And you shall burn the whole ram on the altar. It is a burnt offering to the LORD; it is a sweet aroma,
an offering made by fire to the LORD.
Exodus 29:18*
“Holocaust” is a powerful word that evokes emotions and means “great destruction.” The most common use of the word today is to refer to the Nazi genocide of European Jewry in WWII. It is interesting to note that the word was used for the first time in this manner in 1965 (20 years after WWII ended).
The word comes to English from the Greek word “holokauston” which means “a thing wholly burnt.” It was the word of choice for “burnt offering” when the Septuagint was translated from Hebrew in the 3rd century BC.
The burnt offering was one of the three “sweet-smelling” sacrifices that were well-pleasing to the LORD. It was set apart from other oblations in three important ways:
1. Voluntary – the offerer wanted to give this to God.
2. Act of Worship – It was a gift to God to show appreciation.
3. Totally Consumed – The entire animal was burnt to ash, nothing remained.
The Jewish Holocaust fulfilled none of these criteria, but Christ’s sacrifice on the cross fulfilled them all:
1. The Lamb of God volunteered to give His life to save the human race; no one made Him do it.
2. The Savior’s sacrifice of love was clearly done to glorify God.
3. Jesus gave everything He had and held nothing back. He suffered the shame and the torment without saying a word. He was tortured and killed, but didn’t resist.
God had no real pleasure when animals were burnt on altars in the Old Testament (Hebrews 10:6). However, He was thoroughly pleased when the Son of God gave Himself as a Burnt Offering.
*There are a total of 261 references to the burnt offering found throughout the Bible.
October 12
