Introduction to Revised Article
In my fifty-odd years as a Christian, I had not taken the book of Leviticus very seriously. I just assumed that Jesus had fulfilled all of the sacrifices on the cross, and that is all that mattered.
Last year, I felt prompted to go through it in detail, and I was amazed at what I found. The message is strangely interesting and important for understanding God's purposes. I completed a detailed study of the book.
Recently, I have been reading a book called Lamb of the Free by Andrew Rillera. It is a very important book, although he does not fully understand the spiritual significance of impurity/uncleanness and the related offerings. People who want to understand the relationship between Jesus' death and the Old Covenant sacrifices should read his book.
In light of what I learned from Andrew, I have revised my Leviticus article. I revised the article with new information at the end of 2024. An internet version is at Levitical Offerings.
Understanding the nature of the offerings in Leviticus is important for understanding the achievements of Jesus’ death on the cross, so studying them is worth the effort. Much of the traditional teaching about Jesus' sacrifice simply does not fit with the requirements of Leviticus. This should ring a bell for us.
My original article was very long, so many readers struggled to read to the end. To make it easier to understand, I have broken it up into four articles that support each other. The other three deal with the following topics.
Pure and Impure explains the nature of the impurities which contaminated the tabernacle.
Why Blood? explains why blood decontaminates the tabernacle from the effect of these impurities.
Day of Cleansing explains what happened once a year to decontaminate the tabernacle.
Continue reading this article for an introduction to the Offerings described in Leviticus.
God’s Purpose for the Levitical Offerings
God revealed to Moses his plans for the Tabernacle, which would be the focus of worship for the children of Israel. Leviticus 1-7 describes the various offerings/sacrifices that would be offered on the altar at the entrance to the enclosed area surrounding the tent where God dwelt. Moses describes four different types of sacrifices that could be offered to God.
Since Jesus died on the cross and the Jerusalem temple was destroyed, the Tabernacle sacrifices no longer need to be offered to God because Jesus satisfied all the requirements of human salvation. However, they are worth studying because they point to the fuller deliverance that Jesus provided. We can't fully understand what Jesus achieved unless we understand what the Levitical offerings did, and how they did it.
Many Christians assume that the law and the tabernacle offerings were God's first attempt to bring deliverance in the world, but Moses and the prophets failed, so God had to have another go, and send Jesus to do the job properly. However, God does not make mistakes, so this is wrong. The Law and the Tabernacle were perfect for the purpose for which they were given. They actually achieved the purpose that God had created them for.
When I stopped seeing the tabernacle offerings as part of a failed system from the past, they suddenly made more sense. I discovered what God had achieved through them.
Leviticus does not spell out in detail what the various offerings achieve and how they do it. We need a three-agent view of the universe to fully understand what they accomplished and why they made a difference. The offerings described in Leviticus were designed to limit the power of the spiritual powers of evil in the season prior to their full defeat on the cross.
In this article, I attempt to explain the spiritual significance of the four types of Levitical offerings.
Sacrifice or Offering
Most English translations of Leviticus use the word “sacrifice” to describe the actions to be undertaken in the Tabernacle. However, the word “sacrifice” creates confusion, because people assume it refers to a death of an animal on an altar. What Moses was describing was different and more complicated. It involves several steps by different people. Likewise, this word leads to the idea that Jesus’ deliverance was fully achieved by his death, when in reality, his resurrection and ascension are equally important.
The Hebrew word used throughout Leviticus in this context is “qorban” (Lev 2,3). It is related to a verb meaning “bring near”. It describes something that is being brought near, sometimes to the altar of God as an offering. For this reason, I will use the word “offering” when analysing the instructions in Leviticus 1-7. The person brings near an animal, or some grain, and offers it to God.
There is a sacrifice involved in an offering, but the animal that dies does not make the sacrifice. The cost is born by the person who brought the animal or the grain. When they offer it to God, they lose something that is valuable to them, and they don’t get it back. On the other hand, the priest who actually places the offering on the altar does not bear any cost. He actually receives some free food, so it is not a sacrifice for him, which is interesting given that Jesus is the high priest who offered his life.
Types of Offering
Leviticus 1-7 describes four different types of offering. The names used in many English translations are not very helpful. In this section, I will review and describe their names. In subsequent sections, I will analyse each offering to identify what it achieves and how it does that.
1. Ascending Offering (olah)
Most translations use the expression “burnt offering” for the offering described in Leviticus 1. This is misleading because it focuses on the burning of the offering. People assume that the offering works because the animal is burnt, but that is the wrong focus.
The Hebrew word “olah” means “step” or “stairs”. It comes from a verb for “ascending”. In this context, it refers to the smoke ascending to God. It could be called a “smoke offering”, but that would be misleading because it is the pleasing smell/odour that goes up to God, and the word smoke could indicate an unpleasant smell. Therefore, I have chosen to refer to it as an ascending offering, using the literal meaning of the Hebrew word “olah”.
English translations usually refer to the offering described in Leviticus 2 as a “grain offering” because it is a product of grain (flour or bread) that is offered. However, the Hebrew word “minchah” literally refers to a “gift” or a “donation”. It is actually a different form of the Ascending Offering that provides a pleasant odour for God.
2. Wellbeing Offering (selamim)
The offering described in Leviticus 3 is often referred to as a “peace offering”, but the Hebrew word is “selamim”. It is closely connected to the word “shelem”, which means peace, but takes a broader meaning that includes “wellbeing, safety, completeness”, so I have chosen to call it a “wellbeing offering” to capture this broader meaning.
3. Decontamination Offering (hattat)
Leviticus 4 is often translated as describing a “sin offering”. The Hebrew word is “hattat”, which means sin or offence, but John Goldingay calls it the “decontamination offering” in his First Testament. Although this is a big word, it is a good label because it describes what the offering does, so I have decided to use it.
4. Reparation Offering (asam)
The final offering is the reparation offering. This is possibly a different form of the Decontamination Offering. The Hebrew word used is “asam”, which refers to an offence, but it can also mean “compensation” or “ransom”. Therefore, Reparation is an appropriate name.
I will describe these four offerings in the next few sections. Leviticus has a chapter about each one, but further instructions about them are given in chapters 6 and 7.
An offering is a process. It is not just the death of an animal. Each offering has several steps. Some are the same, but other steps vary according to the offering.
1. Ascending Offering (olah)
The ascending offering involves the slaughter of an animal. The type of the animal depends on what the person bringing of the offering can afford. Some will bring a young bull or ram, but poor people can bring a couple of doves. Taking into account the wealth of the person bringing it is common to all the offerings.
The Ascending Offerings has several steps.
The person chooses the animal that they will offer. It must be flawless. They cannot use the offering to get rid of a dud (Lev 1:3).
They must bring the animal to be offered to the entrance of the Tabernacle courtyard (Lev 1:3).
The person must lay their hand on the head of the animal (Lev 1:4).
The person presenting the animal must slaughter the animal (Lev 1:5).
The priest must capture the blood when the animal is killed.
The priests present the blood (not the person who brought the offering). The offering is distinct and separate from the slaughter of the animal. Ordinary people cannot approach the altar.
The priests splatter the blood on the side of the bronze altar that is outside the Tabernacle tent, but inside the tabernacle courtyard (Lev 1:5).
The person bringing the offering must skin the animal (Lev 1:6).
They must cut the animal into parts; literally, piece it into pieces (Lev 1:6).
The priest puts fire on the altar and arranges the wood (Lev 1:7).
The priest puts the meat parts and the fat on the fire on the altar.
The person making the offering must wash the entrails and the shanks (the part of the leg below the knee or hock).
The priest offers it all up in smoke.
The offering provides a pleasing odour/aroma for Yahweh (Lev 1:9,13,17).
The offering is a gift for Yahweh from the person bringing the offering(Lev 1:9,13,17).
The process is similar if the offering is a bird, except that the priest kills the bird by pinching its head off, and it is not divided into parts because it is too small.
Several things should be noted about the Ascending Offering.
By laying his hand on the head of the animal being offered, the person makes it clear that the offering is “accepted for himself”, not for the priest. The placing of the hand links the offering to the person giving it.
Leviticus 7:8 explains that when an offering is not for sin, the hide of the animal belongs to the priest who offers it on behalf of the person bringing it. So, I presume that the priest is able to take the hide of the animal offered in the Ascending Offering once it has been skinned.
The instructions in subsequent chapters give a fuller description of the process for extracting the fat from the animal.
”All its fat shall be offered: the fat tail and the fat that covers the internal organs, both kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the long lobe of the liver, which is to be removed with the kidneys” (Lev 7:3-4).
The biggest lump of fat will be around the kidneys, which will be extracted from it. There will usually be a lump of fat around the tail. Additional fat from near the loins and the lobe of the liver will be extracted too. All this fat is offered to Yahweh because it all belongs to him.I was puzzled why the head if offered with the fat. This is odd, because once the head is skinned, it has very little flesh and almost no fat. Bones do not burn well, so the skull bone and jaw bone will not burn up. I believe that the head is put on the altar with the fat, so it remains clear what was offered and who it belongs to. The head remains on the altar to record the ownership of the offering as the fat is being burned up.
The lower part of the leg (the shank) is difficult to skin, so it is not put on the altar with the meat of the animal. The person who brings the animal must wash them carefully. It is not clear what is done with them, but I don’t think they are burned, because they will be mostly bone.
The stomach and intestine of the animal will be full of partly-digested food that the animal has been eating. If it was put on the altar, it would make a rotten stink, which would not be pleasing to Yahweh. The owner must wash the entrails. It is not clear what is done with them, but I don’t think they will be placed on the fire of the altar because even after washing, they would still stink if they were burned.
When a bird is being offered as an Ascending Offering, the priest rips out the gizzard, which contains half-digested food, and throws it on the waste heap beside the altar, along with the feathers. This confirms that the entrails of any animal offered would not be burnt on the altar.Leviticus 1:9 says that the “whole of it” is to put on the fire on the altar. However, it is not clear what the word “whole” applies to. Many commentators suggest that the whole of the animal is put on altar fire and that the offering could be a “whole offering”. I don’t agree with this, as there would be problems if the offal was put on the fire. I believe it is all of the meat that is put on the fire. If an ox was being offered, a big heap of meat would be available once it was cut up. Later passages explain that the meat is to be eaten by the priests and their families once it is cooked on the altar.
Even a young ox would produce a lot of meat, so the priests might be tempted to store some of it for subsequent days when less meat might be offered. This might seem sensible, but Leviticus instructs that all the meat must be offered. In a hot desert climate, keeping raw meat for several days would be unwise because it would go off quickly. Therefore, I assume that reference to the “whole of it” applies to the meat, not to the whole of the animal.
If the offering is a bird, it is split in half but not divided up.The smoke goes up to Yahweh, not into the altar Holy of Holies where he dwells. This suggests that Yahweh is not the one who needs to be appeased. He just needs to be pleased with a pleasant smell/pleasing aroma.
The fire on the altar must not be allowed to go out (Lev 6:8).
In the morning, the priest must push the fatty ashes off the altar to one side. After the priest has changed his garments, they must be taken outside the camp (Lev 6:8-11).
The fire must not be allowed to go out while the ashes are removed. It must be a continual fire (Lev 6:12-13).
My Confusion
I grew up on a sheep farm in New Zealand. In the spring, when lambs are born, we would have about 2000 ewes giving birth. Although they were watched carefully, about twenty would die each spring due to various natural causes. Once the lambs had grown up, we would have 4000 sheep on the farm. Some of these would die from time to time for various reasons.
The law required that dead sheep be disposed of within two weeks. This was an unpleasant task. These days the carcasses are buried in deep pits that have been dug in the ground. When we were young, we did not have the machinery to do this, so for a while, Dad tried to burn the carcasses of the sheep that died. My brother and I would assist with this task, making sure that the carcasses burnt up as much as possible.
We would pluck the wool of the dead sheep because it could be sold, once it was scoured clean. We would then transport the carcass to the site where we burnt them. We used a couple of metal harrows to keep the carcass off the ground. Four of five carcasses would be burnt at the same time.
I learned that getting the carcass of a sheep to burn is a very difficult task. We had to put an accelerant like kerosene on the sheep to start the fire burning, because otherwise, it would just go out. Only when the fire was really hot, and the fat started to melt and drop onto the fire, would it burn strongly. Even then, the fire would go out if we did not watch to ensure that it had plenty of fuel.
The other problem is that when the carcass is burnt with its entrails still inside, it creates a terrible stink. The smell was vile. This is why I was always puzzled when I began to read that the offerings in Leviticus would make a pleasant smell for Yahweh. I could not understand how he would enjoy such a vile smell. It doesn’t make sense.
Having studied Leviticus more carefully, I now realise that the entire carcass was not placed on the altar. According to the instructions in Leviticus, only the best parts of the carcass are placed on the altar. The fat is placed on the wood. When the fire gets hot, the fat will melt and become the fuel of the fire. The fire will burn clear and hot. A cold fire produces a lot of smoke with a dirty smell. A hot fire produces clear smoke that does not have a dirty smell. I can see how this would be pleasing to Yahweh.
The priest places the lumps of meat on the altar beside the burning wood so it will cook. When it is ready to be eaten by the priests, it will be removed from the fire, so it does not burn.
So the offering process will produce the smells of meat cooking and the fat burning hot and fast. This smell is very different from the smell that I remember from burning the carcasses of dead sheep. The smell from the altar would be more like the smell that I get when I am cooking beef steak on a gas-fired barbecue. This is a pleasant smell that makes me feel hungry. I can see how this smell would be pleasing to Yahweh.
Expiation or Atonement
The interesting thing about the Ascending Offering is that there is no mention of sin. It is not an offering for sin. A person brings the ascending offering as a way of expressing their love for the Lord. Yet, Leviticus 1:4 declares that the ascending offering makes atonement/expiation for the person offering it. This is odd. If the offering was not for dealing with sin, why does it produce expiation or propitiation? To resolve this conundrum, we need to analyse the Hebrew word “kipper”, which is translated “atonement” or “expiation/propitiation”.
The Hebrew word “kipper” is hard to translate. When Tyndale made the first English translations, he made up the word atonement for this word and its equivalent in the New Testament. It originated with a Middle English phrase “at onement” which means “in harmony”. It describes reconciliation between humans and God. The problem with this word is that it confuses the process of the offering with the outcome. Leviticus does not claim that the offerings described establish reconciliation with God. They are a blessing for God from his people.
Most English versions translate “kipper” with the words “expiation”, “atonement”, or “propitiation”. The problem is that these are religious words that carry meanings that are not in the Hebrew word “kipper”, so we get a distorted understanding because we assume that Leviticus is saying more than it contains. We must avoid imposing religious/theological meanings on the word that go beyond its actual sense.
The verb “kipper” is a denominative verb, which means that it is derived from a related noun. We can deduce some of its meaning by understanding the parent noun. The noun “kipper” is a ransom gift. This noun is not used in Leviticus. In Exodus 30:12, it refers to a ransom paid by the children of Israel to God. In Numbers 35:31, it describes a payment made in exchange for his life by a murderer. It is used in a bad way in 1 Samuel 12:3 to describe a bribe.
The related verb “kipper” means “cover”, “clean”, purify” or “remove a contaminant”. It does not mean “reconcile” or “forgive”. This verb is used throughout the description of the offerings in Leviticus. In the case of the Ascending Offering, there is no sin to remove, so “cover” could be a better translation, because in addition to being an act of worship, it proves spiritual protection for the people of God.
The laity never eats an offering that has a kipper function; only the priests can eat from it. If an offering is for the sins of the priests, they cannot eat from it. Priests and people are not to benefit from their sins. This distinction helps distinguish offerings that have a kipper function.
Feasting is always connected with non-kipper offerings (Num 10:10).
What is Achieved
The Ascending Offering achieves three things for the people of God.
1. Worship/Attraction
The Ascending Offering is primarily an expression of worship of Yahweh. The offering produces a pleasing aroma for God to enjoy. However, it is not just a smell. The pleasant aroma represents the worship of the person bringing the offering at a considerable cost to themselves, and the priests whose lives are devoted to serving God by making regular offerings. Bringing an offering to Yahweh would be an act of worship for the giver.
The purpose of the Ascending Offering was to attract God’s attention and presence. It was an invitation to him to come to bless his people (Ex 20:24). God is drawn down to his people. It ensures his presence in the tabernacle. The core role of the offering is attraction.
The Ascending Offering is a non-kipper offering.
2. Food for Priests
The priests and their families receive meat and bread to eat. They do not have any land of their own, so they cannot grow their own food. They do not have any other source of income. The priests and their families live on the meat and bread that are brought in the various offerings brought by the people of God.
The meat must be eaten within three days of being offered. Any meat not used up within three days must be burned (Lev 7:16-17).
The pots used for cooking must be kept separate from normal use (Lev 6:26-29).
3. Spiritual Protection
Through the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, the spiritual powers of evil gained authority over humans on earth. When the children put Passover blood on their doorposts, they were protected from the destroyer who killed the firstborn of Egypt. This defeat of the powers of evil enabled them to escape from Egypt. The victory continued when the Egyptian army was destroyed in the Red Sea, but the spiritual powers of evil did not give up. They continued to harass God’s people as they travelled through the wilderness.
The Tabernacle offerings provided an effective method of spiritual protection for the children of Israel. This protection was not perfect, but it was the best protection possible prior to the death of Jesus and the total defeat of the spiritual powers of evil on the cross.
The fall placed humans under the power of the spiritual powers of evil. They demanded blood as the ransom price for setting them free. To live in peace, the children of Israel need to pay a ransom in blood to the spiritual powers of evil who had enslaved them. Prior to the cross, the blood of animals was the ransom they would accept. Unfortunately, this price was not one-off and complete. The ransom price had to be paid again and again. That was painful, but it was worth it to escape the control of the powers of evil. The benefit was that the ransom price was “acceptable” to the spiritual powers of evil (Lev 1:4).
This spiritual protection had a significant economic cost for the children of Israel because some of the best livestock (without flaws), which were essential for their agrarian economy, had to be killed in their prime. Killing their best animals just as they reached maturity was a big setback for a small-time farmer. Giving up such a valuable animal would be really painful for them.
Because the offering brings spiritual protection, “covering” is a good translation of “kipper”. The offering is a ransom price that provides spiritual covering against the spiritual powers of evil. This is why Leviticus 1:4 says that the Ascending Offering makes kipper (covering) because it provides general spiritual protection.
The blood belongs to God, because it is life. He loves life, so he does not seek bloodshed. The spiritual powers of evil love death, so they demand bloodshed at every opportunity. The Ascending Offering was one way the children of Israel could escape their harassment by offering them the blood that they demanded.
The priest did not burn the blood and offer it to God. Rather, he splashed a little on the side of the altar and poured out the rest of the blood on the ground all around the altar at the entrance to the tabernacle courtyard (Lev 1:5). This is the place where the spiritual powers of evil gathered, so this is where blood was offered to them.
When Abel killed Cain, the ground cried out for blood (actually, it was the spiritual powers of evil who demanded it (Gen 4:10). So when they are given a ransom price of blood, it is not treated in a special way, but just poured on the ground. They don’t get any special treatment. Something for God goes up, while something for them goes down (More at Why Blood?).
Grain Alternative
The grain offering described in Leviticus 2 is a non-animal version of the Ascending offering. The Hebrew word "minchah" used to name the offering literally means "gift". The offerings can take two forms: raw flour or bread that had been baked in an oven. This offering had the same role as the Ascending offering, but it was an option for people who had access to grain and not livestock. I presume that it was a cheaper option than offering a bull or a sheep for those who were poor. However, it was pleasing to God.
According to the letter to the Hebrews, the priests of the tabernacle are expected to bring both “gifts and offerings” to God (5:1,8:3,9:9). When an offering does not have a kipper function, it is called a “food gift” (isseh).
The steps involved in making a Grain Offering were similar to those for an Ascending Offering, but there were some differences.
The offering is brought by a person wanting to bless Yahweh.
The flour used for the offering or baking of the bread must be of the best quality. Only the best is good enough to offer to God.
Oil was poured on the flour, perhaps to hold it together on the altar (Lev 2:1).
Frankincense was also put on the flour (Lev 2:1). I presume that this produces a pleasant aroma when heated on the altar.
The priest scoops some flour out of the container the flour was brought in and puts it on the altar (Lev 2:2).
The priest offers the scooped-up flour on the altar as an offering to Yahweh. The smoke rises up to him (Lev 2:2).
The offering of flour is a memorial/reminder (Lev 2:2). It reminds Yahweh of the loyalty/allegiance of the person who has brought the offering.
The remainder of the offering, which will be most of it, belongs to the priests and their families. They use it as a source of food (Lev 2:3; 6:16).
The Grain Offering is a pleasing aroma for Yahweh (Lev 2:2).
If the Grain Offering is already baked into bread, it must be unleavened (Lev 2:4).
Olive oil is smeared on the bread (Lev 2:4).
Sometimes, the bread will be cooked on a griddle or in a pot after it has been brought (Lev 2:5,7).
However, it is made the bread is broken up into pieces before it is placed on the altar.
The person brings the bread, but the priest must put it on the altar.
No honey should be put on bread offered to Yahweh(Lev 2:12).
All grain-based offerings must be seasoned with salt (Lev 2:13).
A couple of points should be noted.
The Grain Offering is not an offering for sin. There is no blood involved, so it does not appease the spiritual powers of evil. It is offered to God only. This is why it is called a gift offering.
Leaven symbolises evil, so it must not be offered to God.
The person bringing an offering of flour or bread was expected to be generous so that plenty of food would be provided for the priests and their families.
Frankincense is added to the Grain Offering to improve the aroma that goes up to Yahweh.
The priest must offer a portion of the grain from the Grain Offering as their own offering to Yahweh (Lev 6:19-23;).
The grain offering has two purposes.
It is an expression of worship to God.
It provides food for the priests (Lev 7:9,14).
It probably does not provide spiritual protection, as there is no blood to satisfy the powers of evil.
2. Wellbeing Offering (selemin)
The Hebrew word is “selemin” is closely connected to the word “shalom”, which means peace, but it takes a broader meaning that includes “wellbeing, safety, and completeness”. The offering is an expression of thanks to Yahweh for his blessing on a person’s life.
The process for offering a Wellbeing Offering is very similar to the Ascending Offering, so I will just outline the differences.
The Wellbeing Offering can be a bullock or a sheep. The difference is that a goat can also be presented. This was probably a cheaper option for those who needed it.
The person brings the animal and lays his hand on it before slaughtering it near the altar.
When describing this offering, Leviticus gives more detail about the extraction of the fat around the kidneys.
Like the other offering, the priest splashes the blood on the side of the altar and burns the fat on the wood fire, so it becomes a soothing aroma for Yahweh.
Three things should be noted.
Leviticus 3:5 confirms that the fat from the Wellbeing Offering is turned into an Ascending Offering.
Laying a hand on the head of the animal does not signify a transfer of sin because this offering does not deal with sin. It indicates ownership of the owner.
There are three categories of Wellbeing Offering:
Thanksgiving - for something good that God has done (Lev 7:12),
Freewill - spontaneous thanks for God’s goodness (Lev 7:16),
Vowed/pledged - when the object of a vow is received from God (Lev 7:16).
What is Achieved
The Wellbeing Offering has four purposes.
It is an expression of worship to God. It is a retrospective offering giving thanks to God for things that he has done. It is not asking God to do things, but thanksgiving for what he has already accomplished.
It provides food for the priests.
The flesh of the Wellbeing Offering can be eaten by the family offering it. Any flesh that is not eaten by the third day must be burned on the altar (Lev 7:11-18). The meat from the Wellbeing Offering can be eaten by the laity; it is split three ways; between God, the priests and the people.
The blood poured out on the ground by the altar provides spiritual protection against the spiritual powers of evil.
The ascending offering represents food for God. The Wellbeing Offering provides food for the people. Together, these offerings represent a shared meal, and feasting between God and his people.
Passover is a form of communal Wellbeing Offering. It is not a substitutionary death. The blood was not put on an altar by a priest. A lamb was not offered at the tabernacle during subsequent Passover celebrations. They were a unique type of wellbeing celebration. The motivation was thanksgiving for deliverance. It was a joyous celebration, not mourning for sin.
The word kipper is not used when describing the Wellbeing Offering.
3. Decontamination Offering (hattat)
Leviticus 4 describes a Decontamination Offering. The word hattat is often translated as “sin offering”, but that does not make sense, because the offering is specified in situations where no sins have been committed. Often a serious impurity needs to be remedied: childbirth, scale disease or abnormal discharge. These impurities are described further below.
The hattat offering is also specified for inadvertent sins. These are sins that were committed without deliberate intent. The action taken has done harm that needs to be remedied, but the person is not actually guilty, because they did not deliberately and knowingly engage in activity that is sinful. “Guilty” is not really an appropriate description of their state. Rather they have made a mistake that has done damage that needs to be put right.
The piel construction of the Hebrew root on which hattat is based means “purify, purge” throughout the Old Testament. Since it is prescribed both in situations where a serious impurity has occurred as well for inadvertent sins, hattat is best described as a purification offering or decontamination offering.
The hattat offering decontaminates or purifies the tabernacle and its contents. It does not purify the offerer’s body of impurity. The hattat blood is never applied to a person, because it never purifies its offerer.
The first Decontamination Offering was offered to cleanse the tabernacle before it was first used, when no sins had been identified (Exodus 29:36-37).
The Decontamination Offering was to be used for two different situations.
a) Contamination of the Tabernacle
The main use of the Decontamination Offering is to remove the effects of Life Impurities that allow the tabernacle to become contaminated (this problem is described more fully in Pure and Impure). The tabernacle was in the middle of the Israelite camp and was surrounded by the various tribes. It belonged to the people, so there was a spiritual link between each family and the tabernacle. The people and the tabernacle touched the same place in the spiritual realms, so that when a family did something wrong that gave access to the powers of evil, both they and the tabernacle were contaminated. It was like they were connected by a spiritual wormhole. The consequence of this connection was that the actions of the people contaminated the tabernacle with the same unclean residue as the person taking the action.
When people engaged in particular activities, it allowed the spiritual powers of evil to penetrate further into the camp towards the tabernacle. It seems that if these powers got too close, they could contaminate the tabernacle with their unclean residue (Lev 16:16). The tabernacle belongs to God and the people. If the spiritual powers of evil could get access to a person, they got access to the tabernacle, because part of it belongs to that person.
The powers of evil would not usually choose to enter the tabernacle if they penetrated it, because they would be overwhelmed by God’s strong presence, but if they were able to unlock sufficient access points, they might feel they could attack with enough force and ugliness that God would choose to leave (Lev 18:26-30). If the contamination of the tabernacle became too strong, God might become uncomfortable in the tabernacle and move away.
Losing God’s presence would be a huge disaster for the children of Israel. To prevent this from happening, God arranged for the tabernacle to be fully cleansed once a year. This annual cleansing ensured that the tabernacle remained a pleasant place for God to dwell (see Day of Cleansing).
God also provided solutions for people who took actions that allowed the tabernacle to be contaminated. A few of these actions were sinful, but most were not. The solution was a Decontamination Offering or Reparation Offering to purify the tabernacle and its furniture.
Leviticus lists several ways that the tabernacle could be contaminated. These Harmful Life Impurities can reside on both the person and the tabernacle, or its furniture. They are described more fully in Harmful Life Impurities, so I will just summarise them here.
Child Birth
Child birth is a risky situation (Lev 12). The spiritual powers of evil hate new lives, so there is sometimes a risk that they will attack a mother who is afraid to harm her baby. There is no sin here. It would be an undeserved evil attack. It seems that if the spiritual powers of evil can gain access to a woman during childbirth, it could affect the tabernacle.
Abnormal Genital Discharge
Abnormal discharges can sometimes be the result of a spiritual attack. For a woman, the discharge might consist of permanent bleeding (Lev 15:25-30). For a man, it might be a continuous discharge of fluid (Lev 15:1-15). In both cases, it seems that the attack could contaminate part of the tabernacle.
Scale Disease
Skin disease was often the first sign that someone was under attack by evil spirits. Therefore, avoiding someone with a skin disease was a means of spiritual protection. People with some types of skin disease were considered impure (Lev 13). Gaining access to a person’s skin sometimes seemed to allow the spiritual powers of evil to contaminate the tabernacle. Scale in a house could have the same effect (Lev 14:33-45).
Priest and Corpse
If a priest touched a corpse, they become impure like every other person. The difference is that the contamination could spread to the tabernacle.
b) Unintended Sins
The other situation where the Decontamination Offering was required is when someone strayed from God’s way unintentionally, inadvertently, or by mistake, and their failure becomes known to them (Lev 4, see also Num 15:22-31).
Different offerings are specified depending on who has failed and the seriousness of their failure.
Anointed Priest Young bull
Entire community of Israel Young bull
Leader Male goat
Ordinary person Female goat or sheep
The failures of a high priest or a leader do more harm than those of ordinary people, so a more serious remedy is required when they fail.
These offerings are for unintentional failures only. These are sins that are done by mistake. The person does something without realising what they are doing is wrong. They have gone astray and made a mistake. Perhaps they did not know their action was prohibited by the Torah. Maybe they did not understand the consequences of their actions.
These failures are deliberate actions, but the person does not realise they were sinning. The offering is made when the failure is made known to them.
The problem with these unintentional sins is that they contaminate the tabernacle (Lev 4) Leviticus does not give a complete list of unintentional sins.
The Decontamination Offering applies to a very limited range of failures, as there are few that would be genuinely unintentional.
Solutions
The Harmful Life Impurities that affect the tabernacle require a complicated three-step solution because they reside in two places: the person’s body and the tabernacle.
In each case, the person or house must be restored. This is sometimes just a matter of time. In other cases, more definitive action must be taken to restore the person’s health.
Once the person has resolved their problem, they are usually washed with water to purify themselves (pointing to baptism). Water washing is the main way to purify people (Lev 14:7-9; 15:13,28).
The third step in purification is an offering to purify the tabernacle or its furniture, depending on what was affected. This Decontamination Offering did not purify the person because they could not come to the tabernacle until their body had been purified. Cleansing of the tabernacle could only happen once the person had been restored.
Where the problem has no associated sin (most of them), a Decontamination Offering cleansed the tabernacle.
The Decontamination Offering also cleansed the tabernacle of the affects of Unintentional Sins.
Process
The Decontamination Offering has the following steps.
The person who has failed brings the animal to the Tabernacle (Lev 4:4).
For the ordinary person, there is a suggestion that he may have already pled guilty and acknowledged his failure within his community (Lev 4:4).
The offerer places a hand on the head of the animal and slaughters it (Lev 4:4). If the whole community has failed , some elders place their hands on the animal's head (Lev 4:15).
The priest pours out blood on the ground beside the bronze altar in the tabernacle courtyard (Lev 4:4).
The priest then takes the fat from the animal and places it on the wood on the bronze altar to produce a pleasant aroma for Yahweh, in the same way as is done for the Wellbeing Offering (Lev 4:9).
The smoke rising from burning the fat becomes an Ascending Offering for Yahweh (Lev 4:7).
In contrast with the other offerings, the hide, the meat, the head and legs, and the entrails and dung must be taken outside the camp and burned on the pile of fatty ash pile, where the ash from the bronze altar is dumped (Lev 4:11-12, 21). This applies to an offering by an anointed priest or the entire community, but not for individuals.
If the Decontamination Offering is for a leader or ordinary person, the priest does not take any blood into the Tabernacle (see Holy of Holies below). Instead, they sprinkle some blood on the horns of the bronze altar in the temple courtyard (Lev 4:25,29). The remainder of the blood is poured on the ground beside the altar, as with the Decontamination Offering for the priest and the entire community.
The fat is burned on the altar as an Ascending Offering.
In every case, the priest offers a ransom price (kipper) on behalf of the person/people so that the spiritual powers of evil will remove their pollution from the tabernacle, and the people will be forgiven for contaminating the sanctuary (Lev 4:20,26,31).
Holy of Holies
When the Decontamination Offering is brought by an Anointed Priest who has sinned, or on behalf of the entire community of Israel for a common failure, the form of offering is different as some blood is taken into the Holy of Holies (More at Why Blood?) .
The high priest takes some of the blood into the Tabernacle (Lev 4:5).
The priest dips his finger in the blood and sprinkles some on the ground in front of the curtain that separates off the Holy of Holies where the ark of the covenant is kept (Lev 4:27).
The priest must smear some blood on the horns of the golden altar that stands in the Holy Place inside the Tabernacle (Lev 4:7).
This practice suggests that the failures of the anointed priest and a common failure committed by the entire community have more serious consequences than those of the ordinary people, and even leaders.
The anointed priest has authority over the Tabernacle. If the spiritual powers of evil can persuade the priest to make a mistake, they gain some authority over him and over the Tabernacle. Authority for evil spirits to intervene within the Tabernacle would be a serious setback in the spiritual battle taking place where the Tabernacle stands.
The Tabernacle belonged to the entire community of the Israelites. They camped around the Tabernacle on all sides. If the entire community failed and came under the influence of the spiritual powers of evil, they would have authority to interfere in the Tabernacle. If they gained a stronghold there, the spiritual protection that the Israelites gained through the Tabernacle system would be severely weakened.
The people have an obligation to keep the tabernacle pure.
God dwells in the Holy of Holies of the Tabernacle, but he does not stay where he is not welcome. If the priests or the Israelites allowed the powers of evil into the Tabernacle, he would withdraw. This would be really dangerous for the Israelites.
The blood sprinkled on the gold altar and on the ground in front of the tabernacle curtain was a sign to the spiritual powers of evil that they should keep out of the Tabernacle because it belongs to God.
The blood on the altar parallels the blood on the doorpost during the first Passover, which warned the angel of death to stay away from the homes of the Israelites and allow their firstborn sons to live.
The blood was taken into the Holy Place and sprinkled on the horns of the altar to restore the spiritual protection back to the level that prevailed before the priest or the people fell into sin. Horns are a symbol of power. The sprinkling of the blood on the horns reminds the spiritual powers of evil that Yahweh’s power is greater than theirs.
The blood on the ground in front of the curtain is a warning to the spiritual powers of evil that they should not attempt to enter the Holy of Holies.
The remaining blood from the bull is sprinkled on the ground beside the bronze altar at the entry to the tabernacle entrance.
The other big difference with a Decontamination Offering for the anointed priest or the Israelite community is that the hide, the carcass, the entrails and dung must be taken outside the camp and burned on the pile of fatty ash pile, where the ash from the bronze altar is dumped (Lev 4:11-12, 21).
People are not allowed to eat the meat from an offering made to compensate for their failures. I presume this is because the person or people who brought the offering were spiritually compromised, so they should not benefit from their failures/impurities. Therefore, it was safest to burn it outside the camp, where evil spirits could do no harm to the people or the tabernacle.
The “hattat” blood is always applied in the tabernacle. It is never applied to a person to cleanse them.
A situation where these offerings are necessary should be relatively rare.
Purpose of the Decontamination Offering
The Decontamination Offering has four purposes.
A person who has committed an Unintentional Sin gets to admit their mistakes.
The offering includes an expression of worship to God (burning fat).
In some situations, the offering provides food for the priests.
The Decontamination Offering cleanses the tabernacle, removing the impurity that contaminates it when a person has been attacked by evil powers. The offering does not decontaminate the offerer’s body. It cleanses the tabernacle and its furniture and implements.
The blood poured out on the ground by the altar provides spiritual protection against the spiritual powers of evil.
The decontamination offering does not deal with all sins, but only unintended sins that contaminate the tabernacle. It also deals with the affects of Life Impurities that arise from normal human activity, which are not sinful. This is explained in “Pure and Impure”.
4. Reparation Offering (asam)
The final offering described in Leviticus 5:14-6:7 is the Reparation Offering. The Hebrew word used is “asam”, which means guilt, but can also mean reparation or compensation, which seems more appropriate here. Leviticus specifies the situations in which it applies.
The first set of sins that need reparation are sins done with mistaken understanding. The person intended to take the action, but the consequences were unintended. This is why the sinner is liable to God. These sins are less serious than many, but slightly more serious than the ones dealt with by the Decontamination Offering. The latter were done without intention, so there is no guilt. These sins bring liablility, because they were deliberate actions, although the consequences were not foreseen.
A person fails to testify in support of someone about a vow that he has heard, assuming his/her witness is not important(Lev 5:1). He carries waywardness.
A person touches an unclean taboo animal or corpse and gets contaminated without being aware of it. When he comes to know it, he is liable to God (Lev 5:2).
A person touches something human that is unclean and becomes contaminated without being aware of it. When he comes to know it, he is liable to God (Lev 5:3).
A person swears an oath thoughtlessly without understanding the seriousness of their commitment. If they are unable to honour it, they are liable to God (Lev 5:4).
The person who commits these is “liable” to God. The word liable is a financial term. There is a debt to God that must be repaid (Lev 5:19). The debt is incurred because the person has contaminated the tabernacle, where God dwells.
The person who is guilty of these failures must confess their fault (Lev 5:5). Repentance and confession are sufficient to cleanse the person. Leviticus promises that they will be forgiven (Lev 5:10,11).
They must bring a female sheep or goat to the priest to be offered as a Decontamination Offering to remove the contamination of the tabernacle. Poor people can bring two doves or two pigeons (Lev 5:7). Those who are really poor can bring some fine flour (Lev 5:11).
With are related set of sins, the sinner has the option of making payment by way of reparation.
A breach of the regulations for the holy things of Yahweh (Lev 5:14). A person has to make a Reparation Offering because their failure has contaminated the tabernacle.
When a commandment is violated without knowing it, but this is discovered afterwards (Lev 5:17).
When a person deceives a fellow citizen regarding something held in trust, a pledge, something stolen or extorted, or something found and swears falsely that he has not found it(Lev 6:2-3). In these cases, the sinner is liable to another person. The thief must make repayment to the person to who the person to whom it belongs. He must pay the total value of the object and add one-fifth to it (Lev 6:5). The person also had to make a Reparation Offering because his sin has contaminated God’s home (Lev 6:7).
When a person sleeps with another man’s maidservant who has not been redeemed or set free, in addition to setting her free, he must make a Reparation Offering because he has contaminated the tabernacle (Lev 19:20-22). The woman is not punished because she was not free.
The person who has liability to God can make a financial donation to the tabernacle that is of equivalent value to the animal for the Reparation Offering as repentance. He also had to make a reparation offering because his failure had contaminated God’s home (Lev 6:7).
The Reparation Offering cleanses the tabernacle. The person has a liability to God because their actions have contaminated his house. They are responsible for purifying it again. However, the offering was not a compensation for their sin.
Process
The process is similar to the Decontamination Offering.
The guilty person must be repentant. They must make full restitution of any property that has been taken. They must add a fifth by value to compensate for the inconvenience (Lev 5:16; 6:5).
The animal must be brought to the entrance of the Tabernacle entrance (Lev 5:15; 5:18; 6:6).
Leviticus does not give details about how the animal should be offered, so I presume that the process would be the same as for the Decontamination Offering. The purpose of both offerings is to cleanse the tabernacle.
The big difference from the Decontamination Offering is that the priest does not take any blood into the Holy of Holies. The sins dealt with by the Reparation Offering do not contaminate the Holy of Holies. They only contaminate the bronze altar and the temple courtyard. The blood is splattered on the side of the bronze altar in the tabernacle courtyard.
The Reparation Offering has five purposes.
A person gets to confess their failures. This offering only deals with unintended consequences.
The offering is an expression of worship to God by burning fat for a sweet aroma; ie as an Ascending Offering.
The offering provides food for the priests.
The Reparation Offering cleanses the tabernacle, removing the impurity that contaminates if when a person has been attacked by evil powers. The offering does not decontaminate the offerer's body. It cleanses the tabernacle and its furniture and implements.
The blood poured out on the ground by the altar provides spiritual protection against the spiritual powers of evil. It covers the person who has failed.
Poverty
There is an allowance for poverty. If the person cannot afford an animal, they must bring two young turtle doves or pigeons (Lev 5:7). One bird is for a Decontamination Offering, and the other is for an Ascending Offering (Lev 5:7).
If the sinner cannot afford two birds, they are able to bring a couple of litres of flour (Lev 5:11). The priest takes a fistful, mixes it with oil and frankincense, and places it on the bronze altar. The remainder of the grain will belong to the priests for their food. This grain offering is effective without any shedding of blood, so it suggests that the person’s confession is sufficient to make peace with God.
Infrequent
The Israelites were small farmers, so sacrificing an animal would be a significant economic burden. It would not be something that they could do every few months. They would only need to make a Decontamination or Reparation Offering before they go up to the tabernacle for one of the regular feasts.
I suspect that most families would only be able to give up a prime animal from their flock or herd every few years at most. Israel had more than a million people, so animals would be offered regularly, so that the priests always have food, but each family would only make an offering infrequently. It would not be something they could do every time they failed.
Day of Cleansing
The Decontamination Offering and the Reparation Offerings protected the tabernacle from being contaminated by the Life Impurities afflicting the Children of Israel. Anything that sneaked through and contaminated the tabernacle because it was missed by these two offerings was dealt with on an annual Day of Cleansing. I describe how this day functions at Day of Cleansing.
Jesus Fulfils Offerings
Jesus declared that he did not come to abolish the Torah, but to fulfil it. This raises an important question. How did Jesus fulfil the Levitical Offerings? Most Christians assume that he did that by dying for our sin, but that cannot be true because, as has been explained in this article, the Levitical Offerings were not designed to deal with sin. We need to examine each of the four types of offering separately, and understand their purpose and what Jesus did to fulfil them.
1. Ascending Offering
This offering rose as a pleasing aroma to God and was offered as an act of worship. Jesus offered his life in obedience to God. This act of worship was the equivalent of an Ascending Offering.
Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God (Eph 5:2).
Jesus calls his disciples to give their lives in obedience to him, as a pleasing offering to God.
Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship (Rom 12:1).
Our living sacrifice of obedience is the replacement/fulfilment of the Ascending Offering.
2. Wellbeing Offering
This offering provided an opportunity for the people and the priests to share a meal with God. The Passover was a predecessor of the Wellbeing Offering.
Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed (1 Cor 5:7).
By being our Passover lamb, Jesus fulfilled the Wellbeing Offering.
Jesus fulfilled the Wellbeing Offering when he initiated the Lord’s Supper.
While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take it; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it. “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them (Mark 14:22-24).
When we share in the Lord’s Supper, we are fulfilling the Wellbeing Offering.
3. Decontamination Offering
This was not an offering for sin. It was an offering to cleanse the tabernacle (and later the temple) of the effects of Harmful Life Impurities. When Jesus sent the Holy Spirit, his followers became the temple of the Holy Spirit, which made the physical temple redundant. By baptising us in water and the Spirit, Jesus cleansed us from all Life Impurities. Making his people into a place where the Holy Spirit could live made the physical temple redundant. This change was confirmed in AD 70, when the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed.
Once the physical temple was destroyed, there was no place for a Decontamination Offering to be offered. There was no temple needing to be cleansed, so the Decontamination Offering became redundant.
The Letter to the Hebrews explains that the temple and everything in it had to be cleansed with blood (Heb 9:22). The temple was a copy of the heavenly sanctuary.
It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these (Heb 9:23).
The offering that cleansed the heavenly sanctuary was made by Jesus following his ascension from earth into the spiritual realms. Jesus did not carry blood into the spiritual realms when he ascended, because his blood was spilt on the ground at Golgotha. The offering that he made was his resurrected body. The offering of his body when he entered the presence of God was the final Decontamination Offering.
4. Reparation Offering
This offering is a variation on the Decontamination Offering, so it was fulfilled in the same way as the Decontamination Offering. The difference is that the Reparation Offering was that some sins could be mitigated by paying reparation/restitution. When Jesus died on the cross, he paid for reparation on behalf of all who trust him.
He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption (Heb 9:12).
We have redemption through his blood (Eph 1:7).
The Son of Man came… to give his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45).
Jesus gave his life to satisfy the requirements of the Reparation Offering. He satisfied all the demands of the spiritual powers of evil.
Complete Fulfilment
Jesus completely fulfilled each of the four types of offering prescribed in Leviticus. There is no need for them to be offered any more. The fullness of the Spirit gave people the ability to discern the activities of the spiritual powers of evil and resist them. In the name of Jesus, we have authority to command them to stay away from us. The scriptures promise that if we resist them, they will flee (1 Peter 5:9; James 4:7; Eph 6:10-17). Baptism frees us from the impurities of life.
Missing from Leviticus – Penal Substitution
One theme that is often assumed by modern Christians is missing from Leviticus.
Penal substitution is missing from Levitical offerings and from the Day of Cleansing. The animals are brought by the people are not punished for their sins. Their blood is used for appeasing the spiritual powers of evil and for cleansing objects that are unclean. Their meat is food for the priests. Their fat is burnt to produce a sweet aroma for Yahweh. The animals are offered as an act of worship, so the cost of losing a valuable animal is not a punishment, but an act of thanksgiving and respect.
Leviticus required that all animals offered should be without blemish (Lev 22:17-25). This means that an animal cannot be hurt or mutilated in any way before it dies. If it was punished, it would have blemishes and not be an acceptable offering. Leviticus never says that the animal is an object of God's wrath. It never says that it is being punished. If it was abused or suffered unnecessarily, God would be offended.
The animals do not die as a substitute for the people who offer them. They placed their hand on the animal even when it was being given as a Wellbeing Offering or an Ascending Offering, which were not for sin, so it is not an indicator of substitution. In the case of the Decontamination Offering, the animals are not killed in the place of the people offering them because the unintentional sins they had committed did not require a death penalty.
On the Day of Cleansing, the priest confessed the most serious transgression and depravities over the goat for Azazel. These were the worst sins, but the goat was sent into the wilderness. It was not punished. It was not killed, and its blood was not offered to God. The wilderness goat was not a substitute for the people who had sinned. It was a carrier. The people were forgiven their transgressions without paying any penalty.
Wow! Thank you. This is an excellent study. I will have to read it again to digest it, but I really appreciate all the work that went into this! (Just one correction: I believe Jesus ascended 40 days after his resurrection, not 10), but I don’t mean to be critical, quite the contrary! Blessings, Brother!
Dave Miller