There are five major offerings described in the Old Testament (Leviticus 1-5): burnt, meat, peace, sin, and trespass. One them, the meat offering, does not use an animal sacrifice. The other four do. However, the offerings differ in whether the animals are to be male or female. Here is how they are specified. The burnt offering is to be a male (Leviticus 1:3, 10). The peace offering can be either male or female (Leviticus 3:1, 6). The sin offering is to be male when offered for "a ruler" of the people (Leviticus 4:22-23) but a female when offered for "one of the common people" (Leviticus 4:27-28). Finally, the trespass offering is to be a female (Leviticus 5:6). The question is why.
"Honor: A History," a new book written by James Bunting, deals with the importance of honor as a concept in the past and the loss of that sense of honor today. The Bible commonly uses honor (spelled "honour") in the sense of giving honor to someone else (as to God) or receiving honor from others (as in honoring our father and mother). The closest Bible word for what is meant by a sense of honor is the word honourable. To be honourable is to receive honor or to be worthy of receiving honor. Samuel was introduced to Saul as a man of God and "an honourable man" (1Samuel 9:6). Jabez, who prayed and received answer to his prayer, was "more honourable than his brethren" (1Chronicles 4:9). Joseph of Arimathaea was "an honourable counsellor, which also waited for the kingdom of God" (Mark 15:43). Honor is the opposite of shame in the Bible. Therefore, a sense of honor involves living in such a way as to avoid shameful acts and associations. The emphasis in the Bible on having a "good name" (Proverbs 22:1; Ecclesiastes 7:1) embodies the idea of that sense of honor; that determination to act in an honourable way. George Washington was famous for the importance he placed on his reputation and honor. We long to see such honor today.
Note: What follows is an introduction I just wrote to a lesson on Mark 6:1-26 entitled "Changes in the Ministry of Christ." I thought it might be an encouragement to someone who is presently going through some great changes.
One of the results of possession by evil spirits in the maniac of Gadara was self-mutilation. Mark 5:5 describes his actions: "And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones." A recent survey of college students has determined that 20% of women and 14% of men "have cut, burned, carved or harmed themselves in other ways." This refers to behavior which inflicts harm without the intent of suicide. "The most common methods reported by both young men and women were scratching to the point of bleeding, cutting or punching with the intent of causing injury." This is not to say that all of these young people are possessed. However, it does reflect on the satanic influence in our society. In the case of the maniac, when the devils were cast out, he was found "sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind" (Luke 8:35). We need to be taking our youth to the feet of Jesus instead of immersing them in the culture of the devil.
Alfred Edersheim wrote a major life of Christ called "The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah." Edersheim's Jewish heritage gave him interesting insights into many of the beliefs and ways of life during the time of Christ. In his book (Vol.11, p.12), he wrote of the Jewish traditions concerning the defilement of hands and the accusation that Jesus did not keep these traditions (as recorded in Mark 7:1-9).
