A Pleasant Offering

In the Book of Mormon, Amaleki invites us to come unto Christ with the invitation,

"And now, my beloved brethren, I would that ye should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption. Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him, and continue in fasting and praying, and endure to the end; and as the Lord liveth ye will be saved" (Omni 1: 26).

This verse gets at the essence of a righteous offering. There are many examples of offerings in the scriptures. Under the Law of Moses the particular number and types of animals are given for specific sacrifices, especially at the three required feasts of Unleavened Bread, Feast of Weeks, and Feast of Tabernacles (see Numbers 28-29).

The invitation in the Book of Mormon is a different kind of offering. Rather than an animal sacrifice, it is an offering of the soul--the gift of our best self unto God. It's really what He wanted from the beginning.

Burnt Offerings

The Bible Dictionary gives great information regarding the method and order of sacrifice. There were three main types of sacrifice--the sin offering, the burnt offering, and the peace offering. The sin offering was for the atonement, or expiation of sin. The burnt offering represented sanctification, and the peace offering represented fellowship or communion with God. It states, "It is noteworthy that when the three offerings were offered together, the sin always preceded the burnt, and the burnt the peace offerings. Thus the order of the symbolizing sacrifices was the order of atonement, sanctification, and fellowship with the Lord" Bible Dictionary, "Sacrifices").

The Book of Mormon sometimes uses the term "burnt offering" generically to include all kinds of offerings, but the true burnt offering is probably most aligned with the concept of "offering the whole soul," as described in the verse above.

Up In Smoke

The Bible Dictionary also provides the general meaning and symbolism behind the various sacrifices. It describes the burnt offering as follows:

"The burnt offering got its Hebrew name from the idea of the smoke of the sacrifice ascending to heaven. The characteristic rite was the burning of the whole animal on the altar (Lev. 1:9; Deut. 33:10). As the obligation to surrender was constant on the part of Israel, a burnt offering, called the continual burnt offering, was offered twice daily, morning and evening."

The Hebrew word for burnt offering, olah means "to ascend." It is really the surrender of one's will in favor of God's will. In other verses it speaks of those who are not willing to surrender to the Lord, by saying, "Having gone according to their own carnal wills and desires; having never called upon the Lord while the arms of mercy were extended towards them; for the arms of mercy were extended towards them, and they would not; they being warned of their iniquities and yet they would not depart from them; and they were commanded to repent and yet they would not repent" (Mosiah 16: 12).

I remember over 27 years ago sitting in a room with a bunch of drunks like me in a meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous and looking at those ominous Twelve Steps, the Third being the scariest: "Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him." I certainly didn't want to have to do that! I just wanted a way to "manage" my drinking. But making that decision, which I have to remake over and over, often many times a day, has brought the greatest blessings into my life. It's not easy, though. Everything I surrender has claw marks in it.

I can see myself, as the sacrificial animal is burned in its entirety, fanning the smoke back toward myself, clinging to my own will, and jumping at the smoke as if to catch it and bring it back. But in the best offerings, we "let go and let God."

Jesus and the Penny

The Pharisees plotted to trap Jesus in a debate. They gathered together their own disciples, who were very anti-Rome with the Herodians, who would be more partial to Herod and the Roman government. This is like getting the most liberal Democrats and the most conservative Republicans together for a debate, and then throwing out a hot politically-charged, controversial topic for debate. How will Jesus weigh in?

Jesus asks to see the tribute money and asks whose image is on the coin. Of course, it's Caesar's. But instead of getting trapped in a debate about government allegiance, Jesus uses this opportunity to teach about consecration by saying, "Render therefore unto Cæsar the things which are Cæsar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s" (Matthew 22: 15-22).

It begs the question, where do we find God's image? Alma asks, "And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?" (Alma 5: 14). If we find Caesar's image on the penny and render to him the things that are his, and if we find God's image in our countenances, and render unto Him those things that belong to Him, doesn't it make sense that we consecrate our lives and best selves unto Him?

The "New and Living Way"

Obedience to the law of consecration is a prerequisite for entry into the Celestial realm, represented by the Holy of Holies or Celestial Room of the temple. The author of Hebrews draws an interesting likeness to the veil of the temple and the Savior's offering in our behalf. It says, 

"Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,

"By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh" (Hebrews 10: 19-20).

His sacrifice allows each of us to pass through the veil into "a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God" (Ether 12: 4).

What can we offer in return? He answers by saying, "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). It is basically asking us to give the real burnt offering by surrendering our will and hearts to Him, letting the natural man go up in smoke.

Joseph Smith's First Vision

As Joseph Smith went into the Sacred Grove to inquire of the Lord, his history states, "After I had retired to the place where I had previously designed to go, having looked around me, and finding myself alone, I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God" (Joseph Smith--History 1: 15). The phrase, "offer up the desires of my heart" can be read two ways. Did it mean Joseph was offering his petition to the Lord, or does it mean he was willing to sacrifice and "offer up" his desires and surrender them to God?

The answer, like many of these deeper verses, is yes and yes.