The Role of the Priest in Sacrifice Parts 1-2

• Review

• Can you name the reasons for the 5 offerings that we have studied?

• The Burnt Offering (Ascent offering) was for what purpose?

• The Cereal Offering (Meal offering) was for what purpose?

• The Peace Offering (Fellowship offering) was for what purpose?

• The Purification Offering (Sin offering) was for what purpose?

• The Restoration Offering (Guilt offering) was for what purpose?

• What is the essential aspect of these sacrifices?

2The Priests Responsibility for Conducting Sacrifice

• This next section is known as the Torat. (Instructions to the priests)
• The priest and the Burnt Offering: Constantly atonement.
• The Burnt Offering fire should never go out. 6:8-13
  • This point is actually made 3 different times. (9, 12-13)

  • Why was it so important that the fire remain lit?

  • Calvin: The first burnt offerings were lit by fire from heaven. (Lev.9:24; 2 Chron.7:1) The priests had to keep the fire lit so that the offerings would be burnt with “heavenly fire.”
  • Keil: “The burnt offering was the divinely appointed symbol and visible sign of the uninterrupted worship of Jehovah.”
  • Gispen: It represented continual consecration of the people to God. The perpetual fire reminded the people of their constant need for atonement.
  • The continual fire can easily illustrate the continual hunger for the presence of God in the very lives of worship of His people.
  • O thou who camest from above
  • The pure celestial fire to impart
  • Kindle a flame of sacred love
  • On the mean altar of my heart.
  • There let it for Thy glory burn
  • With inextinguishable blaze
  • And trembling to its source return
  • In humble prayer and fervent praise.

3-Charles Wesley

• The burnt offering ash had to be cleaned out every morning. 6:10-11
  • The priest had to wear the correct clothes to clean the altar.
  • When he carried the ash away, he had to wear different clothes. He was going away from the holy place and had to wear common clothes.
  • The priest and the “Most Holy Sacrifices” (Cereal, Purification, and Reparation Offerings): Constantly dedication.
  • The Cereal, Purification, and Reparation offering are all termed “most holy.” (6:17-18, 25, 29, 7:1, 6)
  • This means that they are sacrifices that only the priest must eat.
  • This means that they must be eaten in a holy place by the priest. (The Temple court)
  • The people are reminded that these offerings are most holy – don’t touch!
  • If even the blood goes astray in the performing of the purification sacrifice, the blood must be immediately washed off.
• If the blood could not be washed off; that thing must be completely destroyed. 6:28
  • Even the priests are reminded of the need for personal dedication.
• The priest mustn’t eat his own Cereal Offering – it had to be completely burned. 6:23
• The priest mustn’t eat his own Purification offering – it had to be completely burned. 6:30
  • Forgiveness was an on-going process for the people.
  • Forgiveness was an on-going process for the priests.
  • "Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself."
  • (Hebrews 7:27, NIV)

4The New Testament Priest and the “Better Covenant”

• To minister God’s message of forgiveness to the world requires a consistent “fire.”
• The Burnt Offering is an example to those who minister to others of the need for spiritual awareness in their personal lives.
• Access to God for those searching for forgiveness must always be available through .
• "“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."
• (Matthew 5:14-16, NIV)
• "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light."
• (1 Peter 2:9, NIV)
• The message that God gives to the world through His ministers is that…Forgiveness of sin is complete and restoration is guaranteed when it comes to God.
• In the purification offering, the priest had the duty of the penitent that the Lord has forgiven them of their sin.
• When the priest took the sacrifice to consume it; the penitent knew that the ritual was complete and he was indeed forgiven.
• The worshipper went home with a clear conscience and joyful heart.
• God reminded the priest that in the act of sacrifice; forgiveness is absolute because the had been applied.
• The blood from the purification offering even made everything it touched holy. If something was touched with the blood, it had to be “kept apart” by staying in the holy place.
• Even if the utensils were unable to be cleaned; they had to be destroyed because they were holy and could not leave the tent.
• Everything that the blood touched was transformed – it was made into something new in God’s sight.
• To live under the guilt of sin is not a sign of the pious; it is a sign of those in .
• "Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit."
• (Psalm 32:1-2, NIV)
• The message of God’s forgiveness is one that includes the understanding that every person is essential to the community.
• In the Meal Offering, each worshipper expressed his joy over received forgiveness. This offering proclaimed that the offering for sin was accepted and that the was accepted by God.
• This offering was for being accepted by a holy God.
• Every person has a part to play in the Body of Christ because Christ appoints them this value.
• As Christ’s ministers, we must convince each other that God is pleased to use them and their talents for His great service.
• "But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other."
• (1 Corinthians 12:24-25, NIV)
• The message of God’s forgiveness is one that God’s messengers must communicate in life-change.
• In the Reparation Offering, there was a visible demonstration of the heart that things have .
• This is usually seen by acts of contrition toward those .
• The message of God’s forgiveness must include the notion of on-going peace with God.
• In the Peace Offering, there is a visible reminder that fellowship was a because of forgiveness.
• This offering communicated celebration best because it reached up to God and then out to others.
• The Lord’s Supper is an essential aspect to church life. It is the visible reminder that we are at with God and at with one another.

• In what way does the detail of the Old Testament Sacrificial Law strike you in comparison for how we approach worship today?

• The same God is worshipped.

• What does Hebrews 10:19-25 have to do with a later verse of that same book; Hebrews 12:28-29?

• "Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.”
• (Hebrews 12:28-29, NIV)