Leviticus 1:7-17

Lev 1:7 And the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire on the altar and lay the wood in order on the fire.

Put fire upon the altar - The fire of the altar originally came down from heaven, and consumed the sacrifice, and which was a token of God's acceptance of it, Leviticus 9:24 And there came a fire out from before Jehovah, and burned up the burnt offering and the fat on the altar. And all the people saw and shouted and fell on their faces. and this fire was kept burning continually upon the altar, Leviticus 6:12-13 And the fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it. It shall not be put out. And the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order on it. And he shall burn on it the fat of the peace offerings. The fire shall always be burning on the altar. It shall never go out. and yet the Jewish writers say, it was the command of God, according to this passage, that fire should be brought from another place and put here; Jarchi's note on the text is,"though fire came down from heaven, it was commanded to bring it from a common or private place:''and Maimonides says the same thing, and so it is often said in the Talmud. This fire may denote the wrath of God, revealed from heaven against all unrighteousness and ungodliness of men, and which is the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels, and all the workers of iniquity; and which Christ endured for his people in human nature, when he bore their sins, and became a whole burnt offering for them:

and lay the wood in order upon the fire; the wood for the sacrifice was an offering of the people, brought to the temple at the times appointed, Nehemiah 10:34 And we cast the lots among the priests, and the Levites, and the people, for the wood offering, to bring into the house of our God, according to the houses of our fathers, at times appointed year by year, to burn upon the altar of Jehovah our God, as it is written in the Law where was a place called "the wood room", or "wood chamber". It was in the northeast part of the court of the women; and here such priests as had blemishes wormed the wood, or searched the wood for worms; for whatsoever wood had a worm found in it, it was not fit to be laid upon the altar. It was from here the priests fetched the wood and laid it on the altar; for a private person might not bring it from his own house for his offering, though it was provided by the congregation, and brought here by private persons. It might be any sort of wood but that of the vine and olive, which were not used, because they did not burn well, and were soon reduced to ashes.

The fire that came out of the tabernacle from before the Lord, and which was kept perpetually burning. It was not lawful to use any other fire in the service of God. See the case of Nadab and Abihu Leviticus 10:1-2 Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their respective firepans, and after putting fire in them, placed incense on it and offered strange fire before the LORD, which He had not commanded them. And fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD.

Lev 1:8 And the priests, Aaron's sons, shall arrange the parts with the head and the fat on the wood that is on the fire on the altar.

The parts of the victim were then salted by the priest in conformity with the rule, Leviticus 2:13 And every sacrifice of your food offering shall you season with salt. And you shall not allow the salt of the covenant of your God to be lacking from your food offering. You shall offer salt with all your offerings. Ezekiel 43:24 'You shall present them before the LORD, and the priests shall throw salt on them, and they shall offer them up as a burnt offering to the LORD. Mark 9:49-50 For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. Salt is good; but if the salt becomes saltless, with what will you season? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another., and placed in order upon the wood, in the same relation to each other that they had in the living animal.

Fire is essentially a symbol of God's holiness. As such it expresses God in three ways:

1. In judgment upon that which His holiness utterly condemns Genesis 19:24 Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven, Revelation 20:15 And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. And in Mar_9:43-48

2. In the manifestation of Himself, and of that which He approves Exodus 3:2 The angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed. 1Peter 1:7 so that the trial of your faith (being much more precious than that of gold that perishes, but being proven through fire) might be found to praise and honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, Exodus 13:21 The LORD was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night.

3. In purification 1Corinthians 3:12-14 And if anyone builds on this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble, each one's work shall be revealed. For the Day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try each one's work as to what kind it is. If anyone's work which he built remains, he shall receive a reward. Malachi 3:2-3 "But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap. "He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the LORD offerings in righteousness.

Lev 1:9 But its inward parts and its legs he shall wash in water. And the priest shall burn all on the altar, a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor to Jehovah.

The priest shall burn - The verb here translated burn, is applied exclusively to the burning of the incense, to the lights of the tabernacle, and to the offerings on the altar. The primary meaning of its root seems to be to exhale odor, to smoke, to produce fragrance by fire. The word for burning in a common way is quite different. The importance of the distinction is great in its bearing on the meaning of the burnt-offering. The substance of the victim was regarded not as something to be consumed, but as an offering of a sweet-smelling savor sent up in the flame to the Lord.

But the inwards and his legs shall he wash in water, This was first done in a room in the court of the temple, called "the room of the washers", or the washing room, where they washed the inwards of the holy things; and after that they washed them upon the marble tables between the pillars, where they washed them three times at least; and whereas this is said to be done "in water”..

of a sweet savour unto the Lord: He accepting of it, and smelling a sweet savour of rest in it, as an atonement for sin and submission of the giver, typical of the sacrifice of Christ, which is to God for a sweet smelling savour, The Ephesians 5:2 And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us, and has given Himself for us as an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savor. Jewish sages noted that whether a man offers much or little, it matters only that his heart is directed to God. Maimonides explains that he who studies in the law, it is all one as if he offered a burnt offering, or a meat offering, or a sin offering. (We benefit from studying the bible. Our efforts to study are itself an offering to the Lord. 2Timothy 2:15 Study earnestly to present yourself approved to God, a workman that does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth.)

Lev 1:10 And if his offering is of the flocks, of the sheep, or of the goats, for a burnt offering, he shall bring a male without blemish.

Of the flocks - These directions are more brief than those for the bullock. With regard to the mode of sacrificing, the instructions already given for the oxen applied to the flock (i.e., to the sheep and goats) as well. Those who could not offer a bullock, were to bring a sheep or a goat; and those who were not able to do that, were accepted of God, if they brought a turtle-dove, or a pigeon. The burnt-offering of the sheep must have been that with which the people were most familiar in the daily morning and evening service. Sheep were preferred for sacrifice when they could be obtained, except in some special sin-offerings in which goats were required Lev_4:23; Lev_9:3; Lev_16:5. The lamb “without blemish” is a well-known type of Christ. Heb_9:14; 1Peter 1:19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot; (Type meaning a sign of something to come: an event, figure, or sign taken as foreshadowing of something in the future.)

Lev 1:11 And he shall kill it on the side of the altar northward before Jehovah. And the priests, Aaron's sons, shall sprinkle its blood all around on the altar.

And he shall kill it on the side of the altar northward before the Lord, This is a circumstance not mentioned in the killing of the bullock: Maimonides says, there was a square place from the wall of the altar northward, to the wall of the court, and it was sixty cubits, and all that was over against the breadth of this, from the wall of the porch to the eastern wall, and it is seventy six cubits; and this foursquare place is called the "north", for the slaying of the most holy things; so that it seems this being a large place, was fittest for this purpose. It seems to have been the largest and most convenient place for that work.

Interesting side note: Psalms 48:2 Beautiful on high, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King. Christ, our “sin offering”, our Lamb of God, was crucified on Mount Calvary, which was on the northwest side of Jerusalem; as by tradition, the morning sacrifice was killed at the northwest horn of the altar.

Lev 1:12 And he shall cut it into its pieces, with its head and its fat. And the priest shall arrange on the wood that is on the fire, which is on the altar.

Lev 1:13 But he shall wash the inward parts and the legs in water; and the priest shall bring near all of it and burn it on the altar. It is a burnt sacrifice, a fire offering of a sweet fragrance to Jehovah.

Lev 1:14 And if the burnt sacrifice for his offering to Jehovah is out of fowls, then he shall bring his offering of turtle-doves or of young pigeons.

Of turtledoves, or of young pigeons - The offering of a bird was permitted to one who was too poor to offer a quadruped. But in certain rites of purification birds were appointed for all, whatever might be their circumstances. See Lev_15:14, Lev_15:29; Num_6:10.

The Jewish writers all agree, that the turtledoves should be old, and not young, as the pigeons young, and not old; (the Targum of Jonathan, Jarchi, Aben Ezra and Gersom). Reasons include that they are the choicest and easiest to be found and taken. No mention is made of their being male or female, either would do, or of their being perfect and unblemished, as in the other burnt offerings. These creatures were proper emblems of Christ, and therefore used in sacrifice, whose voice is compared to the turtledove's, and his eyes to the eyes of doves, Song of Solomon 2:12 the flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtle-dove is heard in our land. They are meek and gentle, and so fit the character of Jesus according to some commentaries.

Lev 1:15 And the priest shall bring it to the altar, and wring off its head and burn it on the altar. And its blood shall be drained at the side of the altar.

Lev 1:16 And he shall pluck away its crop with its feathers, and throw it beside the altar on the east part, by the place of the ashes.

The place of the ashes - The ashes were daily removed from the altar (except on certain holy days) and thrown into a heap on its eastern side. When the heap became inconveniently large, it was removed in vessels appropriated to the purpose (see Exo_27:3) to a spot without the camp. Lev_4:12; Lev_6:11. Here the filth was cast, because this was the remotest place from the holy of holies, which was in the west - end; to teach us, that impure things and persons should not presume to approach to God, and that they should be banished from his presence.

Lev 1:17 And he shall cut it in two with the wings of it, not dividing it. And the priest shall burn it on the altar, on the wood that is on the fire. It is a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor to Jehovah.

but shall not divide it asunder; the body of the bird, though it was cleaved down in the middle, yet not parted asunder, nor any of its wings separated from it; the Targum of Jonathan paraphrases it, "but shall not separate its wings from it".