Lev. 1: The Burnt Offering

All right, so this is how life is going to be for the Israelites beginning in Leviticus 1. God tells Moses the stipulations for the burnt offering which will take place each year. The person bringing the offering has a role, and the priests have a role as well. There are also three different types of burnt offerings that are acceptable to God: From the herd, from the flock, and a bird.

The instructions here are as follows:

From the Herd

Stipulations for the sacrificed animal (young bull)

• Male without defect
• Presented at the Tent of Meeting in order to ensure that is acceptable to God
  

Role of the sacrificer

• Lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering (This in effect transfers the sin from the person to the animal)
  
• Slaughter the animal
• Skin the burnt offering and cut it into pieces
• Wash the inner parts and the legs with water
  

Role of the sons of Aaron (The Priests)

• Sprinkle the blood on all sides of the altar at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting
• Start the fire on the altar
• Arrange the pieces of the sacrifice
• Burn the sacrifice on the altar

From the Flock

Stipulations for the sacrificed animal (sheep or goat)

• Male without defect

Role of the sacrificer

• Slaughter the animal at the north side of the altar (Was this so things were orderly, or was there a significance to this placement?)
  
• Cut it into pieces
• Wash the inner parts and the legs with water
  

Role of the sons of Aaron (The Priests)

• Sprinkle the blood on all sides of the altar at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting
• Start the fire on the altar
• Arrange the pieces of the sacrifice
• Burn the sacrifice on the altar

From the Birds

Stipulations for the sacrificed animal (dove or young pigeon)

• That its a dove or a young pigeon, apparently
  

Role of the sacrificer

• None given here...presumably just to bring the offering to the altar

Role of the sons of Aaron (The Priests)

• Wring off the neck (Like what Mental did to Petey)
  
• Burn the sacrifice on the altar
• Drain the blood on the side of the altar
• Remove the crop and its contents, and toss 'em to the east of the altar (toward the entrance) where the ashes of previously burnt sacrifices are. The crop was where food was stored before it gets to the stomach. This was probably removed because it was not consecrated food. My guess.
  
• Tear it open by the wings, but not sever it completely. This is the same as what happened in Gen. 15:10, when Abraham didn't cut the birds in half as he sought confirmation of God's covenant with him.
  

After every one of these three examples of burnt offerings are described, this phrase follows: "It is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the LORD." As I've stated before, I don't imagine the stench of burning flesh is what is pleasing to God. What pleases Him is the heart of the person offering the sacrifice in order to once again become clean in God's sight. The person is "square with the house" again, their sins paid for by this sacrifice.

People had to do this constantly. Millions of people. Gross, basically.

Another thing is that sin is death, as described by God in Gen. 2:17. God was unable to identify with a person, unless the sin was completely out of his life. This was the purpose of the sacrifice. But it had to be done year after year, and each individual had to bring their own sacrifice. There was no "Once for all," by the priests, the animal, or the sacrificer. In a way, this was set up to fail. The intent was that this outward action of bringing an animal from one's own herd or flock would go hand in hand with an inner movement to regain fellowship with God on a personal level. I believe that the burnt offering was never really symbolically "complete," due to the fact that ashes were left over. There were still remnants of what was with the sin.

Burnt offerings were also made by Noah (Gen. 8:20), Abraham (Gen. 22:13), and Jethro (Gen. 18:12).

In a time when human sacrifices were the norm in some cultures, the Israelites practiced ritual animal sacrifice. So why not human sacrifice for Israel as well? Would the shedding of human blood be a little more motivation to keep the testimony? If you knew you had to give up a son every year? Probably not. God has spent time differentiating man from animal all through the Bible so far, with "no suitable helper" being found, with Adam naming the animals, with having dominion over the earth, with animals having to be aboard the ark built by man...etc. But still, the people knew they had to account for one from their herd or flock to be slaughtered each year. They had to make room for this sacrifice.