Israel was not alone in using sacrifices to worship. All the nations in the ancient world presented sacrifices and offerings to their gods. It seems that there is within all people an innate sense that we owe something to some higher power. The language of sacrifices was therefore a language that the Israelites spoke before they were instructed by God. What God did was to utilise this familiar language to say something different and unique. Whenever the Bible uses similar language and symbols to that of Israel’s neighbours it is always to highlight a crucial difference. That difference is highlighted here in Leviticus 6-7. In the ancient world, human beings were seen as lowly servants of the gods. Sacrifices were seen as ‘food’ for the gods. However, in the Levitical sacrifices, it is not God who is being fed; he is the one doing the feeding. When the worshipper ate the offering, or when the priests ate the offering (representing the people), they were declaring the privilege we have as God’s people to be recipients of God’s provision. It is not we who provide for God (as ancient people saw it), but God who provides for us. Jesus expressed this when he, somewhat bizarrely, referred to his flesh as “real food” and his blood as “real drink” (John 6:55). Jesus was drawing attention to the fact that ultimately, it is not we who sacrifice for God, but God who sacrificed for us. That’s a big difference and it is a very counter-intuitive truth, which is why so many Christians still feel that they need to do something to win God’s favour. There is no such need!
Receive God’s love and favour and thank him for what he has done for you in Christ.
Read Leviticus 7
