Leviticus 1

"He is to lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering so it can be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him."

Leviticus 1:4

A burnt offering is an animal, sacrificed on the altar, and essentially cooked over the altar's fire.  Why is this significant?  Why is it necessary to go through these specific steps detailed for different types of animals being sacrificed?  Why all the fancy tradition?  Why not just cook the animal at your own home?  Many reasons...

A sacrificial animal is given in place of one's own self.  When sacrificing an animal to the Lord, an Israelite knew that he/she was a sinful person and that they deserved death for that sin - but the merciful Lord was willing to accept a burnt offering in their place.  The Israelites also knew that, when they sinned, they were acting like animals.  The animal sacrifice is a reminder to the sinner of his/her humanity and ability to choose a non-sinful path - to overcome the worldly (animal) nature.

The specific steps of how to slaughter each different type of animal were mainly for safety and sanitary reasons.  For example, you wouldn't want to bring a bull inside the tent for slaughter because they might tear the whole tent down!  Also, you wouldn't have anywhere to put the huge amount of blood that's drained from them before being burnt.

As for cooking the animals at home, most people probably didn't have the right kind of facilities for this.  The people are still traveling through the wilderness, so they're spending nights in tents.  They would probably make several smaller community cook-fires, but these would only be large enough to cook small things like bread or hot water.  Large animals would need a bigger fire, and the altar in the Tent of Meeting was large enough to prepare and cook an entire sacrificial bull.

Question of the Day:

Do you daily recognize your need for a sacrificial atonement?  Do you daily recognize Jesus's role as the sacrifice made to pay for your sinful nature?  How does this change your daily thoughts and behavior?

Prayer of the Day:

I accept my need for salvation, that I deserve death for my sin.  I put my hand on the head of Jesus, Your Son, and offer Him as a sacrifice on my behalf to make atonement for me.  I know that I am unworthy, and I promise to try harder today and the next day, and all the days of my life, to separate myself from sin.  Amen.