The LORD called to Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting. He said, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When anyone among you brings an offering to the LORD, bring as your offering an animal from either the herd or the flock. Leviticus 1:1-2

Leviticus outlines all the different types of offerings that must be given.

• BURNT OFFERING – gift offering.of worship, more expensive.
• GRAIN OFFERING – gift offering of worship, a little cheaper.
• FELLOWSHIP OFFERING – accompanied with a confession or a vow.
• SIN OFFERING – involuntary sin (touches something unclean, swears rashly
• RESTITUTION OFFERING (Peace) – unintentional sin that involved payback.

Offerings are basically tithes given through animals and grain, the commodity of their day. Gift offerings showed love and worship. Sin offerings showed repentance for sins committed.

What about the intentional sins?

Sometimes intentional sins called for justice—stoning to death for example for missing a Sabbath or having sex with a virgin that was not your wife.

But in some cases intentional sins could be paid through offerings.

The LORD said to Moses: “If anyone sins and is unfaithful to the LORD by deceiving a neighbor about something entrusted to them or left in their care or about something stolen, or if they cheat their neighbor, or if they find lost property and lie about it, or if they swear falsely about any such sin that people may commit—when they sin in any of these ways and realize their guilt, they must return what they have stolen or taken by extortion, or what was entrusted to them, or the lost property they found, or whatever it was they swore falsely about. They must make restitution in full, add a fifth of the value to it and give it all to the owner on the day they present their guilt offering. And as a penalty they must bring to the priest, that is, to the LORD, their guilt offering, a ram from the flock, one without defect and of the proper value. In this way the priest will make atonement for them before the LORD, and they will be forgiven for any of the things they did that made them guilty.” Leviticus 6:1-7

Sacrifice means commitment, even if it hurts. God demanded great sacrifice from his people with these offerings, but he displayed it too, by offering his son Jesus for us as a sacrifice for our sins.