Message 136
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Scripture Reading: Exo. 29:15-28; 40:14-15
We have pointed out that remembering that we have a sinful nature and daily offering Christ as our sin offering will protect us and preserve us. The offering of the sin offering was a basic aspect of the sanctification of Aaron and his sons to be priests. Let us now go on to consider some other aspects.
The sanctification of Aaron and his sons to serve God as priests required two rams, in addition to the young bull for the sin offering. Concerning the first ram, 29:15-18 says, “And you shall take one ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands upon the head of the ram. And you shall slaughter the ram, and take its blood and sprinkle it upon the altar round about. And you shall cut the ram into its pieces, and wash its inwards and its legs, and put them upon its pieces and upon its head. And you shall burn the whole ram on the altar; it is a burnt offering to Jehovah, a sweet savor; it is an offering by fire to Jehovah.” According to these verses, the first ram was slaughtered and then cut into pieces. This, no doubt, refers to Christ, who was slaughtered and cut into pieces. However, we also are involved, for we are identified with Christ. This identification with Christ is indicated by Aaron and his sons laying their hands upon the head of the ram (v. 15).
We all treasure the matter of identification with Christ. But have you ever realized that in Christ, with Christ, and through Christ you need to be slaughtered and also cut into pieces? Who among those who believe in Christ is willing to be slaughtered and cut into pieces? It is doubtful that anyone truly wants this. But in order to be a priest, we need to be slaughtered and cut into pieces in Christ and through Christ. We, of course, are not to slaughter ourselves or others, but God will slaughter us in Christ. The Bible indicates that whoever wants to serve God as a priest will be slaughtered and cut into pieces by Him.
When some hear about the priests being slaughtered and cut into pieces in Christ, they may protest and say, “No, we don’t agree with this. Are not the bulls and the rams types of Christ? Christ is the One who was slaughtered. God has slaughtered Christ and cut Him into pieces. This is not something that happens to us. Regarding this, Christ is our substitute; He has replaced us in being slaughtered and cut into pieces.” If this is your concept you are qualified only to be saved; you are not qualified to be a priest. Yes, Christ was crucified as our substitute. He was our replacement in bearing our sins when He died on the cross. Nevertheless, in order to serve God as priests, we must be identified with the slaughtered and cut Christ, the Christ who was cut into pieces by God.
After the ram of the burnt offering was slaughtered and cut into pieces, its inwards and legs were washed, and then the whole ram was burned on the altar as a sweet savor to the Lord. This indicates that after the slaughtering and the cutting, we need the washing and the burning. According to 29:4-5, Aaron and his sons were washed with water and then clothed with the priestly garments. That was the initial washing. After that, the priests had to be one with the ram that was slaughtered, cut into pieces, washed, and burned.
Verse 18 says that the whole ram was burned on the altar as an offering by fire to the Lord, a sweet savor to Him. The Hebrew term for burnt offering actually means ascending sacrifice. When this offering was burned on the altar, it became a sweet savor ascending to God for His enjoyment. This is the reason Numbers 28:2 and 3 speak of the burnt offering as God’s food. God’s food, the burnt offering, satisfies Him.
Certainly, Christ is the One who is burned to feed God and satisfy Him. However, we still need to lay our hands on Christ; that is, we need to be one with Him, identified with Him. This means that whatever we are and whatever we do must be slaughtered, cut in pieces, washed, and burned on the altar, the cross, entirely for God’s enjoyment and satisfaction. This will then become food for God.
In my early years as a Christian, I did not know that God needed food, that He needed something to eat. From the Bible I had learned only that it was necessary for us sinners to eat something. I did not know that God also wanted to eat. But when I restudied typology with the saints in Taiwan in 1953, I began to see that God needs food. The first aspect of God’s food is the burnt offering. This is the reason that, of all the offerings described in the book of Leviticus, the burnt offering is mentioned first.
Although in Leviticus the burnt offering comes first, regarding the sanctification of the priests described in Exodus 29, the bull for the sin offering is first, and the ram for the burnt offering is second. We must first offer Christ as our sin offering; we must realize constantly that we are sinful in nature and even sin itself. By our natural birth and life, we are sin. Those who would serve God as priests must have this consciousness and understanding. Since we are sinful in nature, how can we serve God? In ourselves and in our natural life, it is impossible. We need to be redeemed, and our sinful nature must be dealt with.
After the first ram was slaughtered, its blood was sprinkled upon the altar round about. This blood speaks of redemption. How is it possible for us to be God’s priests? It is possible only through redemption.
Concerning the burnt offering in Exodus 29, we see two important matters. The first is the blood sprinkled about the altar. This is for our peace and satisfaction. The second matter is the sweet savor ascending to heaven for God’s satisfaction. The redeeming blood is sprinkled on the altar on earth, and the savor ascends to the heavens to satisfy God. As our burnt offering for our sanctification as priests, Christ shed His blood for our peace, and He Himself was burned for God’s satisfaction.
The first ram was for a burnt offering, but the second ram was for a peace offering. The peace offering is rather complicated. The burnt offering is actually simple: it was slaughtered, cut into pieces, washed, and burned. From this offering there was a twofold issue — the blood sprinkled upon the altar and the sweet fragrance ascending to God. The blood is for us to look at, and the sweet fragrance is for God to enjoy. To be sure, the blood satisfies God, but mainly the blood is for our conscience and for our peace.
Why do we offer Christ as the first ram, the ram of the burnt offering? We offer Him in this way because we realize that we have not been for God and that we are not for God. Instead we are always for ourselves. Furthermore, instead of being God’s food, we have always been our own food. Therefore, because we are sinful, we need Christ to redeem us. He has been slaughtered for us, He has been cut into pieces for us, and His blood was shed for our redemption. Now whenever we look at the blood, we are at peace, knowing we have been redeemed. Also the sweet fragrance ascends to God for His enjoyment and satisfaction. As a result, our problem is solved, and God’s hunger is satisfied. Hence, there is a peaceful situation, and we can go on further to enjoy Christ and experience more of Him. In particular, we may now experience Him as the second ram, as the peace offering.
Let us now consider, in the way of a brief sketch, the significance of the second ram. From 29:20 we know that this ram was slaughtered. However, it was not cut into pieces. The blood of the first ram was sprinkled upon the altar, but something different was done with the blood of the second ram. Verse 20 says, “And you shall slaughter the ram, and take of its blood, and put it upon the tip of Aaron’s right ear, and upon the tip of the right ear of his sons, and upon the thumb of their right hand, and upon the big toe of their right foot; and you shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about.” Notice that the blood was put on the tip of the right ear, upon the right thumb, and upon the first toe of the right foot. The blood on the ear indicates that if we would be priests, we need an ear to listen to God. We should not speak too much. It may strike us as unusual that Moses was not commanded to put the blood on Aaron’s lips or tongue. Being a priest requires that we listen, not that we speak so much. The thumb signifies working, and the big toe signifies walking. Therefore, as priests we need the proper listening, working, and walking. This also is part of the sanctification of the priests. Our ears, our thumbs, and our big toes all need the redeeming blood. The blood on our ear, thumb, and toe sanctifies us makes us different from others. Those who do not have the blood on their ear, thumb, and toe have not been sanctified to God. After Aaron and his sons had been cleansed by the blood in this way, they were sanctified to serve Him as priests.
According to verse 20, the blood of the second ram was not only put upon the tip of the right ear, on the thumb, and on the big toe, but was also sprinkled upon the altar. This is the second kind of application of the blood of the peace offering.
Verse 21 says, “And you shall take of the blood which is upon the altar, and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it upon Aaron, and upon his garments, and upon his sons, and upon his sons’ garments with him; and he shall be holy, he and his garments, and his sons and his sons garments with him.” Here we see the third aspect of the blood of the peace offering. Moses took some of the blood that was sprinkled upon the altar and some of the anointing oil and sprinkled the blood and the oil upon the garments of Aaron and his sons. Now Aaron and his sons were fully sanctified, for the garments covering their entire body had been cleansed and anointed.
In Exodus 29 the anointing oil is mentioned first in verse 7 and again in verse 21. Verse 7 says, “And you shall take the anointing oil and pour it upon his head and anoint him.” This refers to the anointing of Aaron before any of the offerings were slaughtered. First Aaron himself was anointed apart from the blood. This is a type of the anointing of Christ mentioned in Psalm 133. In this psalm the ointment was poured upon Aaron’s head and eventually ran down to the skirts of his garments. This signifies the anointing of Christ by God apart from redemption. Christ’s anointing, of course, did not require the shedding of blood.
Aaron was anointed not only as a type of Christ, but also as a sinful person who was being sanctified to serve God as a priest. Because Aaron and his sons were sinful, there was the need for a second kind of anointing, an anointing with the anointing oil and the sprinkling of the redeeming blood. Actually, regarding this anointing, the blood is mentioned first. This indicates that we must first have the redeeming blood, and then we can participate in the anointing Spirit.
The blood of the peace offering is somewhat complicated. As we have seen, there are three steps, three applications: first, the blood applied to the ear, the thumb, and the big toe of the priests; second, the blood sprinkled upon the altar; and third, the blood with the anointing oil sprinkled upon the priests’ garments.
Verses 22 and 23 say, “And you shall take from the ram the fat, and the fat; tail, and the fat that covers the inwards, and the appendage of the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat which is upon them. and the right shoulder; for it is a ram of the filling of hand; and one loaf of bread, and one cake of oiled bread, and one wafer from the basket of unleavened bread which is before Jehovah.” The parts of the ram mentioned here are the richest and sweetest parts. According to verses 24 and 25 these parts, along with a loaf of bread, a cake of oiled bread, and a wafer from a basket of unleavened bread, were burned “on the altar upon the burnt offering for a sweet savor before Jehovah.” The inward parts and the fat were all burned to be God’s food. This is confirmed in Leviticus 3:11 and 16.
The main outward parts of the second ram were the breast and the shoulders. The right shoulder, the inward parts, and the fat were burned, along with the three cakes. The right breast was waved before God. This is a wave offering, a type of Christ in resurrection. This right breast which was waved before God was not burned; instead, it was given to Moses to be his portion. The left breast and the left shoulder were the portions for Aaron and his sons to enjoy. The shoulder was heaved, exalted. This heave offering typifies Christ in ascension. Christ in resurrection is the wave offering, and Christ in ascension is the heave offering.
The breast of the peace offering signifies love, and the shoulder signifies strength. The Christ in resurrection is of love, and the Christ in ascension is of strength. In the New Testament the ascension signifies strength and power. The ascended Christ is a Christ of power and strength.
To repeat, the right shoulder was burned for God, and the right breast was first waved before God and then given to Moses to be his portion. Both the left shoulder and the left breast were heaved up before God and then given to Aaron and his sons to be their portion. In forthcoming messages we shall cover these matters in more detail.
From what we have covered thus far, we see that we need Christ to be our sin offering, to be the ram as our burnt offering for God’s satisfaction, and to be our peace offering, with all its aspects. Part of the peace offering is for God’s satisfaction, and part is for the ministering priests. As priests, we may enjoy our part of the peace offering along with the bread.
