Leviticus 7:8-38
The priest who offered the burnt offering for any man was to have the skin of the animal for himself. This is very interesting and instructive. As worshippers we do not come to get but to give, but God will never be any man’s debtor and He delights to give. If we are really worshipping in the Spirit, we will get a blessing for ourselves, and the result will be that Christ will be seen in us. The skin is that part of the animal which was seen by others. What a privilege it is to seek to walk as He walked and to “show forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9).
Fat and Blood
The law of the peace offering follows next in order, but we will not speak of it here, for we have already spoken of it when considering the peace offering in Leviticus 3. We notice once again, however, that the eating of fat and blood was forbidden of God. The fat brings before us, in type, the excellence of the animal, and so it would remind us of the fact that all glory belongs to God. God has declared “that no flesh should glory in His presence” (1 Corinthians 1:29), and we will always find that false doctrine seeks to rob God of His glory and to give some glory to man. This is like eating the fat which God forbids. Then, too, the eating of blood was forbidden, for “the life of the flesh is in the blood” (Leviticus 17:11), and the children of Israel were not to eat of it. This is repeated again in Christianity (Acts 15:28-29). We must ever remember that life belongs to God and that the cost of our redemption is nothing less than “the precious blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:19).
The Consecration of Aaron and His Sons
We now come to the consecration of Aaron and his sons as priests. It was such an important event that the whole congregation was called together to witness it. The offerings recorded in the previous chapters have brought before us the various aspects of the work of Christ and how fully He glorified God about the question of sin, as well as meeting the sinner’s need. This must be recorded first. The Lord Jesus, our Great High Priest, of whom Aaron was a type, must accomplish the work of redemption first before taking up His priestly work on high. We must first be “reconciled to God by the death of His Son” before we could be “saved by His life” (Romans 5:10). And so now, having accomplished redemption, He ever lives to make intercession for us — never wearying in His priestly service above in spite of all our infirmities and weakness. Aaron’s sons typify to us the position of believers as priests, and what could we know of our place as priests if we had not first learned the value of Christ’s sacrifice on Calvary? The unbeliever cannot worship God, for it is only through the work of Christ that we are fitted to draw near as worshippers. Now, as holy priests, we can offer up our “spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:5). All this is beautifully typified in our chapter as we shall see.
Some dear Christians are very happy in knowing that their sins are gone, but they never go any further in their soul’s experience. They rejoice in Christ’s finished work, but they know very little about worship. If there are any such who are reading these lines, may you hear the call, as did all the congregation of Israel, to come and learn more of these precious truths which are typically presented to us here.
For Further Meditation
1. Why couldn’t the blood be eaten?
2. What makes a believer a priest? Does it require a special education or training? What are a spiritual priest’s duties?
3. You might benefit by digging deeper into the subject of consecration. A great place to begin might be with the easy-to-read pamphlet Christian Consecration: From Appreciation to Consecration by B. Anstey.