See note Lev. 5:16¹.

Or, he presents his trespass offering.

The laws of the offerings are the ordinances and regulations regarding the offerings, i.e., regarding the enjoyment of Christ as the offerings. Since the reality of the offerings is Christ, the laws of the offerings correspond to the law of the life of Christ, which is the law of the Spirit of life (Rom. 8:2). These laws indicate that even in the enjoyment of Christ we should not be lawless but should be regulated by the law of life (cf. 1 Cor. 9:26-27; 11:17, 27-29; Gal. 6:15-16; Phil. 3:13-16).

The burnt offering being on the hearth signifies that anything offered as a burnt offering must be put on the place of offering to be burned. Those who offer themselves to God as a burnt offering must be on the place of burning and must be willing to become a heap of ashes.

All night until the morning signifies that a burnt offering should remain in the place of burning through the dark night of this age until the morning, until the Lord Jesus comes again (2 Pet. 1:19; Mal. 4:2).

The continual burning of the fire on the altar (vv. 9, 12, 13) signifies that God as the holy fire in the universe (Heb. 12:29) is always ready to receive (burn) what is offered to Him as food, and that God’s desire to accept what is offered to Him never ceases.

The ashes, the result of the burnt offering, are a sign of God’s acceptance of the offering. The priest’s putting on linen garments (v. 10) signifies that fineness, purity, and cleanness are needed in handling the ashes. His putting on other garments to carry the ashes outside the camp (v. 11) signifies that the handling of the ashes of the burnt offering was done in a stately manner.

Ashes indicate the result of Christ’s death, which brings us to an end, i.e., to ashes (Gal. 2:20a). The putting of the ashes beside the altar toward the east (Lev. 1:16), the side of the sunrise, is an allusion to resurrection. In relation to the burnt offering, the ashes are not the end, for Christ’s death brings in resurrection (Rom. 6:3-5; 2 Cor. 4:10-12; Phil. 3:10-11). God has a high regard for these ashes, for eventually the ashes will become the New Jerusalem. Our being reduced to ashes brings us into the transformation of the Triune God (Rom. 12:2; 2 Cor. 3:18). In resurrection we as ashes are transformed to become precious materials — gold, pearl, and precious stones — for the building of the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:18-21).

The priest’s burning wood on the altar every morning signifies the need of the serving one’s cooperation with God’s desire (see note Lev. 6:9⁴) by adding more fuel to the holy fire to strengthen the burning for the receiving of the burnt offering as God’s food (cf. Rom. 12:11; 2 Tim. 1:6). The morning signifies a new start for the burning.

See note Lev. 3:5¹. The burning of the burnt offering laid a foundation for the sweetness of the peace offering. This indicates that our offering ourselves to God as a continual burnt offering (cf. Rom. 12:1) should be laid as a foundation for our sweet fellowship with God, signified by the burning of the fat of the peace offering. The burning of both the burnt offering and the peace offering signifies that both our absoluteness for God and our enjoyment of the Triune God should be a matter of burning.

Before Jehovah signifies that the meal offering is offered to God in His presence, and before the altar signifies that the meal offering is offered in relation to the redemption of Christ on the cross, the altar being a type of the cross (Heb. 13:10 and note Heb. 13:10¹).

For v. 15, see notes on Lev. 2:2.

The meal offering is not common food. It is food only for the priests, i.e., only for those believers in the church life who are actual and practical priests, serving God in the priesthood of the gospel (Rom. 1:9; 15:16; 1 Pet. 2:9).

Eating the priests’ portion of the meal offering without leaven in a holy place signifies that we enjoy Christ as the life supply for our service without sin (leaven) in a separated, sanctified realm. Since the Tent of Meeting typifies the church (see note Lev. 1:1^3b), eating the meal offering in the court of the Tent of Meeting signifies that Christ should be enjoyed as our life supply in the sphere of the church life.

Not baking the meal offering with leaven signifies that our laboring on Christ to partake of Him as our life supply must be without sin.

The law of the meal offering refers us here to the sin offering and the trespass offering, signifying that if we would enjoy Christ as our life supply, we need to deal with the sin in our fallen nature and with the sins (trespasses) in our conduct. See note Lev. 4:3^4c, par. 1.

Those who partake of Christ as the life supply should be strong in the divine life (males) and also should be God’s serving ones, God’s priests (sons of Aaron).

The offering of a meal offering by Aaron and his sons on the day when Aaron was anointed signifies that the enjoyment of Christ as the life supply is related to the priestly service. Cf. note Lev. 7:35^1a.

The tenth of an ephah of fine flour for a continual meal offering, half in the morning and half in the evening, signifies that the top portion, the tenth part, of the enjoyment of Christ should be for God, and that this kind of enjoyment of Christ should continue in our priestly service.

The slaughtering of the sin offering before Jehovah in the place where the burnt offering was slaughtered signifies:
1) that Christ as our sin offering was slain before God
2) that Christ is the sin offering for us based on His being the burnt offering.
Christ must be the burnt offering for God’s satisfaction that He might be qualified to be our sin offering, and we must enjoy Christ as our burnt offering, as the One who is absolutely for God, before we can realize how sinful we are, i.e., how much we are for ourselves and not for God.

The sin offering being most holy signifies that Christ as our sin offering was most holy in that He dealt with sin in our nature intrinsically and entirely.

The expiation mentioned here was made in the Holy of Holies (Lev. 16:27), where God was. This verse signifies that Christ as the sin offering that dealt with our sin and with our sinful nature on the cross to accomplish God’s redemption for us is wholly for God’s enjoyment, and we have no share in it. However, in our ministering Christ as the sin offering to sinners, we can share in Him (v. 26). Concerning Christ as the sin offering, both God and the serving priests have a portion, the best portion being for God’s enjoyment.

This signifies that all the stronger ones (males) can enjoy Christ as the most holy sin offering in ministering Christ as the sin offering to sinners.

This signifies that the one who has been enlightened and judged by the Spirit (likened to a bronze mirror — cf. note Exo. 30:18² in ) to be regenerated needs not to be broken but to be dealt with by being scoured and rinsed (1 Cor. 6:11; Titus 3:5).

This signifies that the natural life of the one who, as an earthen vessel (cf. 2 Cor. 4:7), has a relationship with Christ as the sin offering should be broken.

This signifies that the daily walk (signified by the garment — Isa. 64:6a) of the one who has received redemption through the blood of Christ as the sin offering should be dealt with in a separated, sanctified realm (cf. Eph. 4:22-24). We should have regard for the blood of Christ and should never consider it common (cf. Heb. 10:29).

This signifies that whoever touches Christ as the sin offering is separated and sanctified (holy) and will forsake sin and have his flesh dealt with, for Christ as the sin offering has dealt with sin and our sinful flesh on the cross (Rom. 8:3).

That the priest who offered the sin offering ate it in a holy place, in the court of the Tent of Meeting, signifies that the one who serves sinners with Christ as their sin offering enjoys Christ as the sin offering in a separated, sanctified realm, in the sphere of the church (cf. note Lev. 6:16²).