Or, Ordering the Offerings of the Assembly
Scripture: Leviticus 9:1-24Hebrews 10:1-25
Date: January 22, 2012
Speaker: Sean Higgins
Or, Ordering the Offerings of the Assembly
The Patterns of Worship (Part 1)
God’s people assemble for worship according to His instructions and, since the sin of Adam, worship required sacrifice. The shedding of blood was necessary in order for sinful men to fellowship with the holy God. God made covenants with His people, He promised not only to forgive them, but also to care for them and commune with them. These covenant agreements always included sacrifices.
His people are defined by their worship, their worship is ordered by covenant sacrifices. So is our worship, even if we don’t think about it that way.
We are studying and hopefully stimulating our own corporate worship. Things happen when the corpus, the body, gathers in His presence that do not happen in isolation. Serving God together shapes us, unites us, orients us. We are His people, His temple, His dwelling place. We are a priesthood, enjoying direct access to Him. We are His sacrifices, offering our lives to Him in Christ. True worship wages war against idolatry. Through the church, God batters down unbelief and rebellion and death. The church is His propaganda, His point to heavenly rulers and His battering ram against the gates of hell.
As I emphasized last Lord’s day, worship is the work of the assembly. Some men may lead the assembly, but the corpus, the whole body meets with God.
What are we to do for worship? Are there particular components that are required? Elements that are allowable? Practices that are prohibited? Once we know the components, do they follow a particular pattern?
A couple qualifications before I try to answer some of these questions.
First, God has not revealed His one-and-only order of service anywhere in Scripture. We won’t find the ultimate inspired bulletin for Israel’s worship at the temple, let alone for a local church’s Lord’s day gatherings. There is, therefore, a measure of freedom in what we do and in what order we do it.
Second, God has revealed some explicit priorities for corporate meetings, not only in the example of the early church but also in His instructions to church leaders such as Timothy and Titus. In particular, there is a heavy emphasis on the Word. Timothy was to be devoted to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, and to teaching (1 Timothy 4:13). Timothy was to “preach the Word, in season and out of season” (2 Timothy 4:2). Paul required attention on the instruction components, though he did not say that they alone should receive attention.
Third, we always say something by what we do and how we do it. This is the liturgical opportunity. It’s not whether but which. It’s not whether there will be liturgy, but which liturgy it will be.
Most of us have learned that learning is the point of corporate gatherings, not only because that’s what we’ve been told, but also because that’s what we’ve seen. Singing prepares our hearts in order to learn. Praying asks God to make our hearts ready to learn. The Scripture reading is often what we’re going to learn about that day. And then the sermon takes center stage as the main attraction. Preachers work overtime to say that sermon listening is worship because we devote so much time to it. The message is the bus that takes us to the learning destination, and everything else is just trying to get everyone on the bus.
Without doubt, elders should be apt to teach and always ready to preach the Word. The pastors and teachers equip the saints just as they themselves are fully equipped by the inspired Scriptures (see 2 Timothy 3:17). But more happens during this time than information transfer. As we examine it’s place in corporate worship, we’ll see why the Word is so important and it’s more than a data download.
So, because we have liturgical freedom and priorities and opportunities, this is more of a “get to” than a “have to” discussion. We don’t “have to” eat steak. And again, this is a “which” not “whether” discussion. We will make some point, what point will we make?
Having considered the purposes of corporate worship and the people, we’re going to consider the patterns of worship today and next week. This morning we’ll consider the predominant pattern of Israel’s worship as ordering the offerings of the assembly.
In the Old Testament, under the Old Covenant, the Lord gave His people specific instructions for their corporate worship. He provided an order for their sacrifices intended to draw them near to Him in fellowship.
We have almost no appreciation for their sacrifices, except as a reason to be thankful that we don’t need to go through all that anymore. Leviticus is a killer, not of animals as much as of our Bible reading motivation. Who can keep track of all the sacrifices, all the blood, all the mess? We thank God for Christ.
Of course, the reason we give thanks for Christ is because He fulfilled what the OT sacrifices symbolized. But that doesn’t make them unimportant, that makes them paradigmatic. They are the pattern that Christ’s offering fit perfectly.
Though we read about many different types of sacrifices under the Old Covenant, the regular offerings can be summarized under three main categories:
What also stands out is that when these sacrifices were performed together, they always follow the same sequence. In other words, there is an predictable order of offerings as His assembled people draw near.
All three categories are found in Leviticus 9. Aaron, his sons, and the elders inaugurated worship at the tabernacle, starting with these daily sacrifices. Moses instructed Aaron to offer sacrifices for his own sin first, and then for the people.
On the eighth day Moses called Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel, and he said to Aaron, “Take for yourself a bull calf for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering, both without blemish, and offer them before the LORD. And say to the people of Israel, ‘Take a male goat for a sin offering, and a calf and a lamb, both a year old without blemish, for a burnt offering, and an ox and a ram for peace offerings, to sacrifice before the LORD, and a grain offering mixed with oil, for today the LORD will appear to you.’” (Leviticus 9:1–4 ESV)
Notice the sin offering, burnt offering, and peace offering (the grain offering is mentioned, but connected). Aaron offered the sin and burnt offerings for himself and his sons (verses 8-14) and then “he presented the people’s offering” (verses 15-24).
The point of worship was to “draw near” to (v.7), to “meet” with (v.23) God. The point was so that “the glory of the Lord may appear to you” (v.6). Before men can approach God their sin must be addressed (see verses 8-11, 15).
In all of God’s covenants with men, the starting point is man’s sin. The penalty for sin is death. God’s offer of forgiveness always required a die-er, and sacrifices were substitutes. Priests slaughtered animals and spread blood on the altar to show that death had occurred. This was part of the covenant. God demanded confession and repentance from sinners as well as a substitute sacrifice represented in the guilt offering. The sin offering, therefore, always came first before men could draw near to God.
”Aaron drew near to the altar and killed the calf of the of the sin offering, which was for himself” (v.8) and then “he presented the people’s offering and took the goat of the sin offering that was for the people and killed it and offered it as a sin offering, like the first one” (v.15).
One reason Christ’s offering is so significant is that He did not need to offer for Himself before the people because He was perfect. He had no sin that needed forgiveness.
Once sin was forgiven, the sacrifice was cut up, placed on top of the altar by the priest and then burned in its entirety as a sign of total consecration.
Then he killed the burnt offering, and Aaron’s sons handed him the blood, and he threw it against the sides of the altar. And they handed the burnt offering to him, piece by piece, and the head, and he burned them on the altar. And he washed the entrails and the legs and burned them with the burnt offering on the altar. (Leviticus 9:12–14 ESV)
The fire burned the entire sacrifice and represented the complete consummation of the worshipper. The symbol was total consecration, whole devotion to the Lord. The smoke from the fire drifted up into the Lord’s presence and this is why we read about some aromas pleasing the Lord. The meat was being cooked and consumed.
Just as the animal represented the guilty worshipper in the sin offering, so the animal represented the consecrated worshipper in the burnt offering.
Connected with the burnt offering was the grain (or Tribute) offering.
And he presented the burnt offering and offered it according to the rule. And he presented the grain offering, took a handful of it, and burned it on the altar, besides the burnt offering of the morning. (Leviticus 9:15–17 ESV)
The grain offering was a consecration of the fruit of one’s work, a recognition of the Lord’s provision. It was placed on top of the burning animal and connected with the consecration of the worshipper.
The third sacrifice in the liturgical sequence was the peace offering. Another animal was killed and then cooked on top of the altar, on top of the burnt offering.
Then he killed the ox and the ram, the sacrifice of peace offerings for the people. And Aaron’s sons handed him the blood, and he threw it against the sides of the altar. But the fat pieces of the ox and of the ram, the fat tail and that which covers the entrails and the kidneys and the long lobe of the liver— they put the fat pieces on the breasts, and he burned the fat pieces on the altar, but the breasts and the right thigh Aaron waved for a wave offering before the LORD, as Moses commanded. (Leviticus 9:18–21 ESV)
The difference between the burnt offering and the peace offering was the the burnt offering was consumed in flame, the peace offering was consumed as food. The burnt offering represented the worshipper’s entire devotion to God, the peace offering represented the worshipper’s communion with God. It was a shared meal, a feast, between parties now at peace.
Verse 22 summarizes the whole service.
Then Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and blessed them, and he came down from offering the sin offering and the burnt offering and the peace offerings. (Leviticus 9:22 ESV)
Three categories of offerings. Then observe what happened.
And Moses and Aaron went into the tent of meeting, and when they came out they blessed the people, and the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people. And fire came out from before the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the pieces of fat on the altar, and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces. (Leviticus 9:23–24 ESV)
The worship brought God and His people together in meeting. The meeting brought God’s blessing and they saw His glory revealed. As His people saw His glory they responded with more worship and honor.