Leviticus 22:17-33
Offerings Accepted and Not Accepted
17 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 18 “Speak to Aaron and his sons, and to all the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘Whatever man of the house of Israel, or of the strangers in Israel, who offers his sacrifice for any of his vows or for any of his freewill offerings, which they offer to the LORD as a burnt offering— 19 you shall offer of your own free will a male without blemish from the cattle, from the sheep, or from the goats. 20 Whatever has a defect, you shall not offer, for it shall not be acceptable on your behalf. 21 And whoever offers a sacrifice of a peace offering to the LORD, to fulfill his vow, or a freewill offering from the cattle or the sheep, it must be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no defect in it. 22 Those that are blind or broken or maimed, or have an ulcer or eczema or scabs, you shall not offer to the LORD, nor make an offering by fire of them on the altar to the LORD. 23 Either a bull or a lamb that has any limb too long or too short you may offer as a freewill offering, but for a vow it shall not be accepted.
24 ‘You shall not offer to the LORD what is bruised or crushed, or torn or cut; nor shall you make any offering of them in your land. 25 Nor from a foreigner’s hand shall you offer any of these as the bread of your God, because their corruption is in them, and defects are in them. They shall not be accepted on your behalf.’”
26 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 27 “When a bull or a sheep or a goat is born, it shall be seven days with its mother; and from the eighth day and thereafter it shall be accepted as an offering made by fire to the LORD. 28 Whether it is a cow or ewe, do not kill both her and her young on the same day. 29 And when you offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the LORD, offer it of your own free will. 30 On the same day it shall be eaten; you shall leave none of it until morning: I am the LORD.
31 “Therefore you shall keep My commandments, and perform them: I am the LORD. 32 You shall not profane My holy name, but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel. I am the LORD who sanctifies you, 33 who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the LORD.”
The LORD made it clear to the people through Moses that offerings made through their free will had to be as perfect as possible, without any defects, or they would not be worthy of acceptance. This is the core of the gospel begun then that demonstrates only a perfect offering could appease God and cover our sins in the atoning work of God’s only Son as our Passover Lamb (1 Corinthians 5:7) to take away the sins of all who come to Him in the world. Any freely-given offering then that was not perfect was accepted, but not to satisfy any vow they offered it for. Like, any offering but Christ cannot satisfy the vow of a life offered to the Lord with any lasting benefit. Only by His offering can we have a vow for salvation that covers our sin by the covenant sealed by His Spirit (Ephesians 1:13-14) and received by faith in His offering of Himself as our perfect Lamb and eternal High Priest. There is no defect in the divine offering as there is in every one of our own by our attempts at good but imperfect works we offer to save ourselves and appease Him. We are to keep this commandment that beloved and receives (John 1:12, 5:24) the perfect offering by God’s own hand of His divine Son to cover our sins with an eternal atonement that never ends or can be revoked. This makes and keep His name holy among His people. He delivers us as Israel through the Red Sea out of a bondage to sin only hinted at by the servitude in Egypt. He is the LORD who alone sanctifies us, making us holy in the righteousness of Jesus Christ and in no other. He is our God and Lord over us (Acts 2:47) who saves! He is our acceptable offering.
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