The sacrifices, as a whole, pointed to the person, life, and work of the Lord Jesus; but when examined in detail, they will be found to yield precious instruction and abundant material for the meditation and worship of the believer.
The burnt offering is the first in Divine order and the highest in character of all the sacrifices. But our apprehension of these sacrifices and their adaptation to our need is uniformly opposite to the order of their institution (2 Chron. 29, etc.). As sinners, we first know Christ as the trespass offering "delivered for our offenses;" and as led on by the Spirit in the fuller revelation of Christ and His precious work and person, we travel upward till we stand as worshippers around the altar of burnt offering, and wonder and adore as the ascending flame laden with the divinely-prepared perfume goes up to Jehovah for the satisfaction and rest of His heart. Most blessed it is, however, that God in the order in which these offerings are presented would teach our souls that the self-same sacrifice in which He finds present and eternal delight, is the answer to our need as sinners and our communion as saints. Atonement could be effected by the burnt offering and the various classes of sin offerings, but not by either meat or peace offerings.
This sacrifice points to the voluntary surrender, to the freewill offering of Jesus to accomplish in death the Divine will, as written of Him in the volume of God's eternal counsels: "Lo, I come to do Thy will, O God" (Heb. 10:77Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. (Hebrews 10:7)). It is that aspect of the sacrifice of Jesus which directly and exclusively regards God "who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God." In the sin offering there was atonement (Heb. 47Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. (Hebrews 4:7); 5) as in the burnt offering; but with this profound difference, that in the former it was to secure forgiveness—hence the frequent recurrence of the phrase, "it shall be forgiven him"—while in the burnt offering it was atonement for the acceptance of the person.
Is it not therefore of priceless value to us that Christ, in the absolute devotedness of a will wholly set upon His Father's glory, gave Himself up to God on the altar, and there in the scene where man had so terribly dishonored God and trailed His glory in the dust—yea, in the place of sin-bearing itself, the fire of Divine judgment was kindled and all went up to God as a sweet savor, and in that we are accepted.
The unblemished animal was killed, flayed, and cut in pieces. The parts enumerated are the "head," the "fat," the "inwards," and the "legs"—denoting the intelligence, will, motives, and walk of the blessed One in thus offering Himself—a WHOLE Christ and an intelligent surrender to the glory of God. All were laid upon the altar and subjected to the fire—the searching judgment of God. "The priest shall burn all upon the altar to be a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire of a sweet savor unto the LORD." What the offering was ceremonially, being washed in water, that Jesus was intrinsically. The fire of Divine judgment searched Him inwardly and outwardly; the motives and springs, as well as the walk and ways—and in result all went up to God as a sweet savor.
We, through Divine grace and in the power of the Holy Ghost, identify ourselves with Jesus thus so thoroughly glorifying God—entering into its blessedness, knowing our acceptance in His most precious acceptance, and as thus set down in the holiest of all, in all the value of Christ's person and work. All this is significantly expressed in the identification of the offerer and the victim: "And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering (this significant act only stated in the case of the 'herd,' Lev. 1:44And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him. (Leviticus 1:4)), and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him." God's eternal delight in Jesus as the burnt offering is beautifully told out in the words: "The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out" (Lev. 6:1313The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out. (Leviticus 6:13)).
The reader's careful attention is called to the distinction between the sweet savor offerings in which the saint is identified in all the Divine acceptance of the sacrifice, and the sin offerings in which the sinner is identified in the judgment of the victim.