SOME IMPRESSIONS OF CHRIST AS PRESENTED IN THE OFFERINGS
Paul A Gray
The burnt offering - the distinct and unique preciousness of Christ to God. The fact that what is inward is particularly taken account of shows that God’s delight was as much in what Christ was, as what He did. The washing was to emphasise the perfection of the offering, not to remove anything extraneous. It was not eaten by the priest or the offerer, but the skin of the burnt offering was for the priest who presented it. But we do not find this until we come to the law of the trespass offering, where we discover that the worth of Christ clothes the priest who offers in relation to the holy things of Jehovah, the commandments of Jehovah, and the restoration of relations with the neighbour. The law of the burnt offering teaches us that the fire on the altar was not to go out; we also learn that the burnt offering would be on the hearth all night until the morning, reminding us that God begins with the evening and ends with the morning, and that the work of Christ is maintained in all its unchanging value and blessedness throughout the whole of the dispensation, even when darkness is all around.
The oblation - the personal attractiveness of Christ as the One who was here for God. The oblation does not involve death, although it does relate to suffering for righteousness, so it relates to what was found in the life of Christ as Man here. It is food for Aaron and his sons; we see that the spirit of sonship is formed in us - while sonship is conferred on us by adoption - by feeding on the blessed manhood of Christ. One distinction between the manna and the oblation is that whereas the manna is available to be eaten immediately and is not offered, the oblation is prepared, thus demonstrating the need for exercise in order to produce food that can be offered to God, as well as eaten. We learn from the law of the oblation that it has the same status as the sin offering and the trespass offering - we too are brought to appreciate that Christ’s life is to be valued as well as His death.
The peace offering - Christ as maintaining what is due to God in relation to the fellowship. This is not readily understood without looking at the law of the peace offering, which tells us that “all that are clean may eat the flesh” - it is intended to be shared. We see in 1 John 1:7 the distinct connection between the blood and the fellowship, “If we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin”. This is the present character of the peace offering, enabling the fellowship to be maintained even if failure does come in, and has to be judged. All rests on the perfection of the work of Christ. It is worth noting too that the law of the burnt offering tells us that the fat of the peace offering was to be offered with the burnt offering - Christ is maintaining the fellowship not only for us, but for God; the fellowship of God’s Son is not just for us, but for the pleasure of God, Who called us into it.
The sin offering - Christ as dealing with the whole question of sin, as well as sins. The sin of inadvertence is specifically brought into relief here, and hence the Lord says, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do”, Luke 23: 34. In immeasurable grace, He extends - speaking from the very cross itself - the sin of inadvertence over the whole dispensation, knowing that the cost of such grace would involve that He Himself would be made sin, and would bear our sins in His body on the tree. This is the offering that restores priesthood to its proper place, restores the “whole assembly”, restores the prince, and restores the people of the land. Where sin abounded, grace has over-abounded. It is not until we come to the law of the sin offering that we find that the priest who offers it for sin shall eat it: the need for self- judgment is paramount for the maintenance of priesthood.
The trespass offering - Christ available for the maintenance of all that is due to God, covering (as noted above) the holy things of Jehovah, the commandments of Jehovah, and relations with the neighbour. It is striking that the law of the trespass offering covers not only the skin of the burnt offering, but also repeats certain injunctions as to the oblation. It would make clear that feeding on the Manhood of Christ is necessary for the maintenance of what is due to God.
The law of the offerings also includes the offering of Aaron and his sons, which had not been referred to up to this point. This comes in before the law of the sin offering, the trespass offering and the peace offering, suggesting that the rights of God must be upheld (the burnt offering) and the priesthood formed morally (the oblation) before the sin offering, the trespass offering and the peace offering can properly proceed.
Finally, Leviticus 7: 37 says, “This is the law of the burnt offering, of the oblation, and of the sin offering, and of the trespass offering, and of the consecration offering, and of the sacrifice of peace offering …”. There is one law because there is one Man before God, and one standard. That Man is Christ. May it be so with us.