Offerings

Today's reading introduces us to four offerings, the details of which I'll leave to you to discover. I'm more interested in what the offerings were meant to represent.

The concept of sacrifices is alien to us because we've been in the Age of Grace since Christ's death on the cross, but think very carefully about what is being accomplished with these offerings. What is the Lord truly seeking of the people of Israel? Several things, such as:

1. Acknowledgment--the people of Israel were told to have no other idols before God, appeared to follow that commandment for about a month and promptly built their own golden calf. Regular sacrifices to God can keep one from worshiping false gods.

2. Obedience--the Israelites had solemnly stated that they would follow the Lord's commands, and they're going to get over 600 of them in Leviticus. If one claims to be a follower, learns the rules and then ignores them, a strong case of being a non-believer is made.

3. Thanksgiving--the Israelites are still being fed daily, and the glory of the Lord is directing them in when and where to travel. A grateful acknowledgment of the source of everything they had is always a good thing.

Of these three reasons, which is not still applicable today? We may no longer be held to the letter of the law regarding the exactitude of the offerings, but in no way have we been excused from doing the same things required of the people of Israel. In fact, every Sunday (or whenever or however you do it) when you place your envelope in the offering plate, you should say a brief prayer of thanksgiving to God for being able to give something. It's a privilege bestowed on us from him. No, the male cows and lambs without defects are safe from us today (at least from a sacrificial standpoint), but like everything else, how we do it changes--what we're doing (acknowledging, thanking and showing obedience) will never change and never stop.

Scott