“Giving the Best to the Best”
The word Leviticus is commonly defined as, pertaining to the Levites; it is the job description of the Levites. The book of Leviticus could be seen as a physical, spiritual, moral and, even as a sanitary law manual of operation. The God that we serve is concerned with every aspect of our lives, even those things that we do not consider spiritual.
In this series I will only deal with the first seven chapters of Leviticus. Those chapters were dedicated exclusively to deal with the five offerings or sacrifices.
- Burnt Offering
- Meat or Grain Offering
- Fellowship or Peace Offering
- Sin Offering
- Guilt or Trespass Offering
A study concerning these offerings or sacrifices will help us attain a deeper understanding of the work of Christ in our lives. I will expand on each of these offerings later, but for now, let’s focus on the meaning of giving the best to the best. Leviticus 1:2 tells us,
2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man of you bring an offering unto the Lord, ye shall bring your offering of the cattle, even of the herd, and of the flock. (NKJV)
It is very important that we do not overlook what “Herd” and “Flock” means. This is significant because a great deal of these five offerings were given either out of the herd or the flock.
- Herd: These animals were used as beasts of burden or for farming; plowing, etc.[1] These were essentially the animals used for work.
- Flock: The flock was important for food, clothing materials; drink, milk; and as a major part of a person’s wealth.[2]
The children of Israel could have easily developed a separate group of animals dedicated for these diverse offerings and sacrifices, animals that meant nothing to them. They could have gone out and hunted the particular animal needed for the sacrifice and called it a day, but that was not the way things worked. God wanted these animals to come out of the person’s herd or flock. That is because it needed to be something valuable, something that was a part of their lives, something that meant something special and something that clearly showed that God was first above everything else. That is why it was called sacrifices.
The herd represented the working animals and the flock represented the animals that benefit the people for food and clothing. You have to think that when you had the best male goat, for example, this goat had the ability to spread his greatness and produce other great goats, however that was the goat that became ideal for sacrifice, that was the goat that actually meant something to you. Wow!
Think about how close we get to our pets today. Imagine how easy it was to draw closer to those real good working animals; the hours they spend with them and the great benefit that animal had when it came to doing the job well. These were special animals indeed; they needed to be the best of the best for any sacrifice. But ultimately, it was not that animal doing such great work; it was God’s grace releasing the blessing for that animal to work as effective as he did. These sacrifices were designed to keep the focus on God.
We some times placed such emphasis in our jobs and our material things that we forget that it was indeed God who gave us those things; He is the provider and the one worthy to be worshipped, revered and praised.
Thank God that we don’t have to kill any animal for sacrifices today. Thank God that Jesus became and is the ultimate sacrifice; but the question remains, are we giving God our best? Are we giving Him our tithes and offerings? Are we giving Him our prime time? Or, Do we just wait to the end of the day, when we are exhausted to give him a few moments and fall asleep on top of our Bibles?
[1] Baker, W., & Carpenter, E. E. (2003). The complete word study dictionary: Old Testament (159). Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers.
[2] Baker, W., & Carpenter, E. E. (2003). The complete word study dictionary: Old Testament (933). Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers.
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