Thankfully, we don’t have to offer sacrifices on the altar anymore, because Jesus offered Himself as the sacrifice for all times. There are many similarities between the sacrificial offerings and the Lord’s sacrifice of Himself on the cross.

The sacrificial offerings to the Lord were instituted in the beginning after the fall of man. In Genesis chapter 4, we see Cain and Abel offering sacrifices to God. Hebrews 9:22 tells us that without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin. Leviticus 17:11 explains why the blood was used, “For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.

Chapters 1 through 7 in Leviticus show us five different offerings.

First is the burnt offering. Then we see the grain offering, which is the same as the meal offering. Next is the peace offering, which is called the fellowship in some versions. The last two are the sin offering and the guilt offering. 

The root word for offering means to come near or to join. God set this sacrificial system up so we could draw near to Him because it is His heart’s desire that we be close to Him. The offering was God’s way of allowing man to approach Him or join with Him. The first three offerings were voluntary, and the next two were compulsory. The sin and guilt offerings were the required sacrifices, to atone for sin.

“If the offering is a burnt offering from the herd, you are to offer a male without defect. You must present it at the entrance to the tent of meeting so that it will be acceptable to the Lord. (Leviticus 1:1-3 NIV)

The entrance to the tent of meeting isn’t the entrance to the whole tent. When the Bible speaks about the tent of meeting, the sanctuary, it’s referring to the inner sanctuary, which is comprised of the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. The Holy of Holies contained the ark of the covenant and only the high priests were allowed to enter and only once a year. The Holy place contained the altar of incense. Before they entered the sanctuary, they walked into the outer courtyard of the tent with the brazen altar. That is where the sacrifices were made.

Before the time of Moses, sacrifices were offered by heads of families. But after the nation is organized, a place is set apart for sacrifices, a ritual is prescribed, and a hereditary priesthood is created in a solemn ceremony. Aaron was to be the high priest, and he was to be succeeded by his firstborn son. The priesthood was maintained by tithes from the other eleven tribes. God had specified every detail. The dress of the high priest was specified down to the smallest detail. (Exodus 28)

God placed the system of sacrifices at the very center and heart of the Jewish nation. Whatever its immediate applications and implications may have been to the Jews, the unceasing sacrifice of animals and the never-ending glow of altar fires were without a doubt designed by God to burn into the consciousness of the people of Israel a sense of the deep sinfulness.  The Levitical priesthood was divinely ordained to be the mediator between God and the Hebrew nation through the bringing of animal sacrifices. These animal sacrifices, while only temporary, point to the Christ who would fulfill the sacrifices one time forever. Animal sacrifices are no longer necessary. Christ Himself is our Great High Priest, the only Mediator between God and humanity (Hebrews 8-10) Christ became the sacrifice, our High Priest, and our mediator.

The burnt offering was offered every morning and evening for all of Israel (Ex 29:39-42). Double burnt offerings were brought on the Sabbath (Nu 28:9-10) and extra ones on feast days (Nu 28:29). The sacrifice was a voluntary act of worship or an atonement for unintentional sin. It was an expression of devotion, commitment, and complete surrender to God. It was a bull, ram, or for the poor; a dove or pigeon. They were to have no defect and be wholly consumed. This offering was voluntary, but they had to give it in its entirety as a voluntary act.

“You are to lay your hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted on your behalf to make atonement for you.” (Leviticus 1:3-4 NIV)

Laying your hand on the head of the animal was the transferring of sin onto the animal that would be offered.

The burnt offering speaks of Jesus’s death on the cross in that He voluntarily laid down His life for our sins, just as the burnt offering was voluntary. He was without sin, completely innocent, as represented by the animal or bird that was to be without defect.  He was totally and completely consumed in the fires of divine judgment as the offering was to be completely consumed.

Jesus, speaking of His life said: “No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again.” (John 10:18)

In 1 Peter 1:18, Peter says that the ransom Christ paid for our sins was priceless. No amount of gold or silver could pay for our sins, only the blood of Christ.

“18 You should be aware that the ransom paid to free you from the worthless way of life which your fathers passed on to you did not consist of anything perishable like silver or gold; 19 on the contrary, it was the costly bloody sacrificial death of the Messiah, as of a lamb without defect or spot.” (CJV)

In verse 19, Peter is speaking of Jesus as the burnt offering. We see that the writings of the New Testament are very similar to the Old Testament. 

The grain-offering sacrifice was also a voluntary act of worship. In recognition of God’s goodness and provisions; it was a devotion to God. It consisted of fine flour, olive oil, incense, baked bread, and salt; no yeast or honey.

When the Bible speaks of fine flour, it’s speaking of something untainted and pure. We know that Jesus’s life was morally perfect; He was tempted but didn’t sin. 

When God speaks of olive oil, it is always used symbolically to refer to the Holy Spirit. Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit. John recorded that Jesus received the Spirit without measure.

“For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit” (John 3:34).

Jesus was filled with the Spirit, the Spirit’s presence was never lacking in Him. There was no limit on it.

  Frankincense was put on the fine flour and was a fragrant offering to God. Frankincense was one of the gifts for Jesus from the wise men at His birth. It was a perfume, but it had a spiritual meaning as a symbol of deity.

According to Exodus 30, however, not just any incense would do. A specific recipe of spices mixed with “pure frankincense” (v. 34) was to be consecrated as “pure and holy” (v.35) and was the only incense permitted at the altar. Just as the frankincense was a pure and holy offering, so Jesus was a pure and holy offering for our sins.

No yeast was to be used. In the Bible, Yeast is used as a picture of sin, of evil which spreads its sinister effects everywhere, So, for example, when Jesus in the Gospels talks about the “yeast of the Pharisees…” ( Mark 8:15), He means ‘Watch out for the evil influence of their teaching.

The fellowship offering or peace offering, depending on the translation, was also a voluntary act of worship for thanksgiving and fellowship. It involved a communal meal. It could be any animal from a herd or flock if it was without defects.

“If your offering is a fellowship offering, and you offer an animal from the herd, whether male or female, you are to present before the Lord an animal without defect. 2 You are to lay your hand on the head of your offering and slaughter it at the entrance to the tent of meeting. Then Aaron’s sons the priests shall splash the blood against the sides of the altar” (Leviticus 3:1-2).

With the sin and guilt offerings, we again see that it must be an animal without defects. All the offerings are consistent in that, the offerings must be perfect, as our Lord is perfect. The person offering the sacrifice lays his hand on the head of the animal transferring his sin onto the animal. The shedding of the blood on the altar is the atonement for sin. Without the shedding of blood, there can be no forgiveness. The priests are the mediator between the offeror and God.

In these offerings we see 3 parts being played out. 1st is the one bringing the offering. Then there is the priest, who is the mediator between the offeror and God. And then is the offering itself of course. When Jesus was crucified, we see Jesus playing each of these parts. 1st He’s the one offering the sacrifice. He offered Himself and laid down His own life for us. He is the priest because He serves mankind as the Mediator between us and the Father. And He is the offering itself when He took on our sins and offered up His life as a sacrifice for our sins.

The Holy of Holies was the innermost chamber in the wilderness tabernacle, a room so sacred only one person could enter it, and then only one day out of the entire year.

This room was a perfect cube, 15 feet in each direction. Only one object was housed there: the ark of the covenant. There was no light inside the chamber other than the glow of God’s glory.

A thick, embroidered veil separated the holy place from the Holy of Holies inside the tent of meeting. Regular priests were allowed in the outer holy place, but the Holy of Holies could be entered only by the high priest on the annual Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur.

On that day, the high priest would bathe and then put on the clean linen garments of the priest. His robe had solid gold bells hanging from the hem. The noise of the bells told the people he was making atonement for their sins. He entered the inner sanctuary with a censer of burning incense, which would produce thick smoke, hiding the mercy seat on the ark where God was. Anyone who saw God would die instantly.

The high priest would then sprinkle the blood of a sacrificed bull and a sacrificed goat on the atonement cover of the ark, to make amends for his and the people’s sins.

The Holy of Holies represents the very presence of God and is a dangerous place to make a mistake or do something without thinking. The high priest could be struck dead if they did something they were commanded not to do and if they were commanded to do something and didn’t do it. They needed to follow instructions precisely, otherwise, they could be considered unclean. The bells, although ceremonial, served a second purpose in that as long as they were ringing, the people knew the priest was still alive. 

In the end, entering into the presence of God could result in death if one was unclean. The High Priests only risked death when they came into the Holy of Holies having not followed the ceremonial rules (Leviticus 21). It is said that many priests tied a rope around their leg so that if they failed to obey God’s rules they could be struck down. The rope would allow those on the outside to pull their bodies out.

New Covenant, New Freedom

The old covenant God made through Moses with the Israelites required regular animal sacrifices. God lived among his people in the Holy of Holies, first in the desert Tabernacle, then in the stone temples in Jerusalem.

Everything changed with the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. When Jesus died, the veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom, signifying that the barrier between God and his people was taken away.

On Jesus’ death, the first Holy of Holies, or God’s throne in heaven, became accessible to every believer. Christians may approach God confidently, not on their own merit, but through the righteousness credited to them by the shed blood of Christ.

Jesus atoned, once and for all, for humanity’s sins, and at the same time became our high priest, acting on our behalf before his Father:

Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess. (Hebrews 3:1, NIV)

No longer does God confine himself to the Holy of Holies, separated from his people. When Christ ascended into heaven, every Christian became a temple of the Holy Spirit, a living dwelling place of God. Jesus said:

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever, the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. ( John 14:16-18, NIV)

We see the Holy Spirit first descend upon the disciples of Jesus as they are meeting during the celebration of the beginning of the early weeks of harvest, known as Pentecost. 

After Pentecost, we became the Holy of Holies with the Holy Spirit living in us. We would house the manifest presence of God within our bodies. The Holy Spirit of God would live inside man. 

Imagine having the same Holy Spirit living in us that before was only accessible at the temple site, in the Holy of Holies by the high priest, and only once a year. The Holy of Holies was a very holy place that required great reverence and obedience to God. I think we sometimes forget the great honor and responsibility of having God in us. 

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 asks us the question: “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.” We must honor God with our bodies, but it is even more important we honor Him with our minds.

In the Old Testament; the Spirit came on people, but He never resided in people. The first time we hear of the Holy Spirit indwelling someone is in Luke 1:15. We are told John the Baptist would be filled with the Holy Spirit while in his mother’s womb. Jesus being human had the Holy Spirit living within Him of course.

I used to wonder how the Israelites people could keep turning away from God. I mean they saw the Lord part the Red Sea, rain manna from heaven, and many other miracles, and the next thing we see is them making a golden calf to worship. Israelites’ history is one of constantly failing and repenting. The difference is that they did not have the Holy Spirit dwelling in them. They were battling Satan in their own strength.

God said He knew us before we were formed in the womb (Psalms 139:16, Jeremiah 1:5) He knew when and where we would be born. I am so thankful that I was born during the church age, when I could live under grace, instead of living under the law. And have the Holy Spirit living in me, allowing me to have direct access to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. 

In this world, it is hard to talk to anyone of importance. I’m speaking of someone the world would consider important. For instance, someone like me can’t talk to the president, but I can talk directly to God the one who created the universe and everything in it—the one who holds everything together. 

“For in Him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:16-17).

Where would we be without the Holy Spirit living in us? Would we be like the Israelites, constantly failing because they were trying to live for God in their own power?

Because of the sacrifice the Lord made on the cross, we can now live without fear of failing. We will fail because we are humans living in a fallen world, but God’s grace covers our sins so we are pure in the sight of God. That’s hard to believe, isn’t it? I doubt there is anyone who feels spotless and pure before God. I know I don’t. If you look at the past, present, and future of our forgiveness, we see in the past, God forgave our sins. In the present, He is forgiving us of our sins, and in the future, when He takes us to heaven, He will forgive our sins for one final time, and make us all new without sin. Until then we are sinners, who without the Holy Spirit living in us would have little hope.

   But, with the Holy Spirit living in us, we are assured of a place in heaven. Ephesians 4:30 assures us of that. I like the way the New Living Translation says it:

“And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.”

What an honor it is to be the dwelling place of God, for our bodies to be the Holy of Holies. It is certainly something not to be taken lightly. I pray that none of us do. God bless you.

Books by Jerry, many of which you may read for free: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Jerry-Blount/author/B06XK4GJT1

1. Things You Probably Didn’t Learn in Chruch
2. Basic Christianity: Living a Joy-Filled Life and Making a Difference
3. The End Times: Signs and Prophecy
4. Noah and the Great Flood: Proof and Effects
5. Following Jesus and Fishing Along the Way: Stories of God’s Great Outdoors
6. The Rapture: Coming Soon