For several months, I’ve been trying to get my mind around what is often called the burnt offering in the Old Covenant. The reason for this is that Jeff Myers mentioned in an article on Theopolis that he mistranslated the Hebrew word ʿōlâ, in his excellent book on worship Lord’s Day Service. Instead of translating ʿōlâ burnt offering, it should be translated as ascension offering. This small change helps us understand what is taking place in worship.

It’s not that burnt offering isn’t similar, but the word ʿōlâ, means “to ascend.”

It is James Jordan, who Myers credits in the article I cannot find, that helps us understand this simple change.

Jordan writes:

“Though the Ascension offering is indeed all burned up, the word in Hebrew (ʿōlâ) means ‘go up’ or ‘ascend.’ We need to link this offering with all the many times people go up on a mountain to meet God, up into an upper room, or up to a rooftop, or ‘up on the altar.’ Similarly, though the Tribute offering in Leviticus 2 consists of grain, the Hebrew word (minchah) means ‘gift or tribute,’ and ‘tribute’ is the better word to use when presenting a require gift to a king. Moreover, in Numbers the Tribute offering has wine added to it, so ‘Grain/Meal/Cereal offering’ is not a good term to use for this offering. The sequence of the two offerings mean that we ascend to God’s throne and present our gifts to Him, which He accepts. This fundamental meaning of the offerings is completely obscured by the common mistranslations of the two key terms.”

Here is an example of burnt offering in Scripture that should be translated ascension offering. Noah is ascending into the presence of God.

Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar (Genesis 8:20).

The point is that we are truly ascending in worship into the presence of God. Not that we go up to meet Him, as so many try in other religions, but He carries us up by the power of the Spirit, up Mt. Zion (Hebrews 12), into His presence, to meet with Him, be cleansed by Him, be fed by Him, and then sent back out again, by Him.