YES I KNOW JUKES IS WORDY, AND AT TIMES NOT EASY TO UNDERSTAND. BUT IF YOU PERSEVERE THROUGH HIS WORDINESS, YOU WILL CATCH THE INNER BASIC TRUTHS HE IS WANTING YOU TO SEE. THE SACRIFICIAL OFFERINGS DO INDEED HAVE DEEP MEANING - Keith Hunt
Law of the Offerings #3a
The Peace-Offering
by Andrew Jukes THE PEACE-OFFERING We now come to the sacrifice of PEACE-OFFERINGS, the last offered of all the typical offerings. Accordingly, we shall find it revealing to us that aspect of Christ's offering, which is generally the last apprehended by the believer. And I may add, that as it was 'burnt upon the Burnt-offering," and was directly consequent upon it, so it reveals, to us the consequences of those aspects of Christ's offering which are pre-figured in the Burnt and Meat-offerings. We may examine it, FIRST, in its contrasts to the other offerings, that is, as bringing out one definite and particular aspect of Christ's offering; and then, SECONDLY, in its several varieties, as shewing the different apprehensions enjoyed by Christians of this aspect., I. And, first, IN ITS CONTRAST TO THE OTHER OFFERINGS, it may be sufficient to enumerate two chief points (1) It was a sweet-savour offering; and, (2.) The offerer, God, and the priest were fed by it. In the former of these particulars, it differed from the Sin-offerings; in the latter, it differed from all others. (1.) It was a "sweet-savour" offering (verses 5, 16). On the import of this distinction, I need here say little, since we have already more than once examined it. Suffice it to say that here, as in the Burnt and Meat-offerings, we are presented with a view of the offering, not as offered with any reference to sin, but rather as shewing man giving to God that which is sweet and pleasant to Him. But the Burnt-offering and Meat-offering were both "sweet savours." This particular, therefore, though distinguishing the Peace-offering from the Sin-offerings, gives us nothing by which we may distinguish it from the other sweet-savour offerings. I pass on, therefore, to the next particular, in which the Peace-offering very distinctly differs from the Burnt and Meat- offerings. (2.) The second point in which the Peace-offering differed from others was, that in it the offerer, the priest, and God, all fed together. This was the case in no offering, but the Peace-offering. In this they had something in common. Here each had a part. They held communion in feeding on the same offering. We have first the offerer's part; then God's part; then the priest's part; and included in this last, though separately mentioned, the part which was fed upon by the priest's children (see chapter 7:31,32, and compare Numbers 18:9-11). And what a view does this give of the efficacy of the offering! How does it magnify "the unsearchable riches of Christ!" God, man, and the priest, all fed together, all finding satisfaction in the offering. God first has His part and is satisfied, for He declares it to be very good, "It is an offering made by fire of a sweet savour unto the Lord" (chap.3:5). Man (in Christ) as offerer has his part, and is permitted to share this offering with his friends (chap.7:16). And the priest, that is, Christ in His official character, is satisfied also, and His children are satisfied with Him (chap.7:31). What a picture is here presented to us! The offerer feasts with God, with His priest, and with the priest's children. (i)In the Peace-offering the offerer feasts, in other words, finds satisfaction, and feeds upon the same offering of which a part has already satisfied God: for a part of the Peace-offering, (as we shall see in the sequel) "the fat, the blood, the inwards," before the offerer can touch his part, must have already been consumed on the altar. We get nothing like this either in the Burnt or Meat-offering. In them we have the e offering satisfying God; all consumed by His fire, and ascending to Him, as in the Burnt-offering; or shared, as in the Meat-offering. with His priests. But in all this., though God was satisfied, the offerer got no part of the offering. The Burnt and Meat-offerings were (as we have already seen) the emblem of the perfect fulfilment of the law's requirements. In them we see man (in Christ) offering to God that which perfectly satisfies Him. God finds food in the offering, and declares it to be very good. But in all this the offerer has nothing. The Peace-offering shews us the offerer himself satisfied. Now the offerer here, as elsewhere, is Christ; Christ in His person standing "for us" (Eph.5:2). But the extent to which we are interested in this, and the fact that, till we realize it, the Peace-offering is unintelligible, require that I should dwell here for a moment, before I proceed to details. I repeat, then, that in all the offerings, Christ, as offerer, stands as our representative. Whether it be in the Sin-offering, the Burnt-offering, the Meat-offering or the Peace-offering. He is the man Christ Jesus "for us." He is for us without the camp, for us put upon the altar, for us bearing our sins, for us accepted and satisfied. And when we say He did this "for us," we mean that He did it instead of us, nay, as us. Thus, when He was judged, He was judged as us. When He kept the law, He kept it as us. When He was accepted, He was accepted as us; and so when He was satisfied, He was satisfied as us. Now, the consequence of Christ's thus standing "for us" is, that what is true of Him, is true of all who are in Him. Thus the offerings, in shewing us Christ's position. in shewing Him, only show us our own; nay, I may say, when they shew us Christ, they show us the Church, for He stood "for us." "As He is, so are we in this world" (1 John 4:17) - we are "accepted in the Beloved" (Eph.1:6). I do not say that this is apprehended even by those who are seen of God to stand in these blessings. I need not say how little "we apprehend of that for which we are apprehended" (Phil.3:12). I simply state the fact, that in all those relations which are typified by the various offerings, Jesus in offering them as a man stood "for us;" He stood as us; nay, He was us, if I may say so. When Christ offered, God saw us offering; for Christ stood as offerer "for us." God looked upon Christ as us. He sees us, therefore, as Christ before Him (See 1 Cor.12:12; "So also is Christ"). And just as truly as Christ stood for us and as us, so as a consequence do we stand in Him to Godward. What He did, we are reckoned to have done, for as us He did it. So what He enjoys, we enjoy, for as us He enjoys it. Now this last thought is the thought of the Peace-offering. Christ is satisfied and fed by His offering. But in this He stands for us; and therefore we are satisfied as soon as we thus apprehend Him. The thought may be a little more complex than that of the Sin and Burnt-offering; but it proceeds exactly on the same principle. Just as the feeble believer in Christ, when he sees Christ offering the Sin-offering, sees that God's wrath against sin has been met, for Jesus standing instead of us as man has borne it; - just as the same feeble saint, when He sees Christ offering the Burnt and Meat-offering, sees that God and His requirements have been satisfied, for Jesus standing for us as man has satisfied them: - just so the same believer when he sees Christ offering the Peace-offering, sees that man is satisfied with the offering, for Jesus standing for us as man is satisfied. And as our sense of acceptance depends on realizing Him as accepted for us, so our sense of satisfaction and communion with God depends on realizing Him in communion for us. Thus seeing the Peace-offering, and by it finding that Christ as man is satisfied, is to those who know themselves "in Christ," to find that they themselves are satisfied. I fear that there are but too many saints who never realize this aspect of the Offering, and therefore never fully experience that satisfaction which the Offering has purchased for them. I do not say that the blessing is not theirs; this and all else is theirs, if they are "in Christ." But those things which are true for them in Him, are not realized by them in their own experience. Experience is, I again repeat, nothing more than our measure of apprehension of that which is already true for us in Christ. Thank God, the sufficiency of His work does not depend upon our apprehension of it. But our satisfaction depends much on our apprehension. It is because we apprehend so little that we have so little comfort. And our strength particularly depends on our apprehension of that view of Christ which the Peace-offering teaches; for strength is sustained by food, and the Peace-offering shews man fed by the sacrifice. Yet how little is this view of Christ apprehended! Am I asked the cause? It is because so few really know acceptance. As long as it is at all a question with you whether God has accepted you or not, your chief desire will be to know God satisfied, far rather than to be satisfied yourself. As a criminal whose reprieve has not yet come, you will not ask, Have I bread for today? But, am I pardoned? Death stares you in the face: you cannot think of food or raiment. But let the question of acceptance be settled: let this be fully known; and then you will find time to listen to the cravings of that new nature, which needs to be sustained and nourished. What is to satisfy this? Nothing but the precious meat of the altar. And this is shewn as provided for us in Jesus, when we see Him, as our representative, the offerer of the Peace-offering. And here observe what the offerer feasts on. He feasts on the meat of the altar: his food is the spotless offering which has already satisfied the Lord. Now this offering represents "the body of Jesus" (Heb.10:5-10), including His walk, His thoughts, His strength, His affections. These, as we saw in the Burnt-offering; were the things He sacrificed; and because they were unblemished, they were accepted. As a sweet savour they satisfied God. But they give satisfaction, too, because they are unblemished, to the offerer. Christ finds His meat in His own offering. He "is satisfied with the travail of His soul" (Isa.53:11). Jesus as offerer stands "for us;" and by His feeding on the offering, He shews how man is satisfied. Would to God His people might learn here what, as respects atonement, will alone satisfy them. Out of God's presence man seeks food in many things. He may try the "riotous living of the far country:" yea, in his hour of need he may come to, "the husks which the swine eat" (Luke 15:15,16). In seeking God's presence too, not a few have yet to learn what alone can give peace and satisfaction in that presence. Some of those who are longing to feast with God, are seeking satisfaction in their frames or feelings. Others are trying their own righteousness their experiences, their walk, their service. Are these things the unblemished meat of the altar? Is it by these things Christ has satisfied God? Are our experiences, our frames, our feelings, the things on which, as respects atonement, Christ and God have fellowship? If not, they cannot be the meat upon which we as needing atonement, are to feed with God. If Christ as man could not have communion with God through anything save a spotless offering, so neither can any of His members: if they are fed at all, they must be fed as He is. Oh, let us be wise and see our calling, nor seek satisfaction save in Jesus! He is the only perfect One; out of Him there is nothing fit for the altar, nothing suited therefore to feed our souls. When Christ feeds with God on that which is blemished; when He makes a Peace-offering of the unclean; then, nor till then, let us seek our food in the unclean, the torn, the blemished. But while we see that even He, as far as atonement is concerned, can only be fed with His own perfect unblemished offering, let us as in Him reject all others, and feed and be satisfied in Him. How important is the lesson taught here; how unanswerably does it express this truth, that, as respects atonement at least, the Christian has nothing to feed on with God, but that which Christ Himself feeds on with Him: that however right our experiences or attainments or walk or service may be in their place, they are not the offering for atonement, nor can they ever be the ground of peace. And indeed, for a Christian to seek his food in these things, is as though an Israelite were to take his garments to feed on. In truth the man who seeks satisfaction in his own attainments just does this: what should be his raiment, he makes his meat. The garments of the Israelite are the appointed symbol of a man's deportment and manifested character (Ps.73:6; 109:18; Isa.52:1; 59:17; 61:3; Zech.3:3; Col.3:8,12; Rev.3:4; 16:15, etc.). So the New Testament interprets the type: "The fine linen is the righteousness of saints" (Rev.19:8). This garment might be easily defiled. But let us suppose it clean: are garments to be fed on? The type answers at once: it is the meat of the altar, the sweet savour alone, which satisfies. Our prayers, our love, our service, these things, like the leavened cake at Pentecost, though accepted for the sake of what accompanies them, are one and all in themselves blemished. In one sense indeed, our services are a "sweet savour" (Phil.4:18) but it is only in the same sense that our persons are "righteous." In either case the works and persons are accounted to be what in themselves they are not, in virtue of that perfect Work and Person, in whom and through whom they are offered. Just as the sinner, though in himself vile, is accounted righteous in Him through whom we have received the atonement; so are His offerings, though leavened, accounted sweet in the savour of that through which they are offered. The sinner accepted in Christ becomes indeed himself, in spirit; both an offerer and offering; yet even then his "spiritual sacrifices," whether of work or worship, are only "acceptable to God by Jesus Christ" ((1 Pet.2:5). Like "the leavened cake" already referred to, our works or worship, because imperfect, could never be accepted, did they not come before God with the sweet savour, and as the consequence of another and a perfect offering. Were they offered to make atonement they would be rejected. They are only accepted because atonement has been already made. To make atonement, there must be perfection in the offering: God will not be satisfied with ought less than a perfect sacrifice. If we wish to be fed and satisfied with Him, it must be in and through that "One offering" which has already satisfied His holiness. But this leads us to the next particular in the Peace-offering; namely, that: (ii)The offerer feasts with God. Man (in Christ) and God find common food. The offering is shared between them. The thought here is not, as in the Burnt-offering, merely that God finds satisfaction in the offering. It includes this, but it goes further. It shews communion; for God and man share together. I would that this aspect of the Offering were more familiar to the minds of Christians: how would it raise their thoughts of the value of the Offering, and of the place, which, through the Offering, man is called to! We should not, we could not, truly realize the joy and satisfaction God finds in the Offering, without obtaining more exalted views of its wondrous preciousness and efficacy. We could not behold man sharing with God in that which God declares to be most precious to Him, without being led to afar deeper apprehension of man's high and blessed destiny. (And the destiny of mankind, if they will accept God's calling to salvation, is greater that what our human mind can understand in its fullness. But the Lord tells us what He desires for us, what He wants us to finally become. For the truth of that see my study called "A Christian's Destiny" - Keith Hunt) But are these our thoughts of the Offering? Do we, when we think of it, think of the joy God finds in it; or do we thus habitually realize the place into which it puts man as sharer with God? Alas to how many are such thoughts strangers; and the reason is, because as yet they have not seen the Peace-offering. If only they may be delivered from wrath! If only they may hope for acceptance! This is all many saints hope for, this is practically all they expect. But is this all that the Offering has purchased? Is this all that Christ enjoys? Is His place bare acceptance? Is His portion only pardon? Is He not, as man, God's heir and first-born, the One in whom His soul delights, the One with whom God holds unbroken fellowship, to whom He reveals all His mind? And does Jesus hold this alone? Are we not, in Him, called to the same communion? Are we not in all His fellow-heirs, His joy, His bride, His members? The Peace-offering answers the question when it shews us man feasting with Jehovah; when it tells us that Christ's place is our placed, and that in Him we are called to share with God. And how clearly does this portion of the type give the answer to the question, What is communion? Communion is simply sharing; to have communion, therefore, we must have something to share; and to have communion with a holy God, we must have something which we can share with Him. We cannot share nothing, and He will not share with us in the unclean. Our attainments, therefore, cannot yield communion, nor our works, for the best have sin in them. But, thank God, there is a perfect offering, the offering of our blessed Lord; and if we would have communion with God, the only way is to share that offering. And this at once gives us the key to the cause of our general and acknowledged lack of communion. Of intercourse we have enough, perhaps too much. Of communion, how very little! The reason is, so little of Christ's Offering is apprehended, that when believers meet they have scarce anything of Him to share. And the same is true of our approaches to God, for there may be intercourse with God without communion. How often when we approach God do we speak to Him only about our feelings, our experiences, our sins, our trials. All this is right; we cannot be without these, and we are right to tell them to our Father. But after all, this of itself is not communion, nor will speaking of these things ever yield it to us. Let us come before God to be filled with Christ, to be taken up with Him, His life, His ways, His sweetness; let the confession of our failure and nothingness in ourselves be made the plea that we may be filled with Him; and our intercourse will be soon changed to communion, for in Him we shall have something we can share. May the Lord lead us more into His presence, there to be taught what we possess in Jesus; and then, when we meet our brethren or our Father, we shall feast together on what there is in Him. ................ Again, let me add, or say what Juke has just said in different words. The Eternal Father in heaven wants to share with you, have communion with you for all eternity, in a way that most Christians do not come close to understanding. Yes, He wants you to humble yourself, to REPENT of sins, to acknowledge you are a sinner, to accept His Son Christ Jesus as YOUR personal Savior. Yes, He wants you to WALK with Him, to serve him, to live by His every word (Mat.4:4). Yes, He wants you to "count the cost" - and to realize it may cost you some things in this physical life, if you are going to follow in the footsteps of His Son. BUT, if you are willing to accept the calling of God, then what He is fully and eventually going to share with you.....well it is all in my study called "A Christian's Destiny" - and believe me it is mind- bending, mind-blowing, something far beyond what most Christians have ever contemplated. You need to understand the truth of the matter on what can be YOUR destiny, and as you do, you will understand the Peace-Offering as never before - Keith Hunt TO BE CONTINUED |
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