“Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man of you bring an offering unto the LORD, ye shall bring your offering of the cattle, even of the herd, and of the flock. If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish: he shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD. And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him. 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. And he shall flay the burnt offering, and cut it into his pieces. And the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire upon the altar, and lay the wood in order upon the fire…”
The sacrifice of Jesus Christ is the most important event in the history of mankind. Through His sacrifice sinful men and women can be atoned, or reconciled to God. The disobedience of Adam and Eve put the nature of sin on all of their descendants. This has put us all at odds with God: under His justice, and bound for His judgment. Jesus bore the judgment that sinners deserve and satisfied God’s justice. His was a sacrifice with eternal consequences for all of mankind. All of the sacrifices that God gave to Israel in some way reveal the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The sacrifice described above is the burnt sacrifice which, the LORD told Moses, was to be wholly burned on the altar. All of it was for God. This reminds of Philippians 2 where we are told that the Lord Jesus Christ emptied Himself of His glory, and was obedient, to His Father, unto death, even the death of the cross. At Gethsemane He told His Father, Not my will, but thine be done. He gave Himself wholly to His Father in accordance with His Father’s will. Similarly, the burnt offering was wholly for God.
This sacrifice was to be a male without blemish. This is also a reminder of the Lord Jesus Christ. He spent three years living life around the people of Israel. Everyone saw that He was sinless. He always did that which pleased His Father. Nobody could blame Him or lay anything to His charge. By the end of three years of public scrutiny there was no evidence on which they could convict Him of any crime against God or man, not to mention end His life. He was not guilty, but He was hung on the cross anyway. “Let Him be crucified” is what they screamed against an innocent Man.
We also read above that the sacrifice was to be brought voluntarily. Once it was brought to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, the one who brought it was to lay his hand on the head of it, and he was to slay it. Putting his hand on the head of the animal identified him with the sacrifice. After killing the animal, he was to skin it, and cut it into pieces. This reminds of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ because the people beat Him, spit on Him, stripped Him of His clothes, flogged Him, drove a crown of thorns into His head, and hung Him on a cross. No matter what age He might have come, the reception would have been the same. Israel accused Him and gave Him a mock trial for crimes that He never committed. The Gentiles hung Him on the cross. All of mankind was guilty in the death of Jesus Christ. And as He hung in the darkness that day, He cried, “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?” In a mysterious moment, Jesus was forsaken by His Father in addition to the rejection of the people. In His death the Lord Jesus Christ took all the wrath that we deserve for the sin that we had committed. He was judged in our place, and He took what we deserved.
From here that which the Lord commanded Israel was different from the sacrifice of Christ. In the verses above, after the sacrifice was slain, flayed, and cut in pieces, the priests took it and burned it on the altar. By God’s command nobody was allowed through the door of the tabernacle of the congregation except for the priests. They were the ones that took the blood of the sacrifice and put it on the altar, and burned its pieces on the altar. These things were done before God: wholly for Him. The one who voluntarily brought the sacrifice was not allowed in, and did not witness the sacrifice. But the Lord Jesus Christ hung on the cross between heaven and earth in full view of God and mankind. Men walking by mocked Him as He hung there. Some sat and watched. His sacrifice was in plain view of all, outside of the city on the hill Calvary.
Hebrews 10:4, 10, 12, and 14 remind us, “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins…, By God’s will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all…, But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God…, For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified.”
Surely there is much more about Jesus that can be seen in these sacrifices. May these things encourage us in seeing Him in all of the Word!
Blest be the everlasting God,
The Father of our Lord;
Be His abounding mercy praised,
His majesty adored.
When from the dead He raised His Son,
And called Him to the sky,
He gave our souls a lively hope
That they should never die.
What though our inbred sins require
Our flesh to see the dust,
Yet as the Lord our Savior rose,
So all His followers must.
There’s an inheritance divine
Reserved against that day;
’Tis uncorrupted, undefiled,
And cannot waste away.
Saints by the power of God are kept
Till the salvation come;
We walk by faith as strangers here,
Till Christ shall call us home. (Isaac Watts)