Bible Question (short): Burnt offering, Sin offering-symbolize? |
Question (full): The Lord impressed upon my heart to look up "burnt sacrifice" wherever I could in order to find out what He considers an acceptable sacrifice. Does anyone have any thoughts on what the following symbolize to us today: 1. Sin offering 2. Burnt sacrifice 3. Peace offering ? For a start, here is an excerpt from Mathew Henry's Commentary on Psalm 20 found on www.blueletterbible.org 4. That God would testify his gracious acceptance of the sacrifices he offered with his prayers, according to the law of that time, before he went out on a dangerous expedition: The Lord remember all thy offerings and accept thy burnt-sacrifices (v. 3), or turn them to ashes; that is, "The Lord give thee the victory and success which thou didst by prayer with sacrifices ask of him, and thereby give as full proof of his acceptance of the sacrifice as ever he did by kindling it with fire from heaven.’’ By this we may now know that God accepts our spiritual sacrifices, if by his Spirit he kindles in our souls a holy fire of pious and divine affection and with that makes our hearts burn within us. But we may look further; these prayers for David are prophecies concerning Christ the Son of David, and in him they were abundantly answered; he undertook the work of our redemption, and made war upon the powers of darkness. In the day of trouble, when his soul was exceedingly sorrowful, the Lord heard him, heard him in that he feared (Heb. 5:7), sent him help out of the sanctuary, sent an angel from heaven to strengthen him, took cognizance of his offering when he made his soul an offering for sin, and accepted his burnt-sacrifice, turned it to ashes, the fire that should have fastened upon the sinner fastening upon the sacrifice, with which God was well pleased. And a portion from Matthew Henry's Commentary on Exodus 29, also found on www.blueletterbible.org Secondly, There must be a burnt-offering, a ram wholly burnt, to the honour of God, in token of the dedication of themselves wholly to God and to his service, as living sacrifices, kindled with the fire and ascending in the flame of holy love, v. 15–18. The sin-offering must first be offered and then the burnt-offering; for, till guilt be removed, no acceptable service can be performed, Isa. 6:7. Thirdly, There must be a peace-offering; it is called the ram of consecration, because there was more in this peculiar to the occasion than in the other two. In the burnt-offering God had the glory of their priesthood, in this they had the comfort of it; I trust that the Lord will reveal to me through all of your responses what He means for me to find out and apply to my life so I can become more like Him. God bless you all, In His love, Mrs. Santosh Shetty |