What is the meaning of Leviticus 3:8? He is to lay his hand on the head of his offering • The worshiper physically identifies with the animal. As Leviticus 1:4 explains, “He is to lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, so that it may be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him.” • This act transfers guilt, acknowledging that sin deserves death (Romans 6:23). • It foreshadows Christ, who became our substitute: “God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us” (2 Corinthians 5:21). • The peace offering of Leviticus 3 differs from the sin offering (Leviticus 4), yet the principle of identification remains—peace with God comes only through a substitutionary sacrifice. and slaughter it in front of the Tent of Meeting • The worshiper, not the priest, kills the animal, feeling the weight of personal responsibility (Leviticus 1:5). • The location “in front of the Tent of Meeting” keeps worship centered where God dwells among His people (Deuteronomy 12:5-6). • Slaughter outside this appointed place was forbidden (Leviticus 17:3-5); God alone sets the terms of acceptable worship. • Christ fulfilled this picture when He offered Himself “once for all” (Hebrews 10:10) in the place God chose—at the cross, visible to all (John 19:20). Then Aaron’s sons shall splatter its blood on all sides of the altar • The priests apply the blood, marking divine acceptance. “For the life of the flesh is in the blood… it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul” (Leviticus 17:11). • Sprinkling on all sides shows complete covering; nothing is left untouched by atoning blood. • Exodus 24:8 records Moses doing something similar when inaugurating the covenant: “This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you.” • The scene anticipates the full cleansing power of Jesus’ blood: “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22), and believers are redeemed “with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or spot” (1 Peter 1:18-19). summary Leviticus 3:8 teaches that peace with God requires (1) identification with a substitute, (2) acknowledgment that sin demands death, and (3) the application of blood by God-appointed mediators. Every detail points forward to Jesus, whose sacrificial death secures our reconciliation and invites us into fellowship with the Father. |
    |