“If his offering to the LORD is a burnt offering of birds, then he shall bring his offering of turtledoves or pigeons. And the priest shall bring it to the altar and wring off its head and burn it on the altar. Its blood shall be drained out on the side of the altar. He shall remove its crop with its contents and cast it beside the altar on the east side, in the place for ashes. He shall tear it open by its wings, but shall not sever it completely. And the priest shall burn it on the altar, on the wood that is on the fire. It is a burnt offering, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the LORD.
When reading the book of Leviticus we are confronted with the methods and procedures the nation of Israel we commanded to do in order to approach God in worship. Imagine that on any given Sunday, when you arrived at church, you were poor. You came to worship but you could not approach God unless you brought a sacrifice. So you would catch a dove or a pigeon (readily available anywhere). Your only effort was to catch it and hold it. Then you brought it to the Priest who would fillet it on the alter. That would be your act of worship. Imagine that as a requirement. Today it is tough to get people to show up on time. During worship most can’t even put their coffee down to raise their hands in worship, much less catch a bird. But the above passage is the picture of the story of the Bible. In order for a sinful person to approach God there had to be a death, an act of worship in that death and then acceptance of that death, as a pleasing aroma to the LORD. There is no where in the Bible where this is not the case. Jesus was the sacrifice for us. Jesus, on the cross, stated, “Into Your (God’s) hands I commit my spirit.” He willfully offered Himself in death that He might be accepted as a pleasing aroma to His Father, on our behalf. This is the story of Calvary. This is the picture of Easter. This is the story of redemption. The poor person was not exempt to come to God with a sacrifice. They may not possess a goat, a sheep or any livestock to offer. But they could bring a bird. An animal as common as the poverty of the day. It was not about the sacrifice, it was about the act of a sacrifice. Jesus would be the final perfect and pure sacrifice. The blood of bulls and goats could not remove sin, but His perfect blood could. The above is the picture of what Jesus did for us. Theologically this is called substitutionary atonement. Our sins are atoned because someone was a sacrifice for them. That is Jesus. This is how the author of the book of Hebrews stated it:
Hebrews 10:4-14 (ESV)
For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said,
“Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired,
but a body have you prepared for me;
in burnt offerings and sin offerings
you have taken no pleasure.
Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God,
as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’”
When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
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