Burnt offering

Burnt Offerings are understood by considering what happens from the viewpoint of the one who presents the offering. When his offering is burnt, it turns to ashes. This means there was a change in the status and rights of the one who offered funds, garden produce, or land that previously belonged to him - he no longer owns even a small part of that property, and he has no rights to it. He totally gave his gift at the altar.

In reality, his offering is not set on fire. Nobody lights a hot fire to burn the man's contribution check or to literally turn his garden produce into a pile of ashes. We see burnt is used as a metaphor to indicate the process of what happens to property rights related to the offering. The one who once managed that property has severed his rights, and he is no longer the manager.

After the offering is burnt, it becomes the property of the one to whom it was offered, and a burnt offering brought to the altar of Christ becomes an item of property belonging to Jesus Christ. After it is burnt, it will be managed by a steward, whom we call a minister of recorded elders (MoRE).

Every altar has a minister standing beside it. The minister in a civil government is often called a 'clerk' or an 'official'. The minister has duties connected with the altar, and he can only stand at the altar while he is trusted to serve according to his prescribed duties. The minister does not have complete property rights over the property which came as a burnt offering. In the view of the minister, the item which came to the altar is an item of value, and if he acts according to his good conscience, he dares not steal it from its rightful owner (the superior being or corporation for whom he acts as a trustee).

In the case of a church minister, he has the duty to commune with the Father in heaven, to do His will regarding the offering which came to him as a burnt offering, and this is just the same Jesus did, during His earthly ministry, as He was doing the will of the Father. The Father did not lead Jesus to dole out benefits to those who refused to consider and do according to the Law of the Almighty in heaven. And the church minister carefully weighs the situation before he administers welfare assistance, using items from the altar of Christ as provisions and benefits given out freely (with no strings attached, and without exercising authority over the recipient of the benefit).

The church minister may use a computer system, or he may use a hand-written system for keeping records. He will need to consider guidelines while he interacts with those who approach the altar of Christ. He certainly has a religious duty related to welfare. He is also a singer who proclaims the good news.

Look what Jesus did in Luke 9. He asked His disciples to go preach the kingdom of God, because that was part of the Father's business. Did they load up the stuff which came the altar? No, they traveled without lots of stuff, and when they were greeted by kingdom seekers, they were given what they needed on their journey. That which was given to them was charity, to support the work of the disciples during their journey. It was not a burnt offering, in that case, since it was given by the seeker directly to the disciple for his own use.

What, then, is the proper use of items that came to the altar? And how is the burnt offering delivered?

It is for purposes of pure religion.

It is given in the context of a trust, with its trustee (deacon/minister) standing at his place to oversee all burnt offerings. A righteous manner of giving becomes the altar of Christ. If it is given by a manner of 'strange fire', the good trustee rejects it, and he does not let it touch the altar of Christ, so that the altar may remain pure and holy.

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In Numbers 28, we find words like offering and burnt offering. The word for offering in the Hebrew is qorban. The word for burnt offering is olah. Both words indicate sacrifice, but the latter includes the idea of holocaust (going up in smoke). Another Hebrew word, ishshah, also indicates burnt offering, since it is made by fire. Numbers 28:2 "Command the children of Israel, and say unto them, My offering [qorban], and my bread for my sacrifices made by fire [ishshah], for a sweet savour unto me, shall ye observe to offer [qarab] unto me in their due season." Qorban and qarab both have the idea of coming near.

The reason for gathering together in a congregation of record includes purposes of drawing nearer to God, and He wants His children to come with them some of the blessings He has graced upon them along the way in their journey of life. We are to cast them upon the waters, which is to say, we are to share them, to make them available whenever a minister discovers a worthy soul who needs healing or comfort or assistance to get him back onto the path of diligence and righteousness. The burnt offering is at hand when the minister discovers, in the moment, it is time to distribute from the altar of Christ in the manner of ministry which is pleasing to the Father.

The manner of casting this bread upon the waters includes these aspects:

• It is a voluntary gift, given from a cheerful heart by one who gladly shares his wealth;
• it is a gift given for reasons of repentance, gratitude, love and mercy;
• it is a gift that is useful (i.e, it is not rubbish, in the eyes of the giver);
• it is a gift which, from God's way of seeing it, is not blemished;
• it is an item which the giver owned, until the time he gave it as a burnt offering.

These aspects, together with all aspects of justice and humility, are innately part of the holy fire which make the burnt offering acceptable.

Numbers 28 also mentions a drink offering and a meat offering. What are these? The drink offering in the Hebrew text is nesek. The meat offering in the Hebrew is minchah. They are different from the burnt offering. These will be a future topic. This page is a work-in-progress.

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