I’ve been leading an
early Tuesday morning theology reading group for several months now. We’ve been
thinking through L. Michael Morales’ excellent Who Shall Ascend the Mountain of the Lord? In this post I’d like to summarize his teaching on the offering of
Leviticus 1, then take that idea further for application to our experience as
worshipers and disciples of Christ here and into eternity’s fulfillment of God’s
ultimate purpose for our lives.
The Whole
Burnt Offering Is An Ascension Offering (Leviticus 1:3-17)
·
As
we’ve been reading Morales, he has repeatedly told us that the most
foundational offering of the Old Testament worship system is not, as it is
translated in our English texts, a “whole burnt offering.” It’s true that the
offering is totally consumed on the altar, but a pile of ash is not the final state of the offering. The rising smoke
is the goal of the offering.
·
All three sections describing this offering end with the
same refrain: “…a burnt
offering, an offering by fire of a soothing aroma to the Lord” (1:9,13,17).
·
In
this offering, the worshiper would select the animal, bring it to the Tabernacle,
press his hands on it (identifying with it), kill it, dismember it, and give
the pieces to the priest, who would burn it all on the altar. Since the
sacrifice represents the worshiper, it pictures the complete dedication of the worshiper
to God. The animal (a representative
substitute for the worshiper) is transformed from flesh into a different state
which is imitative of God’s symbolic presence (the cloud): the worshiper is
able to rise up to God through this offering.
The Imagery
Behind the Burnt Offering
·
The
Hebrew word for “burnt offering” is העֹלָ, from the verb העָלָ (“ascend”). In fact, the same word
translated “burnt offering” can even be translated “going up” steps (Ezekiel 40:26). The emphasis
of the word is not on the burning, but on climbing
up to the altar to put the sacrifice on it
and the rising up of the smoke
heavenward.
·
In 1 Kings 10:5, the
queen of Sheba admires Solomon’s kingly court, his wisdom, but also a curious phrase translated several different ways:
o
“…his burnt
offerings that he offered at the house of the Lord” (English Standard
Version, Holman Christian Standard Bible).
o
“…his ascent
by which he went up unto the house of the Lord” (King James
Version).
o
Eugene
Peterson (b. 1932), in his paraphrase of the Bible, brings all the ideas behind
this word together: “…the elaborate worship extravagant with
Whole-Burnt-Offerings at the steps leading up to The Temple of God” (the Message).
o
“…his stairway
by which he went up to the house of the Lord” (New American
Standard Bible).
o
“…the burnt
offerings he made at the temple of the Lord” (New International
Version).
o
“She saw the steps
by which he went up to the house of the Lord” (New Life Version).
o
“…the burnt
offerings Solomon made at the Temple of the Lord” (New Living Translation).
o
“…the beautiful stairway
that led up to the Eternal’s temple” (the Voice).
·
The
burnt offering in Genesis comes in two places:
o
Noah’s
sacrifice to the Lord on top of Mount Ararat after the Flood (Genesis 8:20).
o
Abram’s
sacrifice to the Lord on top of Mount Moriah (Genesis 22).
o
The
two precedents to this offering are on mountaintops. We have to keep this in
mind when we see the offering instituted in the liturgy of Israel. The altar is
a bridge between earth (the worshiper) and heaven (the domain of God).
·
The section of the
Psalter with the Songs of Ascents (מַעֲלָה) also enforces this idea (Psalms
120-134). The pilgrims would have sung these songs on the ascent to the Temple
to offer ascension (burnt) offerings (עֹלָה) to the LORD. Again, it’s all
about going to where God is.
·
There
is a connection between the ascension (burnt) offering and prayer: “Even those I will bring to My holy mountain
And make them joyful in My house of
prayer.
Their burnt offerings and their
sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar;
For My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples” (Isaiah
56:7).
·
The burnt offering is a symbolic
ascent to where God is – the worshiper ascends to God through the sacrifice.
The
LORD has appeared in a cloud, representing His glory (Exodus 16:10; 40:35) and the
manifestation of His Word (Exodus 19:9; 33:9).
The
animal is transformed from flesh to smoke (Leviticus 1:9,13,15,17) on the
altar, and the smoke of the offering would rise up, mingling with the pillar of
cloud above the dwelling tent/tent of meeting, symbolizing the transformation
of the worshiper into that which God is, fit for His presence and
communion/union with Him.
This
is summary of what we’ve read throughout these first 140 pages of Morales. I
want to take this idea and imagery further now. Or rather, I’ll let the apostle
Paul do it.
“So also is the
resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an
imperishable body; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it
is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is
raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a
spiritual body. So also it is written [in Genesis 2:7], ‘The first man, Adam, became a living soul.’ The last
Adam became a life-giving Spirit. However, the spiritual is not
first, but the natural; then the spiritual. The first man is from the
earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven. As is the earthy, so also are
those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are
heavenly. Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear
the image of the heavenly. Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood
cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the
imperishable. Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we
will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last
trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable,
and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable,
and this mortal must put on immortality” (1 Corinthians 15:42-53).
The
transformation of the sacrificial animal (a substitute for the worshiper) from
flesh into smoke, which rises up to the cloud that represents God’s presence,
is a foreshadowing of the reality for all believers in Jesus Christ at the
resurrection. We will be changed into that which is fit for the presence of
God, something eternally compatible with His nature. “The glory which You have given
Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in
them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know
that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. Father,
I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so
that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me
before the foundation of the world” (John 17:22-24).
This
Spirit-transformation is a process seen in this life, as well:
·
“Jesus said to her, ‘…an
hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in
spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is
Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth’” (John 4:21,24).
Worshipers were not to seek out a physical place (Jerusalem or Mount Gerazim in
Samaria), but were to become as God is – Spirit-indwelt beings to worship a God
Who is Spirit. Transformation unto communion. Notice, too, the Trinitarian
nature of this passage (the Son speaks of the Father seeking those who will worship
Him through the Spirit).
·
“…if by the Spirit
you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who
are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have
not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have
received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, ‘Abba! Father!’ The
Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,
and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if
indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him…God
causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to
those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew,
He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so
that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined,
He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these
whom He justified, He also glorified” (Romans 8:13-17,28-30). The parallel
between these two paragraphs is informative to our transformation. In the
first, the Spirit leads us to mortify our earthiness unto being heirs of the
Father along with the Son; our inheritance is God’s glory in Christ. In the
second paragraph, God is using all things providentially to accomplish His
purpose for us, which is conformity with that which the Son is, the very glory
of God (2 Corinthians 4:4,6; Hebrews 1:3).
·
“Now the Lord is the
Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But
we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the
Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just
as from the Lord, the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:17,18).
·
“…beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware
of the false circumcision; for we are the true circumcision, who worship
in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence
in the flesh…many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping,
that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction,
whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame,
who set their minds on earthly things. For our citizenship is in
heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus
Christ; Who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity
with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has
even to subject all things to Himself” (Philippians 3:2,3,18-21).
·
This is also the understanding of the apostle Peter: “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the
knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has
granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge
of Him Who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has
granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature,
having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust” (2 Peter
1:2-4). This conformity with God unto communion with God is not just a function
of worship in the Bible; it is reflected in the ethics of the Bible for the
covenant people. Peter himself quotes this principle from the Old Testament: “Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep
sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be
brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do
not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance,
but like the Holy One Who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your
behavior; because it is written [in Leviticus 19:2], ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy’” (1 Peter 1:13-16).
·
And
the apostle John: “See how great a love
the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God;
and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it
did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not
appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like
Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on
Him purifies himself, just as He is pure” (1 John 3:1-3).
The representative
transformation of the worshiper into that which is able to mingle with God in
Leviticus’ foundational sacrifice is the eternal goal of our salvation in
Christ Jesus. It is a process that
has started for believers in Jesus Christ in this life, as seen in our worship
and our ethics. We are becoming as Christ, the image of the glory of God, is,
so that we may communion with the Father in the Son by the Spirit. “This union
is closer than what joins a man to himself.”
“Oh, the depth of the
riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are
His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For [as it says in Isaiah 40:13] who has known the mind of the Lord, or who
became His counselor? Or [as it says in Job 41:11] who has first given to Him that it might be paid back to him again? For
from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the
glory forever. Amen. Therefore, I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present
your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual
service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be
transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the
will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 11:33-12:2).
