows the pattern already described. Only the differences are emphasised. We may therefore again assume the general pattern, including probably the hand laid on for identification.
Lev 1:14
‘And if his oblation to Yahweh be a burnt-offering of birds, then he shall offer his oblation of turtle-doves, or of pigeons.’
The type of birds that may be offered are prescribed, either two turtle-doves or two young pigeons. Both were edible birds and may well have been reared domestically, although wild doves and pigeons lived in the hilly country in Palestine. Thus they were available to anyone at the cost of obtaining them. The dove especially was a bird of peace, thus symbolising the prince of Peace (Isa 9:6)
Lev 1:15-16
‘And the priest shall bring it to the altar, and wring off its head, and burn it on the altar; and its blood shall be drained out on the flat side of the altar, and he shall take away its crop with its contents (waste material, filth), and cast it beside the altar on the east part, in the place of the ashes,’
In this case the actual slaughter is carried out by the priest. This was because, in view of the smallness of the offering, the limited amount of blood was more easily dealt with in this way, and the slaughter was quick and easy. Having been ‘identified’ with the offerer the bird is brought to the altar, its head wrung off and burned on the altar, and its blood drained off on the side of the altar. The crop and its contents (‘its waste material’) were thrown into the ash pit which was available for the fat impregnated ashes to the east of the altar. (‘Feathers’ (LXX) is an alternative possible translation instead of ‘contents, waste material’. The word occurs only here but see Eze 17:3; Eze 17:7 for an almost parallel word rendered feathers).
So the unclean parts are removed before the birds are offered up, a reminder that when we offer ourselves up to God we must first ensure that any uncleanness within our hearts is dealt with by the blood of Christ (1Jn 1:7) while we are making our offering.
Lev 1:17
‘And he shall rend it by its wings, but shall not divide it in two; and the priest shall burn it on the altar, on the wood that is on the fire. It is a burnt-offering, an offering made by fire, of a pleasing odour to Yahweh.’
Each dead bird was then to be ‘torn by its wings’, but not to be totally split, after which it was burned on the wood on the altar which was over the fire. The rending is presumably to reveal its innards (which were too small to wash, unless that is the purpose of the rending), but it is interesting that it is not to be torn in two. It is not mimicking Genesis 15. It is a whole offering. The purpose would seem to be in order to stress that both the inner and the outer was offered to Yahweh. It is an offering of the whole. It was laid bare before God. Nothing is to be hidden from or withheld from God.
In the same way when Jesus Christ was offered nothing was hidden. He was, as it were, torn open and laid bare before God. And He was found perfect, and therefore fully satisfactory so that He could make possible our approach to God, by His righteousness being put to our account. His holiness, together with His death, neutralised our sin as He bore it on Himself. In the same way also, when we bring our lives to God, nothing must be allowed to be hidden. Our inmost hearts too must be laid bare. But in our case the crop and what is unclean must be removed by forgiveness and atonement.
“It is a whole burnt-offering, an offering made by fire, of a pleasing odour to Yahweh.” This offering is as acceptable to Yahweh as a bull-ox, because He sees the heart of the offerer. That it is a fire-offering stresses that it is purified and wholly burnt up. And if the heart is right the offering smells pleasing to Him.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Of Fowls
v. 14. And if the burnt sacrifice for his offering to the Lord be of fowls, v. 15. And the priest shall bring it unto the altar, and wring off his head, v. 16. And he shall pluck away his crop with his feathers, v. 17. And he shall cleave it with the wings thereof,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
So again, the same appointment, only as the things themselves made the difference necessary in the offering of them. But all pointed to JESUS, as the one all-sufficient sacrifice. Heb 10:4-14 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Lev 1:14 And if the burnt sacrifice for his offering to the LORD [be] of fowls, then he shall bring his offering of turtledoves, or of young pigeons.
Ver. 14. Turtle doves, or young pigeons. ] Old turtles and young pigeons are the best: God must have the very best of the best, as being best worthy.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
of fowls: Lev 5:7, Lev 12:8, Mat 11:29, Luk 2:24, 2Co 8:12, Heb 7:26
Reciprocal: Gen 15:9 – General Lev 5:10 – offer Lev 14:4 – two birds Lev 14:21 – poor Lev 15:14 – General Num 6:10 – General Mat 21:12 – doves
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Lev 1:14. Turtle-doves Those who were not able to go to the charge of a sheep or goat might offer a bird. And these birds were preferred before others, 1st, Because they were easily obtained; for Maimonides observes, that they were so plenteous in Canaan, and consequently so cheap, that the poorer sort could easily afford to bring this oblation. 2d, Because they fitly represented Christs chastity, meekness, and gentleness, and that purity of mind which becomes every worshipper of God. Hence birds of prey, and those of a coarser kind, were not to be offered. The pigeons were to be young, because then they are best; but the turtle-doves are better when they are grown up, and therefore they are not confined to that age.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Lev 1:14-17. Birds.This class is not mentioned in Lev 1:2, and may be a later addition to the list of possible offerings (it is not referred to in the narrative books of OT) for the sake of the poor (Luk 2:24). Turtle doves and pigeons are always mentioned together in Lev., and no other birds are allowed. Doves have a sacred character in both Babylonian and Greek rituals. The head of the bird is to be nipped off (cf. RVm), not wholly severed; separate parts of a bird (so 17) are too small to lay on the altar. The blood is drained off, as there will not be enough for sprinkling from a bowl. II. The Meal Offering.In Lev 7:1-11 the meal offering is regarded as the regular accompaniment of the peace offering, as bread is naturally eaten with meat. Here it is apparently an independent offering; note also the use of the second personal pronoun in Lev 1:4 ff., not in the other chapters. Probably we have here an older ritual (cf. 2Ki 16:15). Ch. 1 is naturally followed by ch. 3. This offering is not eaten by laymen.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
elete_me Lev 1:10-13
THE SACRIFICIAL BURNING
Lev 1:6-9; Lev 1:10-13; Lev 1:14-17
“And he shall flay the burnt offering, and cut it into its pieces. And the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire upon the altar, and lay wood in order upon the fire: and Aarons sons, the priests, shall lay the pieces, the head, and the fat, in order upon the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar: but its inwards and its legs shall he wash with water: and the priest shall burn the whole on the altar, for a burnt offering, an offering made by fire of a sweet savour unto the Lord And he shall cut it into its pieces, with its head and its fat: and the priest shall lay them in order on the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar: but the inwards and the legs shall he wash with water: and the priest shall offer the whole, and burn it upon the altar: it is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord And he shall rend it by the wings thereof, but shall not divide it asunder: and the priest shall burn it upon the altar, upon the wood that is upon the fire: it is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord.”
It was the distinguishing peculiarity of the burnt offering, from which it takes its name, that in every case the whole of it was burned, and thus ascended heavenward in the fire and smoke of the altar. The place of the burning, in this and other sacrifices, is significant. The flesh of the sin offering, when not eaten, was to be burned in a clean place without the camp. But it was the law of the burnt offering that it should be wholly consumed upon the holy altar at the door of the tent of meeting. In the directions for the burning we need seek for no occult meaning; the most of them are evidently intended simply as means to the end; namely, the consumption of the offering with the utmost readiness, ease, and completeness. Hence it must be flayed and cut into its pieces, and carefully arranged upon the wood. The inwards and the legs must be washed with water, that into the offering, as to be offered to the Holy One, might come nothing extraneous, nothing corrupt and unclean.
In Lev 1:10-13 and Lev 1:14-17 provision is made for the offering of different victims, of the flock, or of the fowls. The reason for this permitted variation, although not mentioned here, was doubtless the same which is given for a similar permission in Lev 5:7, where it is ordered that if the offerers means suffice not for a certain offering, he may bring one of less value. Poverty shall be no plea for not bringing a burnt sacrifice; to the Israelite of that time it thus set forth the truth, that “if there first be a willing heart, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not.”
The variations in the prescriptions regarding the different victims to be used in the sacrifice are but slight. The bird having been killed by the priest (why this change it is not easy to see), its crop, with its contents of food unassimilated, and therefore not a part of the bird, as also the feathers, was to be cast away. It was not to be divided, like the bullock, and the sheep or goat, simply because, with so small a creature, it was not necessary to the speedy and entire combustion of the offering. In each case alike, the declaration is made that the sacrifice, thus offered and wholly burnt upon the altar, is “an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord.”
And now a question comes before us, the answer to which is vital to the right understanding of the burnt offering, whether in its original or typical import. What was the significance of the burning? It has been very often answered that the consumption of the victim by fire symbolised the consuming wrath of Jehovah, utterly destroying the victim which represented the sinful person of the offerer. And, observing that the burning followed the killing and shedding of blood, some have even gone so far as to say that the burning typified the eternal fire of hell! But when we remember that, without doubt, the sacrificial victim in all the Levitical offerings was a type of our blessed Lord, we may well agree with one who justly calls this interpretation “hideous.” And yet many, who have shrunk from this, have yet in so far held to this conception of the symbolic meaning of the burning as to insist that it must at least have typified those fiery sufferings in which our Lord offered up His soul for sin. They remind us how often, in the Scripture, fire stands as the symbol of the consuming wrath of God against sin, and hence argue that this may justly be taken here as the symbolic meaning of the burning of the victim on the altar.
But this interpretation is nevertheless, in every form, to be rejected. As regards the use of fire as a symbol in Holy Scripture, while it is true that it often represents the punitive wrath of God, it is equally certain that it has not always this meaning. Quite as often it is the symbol of Gods purifying energy and might. Fire was not the symbol of Jehovahs vengeance in the burning bush. When the Lord is represented as sitting “as a refiner and a purifier of silver,” surely the thought is not of vengeance, but of purifying mercy. We should rather say that fire, in Scripture usage, is the symbol of the intense energy of the Divine nature, which continually acts upon every person and on every thing, according to the nature of each person or thing; here conserving, there destroying; now cleansing, now consuming. The same fire which burns the wood, hay, and stubble, purifies the gold and the silver.
Hence, while it is quite true that fire often typifies the wrath of God punishing sin, it is certain that it cannot always symbolise this, not even in the sacrificial ritual. For in the meal offering of chapter 2 it is impossible that the thought of expiation should enter since no life is offered and no blood is shed; yet this also is presented unto God in fire. The fire then in this case must mean something else than the Divine wrath, and presumably must mean one thing in all the sacrifices. And that not even in the burnt offering can the burning of the sacrifice symbolise the consuming wrath of God, becomes plain, when we observe that, according to the uniform teaching of the sacrificial ritual, atonement is already fully accomplished, prior to the burning, in the sprinkling of the blood. That the burning, which follows the atonement, should have any reference to Christs expiatory sufferings, is thus quite impossible.
We must hold, therefore, that the burning can only mean in the burnt offering that which alone it can signify in the meal offering; namely, the ascending of the offering in consecration to God, on the one hand; and, on the other, Gods gracious acceptance and appropriation of the offering. This was impressively set forth in the case of the burnt offering presented when the tabernacle service was inaugurated; when, we are told (Lev 9:24), the fire which consumed it came forth from before Jehovah, lighted by no human hand, and was thus a visible representation of God accepting and appropriating the offering to Himself.
The symbolism of the burning thus understood, we can now perceive what must have been the special meaning of this sacrifice. As regarded by the believing Israelite of those days, not yet discerning clearly the deeper truth it shadowed forth as to the great Burnt Sacrifice of the future, it must have symbolically taught him that complete consecration unto God is essential to right worship. There were sacrifices having a different special import, in which, while a part was burnt, the offerer might even himself join in eating the remaining part, taking that for his own use. But, in the burnt offering, nothing was for himself: all was for God; and in the fire of the altar God took the whole in such a way that the offering forever passed beyond the offerers recall. In so far as the offerer entered into this conception, and his inward experience corresponded to this outward rite, it was for him an act of worship.
But to the thoughtful worshipper, one would think, it must sometimes have occurred that, after all, it was not himself or his gift that thus ascended in full consecration to God, but a victim appointed by God to represent him in death on the altar. And thus it was that, whether understood or not, the offering in its very nature pointed to a Victim of the future, in whose person and work, as the One only fully-consecrated Man, the burnt offering should receive its full explication. And this brings us to the question, What aspect of the person and work of our Lord was herein specially typified? It cannot be the resultant fellowship with God, as in the peace offering; for the sacrificial feast which set this forth was in this case wanting. Neither can it be expiation for sin; for although this is expressly represented here, yet it is not the chief thing. The principal thing, in the burnt offering, was the burning, the complete consumption of the victim in the sacrificial fire. Hence what is represented chiefly here, is not so much Christ representing His people in atoning death, as Christ representing His people in perfect consecration and entire self-surrender unto God; in a word, in perfect obedience.
Of these two things, the atoning death and the representative obedience, we think, and with reason, much of the former; but most Christians, though without reason, think less of the latter. And yet how much is made of this aspect of our Lords work in the Gospels! The first words which we hear from His lips are to this effect, when, at twelve years of age, He asked His mother, {Luk 2:49} “Wist ye not that I must be (lit.) in the things of My Father?” and after His official work began in the first cleansing of the temple, this manifestation of His character was such as to remind His disciples that it was written, “The zeal of Thy house shall eat me up”; -phraseology which brings the burnt offering at once to mind. And His constant testimony concerning Himself, to which His whole life bare witness, was in such words as these: “I came down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him that sent Me.” In particular, He especially regarded His atoning work in this aspect. In the parable of the Good Shepherd, {Joh 10:1-18} for example, after telling us that because of His laying down His life for the sheep the Father loved Him, and that to this end He had received from the Father authority to lay down His life for the sheep, He then adds as the reason of this: “This commandment have I received from My Father.” And so elsewhere {Joh 12:49-50} He says of all His words, as of all His works: “The Father hath given Me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak; the things therefore which I speak, even as the Father hath said unto Me, so I speak.” And when at last His earthly work approaches its close, and we see. Him in the agony of Gethsemane, there He appears, above all, as the perfectly consecrated One, offering Himself, body, soul, and spirit, as a whole burnt offering unto God, in those never-to-be-forgotten words, {Mat 26:39} “Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass away from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt.” And, if any more proof were needed, we have it in that inspired exposition {Heb 10:5-10} of Psa 40:6-8, wherein it is taught that this perfect obedience of Christ, in full consecration, was indeed the very thing which the Holy Ghost foresignified in the whole brunt offerings of the law: “When He cometh into the world, He saith, Sacrifice and offering Thou wouldest not, but a body didst Thou prepare for Me; in whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin Thou hadst no pleasure: then said I, Lo, I am come (in the roll of the book it is written of Me) to do Thy will, O God.” Thus the burnt offering brings before us in type, for our faith, Christ as our Saviour in virtue of His being the One wholly surrendered to the will of the Father. Nor does this exclude, but rather defines, the conception of Christ as our substitute and representative. For He said that it was for our sakes that He “sanctified,” or “consecrated” Himself; {Joh 17:19} and while the New Testament represents Him as saving us by His death as an expiation for sin, it no less explicitly holds Him forth to us as having obeyed in our behalf, declaring {Rom 5:19} that it is by the obedience of the One Man that “many are made righteous.” And, elsewhere, the same Apostle represents the incomparable moral value of the atoning death of the cross as consisting precisely in this fact, that it was a supreme act of self-renouncing obedience, as it is written: {Php 2:6-9} “Being in the form of God, He yet counted it not a prize to be on an equality with God, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men; becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross. Wherefore also God highly exalted Him, and gave unto Him the name which is above every name.”
And so the burnt offering teaches us to remember that Christ has not only died for our sins, but has also consecrated Himself for us to God in full self-surrender in our behalf. We are therefore to plead not only His atoning death, but also the transcendent merit of His life of full consecration to the Fathers will. To this, the words, three times repeated concerning the burnt offering (Lev 1:9, Lev 1:13, Lev 1:17), in this chapter, blessedly apply: it is “an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour,” a fragrant odour, “unto the Lord.” That is, this full self-surrender of the holy Son of God unto the Father is exceedingly delightful and acceptable unto God. And for this reason it is for us an ever-prevailing argument for our own acceptance, and for the gracious bestowment for Christs sake of all that there is in Him for us.
Only let us ever remember that we cannot argue, as in the case of the atoning death, that as Christ died that we might not die, so He offered Himself in full consecration unto God, that we might thus be released from this obligation. Here the exact opposite is the truth. For Christ Himself said in His memorable prayer, just before His offering of Himself to death, “For their sakes I sanctify (marg. “consecrate”) Myself, that they also might be sanctified in truth.” And thus is brought before us the thought, that if the sin offering emphasised, as we shall see, the substitutionary death of Christ, whereby He became our righteousness, the burnt offering, as distinctively, brings before us Christ as our sanctification, offering Himself without spot, a whole burnt offering to God. And as by that one life of sinless obedience to the will of the Father He procured our salvation by His merit, so in this respect He has also become our one perfect Example of what consecration to God really is. A thought this is which, with evident allusion to the burnt offering, the Apostle Paul brings before us, charging us {Eph 5:2} that we “walk in love, as Christ also loved us, and gave Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for an odour of a sweet smell.”
And the law further suggests that no extreme of spiritual need can debar anyone from availing Himself of our great Burnt sacrifice. A burnt offering was to be received even from one who was so poor that he could bring but a turtledove or a young pigeon (Lev 1:14). One might, at first thought, not unnaturally say: Surely there can be nothing in this to point to Christ; for the true Sacrifice is not many, but one and only. And yet the very fact of this difference allowed in the typical victims, when the reason of the allowance is remembered, suggests the most precious truth concerning Christ, that no spiritual poverty of the sinner need exclude him from the full benefit of Christs saving work. Provision is made in Him for all those who, most truly and with most reason, feel themselves to be poor and in need of all things. Christ, as our sanctification, is for all who will make use of Him; for all who, feeling most deeply and painfully their own failure in full consecration, would take Him, as not only their sin offering, but also their burnt offering, both their example and their strength, unto perfect self-surrender unto God. We may well here recall to mind the exhortation of the Apostle to Christian believers, expressed in language which at once reminds us of the burnt offering: {Rom 12:1} I beseech you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.