Sacrifice and Worship

Peter J. Leithart, November 14, 2004

INTRODUCTION
Last week, we looked at some NT texts that used the “ceremonial lawEof the Levitical system as a guide for the life and worship of the church. It’s clear that the apostles did not believe that the “ceremonial lawEis “merely typological,Efulfilled in JesusEdeath and resurrection, but with no further practical import. Rather, precisely because the “ceremonial lawEis typological, it continues to have import for the church, which is the body of Christ.

This morning, we’ll be extending that hermeneutical paradigm into a discussion of sacrifice. We’ll see that the same pattern emerges: JesusEdeath is clearly the fulfillment of all the OT sacrifices, yet at the same time, the life of the church, in a variety of ways, continues to be a “sacrificial practice.E

SACRIFICE AND OFFERING IN THE TORAH
Before getting NT perspective on the sacrifices and offerings, we should attempt to understand what the OT sacrifices were, how they worked, what they meant, and what they did. In the OT, the word “sacrificeEis not usually used as a generic term for all the animal offerings, but as a particular kind of offering.

There are, however, several terms that are used as generic descriptions of the offerings. First, the word QORBAN is used in Leviticus 1:1-3 to describe all the offerings that might be brought to the tabernacle (cf. 2:1; 3:1-2; 4:23; 5:11; 7:38). QORBAN comes from the verb QRB, which means “to draw nearEor “to bring near.E A QORBAN is something brought near, and points to the fact that all the offerings of the Levitical system were means of approach. The Levitical “sacrificesElay out the procedures for drawing near to God, for coming into His presence to enjoy fellowship with Him and to receive His gifts and life.

Second, the offerings are describes a “bread of GodE(Leviticus 3:11, 16; 21:6, 21ff; Numbers 28:2). The animal offerings are Yahweh’s “food,Ebread that is “consumedEin the fire on the altar (Leviticus 6:10; “consumeEand “eatEare the same Hebrew word). OT “sacrificesEare meals, meals for Yahweh, and often meals shared by Yahweh and His people. Of course, Yahweh does not need His people or the bread we offer (Psalm 50:7-15; and elsewhere). But God accepts the food Israel brings, and has fellowship with them at His “table,Ethe altar.

How does one approach Yahweh? How can we sit down to have a meal with Him? The ritual of the offerings gives the answer. Though there are important variations in the rites, the following are the basic common elements of the offerings:

1. The worshiper lays his hand on the head of the animal. We draw near to God through a substitute.
2. The worshiper slays the animal. Sinners cannot stand before a holy God. The way to God is the way of death, the death of a substitute.
3. The priest displays the blood before Yahweh. As in the Passover, blood displayed turns away the wrath of Yahweh.
4. The priest arranges Yahweh’s bread on His altar, and turns it to smoke. Through the substitutionary animal, the worshiper ascends into the presence of God.
5. Normally, there is a meal. Having drawn near to Yahweh through a substitute, we can eat and drink in His presence.

To anticipate a bit, let’s see how these things are fulfilled in the history of Jesus. How is JesusEwork “sacrificialE

1. Jesus is the elect substitute. As we trust Him, His death is propitious for us.
2. Jesus dies for the sake of sinners.
3. Jesus is also the priest who displays His own blood before the Father.
4. Jesus ascends to the Father to stand in His presence as our substitute. United to Him, we also ascend to the heavenlies.
5. We eat and drink with and on Jesus in the Supper.

In short, the entire work of Jesus Efrom the “hand-layingEof His incarnation and baptism through the ascension and the Eucharistic celebration of the church Eall of it is part of a “sacrificialEsequence.

One last point has to do with the sequence of different offerings. When a series of offerings are brought, they are in a standard sequence: Sin offering, Ascension offering, and Peace offering (Leviticus 8; Numbers 6). This lays out a basic liturgical sequence: The sin offering is for purification and cleansing; the ascension offering symbolizes total consecration and involves a symbolic “ascentEto Yahweh’s presence; the peace offering includes a meal. The sequence is cleansing, consecration, and communion; absolution, ascension, and Eucharist.

SACRIFICE OF PRAISE
Even before the NT, the form of sacrifice had begun to shift. “Sacrifices of praiseEare found already in the Davidic period of Israel’s history. I have treated this at length in From Silence to Song, so it’s best for me simply to quote a few portions of that book.

First, song is described using the sacrificial idea of “memorialE(cf. Leviticus 2:2): “David’s assignments to the Levites and priests grew out of an application of the law, and the musical worship they performed was also understood according to Mosaic categories. Here, as Kleinig points out, the chief Mosaic source was Numbers 10:9-10. According to 1 Chronicles 16:4, David ‘appointed some of the Levites as ministers before the ark of the Lord, even to celebrate and to thank and praise the Lord God of Israel.E The allusion to Numbers 10 is found in the verb ‘celebrate,Ewhich translates hazkir, a form of the verb zakar. Normally, zakar means ‘remember,Eas in the name ‘Zechariah,Ewhich means ‘Yah remembers.E In fact, nowhere else does the NASB translate this verb as ‘celebrate.E Specifically, the verb form of zakar used in 1 Chronicles 16:4 means ‘to cause to remember,Eand the Authorized Version is closer to the Hebrew here: David ‘appointed certain of the Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord, and to record and to thank and praise the Lord God of Israel.E Thus, the Levitical ministry of music was designed not only to please and glorify Yahweh by thanks and praise, but also to ‘cause Him to remember.’” Numbers 10:9-10 already suggest that music can be a “memorialEbefore Yahweh.

Second, during David’s reign, animal offerings and musical performance were coordinated, though they were not performed in the same location: “Song at the Davidic tabernacle was coordinated with the offering of sacrifice at the Mosaic tabernacle in Gibeon, and these forms of worship were later combined into a single service in the temple. The coordination of the spatially separated worship during the days of David is evident from several of the terms used to describe the musical worship of the Levites. According to 1 Chronicles 16:37, Asaph and his brothers sang before the ark in Jerusalem ‘continually, as every day’s work required,Eand both ‘continuallyEand ‘every day’s workEare Levitical terms. ‘ContinuallyEtranslates tamid, a technical term for the morning and evening offerings at the Mosaic tabernacle. Exodus 29:41-42 prescribes an ascension offering of a lamb every evening and morning, as a ‘continual (tamid) ascension throughout your generations at the doorway of the tent of meeting before Yahweh.E In Numbers 28-29, the same word is used some seventeen times, always with reference to the daily ascension offering. Numbers 28:3-4 requires that ‘two male lambs one year old without defect as a continual (tamid) ascension every day. You shall offer the one lamb in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer at twilightEas ‘a continual (tamid) ascension which was ordained in Mount Sinai as a soothing aromaE(28:6). On the appointed days of the calendar, additional animals were offered, but these were always above and beyond the tamid offerings. Two additional lambs served as ‘the ascension of every Sabbath in addition to the continual (tamid) ascension and its libationE(28:10; cf. 28:15, 24, 31; 29:6, 11, 16; etc.). When tamid is applied to the musical ministry at the tabernacle of David, the idea is not that the Levites sang around the clock, but that they sang while the tamid ascensions were being offered at Gibeon (see 1 Chronicles 16:40). The phrase ‘as every day’s work requiredEor some similar phrase is used in connection with the appointed times or feasts of Israel. Leviticus 23:37 summarizes the liturgical calendar of Israel with these words: ‘These are the appointed times of Yahweh which you shall proclaim as holy convocations, to present food offerings to Yahweh -- ascensions and tributes, communion sacrifices and libations, each day’s matter on its own day.E. . . Both terms are applied to musical performance, and this implies that songs were sung at Zion at the time of the daily offerings, and apparently a heightened musical performance took place on feast days, to coordinate with the heightened sacrificial worship.E 1 Chronicles 23:30-32 makes this connection explicit.

Finally, there are a number of passages that show music being added to sacrificial performance: 2 Chronicles 29:20-35; Psalm 27:6; 107:21-22.

ECCLESIAL SACRIFICE IN THE NT
As Augustine pointed out, the NT sacrifices are REAL sacrifices, in contrast to the merely symbolic sacrifices of the OT. In the OT, the worshiper himself never “drew nearEbut had to rely on an animal substitute. We still have a mediator, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, but we do “draw nearEand that boldly. In the OT, the worshiper never was able to sacrifice HIMSELF; but we offer ourselves as living sacrifices. We’re doing the real thing; Israel was sacrificing in types and shadows.

A number of passages describe the entirety of the Christian life in sacrificial terms. Romans 12:1f is explicit about this, and the details of how Christians offer “living sacrifice.E Similarly, Hebrews 13 grows out of the exhortation of Hebrews 12:28 that we are to offer God acceptable service with reverence and awe, an exhortation to be engaged in priestly “service.E

There are also passages that clearly show that our WORSHIP is sacrificial. In a sense, this is simple logic: If the whole Christian life is sacrificial, so is Christian worship. But there is also more direct textual evidence. Within the whole-life sacrifice demanded by Hebrews 13 is the “continual sacrifice of praiseEand thanks (v. 15). (The “continuallyEcomes from the present tense of the verb, ANAPHERO, which is a word used frequently in Leviticus to describe the offering of animals on the altar, Leviticus 3:5, 11, 14, 16; 4:10, 19, 26, 31; etc.) Calvin says that the author of Hebrews here answers the question of whether or not Christians continue to have any form of sacrifice. The answer: “another form of sacrifice is left for us which is no less pleasing to God, namely the offering to Him of the calves of our lips, as the prophet Hosea says (14:3). The sacrifice of praise is not only equally pleasing to God but more so than all the outward things that were used under the law. . . . We therefore see that the finest worship of God, and the one which is to be preferred to all other exercises, that we should celebrate the goodness of God by the giving of thanks. This, I say, is the rite of sacrifice which God commends to us today.E

Along similar lines, Peter says that the church is the new Israel, established as a holy priesthood to “offer up spiritual sacrifices to God through Jesus ChristE(1 Peter 2:5). The whole notion that the church is a “temple of GodEunderscores Peter’s point, since the temple exists as a place for sacrifice and prayers (1 Corinthians 3; 6). Especially as the gathered church, the church is the place of continuing sacrifice, the sacrifice of praise. Calvin sees a broader point here, but also recognizes that the passage focuses on liturgical sacrifice: “Among the spiritual sacrifices, he gives first place to the offering of ourselves . . . for we can offer nothing to God until we offer to Him ourselves as a sacrifice, which is done by denying ourselves. Then, afterwards follow prayers, thanksgiving, alms, and all the duties of religion.E

CONCLUSION
It is clear, then, that worship in the NT is as sacrificial as worship in the OT. Actually, NT worship is more fully sacrificial than worship in the OT. By the same logic that we can reason from infant circumcision to infant baptism, we can examine the OT sacrificial rites to learn about how to order the sacrificial worship of the NT.



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