The Law Of The Tresspass Offering - Part II
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““But if the sacrifice of his offering be a vow, or a voluntary offering, it shall be eaten the same day that he offers his sacrifice: and on the morrow also the remainder of it shall be eaten: But the remainder of the flesh of the sacrifice on the third day shall be burnt with fire. And if any of the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings be eaten at all on the third day, it shall not be accepted, neither shall it be imputed unto him who offers it: it shall be an abomination, and the soul that eats of it shall bear his iniquity” —Leviticus 7:16-18
The peace offering for thanksgiving was eaten the same day that it was offered. The peace offering for a vow was eaten the same day or the next day because a vow, or a voluntary offering, necessarily affected the heart more than an ordinary thanksgiving.
Concerning this, Williams said: “This law taught the offerer to closely associate the death and sufferings of the slain lamb with the blessings for which he gave thanks. It teaches men today the same lesson. To disassociate worship and thanksgiving from the anguish and blood-shedding of the Lord Jesus, in other words, to separate all of this from the Cross, is to offer to God an abomination, and to bring death into the soul and into the church.”
Uncleanness
“And the flesh that touches any unclean thing shall not be eaten; it shall be burnt with fire: and as for the flesh, all that be clean shall eat thereof. But the soul that eats of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace offerings, that pertain unto the LORD, having his uncleanness upon him, even that soul shall be cut off from his people. Moreover the soul that shall touch any unclean thing, as the uncleanness of man, or any unclean beast, or any abominable unclean thing, and eat of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace offerings, which pertain unto the LORD, even that soul shall be cut off from his people” (Lev. 7:19-21).
Ceremonial cleanliness was obligatory before eating the peace offering. Disobedience in this matter entailed death. To profess faith in the person and atonement of Christ and claim fellowship with Him but be secretly unclean ensures the wrath of God. This vividly proclaims the following truth: Jesus Christ saves us from sin, not in sin. The idea that the believer is no different from the unbeliever, with the exception of faith in Christ, could not be more wrong. The idea that we can claim faith in Christ, while at the same time continuing in the sin business, as well, could not be more wrong. These Old Testament types completely repudiate such erroneous thinking.
The Way Out Of Sin
The Lord has a way that the believer can overcome the law of sin and death. It is by the “law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:2). By the word law being used, this means that the Holy Spirit works within the confines of that formulated by the Godhead. What are those confines?
The phrase, “In Christ Jesus,” explains what it is, which refers to what Christ did at the Cross, and exclusively as to what Christ did at the Cross.
The believer is to express faith in Christ and His finished work and is to do so at all times. The Holy Spirit, who works within the boundaries of the finished work of Christ, will then work mightily on behalf of the child of God who expresses such faith, giving such a believer total and complete victory over the law of sin and death. However, let it be understood that the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus is the only law in the world that is more powerful than the law of sin and death. If the law of sin and death is approached in any other manner, there will be nothing but failure and wreckage. The Cross is the answer for sin, and the Cross alone is the answer for sin!
The Fat
“And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, You shall eat no manner of fat, of ox, or of sheep, or of goat. And the fat of the beast that dies of itself, and the fat of that which is torn with beasts, may be used in any other use: but you shall in no wise eat of it. For whosoever eats the fat of the beast, of which men offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD, even the soul that eats it shall be cut off from his people” (Lev. 7:22-25).
Fat is first mentioned in the Bible in Genesis 4:4, where it is said that Abel offered the fat of the firstlings of his flock to the Lord. Evidently, in giving instructions to the first family, the Lord had instructed them that the fat of sacrificed animals belonged exclusively to Him.
The fat of sacrificial animals, such as heifers, sheep, or goats, could not be eaten, irrespective of whether the animal was to be offered in sacrifice or not. However, the fat of other tame or wild animals that are clean, such as deer, etc., was lawful to be eaten.
Why this prohibition of fat and, as well, that it had to be burned on the altar as belonging to Jehovah, and must be burned the same day the sacrificial animal was slain?
The best animals were to be offered in sacrifice, as would be obvious, and the fat of the animal signified its health and prosperity. Consequently, it served as a type of God giving His very best as it regards the Lord Jesus Christ, from whom we receive all things from the Lord.
As well, the fat being burned on the altar symbolized the means by which all of these good things come to us, and that is through the Cross.
The Blood
“Moreover you shall eat no manner of blood, whether it be of fowl or of beast, in any of your dwellings. Whatsoever soul it be that eats any manner of blood, even that soul shall be cut off from his people” (Lev. 7:26-27).
The prohibition against the eating of blood was brought over into the new covenant (Acts 15:19–20).
Concerning this, Williams said: “The reverence due to the person and to the work of the Messiah was enjoined by the two laws respecting the ‘fat’ and the ‘blood.’ They express excellency and efficiency. ‘This is My Beloved Son’ declared the one; and ‘peace through the blood of His Cross,’ proclaimed the other” (Col. 1:20).
The Law Of The Sacrifice Of The Peace Offerings
“And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, He who offers the sacrifice of his peace offerings unto the LORD shall bring his oblation unto the LORD of the sacrifice of his peace offerings” (Lev. 7:28-29).
The following is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings:
The wave breast and the heave shoulder were to be eaten by the priests.
Before it was eaten, the breast was to be lifted up on high by the priest and then waved before the Lord. Before it was eaten, the shoulder was to be heaved, which means to be lifted up before God as expressive of its preciousness and acceptability to Him.
The breast that was waved was to be waved to the four corners of the earth as setting forth the sufficiency of this offering to give life to the world, namely Christ.
Further, Christ’s shoulder upholds, and His breast consoles all those who trust in Him.
The peace offerings, as stated, were actually what their name specified. The peace offering being offered to God signified that peace had been interrupted by sin and now had been restored. The offering of their sacrifice generally followed the sacrifices of the burnt offering, and even the sin offering and trespass offering.
Whole Burnt Offerings
In the burnt offering, sin was not directly involved. This sacrifice represented Christ giving His life and satisfying the demands of a thrice-holy God. Only a perfect sacrifice could serve, and only Christ, God’s only Son, could fit that particular bill. Of course, irrespective as to the reason Christ was on the Cross, the necessity of such was all because of sin. Until the law of Moses was given, all the offerings from the time of Abel were, in fact, whole burnt offerings.
In that peace was restored, the one who offered the sacrifice would be given a portion that he might have a feast with his family and friends, signifying the restoration. It was to be a festive occasion of joy! The priests were to receive a portion, as well, which we will address momentarily. In the realm of the fat, which was to be burned on the altar, as it always was to be burned, God, as well, would receive His portion. This signified that He had accepted the sacrifice.
In a sense, He always accepted the sacrifices, irrespective as to the condition of the offerer. In fact, it was the sacrifice that was minutely inspected and never the offerer of the sacrifice. If the sacrifice was accepted, the offerer was accepted as well. It is the same presently!
We are accepted by God not at all because of who we are, but rather because of who and what Christ is. He has been inspected minutely by God the Father and accepted on all points, thereby, faith in Him guarantees our acceptance (Jn. 3:16; Eph. 2:8–9, 13–18; Col. 2:14–15).
The Wave Offering And The Heave Offering
“His own hands shall bring the offerings of the LORD made by fire, the fat with the breast, it shall he bring, that the breast may be waved for a wave offering before the LORD. And the priest shall burn the fat upon the altar: but the breast shall be Aaron’s and his sons’. And the right shoulder shall you give unto the priest for an heave offering of the sacrifices of your peace offerings. He among the sons of Aaron, who offers the blood of the peace offerings, and the fat, shall have the right shoulder for his part. For the wave breast and the heave shoulder have I taken of the children of Israel from off the sacrifices of their peace offerings, and have given them unto Aaron the priest and unto his sons by a statute forever from among the children of Israel” (Lev. 7:30-34).
The Four Regulations
The one who offered a peace offering was to give a portion of it to the priest. The priest was a type of Christ, and, as such, the part being given to Him showed that He alone could effect peace. As stated, the fat burned on the altar from the sacrifice signified the manner in which Christ has made it possible for believers to have peace. It is by faith and trust solely in the Cross of Christ.
The right shoulder was to be given to the priest offering the blood of atonement and who burned the fat. The shoulder and the breast signified the strength and the love of the Lord Jesus Christ given unto His people.
The wave offering derived its name from the fact that whatever was offered was waved first of all toward the brazen altar, symbolizing the price that Christ would pay, and thanking Him for paying it. Then the priest would turn, continuing to lift the offering high, and wave the breast toward the four corners of the universe, in effect, saying that what Christ would do at the Cross would suffice for all.
The heave offering was a little bit different than the wave offering in that the heave offering was lifted up and down several times - up as a symbol of offering it to God who is above, and down again as a symbol of God coming to this earth and becoming man in the form of the Lord Jesus Christ.
A Statute Forever
“This is the portion of the anointing of Aaron, and of the anointing of his sons, out of the offerings of the LORD made by fire, in the day when he presented them to minister unto the LORD in the priest’s office; Which the LORD commanded to be given them of the children of Israel, in the day that He anointed them, by a statute forever throughout their generations. This is the law of the burnt offering, of the meat offering, and of the sin offering, and of the trespass offering, and of the consecrations, and of the sacrifice of the peace offerings; Which the LORD commanded Moses in Mount Sinai, in the day that He commanded the children of Israel to offer their oblations unto the LORD, in the wilderness of Sinai” (Lev. 7:35-38).
The portion mentioned here speaks of the wave offering and the heave offering, which belonged to the priests, which they could eat on the day of the offering of the sacrifice.
The statute that these two parts of the peace offering were to be given to Aaron and his descendants who may officiate at the sacrifice was binding upon the Israelites as long as the priesthood lasted.
The Greatest Legislation The World Had Ever Known
All of this was given to Moses on Mount Sinai. It was the greatest legislation by far that the world had ever known. It was in totality instituted by God. Man had no part whatsoever in this which was given, all originating with the Lord.
However, all of this given was totally and completely formulated for man. The Lord, as should be obvious, didn’t need such.
This tells us several things: It tells us of the awfulness of sin. I’m afraid that we do not quite realize the deadliness of this horror. We may chafe at the minute instructions given, meaning little to us presently; however, if we understand all of these laws and statutes as referring to the Lord Jesus Christ and what He would do at the Cross, then they take on a brand-new meaning.
In fact, it is impossible for one to properly understand the New Testament unless one properly understands the Old Testament. When we are made to realize that Jesus has paid it all, in other words, satisfied every single rule and regulation, and did so by the sacrificial offering of Himself on the Cross, then we are made to realize the greatness of Christ, at least as much as a poor human being can know.
This article is an excerpt for the book 'The Sacrificial System' by Jimmy Swaggart.
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