Message 27
Scripture Reading: Lev. 7:11-38
The law of the peace offering is a long law concerning the enjoyment of Christ. No Christian would ever imagine that the enjoyment of Christ would be so regulated. Both the Old Testament and the New Testament have warnings concerning the improper, or lawless, enjoyment of Christ. First Corinthians 11:17 says that we could meet together not for the better but for the worse. Verse 27 says, “Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner shall be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord.” Verse 29 speaks of the one who “eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the body.” Here we see that the word in the New Testament is more solemn than that in the Old Testament.
Let us now consider a number of points related to the law of the peace offering.
The first kind of peace offering is the peace offering for thanksgiving. Of all the different peace offerings, this one is the weakest. Concerning this kind of peace offering, Leviticus 7:12 says, “If he offers it for thanksgiving, then with the thanksgiving sacrifice he shall offer unleavened cakes mingled with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and cakes of fine flour saturated, mingled with oil.” This signifies that Christ, whether mingled with the Spirit without sin, or anointed with the Spirit without sin, or as the fine One saturated with the Spirit, as the meal offering in our enjoyment of Him in His conduct, is our peace offering, crucified with the shedding of His blood on the cross (Col. 1:20), in our thanksgiving to God.
“With the thanksgiving sacrifice of his peace offering, he shall offer his offering with cakes of leavened bread” (v. 13). This signifies that the offerer, though enjoying Christ as the One without sin, still has sin.
The reason the peace offering for thanksgiving is the weakest kind of peace offering is that it includes leaven. This indicates that the offerer still has sin and is therefore in a weak condition.
“And from it he shall offer one from each offering as a heave offering to Jehovah; it shall be for the priest who dashes the blood of the peace offering” (v. 14). This has a twofold significance. First, since the heave offering is a type of Christ in His ascension, this signifies that Christ as the meal offering in all His aspects is offered to God as the One in ascension. Second, this signifies that such a Christ is partaken of and enjoyed as food by the one who ministers Christ as the peace offering. When we minister the ascended Christ to others, we partake of the very Christ whom we minister.
“The flesh of the thanksgiving sacrifice of his peace offering shall be eaten on the day it is offered; he shall not lay aside any of it until morning” (v. 15). This signifies that the maintaining power of this kind of offering is rather small, that it has to be fully enjoyed on the offering day, and that our experience and enjoyment of Christ in this aspect should be fresh daily.
We may be thankful to God and offer Him a peace offering. This is an offering in which we enjoy Christ in God’s presence. However, the peace offering for thanksgiving is a weaker offering, and its enjoyment cannot be carried from one day to the next. The lasting power of this offering is not great.
“But if the sacrifice of his offering is a vow or a freewill offering, it shall be eaten on the day he offers his sacrifice, and on the next day the remainder of it may be eaten” (v. 16). This signifies that the maintaining power of the peace offering for a vow or a freewill offering is stronger than that for thanksgiving, that it should be eaten on the offering day, and that our stronger enjoyment of Christ could last longer. If our offering is stronger, our enjoyment of this offering will last longer.
“If any of the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offering is eaten at all on the third day, it shall not be accepted; it shall not be accounted to him who offered it. It shall be an abhorrent thing, and the person who eats of it shall bear his iniquity” (v. 18). This signifies that our enjoyment of Christ in its oldness shall not be pleasant to God and not right with Him. The lawless enjoyment of Christ is abhorrent to God. Therefore, in 1 Corinthians 11 Paul warns us that in coming to the Lord’s table, we must be careful.
“The flesh that touches anything unclean shall not be eaten; it shall be burned with fire” (v. 19a). This signifies that the enjoyment of Christ as our peace should be kept from all uncleanness.
“And as for other flesh, anyone who is clean may eat of it” (v. 19b). This signifies that the enjoyment of Christ as our peace should not only be kept from all uncleanness but should also be eaten by a clean person.
“But the person who eats the flesh of the sacrifice of peace offerings that belong to Jehovah while his uncleanness is upon him, that person shall be cut off from his people. And when a person touches anything unclean, whether the uncleanness of man, or an unclean beast, or any unclean abomination, and then eats of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace offerings that belong to Jehovah, that person shall be cut off from his people” (vv. 20-21). This signifies that the unclean person who partakes of Christ as his peace, as at the Lord’s table (1 Cor. 10:16-17), shall be put aside from the fellowship of the enjoyment of Christ (cf. 1 Cor. 5:13b). An unclean person is a sinful person. Such a person should be removed from the fellowship at the Lord’s table.
“You shall not eat any fat of an ox, a sheep, or a goat” (Lev. 7:23). This signifies that in their daily living the sons of Israel should consider God’s food, as indicated by the fat of the ox, sheep, and goat, which fat signifies the tender, fine, and excellent part of the person of Christ.
This matter is crucial. As priests, in our eating we need to be concerned about God’s food and should not eat the fat, which is God’s portion. When we are practicing our priestly service, we are serving God, and we should consider not our own things but God’s things. The fat, the top portion of the offerings, must not be eaten by the priests but must be offered to God for His satisfaction.
“The fat of that which dies of itself and the fat of that which is torn by beasts may be put to any other use, but you shall certainly not eat it” (v. 24). This signifies that the dirtiness of death spoils the significance of God’s enjoyment of Christ. God hates death and does not want to look upon anything related to it.
“Whoever eats the fat of a beast from which an offering by fire is offered to Jehovah, the person who eats shall be cut off from his people” (v. 25). This signifies that we who enjoy Christ as our offering to God should keep the excellent part of the person of Christ for God that we might not be put aside from the fellowship of the enjoyment of Christ. This fellowship of the enjoyment of Christ refers to the Lord’s table. At the Lord’s table, we have the fellowship of the enjoyment of Christ.
“Moreover, wherever you dwell you shall not eat any blood, whether of bird or of beast” (v. 26). This signifies that only the blood of Jesus should be taken by us for our redemption (John 6:53-56; Heb. 9:12).
“Any person who eats any blood, that person shall be cut off from his people” (v. 27). This signifies that anyone who regards the blood of Christ as a common thing shall be put aside from the fellowship of the enjoyment of Christ. We must regard the blood of Christ as special, particular, and precious. If we eat other blood, we make the blood of Christ common. This is sin.
“He who offers the sacrifice of his peace offerings to Jehovah shall bring his offering to Jehovah from the sacrifice of his peace offerings: his own hands shall bring the offerings of Jehovah by fire; he shall bring the fat with the breast, that the breast may be waved as a wave offering before Jehovah. And the priest shall offer up the fat in smoke on the altar; but the breast shall be for Aaron and his sons” (vv. 29-31). This signifies that we who take Christ as our peace offering should offer the excellent part of Christ (the fat) to God for His satisfaction, with the loving part of Christ (the breast) in resurrection for the serving ones’ enjoyment.
The wave offering refers to Christ in His resurrection. The top part of the peace offering is for God; it is burned by fire and goes to God. The loving part, the breast, is allotted to us, the serving ones, for our enjoyment.
“The right thigh you shall give to the priest as a heave offering from the sacrifices of your peace offerings. He from among Aaron’s sons who offers the blood of the peace offerings and the fat, he shall have the right thigh for a portion” (vv. 32-33). This signifies that the part of strength of Christ (the right thigh) in His ascension is given to the serving one as a portion for his enjoyment.
Verses 29 through 33 reveal that the top part, the fat, goes to God and that the loving part, the breast, and also the part of strength, the right thigh, go to the serving ones. The more we minister Christ as the peace offering and the more we offer Christ as the peace offering to God, the more we will have the loving capacity and the strengthening power of Christ. In this way, we become stronger and more loving.
“I have taken the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the heave offering from the sons of Israel out of the sacrifices of their peace offerings, and have given them to Aaron the priest and to his sons as their perpetual due from the sons of Israel” (v. 34). This signifies that God has allotted, in our enjoyment of Christ as the peace offering, the loving capacity and the strengthening power of Christ to us, the New Testament priests, as our eternal portion for our enjoyment in serving God.
“This is the portion of the anointing of Aaron and of the anointing of his sons from the offerings of Jehovah by fire, in the day when they were brought to serve Jehovah as priests. These Jehovah commanded to be given to them from the sons of Israel in the day when he anointed them; it is their perpetual due throughout their generations” (vv. 35-36). This signifies that the enjoyment of Christ’s loving capacity and strengthening power is related to God’s anointing of us for our priesthood.
We have been anointed by God to be priests, and God has allotted to us Christ’s loving capacity and strengthening power. Hence, we can love and stand to serve God as priests.
“This is the law for the burnt offering, the meal offering, the sin offering, the trespass offering, the consecration offering, and the sacrifice of peace offerings, which Jehovah commanded Moses at Mount Sinai, in the day when He commanded the sons of Israel to offer their offerings to Jehovah, in the wilderness of Sinai” (vv. 37-38). This signifies that our consecration for the priesthood must be with the all-inclusive Christ as all the five offerings and according to their regulations.
Our text (v. 37) uses the term “the consecration offering.” Actually, this should simply be “the consecration.” There is not here a sixth offering called the consecration offering. Rather, the five offerings are for the consecration. At the time of consecration, God assigned these offerings, in different aspects, for the priests’ enjoyment.
We have seen that in chapters one through five, the offerings are in a particular sequence: the burnt offering, the meal offering, the peace offering, the sin offering, and the trespass offering. This record is not according to doctrine but according to our practical experience. But in giving the laws of the five offerings, the sequence has changed greatly. Here the law of the burnt offering is first, followed by the law of the meal offering, of the sin offering, of the trespass offering, and of the peace offering. This latter sequence is according to the total picture of God’s economy. In God’s heart and in His desire, God would have Christ to be four kinds of offerings to us — the burnt offering, the meal offering, the sin offering, and the trespass offering. The burnt offering is the qualification for the sin offering, and the meal offering is the qualification
for the trespass offering. With these four offerings, two are for the qualification, and two are for the result. The sin offering and the trespass offering are for a particular result. When these four offerings are in action, the result is peace. This peace is what God desires. God’s heart is that we would enjoy His economy around His Son, Christ. Christ is our burnt offering, meal offering, sin offering, and trespass offering so that we may enjoy Him as peace. In our thanksgiving, in our vows, and in our freewill offerings, we enjoy Christ as our peace with God. This is the record of the totality of God’s economy.
In Leviticus 1 — 7 we have two records: a record according to experience and a record according to God’s economy in its totality. The four offerings — the burnt offering, the meal offering, the sin offering, and the trespass offering — are all for us to enjoy Christ as our peace with God in every way.
