Make an altar of earth for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, your sheep and goats and your cattle. Wherever I cause my name to be honored, I will come to you and bless you. (Exodus 20:24, NIV)
Sacrifices were a way of worship. All of the animals, the wheat, the flour and the ingredients had to be perfect, without blemish or defect. Each ritual, step by step, revealed that God wanted to be close to His chosen ones. When the ritual was finished, the blood was spilled, and the offering was burnt, an aroma was elevated to the sky into the nostrils of the King of Peace. It was pleasing in His sight.
If sacrifices were a way of worship, they were also a way of joining the Divine with the mortal. God, with no need to, created us mortal humans for His glory. Even if He was higher than what we determine as “high”, He sat his presence upon the Tent of Meeting (later the Temple) and observed how His people gave Him the praise He so deserved. He wanted for us to become closer to Him, even if we were not suited for His holiness…and that, God wanted to ensure that we remained closer to Him.
Sacrifices served as a simply complex reminder: God is holy, we are not. Every commandment God uttered through His words and His prophets reminded Israel –now us- that we must remain without blame, stain, or blemish through the eyes of the living God. It wasn’t until they passed through the arduous selection of selecting the best of the grain, the best of the flour, and the best of the herd and the flock when they realized that they had to give EVERYTHING they are for the Lord. We were tainted, but Someone had to come in for us!
Still, these offerings were a way for the priest to fellowship with his people. As the intermediaries of the Lord, the Levites weren’t given land as the other tribes. They depended on their Hebrew brothers for their daily bread. The grain offerings and the charity of fellowship also created a communion with their people. An atmosphere of peace was established, and everything had a common unity: A life shared for the living God.
Of course, things didn’t use to go that way; well, most of the time…