Our Hand

Lev 1:4  Lay your hand on the head of the Whole-Burnt-Offering so that it may be 

	accepted on your behalf to make atonement for you. 

Lev 1:5  Slaughter the bull in GOD's presence. Aaron's sons, the priests, will 

	make an offering of the blood by splashing it against all sides of the 

	Altar that stands at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. 



	This first chapter of Leviticus is direction given regarding the proper 

offering of a sacrifice. There is detail given about the qualifications of the 

offering itself and how it should be cut up and prepared for the altar. These 

two verses point out something that honestly had slipped past me- that the 

execution of these details was the responsibility of the one presenting the 

offering. I always had this perception of the priests receiving the sacrifice 

from the one who had transgressed and slaughtering it for them in its 

preparation for offering. I had this image of this bloody room where the blood-

covered priests became very skilled at butchering cattle and sheep. There must 

have been a constant need for this in a nation the size of Israel, so it must 

have been the almost daily service of the priesthood. While they apparently had 

to slaughter creatures in the making of other offerings, it is indicated here 

that the duty of cutting up the animals was that of those for whom the sacrifice 

was made. 

	This changes the image of the temple scene for me somewhat. There was this 

prized animal that had been raised with great care. This animal represented the 

best that this individual could produce. Now, because of a need to obtain the 

favor of God, he had to give it up willingly to God as a sacrifice that might 

please Him. It wasn't enough for him to just lead the creature up to the temple 

and hand its rope to a priest, though. He would actually have to take the knife 

to their animal's throat, slaughtering it in such a way that it might be 

arranged correctly on the altar of sacrifice. More than just the experience of 

giving up this valuable possession, they were to put it to death themselves, 

cutting it into pieces. Having to do this brought the effect of the sacrifice 

experience to a much higher level of impact upon the conduct of life. In having 

to actually put their sacrifice to death, their own hand and effort was involved 

in ultimately removing whatever it was that had come between them and God. It 

was their very own responsibility to put this thing to death and not just leave 

it up to the duties of another. 

	While we don't have to really kill anything to offer as a sacrifice since 

Jesus has become our sacrificial lamb, there is still a great need for us to 

come before the Lord ourselves, giving up the things that have taken a place of 

prominence in our lives. However, it is not enough for us to just bring our 

bodies to the gathering place and suppose that the holiness and righteousness of 

another will somehow perform the needed extraction of impurities from our life. 

For there to be a completion of the presentation of our lives as living 

sacrifices, giving up prized possessions in our lives and actually putting them 

to death will require our own hand and effort. We will have to actually apply 

the sword of the spirit to the body of our creature and separate completely its 

body parts so they may be presented as an acceptable sacrifice before Him. 

Losing ourselves in the sacrifice of praise has a great requirement of our 

participation. There may be times when we are helped in this by the words, 

example and prayers of another, but the actual presentation of our sacrifice 

will have to be done in the action of our own lives. 

	There may be things in our lives that we have just brought to the Lord by 

going to church and requesting help. They may remain as issues in our lives and 

there may be the question as to why. It is possible that the sacrifice offering 

has been brought to the temple, but is still very much alive on the end of its 

rope. It is still in need of the application of the Word from our own hand and 

mouth. Though it is in the place of execution, it will not be put to death until 

we take our responsibility in killing it. By participating in the sacrifice of 

praise and the lifting of the hands in worship, there is an action taken that 

begins to insure its death. As this honoring Him is taken from the place of 

gathering to the home and occupation by applying the truth of the Word to 

actions of living, there is a complete severing of our offering's body. It then 

is indeed put to death and acceptably consumed on the altar of our heart. 



Rom 12:1  So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, 

	ordinary life--your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around 

	life--and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for 

	you is the best thing you can do for him. 




4/26/04