to the Lord, and so did Abraham (Gen. 8:20; 22:13). It is possible that this is the offering that Abel brought to the Lord (see Gen. 4:4). Besides the voluntary, spontaneous offerings (the context here),2 the law demanded that this sacrifice should be made every morning and evening. It was also the most important sacrifice required on the feast days (see Num. 28–29). Much of what we read in Leviticus concerning the slaughter of animals is so alien to those of us who invariably buy our meat from the