A votive offering is a gift or offering made in fulfillment of a vow or pledge to God. In the Bible, votive offerings were common practices in both Old and New Testament times. Here is a 9000 word overview of what the Bible teaches about votive offerings:
Votive Offerings in the Old Testament
In the Old Testament, the law of Moses provided regulations for various types of votive offerings that could be made to God.
Vow Offerings
One common votive offering was the vow offering. A vow was a voluntary promise or pledge made to God. According to Leviticus 27:2, when someone made a special vow to the Lord involving a person, animal, or family land, they were to fulfill whatever they had promised in their vow.
The regulations for vows are described in Leviticus 27. For example, Leviticus 27:3-7 established monetary valuations for persons according to age and gender. Someone dedicating a family member to the Lord through a vow was required to pay the valuation price.
Likewise, valuations were set for clean and unclean animals (Leviticus 27:9-13). The Lord instructed, “When someone dedicates their house as something holy to the Lord, the priest will judge its value according to the worth of the man making the vow.” (Leviticus 27:14).
Fields and crops were subject to valuation as well. For example, if someone dedicated their field during the Year of Jubilee, its full value was required. But if they dedicated the field after the Jubilee, the priest would calculate a price in proportion to the number of years left until the next Jubilee (Leviticus 27:16-25).
When vows involving persons, animals, houses, or lands were fulfilled according to the commanded valuation, the offerings became holy and belonged to the Lord.
Freewill Offerings
Another type of votive offering was the freewill offering. Whereas vow offerings were mandatory once pledged, freewill offerings were voluntary acts of worship.
Leviticus 22:18-30 outlines the regulations for freewill offerings of animals and grain. Acceptable animals had to be without defect or blemish (Leviticus 22:21-25). Thank offerings were a common freewill sacrifice (Leviticus 7:11-15).
Firstfruits offerings were a form of freewill offering involving the first and best fruits of the harvest (Deuteronomy 26:1-11). Israelites celebrating annual festivals like the Feast of Weeks were instructed to give freewill offerings in proportion to the blessings the Lord had given them (Deuteronomy 16:10).
Guilt Offerings and Sin Offerings
Guilt offerings and sin offerings could also be considered special votive offerings. Guilt offerings made atonement for situations where holy things were misused, such as when tithes were withheld from the Lord (Leviticus 5:14-16).
Sin offerings atoned for specific sins like lying, theft, sexual immorality, touching unclean things, and rash oaths (Leviticus 5:1 – 6:7).
Both guilt offerings and sin offerings required animal sacrifices and restitution payments. Once atonement was made through the votive offerings, forgiveness was granted.
Offerings of Gold, Silver, and Other Gifts
In addition to offerings involving people, animals, crops, and the like, freewill votive offerings were often made of valuable materials like silver, gold, gems, and crafted objects. For example, the Lord filled certain craftsmen like Oholiab with skill for constructing the tabernacle:
“He has filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, with intelligence, with knowledge, and with all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold and silver and bronze, in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, for work in every skilled craft.” (Exodus 35:31-33)
Exodus 38:24-31 records that the gold, silver, and bronze gifted for the tabernacle construction weighed many talents.
Likewise, when Solomon built the temple for the Lord in Jerusalem, the Bible records tremendous votive offerings of gold, silver, precious stones, bronze, iron, and other choice materials (1 Chronicles 29:1-9). For example:
“and they with whom precious stones were found gave them to the treasury of the house of the Lord, in the care of Jehiel the Gershonite. Then the people rejoiced because they had given willingly, for with a whole heart they had offered freely to the Lord.” (1 Chronicles 29:8-9)
Many of the kings of Israel and Judah also made rich votive offerings to the Lord when they sought to restore temple worship. For example, King Asa contributed votive offerings of silver, gold and utensils to the house of the Lord (2 Chronicles 15:18). King Jehoshaphat gave silver and livestock as votive offerings during a time of rejoicing and renewal (2 Chronicles 17:10-11).
King Hezekiah gave abundant votive offerings of silver, grain, tithes, and consecrated gifts for the priests during Passover and the reopening of the temple (2 Chronicles 31:2-12).
Josiah contributed votive offerings from his own possessions to fund repairs to the temple during a revival (2 Chronicles 34:8-13). The returning exiles under Zerubbabel gave valuables like gold and silver for reconstructing the temple (Ezra 2:68-70).
Purpose and Proper Motivation
While the Old Testament makes provision for diverse kinds of votive offerings to the Lord, the prophets continually stressed that God desires inward devotion over mere outward ritual. For instance:
“I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them…But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” (Amos 5:21-24)
“Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.” (1 Samuel 15:22)
The Psalms also connect proper motivation to votive offerings:
“Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and perform your vows to the Most High, and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.” (Psalm 50:14-15)
“I will come into your house with burnt offerings; I will perform my vows to you.” (Psalm 66:13)
Therefore, while God permitted regulations for all kinds of votive offerings in the Old Testament, He makes clear that obedience, justice, thanksgiving, and wholehearted devotion are more important than empty ritual.
Votive Offerings in the New Testament
The practice of making votive offerings continued into New Testament times. Jesus commented on the votive offerings or temple gifts that people made:
“As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box. He also saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others.” (Luke 21:1-3)
Jesus thus affirmed that the sincerity and proportionality of votive offerings mattered more than the monetary amount.
The apostles also encountered and participated in the ritual of temple votive offerings. For instance, Acts 21 describes Paul going to the temple where he symbolically undertook a Nazirite vow and paid for its associated offerings:
“The next day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present. After greeting them, he related one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. And when they heard it, they glorified God. And they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed. They are all zealous for the law, and they have been told about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or walk according to our customs…Then Paul took the men, and the next day he purified himself along with them and went into the temple, giving notice when the days of purification would be fulfilled and the offering presented for each one of them.” (Acts 21:18-26)
However, the book of Hebrews makes clear that Christ’s sacrifice makes all previous votive offerings for sin obsolete:
“But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant…In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.” (Hebrews 9:11-15)
“For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” (Hebrews 10:1-4)
Therefore, the New Testament view is that Christ fulfilled and completed all votive offerings and sacrificial systems as the perfect once-for-all sacrifice. Believers now offer spiritual sacrifices like praise, good works, and generosity:
“Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name… Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.” (Hebrews 13:15-16)
“As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:4-5)
While the outward ritual of votive offerings transitions away after Christ, the inner spirit of devotion and sacrifice continues in the lives of believers.
Principles for Application
Though votive offerings took on more ritualistic meaning in the Old Testament, several core principles emerge that remain relevant today:
1. Gifts to God should come from a cheerful heart, not compulsion. As Paul says, “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Corinthians 9:7)
2. Our offerings should be in proportion to what God has given us. As David said, “But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you.” (1 Chronicles 29:14)
3. The condition of our heart matters more to God than the amount we give. As Jesus said of the widow’s mites, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them.” (Luke 21:3)
4. Our offerings should be accompanied by justice, mercy and obedience. “To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.” (Proverbs 21:3)
5. Everything we have already belongs to God. Our giving recognizes His sovereignty. “Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all.” (1 Chronicles 29:11)
6. Our priority should be offering our bodies as living sacrifices to God. As Paul urges, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” (Romans 12:1)
7. We should continue giving offerings of praise, good works, generosity, and other spiritual sacrifices. “Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.” (Hebrews 13:15-16)
In summary, votive offerings were a common form of worship and consecration in both the Old and New Testament eras. While some of the outward rituals changed, especially after Christ fulfilled them, the inward spirit of wholehearted devotion and sacrifice continues. When we follow biblical principles for our giving, our offerings bless God and others.
Everyday Application
Here are some everyday applications of biblical principles related to votive offerings:
– We can dedicate our time, talents, or treasures to God through volunteering, serving, and giving to church and charity.
– We can pledge to fulfill personal vows to God like reading the Bible, memorizing Scripture, evangelizing, or becoming missionaries. We should prayerfully consider such vows, while also following through.
– Rather than give offerings out of guilt, we should give cheerfully and generously as God has blessed us. We give to honor God, not to earn His favor.
– We should periodically re-evaluate our giving and make sure it aligns with biblical priorities. Is our heart motivated by worship and obedience? Do we give sacrificially and excessively to entertainment or leisure rather than God’s work?
– We can dedicate each day to God through prayer and ask for His guidance in how to live as “living sacrifices” for His glory. We can renew our commitment to serving Christ and others.
– We can incorporate offerings of praise into our spiritual lives through worship, singing, thanksgiving, testimony, and exalting Christ. These are spiritual sacrifices God desires.
– Before participating in communion, we can reflect on Christ’s sacrifice that fulfilled all the old covenant sacrificial and votive systems. We remember that His blood alone cleanses us and grants access to God.
– Parents can teach children biblical principles of stewardship and sacrifice by allowing them to give some of their money/possessions away. This starts them on lifelong paths of generosity and votive giving.
– Churches could periodically teach about biblical giving principles to equip members with a theological vision for why and how we give God offerings in response to His grace.
In summary, while the ritual details of votive offerings shifted from old to new covenants, God still calls us to lives of wholehearted worship, obedience, thanksgiving, and sacrifice. By applying biblical principles, our offerings bring glory to God.