Leviticus 6:10-7:710And the priest shall put on his linen garment, and his linen breeches shall he put upon his flesh, and take up the ashes which the fire hath consumed with the burnt offering on the altar, and he shall put them beside the altar. 11And he shall put off his garments, and put on other garments, and carry forth the ashes without the camp unto a clean place. 12And the fire upon the altar shall be burning in it; it shall not be put out: and the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order upon it; and he shall burn thereon the fat of the peace offerings. 13The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out. 14And this is the law of the meat offering: the sons of Aaron shall offer it before the Lord, before the altar. 15And he shall take of it his handful, of the flour of the meat offering, and of the oil thereof, and all the frankincense which is upon the meat offering, and shall burn it upon the altar for a sweet savor, even the memorial of it, unto the Lord. 16And the remainder thereof shall Aaron and his sons eat: with unleavened bread shall it be eaten in the holy place; in the court of the tabernacle of the congregation they shall eat it. 17It shall not be baken with leaven. I have given it unto them for their portion of my offerings made by fire; it is most holy, as is the sin offering, and as the trespass offering. 18All the males among the children of Aaron shall eat of it. It shall be a statute for ever in your generations concerning the offerings of the Lord made by fire: every one that toucheth them shall be holy. 19And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 20This is the offering of Aaron and of his sons, which they shall offer unto the Lord in the day when he is anointed; the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a meat offering perpetual, half of it in the morning, and half thereof at night. 21In a pan it shall be made with oil; and when it is baken, thou shalt bring it in: and the baken pieces of the meat offering shalt thou offer for a sweet savor unto the Lord. 22And the priest of his sons that is anointed in his stead shall offer it: it is a statute for ever unto the Lord; it shall be wholly burnt. 23For every meat offering for the priest shall be wholly burnt: it shall not be eaten. 24And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 25Speak unto Aaron and to his sons, saying, This is the law of the sin offering: In the place where the burnt offering is killed shall the sin offering be killed before the Lord: it is most holy. 26The priest that offereth it for sin shall eat it: in the holy place shall it be eaten, in the court of the tabernacle of the congregation. 27Whatsoever shall touch the flesh thereof shall be holy: and when there is sprinkled of the blood thereof upon any garment, thou shalt wash that whereon it was sprinkled in the holy place. 28But the earthen vessel wherein it is sodden shall be broken: and if it be sodden in a brazen pot, it shall be both scoured, and rinsed in water. 29All the males among the priests shall eat thereof: it is most holy. 30And no sin offering, whereof any of the blood is brought into the tabernacle of the congregation to reconcile withal in the holy place, shall be eaten: it shall be burnt in the fire. 1Likewise this is the law of the trespass offering: it is most holy. 2In the place where they kill the burnt offering shall they kill the trespass offering: and the blood thereof shall he sprinkle round about upon the altar. 3And he shall offer of it all the fat thereof; the rump, and the fat that covereth the inwards, 4And the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the flanks, and the caul that is above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away: 5And the priest shall burn them upon the altar for an offering made by fire unto the Lord: it is a trespass offering. 6Every male among the priests shall eat thereof: it shall be eaten in the holy place: it is most holy. 7As the sin offering is, so is the trespass offering: there is one law for them: the priest that maketh atonement therewith shall have it. (Leviticus 6:10‑7:7)
After the sacrifice had been offered, then the priest was to put on his linen garment and breeches and carry the ashes out and put them in a clean place. In every detail we are reminded of what that work was to God, for the very ashes must be put in a clean place. Let us never allow anything that takes away from the infinite value of the work of Christ.
Rejoicing in His Perfect Life
The law of the meat offering comes next, telling us of how the priests had a portion of this offering to eat. The meat offering typifies Christ in His perfect humanity, and as believers we can feed upon this, rejoicing in His perfect life which was always by the power of the Spirit of God and was a fragrance to God His Father. These things, then, become our food, but we notice that they were to be eaten in the holy place and that they were most holy. As we thus feed upon Christ in His perfect, sinless humanity, we must never allow our natural minds to work but always “eat” of Him in the holy place. Let us never attempt to understand the divine mystery of His person but believe it and worship.
The Person of Christ
When the priest was anointed, a meat offering was to be offered, half in the morning and half in the evening. The truth of Christ’s perfect humanity is the very touchstone of Christianity and must ever be maintained. This meat offering, made at the time the priest was anointed, was to be wholly burned upon the altar. The solemnity of this great truth must be impressed, in figure, upon the minds of the priests at the beginning and the end of the day. There is always a danger of those who are leaders in the professing church, allowing their minds to try to solve the mystery of the person of Christ, and so this was to be a statute forever unto the Lord. No one should ever be received into the assembly of God who is not sound as to the deity of Christ. We are to believe and worship but never question this great fundamental truth.
A Holy Character
In what follows we shall see how the holy character of what is suited to God was strictly maintained in the sin and trespass offering. Only Christ, the holy, spotless Lamb of God, could put away sin, for we must always remember that it is the Person who did the work of redemption who gave it its value. He alone could put away our awful sins. The priest who offered the sin offering was to eat it (if for the sin of one of the people) in the holy place, showing that he entered into the awfulness of the sin and felt it according to the mind of God. This is important today, for those who are in the place of leaders ought to feel the sin of one of the children of God with a godly concern for the Lord’s glory. The realization of the value of the blood was ever to be maintained, and no lightness as to it was to be allowed. Any garment or vessel on which the blood was mistakenly sprinkled was to be cleansed or broken. I would like to say a word in connection with jokes about the Bible. Sometimes we hear such jokes, and we would learn from this chapter just how hateful such things are to God. We who are Christians should have no part with them, whether they are said in fun or not. Sin is a terrible thing with God.
For Further Meditation
1. What does the meat offering represent?
2. Some natural activities such as eating and drinking are important for maintaining a healthy physical life. What is essential daily in order for us to grow in a healthy, spiritual way?
3. You will find a nice summary of the offerings that would provide a nice review in your study of them if you refer to a copy of the Concise Bible Dictionary by G. Morrish. If you don’t own one, you can find a free copy online at bibletruthlibrary.org.