February 5, 2006
Scripture:
Ministry:
I have a thought or two from Leviticus 3, the peace offering. In my personal reading during the week, I have been in Leviticus. In reading, we have seen how these things are a shadow of good things to come. These shadows are full of details; each time I read them I see some new detail. Vv. 1–5: “And if his oblation be a sacrifice of peace offering, if he offer it of the herd; whether it be a male or female, he shall offer it without blemish before the LORD. And he shall lay his hand upon the head of his offering, and kill it at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and Aaron’s sons the priests shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about. And he shall offer of the sacrifice of the peace offering an offering made by fire unto the LORD; the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away. And Aaron’s sons shall burn it on the altar upon the burnt sacrifice, which is upon the wood that is on the fire: it is an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD.” In Leviticus 1, we have the burnt offering, the most wonderful of all the offerings, speaking of the glories of the Lord in Heaven, and how he voluntarily became our atonement. The offerer would have put his hand on the head of the offering for acceptance. Then in chapter 2 we see the meat, or meal, offering; it was put on top of the burnt offering. This speaks of the moral, earthly glories of the Lord connected with his divine glories. Then we come to the peace offering. It is not a mandatory offering. In chapter 7 it is also called a thank offering. Today we can see the Lord in his heavenly glories, as in the burnt offering. We can see his earthly glories, like in the meat offering. And now the peace offering; it did not stand alone either. Imagine: standing and watching at the tabernacle as a priest cuts the burnt offering into pieces and places it on the altar. Then someone comes with the meal offering, with its fine flour, oil, and frankincense, and the priest puts that on top of the burnt offering. Then comes a person with a peace offering; the priest adds that to the other two. What a focal point this must be! God would be watching this and he would smell the savour of the three offerings; He would see his Son in each. Who participated in each of these offerings? The burnt offering was holy; it was for God only. When it came to the meal offering, the priestly family could eat part of it. For the peace offering, turn to chapter 7. Verse 19 tells us that “all that be clean shall eat thereof.” There was an opportunity for any clean person. There was a condition: you had to be clean. If you were, you could take part in the peace offering, which was on the meat offering, which was on the burnt offering, which was on the altar. There is another altar today, we are told in Hebrews 13:10. It says the people under the law have no right to it; but today, any of the Lord’s people who are clean can participate in it. We have a table, with the Lord’s Supper; we can read about it in I Corinthians 10 & 11. They only had the shadow of it in the Old Testament, but in it God could see a picture of his Son. And today we are reminded that even this is a shadow of what we will participate in in Heaven. Isn’t that precious?
EG Hymn 130–To God be the glory, great things he hath done! Prayer • Revelation 1:7—This continues our topic of seeing. Everyone will see the Lord when he comes with his bride at the appearing. • Revelation 19:11–21—This man is the Lord. He is being faithful and true to his word to come and reign over his people. He will bring judgement to his enemies; His eyes are as a flame of fire, and His vesture is dipped in blood signifying the judgement he will bring. His name is “the Word of God”, it says, which reminds us of what it says in John 1. His armies, His sword, and His rod of iron all show his reign of righteousness. His judgement will kill many people, and the birds will eat until they are full (vv. 18 & 21). The beast and the false prophet will be cast into the lake of fire at this time. Often we say that we want the Lord to come and take us to Heaven. This is a rather selfish wish. A higher thought would be to be anticipating the Lord’s appearing, when he will receive His rightful place as King of kings and Lord of lords.
Hebrews 10:5–14 • For this part of the chapter, we have three “hooks to hang our thoughts on”: 1. Will of God—v. 7 … is about us 2. Work of Christ—v. 10 … is for us 3. Witness of the Spirit—v. 15 … is to us • The next few verses are actually a quote from Psalm 40, except with some changes. The quote starts in verse 5. In Psalm 40, it says, “mine ears hast thou opened [or digged].” In Hebrews it says, “a body hast thou prepared me.” Darby says in Psalms, “my ears hast thou prepared.” This psalm shows us the Lord giving Himself. In the law of the Hebrew servant, if the servant did not want to go out free, he would have his ear bored through. This is the same picture of the Lord. He said, “I love my master [God], I love my wife [His bride], I love my children [each Christian individually].” Instead of going free, He gave Himself to do God’s will. This is because “sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not.” Isaiah 1:11 makes it sound as though God was fed up with all the sacrifices. What the Israelites were doing could have had deep meaning, but “with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me” (Isaiah 29:13). So, after being fed up with the sacrifices, did God have a resort? Yes, “a body hast thou prepared me.” The invisible God wanted to make Himself visible. Not only that, He wanted to become a man and be known by men. In the Old Testament types, the animals speak of the Lord: the Lamb shows His submission; the bullock, His strength; the goat typifies substitution; and the dove speaks of heavenly character. In Genesis 22, we can see the Lord’s humanity in the wood for the offering. This shows Him as the Son of God, being restricted to a human body, and being the object that God’s wrath was poured out on. The Lord came to do God’s will. But what is the book he mentions in verse 7? Some think it might be the Old Testament, but there is a more profound thought than that. It is a peek at the omniscience of God. In a past eternity, in the council chamber of God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit had a master plan. They knew there would be a universe; they knew they would make people. They knew the Jewish system would fail, and that man would need a Saviour. The way God explains it to us is by saying it is all in a book. What makes it even more profound is that in that book is your name and mine. In Psalm 40, it says the Lord says he delights to do God’s will; “the joy that was set before him.” On the night before the crucifixion, he was sweating great drops of blood; He knew what was going to happen and went forward to it. His primary reason for coming to earth wasn’t to die on the cross, but to do His Father’s will, the will that He delighted in. EG Hymn 82–Ere God had built the mountains. Prayer