What would you do if you survived the apocalypse and were one of only a handful of people left on the planet? Plenty of fiction has been produced exploring that premise, but we don’t need to turn to fiction, for Noah found himself in that very circumstance. Having found grace in God’s sight for being a righteous and blameless man in a world where everyone’s thoughts were continually upon evil, Yahweh gave Noah instructions for constructing an ark that would enable him, his wife, his three sons, and their wives to survive the uncreation that He was preparing to unleash upon the earth. After surviving the death of every living thing upon the planet, Noah finally leaves the ark and steps onto the recreated world, and here is what he does:

Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and took some of every clean animal and every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. (Genesis 8:20)

How many types of clean animals and birds were there in Noah’s day that came with him off the ark? No knows, but we can assume that Noah’s first day out of the ark was spent slaughtering and burning whole some from every clean animal that came off of the ark. Yet here is the result of Noah’s sacrifices:

And when the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, the LORD said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.” (Genesis 9:21-22)

Even though man’s sinful nature remained unaffected by the flood (consider, for instance, Noah’s sin in Genesis 9), Yahweh nevertheless vows never again to destroy all life on earth, as long as the earth itself still remains. What caused God to make this resolution if post-diluvian humanity is just as sinful as ante-diluvian humanity? He smells “the pleasing aroma” of Noah’s offerings. Indeed, the word for pleasing in Hebrew is nikhoakh sounds rather like Noah’s name noakh, which means rest. Thus, Iain Duguid suggests that “it is a ‘rest-giving’ aroma” (EEC Vol 1, 107). At the smell of Noah’s whole burnt offerings, Yahweh rested from His righteous anger toward mankind. His wrath had been propitiated. A ransom had been paid.

But why were Noah’s whole burnt offerings so pleasing to God? By God’s grace, our study of the whole burnt offerings here in Leviticus 1 will enable us to better understand their usage all throughout Scripture.

A CALL TO WORSHIP

Last week, we used Leviticus 1:1 to orient ourselves for rightly studying this magnificent book. For in that verse, we remembered who Yahweh and Moses are, what is the significance of the tent of meeting, and the threefold declaration that what follows are the very words of Yahweh. And here now are the words that follow:

Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When any one of you brings an offering to the LORD, you shall bring your offering of the livestock from the herd or from the flock.

This verse not only establishes the remainder of our present text but the following chapters as well. You see, Leviticus begins by describing the five basic forms of offerings or sacrifices that the Israelites were to make: the whole burnt offering (also called the ascension offering), the grain offering (or the tribute or meat offering), the peace offering (or the fellowship offering), the sin offering (or the purification offering), and the guilt offering (or the reparation offering).

Each of these five basic offerings has its own purpose, but they are all offerings, sacrificial gifts that the worshiper could bring to Yahweh at the tent of meeting. In fact, the word brings is a bit more significant that the English suggests. The verb is qarab, which means to approach or to draw near, and it comes from the same root as the word for offering, qorban. Thus, as Palmer notes, “A worshiper draws near to the Lord through that which he brings near, an idiom that may best be captured in English as ‘[to] present a present’” (EEC Vol. I, 841).

The point is this: an Israelite brought his or her offering for the purpose of drawing near to Yahweh and for spending a moment or two in His presence. In Psalm 27:8, David says, “You have said, ‘Seek my face.” My heart says to you, ‘Your face, LORD, do I seek.’” In Hebrew, the word for face and presence are the same word paneh. God has commanded His covenant people to seek, which also entails desiring, His presence, and as David models for us, His people ought to desire and seek to be in His presence. Or as David said in verse 4: “One thing have I asked of the LORD, that I will seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple.” David wished that his whole life could be spent in the tabernacle, gazing at Yahweh’s beauty.

Let us keep in mind as we study these offerings that the LORD has always looked supremely at the heart, and in many ways, these sacrifices were intended to be enacted mirrors, reflecting and exposing the worshiper’s own heart back to him. The prophets particularly would later tell Israel over and over again that the sacrifices themselves were not the point. Yahweh wanted obedience more than sacrifice. Indeed, the sacrificial system would often be abused throughout Israel’s history. Yet even then, the LORD was revealing the heart of the worshiper. Morales is right:

One’s approach to God is the surest dissection and deepest revelation of the heart. More than this, the God-ordained approach to himself is the most proficient school for the heart. If Leviticus as the central book of the Pentateuch has anything to teach at all, it is that Israel’s theology is hammered out upon the anvil of approaching God in worship.

Let us consider, then, how we approach God for worship. Marvelously, we are commanded to boldly draw near. Hebrews 4:16 gives us this command: “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Yet confidence is not frivolity. It is just as perilous to draw near the presence of Yahweh today as it was for the Israelites of old; the only difference is that Christ fully paid for our sins and clothed us in His righteousness while the Israel was still waiting for that blessed day. Even so, our response to drawing near to God is still indicative of our hearts. Do we draw near to God in prayer, in reading His Word, in gathering together as His people, recklessly, as though the grace of God in Christ were owed to us? Or do we draw near in humility, wondering why God was merciful enough to choose us?

Again, these offerings in the opening chapters of Leviticus are how an Israelite could draw near to Yahweh. We would do well to keep Allen Ross’s words with us as we study these offerings:

Sacrifice is at the heart of all true worship… In the Old Testament it was not permissible to come into the presence of the LORD in the holy place without some kind of sacrificial gift. Sacrifice was the normal ritual act that symbolically expressed both the unworthiness and the dependence of the worshiper as well as the gracious provision of God. These rites declared that any uncleanness or sin must be removed before the worshiper was accepted by God and communion achieved. It was not magic or superstition; rather, it was a divinely instituted drama that enacted God’s way of sanctifying those who desired communion with him. Accordingly, rites were valid only if the attitudes and activities of the worshiper were in harmony with the spiritual standards of the faith. Without faith it has never been possible to please God (Heb. 11:6). (73)

Given that the ordinary Israelite could not afford to own his or her own scrolls of the Torah, these offerings were “divinely instituted drama” or, we might say, visual sermons. Let us, therefore, dive into the first and most common type of offering: the whole burnt offering. And while we will begin with what the whole burnt offering meant in ancient Israel, Paul tells us that “all Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for rebuke, for correction, and for education in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). Let us also then ask: How then does the whole burnt offering teach, rebuke, correct, and educate us in righteousness today?

IF HIS OFFERING IS A BURNT OFFERING

If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer a male without blemish. He shall bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting, that he may be accepted by the LORD. The burnt offering is, in some ways, the most basic offering that an Israelite could give. Indeed, it was the standard offering that the priests made in both the morning and the evening to open and close each day’s sacrificial hours. Every major English translation calls it the burnt offering, while some scholars refer to it as the ascension offering. I prefer the translation that the Greek Septuagint made: the whole burnt offering. That name gives emphasis to the most notable aspect of this sacrifice, which is that the entire animal was burnt upon the altar. Jay Sklar comments that:

With most animal offerings, at least some of the meat was eaten, whether by priests (Lev. 6:19); 7:6) or by both the priests and offerers (Lev. 7:15-18, 31-34). But with the whole burnt offering, all the meat was consumed on the altar (1:9), making it very costly; it was the supreme sacrifice. (88)

To help us understand the cost of this sacrifice, we can think of our own financial giving today. Just as the priests and Levites lived off the meat and grain presented by the Israelites, so too does our giving go to any number of different functions: pastoral pay, church building maintenance, benevolence, parachurch ministries, etc. Of course, we give to the Lord, but our giving practically benefits all of those things. Imagine then if churches had a fireplace installed for making our own whole burnt offerings, where tithes could be given directly to God by being tossed into the fire! That scenario should give us something of an idea for what it meant for an Israelite to make this offering.

But lest we imagine tossing only a few dollars into the fire, the cost for the Israelite would have been much greater. He was to bring a male from his own herd. Notice that wild game could not be offered to Yahweh, for the gift needed to come from the worshiper’s own possession. This meant that it was an animal that he had raised, that he had invested time and finances into. While females were technically of greater value, since they could give milk and birth to more livestock, a male was likely required because it represented the whole herd.

Indeed, the point was for the whole burnt offering to be costly to the worshiper. In 2 Samuel 24, David sins against God by taking an unlawful census, and the LORD struck the land with pestilence. In response, David went to make burnt offerings and peace offerings to God at the threshing floor of a man named Araunah. At the sight, Araunah freely offered his oxen to the king for slaughter, but David responded: “No, but I will buy it from you for a price. I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God that cost me nothing” (2 Samuel 24:24).

Indeed, a sacrifice that costs the worshiper nothing is not a true sacrifice. That understanding is what made David a man after God’s own heart. Despite his sins, David understood what God actually required and that the offerings represented something greater than themselves. That is why after David’s great sin, he said to the LORD, “For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise” (Psalm 51:16–17)

Even though we no longer make offerings of bulls, the New Testament still summons us to offer sacrifices to our God and Savior. For instance, Paul calls us to present our bodies as living sacrifices God.

WITHOUT BLEMISH

Furthermore, the animal had to be without blemish. The word here is tamim, which is often used for being morally blameless. As we noted previously, “Noah was a righteous man, blameless (tamim) in his generation” (Genesis 6:9). And those who desired to come to God’s tent must also walk blamelessly (Psalm 15:2). The animal without blemish was a physical reminder of what God demands from us morally. Only those unblemished by sin are fit to draw near to the presence of God, look upon His face.

Of course, no one belongs to that category. We have all sinned. We have all gone astray. Not one person is sufficiently blameless to stand without fear in the presence of the Almighty. But that is the grace of the LORD allowing His people to bring an unblemished animal instead. Notice what the worshiper is commanded to do in verse 4:

He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.

Most commentators note that lay is a rather weak word to use; instead, the worshiper is most likely being commanded to press or even lean his weight upon the head of the animal with his hand. Sklar notes that commentators debate the exact meaning of this act, but typically suggest one of three reasons:

1. Transference: the offerer is transferring something—such as sin or iniquity—to the animal
2. Identification (or Substitution): the offerer is saying “this is me” (see Num. 8:10, 16-18; possibly Lev. 1:3-4)
3. Ownership: the offerer is saying “this is mine” (possibly Lev 1:3-4) (91)

Since whole burnt offerings could be given for any number of reasons, all three make sense, and I see no reason why the pressing of the worshiper’s hand on the animal’s head could not signify all three at once.

Notice that he is bringing the offering that he may be accepted before the LORD. He wants Yahweh to look with favor upon him, yet he knows that he is unworthy of that favor. To clarify, the worshiper would likely not have a particular sin in mind as he brought this offering because, for a specific sin, he would make a sin or guilt offering, possibly both. No, the whole burnt offering was more about the worshiper’s general sinfulness. Or perhaps we can say it like this. The sin and guilt offerings are about sins that a person would commit, but the whole burnt offering was about the sinner that a person was.

The worshiper knows that he does not deserve to be accepted by Yahweh. He is not blameless. Yet he brings a blameless animal in his place, trusting that Yahweh will accept it (receive it favorably) for him to make atonement for him.

Atonement (kipper) means literally at-one-ment, that is, a reconciliation between two parties. So, the phrase to make atonement for him implies a fracture in the relationship between Yahweh and the worshiper caused by the worshiper’s sinfulness, which the offering is being presented to restore. The whole burnt offering does this by propitiating God’s wrath against sin. It is a kind of ransom payment made to God. Now, when we say ransom, we should consider Wenham’s words:

In modern usage a ransom tends to mean the sum paid to terrorists to free innocent hostages. It often involves buying off an outrageous and illegal act. But in the OT the payment of a ransom was a very humane act. It allowed a guilty person to be punished with a lesser penalty than he deserved. If a man owned a dangerous ox and he allowed it to run amok and someone was killed, the owner was liable to the death penalty. But the court could decide to save his life if he paid a ransom (Exod. 21:30). In the case of adultery the aggrieved husband was entitled to exact the death penalty; he could put to death his faithless wife and her lover (Lev. 20:10). He might choose to spare his wife and her lover, however, if the latter paid compensation, literally “ransom” (Prov. 6:35). (60)

Thus, with the whole burnt offering, the worshiper was saying, in effect, “This is animal is mine. Now may it take my place. Even though it is blameless, let my sin be placed upon it. Let it, though innocent, receive what I deserve.” This should, of course, produce a deep sense of humility in the worshiper, which is the proper effect of the offering upon the offerer. “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” is a crucial theme of Scripture. Indeed, we can assume that that is what made Noah’s offerings so pleasing to God. By spending the day slaughtering and burning animals to God, Noah was testifying that he was spared from death only by God’s grace, that he was no more worthy of life than anyone else who died in the flood.

This too is the great beauty of what Jesus said in Mark 10:45: “For even the Son of Man came not be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Our sin is a cosmic offense against the Creator and deserves an eternal punishment. But Jesus, the Eternal One, humbled Himself by becoming one of us and dying in our place as our ransom, accomplishing our eternal redemption.

Let us stress again that the whole burnt offering was only pleasing if it was presented in faith and sacrificial diligence. Again, there was no magic or manipulation happening here. The LORD only looked with favor upon the whole burnt offering because it pointed beyond itself to Christ’s perfect sacrifice.

Similar to how we look back upon the sacrifice of Christ at the Lord’s Supper, when an ancient Israelite presented his or her offering in faith, they were looking forward to the atonement that no bull could ever make. Both have no efficacy in and of themselves; rather, both point beyond themselves to Christ. Indeed, both were/are reminders. Yet the reminder of the Lord’s Supper is far superior to the forward-pointing drama of the whole burnt offerings and other sacrifices. The sacrifices reminded people of their sins, keeping the deadly consequences of rebelling against the Creator always before their eyes and creating a longing within them for the promised Savior to deliver them once and for all. With the Lord’s Supper, we now look back upon that finished work of Christ to redeem us from our sins and now look forward to His return to make all things new.

A PLEASING AROMA

What then happened to the animal?

Then he shall kill the bull before the LORD, and Aaron’s sons the priests shall bring the blood and throw the blood against the sides of the altar that is at the entrance of the tent of meeting. Then he shall flay the burnt offering and cut it into pieces, and the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire. And Aaron’s sons the priests shall arrange the pieces, the head, and the fat, on the wood that is on the fire on the altar; but its entrails and its legs he shall wash with water. And the priest shall burn all of it on the altar, as a burnt offering, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the LORD.

Can you imagine the scene? It could not be done as a five-minute errand on the way to work. It required both time and physical effort, giving the person plenty of time for reflection and meditation, as well as time for prayers and psalms. The worshiper himself cut the animal’s throat. The priests collected the blood, which is the life of the animal, and splattered it on the sides of the altar. The skin was then cut off, and the bull was cut into pieces. Its entrails and feet were washed, likely to remove any dirt and to make them ritually clean. The whole animal was then burned upon the altar.

But the worshiper was not to think of their sacrifice as simply burnt up; rather, it was being sent to Yahweh through the fire. The word for burn (hiqtir) mostly literally means to turn into smoke. Upon the altar, the bull was being transformed into smoke, which then rose up to God. Whether the bull represented the worshiper, the worshiper’s sinfulness, the worshiper’s livelihood, or a combination of all three, it was now rising to Yahweh as smoke.

Now, by calling it a food offering (although be better translation may be an offering by fire), we should not think of the animal being offered as food for God, like the pagans believed. In Psalm 50:12-13, the LORD says, “If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine. Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats?” No, the worshiper was offering his own food to Yahweh.

Most importantly, the smoke is said to be a pleasing aroma to the LORD. Of course, this is anthropomorphic language. In the ancient world, pleasant or foul smells were often associated with acceptance or rejection. As Palmer notes, “When the Lord refuses to smell the smoky aroma of sacrifice (Lev. 26:31), he is rejecting the offering and ultimately the offerer (Gen. 4:5-7; Mal. 2:13). To accept the fragrance of an animal consumed on the altar, however, was to the accept the worshiper who has surrendered it: ‘As a pleasing aroma I will accept you’ (Ezek. 20:41; cf. Phil. 4:18)” ( ). Yahweh took pleasure in the offering and in the offerer.

THAT NO ONE MAY BOAST

You will notice that we have not commented on verses 10-17, which give the instructions for how whole burnt offerings were to be made if the worshiper was bringing a goat or sheep from the flock or from the birds. The main point to be gathered from these three-part instructions is Yahweh’s gracious provision for every Israelite to draw near to Him. An offering from the herd was the costliest gift. An offering from the flock was less so, which meant that even if an Israelite could not afford to bring a bull, he could still bring a goat or sheep. But an Israelite that did not even have a goat or sheep to bring, he could bring a turtledove or pigeon. These birds were so common in Israel that no one had an excuse for not making an offering to God.

Most wonderfully, the turtledove or pigeon of a poorer Israelite was still a pleasing aroma to the LORD. Can you imagine holding your pigeon while waiting for a fellow Israelite to finish offering his bull? Looking at the two animals, you might be tempted to just go home. What delight could the Holy One find in such an insignificant offering? But, of course, a mighty bull is no greater than a pigeon in the sight of the One who draws out Leviathan with a fishhook. Bulls, goats, and pigeons were all equally insufficient; therefore, every worshiper was being received favorably by pure grace, by Yahweh’s utmost desire to accept His people and to have restored fellowship with them.

The same is true of us today. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 1:26-29:

For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong. God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.

To use the language of our passage, the LORD did not save us as powerful bulls for His kingdom. No, we are doves and pigeons. God chooses the humble and weak in order to shame the proud who imagine that they are strong. Indeed, Paul goes on to say,

And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” (vv. 30-31)

May that be so as we come the Table before us. The simple elements before us testify to the perfect atonement that Jesus has worked for us. It is not to the blood of bulls, goats, and pigeons that we look but to the blood of Christ. Let us therefore say with overflowing joy as we come to this Table: Christ is mine. He has taken my place in judgment before the Father. Even though He is blameless, my sin has been placed upon Him. He, though innocent, has received what I deserved. I, though guilty, have received grace and favor in Him that I do not deserve. Let our boasting in Christ alone rise as a sacrifice of praise to our King this morning, a pleasing aroma before His throne.