Hence, from the perspective of the Pentateuchal narratives (and much of the rest of the Old Testament), liturgical worship is built into the very structure of creation. God sends forth his gracious Word and Spirit (Gen 1:2–3, Ps 33:6), thereby bringing about the created order and communicating to it a reflection of his divine glory. As a great cosmic tabernacle, creation functions as an arena of embodied and reflected glory. This divinely established order reflects back to God his goodness and glory in a sacrifice of praise. In this protological order, humanity exemplifies this glory through its priestly ministrations in the maintenance of creation. Through these activities, they express the divine image of glory within them. The Israelite tabernacle/temple and its liturgy are merely restorations of this order among the particular worshiping community of the chosen people, who function as the new Adam and Eve.
Such sacrificial worship of praise carried out in Eden is restored and receives a more concrete form in the Israelite tabernacle. Israel, as we have seen, prefigures Christ and is called to be the image of the restored Adam. If the true human vocation is to preside over the tabernacle of creation as its true priestly ruler, then the Aaronic high priest must be the highest representative of the true humanity, Israel. Crispin H. T. Fletcher-Louis summarizes a lengthy list of ways in which the high priest embodies Adam and true humanity taken from both scripture and post-biblical Jewish commentaries:
The High Priest is obviously a human being. He is the new Adam, wearing the garments that Adam lost on leaving Eden, doing what Adam failed to do in the temple-as-restored-Eden. He represents, or embodies the people of God, Israel (who are, in turn, the true humanity); wearing on his breastpiece and lapels the names of the twelve tribes of Israel (Exod 28:9–21). He brings humanity and Israel to God. He also brings the cosmos, the created world, to God since this is represented by his garments in its various parts.100
As a mediator and representative of Israel before God and Israel, the priestly mediator offered up thank-offerings as an expression of praise for God’s graciousness in the form of his gifts of creation and redemption. This is the first major category of sacrifice that Leviticus discusses. Within this category, Leviticus gives the subdivisions of burnt offerings (Lev 1, 6:8–13, 8:18–21, 16:24), grain offerings (Lev 2, 6:14–23), and fellowship offerings (Lev 3, 7:11–34).
After the Fall, it is necessary for sacrifice to also take on the functions of confirming covenants and making atonement for sin.101 “Gather to me my faithful ones, who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!” (Ps 50:5). These two functions are tied up with binding together two parties whose relationship has been broken. This takes the form of either binding by the promise of grace, or reconciling one party via an act of atonement. We will first discuss how covenantal sacrifice functions and then move onto the question of atoning sacrifice.102
According to Scott Hahn, the sacrifices that establish a covenant function in such a way as to represent the content of the covenant, particularly in regard to the curses that would accompany it if not fulfilled.103 Hahn posits this interpretation because he mainly (though not exclusively) understands the covenant sacrifices in light of the ancient practice of fealty oaths which also involved sacrifice. The biblical texts describe such sacrifices (often in a manner that directly parallels secular practice!) as occurring between YHWH and Israel/the patriarchs. Nevertheless, whereas the fealty oaths were about the subjection of the lesser party to the greater party (law), most of God’s covenant sacrifices are concerned with the promise of blessing and redemption (gospel). Hence, they are more often meant to convey God’s own subjection to Israel and not Israel’s subjection to God. For this reason, it will be our argument that it is therefore fitting to read the symbolism of the sacrifice as prefiguring the ultimate fulfillment of redemption and grace that they promise. Reading scriptures, as it has been our method, we therefore must take the content of all covenants as being Christ. Indeed, as the Apostle Paul writes, Christ is the “yes” to all of God’s promises (2 Cor 1:21). Therefore below we will observe how each covenant and covenantal ceremony points ahead to the advent of Christ.
From the very beginning of Old Testament history, covenants were established by an act of sacrifice. After the Fall, God covered Adam and Eve’s shame by clothing them with the skins of animals (Gen 3:21). This occurs in connection with the promise of a redeemer (v. 15).104 The redeemer will reestablish Adam and Eve in a state of life and freedom. He will cover their shame and he will return to them dominion over the animals (in that he will strike the head of the serpent in 3:15). It should not go unnoticed that one of the possible meanings of the Hebrew word kap·pêr (commonly translated as “atone”) is to “cover.”105 This is also signified by the fact that animals are killed to make their clothing, suggesting (as it will become explicit in the Noahic covenant) that their dominion on the earth is being reaffirmed in their ability to kill animals.
This promise of deliverance of the whole of creation from the power of sin and its condemnation comes again in Genesis 8 and 9 in the form of the Noahic covenant. Prior to the flood Noah is told that he will be blessed by the promise of the protevangelium given to Adam and Eve, whereas the rest of the earth will perish: “But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark” (6:18).106 In light of the fact that we are told of no other covenants than the one established with Adam and Eve in Genesis 3:15, we must assume that it is the same covenant as the protevangelium. After the flood, Noah makes a burnt offering (8:20). The burnt offering of animals is significant because it symbolizes the blessing of being given dominion over the animals in Genesis 1:28.107 In effect, Noah and his sons are also given the same blessings that Adam and Eve receive: “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered” (Gen 9:1–2). God sets his “bow” in the sky, thereby establishing his promise of peace with every living creature (vv. 12–17).
The question nonetheless still remains as to how God will establish universal peace with his fallen creation. One must refer back to the promise of the coming “seed,” which will reverse the effects of sin and make the establishment of universal peace possible. More specifically, Genesis 9 posits that God’s promise of the “seed” for the restoration of universal dominion and life is given to Shem and his line (vv. 26–27). Shem will be blessed and Japheth will live in his tents. What this suggests is that Shem (the progenitor of the Semitic peoples) will finally reunite all creation in his universal reign and blessing. This includes the incorporation of the descendants of Japheth, who is the progenitor of the majority of the Gentiles.108 Throughout the Old Testament, this coming of the messianic reign is anticipated in both Joseph’s reign in Egypt (who has a coat of many colors like the rainbow and who reigns over both Egyptian Gentiles and Semites, see Gen 41–50).109 It should also be observed that Solomon reigns over a kingdom of Israelites