Experiencing Christ as the Offerings in Our Daily Life for the Church Life as Seen in the Book of Leviticus.

Experiencing Christ as the Offerings in Our Daily Life for the Church Life as Seen in the Book of

Leviticus

What Is an Offering? Now the LORD called to Moses, and spoke to him from the tabernacle of meeting, saying,

“Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When any one of you brings an offering to the LORD, you shall bring your offering of the livestock—of the herd and of the flock (Lev. 1:1-2)

‘If his offering is a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish; he shall offer it of his own free will at the door of the tabernacle of meeting before the LORD (Lev. 1:1-3)

• Hebrew, “qorban”• Meaning a “present” or a “gift”• Indicating intimate fellowship• An offering is, strictly speaking, different from a sacrifice, though quite often, the

two do overlap one another in meaning and usage.• A sacrifice is, strictly speaking, for redemption or expiation of sins.• An offering is for intimate fellowship between us and God• An offering can be made by any of us, that is, by any believer• The offering is not to be made by the individual believer in his own tent (or

home), but at the entrance of the tabernacle of meeting, that is, the church.

What Can Be Offered?

• We do not offer ourselves to God.• We cannot, and have nothing, to offer to God, in

ourselves.• What was offered in the Old Testament?• The animal life• The vegetable life• What do we offer?• We offer Christ to God.• We offer our different experiences of Christ to God.

What Does God Accept As an Offering?

• God accepts only Christ as an offering.• When we offer Christ to God, God enjoys our

offering as His food for His satisfaction.• In certain offerings, the offerer also enjoys

what he offers as his food.

Where Are the Offerings Offered in Leviticus?

• On the altar of burnt offering, at the entrance to the tabernacle

• Signifying that all our offerings of Christ must be offered in the church meetings, specifically whenever we come together to meet as God’s testimony.

• However, this means that we must experience Christ as the offerings in our daily life, which is for the church life.

• All our individual experiences are for the church life, that is, for the corporate life.

The Offerings in the Book of Leviticus

• The Burnt Offering• The Meal Offering• The Peace Offering• The Sin Offering• The Trespass Offering• The Wave Offering• The Heave Offering• The Free Will Offering• The Drink Offering

The Burnt Offering

Who Can Offer?

• This offering can be presented by any one of the Israelites, that is, by any one of the believers (1:2)

Three Kinds of Burnt Offering

• Of the herd, i.e. a bull (Lev. 1:2-3) He shall kill the bull before the LORD (1:5 a)

• Of the flock, i.e. a sheep or a goat ‘If his offering is of the flocks—of the sheep or of the goats—

as a burnt sacrifice, he shall bring a male without blemish (1:10)

• Of birds, i.e. a turtledove or a young pigeon ‘And if the burnt sacrifice of his offering to the LORD is of

birds, then he shall bring his offering of turtledoves or young pigeons (1:14)

Three Kinds of Experiences of the Burnt Offering

• It is the same offering, but of a different size.• Indicating the varying degrees of appreciation

and ability of the offerer.

The Young Bull – Its Characteristics

• Representing Jesus Christ and our experience of Him.

• A male, indicating strength• Young, indicating freshness• Without blemish, indicating that Jesus Christ

had no defects and faults.

Presented by the Israelite

• Presented at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting (1:3).

• Indicating that our offering of Christ must be in the church, with the saints, corporately, and not individually at home.

• This will cause God to accept our offering (1:3)

The Young Bull – Identified with by the Offerer

• The offerer lays his hands on the head of the bull (1:4)

• Resulting in the offering being accepted for the offerer, and making atonement for him.

Slaughtered by the Offerer

• Before Jehovah• Aaron’s sons the priests shall present the

blood and sprinkle the blood on and around the altar that is at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting (1:5)

Skinned by the Offerer

• Stripped of our outward beauty, i.e. our reputation, our status, our honour, our dignity.

Cut into Pieces by the Offerer

The Outward Preparation Process of Being Burnt

• The altar is lit with fire by the sons of Aaron (1:7)

• The wood is arranged in order on the fire• The sons of Aaron can be the serving ones

whom God uses to arrange our environment to prepare us to be burnt to ashes for God’s satisfaction.

• Aaron’s sons arrange the head and the fat in order on the wood

The Inward Preparation Process of Being Burnt on the Altar

• The offerer washes with water the inward parts and legs of the bull.

• Indicating that our experience of the cross leads us to our need to be sanctified inwardly by the word of God and by the sanctifying Spirit of God.

Burnt on the Altar

• Burnt entirely, as a whole, by the priest, as a burnt offering, an offering by fire

• However, the skin was not burnt. It was the portion of the serving priest:

And the priest who offers anyone’s burnt offering, that priest shall have for himself the skin of the burnt offering which he has offered (7:8)

The Result

• A satisfying fragrance to Jehovah.• Ashes, signifying that God accepts the

offering.

A Sheep or a Goat

• A male• Without blemish• The offerer will slaughter it on the side of the

altar northward before Jehovah, that is directly in line with the Holy of Holies.

• Aaron’s sons will sprinkle the blood on the altar

The Sheep or Goat

• Cut into pieces by the offerer• Arranged by the priest on the altar• Its inward parts washed in water by the

offerer• It is not skinned• Presented by the priest and burnt on the altar• For a satisfying fragrance to Jehovah• Consumed to ashes

A Turtledove or a Pigeon

• Brought by the offerer• The priest is the one who presents it at the

altar• The priest wrings off its head• The priest burns it on the altar• The priest drains out the blood on the side of

the altar

A Turtledove or a Pigeon

• The priest takes away the crop of the bird with its feathers

• The priest casts the crop and feathers besides the altar towards the east, in the place of the ashes

• The priest tears open the wings of the birds without dividing it

• The priest burns the bird on the altar

The Significance of the Offering of a Bird

• This may be an unprocessed, natural offering, without much experience.

• It is taken by the serving priest and processed• The crop and feathers may signify what is unclean and

unnecessary• The offering is torn, as opposed to the bull and sheep or

goat which are cut into pieces• This may indicate that our offerings may need to be

adjusted by the serving ones so we can grow in our experience of Christ as the absolute One for God.

• Eventually it is accepted by God

The Law of the Burnt Offering

The Responsibility of the Serving Ones, the Priests

• The priests were responsible to keep the fire on the altar burning. The fire must never go out.

• The burnt offering must be kept on the hearth on the altar all night until the morning.

• This indicates that as serving ones, we must be alert to stand with and prepare any brother or sister who would like to live a crucified life and offer Christ as their burnt offering.

The Seriousness of the Priest’s Handling of the Believers’ Offerings

• The priests must put on a linen garment and linen trousers in order to carry the ashes from the altar to its side.

• Furthermore, the priest must take off his garments, put on fresh ones, and then carry the ashes from the side of the altar to outside the camp, to a clean place (6:11).

• This indicates that as serving ones, we must be careful how we handle the saints’ consecration and offerings. Any looseness, or negligence, in our conduct, may affect a brother’s offering in a negative way.

• Furthermore, we need to treasure the ashes of a brother’s offering in the same way as God treasures them.

What Does the Burnt Offering Show Us?

• The burnt offering shows us how absolute Christ is for God.

• The burnt offering also shows us how unabsolute we are.

• Furthermore, the burnt offering shows us the kind of absolute life that we must have, that is a life continually on the altar (the cross).

The Meal Offering

• The meal offering is introduced right after the burnt offering in Leviticus 2.

• The meal offering shows us how we can live an absolute life as human beings living on this earth.

• The meal offering portrays the fine, perfect, tender, balanced and complete humanity of the Lord Jesus.

Who Can Offer?

• Anyone

How is the Meal Offering Offered?• Based on, and with the burnt offering Now this is what you shall offer on the altar: two lambs of the first

year, day by day continually. One lamb you shall offer in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight. With the one lamb shall be one-tenth of an ephah of flour mixed with one-fourth of a hin of pressed oil, and one-fourth of a hin of wine as a drink offering. And the other lamb you shall offer at twilight; and you shall offer with it the grain offering and the drink offering, as in the morning, for a sweet aroma, an offering made by fire to the LORD. This shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the tabernacle of meeting before the LORD, where I will meet you to speak with you (Exodus 29:38-42)

Two Kinds of Meal Offering

• A meal offering of fine flour• A meal offering of first fruits

The Characteristics of the First Kind of Meal Offering

• Fine flour• Signifying a humanity that goes through a process

of suffering• Oil poured upon it• Signifying the Holy Spirit• Frankincense put on it• Signifying the fragrance of resurrection• The Lord Jesus lived a suffering life, yet

manifested a life in resurrection

Four Kinds of Experience of the Meal Offering

The Meal Offering Offered as a Handful, and Thrown in the Fire

• Brought by the offerer to Aaron’s sons the priests• From that offering, a handful is taken by the priest

and burned on the altar• A handful indicates the smallest amount, small

enough to carry.• There is a little process involved but not much.• This may be the individual Christ that we enjoy.• There is no form or shape to the offering.• The remainder is eaten by Aaron and his sons.

The Meal Offering Baked in an Oven

Of Two Kinds

• Unleavened cakes mingled with oil• Unleavened wafers anointed with oil

Unleavened Cakes Mingled with Oil

• The largest kind of meal offering with a definite form

• Indicating a long process of baking.• Producing food that is nourishing and filling• Resulting in food that may not be that easy to

eat• Indicating an offering that results in a corporate

testimony that ultimately satisfies God

Unleavened Wafers Anointed with Oil

• Easier to eat• Not mingled with, but anointed with oil• Indicating that the process is not that

thorough

The Meal Offering Baked on a Flat Plate

• Not a definite shape• Visible, indicating an offering that is somewhat

outward• Broken in pieces, indicating a process of

suffering• Oil poured on it, indicating the experience of

the Spirit

The Meal Offering in a Pot

• Indicating an offering that has some depth, and is also somewhat hidden.

Further Characteristics of the Meal Offering

• No leaven – indicating the absence of anything that makes the offering naturally easy to eat

• No honey – indicating the absence of natural sweetness

• Salt added – indicating the element needed to kill germs and preserve the nature of the offering

The Characteristics of the Second Kind of Meal Offering

• First fruits• Consisting of new grain roasted with fire• Crushed grain in the ear• Oil is put on it• Frankincense is placed on it• Burned on the altar by the priest

The Peace Offering

• This is the spontaneous result of the burnt offering and the meal offering

• As we experience Christ as our burnt offering (a life absolute for God), and we experience Christ as our meal offering, feeding on Him as our life supply in order to live an absolute life for God, we experience peace

• This peace results in fellowship with God and men.• The peace offerings are experienced mainly in the

church meetings, specifically during the Lord’s Table meetings.

The Characteristics of the Peace Offering

• Either of the herd, or of the flock• Either male or female• The fat and inward parts are burned on the

altar, as food for God• No fat or blood are to be eaten

Two Kinds of Peace Offerings

For Thanksgiving

• Presented with a meal offering of unleavened cakes mingled with oil, unleavened wafers anointed with oil and saturated cakes of fine flour mingled with oil (Lev. 7:12)

• Also presented with cakes of leavened bread (7:13), indicating that the offerer still has sin and is in a weak condition.

• The offerer shall offer one cake of each category for a heave offering (v. 14)

• The flesh of the peace offering must be eaten on the same day.

For a Free Will Offering

• Similar requirements for the peace offering of thanksgiving

• However, the flesh could be eaten on the second day also.

• But not on the third day• This indicates that the peace offering of free

will is more solid and lasting.

Two Results of the Peace Offering

• The wave offering• The heave offering

The Wave Offering

• Out of the peace offering, any Israelite must bring the breast of the animal with its fat

• The breast was waved as a wave offering before Jehovah (7:30)

• The fat was burned on the altar• The breast was to be eaten by Aaron and his

sons• Indicating the loving part of Christ in His

resurrection for us to love Him and His church

The Heave Offering

• Out of the peace offering, any Israelite must bring the right thigh of the animal with its fat

• The right thigh was heaved up as a heave offering before Jehovah (7:30)

• The fat was burned on the altar• The thigh was to be eaten by Aaron and his sons• Indicating the strong part of Christ in His

ascension for us, as serving priests, to stand for Him for His testimony.

What Can We Take Home From All This?

• The burnt offering is for God’s total satisfaction. We realize that we are not absolute for God.

• Yet Christ is absolute. We may experience him as the crucified One who was burned completely to ashes for God’s enjoyment.

The Way to Live Such a Life

• How can we live such a life?• We need to experience Christ as our meal

offering, His humanity as our rich life supply to live such a life.

• Wherever there is the burnt offering, there must be the meal offering as the supply to live an absolute life for God.

The Result

• Eventually, the experience of the burnt offering and the meal offering lead us to an experience of peace and intimate fellowship with God and men, as seen in the peace offering.

• All of God’s children have the liberty and responsibility to offer.

• The ability and size of the offerings will differ according to maturity and experience.

• However, God accepts every offering.• All of these offerings must be for God’s testimony. All our

individual experiences are for the church life, for the building up of God’s testimony.