Message 17
Scripture Reading: Lev. 3:1, 5-7, 12; 6:12; 7:37
The word in Leviticus concerning the offerings was spoken by the Lord in a little tent, the tent of meeting. In the wilderness, apart from millions of people who were busy doing many things, the very God who created the universe came into a small tent. Whatever the Triune God spoke there was for eternity. Through God’s wonderful speaking, that little tent of meeting will gradually issue in the New Jerusalem. Every aspect of this speaking concerning Christ and our enjoyment of Christ in togetherness with God will be fulfilled in the New Jerusalem. There in the New Jerusalem we will surely realize that Christ is our burnt offering, meal offering, peace offering, sin offering, trespass offering, wave offering, and heave offering. All these offerings will eventually issue in the New Jerusalem.
In Leviticus the offerings are in a particular sequence. First we have the burnt offering and then the meal offering and then the peace offering. The burnt offering signifies that we must be absolutely for God, and the meal offering indicates that Christ is our daily food. When we are absolutely for God and live by feeding on Christ, the result is peace. We have peace with God and with one another. This means that when Christ satisfies us, He becomes the peace between us and God. Today we are in this peace, which is Christ.
Christ is the One by whom and through whom we are absolutely to God and for God. Christ is also the One on whom we are feeding every day. He is our daily food. This Christ is now the peace we enjoy with God and with one another. Therefore, the burnt offering, the meal offering, and the peace offering are the basic offerings for us to enjoy Christ as our peace with God and with one another. This is the significance of the sequence of these three offerings.
When we get out of Christ, we have no peace. If we are short of peace, we are short of Christ. The amount of peace we have depends on how much of Christ we have. Having peace is a measurement to show us to what degree we enjoy Christ.
There is no reason for the church people not to have peace. We should not try to have peace by our own effort. The more we try in ourselves to have peace, the less peace we will have. The only way to have peace is to enjoy Christ every day. In the morning we should take Christ as our burnt offering and offer Him to satisfy God. Then we should take Him as our daily food to meet that day’s particular need.
We should enjoy Christ today and forget about yesterday and about tomorrow. Yesterday is gone, and we are not in tomorrow. Since yesterday is gone, none of us can remain in it. Whether we were a failure or a success yesterday, yesterday is passed. As Christians we do not have tomorrow; we only have today. Do not bother about tomorrow — live today! What do we have today? We have Christ. Christ is today.
We have seen the significance of the sequence of the first three offerings. Now let us consider a number of matters related to the peace offering.
The peace offering is illustrated in Luke 15:23 and 24 by the fatted calf as a peaceful enjoyment between the receiving father, that is, God, and the returned prodigal son, a sinner. The prodigal son came back in a wretched way, but the father was loving, and he immediately became the receiving father. After the father received the prodigal, the fatted calf was slain for their enjoyment. This fatted calf is an illustration of Christ as our peace offering for our enjoyment with our receiving God. The father and the returned son had a rich enjoyment of the peace offering.
The peace offering is based upon God’s satisfaction in the burnt offering. The peace offering which God and we enjoy today is based upon Christ’s being the burnt offering. This is indicated by Leviticus 3:5 and 6:12. Speaking of the peace offering, 3:5 says, “Aaron’s sons shall offer it up in smoke on the altar upon the burnt offering, which is on the wood that is on the fire; it is an offering by fire of a satisfying fragrance to Jehovah.” Here we see that the burnt offering is a base for the peace offering to be received by God. With the burning of the burnt offering as the basis, God receives the peace offering.
The peace offering is an issue of the enjoyment of God and man in the meal offering (7:37). On the one hand, the peace offering is based on the burnt offering; on the other hand, the peace offering is an issue of the enjoyment of the meal offering.
This is not a matter of doctrine but of experience. If we would enjoy Christ as peace in a practical, daily way, we must first take Him as our burnt offering to satisfy God. Then we must feed on Him as the meal offering, enjoying Him as our food. Immediately Christ will become our peace offering. I believe that we all have experienced this.
Although we have experienced Christ as the offerings, we may not have had the knowledge of the pictures in Leviticus. In presenting these pictures, Leviticus uses a number of technical terms. Many of us have experienced Christ without knowing these technical terms. One of these terms is burnt offering. In the morning, we may pray, “Father God, I love Your Son, and I would like to offer Him to You.” We enjoy Christ so sweetly and present this Christ to God to make Him happy. This is to present Christ to God as the burnt offering.
After presenting Christ to God as the burnt offering, we may say, “O Lord, You are my daily supply. Without You I cannot live.” This is taking Christ as the meal offering, as the life supply. Meal offering is the technical term for life supply.
When we take Christ as the burnt offering and as the meal offering, we have peace. We have the sense that something within us is joyful and that we are right with God and acceptable to Him. Earlier you might have had a problem and thus were not at peace with God, but now there is no problem, and you are at peace. This is the enjoyment of Christ as the peace offering. We all may have this experience and enjoyment every day.
In Leviticus we see that there are different kinds of peace offering. Just as the burnt offering is of different sizes, so the peace offering is of different kinds.
The fact that the peace offering is of different kinds is not due to Christ but is due to the different conditions of the offerers’ enjoyment of Christ. Sometimes we enjoy a large Christ. At other times something happens, perhaps some disturbance in our family life, that limits our enjoyment of Christ. This does not mean that Christ has become smaller; it means that the condition in which we enjoy Christ has become narrow and small. Satan seeks to limit our enjoyment of Christ and to narrow the condition in which we are enjoying Christ. Therefore, we must learn to overcome all kinds of situations, even praying in our “private room” (Matt. 6:6) in order to avoid interruptions, so that we may be in a better and higher condition to enjoy a larger Christ.
Leviticus 3:1 says, “If his offering is a sacrifice of peace offerings — if he offers it from the herd, whether male or female, he shall offer it without blemish before Jehovah.” The male signifies the stronger offerer who enjoys Christ as a male of the herd.
It is not Christ who differs in being either strong or weak; it is we who are either strong or weak. If we are strong, we enjoy a stronger Christ. If we are weak, we enjoy a weaker Christ, not a Christ who is weak in Himself but who is weaker in our experience due to our weakness. When we are weak or disappointed, we may have a weaker enjoyment of the strong Christ. Because we are weak, He is weak in our experience.
The female signifies the weaker offerer who enjoys Christ as a female of the herd.
Actually, all animals from the herd are strong. Christ Himself is strong. Whether we enjoy a strong Christ or a weak Christ depends on our condition. If our condition is strong, we will enjoy a strong Christ. If our condition is weak, we will enjoy a weak Christ.
Leviticus 3:6 and 7 say, “If his offering for a sacrifice of peace offerings to Jehovah is from the flock, male or female, he shall offer it without blemish. If he is offering a sheep for his offering, then he shall offer it before Jehovah.” A sheep signifies that some enjoy Christ in His perfection and beauty as a sheep. I believe that we all have had this kind of experience, enjoying Christ in His perfection and beauty.
Verse 12 says, “If his offering is a goat, then he shall offer it before Jehovah.” Here a goat signifies that some enjoy Christ as a goat, not much in His perfection and beauty.
According to Matthew 25, the sheep are good and the goats are not good. How, then, can we experience Christ sometimes as a sheep and sometimes as a goat? If our condition is pitiful, we will not enjoy Christ as a sheep in His perfection and beauty. Rather, we will enjoy Him as a goat without perfection and beauty. Suppose a brother tries to enjoy Christ after quarreling with his wife. At such a time his enjoyment of Christ will be poor; he will enjoy Christ not as a sheep but as a goat. This indicates that in our feeling Christ differs according to our condition. Of course, it is not Christ Himself who differs. It is we who differ in our feeling according to our condition.
The peace offering was to be without blemish (3:1, 6). This signifies being without sins and transgressions. As our peace offering, Christ is perfect. He is without blemish.
The one who offered the peace offering was to lay his hand on the head of the offering (3:2, 8, 13). This signifies the union of the offerer with the offering. Instead of the word “union,” perhaps we should use the word “identification.” Through the laying on of hands, the offerer is identified with the offering.
Concerning this, we should be careful about saying that Christ replaces us. Our relationship with Christ is not a matter of replacement; it is a matter of identification. It is even more than union. Thus the word union cannot fully convey the truth regarding our fellowship with Christ. Our fellowship with Christ is a matter of identification, a matter of us becoming Him and of Him becoming us. We and Christ are one. We become Him and He becomes us. We should therefore change our concept concerning replacement. To be replaced by Christ means that we are removed altogether. Our relationship with Christ is a matter not of replacement but of being one with Him.
The peace offering was slaughtered at the door of the tent of meeting (vv. 2, 8, 13). This signifies that Christ was slain on the earth and before God.
Today we may enjoy Christ here on earth. Do not wait to go to heaven to enjoy Christ. Enjoy Christ on earth, right where you are today. There is a proverb which says that distant water cannot quench our thirst. If Christ were only in heaven, He would not have anything to do with us. Today we are enjoying Christ on earth, in the very place where we are.
The blood of the peace offering was dashed on the altar all around (vv. 2, 8, 13). This indicates that the blood is for peace in the offerer’s conscience.
This blood was not brought into the Holy of Holies to appease God; it was dashed around the altar where the offerer was standing. This shows us that the blood of the peace offering gives us peace and assurance. When we see the blood of the peace offering, we have the assurance that our sins have been washed away. The blood of the offering was shed for our sake, and it is now before our eyes. Therefore, we can say, “Thank You, Lord. My sins have been forgiven. I know this because I see Your blood. The blood is the evidence that God has forgiven my sins.”
All the fat that covered the inwards, the two kidneys and the fat on them, the appendage on the liver, and the entire fat tail were to be burned on the altar (vv. 3-5, 9-11, 14-16). This signifies that God should be the first enjoyer, enjoying the first, the best part, of the offering. The best part of the peace offering is God’s portion.
“The priest shall offer them up in smoke on the altar; it is the food of the offering by fire for a satisfying fragrance” (v. 16). This signifies that the peace offering is a kind of burnt offering (1:9, 13, 17) as food to God for His satisfaction and enjoyment.
The breast and the right thigh of the offering were for the priests (7:30-34). This signifies that all the believers who serve God as priests may enjoy Christ with God and may enjoy Him as the loving ability and standing strength. When we eat the breast of Christ, we have His loving ability. We love others and are concerned for them in love. When we eat the thigh of Christ, we have the strength to stand.
The fat and the blood of the offering were not to be eaten by the priests. “It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations wherever you dwell, that you shall not eat any fat or any blood” (3:17). Not eating the fat and the blood signifies that the best part of Christ is for God’s satisfaction and that His blood for our redemption satisfies God’s requirements. So in the universe only Jesus’ blood is edible to His believers.
