A Pleasing Aroma
Leviticus(레위기) 1:1-17
The Burnt Offering
1 The Lord called to Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting. He said, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When anyone among you brings an offering to the Lord, bring as your offering an animal from either the herd or the flock.
3 “‘If the offering is a burnt offering from the herd, you are to offer a male without defect. You must present it at the entrance to the tent of meeting so that it will be acceptable to the Lord. 4 You are to lay your hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted on your behalf to make atonement for you. 5 You are to slaughter the young bull before the Lord, and then Aaron’s sons the priests shall bring the blood and splash it against the sides of the altar at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 6 You are to skin the burnt offering and cut it into pieces. 7 The sons of Aaron the priest are to put fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire. 8 Then Aaron’s sons the priests shall arrange the pieces, including the head and the fat, on the wood that is burning on the altar. 9 You are to wash the internal organs and the legs with water, and the priest is to burn all of it on the altar. It is a burnt offering, a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord.
10 “‘If the offering is a burnt offering from the flock, from either the sheep or the goats, you are to offer a male without defect. 11 You are to slaughter it at the north side of the altar before the Lord, and Aaron’s sons the priests shall splash its blood against the sides of the altar. 12 You are to cut it into pieces, and the priest shall arrange them, including the head and the fat, on the wood that is burning on the altar. 13 You are to wash the internal organs and the legs with water, and the priest is to bring all of them and burn them on the altar. It is a burnt offering, a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord.14 “‘If the offering to the Lord is a burnt offering of birds, you are to offer a dove or a young pigeon. 15 The priest shall bring it to the altar, wring off the head and burn it on the altar; its blood shall be drained out on the side of the altar. 16 He is to remove the crop and the feathers and throw them down east of the altar where the ashes are. 17 He shall tear it open by the wings, not dividing it completely, and then the priest shall burn it on the wood that is burning on the altar. It is a burnt offering, a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord.
As soon as the Tabernacle (a temporary temple or tent) was built in the wilderness, God told Moses to present some kinds of offering, but it is totally different from what they had done, like piling up the stones. It is a burnt offering of animals, having made them skinned off and torn into pieces, bleeding and burning all stuff on the fire without any leftover. You'll think of any barbecue party stuff like that, but it is not kind of things.
It is a horrible thing to imagine that I myself have to do all the work, like murdering a big animal, such as bulls and goats, which are bigger than any chicken or fish like that for my dining, though I have never killed ever. Then why God was forcing people to do these works as a yearly duty? He says that it is on my behalf to make atonement for me. What a strange thing He is saying that! Just killing animals without any defect instead of me is the only way to forgive my sins, by letting the animals take my sins every time I do this action every year, which doesn't make sense.
However, in His perspective, there was no other way to save our lives before Jesus came down to us by Himself, so that He could make atonement for all human beings at once for all. It symbolizes that we are sinners and there is no other way but Jesus, who is both God and a man, who became the only bridge to connect between God and men. Our sins are all being laid on Jesus, like the animals who died with terror and pain.
Thankfully, I don't have to do these terrible things at all as Jesus became a ransom for me at once for all, by having been crucified on the cross. That is the grace that I can't express enough with my words. Now there's only one thing I should do or on a daily basis, not every year, is to tear my heart open to Him or skin my sinful stuff inside my soul or outside my body, and burn it to be a fragrant aroma pleasing to God and to my neighbors.
