The Sacrifices in Leviticus

The book of Leviticus describes a variety of sacrifices and offerings to go with them. The book and its sacrifices are designed to answer the Israelite question, 

"Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent?

Who may live on your holy mountain?"

(Psalm 15:1.)

The first chapters of Leviticus cover five types of sacrifices. The sacrifices could include both a sacrifice of blood (ritual slaughter of an animal) or a sacrifice of some cereal (in which yeast was prohibited.)

• The ascension sacrifice ("burnt offering, olah) involved burning an animal entirely, and through that burning, bringing the animal into God's presence.
• The grain offering ("tribute", minchah) involved burning grain in flour and oil. A portion of the cereal mix was burned; the rest was given to the priests. In the agricultural world of the ANE, a grain offering represented a thanksgiving for good harvests. (The grain offering could be enhanced by a "libation offering" (Leviticus 23:12-13) in which wine was poured onto the grain. 
• A fellowship (or "peace") offering (shelem) was an act of communion, in which the family ate with the priests, representing communion with God. A fellowship offering could be a way of expressing thanks to God for some particular blessing.
• A purification (or "sin", chatta'ah) offering was offered to atone for an unintentional sin or some type of uncleanness.
• A guilt ("reparation", ashmah) offering included reparation for some act of damage -- generally a full reparation plus 20% penalty, along with an animal sacrifice were included.

Morales argues that the sacrifices in Leviticus were to allow humans to enter God's presence in some way, turning the Tabernacle into the Tent of Meeting. (The Hebrew word for "offering" is qorban.) The first three offerings (says Morales) were intended to be voluntary and done in worship. The last two were to atone for various sins.

The ritual slaughter of an animal, which involved a considerable amount of blood, was explained by Leviticus 17:11, 

"For the life of a creature is in the blood, 

and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; 

it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life."

More details are offered in the following links.

• A Field Guide to Leviticus... offered by an organization called "1517",
• The Offerings in Leviticus... by Wayne Stiles,
• A GotQuestions article on the Old Testament sacrifices.

Most of this material is strange to the modern mind. As Morales emphasizes, for the Israelite after the Exodus, this process prepared the way for sinful humans to finally be able to commune with a righteous God.