EV 5-8{S. Were the children of Israel to bring a sin-offering whenever they did anything wrong?
M. Yes. Sometimes it was called a trespass-offering. If a man touched any unclean thing, such as the dead body of an animal, he was to bring a trespass-offering to the Lord, and to confess that he had sinned, and the priest should make atonement for him.
S. I do not quite know what you mean by atonement.
M. The meaning of the word is to cover, or to hide. The sinner is covered over by the work of another. Jesus made atonement for my sins by shedding His blood on the cross. He was the just One who suffered for the unjust.
S. What was the difference between a sin-offering and a trespass-offering?
M. The sin-offering was for the sin that is in us as children of Adam, every thought of our natural hearts is sin; but, besides this, we do naughty things, we sin with our hands and with our lips, very, very often. For a sin against any of the commandments of the Lord, the children of Israel were to offer a sin-offering; but if one said a wicked thing, or any one touched an unclean thing, then he was to offer a trespass-offering. And if any one trespassed against the Lord in any of the Lord's holy things, he was to bring a trespass-offering, and he was also to give something to the priest, to make amends for what he had done. If any one did anything wrong to his neighbor, he was to give him something to make amends for it, and he was also to offer a trespass-offering to the Lord, and he should be forgiven his trespass.
S. What a great many offerings they must have brought to God every day.
M. Yes; but it is very happy to think how much dearer to God was the one offering of Jesus than all the hundreds and hundreds of bullocks, and sheep, and goats, that could not put away sin. But Jesus, when He had offered one sacrifice for sins, sat down forever on the right hand of God. And He Will sit there, until He comes to take His own people, who are saved by that one sacrifice, home to be with Himself, in the place that He has prepared for them.
S. Were they always offering something to God?
M. Yes, The Lord said: The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar, it shall never go out. Every morning there was a burnt offering and every evening a burnt-offering, besides all the offerings that the children of Israel brought, whenever they wished to worship the Lord, so that it was always burning; all day and all night long the sweet savor of the offerings was going up to God, and thus His people were kept in the assurance of His favor.
After Moses was told all about the offerings of the Lord, we get the description of the consecration of Aaron and his sons.
S. You told me something about that before. God said they were to have a basket with unleavened bread, and cakes and oil in it, and a bullock and two rams.
M. You are quite right, and in this eighth chapter of Leviticus we read that Moses took Aaron and his sons, and their garments and the, anointing oil, and the bullock for the sin-offering, and the two rams, and a basket of unleavened bread. And Moses gathered all the people together to the door of the tabernacle, that they might see what the Lord had commanded to be done.
Then Moses washed Aaron and his sons with water, and put on Aaron's coat and girdle, and clothed him with the beautiful blue robe, and put the ephod upon him, and fastened it on him by the curious girdle of the ephod, and he put the breastplate on him, and in the breastplate he put the Urim and the Thummim, and Moses put the miter upon Aaron's head, and the holy crown above his forehead. Then Moses took the anointing oil and anointed the Tabernacle and everything that was in it, and sanctified it and he sprinkled it upon the altar seven times, and also anointed all the vessels of the altar and the laver. Then Moses poured the anointing oil on Aaron's head to anoint him.
S. Why did Moses dress Aaron first, and anoint him by himself?
M. Because Aaron was a type of Christ, who was alone and separate from all others as God's anointed Man. We read in the New Testament that John saw the Spirit of God coming clown and remaining on Jesus. And Jesus was the One to give the Holy Spirit to other men. The oil that Moses poured upon Aaron's head was a figure of God's Holy Spirit.
Afterward, Moses dressed the sons of Aaron, and brought the bullock for the sin offering, Aaron and his sons put their hands on the head of the bullock, to show that it was going to be offered for their sin, and it was burnt outside the camp, cause it was a sin-offering, and Moses sprinkled the blood upon the altar; then the ram for a burnt-offering was offered for a sweet savor to the Lord, and the ram of consecration and part of what was in the basket, Moses put into the hands of Aaron and his sons, and they waved it for a wave-offering before the Lord. And Moses took it out of their hands, and burnt it on the altar, And Moses took the anointing oil, and the blood that was on the altar and sprinkled it upon Aaron and upon his garments, and upon his sons and upon their garments, so that he sanctified Aaron, and his sons with him. This was a figure of the way Christians are anointed along with Christ; because we are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, saying, Abba, Father. We can call God Father when we have got the Spirit of His Son.
S. Why did they not offer the burnt-offering first, when God told Moses about it before the sin-offering?
M. Because no one can draw near to God until his sin is put away-so that man has always to learn about the sin-offering first of all. But do you remember when we were talking about the tabernacle, how we found that God spoke first about whatever was most pleasing to Himself.
S. Oh, yes; God spoke about the ark and the most holy place before anything else. Was the burnt-offering the best of the offerings?
M. Yes; the whole burnt-offering typified, more than any other, God's entire satisfaction in the person and work of Jesus, God always told out what was in His own heart first, and then He spoke of what suited the sinner's need. What He delighted in were the offerings of sweet savor; but what met the sinner's need was the sin offering outside the camp. God, in His grace, has given us both in Jesus —He has made Him the one to put away sin—and He has made Him our righteousness, and our joy and delight in His own presence, high up above all the sin.
S. Oh I think I understand it all now. I will tell you what I think it is like-a long chart, and God writes His own thoughts on. it—and He begins at the top, and then rolls it up and lets poor sinners read it;—it is all about Jesus; but they unroll one little bit and begin to read at the bottom; but if they were to read on to the top, could they read down the right way do you think?
M. You mean, that when we, know the sin-offering, and what Jesus did for us on the cross, we ought to read on until we get up to God's delight in Himself, that is the top of your chart—the burnt offering—and then we see, that it was what Jesus was in Himself, that made what He did for us on the cross so perfect and so wonderful—yes; I do not think we shall ever know God's great salvation until we read quite up to the top, and see how He presents first, what suits Himself, and then He tells the sinner what he needs.
When Aaron and his sons waved the wave-offering before God, they were satisfied in what in figure satisfied God; and they ate the food of the offerings at the door of the Tabernacle; and remained in the tabernacle for seven days; those were the day of their consecration,