GOD TAKES NOTE OF OUR SACRIFICES

"OFFER TO GOD A SACRIFICE OF THANKSGIVING AND PAY YOUR VOWS TO THE MOST HIGH" PSALM 50:14

As New Testament believers filled with grace and freedom, we look backwards into the Old Testament and are somewhat mystified by the exactness of the Law, the consequences for breaking the Law, and the tedious rules and regulations for a nation to follow. Within its pages are instructions for community living, for personal living, and for religious living. To approach a Holy God, we find laws for the various sacrifical offerings: through grain, peace, sin, guilt, and burnt offerings. Each type of offering carries its own set of rules. For instance, the grain offerings have a different set of rituals dependng upon whether the offering is baked in an oven OR made on a griddle OR made in a pan OR if it is fresh grain roasted in the fire. There is an entire tribe of Israel, the Levites, dedicated to serving the nation as priests to perform the duties of the sacrifices.

In the midst of reading Deuteronomy, Leviticus, and of Numbers, a lengthy passage highlighed a wonderful thought: God takes note of our sacrifices--each and every one of them. The prime example for this is found in Numbers 7. Eighty-nine verses are written to describe the sacrifices brought to the tent of meeting to dedicate the altar. For 12 consecutive days a leader from each of the 12 tribes of Israel brings an offering before the Lord. The interesting thing: they each bring THE EXACT SAME THING:

--1 silver dish weighing 130 shekels filled with flour for a grain offering.
--1 silver bowl weighing 70 shekels filled with flour and oil for a grain offering.
--1 gold pan weighing 10 shekels full of incense.
--1 bull, 1 ram, 1 male lamb for a burnt offering.
--1 male goat for a sin offering.
--2 oxen, 5 rams, 5 male goats, and 5 male lambs for a peace offering.

Every 6 verses it lists the name of the leader bringing the offering and then the same list of each offering for each day. In today's world we would copy and paste the text to speed up things. Most writings would simply summarize the whole event in 2 to 3 lines. Even the footnote at the bottom of the page of my study bible has the description to this text as "the almost monotonous repetition" of items brought, but when God repeats in His Word, we are to take note because He is trying to tell us something. The message: He takes great delight in each and every sacrifice we give in order to honor Him.

In the New Testament, Jesus, the exact representation of God, takes note of another sacrifice: the widow's mite. The widow placed 2 small copper coins into the offering plate at the Temple, the equivalent of about a penny. Rich people were giving out of their surplus but she gave "all she had to live on." (Mark 12:44)

The two stories are stories in contrast. In the Old Testament, it was prominent leaders of Israel, recorded by name and by tribe, coming before the Lord and the nation to dedicate the altar in great wealth; in the New Testament it was a nameless widow giving out of poverty and humbleness. In the Old Testament it was a 12 day ceremony with much pomp and circumstance; in the New Testament it was only Jesus who noticed the widow drop her two coins into the treasury. But don't be mistaken: both types of sacrifices were costly. For the altar dedication, riches and wealth were attached to the offering. For the widow, however, she gave generously within her poverty because she gave everything she had. After all, where would her next meal come from?

What about you? what have you sacrificed on the altar today for the God of the Universe to take notice? What is He asking you to give up that is costly to you? Time? Energy? Money? Career? Standing out in the crowd for Jesus? As King David said, "I will not...offer a burnt offering which costs me nothing." (I Chronicles 20:24). Whatever it is, remember this: God sacrificed His only Son so that you might relationship and restoration with Him. He gave up His all, His best, for us. We should follow His example and do the same.