PRIESTHOOD

The burnt offering was the first offering mentioned in Leviticus. It was a consecration offering, whereas the whole offering was brought to the altar by the sinner making the offering. The sinner, not the priest, was to lay hands on the animal (Lev 1:4) and kill it, just as our sinful lives put Jesus Christ to death (Acts 2:23; Jas 5:6). The sinner killing the offering must strip the skin (flay) and cut the animal in pieces (Lev 1:6), and afterward, give it to the priests (Lev 1:8). This foreshadows the utter disfigurement Jesus suffered at the hands of sinful men, being beaten mercilessly and scourged relentlessly until He was unrecognizable as a human (Isa 52:14).

The priests then threw the blood of the sacrificed animal on the sides of the bronze altar, and having arranged the wood on the fire of the altar (Lev 1:7), they placed the cut pieces upon the fire (Lev 1:8). Then, after washing the entrails and legs of the sacrifice in water, those portions were placed on the fire of the altar as well, so that the whole sacrifice was consumed by the flames (Lev 1:9).

There are just too many prophetic types and foreshadows to cover today in a single devotional. Nevertheless, let us consider that we who are saved by Christ are called a royal priesthood (1 Pet 2:9). Our lives and testimonies before sinners is that we have received, and handle, the blood of Christ’s sacrifice, wherein there is forgiveness of sins (Heb 9:22). We also, by our actions, arrange the wood upon the fire— that is, we live out the gospel truth of the cross of Jesus Christ by word and deed (Col 3:17). In Christ, therefore, we are eternal and glorious blood handlers and wood arrangers. Hallelujah! What a Savior!

To priestly conduct we are saved,
Foreshadowed long ago;
By gospel truth we do behave,
And Christ, to others, show.