Leviticus 10:12-1812And Moses spake unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar and unto Ithamar, his sons that were left, Take the meat offering that remaineth of the offerings of the Lord made by fire, and eat it without leaven beside the altar: for it is most holy: 13And ye shall eat it in the holy place, because it is thy due, and thy sons' due, of the sacrifices of the Lord made by fire: for so I am commanded. 14And the wave breast and heave shoulder shall ye eat in a clean place; thou, and thy sons, and thy daughters with thee: for they be thy due, and thy sons' due, which are given out of the sacrifices of peace offerings of the children of Israel. 15The heave shoulder and the wave breast shall they bring with the offerings made by fire of the fat, to wave it for a wave offering before the Lord; and it shall be thine, and thy sons' with thee, by a statute for ever; as the Lord hath commanded. 16And Moses diligently sought the goat of the sin offering, and, behold, it was burnt: and he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron which were left alive, saying, 17Wherefore have ye not eaten the sin offering in the holy place, seeing it is most holy, and God hath given it you to bear the iniquity of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the Lord? 18Behold, the blood of it was not brought in within the holy place: ye should indeed have eaten it in the holy place, as I commanded. (Leviticus 10:12‑18)
“AND Moses spake unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar and unto Ithamar, his sons, that were left, Take the meat offering that remaith of the offerings made by fire, and eat it without leaven beside the altar: for it is most holy.”
The meat or meal offering is a type of Christ in His holy manhood and His blessed lowly life here bow. Eating is the well-known sign of fellowship. So here we have Aaron and his sons, type of saints now, the priestly family, called to enjoy together that which spoke of Christ. If the Father had His delight in that blessed life of absolute devotedness to His will, we also who believe and know ourselves brought to God, purged from our sins, have the same privilege of enjoying thoughts of that perfect One in peace and thanksgiving.
They were to eat it “without lea beside the altar,” which speaks of the cross. We never get far from the cross in Scripture. And so we are called to enjoy Christ together, yet ever in connection with cross, where He suffered and died for us.
The wave breast and the heave shoulder they were also to eat; “thy sons and thy daughters with thee.” Thus the affections of Christ and the strength of Christ are the portion of every believer. How precious to enjoy in communion what He was to God day by day and all through His life!
We remember how that Nadab and Abihu had died before the Lord for their sin in offering “strange fire.” Oftentimes when some deep sorrow comes into our homes or into the assembly, through some one near and dear to us dishonoring the Lord, we are liable to get discouraged and our spiritual energies lag. Perhaps this is why it is at this point Aaron and his sons are told to eat the meat offering. There are times when God does in a special way encourage us to lay hold of our privileges and to appropriate Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Next we have the failure of Eleazar and Ithamar to eat the sin offering in the holy place, and this is full of instruction for us. When Moses sought the goat of the sin offering he found that it had been burnt, and its blood had not been brought into the sanctuary. Moses was angry with the sons of Aaron, for as priests it was their responsibility to enter in and bear before the Lord the iniquity of the children of Israel when they sinned.
We ought to feel any sin that comes in among us, and the dishonor done to the Lord. But we are bound too to identify ourselves in grace with our brethren’s failures, and they with ours. We ought to have a deep sense of what is due to God, and confess the sin as if we ourselves had offended. “In many things we all offend.” (James 3:22For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body. (James 3:2)). After Himself washing the disciples feet in John 13, our blessed Lord could say: “If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet. If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.” May we know more of this lowly service of love to Him and to our brethren.
ML-12/12/1971