The Olah Mystery & What It Has To Do With Your Life | Jonathan Cahn Sermon
The Profound Mystery of the Olah: How the Burnt Offering Reveals God’s Heart for Us
The sacrificial system of the Old Testament, especially as it unfolded in the Temple, is an area that many Christians know about but few truly understand its deeper mysteries. Today, let’s take a journey into the heart of the burnt offering, or the “olah” as it’s called in Hebrew, to uncover what it means for our lives and how it points us to the ultimate work of Jesus.
The Shadow of Something Greater
The Book of Hebrews is our starting point because it uncovers the link between the sacrifices of the Old Covenant and Jesus, the Messiah. In Hebrews 9:11-14, we learn that when Christ came, He didn’t enter a man-made tabernacle with the blood of goats and calves. Instead, He came as the High Priest, entering the heavenly holy place with His own blood to secure eternal redemption. The writer of Hebrews is clear: the temple sacrifices were shadows pointing toward a greater reality.
While the blood of animals could temporarily sanctify and cleanse the body, only the precious blood of Messiah could cleanse our conscience “from dead works to serve the living God.” All those sacrifices and rituals pointed forward to something and Someone greater.
The Olah: The Burnt Offering Explained
Among all Old Testament sacrifices, the burnt offering stands out. Known as the “olah,” this offering was unique because it was completely consumed on the altar. Nothing was left of it it was a total, fiery surrender. Unlike other offerings, the olah even existed before the Law of Moses was given. You’ll find it throughout Scripture, having existed since the very beginnings of our recorded faith journey.
The reason it’s called the “whole offering” is that it represented complete surrender an offering fully devoted and consumed for God. No part was held back.
The Binding of Isaac: A Prophetic Glimpse
To truly grasp the depth of the olah, we turn to one of the most dramatic narratives in all the Bible: Genesis 22. Here, God tells Abraham to take his beloved son Isaac and offer him as a burnt offering on Mount Moriah. Abraham’s obedience, Isaac’s silent submission, and God’s ultimate intervention hold layers of prophetic significance.
Abraham, the father, places the wood of the sacrifice what would later become a powerful foreshadowing of the cross upon Isaac’s shoulders. Isaac, the son, carries the wood to the place of his own sacrifice, just as Jesus would one day carry His cross to Golgotha. When Isaac asks, “Where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham’s faith-filled reply is monumental: “God will provide for Himself the lamb.”
The First Holocaust: The Sacrificial Link
When the ancient rabbis translated the Hebrew Bible into Greek, the olah became “holocaustos” the whole burnt offering. Think about that word: holocaust. In the Septuagint, the translation reads, “Offer him as a holocaust.” Here, Isaac through whom the entire nation of Israel would come was symbolically placed on the altar. The symbolism deepens when we realize Israel’s historic suffering, including the horrific events in the 20th century, echoed this image of a people led to sacrifice, often under the weight of injustice and evil. However, while the enemy twisted the concept of sacrifice for destruction, in God’s hands the olah points toward redemption.
This powerful image ties the destiny of Israel and, by extension, all God’s people to the lamb. Isaac’s life is spared because God provides a substitute. In this, the Jewish nation, as “the people of the lamb,” is forever linked to this divine picture of substitution, redemption, and mercy.
The Centrality of the Lamb
From the very beginning, God teaches His people that true deliverance comes through the lamb. At the first Passover in Egypt, each household is spared judgment by the blood of an unblemished lamb. Just as Israel was saved by the lamb during the exodus, so too would all people find ultimate salvation through the Messiah, the true Lamb of God.
Without the lamb, there is only wandering, suffering, and bearing the weight of judgment alone. This has been the painful journey of Israel’s exile, where, in a sense, the people have walked in the shadow of the Messiah, enduring scorn, rejection, and unspeakable pain. Yet, this suffering also testifies to the very model and mission of Messiah “despised and rejected,” “a lamb led to the slaughter” echoes from Isaiah’s prophetic vision of the suffering servant.
A Rabbinic Glimpse of the Messiah
It’s not just Christian theology that perceives this link. Ancient rabbinical writings, sometimes unwittingly, reveal profound truths. Some describe Messiah entering a mystical “hall of suffering,” where He takes upon Himself the pains and infirmities of His people. Others discuss how, while sacrifices once removed disease and judgment, now it’s the Messiah Himself who accomplishes this work.
Although much of modern Jewish teaching may reject these ideas, the ancient voices saw in Isaiah 53 the foreshadowing of one who would bear iniquity and suffering for others. Whether they realized it or not, they were describing the same Messiah Christians know as Jesus Yeshua the one sacrifice offered for all.
The Prophetic Parallel: Abraham and God the Father
Genesis 22 doesn’t just narrate an ancient event; it prophetically mirrors God’s redemptive plan. Let’s look closer:
- Abraham, the father, is willing to offer Isaac, his “only son whom he loves.” God, the Father, gives His “only begotten son” out of love for the world.
- Isaac carries the wood for his own sacrifice. Jesus carries His cross to Calvary.
