The Offerings that God spoke to Moses about were a means of worship as well as sacrifice for personal forgiveness and restoration with God. Many of the Offerings were associated with the Burnt Offering Altar.
The priests sacrificed various offerings to God, including for their own sins as well as for the sins of the people (both acknowledged and unknown sins). Some of the offerings were regular and frequent; others were on an "as needed" provision. The major offerings are:
Burnt Offering
(takes you to part of the Burnt Offering Altar page for these details)
Meal Offering
Sin Offering
Trespass Offering
Peace Offering
Drink Offering
The Meal Offering (Leviticus 2:1-16; 6:14-23)
The Meal Offering was made from fine flour mingled with oil, plus salt and frankincense.
The fine flour speaks of the humanity of Jesus; the oil speaks of the Holy Spirit of God; the salt speaks of the purity of the offering; the frankincense speaks of the fragrance of the offering.
The Meal Offering is a type of the Lord Jesus as a genuine man, the son of man, filled with the Holy Spirit (Luke 4:1).
There are two ingredients that are forbidden in the Meal Offering: leaven (to elevate) and honey (to sweeten).
Leaven is a small bacteria that grows readily. It signifies Sin.
However, Peter said of Jesus " He did no sin, neither was any deceit found in His mouth" (I Peter 2:22)
Honey takes away the real taste of something.
However, the words Jesus spoke were not sweetened to please the taste of those who heard Him (John 6:60). Jesus is called the Faithful Witness (Revelation 1:5). Jesus said "He whom God has sent speaks the words of God" (John 3:34) and "as My Father taught Me, I speak these things" (John 8:28).
Therefore the Meal Offering is a type of the Lord Jesus Christ in His humanity.
The Meal Offering could be baked in an oven, or fried in a frying-pan. If baked in a pan, the fine flour was not only mingled with oil, but the offering was then broken into three pieces and oil poured upon it. Both within and upon the offering there was oil. This points us to the Lord Jesus, who was not only filled with the Holy Spirit (Luke 4:1) but also tempted three times by the Devil in the wilderness (Luke 4:3,7,9); He could then declare "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me" (Luke 4:18) for the carrying out of His earthly ministry of healing people and teaching the word of God and bringing salvation from sin and oppression.
Whether the Meal Offering was baked or fried, a portion of it was burnt upon the Burnt Offering Altar for God's satisfaction (Lev.2:9), while the rest was food for the priests (Lev.2:10).
The Meal Offering of the first-fruits (Lev.2:14-16) clearly bespeaks Christ in His death, burial and resurrection:
"bruised grain, parched with fire" - His death (Isaiah 53:5 Psalm 22:15)
"lay frankincense on it" - His burial (Luke 23:56-24:1)
"first-fruits" - the Feast of First Fruits was on the third day after the Passover and speaks of Christ's resurrection (Lev.23:11).
Therefore the Meal Offering is a type of the Lord Jesus Christ in His humanity, full of the Holy Spirit, passing through death, burial and resurrection both for God's satisfaction and to be "the bread of God who gives life to the world" (John 6:33).
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The Sin Offering (Leviticus 4:1-35; 6:24-30)
There is a degree of overlap between the Sin Offering and the Trespass Offering. Some christian teachers have distinguished that 'Sin' is the nature and tendency towards sinful deeds (which nature we all possess), whereas 'Trespass' is a specific instance of Sin: a sin, a wrongdoing, a trespass, a transgression. "All have sinned" (Romans 3:23), ie trespassed, because "all are under sin" (Galatians 3:22), the sinful nature (Romans 7:8,17,20).
The Sin Offering is indicated for our general sinful condition before God (Lev.5:13) and also for unintentional sins (Lev.4:1,27), especially by leaders or by the people as a whole (Lev.4:3,13,22), but also for individuals among God's people (Lev.4:27).
The good news of the Sin Offering is that Christ has fulfilled the sin offering, once for all:
Based on faith in what Christ has done for us by His death on the cross, we can be released from slavery to our sinful nature and its tendencies. Jesus said "Everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin... If the Son shall set you free, you shall be free indeed" (John 8:34,36).
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The Trespass Offering (Leviticus 5:1-17; 7:1-10)
The Trespass Offering was for specific known sins, trespasses where the person knew what they had done, because of their conscience, in relation to their experience versus what they knew God required.
As indicated previously, the Trespass Offering and the Sin Offering have some degree of overlap, where 'Sin' might be considered to be our sinful nature and 'Trespass' as a sinful deed, a wrongdoing, a trespass.
This is illustrated by the following passage from John's first letter. Note first the sinful nature is mentioned, then the specific sinful deeds, sins:
'Propitiation' means an 'anger-quenching, penalty-paying offering to God'.
This then is the good news of the Trespass Offering:
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The Peace Offering (Leviticus 3:1-17; 7:11-36)
The Peace Offering is sometimes translated Fellowship Offering. It came about voluntarily, as a desire was expressed to thank God and to seek for fellowship (communion) with God.
The blood of the Peace Offering was sprinkled at the Burnt Offering Altar, the fat and inward parts were removed and the remainder roasted. The fat and inward parts were burned; this was for God's satisfaction, as a sweet aroma. Because God had stated clearly what pleased Him, then a person who offered such a Peace Offering was truly doing what pleased God: that person was having fellowship (communing) with God.
It was also the case that the flesh of the offering was for the priest and the offerer to consume, to have a meal together, with some unleavened cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, similar to the Meal Offering.
The Peace Offering was an indication of a good, healthy, loving relationship between the offerer and God and between the offerer and the priests. There was peace with God and there was peace with fellow citizens.
Paul writes: "Christ Himself is our peace" (Ephesians 2:14), because "we who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ" (Ephesians 2:13). "Having been justified by faith" (by the sprinkling of the blood at the Burnt Offering Altar) "we have peace with God" (Romans 5:1). Our fellowship with God is restored through faith in the death and shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, and sustained through the shared nourishment His life affords us as our portion to feed on.
The Christ who "is our peace" in Ephesians 2:14 is also the Christ "who has made both one ", where 'both' refers to the Jews and the Gentiles. To those who believe in Jesus Christ, His death is the place for us to be one. It is the only place that oneness will work. Everywhere else there is no peace, because there are conflicts about how to do everything! Only as we begin to know "the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death" (Philippians 3:10) can we "be of the same mind in the Lord" (Philippians 4:2; 2:5-8). Otherwise we will be just like Euodias and Syntyche, fighting and squabbling, with no peace. It is ironic that 'Euodias' means 'sweet aroma', however, that would be just a name without the true experience of Christ as the Peace Offering. "Christ Himself is our peace" (Ephesians 2:14).
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The Drink Offering (Genesis 35:14 Exodus 29:40-41 Numbers 28:7-10,14-15,24,31)
The Drink Offering was poured out upon an existing offering. Often a blood sacrifice was accompanied by both a Meal Offering and a Drink Offering. Because the Drink Offering is 'poured out' upon the existing offering, there is a thought of 'wasting' or 'being wasted' (compare Matthew 26:8). In Genesis 35:14, Jacob pours out a drink offering to signify he is giving his life back to God, consecrating himself for the house of God, 'Beth-El'. Likewise, in Exodus 29:43-45, Aaron and his sons have just been consecrated, giving their lives for the Tabernacle service, so that God may have a dwelling place. For this to be valid, there is need, morning and evening, of daily offerings, including a lamb for a Burnt Offering, a Meal Offering and a Drink Offering. Twice daily, there is renewed consecration in the Tabernacle by the priests. This is a picture for us in our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
The apostle Paul spoke of himself being "poured out as a drink offering" on the sacrifice and priestly service of the faith of the saints in Philippi (Philippians 2:17), as he contemplated the possibility of soon having his life ended on account of the gospel.
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