“AS to the order of the offerings in the opening chapters of the Book of Leviticus, the Lord, begins with the burnt offering and ends with the trespass offering. That is to say, He leaves off where we begin. This order is marked and most instructive. When first the arrow of conviction enters the soul, there are deep searchings of conscience in reference to sins actually committed. Memory casts back its enlightened eye over the page of one’s past life, and sees it stained with numberless trespasses against God and man. At this point of the soul’s history it is not so much occupied with the question of the root from whence those trespasses have sprung, as with the stern and palpable fact that such and such things have actually been committed; and hence it needs to know that God has provided a sacrifice through which ‘all trespasses’ can be ‘frankly forgiven,’ This is presented to us in the trespass offering.
But, as one advances in the divine life, he becomes conscious that those sins which he has committed are but branches from a root, streams from a fountain; and, moreover, that sin in his nature is that fountain, that root. This leads to far deeper exercise, which can only be met by a deeper insight into the work of the cross. In a word, the cross will need to be apprehended as that in which God Himself has ‘condemned sin in the flesh’ (Rom. 8:3). My reader will observe it does not say ‘sins in the life,’ but the root from whence these have sprung, namely, ‘sin in the flesh.’ This is a truth of immense importance. Christ not merely ‘died for our sins according to the scriptures,’ but He ‘was made sin for us’ (2 Cor. 5:21). This is the doctrine of the sin offering.
Now, it is when the heart and conscience are set at rest, through the knowledge of Christ’s work, that we can feed upon Himself as the ground of our peace and joy in the presence of God. There can be no such thing known as peace and joy until we see all our trespasses forgiven and our sins judged. The trespass offering and the sin offering must be known ere the peace offering, joy offering, or thanksgiving offering can be appreciated. Hence, therefore, the order in which the peace offering stands, corresponds with the order of our spiritual apprehension of Christ.
The same perfect order is observable in reference to the meat offering. When the soul is led to taste the sweetness of spiritual communion with Christ―to feed upon Him, in peace and thankfulness, in the Divine Presence it is drawn out in earnest desire to know more of the wondrous mysteries of His Person; and this desire is most blessedly met in the meat offering, which is the type of Christ’s perfect manhood.
Then, in the burnt offering, we are conducted to a point beyond which it is impossible to go, and that is the work of the cross, as accomplished under the immediate eye of God, and as the expression of the unswerving devotion of the heart of Christ. All these things will come before us in beauteous detail as we pass along; we are here only looking at the order of the offerings, which is truly marvelous whichever way we travel, whether outward from God to us, or inward from us to God. In either case, we begin with the cross and end with the cross. If we begin with the burnt offering, we see Christ on the cross doing the will of God, making atonement according to the measure of His perfect surrender of Himself to God. If we begin with the trespass offering, we see Christ on the cross bearing our sins and putting them away, according to the perfection of His atoning sacrifice; while, in each and all, we behold the excellency, the beauty, and perfection of His Divine and adorable Person. Surely all this is sufficient to awaken in our hearts the deepest interest in the study of those precious types.” C. H. M.