The 5 Offerings in the Old Testament

By Jeremiah K. Garrett -
July 29, 2014
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https://www.seedbed.com/5-offerings-old-testament/

The sacrificial system of the Old Testament was a means of grace by which the
relationship between God and humanity begins to be restored. Ultimately, the
sacrificial system was inadequate, which is why Jesus came to earth. But the 5
main Old Testament sacrifices are worth knowing, and Jeremiah Garrett provides
some basic information here.
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The Old Testament can be said to revolve around a system of sacrificial

offerings mitigated by priests during rituals to atone for the sins of
humanity, especially of Israel. These offerings run throughout the
majority of the Old Testament. Genesis 3:20 may allude to the first
sacrifice, where the LORD God offered garments of skin to Adam and
Eve to express devotion and commitment to His priests (humanity)
serving in His temple (the Heavens and the Earth), an act that may
foreshadow the Burnt Offering more fully described in Leviticus. The last
of the Prophets, Malachi, cites improper animal sacrifices (1:8) as the
reason God no longer accepts the Grain Offerings (1:10, 2:13). Malachi
then builds to a climax that begins with the return to proper tithes and
grain offerings (1:11, 3:3, 3:10) to initiate the day of the LORD.

These are just a few examples of the five types of offerings in the Old
Testament. The following offerings—the Burnt Offering, the Grain
Offering, the Peace Offering, the Purification Offering, and the
Reparation Offering—should not be viewed as legalistic rites one must
perform to earn God’s grace. The Prophet Samuel said, “to obey is
better than sacrifice,” (1 Sam 15:22), and Jeremiah likewise negates
Burnt Offerings for atonement and says that disobedience results in
calamity (Jer 44:23). Rather, the sacrificial system in the Old Testament
was a means of grace by which one who unintentionally sinned might
make reparations for that sin without paying with his or her life, or with
the life of his or her child. The system was an outward expression of a
person or community’s inward desire to restore the broken relationships
between humanity and God and humanity and the world.

1. Burnt Offering
The first offering is the olah, literally, “an offering of ascent,” commonly
called the Burnt Offering. The purpose of the Burnt Offering was for
general atonement of sin and expression of devotion to God. The
instructions for the Burnt Offering are given in Lev 1:3-17. The offering
could be a bull (1:3), sheep or goat (1:10), or dove or pigeon (1:14). The
animal was to be burnt whole overnight (6:8-13), though its skin was
given to the priest (1:6). The Burnt Offering was likely the earliest type of
atonement offering in the Old Testament (Job 1:5, Gen 8:20). The
primary contrast between the Old Testament Burnt Offering and the
Canaanite Burnt Offering was that the Canaanites would offer children
as burnt sacrifices for their own atonement. Although this does occur
during the worst of Israel’s history (Judges 11), God made it clear that
He would not accept children as burnt offerings (Gen 22), and the
instructions given in Leviticus explicitly limit the type of animals to be
offered as burnt sacrifices to bulls, rams, and birds.

2. Grain Offering
The second type of offering in the Old Testament is the minchah, or Grain
Offering. The purpose of the Grain Offering was a voluntary expression
of devotion to God, recognizing His goodness and providence. The
instructions for the grain offerings are given in Leviticus 2. Generally it
was cooked bread—baked (2:4), grilled (2:5), fried (2:7), roasted, or
made into cereal (2:14)—though always seasoned (2:13), unsweetened,
and unleavened (2:11). Unlike the whole Burnt Offering, only a portion of
the offering was to be burnt (2:9). The remainder went to the priests for
their meal (2:10). Although the minchah was instructed to be a freewill
offering of grains, it appears that earlier freewill offerings expressing
devotion to God and gratitude for His goodness and providence may
have been the “first fruits” of livestock (Gen 4:4).

3. Peace Offering
The third offering is the shelem, or Peace Offering. This category, first
discussed in Leviticus 3, included Thanksgiving Offerings (Lev 7:12),
Freewill Offerings (7:16), and Wave Offerings (7:30). The offering could
be cattle (3:1), sheep (3:7), or a goat (3:12). It could be male or female,
but must be without defect. If it was a Thanksgiving Offering, it could
also include a variety of breads (7:12). The purpose of the Peace
Offering was to consecrate a meal between two or more parties before
God and share that meal together in fellowship of peace and a
commitment to each others’ future prosperity. The portions unsuitable for
eating were given to God (7:19-27). Depending on the type of Peace
Offering, the breast may have been given to the High Priest (7:31) and
the right thigh may be given to the priest officiating the meal (7:32). The
rest of the meal was to be eaten within one day by the fellowship of
parties (7:16), and the leftovers were to be burnt after two days (7:17).

4. Sin Offering
The fourth offering was called chattath, literally “sin” or “sin offering.” This
offering is sometimes seen as an offering of atonement for unintentional
sin (4:2-3, 4:20). Similarly, it is sometimes viewed as guilt offering,
removing the consequences for lack of perfection (4:13-14, 4:22-23). As
an atonement offering, it contained elements of a Burnt Offering (4:25),
yet at the same time had elements of a Peace Offering (4:26).
Conversely, some of the “sins” for which one needed atonement were
not moral sins but rather matters of ritual impurity (5:1-5). As such, some
have proposed the term “Purification Offering” instead of “Sin Offering.”
The primary purpose of this offering is not to atone for sins but rather to
purify oneself for re-entering the presence of God. The elements of a
Purification Offering could be any of the elements of the previous three
types offerings, though unlike the Peace Offering, the meal was not to be
shared by the one offering the sacrifice.

5. Guilt Offering
The fifth and final offering was the asham, traditionally translated “Guilt
Offering.” Unlike the English word “guilt” this does not refer to a matter of
one’s conscience but rather to something one owes on account of a
“sin.” Other suggestions for the name of this offering are the “Trespass
Offering” or the “Reparation Offering.” The purpose of this offering was
to make reparations for one’s sin. As such, this offering had a specific
monetary value, and one who owed another on account of a debt due to
a “sin” could repay it in silver rather than by sacrificing a ram (5:15). In
addition, a 20% fee was assessed and given to the priest who mitigated
the debt (5:16).
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The sacrificial system of the Old Testament was a means of grace by

which the relationship between God and humanity begins to be
restored. Ultimately, the sacrificial system was inadequate,
and none could repay the debt of life that was owed until
Christ defeated death once and for all (Heb. 10:10). In the age of
the Church, we live in light of Christ’s meritorious sacrifice for us while
also offering our own lives as a living and holy sacrifice (Rom 12:1; 1
Pet. 2:5).