Day 12: Leviticus 5-13

The Form of the Offering

The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out.

-        Leviticus 6:13

I have been trying to guess what these different offering God meant but the Lord has given me a broader view of offerings. First off, what is an offering? In the times of Moses, God specifically gave instructions about what and how these offerings are to be presented. I can just imagine myself bringing a dead cow in the church when I sin (LOL). But of course, since money has been invented in our generation, we have to see things monetarily. But more than that, the Lord have also specifically described the manner of offering.

1.      It must be clean

The Lord has enlisted a couple of animals that are allowed to be eaten and to be offered. As to our generation, how can money be clean? I interpreted it this way. The offering that we have to give must be ours. It must not be stolen, it must not be borrowed. It must come in plain for the Lord.

2.      It must be pure

The word “fat” and “blood” has been used in the passages for a couple of times. So how do we make our offerings pure? Simple, it is seen in our hearts, in our own intentions. We cannot give to the kingdom with an unwilling heart. We can’t give out of compromise, out of a condition for our own self. We must give for the fact that the Lord owns us, thus He owns everything we have.

3.      It must be slaughtered in front of the Lord

The people in the time of Moses could have just given their offerings dead already but why did God require it to be alive and be slaughtered in His presence? Because God knew what was gonna happen in our century. We must not hold a string towards our offerings. Sometimes people treat money as if it has life that it multiplies, it flies, and it disappears on its own. But we have to kill that perception for money. We must see it not as something we lost but we gained.

4.      It must be burned

Once the offerings are made in the Temple, the priests must burn them afterwards. Thus, when we give our offerings to the altar, we must then treat it as holy not as an expenditure.