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Scripture Reading: Deut. 12:8-14; Lev. 1:3, 7-10, 14, 16; 2 Cor. 4:10-12, 16
God needs food to satisfy His hunger, and the burnt offering according to the divine revelation is not just a kind of sacrifice but food for God. Leviticus 3:11, speaking of the burnt offering, says, “The priest shall burn it on the altar; it is the food of the offering by fire to Jehovah.” This verse, along with Leviticus 21:6, 8, 21, and 22, shows us that the burnt offering is food for God. God is hungry and needs to be satisfied, so we must provide the burnt offering for His food.
All the different offerings are not only for our enjoyment but also for God’s enjoyment. They are a kind of mutual enjoyment. God enjoys all the offerings, and we enjoy them too. All the offerings are types of the different aspects of Christ. Christ is so rich; He has so many aspects. Such a rich Christ is a mutual enjoyment both to God and to us. Thus, Leviticus is not merely a book of law but a book of enjoyment.
The first offering, which is the burnt offering, is for God’s enjoyment. There is only a small portion for our enjoyment, that is, the skin for the priest who presents the burnt offering to God. Most of the burnt offering is for God’s food, but still there is a small part for our covering. The burnt offering is not for us to eat but to put on. It is God’s enjoyment, but it is our covering. We have no right to enjoy Christ as the burnt offering for our food; it is God’s food. But there is a little part for our covering. The more we present Christ as enjoyment to God, the more we are in Christ and covered with Him. The more Christ becomes God’s enjoyment through our presentation, the more Christ becomes our covering. Eventually, all that others can see of us is Christ. The skin of the burnt offering has become our covering, and we have become one with the burnt offering.
There are eight points that we must see concerning the burnt offering. The first is that God is waiting for His food in the Tent of Meeting. God does not purchase the food, nor does He grow the food by Himself. God is in the Tent of Meeting, waiting for His food. If there is no one to labor on the good land and no one to present the surplus of the riches of the land in the Tent of Meeting, there is no way for God to obtain His food. How much God depends upon us and our labor on the good land! He is depending on our presentation of the surplus of the riches of the good land for His food.
We must realize that God has been hungry for centuries because many Christians have not known how to labor on Christ as the good land. They simply have not known that whenever they meet, they should bring something of Christ to God. They have known how to have a so-called Christian service, but they have not known how to bring the surplus of the riches of Christ to God as the burnt offering. They have known how to fast and cry to God for His mercy. Their prayers were mainly, “O God be merciful to us and send a great revival.” They simply have not known how to bring the riches of Christ to God as His food.
But praise the Lord that in these last few years He has shown us this very thing. We no longer need to meet in that poor way of fasting, crying, and weeping. We may meet in a joyful way, coming together with the very Christ whom we experience day by day. We have a surplus of this rich Christ because we have been laboring on Him as the good land all day long. Why do we have morning watch? Just for laboring on Christ! Why do we call on the name of the Lord? Just to labor on Him! Why do we feast on Him in the Word all day? Simply for laboring on Him! Christ is our good land, and we labor on Him all day. Then when we come to the meeting in the Tent of Meeting, we have something of Christ to present to God. God is really hungry. He is looking forward to the meetings to receive some food. Our meeting together is not just to set up a table among ourselves but to set up a table for God.
Many Christians are always trying to get something from God. However, in the Tent of Meeting, the first thing that we must present is the burnt offering, not for our enjoyment but for God’s enjoyment. We must satisfy God with the very Christ upon whom we have labored. This is far from the concept of most Christians. They are always looking to God for something, but they never have anything to present to God as food. We must labor on Christ so that we may have something of His surplus to bring to God when we come to the Tent of Meeting. We can then present the burnt offering to Him for His food.
The second point is that the burnt offering is in different sizes. There is the bull, which is quite large, the sheep and the goats, which are smaller, and then eventually the turtledoves or young pigeons, which are the smallest. Christ in Himself is always the same. He is unlimitedly great, but He differs in our experience. Sometimes in our experience He is a bull, and sometimes He is just a little pigeon. Then sometimes He is a sheep — something of medium size. In Himself He is always the same, but in our experiences He differs.
What size Christ have you experienced today? Did you experience Him as a bull or as a pigeon? We must check to see what is the size of the Christ we have experienced and have brought to present to God in the Tent of Meeting. Deep within we all know just how large the Christ is whom we have experienced. So we need to pray, “Lord, be gracious to us that we may enlarge our experience of Christ and always have a bull to present to You.”
Third, we must see that to present the burnt offering or even to present all the other offerings, we need four things. We need these four things in order to present the Christ whom we have experienced to God in a proper way. Without them it would be rather difficult for us to present any offerings.
The first of the four things is the unique place of God’s choice. In Deuteronomy 12:8-14 Moses told the people of Israel about the place of God’s choice. “You shall not do according to all that we do here today, each man doing all that is right in his own eyes; for until now you have not come to the rest and to the inheritance that Jehovah your God is giving you. But when you cross over the Jordan and dwell in the land which Jehovah your God is giving you as an inheritance, and when He gives you rest from all your enemies surrounding you so that you dwell securely; then to the place where Jehovah your God will choose to cause His name to dwell, there you shall bring all that I am commanding you, your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the heave offering of your hand and all your choice vows which you vow to Jehovah. And you shall rejoice before Jehovah your God, you and your sons and daughters, and your male servants and female servants, and the Levite who is within your gates, for he has no portion nor inheritance with you. Be careful that you do not offer up your burnt offerings in every place that you see; but in the place which Jehovah will choose in one of your tribes, there you shall offer up your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I am commanding you.”
Moses told the people of Israel that when they entered the good land, they should not do things that were right in their own eyes but not right in the eyes of God. In the wilderness they did whatever was right in their own eyes. That was lawlessness; it was something that could never please God. He tolerated it in the wilderness, but He would not tolerate it in the good land. Then Moses told them that when they entered into the good land, they must present their burnt offerings in the very place of God’s choice. If it was according to their choice, it would again be something that was right in their own eyes. But in the good land they must do what is right in the eyes of God. The first thing they must do is to bring their offerings to the place of God’s choice.
This means that when we are not living in Christ, not resting in Christ, and not inheriting our portion in Christ, we may act in a loose way according to our choice. But once we are resting in Christ, inheriting Him as our portion, we should not do things according to what is right in our eyes but according to the choice of God. Praise the Lord that we are now in Christ! We are in the good land. Therefore, we should not do anything according to our choice but according to God’s choice. Thus, for the presenting of the offerings, there is the need of a proper place, a place that will keep the oneness of the people of God. If the people of Israel had the liberty to choose a place for their worship to God when they went into the good land, it would not be long before they would be divided. Through all the centuries the people of Israel have been kept as one as far as their worship to God is concerned. The oneness has been kept by this unique place of worship. The only choice was God’s choice, and God’s choice was their choice.
Today Christians are too free; they have too many choices. Almost everybody has a certain kind of church according to his or her choice. People say, “I don’t like that kind of meeting,” or “I prefer this kind of meeting.” What is this? This is their choice. We all need to say, “Lord, what is Your choice? Where is the place You have chosen? I do not like my choice. I do not like to do anything that is right in my own eyes, but everything that is right in Your eyes. I do not like to meet according to my taste; I want to meet in the place of Your choice.”
The choices today are too many. You have your taste, and I have mine. We all have our own taste; eventually, many tastes cause many divisions. But there is only one proper taste and one proper choice; that is God’s choice of the one unique ground of oneness. Do not think that this is a small matter. You may see the enjoyment in our meetings and even taste something of that enjoyment, but do not try to go to your place to copy the same thing. You may have the enjoyment here, but if you go to other places to copy these things, you will immediately lose the enjoyment. This is because you are not in the one unique place chosen by God, that is, the genuine ground of oneness. We all need to be on the unique ground of oneness. Do not meet with the local church because it suits your taste. Whether you like it or not does not matter. What matters is whether or not God likes it. While you say that you like it tonight, tomorrow you may not like it. We must say that this is God’s choice, and God’s choice is our destiny. It is not a small thing to be in the place of God’s choice on the ground of oneness. Hundreds of us can testify that as long as we are on the ground of oneness, we are home. We are home because this is God’s choice.
The second of the four things that we need in order to properly present the offerings to God is the Tent of Meeting. What is the Tent of Meeting? This is the meeting of the local church. Without the church meetings, how could we present the burnt offering to God as His food? We all need the church meetings. If you do not believe it, just try to offer Christ as the burnt offering to God in your home by yourself. It will not work. Some may say, “Brother Lee, you are too narrow. You are limiting God. If I can present Christ as the burnt offering to God in the meeting, I can surely do it in my home.” All I can say is that those who feel this way should go home and try to do it.
According to the type, the picture is very clear. Not one Israelite was allowed to present the burnt offering in his home. Have you read this? Today so many Christians say that they do not care for the meetings. As long as they are fellowshipping with the Lord in their home or somewhere else, they feel that it is all right. In a sense it is all right, but it is not all right for offering Christ as the burnt offering to God. No Israelite in ancient times could kill a bull for a burnt offering to God in any place that he chose. He had to be at the Tent of Meeting. Only at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting was he able to present the burnt offering. You may enjoy Christ in your home tonight, you may enjoy Christ in your home tomorrow morning, and you may enjoy Christ anytime in any place, but you can never present Christ as the burnt offering to God for God’s food in any place other than the meeting of the local church.
In the meetings we have a certain kind of sensation that is so sweet and pleasant. There is the sensation that something here is so unique, so pleasant, and so good. Try to imitate this sensation at home. You simply cannot do it. You can never have such a sensation outside the Tent of Meeting. We all must come to the church meetings to present our burnt offering to God. In the church meetings we sense something of Christ that we can never sense in any other place. Leviticus 1:3 says clearly that we must present our burnt offering at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting before the Lord. This is the only place to present Christ as the burnt offering. You may try to do it according to Matthew 18:20: “Where there are two or three gathered into My name, there am I in their midst.” However, I know that many of us have tried this already and have no desire to try it again. Praise the Lord that today we are on the unique ground, and we have the Tent of Meeting where we can offer our burnt offering to God as food!
The third item is the altar. In the Old Testament times there was only one altar among the people of Israel. There were no altars in the homes. The altar was unique, because it was in the unique place that God chose. As long as there is only one altar, how can we present the burnt offering in our home? The altar is at the Tent of Meeting, not in your home or my home. There is one altar, and we need the altar to present all the offerings, especially the burnt offering.
The fourth thing that we must have to properly present the offerings to God is the priests. Praise the Lord, we all may say that we are priests! But we must realize that according to the type, none of the priests were individualistic. All the priests were coordinated into one body. There was one priesthood. The word priesthood here means a body of priests. We need the coordination of the body of priests, the priesthood, in order to properly present the burnt offering to God.
Thus, we see four things that we must have to present the burnt offering. We need the unique place, the Tent of Meeting, the altar, and the priesthood. It is impossible to have these four things in our home. I tried this forty years ago, but it did not work. Then I came to the unique ground of the Tent of Meeting with the unique altar and the priesthood. It was so easy to present Christ as the burnt offering in the proper place. These four things are the third point that we must see in order to present the burnt offering.
The fourth point is that in presenting the burnt offering, we are one with Christ. On the one hand, the burnt offering is just Christ Himself. Yet, on the other hand, if we would present Christ as the burnt offering, we must be one with Him. This is why in the presentation of the burnt offering, there is the laying on of the hand of the presenter. This simply means that the presenter is one with the present; the offerer is one with the offering. To lay your hand upon the head of the burnt offering means to be identified with the offering.
If, throughout the whole day, we have never been one with Christ, it is rather difficult to come into the meeting to present Christ as the burnt offering. If our hand has been kept away from Christ, yet we come to the meeting and try to present Him as our burnt offering, it is indeed awkward. We all must be identified with Christ. We must be one with Christ all day long. All day our hand must be on the head of Christ. In other words, throughout the day we must be one with Christ in our spirit.
This Christ upon whom we lay our hand is not one who kills others. His is not a killing life, but a life that is willing to be killed. Let me illustrate in this way. Here is a brother and his wife. If this brother has really been one with Christ today, he will realize that Christ is not the killing one but the One who is so willing to be killed. Suppose that when he gets home, his wife gives him a difficult time. This is the killing. Many, many times the wives are the best killers. But I must be fair and say that the husbands are killers too. The wives are killing the husbands, and the husbands are killing the wives. The lives of both the husbands and the wives are killing lives. Do not think that a certain brother is so gentle — his life is a cutting life. Many times he cuts his wife into pieces. And his wife has the same kind of life. Perhaps she tries even more to cut him into pieces.
But when your wife or your husband is cutting you into pieces, if you are one with Christ, you will be willing to be cut. The life of Christ within us is so willing to be cut. By His life you will never quarrel; you will never have any exchange of words with your wife. You will be so willing to be cut into pieces. Then when you come to the meeting, you will have something of Christ to offer and present to God. On the other hand, if you quarrel a little with your wife and reason with her in even a small way, you are through. You will come to the meeting with your hands empty. You will have nothing of Christ to offer.
This is the case not only in the marriage life but also in the office, the classroom, and the apartment where we live. All the time we must experience Christ as the life that is willing to be cut into pieces. It is not by ourselves but by the indwelling Christ. He is the burnt offering, and His life is so willing to be cut.
Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:10-12, “Always bearing about in the body the putting to death of Jesus that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who are alive are always being delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So then death operates in us, but life in you.” We must bear the putting to death of Jesus in our life. All day long we are being delivered unto death.
Do not think that it will be those who are so much against you who will kill you. Many times your wife kills you, and sometimes an elder in the local church kills you. All these are just the proper cuttings for you.
If we are all going to be built up together and have a rich recovery of the church, we all must experience these things. Do not say that when you come to the church, the love is so marvelous. After two weeks, you will suffer much. You will suffer the cutting. Do not try to cut others but be willing to be cut. However, no matter how careful you are, you will sometimes cut others. Many times I was extremely careful not to cut others, but eventually I cut a great deal. I did not do it intentionally, but I did it. We all have cut one another many times, but today we are here in real oneness because we are willing to be cut by one another. We have a life within us that is willing to be cut.
Do not take this matter of the burnt offering as a teaching in an objective way. We all must realize that the burnt offering is our oneness with Christ. All day long we must identify ourselves with Christ in a practical way in our daily walk. It is not just a matter of coming to the meeting and trying to present Christ as the burnt offering. That will not work. We must be one with Christ in our practical daily lives, and to be one with Christ as the burnt offering means to take the life that is so willing to be killed, skinned, and cut into pieces.
Now we come to the fifth point of the burnt offering: when we present Christ as the burnt offering in the Tent of Meeting, we have the full acceptance of God. If we have been one with Christ during the day, when we come to the meeting, we have something to present. When we present Christ as the burnt offering, we have the deep sensation that we are fully accepted by God. We have the full acceptance of God, and we have the full assurance that we are so pleasing to God. When we are identified with Christ in our daily walk and we come to the meeting to present Him as our burnt offering, we are fully assured that God is pleased with us. We have the acceptance of God.
The sixth point of the burnt offering is the order. In Leviticus 1:7-8 the words in order are used twice. “The sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire on the altar and arrange the wood in order on the fire. Then Aaron’s sons the priests shall arrange the pieces, the head, and the fat in order on the wood that is on the fire which is on the altar.” The wood is laid in order, and the pieces of the burnt offering are also laid in order. Nothing is done in a sloppy way. The wood is not thrown upon the altar but arranged in order, and the pieces of the burnt offering are also laid in an arrangement. What does this mean? God knows which piece of wood is needed for burning your offering. He arranges the wood in a good order. He uses the first piece of wood, the second piece, and then the third piece to burn your offering. God knows also which part of your offering to burn. He arranges the wood, and He arranges the pieces in order. In our experience and to our sensation, the burning might be a mess, but God is a good Arranger. He arranges the burning in a good order. The priest arranged all the pieces of wood in order, and he arranged all the pieces of the burnt offering. God does the same today. Under His arranging, the first piece of wood is really the first, and the second is really the second. And the first part of the offering that is burnt is really the first part. There is nothing amiss. God could never be mistaken in His burning. He burns our offering in a good order.
The seventh point we must see concerning the burnt offering is that the odor is a kind of incense to God. In Hebrew the word burnt used in this chapter means to burn as incense. The burnt offering is an incense to God. It is not a judgment or a punishment, but a burning of incense. It is not under God’s punishment but under God’s acceptance. It is not like the burning of the lake of fire but the burning on the altar as the burning of the incense altar. It is so sweet and fragrant to God. This is why our meetings are so fragrant. Many of us sense that when we come to the meeting, there is the sweet odor of incense. This is because so many under the sweet burning have Christ as their burnt offerings. It is not a burning as a kind of sore punishment but a burning as a sweet incense. Thus, there is a sweet fragrance.
If we would be willing to be identified with Christ in our daily walk, whenever we come together and present Christ as the burnt offering to God, there will be a sweet fragrance in our meetings. No words can explain it. It is not a good speaker attracting the people or a great movement stirring them up. It is just the little ones meeting together with something fragrant. When people come into their midst, they sense the sweetness and the fragrance. This is the burnt offering presented to God through so many dear ones who are one with Christ in their daily life.
Finally, the last point regarding the burnt offering is the ashes toward the east (v. 16). The ashes mean the remainder of the dead and burnt body. It was a living body, but it was killed and burnt to ashes. Humanly speaking, when any living one becomes ashes, that is the end, the real termination. But with Christ as the burnt offering, the ashes are not the end but just the beginning. The ashes were not put at the sunset toward the west but at the place of the sunrise toward the east. Assuredly, the sun will rise. The ashes mean that Christ has been put to death, but the east signifies resurrection. After the putting to death, resurrection will follow. Paul says that we bear the putting to death of Jesus that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in us. This is resurrection. The more we become ashes with Christ, the more we will be put toward the east. And on the east we have assurance that the sun will rise. Hallelujah for the sunrise of resurrection!
