What we have begun to describe in Leviticus the korbanot is what God calls “worship.” Abraham is going to Mount Moriah to offer a korban and says it is worship (Gen 22.5). Israel was to go three days into the wilderness to offer kornanot and “worship” the Lord (Exo 12.31). Israel will worship God with sacrifice and offering (Isa 19.21). Paul came to Jerusalem to offer korbanot and to worship (Acts 21.17-26, 24.11,17). How was a korban offered? As we have begun to see, there will be five main categories of korbanot listed in Leviticus. The Korban Olah is the burnt offering (Lev 1, 6.8-13, 8.18-21, 16.24). This can be a bull, ram or a male pigeon for the poor. This korban was consumed totally in the fire on the altar and had to be without defect. It is a voluntary act of worship and used for atonement for an unintentional sin in general. It can also be an expression of devotion, commitment and complete surrender to God.
We have just discussed what is called the Korban Mincha in Chapter 2, which is the grain (bread) offering. It is raw flour, deep mold or shallow mold, challah or wafers. There will be thirteen types of “bread offerings.” They are the Mincha Solet, Mincha Challah, Mincha Rekikin, Mincha Machvat, Mincha Marcheshet, Mincha Choteh, Mincha Chavitin, Mincha Chinnuch, Mincah Ha Omer, the Shtai Ha Lechem, Mincha Sotah, the Lechem Ha Pannim and the Mincha Nesachim.
In Exo 3.1-17 we have the Korban Shelem or peace offerings (Lev 3, 7.11-34). This can be any animal without defect from the herd or the flock, with a variety of breads. It is a voluntary act of worship with an elevated state of mind involving thanksgiving and fellowship. It was the only korban eaten by the offeror and it is associated with a covenantal meal between the Lord and the offerer. Another name for this covenantal meal is a “Lord’s Supper.”
Holiness is…
v 1…Now if this offering (zevach/feast) is a sacrifice of peace offerings (shelemim), if he is going to offer out of the herd, whether male or female, he shall offer it without defect before the Lord (calling to him for peace).
v 2…And he shall lay his hand (lean) on the head (rosh) of his offering and slay it at the doorway Then Aaron’s sons shall offer up in smoke (burned)of the tent of meeting (since he did not come to atone for sin, no “vidui” or confession is made), and Aaron’s sons, the priests, shall sprinkle (zerika) the blood around on the altar (four horns).
v 3…And from the sacrifice (zevach)) of the peace offerings (shelemim), he shall present an offering by fire to the Lord, the fat (chelev) that covers the entrails (kidneys, bowels, and a type of the spirit, heart, inner thoughts and desires) and all the fat that is on the entrails (attached to the stomach and over the intestines);
v 4…and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, which is on the loins, and the lobe (attaching the liver to the kidneys) of the liver (seen as the seat of understanding and advice-Prov 23.7), which he shall remove with the kidneys.
v 5…Then Aaron’s sons shall offer up in smoke (burned) on the altar on the burnt offering, which is on the wood that is on the fire; it is an offering by fire of a soothing aroma (God is pleased with their faith and obedience) to the Lord.
v 6…But if his offering for a sacrifice (zecach/feast) of peace offerings (shelemim) to the Lord is from the flock, he shall offer it, male or female, without defect (“tamim” or blemish).
v 7…If he is going to offer a lamb for his offering, then he shall offer it before the Lord.
v 8…And he shall lay his hand (semicha) of the head of his offering (designating that the lamb came from the offerer), and slay it before the tent of meeting; and Aaron’s sons shall sprinkle (zerika) its blood around the altar.
v 9…And from the sacrifice of peace offerings he shall bring as an offering by fire to the Lord its fat tail (certain breeds had this), the entire fat tail which he shall remove close to the backbone, and the fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails (fat can be symbolic of pride, prosperity and “folly”; a block rendering the mind dull, oblivious to the truth-Psa 17.10, 119.70);
v 10…and the two kidneys (v 3 note) with the fat that is on them, which is on the loins, and the lobe of the liver which he shall remove with the kidneys.
v 11…Then the priest shall offer it up in smoke on the altar (burned), as food (Hebrew “lechem” or bread/flesh), an offering (korban) by fire to the Lord.
v 12…Moreover, if his offering is a goat, then he shall offer it before the Lord (the treatment is like the lamb, and birds are not offered as peace offerings because they were not sufficient to be a sacrificial meal);
v 13…and he shall lay his hand on its head and slay it before the tent of meeting; and the sons of Aaron shall sprinkle its blood around the altar (on the four horns).
v 14…And from it he shall present his offering as an offering by fire to the Lord, the fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails,
v 15…and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, which is on the loins, and the lobe of the liver which he shall remove with the kidneys.
v 16…And the priest shall offer them (fat, kidneys) up in smoke on the altar as food (lechem, or bread/flesh), an offering by fire for a soothing aroma (God is pleased with their faith and obedience); all fat is the Lord’s (even if the Torah does not specifically say so in other offerings).
v 17…It is a perpetual (olam) statute throughout your generations; you shall not eat any fat or blood (of the korbanot).”
Lev 4.1-35 tells us about the laws of the Sin offering, or the “Korban Chata’at.” The animal sacrificed varied according to the rank of the offender, and there are provisions to be made for simpler offerings to be made by the poor. These are sins against God and to show sorrow for having erred. The classification of the persons were the anointed priest, the whole congregation, the prince and the common people. The rituals will vary in regards to the animals sacrificed, the sprinkling of the blood, the course done for the flesh according to the person presenting them. These rituals also involved confession and teshuvah.
Holiness is…
v 1…Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
v 2…”Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘If a person (Hebrew “nefesh/ person”) sins (Hebrew “chata”) unintentionally (through error, mistake) in any of these things which the Lord has commanded not to be done, and commits any of them;
v 3…if the anointed priest (high priest) sins so as to bring guilt on the people (in his official position; he was the main teacher, so any error committed by him would bring guilt on the people), then let him offer to the Lord a bull (the largest of all sacrificial animals-Hos 14.2) without defect as a sin offering (korban chata’at) for the sin he has committed (remember, all these offerings allude to Yeshua-2 Cor 5.21, Psa 40.6-8, Rom 8.3, Eph 2.14, Isa 53.10-11 for example).
v 4…And he shall bring the bull to the doorway of the tent of meeting before the Lord, and he shall lay his hand on the head of the bull, and slay the bull before the Lord.
v 5…Then the anointed priest is to take some of the blood of the bull and bring it to the tent of meeting,
v 6…and the priest shall dip his finger (next to the thumb on his right hand) in the blood, and sprinkle (zerika) some of the blood seven times (completion; like wielding a whip) before the Lord (calling to him for pardon), in front of the veil (before the holy of holies) of the sanctuary.
v 7…The priest shall also put some of the blood on the horns (they pointed upwards, and speaks of the power of God from heaven) of the altar of fragrant incense (this alludes to the fact that Yeshua’s intercession is based on the power of his blood and his death was for God’s glory first, the highest point) which is before the Lord in the tent of meeting, and all the blood of the bull he shall pour out (life is in the blood and it is poured out) at the base of the altar of burnt offering (the west bottom of the altar closest to the holy of holies; the lowest point for our sins second).
v 8…And he shall remove from it all the fat (chelev) of the bull of the sin offering; the fat that covers the entrails (alludes to the inner thoughts and desires), and all the fat which is on the entrails ;
v 9…and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, which is on the loins, and the lobe of the liver (attaching the liver to the kidneys), which he shall remove with the kidneys;
v 10…just as it is removed from the ox of the sacrifice of the peace offerings, and the priest is to offer them up in smoke on the altar of burnt offering.
v 11…But the hide of the bull (not taken off) and all its flesh with its head and its legs and its entrails and its refuse (denotes the complete suffering or Yeshua on the cross),
v 12…that is, all the rest of the bull, he is tom bring out to a clean place (Heb 3.11; the place of the skull-John 19.17) outside the camp where the ashes are poured out (of the burnt offerings), and burn it on wood with fire (not on the altar of burnt offering so that one would not think he is purchasing forgiveness from God), where the ashes are poured out it shall be burned.
v 13…Now if the whole congregation of Israel commits error (through bad teaching of the elders, judges or priests, and the matter escapes the notice of the assembly (“”kahal”; eyes of the assembly, its teachers), and they commit any of the things which the Lord has commanded not to be done, and they become guilty (ignorance is no excuse),
v 14…when the sin which they have committed becomes known, then the assembly shall offer a bull of the herd for a sin offering, and bring it before the tent of meeting.
v 15…Then the elders of the congregation (probably of the twelve tribes) shall lay their hands on the head of the bull before the Lord, and the bull shall be slain before the Lord (calling for his pardon).
v 16…Then the anointed priest (high priest) is to bring some of the blood of the bull to the tent of meeting;
v 17…and the priest shall dip bis finger (next to the thumb of the right hand), and sprinkle it seven times (completion; like wielding a whip) before the Lord, in front of the veil (to the holy of holies).
v 18…And he shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar which is before the Lord in the tent of meeting (see v 7 notes; the highest point; Yeshua’s death was for God’s glory first); and all the blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar (the base is the lowest point; Yeshua’s death was for our sin second) of burnt offering which isss at the doorway of the tent of meeting.
v 19…And he shall remove all its fat from it and offer it up in smoke on the altar.
v 20…He shall also do with the bull just as he did with the bull of the sin offering; thus he shall do with it. So the priest shall make atonement (restore a covering) for them, and they shall be forgiven (based on confession and teshuvah; the korbanot were not a waste of time because God instituted them. He said that those who came and gave a korban for sin would be forgiven of their sin, but the korbanot could not deal with the sin nature, Yeshua’s death did; see the teaching called, “The Dual Nature of the Torah” on this site).
v 21…Then he is to bring out the bull to a place outside the camp and burn it as he burned the first bull; it is the sin offering for the assembly (kahal).
v 22…When a leader (nasi or prince) sins and unintentionally does any one of all the things which the Lord God (Yehovah Eloshaiv) had commanded not to be done, and he becomes guilty,
v 23…if his sin which he has committed is made known to him, he shall bring for his offering a goat (as the sinner descends in status, his offering decreases in cost), a male without defect.
v 24…And he shall lay his hand on the head (rosh) of the male goat, and slay it in the place where they slay the burnt offering (on the north side of the altar-Lev 1.11) before the Lord (seeking his pardon); it is a sin offering (Yeshua was slain north of the altar).
v 25…Then the priest is to take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger (next to the thumb on the right hand), and put it on the horns of the altar (at the highest point of the altar of burnt offering, not the altar of incense like with the high priest; the highest point; Yeshua’s death was for God’s glory first); and the rest of the blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar (the lowest point; Yeshua’s death was for our sins second-Rev 6.9) of burnt offering.
v 26…And all its fat he shall offer up in smoke on the altar as the fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings (Lev 3.3). Thus the priest shall make atonement (restore a covering) for him in regards to his sin, and he shall be forgiven (see v 20 notes).
v 27…Now if anyone of the common people (am ha eretz or people of the land) sins unintentionally in doing any of the things which the Lord has commanded not to be done, and becomes guilty,
v 28…if his sin, which he has committed is made known to him, then he shall bring for his offering a goat, a female (speaks of submissiveness) without defect, for his sin which he has committed.
v 29…And he shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering (attesting to the fact that this goat is coming from him), and slay the sin offering at the place of the burnt offering (north of the altar).
v 30…And the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger (next to the thumb on the right hand) and put it on the horns of the altar (at the highest point; Yeshua’s death was for the glory of God first) of burnt offering; and all the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar (the lowest point; Yeshua’s death was for our sin second).
v 31…Then he shall remove all the fat, just as the fat was removed from the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall offer it up in smoke on the altar (burned) for a soothing aroma to the Lord. Thus the priest shall make an atonement (restore a covering) for him, and he shall be forgiven (based on confession and teshuvah-see v 20 notes).
v 32…But if he brings a lamb as his offering for a sin offering, he shall bring it, a female (a female speaks of the submissiveness of Yeshua to God’s will) without defect.
v 33…And he shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering (denoting that the lamb is coming from him), and slay it for a sin offering in the place where they slay the burnt offering (north of the altar).
v 34…And the priest is to take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger (next to the thumb of the right band) and put it on the borns of the altar of burnt offering (the highest point there; Yeshua’s death waas for God’s glory first), and all the rest of the blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar (the lowest point there; Yeshua’s death was for our sin second).
v 35…Then he shall remove all its fat, just as the fat of the lamb is removed from the sacrifice (mizevach) of the peace offerings (shelemim), and the priest shall offer them up in smoke on the altar, on the offerings by fire to the Lord. Thus the priest shall make atonement (restore a covering) for him in regard to his sin which he has committed, and he shall be forgiven (based on confession and teshuvah-see v 20 notes).
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