Olah and Job
“…one of the most common sacrifices in Scripture is the OLAH, what is commonly translated burnt offering or whole burnt offering, but the word OLAH literally means “going up.” The “going up offering” or Ascension Offering reveals a foundational clue to all sacrifice. It establishes a central goal of every offering by fire. When a blameless animal is sacrificed, the blameless animal is going up, going up to God in smoke. God loves the perfect, he loves the blameless, and he loves them in his presence. He loves them and wants them to commune with him.
And this begins to push the book of Job into new directions and make better sense of the overall narrative. Job is declared “blameless” in the prologue three times (1:1, 8, 2:3). Job is perfect, without blemish, and if we have been reading our Bibles carefully, we should realize that this means that Job is an excellent candidate for a sacrificial victim. Yahweh is blameless and attracted to the blameless, and he looks for ways to bring them nearer, to draw them up into his presence, but the path is always through dismemberment and fire…
The point of justification is sacrifice. The point of being declared “without blemish” is that we are now qualified to be dismembered and arranged on the altar.”
Toby Sumpter, Prequalified Sacrifices, Credenda/Agenda
