LEVITICUS 7
Though the law of the trespass-offering (verses 1 - 7) contains certain details which are not mentioned in the law of the sin-offering — the sprinkling of the blood on the altar round about, and the presentation and burning of the fat — its provisions are similar. “As the sin-offering, so is the trespass-offering; there shall be one law for them”.
Then the priest’s compensation for his service in connection with the three offerings is brought before us. As to the sin and trespass-offering “it shall be the priest’s who maketh atonement therewith”. The priest who presents “any man’s burnt-offering” has the skin for himself. And every oblation baken in the oven, or prepared in the cauldron and the pan, “shall be the priest’s who offereth it; to him it shall belong”. There is always personal gain from taking up priestly exercise or rendering priestly service. One could not minister to the pleasure of God in relation to Christ without getting great gain for oneself. The offering priest acquires Christ for his own nourishment and satisfaction, or, in the case of the burnt-offering, he appropriates His outward blamelessness and beauty, with a view, probably, to being found invested with it. The skin would represent the outward moral beauty of Christ as it could be discerned by saints. Inwardly the priest is furnished with Christ as food, so that his affections and spiritual intelligence are nourished and strengthened in correspondence with Christ. And provision is also made for him to be marked by the possession of those outward features which marked Christ, “who did no sin neither was guile found in his mouth; who, when reviled, reviled not again; when suffering, threatened not; but gave himself over into the hands of him who judges righteously” (1 Peter 2: 21 - 23).
When the offering is typical of the perfection of Christ viewed as under testing (verse 9) it is to be the portion of the priest who offers it, but when His perfection is viewed simply in itself (verse 10) He becomes the food of “all the sons of Aaron ... one as the other”. The appropriation of the perfection of Christ as under testing requires special exercise. There are special and personal exercises as well as those which we take up with our brethren. We learn to appreciate Christ in a peculiar way by our personal [p. 87] experiences, and this gives a certain distinctiveness to each saint. To offer that which speaks of Christ as under testing would suggest that the offerer had some reason to appreciate Him in that character. I think it would suggest that the offerer had been taught by his own experience under testing to value and love Christ in that aspect. Take some of the experiences of Christ as they are expressed in the Psalms. They are not really appreciated until the soul has had, in some tiny measure, similar experiences. I suppose most of us know how a deep trial teaches us to see a sweetness and beauty in the scriptures that we have never seen before. God brings in Christ in relation to the way in which we are being tested, and we learn His perfection so as to become offerers and offering priests. The priest who offers takes up the product of such an exercise in a priestly way with God, and is thus morally entitled to have it as food for himself. But the oblation in a general sense — all that Christ was in His Personal perfection, and as wholly imbued with the Spirit — is common to “all the sons of Aaron”.
We have in chapters 6 - 7: 10 a cluster of priestly exercises which have to be taken up if the fellowship of God’s people is to be maintained on a proper footing. The whole tone and character of christian fellowship is lowered if it is taken up — or attempted to be taken up — without priestly conditions; that is, apart from the consideration of what is due to God. Priestly conditions and exercises were lacking amongst many at Corinth, and hence the fellowship was being compromised by unholy associations. “The law of the sacrifice of peace-offering” has in view the fellowship of the people of God.
The sin- and trespass-offerings come before the peace-offering so that we may be quite free. The sin-offering would relieve one of any necessity for self-occupation, and the trespass-offering deals with every element in connection with which the rights of God may have been infringed, or which would hinder communion with one another. In the institution of the offerings (chapters 1 - 5) the sin- and trespass-offerings come last. The end reached there is self-judgment and the adjustment of all wrongs God-ward or man-ward. But in the law of the offerings the peace-offering comes last. What is in view is the enjoyment of spiritual good in communion one with another. The law of the offerings is thus preparatory to our being intelligently partakers of the Lord’s table. 1 Corinthians 10 stands in connection with the peace-offering. Christians “partake of the Lord’s table”; it is what is provided for us which we can enjoy together; it is a well-furnished table, and it gives character to our fellowship here. If we are not true to the fellowship of the table according to 1 Corinthians 10 we shall not eat the supper according to 1 Corinthians 11. The fellowship is characterized by what we enjoy together in contrast to all that is in the idolatrous world. Partaking of the Lord’s table is preparatory to the privilege of the Lord’s supper. If a christian goes in for the enjoyments of the world he practically gives up the happiness that belongs to him as a partaker of the Lord’s table. The two things are so contrary to one another that it is impossible to enjoy both.
There is a festive character about the peace-offering. “And thou shalt sacrifice peace-offerings, and shalt [p. 89] eat there, and rejoice before Jehovah thy God” (Deuteronomy 27: 7). It suggests enjoyment in common; no one can be really festive alone; even the world has the idea of increasing happiness by sharing it; that is why they have parties, dinners, etc. “Bring the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and make merry” (Luke 15: 23) has something of the thought of the peace-offering in it. Even our private exercises and discipline are in view of our enjoying more what we have in common with our brethren, and in view of our contribution to their joy. Paul and John knew what it was to be outwardly isolated, but they did not lose the gain of the fellowship, nor cease to contribute to it.
The first feature of the peace-offering is that it is “for a thanksgiving” (verse 12). It might well be so, seeing that we are set together in the presence of all that God is as known in blessing through Christ and through His death. When a man can say, “I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord”, he is free. He has God before him instead of himself and his own wretchedness. He is conscious of having received the most wonderful good that was ever thought of. It has come to him from the heart of the blessed God through the death of the Lord Jesus. He can sit down with his brethren in the fellowship of the peace-offering. The better we know God through Christ the more thanksgiving there will be. The young convert can bring his peace-offering of thanksgiving, and he can share — if clean — in what others bring, and every advance he makes in the knowledge of Christ adds something to his offering, and to the common joy.
Let us test our happiness by asking, Did it come through the death of Christ? If not, let us beware lest there be an idolatrous element in it! All those [p. 90] things which we can enjoy together as the people of God have reached us through death, and if two or any number of hearts are enjoying those things, and the holy love which gave them, they can thank God with one accord. “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of the Christ?” (1 Corinthians 10: 16). Our souls drink together into that infinite wealth of blessing — the revelation of God in love!
Then with “the sacrifice of thanksgiving” the offerer presents “unleavened cakes mingled with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and fine flour saturated with oil, cakes mingled with oil” (verse 12). There is not only the thought of the death of Christ, and of all that has come to us through that death, but a blessed apprehension of the kind of Man it was who died — One who knew no sin, and who was wholly in the grace and power of the Holy Spirit. Only that kind of Man will do for God; every other kind of man must be displaced, so that the moral universe may be patterned after Christ. What an important element this is of the fellowship of saints! When Paul says “We all partake of that one loaf”, I think he has a moral idea in his mind. It is the moral side that is prominent in 1 Corinthians 10, not merely the outward act of breaking bread, but what is morally involved in it. The fact that we break bread together, and partake of one loaf — which it supposes that all christians do — suggests that every one in the fellowship has partaken morally of Christ. We have come to the apprehension of an entirely new order of man in Christ, and we have partaken of Him so as to be in the life of Christ morally. What I mean by that is that the moral features of Christ mark the saints as having His Spirit. For [p. 91] example, Christ was marked by obedience, dependence, separation from the idolatrous world, and by delight in the saints, the excellent of the earth. See Psalm 16.
Christian fellowship cannot be taken up in the flesh; it can only be taken up by those who have partaken of Christ, and are morally in His life. A lawless or independent and self-sufficient person is not suitable to the fellowship. If one finds his happiness in the idolatrous world, or prefers the company of relatives and unconverted people to that of the saints, he is not in the fellowship. The way to promote fellowship is to give more place to the features of Christ. The partnership then becomes very real and spiritual. The saints become “one loaf, one body” (1 Corinthians 10: 17), as expressing together what is of Christ. In the light of this one can understand the important place which the unleavened cakes and wafers and fine flour and oil have in relation to the peace-offering.
But then there is also “his offering of leavened bread” (verse 13). This implies the recognition and acknowledgment of what we are in ourselves. If, on the one hand, the offerer is a partaker of Christ, he is, on the other, conscious that he is still in “mixed condition”, and that the flesh is still in him. He cannot say that he has no sin (1 John 1: 8). So he brings “his offering of leavened bread”. This is essential to the peace-offering. It secures a spirit of lowliness and self-distrust, and leads one to walk softly. “Let him that thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall”. And if a fault comes to light in another the spiritual are to restore him in a spirit of meekness “considering thyself lest thou also be tempted” (Galatians 6: 1). In relation to the fellowship one is never to lose sight of this. It keeps us sober as [p. 92] to ourselves, and considerate and forbearing as to others.
Then “the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace-offering of thanksgiving shall be eaten the same day that it is presented” (verse 15). The eating is not to be separated far from the offering. It is serious to consider that what began as a true offering of thanksgiving or a vow may degenerate into what is “an unclean thing” (verse 18). It shows the importance of maintaining a close link between what we enjoy together, and the consciousness of holding it in relation to God. The “peace-offering of thanksgiving” must be renewed each day if the daily eating or communion is to retain its holy character. This is not grievous to the spiritual mind, for the true sweetness and power of what we enjoy together lies in the fact that we have taken it up first with God. And it is a very sweet privilege to come afresh to the altar with our peace-offering each day, and renew with God for His pleasure our apprehensions and appreciations of Christ. If this is neglected we cannot wonder if the “fellowship with one another” loses its holy and spiritual character, and becomes formal or even merely social. The true joy of the communion is lost. The love of God comes out in this, that He would not have us to go on enjoying together indefinitely that which we have once taken up at the altar with Him. He would have us daily to renew our apprehensions of Christ with Him, and to find in this a continually fresh starting-point for our communion with our brethren. Otherwise our enjoyments may be separated from their true Source, and their spiritual value lost.
In the case of a “vow or voluntary” offering (verse 16) the flesh may be eaten also on the next day. This [p. 93] supposes greater spiritual energy in the affections of the offerer, and therefore greater ability to sustain the communion. There may be not only different measures of apprehension of Christ as set forth in the different animals offered, but also a difference in the strength of motive which lies behind the offering.
We can only enjoy things with God at all as we are in the spirit of “thanksgiving”. “In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus towards you”. Thanksgiving is the response to the wealth of blessing which divine grace has brought us into. But when we come to the “vow”, or what is “voluntary”, it suggests spiritual power for dedication to God. It implies a more distinct subjective work in the soul. Hence communion can be more sustained. There is often true response to the grace of God in grateful affections without much spiritual energy, and therefore things may soon deteriorate into merely human sentiment which is “unclean”. The remedy for this is to continually renew the apprehension of Christ in movements of heart God-ward. If we do so it will inevitably carry us on from “thanksgiving” to “vow”. We shall increase in spiritual capability, and be more efficient contributors to the fellowship.
God loves the definite dedication which is implied in a “vow”, and spiritual power is found with those who bring an offering of this character. A true “vow” is in the power of the Spirit; it is no mere resolution of the flesh or the legal man. It is the happy dedication of a spiritual man. Many saints do not go beyond the “peace-offering of thanksgiving”, but God contemplates His people being so affected by His grace and love that there will be purpose of heart to bring about dedication to Him. God supports this, and the one [p. 94] who has it gets the gain of it. If there is a spirit of dedication it secures divine support. A truly dedicated man would not talk about his dedication; it would be enough for him that his “vow” was acceptable to God, and that the grace of God supported him in it. The gain of a “vow” in relation to the peace-offering is that there is extended ability to continue participation in the fellowship without things becoming “unclean” from lack of conscious nearness to God.
“The law of the sacrifice of peace-offering” emphasizes the necessity for cleanness on the part of those who eat. See verses 19 - 21. Later in this book we get much instruction as to the clean and the unclean, that we may know what to keep apart from. Holy things are profaned if there is not purity as to ourselves and our associations. “The soul that eateth the flesh of the sacrifice of peace-offering which is for Jehovah, having his uncleanness upon him, that soul shall be cut off from his peoples”. The attempt to bring uncleanness and Christ together ends disastrously. God will not allow it.
The prohibition against eating fat and blood (verses 22 - 27) is very significant: both are reserved. The unique excellence which attaches to the Person of Christ is very jealously guarded by God, and also the unique value of His blood as making atonement. One would not hesitate a moment about severing one’s links with any person or persons who did not maintain the truth as to the Person of Christ, or as to His atoning death. There is a reserved portion of delight — an excellence and richness attaching to Christ — which is exclusively for God. It is an essential feature of our communion that we should understand this. If a divine Person comes into Manhood and goes into [p. 95] death there must be an excellence disclosed that is beyond the creature to appropriate. But if it cannot be eaten it can be offered; it becomes the subject of worship. The fat is twice spoken of in chapter 3 as the “food [or bread] of the offering”; it is Jehovah’s portion; that which He alone can appropriate. The priest can send up the sweet odour to God of that which it is not for him to appropriate; it is burnt “on the altar upon the burnt-offering”. We can contemplate what is not given to us to appropriate. It does not diminish the joy to know this. God loves to participate in the joy of His people, and, indeed, to have the richest portion in that which is the Substance of their communion. It is an added joy to know that the blessed God has that in the Fatted Calf which is beyond what the returned sons get. It is killed for them, but the Father has His own peculiar portion in it.
The blood is reserved also, and chapter 17 tells us why. The life of the flesh is in the blood, and it is given upon the altar to make atonement, “for it is the blood that maketh atonement for the soul”. That is the aspect of the blood generally in the Old Testament. But in the New Testament the Lord speaks of the cup in His supper as “the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you” (Luke 22: 20), and He gives that cup to His saints to drink. The blood still retains all its blessed character and efficacy as having atoning value; it is a perfect covering for sin; but we know it also as bearing witness to all the blessing in the heart of God which has come to light through the revelation of God in the love of the new covenant. The word atonement occurs many times in the Old Testament, but it does not occur in the New.
“Atonement” in Romans 5: 11, A.V., should be “reconciliation”. God revealing what is in His heart is more than covering men’s sin. In blessing the cup, and drinking it, we are not occupied with the covering or atoning value of the blood, but with what is witnessed or revealed in it.
The closing section of this chapter requires of the offerer that “his own hands shall bring Jehovah’s offerings by fire, the fat with the breast shall he bring” (verse 30). God would have us to hold in a very definite and personal way the apprehension of all that excellence in Christ which is His own peculiar portion and delight, but He would have us to hold it along with a precious sense of the love of Christ. The more definitely we hold the unfathomable depth and preciousness of what there is in Christ for God, the more shall we apprehend the love of Christ. The fat and the breast are to be together in the offerer’s hands. The Person who is so delightful to God, and in whom there are such inscrutable excellencies that God alone can feed upon them, is known to us in His affections. One can understand the Apostle, when praying that we might know the love of the Christ, adding, “which surpasses knowledge” (Ephesians 3: 19). He had in his hands “the fat with the breast”, and the surpassing character of the love was connected with all the intrinsic wealth and worth of that glorious Person as known of the Father. To fail to hold the “fat” would be to fail, correspondingly, to hold the “breast”. What “holy hands” are needed to hold such infinite preciousness! And emphasis seems to be laid on “his own hands”. This is not looking to enjoy what others bring, or complaining of the lack in others! What are you bringing with your “own hands” to contribute [p. 97] to the pleasure of God, and to priestly food, and to the common joy of the fellowship?
The “breast” is waved before the priests eat it. They eat in the consciousness of how God delights in the love of Christ being known and appropriated by His saints. And the “breast” would speak of His love God-ward as well as saint-ward and to the assembly. He loved His “master” as well as His “wife” and His “children” (Exodus 21: 5). “I love the Father, and as the Father has commanded me, thus I do” (John 14: 31). Indeed Christ loves His saints, and loves the assembly, because it is the Father’s will that He should do so. Have you thought that it really pleases God that His Son should love you and give Himself for you? The waving of the “breast” would mean that the love of Christ has been taken up by the saints in relation to all the pleasure that God has in it, and their affections move before God in the appreciation of it. It is because of His love to the Father that Christ has so devoted Himself to His saints. He was daily Jehovah’s delight — “the nursling of his love” — but He was so as “rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth”, and as having His “delights with the sons of men” (Proverbs 8: 30, 31). It is a peculiar pleasure to God when the love of Christ is appreciated by the saints in relation to His delight in it. When that moves in their affections it answers to the waving of the “breast”.
The “breast” is given as food to “Aaron and his sons”. The love of Christ is the common portion of the priesthood; it does not belong to one more than another. But as being food it becomes characteristic of the person who eats it; it forms him spiritually. The divine thought is wonderful — that there should be [p. 98] a priesthood so nourished upon the love of Christ that they take character from it! The effect of eating the “breast” would be that we should love as Christ loved, and God would have everything in priestly service moved by that mighty mainspring. “A new commandment I give to you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another” (John 13: 34). “This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you” (John 15: 12). But one must really be nourished by the love of Christ to do this. Paul knew what it was to eat the “breast of the wave-offering”, and he was marked by the love of Christ; it was the mainspring of all his devoted service. He loved as Christ loved, and all his service was of priestly character; there was something distinctively for God in it.
Then “the right shoulder” becomes the portion of the priest who presents the peace-offering. It is thus connected with a personal exercise like the oblation baken in the oven, or prepared in the cauldron or the pan (verse 9). It seems to indicate that the priestly presentation of the peace-offering is an exercise which secures a special personal knowledge of the character of Christ’s walk here. (”Shoulder” is really “leg”; it would refer to the strength of His walk.) The offering priest not only has the “breast” in common with his brethren, but he has a peculiar and personal sense of how Christ walked here in the service of love. And he gets the “shoulder” as food so that he may have spiritual strength “even as he walked, himself also so to walk” (1 John 2: 6). So that what was true in Christ may become true in him (1 John 2: 8). How could one walk as Christ walked except as nourished and strengthened by feeding on “the shoulder of the heave-offering”? He ever walked in the blessed activity and service of love. How marvellous that He should become food for us that we might, in some small measure, love as He loved, and walk as He walked! What broken and contrite hearts we ought to have that we have so little entered upon our priestly privilege of eating the breast and the shoulder, and the result has been that we have so very, very feebly, if at all, loved as He loved, and walked as He walked!
There is a priestly side of the truth connected with our fellowship, and if that priestly side is not taken up the fellowship will not be maintained in its true character, or in the spiritual energy which rightly marks it. How sad that so many believers should look at these types as belonging to a past dispensation, and now past and done with! The truth is they are precious instruction for us, and divinely intended to be so. They are instruction in Christ and in the knowledge of God. May the Lord enable us to consider these things, and if we do so He will give us understanding!