God's Offertory System

This series is an active work in progress, but I thought it would be useful to compile an overview of my posts on the offertory system into one place for those who may want to follow along at their own pace or else catch up on what I've already written, if the topic interests you.

The series begins with a two-part introduction explaining why I think it's profitable to study the offertory system of the Old Covenant in light of the reality that we do not practice them in the same way today in the New Covenant. These offerings have meaning for Christians today and reveal the wisdom of God's plan from the beginning of time!

• In the first part, I take notice of the fact that not all offerings are sacrifices (that is, they didn't all require the death of an animal, and that tells us something important). Furthermore, not all sacrifices were meant to forgive sin. 
• In the second part, I introduce the key realization from my personal study that sparked my own interest in the offertory system, which is the fact that the New Covenant is actually full of offerings and sacrifices, and it's embedded more than we may realize into the New Testament writings.

In the next two articles, I give an outline of the structure of the offertory system, which is primarily given in Leviticus 1-7 where 5 different types of offerings are described. These 5 can be split into two categories:

• Category 1: Two of the five offering types are sacrifices made for the forgiveness of sins, and even among these there are different lessons to be learned by each.
• Category 2: The remaining three offering types are offerings made to please God, and each reveals a different aspect of our worship of God.

Furthermore, each one of these offerings has its own detailed instructions that reveal their meanings with greater depth, which I hope to explore eventually. As of present, I've focused on the major theme that divides these two categories of offering, and it is one of the greatest contrasts of the entire bible: life and death. 

• The sin offerings were an incredible revelation of God's mercy, and they reveal the astonishing truth that sin must be removed from the presence of God. The death of an animal as a sin offering was NOT pleasing to God because it indeed pictured the required the death penalty of sin. This is one of the most important aspects of the work of Jesus Christ on earth. 
• However, the death of animals in the offertory system did not always picture death as the penalty for sin, but more often the willing giving of one's life. This is the type of sacrifice that brings pleasure to God, when we humbly bring every part of ourselves into willing subjection to the way of God. Equally important in the work of Christ is the life that He lived. We are called to share in both the death and the life of Jesus Christ - His death through our baptism, and His life through the life we live thereafter.

This page will be periodically updated as new articles related to the offertory system are posted.