The Burnt Offering

I have been a little negligent in this blog as of late. But it was for a good cause as my entire family (mom, dad, brothers, sister, in-laws, nieces, nephews, and all of our families) assembled in Salt Lake and took siege of the Marriott Hotel. Really, we only took over one floor on Friday night and the restaurant buffet on Saturday morning. I have the most wonderful family on earth and love them more than I can express. They are the greatest!

I had to teach Gospel Doctrine in my ward today (just as a sub, thank goodness) and had to teach this weird story in Numbers 22 to 24 about Balaam and a talking donkey. There were lessons to be learned as Balaam seems bent on bending God's will to match his own desires for fame and fortune. He doesn't follow the command of Balak, the king of Moab, to curse Israel directly, but chooses instead to entertain Balak and his cast of evil messengers, and eventually he entices Israel to false worship and immorality to keep them from being blessed of God. At one point in the story it reads, "Balaam said unto Balak, Stand by thy burnt offering, and I will go: peradventure the Lord will come to meet me: and whatsoever he sheweth me I will tell thee. And he went to an high place" (Numbers 23:3). Of course, the high place is a place of worship.

But the burnt offering seems a little odd here as it does later in the story of Saul, who offers an unauthorized burnt offering. Saul rationalizes to Samuel, "The Philistines will come down now upon me to Gilgal, and I have not made supplication unto the Lord: I forced myself therefore, and offered a burnt offering" (1 Samuel 13:12). Really, Saul tries to "force" his own will on the Lord, which is the opposite of a burnt offering.

The burnt offering is described in Leviticus, chapter 1. It was supposed to be a "male without blemish" as a symbol of Christ's Atonement. It was a voluntary surrender (not forced) to be presented at the door of the tabernacle before the Lord (v. 3). "And he (the sacrificer) shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him" (v 4). The animal now becomes a substitute for the sacrificer. Then the animal is slain and its blood is sprinkled around the brasen altar outside the door of the tabernacle (v. 5).

Verse 6 tells us, "And he shall flay the burnt offering, and cut it into his pieces."

All Mosaic ordinances point to Christ as the Book of Mormon explains:

"And behold, this is the whole meaning of the law, every whit pointing to that great and last sacrifice; and that great and last sacrifice will be the Son of God, yea, infinite and eternal" (Alma 34:14).

The flaying of the animal points to Jesus Christ, who was stripped of His raiment (see Matthew 27:28). The animal is cut into pieces, reminding us of the soldiers who "when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also his coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout" (John 19:23). The coat (actually an inner garment) would match the "coats of fine linen of woven work" made for Aaron and his sons, the high priests (see Exodus 39:27). We recall that Jesus is the "Great High Priest" (Hebrews 4:14).

Also, the idea of cutting the animal relates to the Hebrew root of the word covenant. The Hebrew word for covenant is beriyth (see Stong's # H1285) and it literally means "to cut." Remember that Abraham cut the animals into pieces and a "smoking furnace and a burning lamp" passed between the pieces as a token of the Abrahamic Covenant (see Genesis 15).

The next step in the burnt offering is as follows:

"And the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire upon the altar, and lay the wood in order upon the fire:

"And the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall lay the parts, the head, and the fat, in order upon the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar" (Leviticus 1:7-8).

The wood is symbolic of the wooden cross and the fire reminds us of the modern "burnt offering" of a baptism by fire. In the Book of Mormon the Savior said, "And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit. And whoso cometh unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, him will I baptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost" (3 Nephi 9:20).

Then we get to the real meaning behind the outward ordinance of the burnt offering. Leviticus 1:9 states:

"But his inwards and his legs shall he wash in water: and the priest shall burn all on the altar, to be a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord."

The distinguishing aspect of the burnt offering was the burning of the whole animal upon the altar. The concept of allowing the animal within us to be consumed is a major sacrifice. The brawny beast is just like us in the physical realm. It only seeks pleasure and the avoidance of pain.

But there is another component to this sacrifice. The Hebrew word for burnt offering is olah, and it means "to ascend." The smoke of the offering ascends to heaven and it represents one's own will going up in smoke. We offer up our own will in favor of the Lord's will for us, just as He did in Gethsemane when He said, "Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done" (Luke 22:42).

I want to talk about one other aspect of this ordinance. The animal was sacrificed on the north of the altar (Leviticus 1:11). The typology is distinct here. If you look on your Bible Map 12 you will notice Golgotha, the place of crucifixion, to be directly north of the walled portion of the city and directly north of the temple where the altar is located. Also, the properties lying outside walled cities could be redeemed in the Year of Jubilee, thus Jesus would give His life in an area subject to redemption (see Leviticus 25:31).

Today, Jesus asks us to give the true burnt offering and not just allow the smoke of the animal to ascend heavenward, but to allow our own wills to go up in smoke and be swallowed up in the will of the Father (see Mosiah 15:7).

As a recovering alcoholic I remember going to my first week of AA meetings and reading Step Three which says, "Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him." I thought there had to be an easier way. I didn't want to surrender my will to God. I guess I was a little like Balaam. But I have found in nearly 25 years of recovery that as I am able to do this (and I confess I still don't do it very well) I am truly blessed of the Lord. It becomes a "sweet savour" for both the Lord and me!