Burnt Offering עלה-Olah

We are going to start getting into the various types of animal sacrifices that were offered at the brazen altar to atone for sin. The first one is Olah in Hebrew and it is usually translated as the burnt offering. However, literally, it means “to ascend” or “go upward".

Some animal sacrifices are for individual sins and others are offered up for the whole nation of Israel. The Olah is a personal sacrifice and is offered up twice a day, in the morning and the evening. Depending on one’s economic status, one could sacrifice a bull, a sheep or goat, or a bird. The bull was considered to be the most expensive. However, it didn’t matter what the nature of the offense was, the atoning power of any of the aforementioned animals applied equally. Although the meat from other types of animal sacrifices could be eaten, the Olah was completely burned up. Since meat in ancient Israel was very expensive, it was quite a sacrifice (no pun intended) for a family to sacrifice a bull, sheep or goat.

Now the reason behind the Olah being offered up wasn’t for any particular sin per se. This offering was more to show that one had a contrite heart and was seeking to be on good terms with G-d. It was a show of commitment. A spiritual connection between this sacrifice and Abraham’s almost sacrifice of his son Isaac can be made. In the original Hebrew, G-d asked Abraham to offer up Isaac as an olah, a burnt sacrifice. However, G-d didn’t ask Abraham to offer up his son because of some sin that had been committed. It was about a total surrender and commitment to G-d. In a sense, the Olah is foundational and paves the way for the other sacrifices to be made, kind of like the daily membership fee one pays to be part of a club so that one may partake of the club’s benefits.

In closing, it should be mentioned that the animal chosen has to be a male, one-year old and without defect. Furthermore, the worshipper is himself responsible for cutting the animal’s throat, skinning it and then cutting it up into pieces where they are placed on the altar after it has been sanctified by the blood.

Through Yeshua, let us offer up our own spiritual olah to show our commitment to G-d.

Amen.