The Sweet Savour Offerings

by Edwin Neely, Brantford, Canada | Category: Christ In Type And Shadow | May 1989

The tabernacle and its services are a parable for today (Heb. 9:9), a time in which God is also, as in Moses' day, related to a people through covenant. The importance of Leviticus is indicated by the numerous New Testament references. Crucial to Israel's walk and our own is an understanding of God's purpose in sacrifice.

The burnt offering, meal offering, and peace offering are those which sent forth a soothing aroma from the altar to God. In them are typified the merit and perfection of the Lord Jesus Christ and also our acceptance and fellowship through Him. In the sin and trespass offerings, the sinful demerit and imperfection of mankind as borne by the Saviour are pictured, and our forgiveness through Him. These were not sweet savour offerings. No single offering could ever give expression to all the blessings of divine grace that would flow from the one great and complete sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ at Calvary.

The Burnt Offering

Various animals were offered according to the wealth and ability of the offerer. The burnt offering was presented not only for an individual whose heart overflowed in appreciation of his acceptance before the Lord, but also for a collective people. This was voluntary for the individual, but compulsory for the people on a daily basis. The rules for the burnt offering changed when it was presented in connection with some of the seven festivals of the Lord. Some of the sweetest lessons come from meditation on those changes.

The individual could offer a bullock, sheep, goat, dove or pigeon. A qualifying criterion was the ability of the offerer to give. How could an offerer then or now, if he had an appreciation of his acceptability before God, give beneath his ability?

Paul says:

if the readiness is present, it is acceptable according to what a man has, not according to what he does not have ... God loves a cheerful giver (2 Cor. 8:12; 9:7).

But woe to him who robs God by giving less than he is able! (See Mal. 1:8; 3:8). "How much do you owe to my master?" though used in a different context is still a pertinent question (Luke 16:5).

The offerer brought his sacrifice to the door of the tabernacle, for God's house was to be the only place of such devotion. He must then identify himself with the animal, thereby acknowledging that his acceptability was not

in himself, but in the perfection of the sacrifice. The carcass, properly divided, revealed purity in every part, and whether it was the head, the seat of intellect; or the inwards, the will and affections; or the legs, the outward walk and conduct; all spoke of the One of whom it is said:

He knew no sin (2 Cor. 5:21).

In Him there is no sin (1 John 3:5).

(He) committed no sin (1 Pet. 2:22).

(He was) without sin (Heb. 4:15).

All was offered without any part being reserved for the offerer. The priest for his labour received the hide. All else went to the altar. In our appreciation of the Lord as our burnt offering, we need also pay attention to Paul's word to the Romans:

present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service (12:1).

This will cause us to:

walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma (Eph. 5:2).

And it will affect our works also:

how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? (Heb. 9:14).

Israel's daily compulsory offering assured the continuing acceptance of the people on the basis of sacrifice. It reminded them that only on that basis

could they continue, a matter that will be still remembered by Israel in the millennial kingdom.

The variations or changes of rules in offering for the national festivals included the doubling of the offering on the sabbath. Entering into the rest of God then or now requires an enhanced appreciation of the burnt offering aspect of Christ. This touches His own acceptability before God and ours through Him. The greatly extended offering on the first day of each month was a continual marking of the grace of God as He accepted His people on the basis of sacrifice.

The Meal Offering

The Hebrew word for meal offering is minchah and indicates the gift of a person to his superior. It took the form of fine wheaten flour, cakes, or roasted grains, with salt, and to some were added oil and incense. Generally, a handful was placed on the altar; the balance was for the priest, "a thing most holy". All the incense was offered on the altar, the sweetness of the incense from the golden altar and the sweetness from the altar of burnt offering ascending together. The burnt and peace offerings were always accompanied by a meal offering, its size depending on the size of the sacrifice, though it could also be offered in other ways (see Lev. 23:16; Num. 5:15).

Even taking a cautious view of typology there is in the meal offering room for meditation on the incense that went to the altar, God alone fully appreciating the fulness of the sweetness of Christ. We may also meditate on. that upon which the priest fed, or upon the grinding, roasting, mixing with oil and salt, and parching before the fire or other cooking methods, all representative of the marvellous aspects of the life of the Lord Jesus Christ on earth and in resurrection also.

Variations

When the meal offering was for a poor man's guilt (Lev. 5:11-13), or for the sin of jealousy (Num. 5:15), there was neither oil nor frankincense added. Sin and guilt are not the result of the Spirit's work. In Leviticus 7:11-13 the Offering of meal consists of leavened and unleavened cakes together. In the work of the priesthood there will need to be~ some resemblance between the life of the offerer and the life of the offering, as both are presented together. On the beginning of each month the meal offering was increased in association with the increase in the burnt offering, perhaps a continuing reminder of the character of life that God sought among His people. And when the sheaf of firstfruits was offered on that day which was later to become the resurrection day, which it also typified, the meal offering with the he-lamb of the burnt offering was doubled; for resurrection life and our blessings through it were the major considerations (Lev. 23:13). The new wave offering of the feast of weeks included two loaves on the wave breast which2 were of this same double size, reminding us that God had from Pentecost a nation whose life was important

- one "producing the fruit (of the kingdom)".

On special occasions when the Israelites enjoyed the firstfruits of the land or the firstfruits of the threshing floor, meal was to be heaved up as thanksgiving to the Lord, just as we also offer from overflowing hearts when we read and meditate on the blessings of the land or the lessons of the threshing floor (Ruth 3; 1 Chr. 21:22). To be unintentionally thankless at such times demanded a sin offering. The meal offerings were of great importance to Israel, and the life of Christ which they suggest to us is similarly of tremendous value.

The Peace Offering

The third sweet savour offering (Lev. 3) was to be divided among God, the priest and the offerer, and to all it was exceedingly sweet. In the peace offering, friendship and fellowship were celebrated in a linked appreciation of the goodness of God. No birds were allowed here; the celebration of fellowship demands a spiritual wealth which could not be characterized by less than a sheep, goat, or bullock. That either gender might be used enhances the concept of fellowship seen in the offering. God's portion of this offering must be presented on the altar first the outer and inner fat (Heb. the best), the kidneys or reins and the caul upon the liver. Meditation on each brings a wealth of thought as it is applied to what God the Father received from His Son's sacrifice. That these were always offered on the altar upon the burnt offering shows the close link between our acceptance in Christ and the peace and fellowship which should follow.

The priest received the wave breast and the heave thigh. His whole family might enjoy this with him. So those who as a priesthood serve God today share in a feasting on the affection and strength that these special parts represent. In this fellowship offering all the rest of the animal was for the offerer and his family. Fellowship grows in quality the more we understand God's appreciation of the sacrifice of Christ. "We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom. 5:1). "(He) made peace through the blood of His cross" (Col. 1:20). "He Himself is our peace" (Eph. 2:14).

Some imperfect animals might also be offered, because of poverty, as fellowship offerings of thanksgiving (Lev. 22:21-25), but this in no way indicated imperfection in the One who is the fulfilment of all such sacrifices.

Rather, it indicates God's acceptance of thanksgiving even though there is imperfection in the appreciation of the offerer.

The peace offering of the feast of weeks is a pre figuring of Pentecost and the beginning of that new movement of which we are a part who serve God in His house today. There is a special affectionate relationship between loaves and wave breast, even as there is between Christ and God's people. The offerings of Leviticus were peculiar to a called-out and called-together nation, and were to be sacrificed and eaten in the place of the Name (Deut. 12:27). These provide a rewarding study and meditation as we contemplate the special revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ seen in them, and His association with those who are found in God's house today.

(All scripture references from NASB).

Edwin Neely, Brantford, Canada | May 1989
Christ In Type And Shadow