Expert: Brenda Martin - 11/10/2008

Question
QUESTION: I would like to know more about burnt offerings. How often were each person expected to give an offering? What happened to the offerings after they were burnt? Were all the part of the animal burnt together? Was everything cleaned after each offering? Why were there special places to slaughter each animal depending on the type of offering?

ANSWER: Hi there Linda, you asked--"HOW OFTEN WERE EACH PERSON EXPECTED TO GIVE AN OFFERING?"

Occasions for burnt offerings, and their features:

(1) Regular times offered: Every morning and evening (Ex 29:38-42; Le 6:8-13; Nu 28:3-8); every Sabbath day (Nu 28:9, 10); first day of month (Nu 10:10); Passover and seven days of Festival of Unfermented Cakes (Le 23:6-8; Nu 28:16-19, 24); Day of Atonement (Le 16:3, 5, 29, 30; Nu 29:7-11); Pentecost (Le 23:16-18; Nu 28:26-31); each day of Festival of Booths.—Nu 29:12-39.

(2) Other occasions: At consecration of priesthood (Le 8:18-21); at installation of Levites (Nu 8:6, 11, 12); in connection with making covenants (Ex 24:5;); with communion offerings as well as certain guilt and sin offerings (Le 5:6, 7, 10; 16:3, 5); in performing vows (Nu 15:3, 8); in connection with purifications (Le 12:6-8; 14:2, 30, 31; 15:13-15, 30).

"WHAT HAPPENED TO THE OFFERINGS AFTER THEY WERE BURNT?"

Well for instance; when an offering was made because of the sin of a chieftain: a male goat was used; the fat was made to smoke on the altar (Le 4:22-26); the priests evidently received a portion to eat, as in other sin offerings (Le 6:24-26, 29); vessels in which meat was boiled had to be scoured (or broken, if earthenware), so that none of the “most holy thing” would be desecrated, which would happen if any of the sacrifice clung to the vessel and the vessel was later used for ordinary purposes. (Le 6:27, 28)

WAS ALL THE PART OF THE ANIMAL BURNT TOGETHER?

In all the animal sacrifices presented, portions of the animal were made to smoke upon the altar, and for this purpose a fire was maintained on the altar and was never allowed to go out. (Le 6:9-13)

Animals offered and procedure:

Bull, ram, male goat, turtledove, or young pigeon. (Le 1:3, 5, 10, 14)

If it was an animal, the offerer laid his hand on the animal’s head (acknowledging the offering as his offering, and for him, in his behalf). (Le 1:4) The animal was slaughtered, the blood was sprinkled round about upon the altar of burnt offering (Le 1:5, 11), the animal was skinned and cut up into its parts, its intestines (no offal was burned on altar) and shanks were washed, the head and other body parts were all put on altar (the officiating priest received the skin; Le 7:8). (Le 1:6-9, 12, 13)

If it was a bird, the crop and feathers were removed, and the head and body were burned on the altar. (Le 1:14-17)

Some of the offerings and sacrifices of the Law were voluntary, whereas others were compulsory. The burnt offering, for example, was voluntary. It was presented to God in its entirety, even as Jesus Christ willingly and wholly gave his life as a ransom sacrifice.
The voluntary communion sacrifice was shared. One part of it was presented to God on the altar, another portion was eaten by the priest, and still another by the offerer. —1 Corinthians 10:16-22.

"WAS EVERYTHING CLEANED AFTER EACH OFFERING?"

Priests were required to bathe, and things having to do with burnt offerings were rinsed in water. (Ex. 29:4; 30:17-21; Lev. 1:13; 2 Chron. 4:6)

"WHY WERE THERE SPECIAL PLACES TO SLAUGHTER EACH ANIMAL DEPENDING ON THE TYPE OF OFFERING?"

Haven’t read of certain places :¬) On Atonement Day, the high priest slaughtered a young bull, and in the Most Holy, he spattered some of its BLOOD seven times before the cover of the Ark, thus representatively offering the blood before God. That offering was for the sins of the high priest and “his house,” the underpriests and the Levites.

Then the high priest took two goats. One he slaughtered as a sin offering “for the people.” Some of its BLOOD too was sprinkled before the cover of the Ark in the Most Holy. Afterward, the high priest laid his hands on the head of the second goat and confessed the errors of the sons of Israel.

Then he had the goat led off into the wilderness to carry away the nation’s sins in a symbolic way.—Leviticus 16:3-16, 21, 22.

All the best
Brenda




---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: HOW OFTEN WAS EACH PERSON EXPECTED TO GIVE AN OFFERING?"

Occasions for burnt offerings, and their features:

(1) Regular times offered: Every morning and evening (Ex 29:38-42; Le 6:8-13; Nu 28:3-8); every Sabbath day (Nu 28:9, 10); first day of month (Nu 10:10); Passover and seven days of Festival of Unfermented Cakes (Le 23:6-8; Nu 28:16-19, 24); Day of Atonement (Le 16:3, 5, 29, 30; Nu 29:7-11); Pentecost (Le 23:16-18; Nu 28:26-31); each day of Festival of Booths.—Nu 29:12-39.

(2) Other occasions: At consecration of priesthood (Le 8:18-21); at installation of Levites (Nu 8:6, 11, 12); in connection with making covenants (Ex 24:5;); with communion offerings as well as certain guilt and sin offerings (Le 5:6, 7, 10; 16:3, 5); in performing vows (Nu 15:3, 8); in connection with purifications (Le 12:6-8; 14:2, 30, 31; 15:13-15, 30).

IF EACH PERSON WAS TO GIVE AN OFFERING EVERY MORNING AND EVENING NOT TO MENTION ALL OF THE OTHER OCCATIONS HOW DID THEY MANAGE TO GET ANYTHING ELSE DONE. I CAN'T IMAGINE A GROUP OF HUNDREDS BEING ABLE TO HAVE TIME FOR EACH PERSON TO DO A OFFERING ONCE A DAY MUCH LESS TWICE.

Answer
In patriarchal times the family head served as priest for his family, the duty passing to the firstborn son in the event of the father’s death. Thus, in very early times we find Noah representing his family in a priestly capacity. (Ge 8:20, 21)

Job, a non-Israelite but likely a distant relative of Abraham, regularly offered sacrifices to God in behalf of his children, saying: “Maybe my sons have sinned and have cursed God in their heart.” (Job 1:4, 5; see also 42:8.)

the family heads acted as priests among the offspring of Jacob (Israel) until the Levitical priesthood was established by God. Hence, when God led the people to Mount Sinai he commanded:(Ex 19:22)

When the Israelites were in slavery in Egypt, God sanctified to himself every firstborn son of Israel at the time,these firstborn ones accordingly to be used exclusively in special service to him.

After their release God then appointed Aaron and his house to the priesthood “to time indefinite,” separating them from the family of the Kohathites, one of the three main divisions of the tribe of Levi. (Ex 6:16; 28:43) First, however, Moses the Levite, as mediator of the Law covenant, represented God in the sanctification of Aaron and his sons and the filling of their hands with power to serve as priests, the procedure being described at Exodus chapter 29 and Leviticus chapter 8. Their installation apparently occupied the seven-day period of Nisan 1-7, 1512 B.C.E.


The account in Exodus 29 is the Israelites in the wilderness after God delivered them from Egypt, Moses has been on Mt Sinai to receive the 10 commandments & now a covenant is made between God & Israel.—

God invites the nation to enter into covenant relationship with him & they voluntarily agree, the Ten Commandments and other laws are given through Moses setting out God’s requirements for Israel, the Law covenant is made over blood of sacrificial animals &  the people say, “All that Jehovah has spoken we are willing to do and be obedient”

Moses as priest would see to the sacrifices.
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A male lamb was offered up upon God’s altar at Jerusalem each morning and evening.—Ge 22:13; Ex 29:38-42. By the priest.

The priest represented the people before God, offering sacrifices as well as interceding and pleading for the people. Hebrews 5:1

He lived at the temple, so he didn’t do anything else but priestly duties, hence where he “got the time”

For instance DAY OF ATONEMENT --In the time of Jesus, the high priest took up his temporary abode seven days beforehand in his chambers in Herod’s temple. There, with the other priests serving in their course at the temple, he was to live until the feast was over. Throughout this week he regularly participated in the offering of sacrifices by sprinkling the blood, burning the incense, lighting the lamp and other such activities in order that by this practice he might not make a single mistake in the offering of the sacrifices on the day of atonement, since this would make them unacceptable.

All night (which was the beginning of Tizri 10) he was kept awake by the reading of the Scriptures and at midnight preparations were begun for the activities of the day. By this time all the priests who expected to participate had bathed in the well-appointed baths provided for their use and were awaiting the sudden and unexpected appearance of the superintending priest. He came, knocked, and they opened the door to him, and only those priests who had washed were acceptable for service. Lots were cast in order to select those who would perform the various duties in the service. The preliminaries of cleaning the altar and laying the wood for the fires having been completed by the first streak of daylight, the lamb for the daily morning sacrifice was brought in and as the last of the great gates of the temple slowly swung open three blasts on the silver trumpets announced to the city that the morning sacrifice was about to be offered.

All the best
Brenda