Born to Die - Book Review

Have you ever wondered what the book of Leviticus has to do with Christ?  I mean all those sacrifices - the burnt offering, the sin offering, the trespass offering, the grain offering, the peace offering? I have just started a series of posts entitled "Where's Jesus" to address such questions as they relate to the narratives of the Old Testament, but I would like to recommend a book to you by Doug Stringer entitled Born to Die that we may live: The work of the Cross and the Power of the Resurrection.

In this short, 125 pages the author explores these 5 sacrifices and how they relate to Jesus Christ.  While some of his interpretations see like long stretches, for example, comparing the female goat to be offered by the commoner for his Sin offering to Mary the mother of Jesus (pg 93).  The vast majority of the book is very encouraging and edifying, particularly for taking a book like Leviticus and pointing to Jesus.

The Burnt Offering of Leviticus 1 is to be a “male without blemish.” This teaches us that Christ was without sin.  Similarly, as redeemed believers, we are to live like our Lord. (1Pt 1:15-16, Lev 11:44-45).  When the offeror places his hand on the head of the animal, this symbolizes the transfer of sin to the animal, just as our sin was transfered to Jesus.  As the animal was skinned and laid bare, so Jesus was stripped and flogged, and hung naked on a cross, exposed before God and the world.  Likewise, God may strip us at times leaving us bare as he removes all that is impure from our lives. As the animals entrails were washed, so we are washed internal by Jesus.  The fact that the bones of this sacrifice were never broken is a foreshadowing of Jesus dying without being broken on the cross.

The Grain offering was made by grinding and sifting the flour twice.  This is the kind of flour, fine flour, required in Leviticus 2.  This process produces a perfectly uniform and consistent flour.  Likewise, Jesus was sifted for our sake and no impurities found in him, no lumps, like the fine fine (Matt 4:1-11, 26:36-46).  Fine flour foreshadowed the perfection of our lord.  The oil and frankincense represent the Holy Spirit coming on us and anointing us, just as he came onto Jesus. The loaf is made to eat, just as Jesus is born to die.  Honey is excluded since it represents worldly things, but salt must be included since it preserves and produces flavor (v.13).   For us, this is a sign that  our lives are to make others spiritually thirsty.  

Leviticus 3 explores the fellowship offering, a.k.a. a peace, praise, vow, or freewill offering. All of these are the peace offerings and they are related to our security in God.  Much as Horatio Spafford’s hymn, It is well with my soul, speaks of peace with God regardless of circumstance, so the fellowship offering is a way we can express that because of Christ, all is well.  It is offered at the discretion of the worshipper thereby making it is a true gift.  What is amazing is that Lev 22:23 allows for a blemished animal to be offered in a frewill/fellowship offering.  Our perfection isn’t required to come before God freely.  This is a picutre of  living the Christian life that Christ opens up for us by being the other two offerings.  Additionally, it is only offering the offeror gets to eat from himself and enjoy in the presence of God. But the peace offering is also offered with grain and wine (Lev 7:12-13 and Lev 23:13,18) which symbolizes communion.

Leviticus 4 opens up with the Sin offering which removes sin making it as though it never existed. These are for known and unknown, or the unknown that become known (Lev 4:23).  It is the first offering where atonement and forgivenes are mentioned in same context (4;20, 26, 31, 35).  Jesus dies for it all. He is the sin offering. The liver and kidneys are both burned in this sacrifice.  Why? They clean impurities out of body, so burning them is handing them over to God to do with them as he sees fit.  Thus Jesus is pictured as the one who purifies us and disposes of our sin.

Leviticus 5 speaks of the Trespass or guilt offering and is different from Sin offering.  Where latter removes the sin, the former deals with the consequences of the sin.This is the first sacrifice to mention confession, repentance and restoration (5:5, 14-19, 6:4-7).  This is what we do for those sins we can make amends for.This signifies the restoration of relationship.  Jesus not only removes our sin, he restores the relationship as well (Eph 2:14-19).

While I really enjoyed the book and highly recommend it to you.  I did feel that the chapters related to the Burnt, Peace and Grain offerings were the best and that in the last chapters coving the Sin and trespass offering the author tended to move into more speculation and the analogies were less convincing.  These chapters almost had the feeling of reading medieval scholastic typology.  That said, the book has given me new eyes to read Leviticus and reminded me of the need to train my mind to see Christ in every passage.  I hope you will find the same true about yourself.