Outside God's House—the Sacrifice of the Burnt Offering
Exodus closes with the setting up of the tabernacle and the cloud covering the tent of the congregation; Leviticus opens with the offering up of the burnt offering at the tabernacle. A cloud in Scripture is the symbol of the presence and glory of God; the burnt offering is a type of Christ coming to do God's will and glorifying God as to the question of sin at the cross. Sin, the root principle, must be dealt with if God were to be glorified. That is why the cloud preceded the burnt offering God was to be glorified in the cross of Christ.
The same order is followed in John's Gospel. The Lord's Prayer to His Father in John 17 is the cloud in John 18-19 Christ is the burnt offering.
The Burnt Offering—What Is It? Why Should We Probe Its Meaning?
Our purpose in this brief outline of the burnt offering is to help the reader compare it to the crucifixion scenes in John's Gospel. In other words it is a key to understanding the unique way John writes about the closing scenes of the Lord's life on earth, the cross, and the question of sin.
God could have judged sin without showing mercy, in which case our race would have been totally lost. Righteousness and judgment are the foundation of His throne, and if He had taken that course of action none could have complained, for all have sinned. But as long as He took no action the question of why He allowed sin to exist in the universe remained unanswered. Finally, Christ came into the world to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. In so doing He demonstrated that God was not only light in exposing our sins but love in sending His own Son to die for them. In this way God has received a larger and a deeper glory than if sin had never entered, or if, having entered, He had only acted on the principle of judgment. This is the side of the cross presented by the type of the burnt offering.
.. Animal offerings and sacrifices did not please God: We learn this in the 10th chapter of Hebrews, where the Spirit of God does not immediately break into His subject of Christ coming into the world to do the will of God. He starts off by discussing what is not the will of God. This is the way the Lord began with Nicodemus. He told him what stood in the way of man obtaining eternal life John 3:3,53Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. (John 3:3)
5Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. (John 3:5) before He told him how man could have it. And so we find two negative statements introducing our subject i.e. that Christ did not come into the world to perpetuate the old system v. 5 of sacrifice and offering. In v. 6 we further find that "in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin Thou hast had no pleasure." Such things had their place under the law as types and shadows of the work of Christ, but the law and the prophets were until John. Once John had presented Christ the old system must go. God is not going on with a system of law keeping for salvation, now that Christ has come. The will of God is wrapped up in Christ.
.. The burnt offering instructs us about Christ whose offering and sacrifice please God: But while the blood of bulls and goats could not put away sin, nothing affords us more instruction on Christ as the Man who came to do the will of God than the burnt offering of Lev. 1. Not only that but the type perfectly agrees to the antitype the Lord Jesus in John's Gospel not only in His person and work but the setting in which both are written. In John's Gospel the Lord is portrayed as Son of God superior to all His circumstances, which for that very reason, are not even recorded. That is why John omits the Lord's agony of soul in the Garden of Gethsemane, the last Passover, and the first Lord's Supper. He gives us very little of the sufferings of the cross. John leaves these themes to the writers of the synoptic Gospels. He writes about Christ as the Son of God, a divine person having power over His life to lay it down and take it again. He was the Son who made the Father known. John's Gospel is about the Father and the Son. For example in the 14th chapter the Lord assumed that His disciples knew the Father to whom He was going so fully had He declared Him and done His will. In John's Gospel those subjects which do not lend themselves to this side of the truth are passed over.
An Outline of the Burnt Offering
A range of sacrifices could be offered from a bullock, the most expensive one, to turtledoves or young pigeons, the cheapest. The variety of the sacrifices is indicative of the degree of our appreciation of the work of the cross some are rich toward God, others poor. The common thread is that regardless of such distinctions there is only one sacrifice for rich or poor, for the great subject of the burnt offering is sin itself not the sins of individuals.
.. The sacrifice must be voluntary: No pressure was brought on the offerer to bring a sacrifice. He might offer the sacrifice "of his own voluntary will." That is because Jesus, the true burnt offering, offered Himself through the Eternal Spirit without spot to God. For this reason too every bullock, sheep or goat must be a male without blemish.
In exercising "his own voluntary will" the offerer must first decide whether or not to bring a sacrifice. It would be costly because only a male without blemish could be offered God demanded the best. Then the offerer had to decide from the range of options how expensive a sacrifice to bring. When Jesus Himself was the offering it was beyond price. His enemies did not think so. They priced Him at thirty pieces of silver. In the Garden they called him "Jesus of Nazareth" and no title could be lower in men's eyes than that. He declared "I have told you that I am" and no title could be higher than "I AM," God's own name. They fall backward to the ground. That "I AM" should also be called "Jesus of Nazareth" would make any man do that. But it is in that character the All Powerful One that He surrenders of His own voluntary will to them.
.. Killing the sacrifice: The man who offered the sacrifice had to kill it himself "at the door of the Tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord." That tells us that God must be propitiated first. The offerer must also put his hand on the bullock's head. The bullock is dying but his need is met. More than that by this act he identifies himself with all the value of the sacrifice to God "A burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor to the Lord. Typically he is accepted in the Beloved One.
But it is not enough to kill the bullock. Just as in the Passover when God said "When I see the blood I will pass over you" so once more He must see the blood the evidence that the sacrifice's life was laid down. The presentation of the blood to God is the service of His priests "The priests, Aaron's sons, shall bring the blood, and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar." Lev. 1:55And he shall kill the bullock before the Lord: and the priests, Aaron's sons, shall bring the blood, and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. (Leviticus 1:5). When Aaron is mentioned alone it is Christ, when Aaron and his sons, it is believers as a company of worshippers. In Egypt the blood was to shelter sinners from a holy God; in the desert it is so that a redeemed company might approach that same God. On the cross the type is fulfilled "but when they came to Jesus, and saw that He was dead already, they broke not His legs; but one of the soldiers with a spear pierced His side, and forthwith came there out blood and water" John 19:33,433But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs: (John 19:33)
4Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no fault in him. (John 19:4). That spear thrust released water and blood. Why did the soldier do it? Because he thought the Lord was dead but he had to be certain! (l) To make sure death had taken place that this was not fainting or unconsciousness he directed his spear thrust upward to the heart. The upward thrust avoided the ribs so that again not a bone was broken in piercing the Lord's side. Little did the soldier know, in fulfilling his duty to Rome, that God Himself called for the blood without the pouring out of which there could be no remission of sins. Our sins were attached to His sinless life's blood by imputation and God demanded the blood. But it came from the riven side of Christ when He was already dead on the cross not in life. The judgment of God was past when the Roman soldier's act took place. Understanding God's thoughts of the blood, we can already anticipate our song in glory "To Him who loves us, and has washed us from our sins in His blood, and made us a kingdom, priests to His God and Father: to Him be the glory and the might to the ages of ages. Amen" Rev. 1:5, 65And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, 6And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. (Revelation 1:5‑6).
.. Preparing the sacrifice for burning on the altar: After killing the bullock, the offerer skinned it and dismembered it. Then Aaron's sons, the priests figures of believers today fired the altar and stacked wood on the fire in an orderly fashion. They laid the dismembered parts on the wood which was now burning but once more in an orderly way. So 1 Cor. 14:1515What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also. (1 Corinthians 14:15) says "I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also.”
The animal's four dismembered parts are individually mentioned. The head and the fat go together and are burned at once. The inner parts and legs go together and are burned after they have been washed.
.. The head and the fat are burned first: The head is the symbol of intelligence. It is the directing force, not only in man but in the brute beast. It speaks here of Christ doing the Father's will in the full intelligence of what it would cost Him. In the type of Isaac being offered up there was limited intelligence of what it would cost him to do Abraham's will, as his questions to his father show. In Christ there was full intelligence. Consider the crown man awarded Him. Think of Him, publicly wearing the symbol of the curse the crown of thorns. He knew what the curse would mean abandonment by God on the cross. He accepted it from His Father that His will might be done "By which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all" Heb. 10:1010By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Hebrews 10:10). Both in His person and in His work the Lord Jesus as the true burnt offering glorified God perfectly.
Fat is the stored up energy of an animal. Typically it speaks of the inner energy of Jesus. This was displayed in the world both in His words and His works. He said to His own "My meat is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work" John 4:3434Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. (John 4:34). He drove the money changers out of the temple saying "Take these things away. Make not My Father's house a place of business" John 2:1616And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise. (John 2:16). So He fulfilled Psa. 69:99For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me. (Psalm 69:9) "The zeal of thine house has eaten me up.”
.. The inner parts and legs are washed before burning: Truth in the inner parts was always found in Christ "Thou hast proved My heart— Thou hast tried Me, Thou hast found nothing: My thought goeth not beyond My Word" Psa. 17:33Thou hast proved mine heart; thou hast visited me in the night; thou hast tried me, and shalt find nothing; I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress. (Psalm 17:3). His legs, His holy walk, has been the subject before us in this book. This holy walk agreed with what was inside hence the legs and the inner parts had to be washed with water so the sacrifice would correspond morally with what Christ was actually. The legs come last in the order of the parts, for the cross ended Christ's walk as man on the earth. The last act in the ritual was the burning of the washed inner parts and legs on the altar.
What Think Ye of Christ Whose Son Is He?
Are we taking a quantum leap from our studies of the burnt offering to the question in our caption "What think ye of Christ whose son is He?" Not at all. What we are really asking is whether or not you appreciate God's gift of His Son as the burnt offering. In posing this question it is only reasonable to consider what God thinks of Him first, then man.
.. What God thinks of Christ: Long before Christ died on the cross God made the ritual of the burnt offering unveil His appreciation of His Son's work. As the sacrifice burned on the altar it formed a cloud ascending heavenward to God. It reminded Him of all that Christ was to Him "It is a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto the Lord." So God had every right to think that man would share His thoughts. After all He was the One who so loved the world as to give His only begotten Son. He was the burnt offering God's Son.
.. What man thinks of Christ: At first sight this is a bleak picture. Judas betrayed the Lord, He was arraigned before the High priest, tried by Pilate. The judicial process, such as it was, came to an end. His "crime" emblazoned over the cross "Jesus of Nazareth the king of the Jews" in Hebrew and Greek and Latin, gives us a world picture of man.(2) But the Lord said of His sheep "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world." To them God gave power to become the children of God. John's gospel tells us who they are, and at the end we find them clustered around the cross. So too were the Lord's enemies proving the truth of His words "He who is not with Me is against Me" Matt. 12:3030He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad. (Matthew 12:30). God once more divides between the light and the darkness as He did in Gen. 1. Only now the light and the darkness are moral not physical. To be specific they are the men and women gathered around the cross.
Character Sketches of the Four Soldiers and the Four Women at the Cross
The four soldiers and the four women are representative of worldwide rejection or acceptance of Christ. That is because four is the representative number in Scripture e.g. the four winds of heaven, the four corners of the earth. The brazen altar on which the burnt offering was offered was four square and the Holy City Jerusalem lieth four square.
.. The four soldiers: The soldiers represent Satan's power acting through the union of the Jew and the Roman. Satan rules the world through two devices religion and politics both of which are unmasked here. Common hatred of Christ, the light amid this darkness, surfaces as soon as He is delivered into their hands. The four soldiers were a detachment from the main body of troops under Pilate's command, with orders to carry out three crucifixions. The soldiers are not named. Like many other anonymous people in John's Gospel "the impotent man" "the blind man" "the woman" they have no link with God. They are known only for what they did. That is why John simply says, "These things therefore the soldiers did.”
Before the cross, among other indignities, the soldiers dressed the Lord in scarlet and purple and mocked Him. At the cross four of them plundered His clothes. Our clothes tell us much about our circumstances. In this life, for example, a soldier wears a uniform, a surgeon a gown, a mayor a robe of office. In glory we shall wear white garments. Before the cross the soldiers mocked the Lord by dressing Him in kingly robes of purple and scarlet and saying "Hail king of the Jews." At the cross the four soldiers divided all the Lord's clothes except his tunic for which they gambled. After the cross one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear.
These deeds show man's estimate of God's Christ. God is determined to reverse them. For this reason we must reverse the order in which these wicked acts took place if we would understand the spiritual lessons underlying them. So we begin where man ended the piercing of the Lord's side with a spear, which caused blood and water to flow out. The blood of God's Holy Lamb expiates our sins. God required it we accept it and are saved. The water came from the Lord's extreme physical suffering on the cross. It cleanses us by separating us in spirit from a world which so evilly treated our Savior God. The next thing to be reversed is the Lord's tunic. The tunic was a one piece dress woven from the top throughout. It speaks of Christ Himself "All Thy garments smell of myrrh and aloes and cassia" Psa. 45:88All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad. (Psalm 45:8). But in this context the tunic speaks of man in Christ. We have appropriated the value of the blood which flowed from Christ's spear pierced side, so God sees us as "in Christ." The meaning of "in Christ" is that as He is so are we in this world. In the last chapter of Romans Paul speaks of Andronicus and Junia. Characteristically they were prisoners. God the Father considers it an honor that we should share Christ's rejection. The Father clothed the prodigal with this tunic "Bring forth the best robe and put it on him." The next step backward in this chain of reversals is the division of the Lord's garments into four parts. These speak of the four Gospels, with their message of forgiveness to man. This is to be spread to the four corners of the earth. In the Gospel, God turns man's evil to good. Where sin did abound grace did much more abound. The final reversal in this chain is the acknowledgment by the world that Christ is Lord of Lords and King of Kings. All will bow the knee to Him no longer saying Hail King of the Jews in mockery but confessing that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Man's crown of thorns will be swept away for "Thou settest a crown of pure gold on His head.”
.. The four women: The four women are in marked contrast to the four soldiers. The latter represent the peak of the old creation man in his might; the four women represent the frailty of the old creation, for the woman is the weaker vessel. They are the Lord's mother, His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas and Mary Magdalene.
The Lord's mother is the first woman mentioned Mary Magdalene the last. The other two women are obscure. The Lord's mother represented purity in woman, as the handmaiden of the Lord; Mary Magdalene had been possessed by seven devils. The Lord speaks to His mother at the cross; to Mary Magdalene after it in resurrection.
The Lord's words to the dying thief and to His mother stand out in relief. Both were in anguish he in the body, she in her soul. He said "Remember me" and Jesus did. She said nothing, being a spiritual woman, although a sword was piercing her soul as Simeon predicted in the temple. He was about to lose his life she her son.
Taken as a group the four women were doing what John the Baptist told all to do at the beginning "Behold the Lamb of God." Because of this their devotedness in the face of the world's hatred is drawn to our attention in the word of God.(3)
Arrangements of the Lord's Sheep at the Cross Which Foreshadow Christianity
The men and women at the cross came there because they loved Christ. "He who practices the truth comes to the light that his works may be manifested that they have been wrought in God" John 3:2121But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. (John 3:21). They are the children of the resurrection the Lord's sheep. God would honor them for their devotion to Christ, for His principle is "Those who honor Me I will honor" 1 Sam. 2:3030Wherefore the Lord God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the Lord saith, Be it far from me; for them that honor me I will honor, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed. (1 Samuel 2:30). How did He honor them? By mentioning them in His written word. He has done more. If we look closely we will see that these men and women can be arranged in roles which give us a concise picture of the events from Christ's first coming into the world to His second coming. This is worthy of God, for the cross is both the execution of His counsels and the revelation of His heart.
.. Mary symbol of the beginning of the Lord's life: Her presence at the cross is a reminder of the beginning of the Lord's life, for she was the vessel of the incarnation. The burnt offering must be without spot or blemish. So He was sinless from the beginning "That Holy thing also which shall be born shall be called Son of God" Luke 1:3535And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. (Luke 1:35). But He was also a man. This beautiful union of God and man can be seen in the Lord's words to Mary "Woman behold your son."(4) In addressing His earthly mother as "woman" He made it clear that she was a creature He the Son of God her Creator. But He made it equally clear that He was a man, with all the tender sympathies a man should display to his mother. John would now replace Jesus as her son to comfort her and care for her in her old age.
Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathaea symbols of the end of the Lord's life and work: As symbols, these two men speak of sin and death. The Lord told Nicodemus that "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness even so must the Son of Man be lifted up." The wages of sin (5) the serpent's sting is death. Since Christ assumed those wages when He was lifted up, He was taken down and buried in Joseph's tomb.
.. Mary Magdalene and Mary the wife of Cleophas the Lord's resurrection and the first day of the week: The new creation is the reverse of the old creation. God began the old creation with light "And the evening and the morning were the first day." But now Christ is risen, the first or new creation day begins with the morning and ends with the evening. In other words the Lord appeared to Mary Magdalene in the first day of the week and to the wife of Cleophas at Emmaus on the evening of the first day Luke 24.
.. John the harbinger of Christ's second coming: John and Mary are linked together, for the Lord spoke to both of them at the cross. Mary is the symbol of Christ's first coming John of His second coming. Together they give us the whole range of Christianity from Christ's first coming to His second coming. This includes such great events as the Lord's life, death, resurrection and ascension, followed by the descent of the Holy Spirit to form the Church at Pentecost. John's revelation closes with the longing of Spirit and bride for the Lord's coming. Fittingly so, for Jesus said to Peter "If I will that he" i.e. John "tarry till I come, what is that to you?" John 21:2222Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me. (John 21:22). The meaning of the Lord's words was that John would linger on, in his written ministry, until Christ returned. In Rev. 41 John "Looked and behold a door was opened in heaven." Then he heard a voice saying "Come up here.”
That is why the Lord told John at the cross to behold his mother, and Mary to behold her son, and why John receives Mary into his house. Mary and John the beginning and the end in John's house, the man who tells us God is love.
Observations on the Houses of John and Paul
Our first observation is that John owns a house in Israel Paul rents a house in Rome. We learn about John's house at the cross. Following the Lord's command he admits Mary, now an old woman by the standards of the ancient world, into his house. We first learn of Paul's house when he is an old man and a prisoner. John has Mary's company in his house Paul has none and is guarded by soldiers. The meaning of these distinctions becomes clear when we consider the respective character of the two Apostles' ministries.
a. Paul's house and ministry: Paul's dwelling place reflects the character of his ministry. He rented a house a mark that he owned nothing here. That is because his riches were heavenly. His ministry is about the Church of God, which is heavenly but still on earth, rejected like its Head. So Paul "dwelt two whole years" an allusion, no doubt, to the stay of the Church on earth "in his own rented house.”
Paul received all who came in to him. We enter Paul's house to enjoy his company and be assured his conversation will be about the Assembly, and the heavenly side of things. We are told that he preached the kingdom of God, which had not yet come in power, for he was in chains. He rose above his captivity, for he taught "those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no man forbidding him.”
b. John's house and ministry: Like Paul, John's house reflects the character of his ministry. John owned his house a mark of tenure on the earth. The long ranging character of John's ministry on the earth was established by the Lord Himself in John 21:2222Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me. (John 21:22) "if I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to you?" So John's gospel, epistles, and Revelation feed the family of God on earth. How touching are some of his expressions such as "I write to you fathers" "I write to you little children.”
This long ranging character of John's ministry is additionally confirmed in Mary's presence in John's house as appointed by the Lord at the cross. Mary and John speak of the span of time between Christ's first coming for she was the vessel of the incarnation and His second coming c.f. the opening of Rev. 4.
In the end John shared Paul's fate. He had to leave his house, being banished to the isle of Patmos. Paul was led captive from the island of Malta to Rome and his rented house John was removed from his house and led captive to the isle of Patmos. The island position of the believer is assuring cut off from the world the seas as an island is, yet we are on redemption ground, waiting for the call John hears on his island "come up here.”