The peace offering is probably the least understood of any of the offerings. Will you read carefully this chapter, Lev. 3, and then the law of the peace-offering, chapter 7:11-34.
If in the meat-offering, there is fellowship in receiving, as we have seen, “all the sons of Aaron, one as much as another” it is of the sweet savor of Christ in His life, and perfect obedience unto death. Here, it is fellowship in the sweet savor of His death. We shall find it answers in some respects to the Lord’s supper: fellowship in the remembrance of His death.
In chapter iii, whether the peace offering be of the herd, or of the flock, or a goat, whatever be the measure of fellowship, it must be through death that we can alone have fellowship. The spotless victim must be without blemish before Jehovah. Such was Christ. “And he shall lay his hand upon the head of his offering,” &c. There can be no worship, no fellowship, unless there be identification with Christ. It is of no use talking about repentance, and baptism, and worship; if you are not identified with Christ, you cannot be in fellowship with God, or worship with His people. What wide-spread delusion there is on this matter! As the offerer came before God with his hand on the head of the peace offering, do you come into His holy presence identified with Christ? Is this your condition at the Lord’s table?
The offering, though for food, must be killed. The blood must be sprinkled; it is “an offering made unto the Lord.” Surely this has not now to be repeated. And mark, this is not the offering made for sin. Do we thus remember Him, as an offering made by fire unto the Lord? Oh, the sweet savor of that one offering, Jesus, in all His perfectness and preciousness, offered to Jehovah. Do we remember that God our Father has His portion in that offering? “The fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards”—all the inwards, is “an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto the Lord.” With us, how often the energy of our inmost thoughts is contrary to the path of holy obedience we long to pursue: not so Jesus, our offering. The whole energy of His soul, His inmost thoughts and desires, tested even in the midst of the darkness of this world, the rage and hatred of devils and priests, yea, and the wrath of God due to our sins pressing upon Him; yet the energy of His whole soul, the divine and human affections of His tender heart, went up, “an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto the Lord.” Oh wondrous, perfect, infinite love! “And the priest shall burn it upon the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire unto the Lord.” “All the fat is the Lord’s.” (Vers. 11-16)
And so was the blood—the life, the Lord’s and until the great one sacrifice should be offered, the life of these sacrifices must not be eaten. Man could not be thus identified with the Son, until He died and rose again. (John 12:24.) Until then the life of the offering was forbidden to be eaten.
God then has His food, His portion first in the sweet savor of the offering of Christ, and this is what is shadowed forth in the fat and the inwards going up on the altar a sweet savor to the Lord.
We will now turn to the law of the peace offering, as applied to us. (Chap. 7:11.) The great principle is that the sacrifice of peace offerings shall be offered unto the Lord. In coming to the Lord’s table, it is not merely to receive, but to offer praise, and thanksgiving, worship, in holy fellowship. Thus, in speaking of fellowship or communion at the Lord’s table, the apostle refers to this very offering, Israel’s fellowship. He says, “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we being many are one bread [or loaf] and one body; for we are all partakers of that one loaf.” The principle of identification is the same, at the Lord’s table, or Israel’s sacrifices, or of the Gentiles. “Behold Israel after the flesh: are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar?” If God had His portion, and they had theirs, they were partakers with God in the sacrifices of the altar. In like manner, to eat of that loaf and drink of that cup at the table of the Lord, was to have fellowship with the Lord. It was to be identified with the Lord, and with all that are His, like the particles of the one loaf.
It was the same, and is the same to this day in the worship of idols. This gives idolatry its most fearful character. “But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils. Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils.” Israel then had fellowship with God in eating of the typical sacrifices: to eat that flesh was to be in communion with Jehovah? To oat the Lord s supper is to be identified with the sweet savor of Christ, in fellowship with Him, and all saints. To eat in the idol’s temple that which was ο tiered to idols, was to be in fellowship with devils. And yet men are seeking and proposing to set up images again, and restore idolatry again, as the religion of this land; seeking that England should again have established “fellowship with devils!” It may be the sin of ignorance; they may not know how Satan is leading them on to the wickedness of the last days. We need not be ignorant, for these scriptures are plain enough. Ο Lord, deliver thy people from the wiles of the devil! (1 Cor. 10:16-21.)
We will now return to our chapter, Lev. 7
Verse. 12. “If he offer it FOR A THANKSGIVING, then he shall offer with the sacrifice of thanksgiving unleavened cakes mingled with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with, oil, and mingled with oil, of fine flour, fried.” When we come then to the Lord’s table, if it be with thanksgiving, we remember the Person and work of Christ. Here all can and did go up for a sweet-savor to God. They offered the flour, which; shows in figure His pure humanity, begotten and anointed of the Holy Ghost. In Him was no leaven of sin. Praise should ascend with unmixed joy in Him, the Holy, Holy One, once offered a sweet savor unto the Lord.
But if we are identified with Him, as the worshipper of idols is identified with demons, are we then pure and sinless? If we have fellowship with Him, are we now like Him in. pure sinless perfection, as to our nature, and even, as to practice? Is the whole church, or the Individual believer, now like Him, the Holy One? Oh how soon we shall be; yes, we shall see Him, as He is, and be like Him. But reader, can you or I, can any child of God, now say, I am pure, without the leaven of evil in my old nature?
Verse 13. How exact are the balances of the sanctuary. “Besides the cakes, he shall offer for his offering leavened bread with the sacrifice of thanksgiving of his peace-offerings.” Thus it is, as it was in the—meat-offering, where it is Christ, there is no leaven; where it is the church, or the individual saint, there is the recognition of the truth, that evil is still found: and therefore there is leavened bread with the sacrifices of thanksgiving. We may deceive ourselves with thoughts of our sinless perfection, as to the eradication of evil from our old nature; but there are no such mistakes in the word of God Is not the type equally striking in there being leaven when it points to us, and no leaven when! it typifies Christ?
Now when we come to the Lord’s table our communion is twofold. If it be thanksgiving, it is in thankful remembrance of Him. And when the offering was for thanksgiving, it must be eaten the same day: “he shall not leave any of it until the morning.” (Ver. 15.) But where it was a vow, or a voluntary offering, it was to be eaten the same day, and on the morrow. (Ver. 16.) A vow had reference to the future
With us there is a yielding of ourselves as a sweet savor to God—a yielding of our bodies as such. “That ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service,” &c. (Rom. 12:1.) With the Christian, however, it is not a vow, but devoted dependence on God.
This is not limited to the Lord’s day, or to the Lord’s table, but to be continuous, the lasting effect of communion with Him. But inasmuch as the sacrifice of peace offerings was a shadow of Christ, it must not be kept until it might become corrupt, on the third day. He that ate it at all on the third day, could not be accepted. There was no corruption in Him, neither could His holy flesh see corruption. It would be abomination to eat of such flesh of the sacrifices with a taint of corruption, or for us to allow such a thought of Christ. Where such a thought is allowed, all communion must be lost. How terrible the sin of such as speak of the Lord, in the days of His flesh on earth, as unfit to stay in Jerusalem at night, or to enter the temple! It would be abomination to have com-in union with them, be they who they might. “It shall be an abomination, and the soul that eateth of it shall bear his iniquity.” (Ver. 18.)
So jealous is God as to the purity of His spotless and undefiled Son, that no flesh should be offered as a type of Him, and His sweet savor offering, that even touched anything that was unclean. It may be said, These were but shadows; true, but surely the substance of these shadows may not be less pure than the lessons set forth in these shadows.
When we hear Him pleading with the Father, His words are not then shadows! Is it not the desire of His heart that we should be kept from evil? Is it His will that we should be mingled with the world? He says, “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world: sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth..... And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.” (John 17:14-19.) What a precious, holy example; may we have grace to tread in His steps! Ah, how often we are like Peter, following afar off: and then warming ourselves at the world’s fire—that world which still hates and rejects the Lord of glory.
Very important questions now present themselves. May we have grace and wisdom to look them fairly in the face, however they may search us.