Message 138
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Scripture Reading: Exo. 29:15-28; 40:14-15
We shall begin this message by considering some of the details of the peace offering described in Exodus 29. Verses 19 and 20 say, “And you shall take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands upon the head of the ram. 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.” Here we see that the blood of the ram was put upon the priests’ ear, thumb, and big toe. This indicates that the organs used for hearing, working, and walking all need to be cleansed. Those who would be priests of God must learn to listen to Him. Then they will be able to work and walk according to what they hear from Him. As priests, we must have ears, hands, and feet that have been cleansed by the redeeming blood. We must learn how to listen to our Master, to our God, how to do what is required to serve Him, and how to walk according to His way in serving Him.
The greater part of the blood, according to verse 20, was sprinkled upon the altar. This sprinkling of the blood no doubt implies redemption. The shedding of blood requires the death of a certain living being. Here the sprinkling of the blood indicates that a living creature, a ram, has been slain. Regarding the sprinkling of the blood and the anointing oil, 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.” Both the blood and the anointing oil were sprinkled upon the priests’ garments. The blood implies termination and redemption, and the anointing oil implies germination, a new beginning. Whatever is terminated by the blood and redeemed by it is then germinated by the anointing oil. The priests as terminated, redeemed, and germinated ones could have a new beginning. As a result of this new beginning, they could be priests serving God.
Even after Aaron and his sons had been terminated, redeemed, and germinated, their hands were still empty. They had been given a new beginning, and they could now serve God. However, they had nothing with which to serve Him. We all need to be impressed with this very important matter. It was at this point that the Lord gave Moses detailed instructions concerning the second ram. 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.” Here we read of the inward parts, the right shoulder, and the bread, the cake, and the wafer. If we read carefully verses 22 through 28, we shall see that there were two shoulders, or thighs, the right and the left, and two breasts, the right and the left. The thighs and the breasts were four major parts of the second ram, in addition to the inward parts, used for the peace offering.
Verses 24 and 25 say, “And you shall put the whole upon the palms of Aaron, and upon the palms of his sons; and wave them as a wave offering before Jehovah. And you shall take them from their hand, and burn them on the altar upon the burnt offering for a sweet savor before Jehovah; it is an offering by fire to Jehovah.” Now the priests had something to fill their hands, something to offer to God. These parts of the peace offering were burned on the altar as a sweet savor to the Lord. This was a further satisfaction to God. We have seen that the entire ram of the burnt offering was burned for God’s satisfaction. Now part of the peace offering is also burned for this purpose. As we shall see, this indicates that God is eating Christ, feasting on Christ, with His priests.
Even though the priests had something to offer to God, they did not yet have anything to eat themselves. They were still hungry, still empty within. In verse 26 the Lord said to Moses, “And you shall take the breast from the ram of the filling of hand which is for Aaron, and wave it as a wave offering before Jehovah; and it shall be your portion.” The word “wave” here indicates movement. This typifies Christ moving in His resurrection. In other words, the wave offering is a type of Christ in resurrection. Since the breast signifies love, the waving of the breast as a wave offering signifies the resurrected Christ in love.
According to the Gospels and the first part of Acts, the Christ who is now in resurrection came back to His disciples in love. His appearing to them after His resurrection was in an atmosphere of love. When the Lord Jesus appeared to His disciples in John 20, He said to them, “Peace be to you.” This word was spoken in an atmosphere of love. The resurrected Christ comes to us in love. This wave offering, the offering that typifies the resurrected Christ in love, was given to Moses as his portion.
Two parts of the ram of the peace offering still remain: the left breast and the left shoulder, or thigh. Verses 27 and 28 say, “And you shall sanctify the breast of the wave offering, and the shoulder of the heave offering, which was waved and which was heaved up from the ram of the filling of hand, from that which is for Aaron and from that which is for his sons. And it shall be for Aaron and for his sons for an eternal statute from the sons of Israel, because it is a heave offering; and it shall be a heave offering from the sons of Israel of the sacrifices of their peace offerings, as their heave offering to Jehovah.” The heave offering signifies the exalted Christ, Christ in ascension. Thus, the wave offering signifies Christ in resurrection, and the heave offering signifies Christ in exaltation, in ascension. Furthermore, whereas the breast is a symbol of love, the shoulder is a symbol of strength, power. Christ in resurrection is with love, and Christ in ascension is with power. After He ascended to the heavens, Christ poured power upon His disciples. As their portion, the priests have the wave breast and the heave shoulder. This means that they enjoy Christ in resurrection with love and Christ in ascension with power. This is their portion for them to eat.
God had something to eat, Moses had something to eat, and all the priests had something to eat. God’s portion was the right shoulder, the inward parts, the fat, the bread, the cake, and the wafer. The portion for Moses, the ministering one, was the right breast. The priests’ portion was the left breast as a wave offering and the left shoulder as a heave offering. This indicates that all these parties — God, Moses, and the priests — were involved in feasting. When there is such a feasting, there is peace, and everyone is satisfied. God is satisfied, Moses is satisfied, and all the priests are satisfied, for they all enjoy Christ, the all-inclusive One. Praise the Lord for this picture!
If our hands are filled with Christ according to the picture in Exodus 29, we shall be able to say, “Our hands are full of Christ, and our inward being is also full of Him.” This is the filling of hands, and this is true sanctification.
Now we can see that the priests were fully sanctified. They were separated to God from uncleanness, from nakedness, and from their sinful nature. Furthermore, no longer were they empty-handed or empty within. They had all the aspects of the rich Christ to be the mark of their sanctification. They now bore a mark which separated them unto God and which indicated that they had been sanctified from uncleanness, nakedness, sin, empty-handedness, and hunger. No longer did they have any problem of uncleanness, nakedness, sin, emptiness, or hunger. Instead, they had Christ as their clothing and food. Now they were sanctified and qualified priests.
In the Scripture sanctification implies many things. It includes washing away our uncleanness, covering our nakedness with proper clothing, redeeming us from our sinful nature, and filling us with Christ. Those who have been sanctified in this way truly are marked out, set aside, separate, from what is common.
When Aaron and his sons were sanctified to serve as priests, they were separated from uncleanness, from nakedness, from the sinful nature, from being empty-handed, and from being hungry. They bore as a sanctifying mark the all-inclusive Christ. They could satisfy God, and God could satisfy them. Thus, they enjoyed a mutual feasting on Christ with God. In this feasting there were enjoyment and satisfaction. This is the filling of the hands of the priests, and this is the sanctification of the redeemed ones to be God’s priests.
God’s portion of the second ram included the right shoulder. The left shoulder and the left breast were given to the ministering priests, and the right breast was Moses’ portion. The bread, the cake, and the wafer were only for God to enjoy. Furthermore, the inward parts and the fat were absolutely for God’s enjoyment. The inward parts and the fat signify what Christ is in His being. In His inner being Christ is altogether sweet. With Him there is the rich fat. The riches and sweetness of Christ are not outward; rather, they are within Him. In the sight of God, the inward being of Christ is rich and sweet. The inward parts and the fat of the peace offering were surely the topmost holy gifts.
In a previous message we spoke of a fourfold holiness: the holy land, the holy produce, the holy tithe, and the topmost holy part offered entirely to God for His enjoyment and satisfaction. The inward parts and the fat of the second ram were the most holy things among the holy things. Furthermore, the bread, the cake, and the wafer were among these most holy things. This topmost portion of the most holy things is what Christ is in His inward being. The bread, the cake, and the wafer signify Christ in His outward behavior. All these items typify Christ’s behavior. What Christ is inwardly is entirely for God’s satisfaction, and Christ’s conduct and behavior outwardly are also a holy portion for God’s satisfaction.
What I have presented thus far is simply a very brief sketch as a hint related to the experience and enjoyment of Christ. I have the assurance that if you are faithful to pursue the experience of Christ, you will come to realize that Christ’s inner being is rich and sweet and that His outward conduct and behavior are precious. But these holy portions are only for God to enjoy; they are absolutely for His satisfaction. According to Exodus 29, these portions are offered by those who have been sanctified to serve God as priests. After this process of sanctification, we may present such a portion to God.
We have seen that sanctification includes being washed and clothed, being redeemed, offering the first ram as the burnt offering, and the second ram as a peace offering. Hallelujah for such a sanctification! After we have been sanctified in this way, we are filled up with Christ and qualified to serve God as priests. We are covered with Christ outwardly, and we are filled with Him inwardly. Therefore, we have the qualifications to serve God as His priests. Moreover, we have something in our hands with which to serve Him: the all-inclusive Christ as the topmost holy portion for God’s satisfaction. There is also a portion of Christ for us. All this is included in the peace offering. In the priestly service we enjoy a peaceful feasting on Christ with God.
In Exodus 29 we have a negative picture of what we are without Christ and outside of Christ. Apart from Christ we are unclean, naked, sinful, empty, and without anything to satisfy God or ourselves. Although they have been saved, many Christians, under the influence of superficial preaching and teaching, do not know the goal of their salvation. From Exodus 29 we see that we have been saved so that we may be sanctified to serve God as priests. As revealed in this chapter, sanctification includes being washed and clothed. It also includes redemption, which solves the problem of our sinful nature, and having our hands filled with something to satisfy God and ourselves. This last aspect of sanctification — feasting on Christ — involves saturation and transformation. Eventually, we are saturated by what we eat and transformed by it. The priests do not eat ordinary food. Instead, they have a priestly diet and eat priestly food. Their food, as typified by the offerings, is Christ. Eventually, the priests were constituted of the food they ate, for we always become what we eat.
When I was a child, my maternal grandparents lived by the sea, and they ate a great deal of fish. I remember visiting them and being surprised that they smelled of fish. When I asked my mother about this, she rebuked me and said, “Don’t you know that they eat fish every day? They smell like fish because they eat fish three times a day.” This is an illustration of the fact that eating is related to saturation and transformation. We are saturated and transformed by what we eat.
Because the priests ate the offerings, they were not merely sanctified positionally, but were also sanctified dispositionally. They were separated in position, and they were also transformed in disposition.
Before they were sanctified, the priests were not clean. Therefore, they needed to be washed by Christ with His word as signified by the living water. Because they were naked in the sight of God, they needed to be covered by Christ as their clothing. With this clothing we see glory in divinity and beauty in humanity. The priests, therefore, were richly clothed with Christ in all His riches. Because they were clothed in such a way, their nakedness was covered. Furthermore, although they were sinful in nature, their fallen nature was terminated in Christ as their sin offering. Hence, three negative problems were dealt with: the problems of uncleanness, nakedness, and sinfulness. However, the priests were still empty, having nothing to satisfy God or themselves.
On the positive side, the priests had the resurrected Christ typified by the two rams. The first ram was a burnt offering absolutely for God’s satisfaction. With the burnt offering the priest had something to offer to God. Toward God, therefore, they now were rich, for they had Christ in resurrection as the burnt offering to ascend to God for His satisfaction. They also had Christ in resurrection as the wave offering and in ascension as the heave offering to satisfy themselves as well as God. Thus, there was a mutual satisfaction through the peace offering. The priests could enjoy peace and find satisfaction. Now they had their hands filled with Christ. They had something that could satisfy God and themselves. They could be satisfied with Christ in resurrection as the wave offering of love and Christ in ascension as the heave offering of power. As a result, the priests were empowered and qualified to serve God. This is sanctification. All believers in Christ should be sanctified in this way.
If we understand Exodus 29, we shall have a proper understanding of the significance of sanctification in the New Testament. In Exodus 29 we have a picture of the sanctification spoken of in the New Testament. Now when we read about sanctification in the New Testament, we should have the view of Exodus 29 in front of us and understand New Testament sanctification according to this view.
Sanctification means that we are washed, clothed, redeemed, and filled. We are filled inwardly with Christ in such a way that we are saturated and transformed. As a result, our uncleanness is removed, our nakedness is covered, our sinfulness is dealt with, and our emptiness is filled. Outwardly we now have something of Christ to satisfy God, and inwardly we have something of Christ to satisfy ourselves. What we eat of Christ eventually saturates us and transforms us. In this way we are fully sanctified, equipped, qualified, and empowered to serve God as His priests. This is the full meaning of sanctification in the Scriptures.
We all need a richer, broader view of sanctification. Never underestimate the value of seeing a proper view of a certain matter. The view changes us; it affects our entire being. This is true both in the physical realm and in the spiritual realm. I love Exodus 29 because of the wonderful view it gives us of the sanctification of the priests.
When Aaron first stood before Moses, he had nothing. Moses, however, had been charged to sanctify him, that is, to equip, qualify, and empower him to serve God as a priest. First Aaron was washed with water. This water signifies Christ with His word. Then he was clothed with the priestly garments. This signifies the various aspects of Christ for glory and beauty. Following this, Aaron was redeemed by Christ as the sin offering. By means of this offering Aaron was terminated, brought back to God, and restored. In order for this to take place, he had to be identified with Christ, one with Him, as indicated by the laying of hands on the sin offering. Then Aaron had Christ in resurrection as the burnt offering ascending to God for His satisfaction. He also had Christ as the peace offering, the second ram plus the bread, the cake, and the wafer. Moreover, he had Christ in resurrection as a wave offering of love and as a heave offering in ascension in His power. This offering satisfied both God and man. Christ in His conduct is signified by the bread, the cake, and the wafer, an offering to satisfy God. God is satisfied with such a Christ, and we also are satisfied with Him. Not only are we satisfied with Christ — we are saturated with Him and transformed by Him.
The burnt offering typifies the objective Christ who ascends to God for His satisfaction. The peace offering signifies the subjective Christ who comes into us to satisfy us, saturate us, and transform us, thereby making us another kind of person, one who is no longer unclean, naked, sinful, empty, and natural, but one who has something in his hands to satisfy God, who is filled inwardly with Christ, and who is transformed by Him. This is to be sanctified to be priests serving God. This sanctification is not only for Aaron and his sons; it is for all of God’s saved and redeemed people. We all should be sanctified in this way to serve God as priests.
One matter we especially need to see is that of saturation and transformation. By eating Christ as the peace offering we are saturated with Him and transformed by Him and therefore are no longer natural. When the breast of the wave offering and the shoulder of the heave offering are taken into us, we are saturated and transformed. When Christ as the ram of the peace offering gets into us in this way, we are constituted of Him to become a ram.
Exodus 29 is unique in the picture it presents. Here we see that the right shoulder of the peace offering was given to God, that the right breast was given to Moses, and that the left breast and the left shoulder were given to the priests. The inward parts and the fat of the sin offering and also the bread, the cake, and the wafer of the peace offering were God’s portion. This indicates that God enjoys Christ’s inward being and outward behavior. These were the topmost holy things offered to God. We thus have the holy land, the holy produce, the holy tithe, and the holiest part of the tithe as the top portion for God’s enjoyment.
If we serve as priests, we enjoy Christ with God. This enjoyment is portrayed by the peace offering. In peace there are mutual enjoyment and satisfaction for God and His priests. This is a picture of the church life, in particular of the church meetings. In the meetings of the church all the priests meet with God and feast on Christ with God.
