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Scripture Reading: Lev. 1:3, 8-9; 2:1-2; 3:1-3, 11; 7:11-12; 4:3-6; 5:6-7
In this chapter we will consider the Divine Trinity as revealed in the types of the five basic offerings in the first part of Leviticus. Although I began to study Leviticus decades ago, I did not realize until recently how much of the Divine Trinity is revealed and applied to us in the types of the offerings. By the Lord’s mercy we are receiving much revelation in this study of the Divine Trinity in the holy Word.
Leviticus 1:3 says, “If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd...he shall present it at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, that he may be accepted before Jehovah.” Verses 8 through 9 say, “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; but its inward parts and its legs he shall wash with water. Then the priest shall burn the whole on the altar, as a burnt offering, an offering by fire, a satisfying fragrance to Jehovah.” The crucial items revealing the Divine Trinity in these verses are the burnt offering, the Tent of Meeting, Jehovah, the priest, the fire, and the water. We need to know the interpretation of these items in order to understand the type of the burnt offering.
In Numbers 28:2 Jehovah said, “My offering, My food for My offerings by fire of a satisfying fragrance to Me.” Thus, the burnt offering typifies Christ the Son as the food for God’s satisfaction. It is difficult to understand how Christ could be God’s food, since Christ as the Son is part of the Triune God. However, this revelation is not according to the traditional, doctrinal teachings concerning the Trinity. We need to study the entire Bible to discover all the verses concerning the Trinity, but if we try to systematize the Trinity, we will become spiritually dead. The healthiest persons are not those who know the most but those who breathe, eat, sleep, and exercise properly. In our knowledge of the Trinity, we need to be simple and brief. We even need to learn to sometimes say, “I do not know.” Then we will be at peace. Martin Luther said that anyone who claims to understand the Trinity is a teacher of God. No one can fully understand the Trinity. Every illustration used to describe the Trinity falls short in certain aspects and may even be misleading. We must beware of heresies such as modalism, which denies that the three of the Trinity coexist and coinhere, and tritheism, which denies the oneness of God. In order to properly understand the Divine Trinity, we must see that God is one and yet also three who eternally coexist and coinhere. We cannot adequately illustrate or explain the Trinity, because the Trinity is beyond our comprehension. Most people have some knowledge about the Trinity, but we need to leave our knowledge aside and keep a clear mind as we consider the revelation of the Trinity in the holy Word.
The Tent of Meeting in Leviticus 1:3 typifies Christ the Son as the place of offering. The offerings were offered at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. In order for an offering to be legitimate, it could not be offered anywhere else. Similarly, in order to offer anything to God, we must take Christ as the ground for our offering. If we do this, God will accept our offering. In Deuteronomy 12:5-14 God charged the Israelites not to offer anything outside of this place. If anyone offered something to God apart from this place, it was a great sin. To offer something to God in the wrong way is a sin. Cain’s offering was rejected because he offered something to God without taking Christ as the base for his offering (Gen. 4:3, 5).
We have seen that Jesus is Jehovah in the New Testament, because the name Jesus means “Jehovah the Savior.” However, we have also seen that in Exodus 3:6, as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Jehovah is the Triune God. Here in Leviticus 1, because Christ the Son is offered to Jehovah, Jehovah refers to the Father as the Receiver of the offering. This shows that the Divine Trinity cannot be systematized according to the doctrines of traditional theology.
In verses 8 and 9 the priest typifies Christ the Son as the serving One. The priest served the offering. In Hebrews Paul writes that Christ is our great High Priest (4:14-15; 5:5) and a Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek (v. 6; 7:17). Thus, as typified by the burnt offering, the Tent of Meeting, and the priest, Christ the Son is simultaneously the offering, the place of the offering, and the One who serves the offering. Logically speaking, this is incomprehensible. It is as if a restaurant, the food, and the waiter were all one. This shows that traditional teachings concerning the Trinity are inadequate and that the Trinity cannot be fully understood according to the human mentality.
The fire in Leviticus 1:8-9 signifies God as the accepting agent. Fire consumes and devours. We accept food by our mouth. Similarly, God accepted the offering by burning it. Therefore, strictly speaking, the fire was Jehovah’s mouth. However, we do not say, “My mouth eats.” Instead, we say, “I eat.” Thus, in the matter of eating, our mouth is our person. Accordingly, the fire that burned the burnt offering was God Himself. Hebrews 12:29 says, “Our God is also a consuming fire.” The divine fire may function for judging or for accepting. The fire that consumed the burnt offering was not for judgment but for acceptance by God. The burning of the burnt offering was the divine eating.
The water that washed the inward parts and legs of the burnt offering signifies the Spirit as the washing agent. This does not imply that Christ is unclean; rather, it indicates that Christ’s inward parts and His daily walk were continually being washed by the Holy Spirit, signified by the water (John 7:38-39), to keep Him from becoming defiled by His contact with earthly things.
We have seen that the burnt offering signifies Christ as food to satisfy God. We have also seen that the entire Trinity is involved in the burnt offering. God the Father is the Receiver; God the Son is the offering, the place of the offering, and the serving One; and God the Spirit is the washing One. The accepting fire refers to the entire Godhead. Some may think that it is wrong to consider the Son as part of the fire, since the Son as the offering is burned by the fire. Especially when studying the Old Testament types, traditional, systematic teachings concerning the Trinity are altogether inadequate. Systematic teachings concerning the Trinity open the door for endless debate, because the Trinity is a mystery that we cannot completely understand.
Leviticus 2:1-2 says, “When anyone presents an offering of a meal offering to Jehovah, his offering shall be of fine flour; and he shall pour oil on it and put frankincense on it. Then he shall bring it to Aaron’s sons the priests, and he shall take from it his handful of its fine flour and of its oil with all its frankincense. And the priest shall burn it as its memorial portion on the altar, an offering by fire, a satisfying fragrance to Jehovah.” The items that indicate the Trinity in these verses are the meal offering, Jehovah, the oil, the priest, and the fire. The Trinity is involved with the meal offering in a very subjective way.
The meal offering typifies Christ the Son as the food to satisfy God and man. The meal offering was served mainly as the priests’ food, but a part of the meal offering was also burned on the altar as an offering by fire for food to God. Thus, the meal offering was food for both God and man. The meal offering typifies Christ mainly in His humanity, because the main ingredient of the meal offering was fine flour, which signifies Christ’s humanity. Christ as a man with all His perfect and complete virtues is food to God and to those who serve God.
The oil typifies the Spirit, the divine element of Christ as the offering. Christ as a man was full of the Spirit. The oil was added to the meal offering in at least three ways. Verse 1 says that the oil was to be poured on the meal offering. Verse 4 says that the oil was to be mingled with the cakes of the meal offering, and verse 5 says that the oil was to be mingled with the fine flour of the meal offering. When the oil was poured, it covered the outside of the offering; and when the oil was mingled with the offering, the oil came into and saturated the offering. This shows that the Spirit was poured upon Christ, and the Spirit was mingled with Him and saturated His human element. Christ as a man was thoroughly mingled with and saturated by the Spirit. When Christ was conceived of the Holy Spirit, Christ’s human element was mingled with the divine element of the Spirit (Matt. 1:18). The Spirit was poured upon Christ later, when He began to minister at the age of thirty (3:16). At that time, the Spirit anointed Him (Luke 4:18).
As in the type of the burnt offering, in the type of the meal offering Jehovah is God the Father as the Receiver of the offering, the priest typifies Christ the Son, the serving One, and the fire typifies God as the accepting agent. The fire and water are agents because they act upon the offering but are not part of the offering. The oil is an element because it is a basic constituent of the offering.
Leviticus 3:1-3 says, “If his offering is a sacrifice of peace offerings,...he shall present it without blemish before Jehovah...Aaron’s sons the priests shall sprinkle the blood on and around the altar. And from the sacrifice of peace offerings he shall present an offering by fire to Jehovah.” Verse 11 says, “It is the food of the offering by fire to Jehovah.” Leviticus 7:11-12 says, “This is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings that one shall present to Jehovah: If he presents it for a thanksgiving, then he shall present with the sacrifice of thanksgiving unleavened cakes mingled with oil and unleavened wafers anointed with oil and saturated cakes of fine flour mingled with oil.” The crucial items indicating the Trinity in these verses are the peace offering, Jehovah, the priest, the fire, the sacrifice of thanksgiving, the unleavened cakes, the oil, the unleavened wafers, and the saturated cakes of fine flour mingled with oil.
The peace offering typifies Christ the Son as the peace between God and man. In order for someone to become the peace between two parties who are at enmity, much is required. Christ became the peace between God and man by being many things and by accomplishing many things. As in the types of the other offerings, Jehovah is God the Father as the Receiver of the offering; the priest typifies Christ the Son, the serving One; and the fire typifies God as the accepting agent.
The sacrifice of thanksgiving signifies Christ the Son for the offerer’s thanks to God. In addition to the ordinary, general peace offering mentioned in Leviticus 3, a particular kind of peace offering, one for thanksgiving, is described in Leviticus 7. When the children of Israel wanted to make an offering to God because they had a thanking heart, they made an offering of thanksgiving that was part of a peace offering. The general peace offering was only an animal from the herd (3:1) or from the flock (v. 6), but the peace offering for thanksgiving was accompanied by a meal offering.
Three kinds of meal offerings accompanied the peace offering as a sacrifice of thanksgiving: unleavened cakes, unleavened wafers, and saturated cakes of fine flour mingled with oil. The unleavened cakes typify Christ the Son as the pure and clean food. Christ’s humanity is without sin, wrongdoings, faults, or defects and is perfect and pure. Cakes may be thick, but wafers are thin and easy to eat and digest. Therefore, the unleavened wafers typify Christ the Son as the pure and clean food that is easy to eat and digest. Certain experiences of Christ are difficult, but more often Christ is easy to eat and digest. In our experience Christ is both a cake and a wafer. Because the oil again signifies the Spirit as the divine element of the meal offering, the saturated cakes of fine flour mingled with oil typify Christ the Son as food saturated and mingled with the element of the Spirit. The cakes were saturated with the oil, and the fine flour was mingled with the oil. As we have seen, this denotes Christ’s divine conception by the Holy Spirit, in which divinity mingled with His humanity and saturated His being.
Christ as the peace offering is for Christ to be the co-enjoyment of God and man in peace for fellowship. The peace offering is not only for peace but also for enjoyment. This is not individualistic enjoyment but co-enjoyment and fellowship. Christ is able to be such an offering for our peace, co-enjoyment, and fellowship through the involvement of the Divine Trinity.
Leviticus 4:3-6 says, “Let him present a bull of the herd without blemish to Jehovah for a sin offering...He shall bring the bull to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting before Jehovah...The anointed priest shall take some of the blood of the bull and bring it into the Tent of Meeting, and the priest shall...sprinkle some of the blood seven times before Jehovah.” Leviticus 5:6-7 says, “He shall bring his trespass offering to Jehovah for his sin which he has committed...as a sin offering; and the priest shall make expiation for him on account of his sin. And if he cannot afford a lamb, then he shall bring as his trespass offering...two turtledoves or two young pigeons, one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering.” The crucial items indicating the Trinity in these verses are Jehovah, the sin offering, the Tent of Meeting, the priest, and the trespass offering, which includes the sin offering and the burnt offering.
As in the types of the other offerings, Jehovah is God the Father as the Receiver of the offerings, the Tent of Meeting typifies Christ the Son as the place of offering, the priest typifies Christ the Son as the serving One, and the fire typifies God as the accepting agent. The sin offering represents Christ the Son as an offering for our sin. Sin refers to the indwelling sinful nature that we inherit by birth. The trespass offering represents Christ the Son as an offering for our sins. Sins refer to the sinful deeds that we commit. Our sinful nature is the source of our sins. Christ is the sin offering and the trespass offering to redeem us from our sin and sins. Christ deals with the sin in our nature and the sins that we commit.
According to verse 7, the trespass offering could be composed of two turtledoves or two young pigeons — one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. In this case, the sin offering signifies Christ the Son as an offering for our sin to deal with the source of our sins, and the burnt offering signifies Christ the Son as the offering for God’s satisfaction to deal with the cause of our sins. After committing a sin, we may repent, confess, and take Christ as our trespass offering. However, we also need to realize that our sins come out of the indwelling sin in our nature. The source of every trespass is the inward sin in our flesh. Thus, in addition to taking Christ as our trespass offering for our sinful deeds, we also need to take Christ as our sin offering for the sinful nature that produces those sins. Furthermore, the reason for our trespasses is our not living absolutely for God. Therefore, we also need a burnt offering to deal with the cause of our sins. Christ as the sin offering deals with the source of our trespasses, and Christ as the burnt offering deals with the cause of our trespasses.
We need to practice daily to take the Lord as our sin offering and trespass offering. We tend to apply the Lord more often as our trespass offering because we are aware of our many trespasses, yet we also need to realize that the source of all our trespasses is our sinful nature, and the cause of our trespasses is that we are not absolute for God. When we apply Christ as our trespass offering, we may pray, “Lord, I trespassed again. I trespass again and again because I am inwardly sinful and because I do not love You enough and am not absolutely for You.” We may not use the terms trespass offering, sin offering, and burnt offering in our prayer, but such a confession implies that we have the proper realization of our situation and that Christ as the reality of the offerings is the solution to our problems of sin and sins.
In the five basic offerings in Leviticus 1—7 we see that the Triune God is the working One as the accepting Father, the serving Son, and the mingling Spirit. The Triune God is also the elements of the offerings, such as the oil, which is an element of the meal offering. The Triune God is also the functioning agents, which are the washing water and the burning fire. The five offerings as a whole depict how the Triune God, as the working One, the elements of the offerings, and the functioning agents, redeems and brings His chosen people into the full enjoyment of the divine riches of the Divine Trinity. The picture of these types reveals that the operation of the Triune God is not only to redeem us but also to bring us into the enjoyment of the riches of the Trinity. The offerings are for God’s enjoyment and our enjoyment as well. The operation of the Triune God as typified by the offerings produces peace. Peace is for fellowship, and fellowship is for co-enjoyment.
