Good Morning.

He shall kill it on the north side of the altar before the Lord; and the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall sprinkle its blood all around on the altar. And he shall cut it into its pieces, with its head and its fat; and the priest shall lay them in order on the wood that is on the fire upon the altar. (Leviticus 1:11-12)

As I have mentioned before, most of the offerings described in the Bible were voluntary. The offerings being addressed here, whether from a man’s flock or herd, were considered voluntary and regarded as an effort to draw closer to God. The Hebrew word translated as “offering” is קרבן korban, which is understood to be that which is “brought near” to God. That is not to say the offering was “brought near” but the one who presented the offering was allowed to draw closer to a holy God.

It is noteworthy that the name YHVH (Yahweh) is used exclusively in connection to sacrifices. That is interesting because Yahweh is God’s Sacred Name unlike other titles such as Elohim for instance. Judaism understands YHVH to speak of God’s merciful and gracious attributes whereas titles like Elohim denote power, strength and judgment. The point is, when it came to what man needed to do in order to approach God, He presented Himself as a merciful and forgiving God, and not judgmental. In other words, the sacrifices were not for God’s benefit — they were for the benefit of fallen man who desired to approach the Holy One.

God didn’t need their cattle, flocks or fowl; the Bible says He owns the cattle on a thousand hills. Yet, God wanted to dwell among His people and, so, He made provision so that those who wished to approach Him could do so. In return, He would dwell among them and invite them to come nearer still. In fact, the spelling of the Hebrew word korban actually hints at the “calling of a son” – קרא בן karah ben. Thus we conclude that this was His goal from the beginning — to have many sons and daughters. Those who, of their own volition, drew near to Him would be considered as more than just servants — they would be His children.

Where you and I are concerned, we have been permitted to be regarded as such — we have been allowed to approach Him — because He, not we, presented a sacrifice. Because of the voluntary sacrifice of His Son, we who had been separated from Him can now draw near and be called the “children of God.”

Blessings and Shalom,  

Bill 

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