The Meat Offering

 

The Meat Offering

 

Leviticus 2:1

 

And when any will offer a meat offering unto the LORD, his offering shall be of fine flour; and he shall pour oil upon it, and put frankincense thereon:

 

The words of our Lord Jesus Christ should immediately identify the one who is typified in the meat offering: when He said “I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst” (John 6:35). The fine flour represents the Man, Christ Jesus. In Him there were no unequal grains, no unevenness of any sort, no clumps nor clogs, there were no impurities: it was the pure essence of the perfect sinless Man “who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen” (Romans 9:5). The fine flour typified “that holy thing” that was conceived in the womb of the virgin Mary (Luke 1:35). Our Lord Jesus was “made of a woman” as it is written: “But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law” (Galatians 4:4). God the Holy Ghost took of the substance of woman and in her womb was conceived (Isaiah 7:14) “her seed” as it is written: “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15).

 

Our Lord Jesus took His perfect sinless Humanity from the woman, and in that Humanity He is the “Second Man” (I Corinthians 15:47) who has the humanity of the “first man Adam” without the taint of sin (I Corinthians 15:45). It is that perfect sinless Humanity which was taken into union with the Son of God (John 1:14; Hebrews 10:5). The Second Man is the Covenant Head of the new creation, “created in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:10; II Corinthians 5:17). And in that perfect sinless humanity our Lord Jesus is the near kinsman Redeemer, who has the right of redemption (Leviticus 25:25), by which He redeemed the lives of His many brethren who were sold under sin in the first man Adam (Romans 8:29; 7:14; Hebrews 2: 11,12,17 ).  Our Lord Jesus Christ is the only perfect man who ever walked on “the circle of the earth” (Isaiah 40:22). Adam was created upright, as it is written: “Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions” (Ecclesiastes 7:29)

 

Adam suffered mutation, he fell in sin with all his race in him and all that race is held accountable for sin by which they were defiled in Adam. They were accounted guilty of sin in Adam according to the judicial government of God. Our Lord Jesus Christ the Second Man is one with the Father (John 10:30) and like Him “with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning” (James 1:17) our Lord Jesus is “the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever” (Hebrews 13:8). For “it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven” (I Corinthians 15: 45-47). The first man is the head of the natural race of men, the Second Man is the head of the spiritual race of men which is the church of God. The first man brought death on his race by sin, the Second Man, “hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (II Timothy 1:10). These two men with their respective races must be kept separate, if the word of truth is to be rightly divided. The following explanation may shed light on this topic.

 

Great confusion, and horrible error in extreme proportions has been introduced into the professing church by ignorance or neglect of the fact that the first man Adam, was covenant head over his race, and that the Second Man, Jesus Christ is the covenant head over His race, the true Israel of God (Galatians 6:16). These two races are entirely different, although the second is taken from among the first, that is, the church is taken “from among men” as it is written: “These are they which were not defiled with women; (they did not participate in idolatrous worship: writer) for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb” (Revelation 14:4).  And they are redeemed out of every kindred and tongue, as it is written: “And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation” (Revelation 5:9).

 

“Therefore as by the offence of one (one covenant head, that is Adam, the first man: writer) judgment came upon all men to condemnation; (all men that were of Adam’s race were condemned in Adam: Writer) even so by the righteousness of one (The Second Man Jesus Christ: writer) the free gift came upon all men (all men who are of the chosen generation [I Peter 2:9] created in Jesus Christ, The Last Adam: writer) unto justification of life” (Romans 5:18). Additions to this verse of scripture or any verse of scripture are not acceptable. However some have added the following words: “whereby the grace of God became equally accessible to all men”. This totally distorts the scripture in that  it wrests the word of God (II Peter 3:18). Additions to the scriptures by the ingenuity of men are destructive of the truth. They deny the truth that the purpose and grace of God was given through the election of grace before the world began (II Timothy 1:9). It passes by (as if nonexistent) the scripture which declares that those chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world are predestinated to the adoption of children (Ephesians 1:4-5). This also vitiates the truth that: “by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:17). From Romans 5:17 it is clear that it is only those who receive abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness that shall reign in life by Jesus Christ. And who are these? They are they who are predestined of God to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ (Romans 8:29), who were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4) these were beloved of the Father from all eternity (John 17:23-24), they were redeemed by the Son of God at Calvary, and all and every one of them will be effectually called by God the Holy Ghost to eternal life in Jesus Christ. All the devils in hell, and all the men of this world cannot hinder the purpose and grace of God, from bringing His many sons to glory by Jesus Christ (Hebrews 2:10). They shall all be made willing in the day of his power (Psalm 110:3) for it is God that works in them both to will and to do of His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13), And that good work that He begins in His chosen people He will also finish (Philippians 1:6).

 

And he shall pour oil upon it: Oil represents the Holy Ghost. The oil was either mingled with the fine flour, or the oil was used to anoint the offering. Our Lord Jesus was anointed “the most Holy” (Daniel 9:24) by the Holy Ghost, as it is written: “Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased” (Luke 3:21-22). All that our Lord Jesus did upon earth was by the Holy Ghost. “That holy and heavenly vessel in which God the Son was pleased to appear in this world was formed, filled, anointed, and led by the Holy Ghost” (C.H.Mackintosh). Although our Lord Jesus possessed in His own Person divine power, yet he did all His works, wrought all His miracles, and finally offered himself without spot to God, by the eternal Spirit. And He said “But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you” (Matthew 12:28).

 

Our Lord Jesus was the sinless perfect Man in thought, word, and deed form His birth in the stable at Bethlehem to His death at Calvary. And although He is “God manifest in the flesh” (I Timothy 3:16), yet as Man and Mediator He would do nothing without the authority of the word of God, nor by the power of the Spirit. For in His offices He did not come to earth to fulfill His own will as though He were an independent though, perfect man, but He came to do the will of the Father who sent Him (John 6:38). And therefore He said “I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me” (John 5:30). In the day of judgment every man who has built with the wood, hay, and stubble, of popular opinion, and dogma of the traditions of men will certainly suffer loss. But if we wait to be endued with power from on high our labor will not have been in vain. (I Corinthians 3:12; Luke 24:49; I Corinthians 15:58).

 

And put frankincense thereon. The priest of the sons of Aaron would come and take his handful of the fine flour, and of the oil, and all the frankincense, and burn the memorial on the Alter of burnt offering. All the frankincense ascended up to God, it was not for the offerer, nor the priest. Everything in the life and death of Jesus Christ was first and foremost for the glory of God. The ministry of our Lord Jesus brought to light the glory of the holiness and truth of God, in that, where and upon whomsoever sin is found, God must and will punish sin to the uttermost. Although it was God’s own Son, “who bare our sins in His own body on the tree” (I Peter 2:24). Even though the Lord Himself had laid on Him the iniquity of all the church of God of all ages (Isaiah 53:6). Even though the Son of God offered himself by the eternal Spirit, in full obedience to the will of the Father: “Yet it pleased the lord to bruise him” it is written: “Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand” (Isaiah 53:10).  The Father had charged His Son with the sin which had been, and is being committed by the church, not sin committed by the Son, but sin imputed to the Son by the Father. As it is written: “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6). The Son must answer the charge for He is the Good Shepherd of the sheep. Christ Jesus satisfied the glory and honor of the law, justice, truth and holiness of God being put to death, the death of the cross, in the room and stead of the sheep. Sin has met its punishment in the body of Jesus Christ, therefore the God of peace, has called the Good Shepherd up to glory to rule over His redeemed creation.

 

But not only is the law and justice of God glorified in the cross death of our Lord Jesus, but the love of God is manifested. God gave His only begotten Son because of His love for the world of His elect (John 3:16; Romans 8:32; Isaiah 53:8, 11; Matthew 1:21). God the Father turned His back on His well-beloved Son, in the hour of His most severe torment. Satan and the hosts of hell, with the men of this world had done all they could to torture the only pure man and holy Man on the face of the earth. But that was not the worst  of the misery which the Son of God He had to endure, for He endured all this in silence as it is written: “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth” (Isaiah 53:7). But when the Father turned His back, when the light of His countenance no longer shown down on the Son, then His holy heart burst with sorrow and agony of soul, then He must cry out: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring” (Psalm 22:1). Thus the unutterable agony, the infinite misery of the Son of God, was brought forth by the love of the Son for the glory of God, and for the welfare of His beloved church and people. Thus all the frankincense must be for God. It must rise in the smoke of the Alter as a sweet savor of the accomplishments, both God-ward, and toward the people of His love. It must rise as a sweet savor of the accomplishments of Jesus Christ in His death. “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:1-2). 

 

AJ Ison

 

See the writers blog at www.hebrews915.blogspot.com hear the authentic gospel preached at www.13thstbaptist.org webcasting live at listed service times.

 

 

 

     

 

 

   

   

 

    

 

 

 

 

Christ Jesus as seen in the Character of the Burnt Offering

 

Christ Jesus as seen in the Character of the Burnt Offering

 

Leviticus 1:3

 

 If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish: he shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD.

 

The burnt offering is an Old Testament type and shadow of our Great High Priest, our Lord Jesus Christ. In New Testament worship Christ Jesus is the Great High Priest, He is the Sacrifice and He is the Alter. And His love of God and devotion to the accomplishment of the will Of God is the fire that consumed the life of His humanity and it is the zeal that ate Him up (Psalm 69:9; John 2:17). The complete self-surrender of the Man Christ Jesus to the will of the Father, the delight of the Lamb of God to do the will of God, His singleness of heart for the will of the Father made His offering of Himself a sweet smelling fragrance coming up from earth to heaven in the essence of the person and obedience of Jesus Christ the Son of God. There was love incomprehensible in the heart of the Son of God, when He, by the Eternal Spirt offered Himself up without spot for a sacrifice acceptable to the heart of the Father who reciprocated the eternal and infinite love of the Son. In that sacrifice of the body of the Son, heaven and earth had fellowship in the act of love of the Father receiving the offering of the Son by the Spirit. As said by our Lord Jesus Christ: “Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father” (John10:17-18).

 

If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, The beginning “if” introduces this type as a voluntary sacrifice on the part Him who is pictured in the burnt offering. Our Lord Jesus told His disciples at His arrest: “Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be” (Matthew 26:53-54)? The Psalmist speaking of the burnt offering aspect of the cross wrote by the Spirit of God: “ Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required. Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart” (Psalm 40:6-8).

 

The cross work of our Lord Jesus Christ could not be typified by just one Old Testament sacrifice. There were several types, all of them pointing to the person of Jesus Christ, or to His accomplished work, or both. Each sacrifice had its particular thrust of signification. For example the sin offering signified the cross work of Christ Jesus in the punishment of sin, and the putting away of sin. While both the sin offering, and the burnt offering brought atonement with them, the primary thrust of the burnt offering is the devotion of the heart of our Lord Jesus to the will of God, and the fulfillment of God’s purpose, and covenant promises. The burnt offering typifies a perfect man on earth unceasingly doing the will of God, even unto death, the death of the cross. This is a sweet savor, a delightful smell to God, as it is written: “And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savor” (Ephesians 5:2)

 

Let him offer a male without blemish: This typifies the perfectly holy humanity of our blessed Lord Jesus Christ, for in Him is absolute sinlessness, perfect holiness of His Person, and perfect righteousness in His actions, and motivations. The Holy Ghost calls His Human Body that Holy Thing, it is written: “And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, how shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:31-35).

 

Christ Jesus is the Son of God, and is the seed of woman (Genesis 3:15); and thus undefiled by the sin of Adam which comes by natural generation. Sins committed have their beginning in the desire of the heart, our Lord Jesus said: “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: these are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man” (Matthew 15:19-20). The inward principle of sin which pervades the nature of natural men is the underling iceburg of which the sins of the flesh are but the observed tip. Christ Jesus had no such inward principle, for He was of the seed of woman, and not of the seed of natural man. In the womb of the virgin Mary a body was prepared of the Holy Ghost, as it is written: “Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me” (Hebrews 10:5). There is no inward principle of sin in Christ Jesus, therefore there is nothing in the heart of Christ whereunto sin can be appealing, for the external attractions of sin must appeal to the inward principle of sin present in the heart of all natural men. Our Lord Jesus said this about the inward principle of sin: “Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me” (John 14:30). There is no inward principle of sin in the Christ of God, nothing for Satan to appeal to in the Christ, for Jesus Christ is “the Holy One of God” (Mark 1:24).

 

 He shall offer it of his own voluntary will. Here again the underlying principle is the will of Christ Jesus to do the will of Him that sent Him. “For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent “me” (John 6:38). And He said: “I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart” (Psalm 40:8). “By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once” (Hebrews 10:10; italicized insertions by translators have been omitted). The ultimate object of the offering of the body of Christ once, was the glory of God. God would make known to principalities and powers the perfections of His wisdom and power through the destruction of Satan and his works by Jesus Christ. God destroyed the kingdom of Satan, his government and power, by that nature which Satan had overcome in Adam. That is God destroyed the kingdom of Satan by the humanity of Jesus Christ, who by one offering of His body and soul destroyed Satan and his works.  Satan is now a ruined adversary, he is allowed to do what he can to trouble the people of God, but he can do no more than what God allows. He knows his time is short, and that his imprisonment is sure. All that he does to the children of God, is what God allows for the good of those children. Two things that Satan does when he causes the children of God trouble are: (1.) To wean them from the love of this world, and (2.) To continually teach us our total dependence on Christ Jesus for all that is of essential value to the souls of men. When we are weak in ourselves then are we strong in the Lord; as said the Apostle Paul: “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (II Corinthians 12:9). “For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh” (Philippians 3:3). The fellowship of the Father and the Son as the Son yielded up His soul and offering for sin is incomprehensible to our understanding, and this is what is shadowed forth in the burnt offering. While in the sin offering the shadow is of fury poured out and justice satisfied (Isaiah 27:4).

 

At the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, before the Lord.  This sacrifice was offered before the Lord. The animal, whether bullock, sheep, or goat, was brought to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation and killed at the door of the tabernacle, where Jehovah dwelt in the holiest of all, between the cherubim of glory. This sacrifice was Godward. As Christ Jesus is shadowed in the burnt offering, Christ’s love of the Father, and honor of the glory of God were the motivating factors in the heart of Christ. In this devotion to the glory and honor of God, Christ Jesus demonstrated the obedience resident in the heart of Christ and required in the moral law, as it is written: “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:37-40). That which was innate in Christ, the supreme love of God above all else, and desire for the manifestation of His glory, was the fire that burned in His Holy Soul and could not be quenched until it found expression at the cross of Calvary, in His own death which was signified in the burnt offering.

 

The offerer was to put his hand on the head of the offering. Placing his hand on the head of the animal, signifies full identification of the offerer with the sacrifice. This expresses of the union of Christ Jesus with all the elect of God, according to the everlasting covenant of grace. The Hebrew expression for “he shall put’ is, saw’ mak, it means to: prop, reflexively to lean upon or take hold of, to lean, lie hard, sustain. This is what the believer does with respect to Christ, the believer leans all his weight on the Christ of God, and is sustained by Him alone. The believer is upheld at the throne of grace before the God of heaven and earth. Leaning of the everlasting arms is the fellowship of the mystery, that is our participation in the mystery: as it is written: “And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him” (Ephesians 3:9-12). Christ Jesus fulfilled all the law and the prophets, and all those who lean on him fulfilled the law and the prophets in Christ by that covenant union whereby we are crucified with Christ ( Galatians 2:20). Our Lord Jesus washed the church in His own blood (Revelation 1:5). And therefore all members of His church are “clean every whit” (John 13:10).    

AJ Ison

 

See the writers blog at www.hebrews915.blogspot.com hear the truth of the gospel of Christ preached at www.13thstbaptist.org webcasting live at listed service times.