what is a burnt offering in the bible

THE BURNT OFFERING. This is typical of Christ presenting Himself according to the divine will for the accomplishment of the purpose and maintenance of the glory of God where sin was taken account of. In the type the victim and the offerer were essentially distinct, but in Christ the two were necessarily combined. The burnt offering, where not specifically prescribed, was brought for a man's acceptance. The expression "of his own voluntary will " in Lev. 1:3 is better translated, "He shall offer it for his acceptance." The victim might be a male of the herd, or a sheep or a goat of the flock, or be turtle doves or young pigeons, according to the ability of the offerer, or the appreciation he had of the offering. These offerings were different in degree, but the same in kind. The male is the highest type of offering: no female is mentioned in the burnt offering.

After the offerer had laid his hands on the victim, he killed it (except in the case of birds, which the priest killed). From Leviticus 1 it would appear that the offerer also flayed it, cut it in pieces, and washed the inward parts and legs in water; but the expressions can be taken in an impersonal sense, 'Let it be flayed,' etc., and these acts may have been done by the priests or the Levites. (The Levites flayed the sacrifices in 2 Chr. 29:34, when the priests were too few.) The priest sprinkled the blood round about upon the altar, and, except the skin which was the priest's, the whole of the animal was burnt as a sweet savour on the altar. It made atonement for the offerer, who found acceptance in its value. It was typical of Christ's perfect offering up of Himself, being tested in His inmost parts by the searching fire of divine judgement. Lev. 1. (This aspect of the cross is seen in such passages as Phil. 2:8; John 10:14-17; John 13:31; John 17:4; Rom. 5:18, etc.)

Leviticus 6 gives the law of the burnt offering. "It is the burnt offering because of the burning upon the altar all night unto the morning, and the fire of the altar shall be burning in it . . . . it shall not be put out." This refers to the morning and evening lambs; they formed a perpetual burnt offering. Ex. 29:38-41. It is to be remarked that it was "all night unto the morning" (although it was perpetual), doubtless to point out that Christ is for Israel ever a sweet savour to God, even during the present period of Israel's darkness and forgetfulness. Aaron had to put on his linen garments to remove the ashes from the altar to 'the place of ashes' beside the altar: he then changed his dress and carried the ashes outside the camp. The ashes were the proof that the sacrifice had been completely accepted (Ps. 20:3, margin. In 'the morning' Israel will know that their acceptance and blessing is through the work of their Messiah on the cross. The daily sacrifice was offered by the priest as acting for the whole nation, and presented typically the ground of its blessings and privileges. Hence faith made much of it. Ezra 3:3; Dan. 8:11, 13, 26; Dan. 9:27.

The sacrifice in which God finds His eternal delight is also that which provides the answer to our need as sinners and our communion as saints. Atonement was effected by the burnt offering and by the sin offering, but not by the meat or peace offerings. In the burnt offering we see the sacrifice of Christ in its deep and matchless perfection, His voluntary surrender of Himself even unto death in the carrying out of the will of God, and also God's delight in and acceptance of the sacrifice. The burnt offering was to fulfil what had been written of Him, "Lo, I come …to do Thy will, O God" (Heb. 10:7). It is that aspect of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus which directly and exclusively has reference to God. Atonement in the sin offering was to secure forgiveness for the sinner; atonement in the burnt offering is for our acceptance.

ACCEPTANCE. After Aaron had carried in the blood and sprinkled it upon and before the mercy-seat, and had come out and confessed, with hands laid upon the goat, all the sins of the children of Israel and sent him away, we are told that he took his burnt-offering and the burnt-offering of the people to make an atonement for himself and for the people. The burnt-offering was a sweet-savour offering; it was not, therefore, about sins, like the sin-offering. Yet we find it was killed, the blood sprinkled, etc.; and though the offerer laid his hands upon it, it was not, as in the sin-offering, to typically transfer the sins of the offerer, but to identify himself with its acceptability. We read, therefore, in the inspired account of the burnt-offering, "it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him." Atonement then in its application includes the precious truth of acceptance by virtue of Christ. The offerer was accepted with the burnt-offering. This is no doubt why it was offered after propitiation and substitution had been plainly set forth. The burnt-offering was most acceptable to God. All was burnt on the altar to be a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord. So the death of Christ, under the searching power of divine judgment, showed the perfectness of obedience, love, faith, and entire surrender to the will of God in the most trying circumstances, and was infinitely acceptable to God. In it God found a savour of rest; and as what the Saviour did was for us, as well as for the glory of God, it is accepted for us. Thus the believer, by the atoning work of Christ, is not only delivered in righteous judgment from guilt and condemnation, but he is brought to God, and has a place always before him of acceptance in virtue of that one offering which was once offered.

The offerer then brought for his olah or burnt-sacrifice which ascended up to God the best animal of its kind according to his heart and means, of the herd or of the flock, of turtle-doves or of young pigeons. In the nobler forms (i.e., when from the herd or flock) an unblemished male was taken, on the head of which the offerer laid his hand. It is a mistake to suppose that this act in itself involves confession of sin, or was always accompanied by it. It was quite as often the sign of the conveyance of a blessing or official honour. And even if we look at it only as connected with sacrifices, it had an import in the burnt-offering quite different from its bearing in the sin-offering. Transfer there was in both; but in the former the offerer was identified with the acceptance of the victim; in the other the victim was identified with the confessed sin of the offerer. The sweet savour of the burnt-sacrifice represented him who offered it. The animal was killed before Jehovah. The priests sprinkled its blood round about upon the altar. The victim itself, if a bull, was flayed; if a bull, sheep, or goat, it was severed. The pieces, head, and fat, were set in order upon the wood on the fire of the altar; the inwards and legs were washed in water; and then the priest caused all to ascend in fumes on the altar, a fire-offering of sweet odour to Jehovah. All was laid open; and when in the victim any question of defilement could be, the washing of water made clean the parts, inward or outward, to be a fit type of the Holy One of God.

Why does it speak most vividly of worship? Because of its contrast with other offerings in this respect that the whole of the burnt offering, whether it was a sheep or a goat, or a bull, whatever animal was offered, the whole of it went up to Jehovah. The entire carcase was placed on the altar, consumed by fire, and ascended up in fumes to heaven. Figuratively, it was to God as a sweet-smelling savour of Christ in His absolute devotion to the divine will, even so far as the death on the cross.

But the worshipper brought the offering, and the worshipper laid his hand upon the sacrifice. The priest took it and offered it, but the worshipper beheld in the ascending column of smoke the acceptance, so to speak, of the worship of his heart. "Oh, Jehovah, Thou hast blessed me. Thou hast done wonderful things for Thy people! What can I render to Thee? What can I give to show how I esteem and love Thee, and desire to serve Thee? I will give Thee my best. I have searched my flocks, and my herds, and I give Thee the best of them. I can give no more. I give my best, and I give it all to Thee." This spirit of devotional worship was the essence of the burnt offering.

A burnt offering could be a sheep or a goat. The bull (larger and stronger) would remind us that some have a more full recognition of the great value of the sacrifice of Christ than others have. It speaks of the strength of the offering. The sheep denotes the submission of Christ, and the goat His substitution. Again, only a male was acceptable, and the offerer was to kill the animal before the Lord, and the priests were to sprinkle the blood all around the altar. This offering was also to be cut in pieces, each piece laid in order on the wood placed in the copper altar. As with the bull, the head and the fat are specially mentioned, and the inwards and legs being washed before burnt with all the rest of the animal on the altar. All ascended in fire to God as "a sweet aroma."

But passing wonderful as this clearance is, the burnt offering goes further and introduces us typically to the thought of acceptance. What, then, is the meaning of the word—gatar—for burning used in this connection? It is the word used for the burning of incense upon the golden altar—the setting forth of worship typically—and is the word always used in connection with the brazen altar. All the offerings on that altar were sweet savour offerings; those otherwise were burned outside the camp. Gatar means that the burning releases all the sweet savour of the sacrifice, carrying it up for the delight of God, and sets forth a wonderful aspect of the death of Christ. So we read in Leviticus 1:4 of the burning offering “It shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him” [i.e., the ofierer].

The very name of it speaks really of that: it is literally the "offering that ascends" — goes up to God. All the offerings did, of course; but of them all, this is the one that does: as of all the offerings consumed on the altar this is the only one that is entirely burnt, — the "whole burnt-offering." It is especially God's side of sacrifice, as (of the sweet-savor offerings) the peace-offering was man's side. Yet, on the other hand, it was the offering "for acceptance;" as that verse should read which we have in our common version as "He shall offer it of his own voluntary will." It should be, "He shall offer it for his acceptance." The measure of our acceptance is not simply that sin is put away it is all the preciousness to God of that perfect "obedience unto death" by which sin is put away. This by itself would show us that the peculiar acceptability of sacrifice to God is what the burnt-offering expresses.

The distinctive feature of the burnt offering was that it was wholly burned on the brazen altar for a sweet savour to God. God glorified by Christ on the cross is the great truth expressed. It might be by a bullock, goat, sheep, or bird, the differences between these probably corresponding to the varying energy of the offerers, as well as the result of their respective circumstances of wealth or poverty. But the ground upon which the burnt offering was killed is not at first clear. The sin offering was killed to make propitiation for a transgression; the peace offering was killed to bring in communion by eating His flesh and drinking His blood, first for life, and then for maintenance; the burnt offering is killed for the person of the offerer, as Christ "made sin" on his behalf. It is God's side of the truth which we have seen connected with the burning of destruction of the sin offering bullock. There, it was that the body of sin might be annulled; here it goes further, and, while the judgment of sin (not sins) is figured, it shows the one grand truth of sweet savour resulting from "made sin."

"And he shall kill the bullock before the Lord: and the priests, Aaron's sons, shall bring the blood, and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation." It is most needful, in studying the doctrine of the burnt offering, to bear in mind that the grand point set forth therein is not the meeting of the sinner's need, but the presentation to God of that which was infinitely acceptable to Him. Christ, as foreshadowed by the burnt offering, is not for the sinner's conscience, but for the heart of God. Further, the cross, in the burnt offering, is not the exhibition of the exceeding hatefulness of sin, but of Christ's unshaken and unshakable devotedness to the Father. Neither is it the scene of God's out-poured wrath on Christ the sin-bearer; but of the Father's unmingled complacency in Christ, the voluntary and most fragrant sacrifice. Finally, "atonement," as seen in the burnt offering, is not merely commensurate with the claims of man's conscience, but with the intense desire of the heart of Christ, to carry out the will and establish the counsels of God — a desire which stopped not short of surrendering up His spotless, precious life, as "a voluntary offering" of "sweet savour" to God.