EV 1-2{ Mamma. Well Sophy, shall we go on with our talks about the Bible?
Sophy. Oh, please Mamma, I am longing to hear about the children of Israel getting into the beautiful land, and I am sure God was glad when His people were there, because He loved them so much, M. True, Sophy, it is God's delight to see His people rejoicing in the place where His love puts them. But we shall find that the history of His people was always a sorrowful story— though the story of God's love to them was always bright and wonderful.
We have seen how God created man in His own likeness; and. how man disobeyed God, and was driven out from His presence, and from the tree of life; and that man had this awful judgment written upon himself, and upon his children "Thou shalt surely die." Then we saw how God’s grace came in, and gave a promise to the child of the woman, and God kept that promise always before Him, for He had planned long before He made the world, and long before Adam had sinned, that He would bring in eternal life, instead of the life that Adam lost by sin. And you remember how God taught Abel that another who had done no sin must die instead of him; and Abel offered up a lamb to God. But all men had not faith like Abel, and they followed the advice of Satan, and kept far away from God.
Then God close out one man; who was he?
S. Abram—who left all his own people, and his own country, to go to the land that God told him of.
M. Yes. And you have heard all the wonderful works the Lord did to Abraham and to his children. How He kept them separate from all the nations of the earth, as He says; He led them about, He instructed them, and He kept them as the apple of His eye! Then He taught them, from the glory where He dwelt, the pattern of the tabernacle they were to set up for Him on earth; and when it was finished He carne down to sanctify it by His glory, and to dwell among His people in holiness. But SIN was not put away, so there was a vail to hide God's throne; and the priests, and mediator, and brazen altar, told the sinner that God was a holy God. Yet God chose His people to know Him, and therefore He made a way for them to come to Him, by sacrifices and offerings; and it is about these that I shall have to tell you next; for when the Lord laid come clown to the tabernacle, and filled it with His glory, He called to Moses, and spoke to him about the way the people might approach Him.
S. Were they going on to on to Canaan all the time?
M. Yes; but they were learning God by the way, and learning their own foolish hearts too—poor people! But God knew What was in their hearts already, and What He was doing with them was to prove them, to see if there was any good in them or not. And now, God told Moses to tell the children of Israel that, if any one wished to bring an offering to the Lord, he might bring one of his cattle, of his herd, or of his flock. If it was for a burnt-offering, it was to be a male without blemish, and he was to bring it to the door of the tabernacle, and to offer it to the Lord; then he was to put his hand upon its head, that it might be accepted for him, to make atonement for him. We may suppose a man wishing to bring an offering to the Lord; he goes out to his field and chooses a nice young bullock; he will not take one that has the least mark on it, or that has had any hurt, it must be a perfect animal; and he brings it in through the court-gate, and up to the door of the tabernacle, then he puts his hands on its head, to show that it is put in his place before God, that God might accept him according to His pleasure in the offering—then he kills it before the Lord, and Aaron's sons come and take its blood, and sprinkle it upon the brazen altar—then the worshipper cuts it in pieces, and washes the inside parts and the legs in water, while the priests put fire upon the altar and wood upon the fire, and then they lay the parts of the bullock, its head and its fat, upon the fire, and it is all burnt, while a sweet savor goes up from it to God.
S. Why was it a sweet savor to God?
M. Because the fire, which is a figure of God's judgment, had burnt up the offering, and God's holiness was satisfied. Do you remember that God smelled a sweet smell from Noah's offering?
S. Oh, yes; was that because God was satisfied But why did He like them to worship Him in that way?
M. Because these offerings ware meant to show what God required of man, if man was to come near God. And they explain to us what was fulfilled in the offering of the Lord Jesus Christ, when He offered Himself to God.
S. That is very wonderful! But what does the burnt-offering teach us about Jesus?
M. It teaches us that Jesus offered Himself entirely to God for a sweet savor; all His inward thoughts, His affections, His will, and, even His life—His whole Person He offered to God; and as the whole bullock was burnt, and its blood, its fat, its head, its inward parts, were all put upon the altar, so every part of the offering of the Lord Jesus went up as an offering of a sweet savor to God. He came to do God's will, and He was obedient, even to die, because it was God's will. He said, My Father loves me because I lay down my Life; and in these offerings God explains to us His own delight in the perfect offering and holy obedience of His well-beloved Son.
S. But did the children of Israel know that God was thinking about the offering of Jesus?
M. No. They only knew that a whole burnt-offering was well-pleasing to the Lord, and that He accepted the person who offered it according to His good pleasure in the offering.
If a man had not a bullock, he might bring a sheep, or a goat, for a burnt-offering; or if he were very poor, and had only fowls, he might bring two turtle doves, or two young pigeons. It was just what the Lord said to Cain: If you bring the right offering I will accept you.
S. But Cain would not offer the right offering, so he went away from God, and was very unhappy, and very wicked.
M. Yes. The next offering the Lord told Moses about was called the food or meat-offering. It was to be of fine flour, and oil, and sweet incense—things that were pleasing to God and man. He who wished to offer a meat-offering brought it to the priests, and he took his handful of the flour, and the oil, and all the incense, and the priest burnt it on the brazen altar for a sweet savor to the Lord, and the rest of the meat-offering they were to eat, S. Why did the priests eat part of the meat-offering?
M. Because they were to have part with God in His pleasure in the meat-offering. This offering teaches us about the life of Jesus. He was so lovely and perfect in all His ways down here as a man, that He grew up in favor with God and man; and when He was only twelve years old He could say: I must be about my Father's business; and yet, when His mother came to look for Him, He went home with her, and obeyed her, in the same perfect grace; and before He had done one of the wonderful works that God gave Him to do, Heaven opened upon Him, and a voice that He well knew, said for men to hear—This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.
S. Was God well pleased because Jesus was obedient?
M. Yes. The Son of God, the Creator of all things, who had right to command every creature, took the place of a man, and learned to be obedient as a little child, and God delighted in Him. There never had been a child or man in this world before, on whom God could look down and say, I am well pleased—not even Abraham, or Moses whom God loved so much. But Jesus was always like the precious meat-offering to God, from the time He was a little baby in the manger, until He went back to Heaven again, His whole life was like a sweet savor going up to God: and this is what the meat-offering was a figure of, and the priests were to enjoy it too, just as we, if we love Jesus, enjoy thinking of all his grace and perfectness.
S. I like to hear about Jesus when He was a little child.
M. It is wonderful to think of Him, who created everything, coming down so low to bring us to God.