The rich variety of sacrifices described in the Torah reveals a far more beautiful and relational pattern — a way for humanity to draw near to God in gratitude, worship, restoration, and communion. Each category of sacrifice served a different purpose, and remarkably, each finds its ultimate fulfillment in the life, death, and ongoing ministry of Jesus.

The Old Testament’s Sacrificial System

The Peace Offering (Zevach Shelamim), for example, was about fellowship. It was a shared meal between God, the priest, and the worshiper — a symbol of restored relationship and joyful communion. In Jesus, this offering comes to life most vividly at the Last Supper and through the ongoing practice of the Lord’s Table, where believers symbolically eat and drink in fellowship with Christ, celebrating reconciliation and peace through Him (or at least this is the intended way to celebrate, as opposed to the often dull, quiet, and somber atmosphere commonly experienced when this practice is observed in churches today).

The Gift Offering (Minchah) — typically grain, oil, or incense — was an expression of gratitude, devotion, and generosity. It acknowledged God as the provider of life’s blessings. In Christ, we see this heart of gratitude embodied. His life was a constant offering of thanksgiving to the Father (John 17:4), and through Him, believers are called to offer not just gifts of grain but the very gift of their lives as a “living sacrifice” (Romans 12:1), pleasing to God. Living sacrifice is not for its own sake for consistently for the sake of loving others.

The Burnt Offering (Olah) symbolized total surrender. The entire animal was consumed on the altar, representing complete dedication to God. Jesus fulfills this in the most profound way — giving not just part of Himself, but His whole life, holding nothing back, fully surrendered to the will of the Father even unto death on a cross (Philippians 2:8). In Him, we see the perfect Olah — a life wholly offered for God’s glory.

The Purification Offering (Hatta’at) was not primarily about punishment but about cleansing impurity — removing from the altar anything that would defile God’s dwelling among His people. Jesus fulfills this as the one whose blood purifies us—the new temple—from all sin (1 John 1:7), not because God needed violence, but because humanity needed His blood to cleanse and purify enabling us to dwell again in God’s presence.

Finally, the Guilt Offering (Asham) dealt with reparations — restoring what was lost or broken, often accompanied by restitution to the offended party. In Christ, this finds fulfillment as He not only forgives sin but restores what sin has damaged — reconciling humanity to God and healing the wounds of a fractured creation. Christ’s eternal blood offered by humanity and accepted by God symbolizes the Asham.

Each offering in the Old Testament was a shadow — a symbol pointing forward. In Jesus, they are not discarded but fulfilled, elevated, and perfected. The cross is not merely about covering sin — it is about peace, thanksgiving, surrender, cleansing, and restoration. In Christ, every category of sacrifice finds its true and final meaning — not in violence for violence’s sake, but in love poured out to bring humanity home.

Now, let’s examine the last two kinds of offerings in greater details.

Purification Offering (hata’at)

Depending on the English translation of the Bible you use, the Hebrew word Hata’at is sometimes translated “Sin Offering,” but this name can be misleading. Linguistically, Hata’at may derive from het (sin) or hite (to cleanse, purify). Many commentators and Jewish scholars often prefer the translation “Purification Offering,” as the primary focus of the Hata’at ritual was not appeasing God but purifying space—the sanctuary, the altar, and the people.

Even when a personal sin was involved, the focus of the Hata’at offering was not on the worshiper’s guilt but on the impurity caused by sin’s consequences. That impurity was seen as contaminating the sacred dwelling of God among His people. In other words, sin left behind a residue—a spiritual defilement that needed to be cleansed, not punished.

What purified that defilement? Not the death of the animal. Not the pain or the loss. It was the blood—life’s sacred symbol—that was applied like holy antiseptic to the altar, veil, and sanctuary furniture. The blood made the space clean again. Only then could the divine presence continue to dwell in the midst of Israel.

This point becomes beautifully clear in Leviticus 14, during the ritual for cleansing a metsora (a person with a skin disease). Once healed, the individual was reintroduced into the camp only after a ritual that included the Hata’at. Here, sin is not the issue at all—there is no moral guilt. And yet, a sin offering is made. Why? Because the offering is not about moral fault—it is about removing symbolic death and restoring one to communal life and divine proximity.

Thus, the Hata’at does not speak of condemnation, but reunion. It is not an act of divine vengeance, but divine hospitality. Blood is not spilled to satisfy anger—it is offered to cleanse what sin had darkened.

The New Testament ascribes the Hata’at to Jesus:

God made him who had no sin to be sin [hamartia — same word used in LXX Hata’at] for us…

2 Corinthians 5:21

This logic is carried forward in Hebrews (10:10; 9:14) and again in Revelation:

They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

Revelation 7:14

The blood of Jesus, like the blood of the Hata’at, cleanses and purifies. It does not appease divine wrath. It restores the soul and cleanses the sanctuary of the human heart. It does not absorb punishment—it removes the distance.

Guilt Offering (asham)

The second sacrifice associated with sin is the Asham, often translated “Guilt Offering.” But this offering, too, is misunderstood if read through the lens of modern Western law. It was not an act of retribution or substitution—it was a ritual of restitution.

The Asham was required when someone had wronged another person or unintentionally violated something sacred. It addressed not just the spiritual aspect of sin, but the social and economic implications. If a person cheated another, or mishandled something dedicated to God, the Asham offering was required—but so was repayment and often an additional twenty percent (Leviticus 5:14–6:7).

The emphasis was not on pain or death—it was on restoration.

Sin here was not a cosmic crime demanding bloodshed, but a breach of trust, a fracture in covenant fidelity. And the appropriate response was not suffering, but reconciliation. The Asham restored what had been taken. It mended what had been torn.

Even here, the death of the animal was secondary. What mattered was that the worshiper made amends. The offering was part of the process—not the centerpiece. This reveals something profound: atonement in Israel was relational, not transactional.

Isaiah 53 is a known prophecy about the Messiah dying for our sins (also quoted in the New Testament pointing to Jesus). Verse 10 uses “Asham” to describe Messiah’s atonement: “…his soul makes an offering for guilt (Asham)…”.

Just as the guilty party in Israel brought forward their offering, the New Testament presents Jesus as the one in whom humanity is reconciled with God—not by absorbing divine fury, but by embodying divine mercy. As Paul writes:

God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their sins against them.

2 Corinthians 5:19

This is the Asham logic fulfilled—not punishment, but peace-making. Not abuse, but restitution.

Notice that none of Israel’s sacrifices were killed by God. It was always us. Sinners ended Jesus’ life; God resurrected Him. This is also but the New Testament authors claimed:

…you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead…

Acts 2:23-24

You killed the Author of life, but God raised him from the dead. 2.

Acts 3:15

…Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead…

Acts 4:10

The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead—whom you killed by hanging him on a cross.

Acts 5:30

The claims of the apostles are in direct opposition to teachings that assert it was God who caused Jesus’ death. In fact, they demonstrate that such teachings are heretical.

This was a complimentary excerpt from my new book, “Mighty to Save: A Jewish Perspective on Jesus’ Atonement and Redemption.”