Why Study the Levitical Offerings?
The Logic of Sacrifice • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Introduction:
When Christians open the book of Leviticus, many feel like they have stepped into a world far removed from their own.
Burnt offerings, grain offerings, peace offerings, sin offerings, guilt offerings — a system of sacrifices that seems foreign, repetitive, and difficult to understand.
But Scripture never treats these offerings as irrelevant. In fact, the New Testament assumes that believers understand them.
Hebrews 10:1 says the law was “a shadow of the good things to come.”
Shadows only make sense when you know the substance that casts them.
And the substance is Christ.
If we want to understand the cross more deeply...
If we want to appreciate the holiness of God more fully...
If we want to grasp the seriousness of sin more clearly....
Then we must understand the sacrificial system God Himself designed.
Leviticus 1-7 is not a random collection of rituals.
It is a divinely ordered revelation of God’s holiness, man’s need, and the logic behind atonement.
These offerings are the foundation upon which the cross stands.
So today, as we begin this series, I want to give three reasons why Christians must study the five major offerings.
Body:
Reason #1 — Because the Offerings Reveal the Character of God.
The first reason to study the offerings is simple:
God designed them. And everything God designs reveals something about Him.
The offerings reveal God’s holiness.
Every sacrifice begins with the assumption that God is holy and man is not.
10 As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one;
The very existence of sacrifice teaches that sin separates (Isa. 59:1-2), holiness demands atonement (Lev. 11:44-45), and God will not be approached casually (Exod. 3:5).
Holiness demands atonement.
44 For I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy. Neither shall you defile yourselves with any creeping thing that creeps on the earth. 45 For I am the Lord who brings you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.
God will not be approached casually.
5 Then He said, “Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.”
The offerings reveal God’s mercy.
God did not leave Israel guessing how to approach Him.
He provided a way — a structured, gracious, accessible system that allowed sinful people to draw near.
12 Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive.
The offerings reveal God’s desire for fellowship.
The peace offering, in particular, shows that God does not merely tolerate His people — He welcomes them to His table.
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life—2 the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us—3 that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. 4 And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.
The offerings show us who God is — holy, just, merciful, and relational.
Even though He is holy and just through His mercy and grace He still desires a relationship with us.
Reason #2 — Because the Offerings Reveal the Nature of Sin and Worship.
The second reason to study the offerings is that they teach us how God views sin and how God defines worship.
The offerings teach the seriousness of sin.
The worshiper lays his hand on the sacrifice. Blood is shed. The animal dies.
This portion is from the book “The beauty of Holiness: A Guide to Biblical Worship.”
The offerer had to kill the animal (Lev. 1:5). The death of the substitutionary sacrifice symbolically taught the terrible penalty of sin. The demand of God’s holy law was absolute and its penalty was severe. God’s gracious mercy provided a substitute, but His holy justice could not overlook the broken law. Wages were earned, and wages had to be received (Rom. 6:23). That the offerer slew the animal impressed on him the solemn reality that it was his sin that required the penalty; he was personally responsible for the death of the sacrifice.
Sin is not simply a mistake — it is a death sentence that must be carried out.
8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Our sin is still a death sentence and we are blessed that God provided a substitute for our sin — Jesus Christ.
The offerings teach gratitude and devotion.
The grain offering and peace offering were not about sin — they were about thanksgiving, generosity, and joyful fellowship with God.
14 Offer to God thanksgiving, And pay your vows to the Most High.
21 Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men! 22 Let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, And declare His works with rejoicing.
The offerings teach total surrender to God.
The burnt offering was wholly consumed. Nothing held back. It teaches that worship is not partial — It is total surrender.
8 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 9 “Command Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘This is the law of the burnt offering: The burnt offering shall be on the hearth upon the altar all night until morning, and the fire of the altar shall be kept burning on it. 10 And the priest shall put on his linen garment, and his linen trousers he shall put on his body, and take up the ashes of the burnt offering which the fire has consumed on the altar, and he shall put them beside the altar. 11 Then he shall take off his garments, put on other garments, and carry the ashes outside the camp to a clean place. 12 And the fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it; it shall not be put out. And the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order on it; and he shall burn on it the fat of the peace offerings. 13 A fire shall always be burning on the altar; it shall never go out.
The offerings teach us how God wants to be approached — with reverence, gratitude, obedience, and wholehearted devotion.
Reason #3 — Because the offerings Reveal the Work of Christ.
21 Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law. 22 But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. 23 But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. 24 Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.
This is the heart of the series.
Jesus did not die in a vacuum. He died in the context of a sacrificial system that God had been teaching for 1,500 years.
Christ is the fulfilment of every offering.
Burnt offering: Christ’s total surrender to the Father (John 8:29).
Grain Offering: Christ’s perfect, sinless life offered to God (1 Peter 3:18).
Peace Offering: Christ making fellowship possible between God and man (2 Cor. 5:18-19).
Sin Offering: Christ bearing the penalty of sin (1 Peter 2:21-24).
Guilt Offering: Christ paying the debt we could never repay (Rom 6:23).
Christ’s sacrifice is better because it is perfect and final.
11 And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, 13 from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. 14 For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.
Understanding the offerings deepens our understanding of the cross.
The more we understand the shadows, the more clearly we see the substance.
16 So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, 17 which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.
Studying the offerings is not academic — It is Christ-centered worship.
Conclusion:
Over the next several weeks, we will walk through each offering:
The Burnt Offering — Total surrender to God.
The Grain Offering — Gratitude and devotion to God.
The Peace Offering — Fellowship with God.
The Sin Offering — Atonement for sin.
The Guilt Offering — Restoring what was broken.
Each sermon will explore:
What the offering meant for Israel.
What it teaches us today.
How it points to Christ.
How we must respond.
This series will not only help us understand Leviticus — It will help us understand the cross, the holiness of God, and the depth of Christ’s sacrifice.
The offerings are not ancient relics.
They are windows into the heart of God and the work of Christ.
