Part 6.1- Laws of the Offering
CHAPTER VI. THE LAWS OF THE OFFERINGS (Leviticus 6:8-30). IN this portion we have, according to the summary in Leviticus 7:37, " the law of the burnt offering, of the meat offering, and of the sin offering, and of the trespass offering, and of the consecrations; and of the sacrifice of the peace offerings."
Leviticus 6:8-13. The law of the burnt offering. "It is the burnt offering for the burning upon the altar all night unto the morning;" " the fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out." This is the declaration of perfect unceasing acceptance until its manifestation in resurrection, in the morning. It continues during the darkness of the whole night.
Leviticus 6:10. He shall take up the ashes from the altar, and put them beside the altar, and whilst doing this he shall have on his linen garments. While engaged with the remains of that which had been taken up by the fire to God, at the altar, and before the door of the tabernacle, that is, in the sight of God, the priest must be clothed in those garments which were indicative of the purity in which he was called to minister in the tabernacle. But when he was removing the ashes farther away into a clean place, he must put on other garments. The reason assigned for a like action in Ezekiel 44:19 is, " They shall not sanctify the people with their garments." These garments of linen were for glory and for beauty, and to minister before the Lord in the tabernacle and at the altar (Exodus 28:39-43; Leviticus 16:4; Exodus 20:26). But they belong only to the holy place before the Lord. The holiness, the glory, the beauty, is neither known nor seen on earth. The priest when taking the ashes away was clothed like other men, and so appeared in their sight. But the place to which the ashes were taken was a clean place without the camp. Thither the body of the sin offering was carried to be burnt, thither also we are commanded to go with Jesus, bearing His reproach ; for there He suffered in order that He might sanctify the people with His own blood.
Leviticus 6:12. But the priest shall burn wood on the altar every morning. So should we feel daily the power of Christ’s resurrection, and hold fast the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end.
He shall burn thereon the fat of the peace offerings. And this the Lord gives as part of the law of the burnt offering. For perfect acceptance and perfect peace go together, and our happiness consists in the unceasing realization of both.
Leviticus 6:14. The law of the meat offering. In the law of the burnt offering, the general command is addressed to Aaron and his sons. In that of the meat offering, it is said, " the sons of Aaron shall offer it;" and afterwards, "the remainder thereof shall Aaron and his sons eat."
Equal participation in that upon which we feed is here indicated. The memorial was to be burnt, as before noticed; the remainder to be eaten by Aaron and his sons with unleavened bread, in the holy place. So that the special point in this " law " is the equal right of all who have the anointing to feed upon Christ, but only in the holy place (Numbers 18:10), and with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. The unleavened bread shows not only what Christ is, but what we should be (1 Corinthians 5:8). This is said to be the portion given to the priests of the offerings made by fire; so that they fed on that which was known to be acceptable with God. "
It is a statute for ever." For it is in Christ that we shall ever know our acceptance with God, and our enjoyment of Him. "
Every one that toucheth them shall be holy." The Lord says, " I in them, and Thou in me." " As He is, so are we," being thus made partakers of the divine nature. For while Christ was made in all things like unto His brethren, He has made them in all things like unto Himself. Our nature is still human ; but in Him it is holy, spiritual, divine, restored to the image of God. And whereas holiness is here said to be the result, not of feeding upon the offerings in the holy place, but of simply coming into contact with them; so the virtue and power which is in Christ flows forth at the slightest touch of faith.
Leviticus 6:19. "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, ’This is the offering of Aaron and of his sons,’ which they shall offer unto the Lord, in the day when he is anointed." The directions for their consecration had been previously given (Exodus 29:1-46). The command to carry out these directions and its fulfillment may be found in Leviticus 8:1-36. Now the laws of the offerings in Leviticus 6:1-30 and Leviticus 7:1-38 are given, in the first two instances, in the order in which the ordinances stand-first the burnt offering, then the meat offering. Then the special offering of Aaron and his sons, on the day of their anointing, intervenes. Afterwards the other laws, the sin offering, trespass offering, and peace offering, follow; but not in the order of the ordinances. The anointing of the priests could only be allowed on the ground of the perfect acceptance of Christ; and, therefore, the offering connected with it is placed after the burnt offering and meat offering. Nevertheless sin needed to be put away, trespass forgiven, .and peace enjoyed ; therefore the offerings necessary for these ends come in afterwards. In the ordinance of consecration, as well as in the history of it, the oil of anointing is first used, then the blood of the sin offering is shed, and afterwards that of the ram of consecration is applied to the priest. Where the oil is, there must be the cleansing blood; but the value of the blood can only be understood by the Holy Ghost. The acceptance was declared before the atonement, " This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased." And the Lord breathed on His disciples the Holy Ghost before Pentecost, before they knew that His blood cleanseth from all sin. And, in this consecration, all that was needed was taken together to the door of the tabernacle. Although the anointing was first to be done, yet the sin offering, &c., were standing ready. But by the order of proceeding the character of the great High Priest was shown forth. He needed no atonement for Himself. He was the perfect One, and the Holy Ghost in a bodily shape abode upon Him. But He took sin upon Him, and hence the subsequent sacrifice for sin. The quality of this meat offering is marked, as in the general ordinance, by the specification of fine flour: the quantity, as we have before seen, marks it as the individual portion of a day. But the day is marked by the division, the morning and the night. The morning is the light of resurrection life, the night is the darkness of allbesides. Equal portions belong to each of these divisions, and for each they are needed. It is a meat-offering perpetual, God’s acceptance of us in our participation in the acceptance of Christ. And thus the meat-offering is a burnt-offering. Our acceptance is in Christ, but we are ourselves accepted. The consecration meat offering was of that kind which, according to the ordinance (Leviticus 2:1-16), was to be baken in a pan, broken in pieces, and then to have oil poured upon it. It was made of the fine flour, and broken in pieces for the observation of God, and for the better application of the oil and of the fire. And it is said to be a sweet savour unto the Lord, which was the special characteristic of the burnt offering, and of the memorial which was to be burnt of all the others, except the sin offering.
There is this difference, however, between it and the intrinsically pure and perfect memorial of the meat offering - there is no mention made of the frankincense. This essential fragrance is of Christ alone.
It shall be wholly burnt, it shall not be eaten. It is in Christ that we are thus wholly acceptable, and it is on Him we feed, not on ourselves. The knowledge and power of our acceptance is not to be maintained by seeking to rest on anything in ourselves, even though we do thus become through Christ a sweet savour unto the Lord. Whatever measure of satisfaction we find in ourselves, and not in Christ, is just that which is not acceptable before God, not a sweet savour by fire. Therefore God has commanded that this offering shall be wholly burnt. Our salvation is wholly of God. "We were dead in trespasses and sins;" " but God, Who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, hath quickened us together with Christ." "He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love."
Hence the order of these laws: first, the burnt and meat offerings-Christ’s acceptance for us; then, the priest’s meat offering for a sweet savour by fire. But sin put away must be recognized as the basis of all. So next we have the law of the sin offering.
Leviticus 6:24. The law of the sin offering. This is introduced by a special ordinance. In the burnt and meat offerings the directions were to be given to Aaron and his sons: this is also the case with the sin offering. But in the priest’s meat offering, the directions are addressed to Moses. The sin offering is to be killed in the place where the burnt offering is slain, and is most holy. This shows at the outset that, whatever might be subsequently done with the victim, it was seen and approved of God, having been presented before Him. " The priest that offereth it for sin shall eat it:" but afterwards it is said, " All the males among the priests shall eat thereof." Such a command has been previously noticed as giving an equal portion to all, but a speciality of blessing to the one who is most concerned in the offering. But this participation in the sin offering by the priests seems to signify much more than the mere knowledge of its value to ourselves: it points to our ministry as priests on behalf of others. And in this, as in all things, the Lord Jesus is our example.
"In all our afflictions He was afflicted :" " He bore our sins:" " He was touched with a feeling of our infirmities : " He carried them all before God, and brought us back the comfort and the joy of His own atonement and intercession. In conformity with His example, " we ought also to lay down our lives for the brethren." But such a power of self-sacrifice involves an intimate sympathy with the infirmities of our brethren, the taking their sin to ourselves, into our own hearts, the bearing it before God, the pleading with Him for them, and the bringing back from Him of comfort and peace.
Herein is the true communion of the sin offering. But it can only be obtained in the holy place. We cannot, whilst walking in the flesh and its narrow selfishness, know anything of the power of the sympathy of the blessed Jesus, but only in the place where all testifies to the grace that has wrought a full deliverance for us. The eating of the sin offering is especially marked as a priestly act: for the directions are given immediately to Aaron and his sons, and the participation is restricted to the " males among the priests." It is a participation in that which was rejected, and burnt outside the camp as an unclean thing.
Leviticus 6:27. But whatsoever shall touch the flesh thereof shall be holy. This shows that, when sin is put away, righteousness remains (Romans 4:6-7). Sin effaced the divine likeness in which God created man: but Christ, having first become sin for us, afterwards restored the lost image, and in Him God looks upon His people as holy. But here the reference is to things rather than persons Whatsoever shall touch the flesh shall be holy. And then follow directions as to garments on which the blood had been sprinkled, and which were to be washed in the holy place. An earthen vessel in which the offering had been sodden was to be broken; a brazen pot to be scoured and rinsed in water. The time is not yet come when the result of sin put away shall be manifested on these and similar things. " The earnest expectation of the creature (creation) waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God." The present effect of the blood of the sin offering is holiness, separation. The holy garments and the holy vessels belong to the holy place alone. And generally, in regard to all the offerings, communion and participation were only to be had in the holy place. Now the priestly garments, and indeed all the vessels of the ministry, were sprinkled with the blood. But an ordinary garment could not be allowed to participate in this sprinkling, nor a common vessel. And so it is now; spiritual things are spiritually discerned, the natural man knoweth them not. A common garment is that which meets the natural eye of all. An earthen vessel is that which is most commonly used among men.
We are said to be earthen vessels containing the treasure, that the excellency of the power may be of God; and these vessels also must be broken. The brazen vessels were appointed for ministry. These are strong; but the strength is spiritual, not carnal, nor otherwise than spiritually known and exercised.
Indeed it is in the Church only, and not in the world, that sin is put away and the blood in its cleansing power abides. But keeping more directly in view Him Who is ever in the mind of the Holy Ghost, we may trace Christ and His work in these vessels of ministry, in which the offering was prepared that others might partake. For He was an earthen vessel in that He took upon Himself our nature, and a brazen vessel as receiving strength from God for the ministry to which He was appointed. The former was broken in the suffering unto death ; and in the latter He learned obedience by the things which He suffered, and was made perfect. So in our own case there must be death to the flesh, the breaking of the earthen vessel; but we shall receive strength from above to endure the purifying process, the fellowship of His sufferings. And of this process the communion of the sin offering is no inconsiderable part, involving, as it does, a sense, not merely of our own sins, but also of those of our brethren. " Who is sufficient for these things ? " is the question of one who knew what they were; but " we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us." He was made partaker of our nature, and we of His, that we might bear the sins of each other even as He has borne the iniquity of us all.* And thus " we are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake," and bear about in our body the dying of the Lord Jesus. Compare 2 Corinthians 1:4-7 with Leviticus 4:7-12. We, too, like the apostle Paul, may become vessels of ministry for the preparation of the sin offering of which all may participate; for it is the portion of " all the males among the priests." We can thus bear one another’s sin, and, carrying it before the Lord, bring back the consolation. Paul said, " Death worketh in us, but life in you;" while the result is " the life of Jesus manifest in our dying flesh," in the earthen vessel. But the life must be referred to the brazen vessel; and, when "scoured and rinsed," Paul could, in a certain sense, take the place of Christ. He appeals to his own example of * Only, of course, in the sense of sorrowing and interceding for the sins of our brethren. We cannot imitate Christ in His work of atonement, holiness and purity, and says, " Be ye followers of me."
He was a " vessel unto honour, cleansed and made fit for the Master’s use." But we must not forget that the sin offering, which was to be thus prepared and eaten, is that of which the blood had not been brought into the tabernacle. For there the Lord Jesus stood alone. But we are left, as it were, to prove and exemplify the practical power of the sin offering. And thus Paul further speaks of " filling up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ, ... for His body’s sake, which is the Church ;" and this he would do according to the dispensation of God which was given to him, to fulfil the Word of God.
It is to be remarked, too, that this special case is not like the ordinance, that " all the priests shall eat of it;" but it is a direction as to a vessel in which the flesh might have been sodden. It is not a general and mutual duty of priests, but something that specially refers to an individual, to a peculiar case of ministry. It may point to a service which would lead to the result of the service of the Lord Himself-to a violent death. The brazen vessels were for the service of the tabernacle, but could only be used in the court. They show forth spiritual capacity and strength, not as the gold and the silver for the interior of the tabernacle, but are the manifestation of strength for spiritual service on earth. The two vessels give an exact delineation of our character on earth, weak and failing in its natural standing, but strong in the spirit and power of the resurrection life of the Lord Jesus.
Lastly, our connection with that which has put away sin must lead us to the practical putting it away in ourselves. And this will ever be death to the flesh, a bruising and breaking down of nature, and, at the same time, a purifying of ourselves by the Holy Spirit, and a bringing out of the spiritual and divine nature which is born in every believer.