WE NOW come to the book of Leviticus and the offerings, those wonderful “shadows of good things to come.” As we approach this portion of Scripture, we do well to remember the Lord’s words to Moses at the burning bush (Ex. 3:1-51Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. 2And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. 3And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. 4And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. 5And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. (Exodus 3:1‑5)); “put off thy shoes from off thy feet; for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.”
These offerings set forth in a most blessed way the Person and work of God’s dear Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, as well as some of the blessings that have come to us through what He has done.
At the close of Exodus, when the tabernacle was at last set up, we read that “the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.” Here in the first verse of our chapter it says, “The Lord called unto Moses, and spake unto him out of the tabernacle...” It is not from the midst of the thunders of Sinai that He speaks, but it is from out of the glory that He tells us of the personal glories of Christ and His work, of how sinners such as we are can be made fit to dwell in that same glory with Him.
Leviticus gives us four main offerings: the burnt offering, the meat offering, the peace offering, and the sin offering. In Hebrews 10:5,65Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: 6In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. (Hebrews 10:5‑6) these are all brought together: “Wherefore when He cometh into the world, He saith, Sacrifice (the peace offering) and offering (the meat offering) Thou wouldest not, but a body hast Thou prepared Me: in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin (the sin offering) Thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come... to do Thy will, O God.”
If asked, Why did Christ come into this world, perhaps one might answer, To save us from our sins. This would be true, but it was not His first object. His first object was to do the will of God, to glorify Him in a scene which He had created but which had been ruined by man’s sin and disobedience, a scene where death reigned and Satan, the enemy, held sway. It was God’s will that He should go into death and redeem all those whom the Father had given to Him in that past eternity, and to restore all back to God. Therefore He could say, “Lo, I come to do Thy will, O God.”
Again, in John 10:1717Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. (John 10:17) He said, “Therefore doth My Father love Me, because I lay down My life, that I might take it again.” No one took that life from Him. He was the only One who had a right to life, to blessing and glory as a man on earth, yet He laid down His life, not merely for the sake of the sheep, but to glorify God in the matter of death on account of sin — our sin.
Thus the Spirit of God does not begin with the sinner and his need, but with Christ. He would have us learn something of how precious Christ is to God, and of the infinite value of that death in which He has so fully glorified Him. Twice when that blessed One was here on earth, the heavens opened upon Him; and we hear the Father’s voice saying, “Thou art My beloved Son, in whom is all My delight.”
ML-04/25/1971