the loveliness of Christ ******* 2:1 – 16 Leviticus ~ Mankind is the most colossal failure in God’s universe, without question. Have you ever really thought that through? The Scriptures are becoming very outspoken and specific at this point in our Spiritual Safari. God says, ‘’they are all gone out of the way.’’ The original language suggests a wreck whereby the vessel you are traveling in has crashed; mankind certainly is a wretched wreck today! All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. God can’t save us by perfection because we’re not perfect. We cannot keep the law perfectly. God does not save by IM-perfection, either; because God demands perfection! God said, ‘’the way of peace they have not known.’’ Our peaceful demonstrations are culminating into outright terrorism in the streets by the opposing and oppressed sides. A billionaire once spent a whole bunch of money for a report that concluded that mankind is naturally a war-like creature! I don’t think anyone will argue that? War is in the human hearts. Mankind is trying to perfect and control some very fiendish instruments that could well lead to a frightful end of man. This is not the intended purpose of man and this life, friends; if it is we should all just go jump off a bridge. No, God has other views for mankind and the Lord Jesus Christ is exactly what God has in mind for us! The Lord Jesus Christ is the man that was in total obedience to and well pleasing to God Himself. There was glory in His manhood and His loveliness was, truly, as sweet perfume. The coming to the earth of the Lord Jesus was His doxology and His life was a blessing and message and His departure was the benediction. The winsomeness of Christ Jesus has filled this world and man that will believe with a new hope and ideal concerning his life. We have already learned in our Spiritual Safari that we cannot meet the standards of God by keeping His law and we have also learned that His life and teachings do not save us. That all leaves us in an intellectual debacle that we will only resolve by crying out to God for wisdom, judgment and understanding. Salvation is offered to all – but only those - who believe in His death, burial and resurrection. We are still looking at the offerings in Leviticus and we saw the burnt offering in complete detail last time. We examined in reasonable completion how that burnt offering speaks of the Person of Christ. Today we come to the meal offering which also speaks of Christ; but the burnt offering spoke of Christ in depth as well death –here the humanity of Jesus is revealed in all of its perfection and loveliness! This chapter looks like a simple recipe for bread and that’s exactly what it is! It is called the meat offering and the meal offering or the food offering; but meat, per se, was not in this offering. This offering probably was offered with another offering that involved the shedding of blood but this one, specifically, did not have fleshy meat attached to it. The deity of Christ is NOT in view here at all. Christ Jesus was perfectly human and He was humanly perfect, too. The goal of God for man is all wrapped up in and fulfilled in His Son. Christ is the second man but He is the last Adam. There aren’t going to be any more Adam’s but there are going to be a whole bunch more people made just like Jesus. It doth not yet appear what we shall be but we know that when He shall appear we shall be made like Him! ~ 1 And when any will offer a meat offering unto the LORD, his offering shall be of fine flour; and he shall pour oil upon it, and put frankincense thereon: ~ There are two very distinct and important aspects of this offering to consider. The first aspect is the ingredients that were included. The second aspect is the specifically excluded ingredients. You will want to make a note of that. The first inclusive ingredient is fine flour. Well, fine flour in the wilderness comes by beating it out by hand. Give it try sometime and see exactly what’s involved; it’s not easy. Put it in a mortar and use a pestle and let me know how long it takes you to make enough for an offering! If it’s not extremely fine then the meal will be coarse and uneven. Well, this recipe requires fine flour. This all speaks of the personality of Christ and today we could call Jesus a well-integrated individual and a well balanced personality. Jesus was very normal and may have been the only man that ever truly was normal down here. Sin has made the human race uneven and ‘’lumpy’’ from a lack of spiritual refinement. One part of our personality is overdeveloped while another area suffers as a result. A study in abnormal psychology will ultimately reveal you have every single character trait in the ‘abnormal’ spectrum! The definition of ‘normal’ is ‘what most people do’ and sometimes normal is far out! What’s normal today may not be so normal tomorrow. Jesus was the even flour. Samson, in the Book of Judges, is a very uneven individual. Although he was able to perform superb feats of physical strength Samson was weak of both will and mind. Paul was a mental giant but we’re pretty sure he was very weak in the body! Simon Peter was moved by emotion declaring he would die for Jesus and then denying Him that same night revealing a definite weakness in the area of the volitional and of willpower. King Saul was self willed and stubborn and totally unable to bow the knee in obedience to God and that is what led to the kingdom being taken from his hands and to his death. Every single one of these men was lumpy with over and under developed personalities. The only contrast of balance we can find is the Lord Jesus Christ. We find equipoise in all areas of the personality of Christ Jesus. Jesus drove the money changers out from the temple but He took little children in His arms. At age twelve the people marvelled at His wisdom. When He began to teach the people were amazed and they said, ‘’How knoweth this man having never learned?’’ Nevertheless, the Lord Jesus Christ never appealed to His intellect as the basis for any judgment. The ONLY motive for His conduct and action was that He came to do His Fathers will – that’s it! Jesus wept at the tomb of Lazarus and over the indifferent city of Jerusalem. Well, Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead and pronounced severe judgment over Jerusalem! That judgment was literally fulfilled, by the way in 70 AD. Jesus was not guided or governed by His emotions. There is nothing self-willed that we can find about Jesus but nothing could have stopped Him from going to Jerusalem to die! Jesus says repeatedly, ‘’not MY will but Thy will be done.’’ Pouring on the olive oil speaks of the Holy Spirit. Let’s make careful note this is oil UPON the offerings in verse one. Drop down to verses four and five and the flour is mingled WITH oil. Then, in verse seven the oil goes WITH oil. So, the oil is on the sacrifice, mingled with the sacrifice and with the sacrifice; the sacrifice was drenched in oil, as you can see. Oil is a very important part of the offering and it was applied in many different ways. The prominence of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ is very noticeable. Christ was born of the Spirit = mingled with oil. Jesus was baptized of the Spirit = oil upon. Jesus was led of the Spirit = oil poured upon. Jesus taught, performed miracles and offered Himself in the power of the Holy Spirit = with oil. If Jesus needed the power of the Holy Spirit then what about you? I know I need the power of the Spirit of God. We need Him today because we can do nothing of ourselves. We also have frankincense as we unpack this very first verse! This is some undisclosed and secret formulation of something we don’t know anything about today. It was mixed to make incense – we know that – but it was a separate part of the incense. It came from a plant or tree and it exuded a potent fragrance when handled, crushed or beaten; and that definitely speaks of the fragrance of the life of the Lord Jesus Christ under the fires of tension, pressure and persecution and even death! Most of us saints don’t smell so good when we’re pressed too hard! Some of us get down right unpleasant. This is what the Father saw in Him in Whom He delighteth! Believers have the privilege of sharing Christ with the Father today – and friends, THAT is extraordinary! If you want ANY sweetness in your life today you’ll have to partake of Christ; just as we’re doing right now! We talk about Him and we look at Him and think about Him in our life so that perhaps some of His sweetness will come into our life! There is a fragrance about the life of Christ that is very nice. What kind of spiritual smell does your life emit? Does Christ smell sweet to you? ~ 2 And he shall bring it to Aarons sons the priests: and he shall take there out his handful of the flour thereof, and of the oil thereof, with all the frankincense thereof; and the priest shall burn the memorial of it upon the altar, to be an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD: 3 And the remnant of the meat offering shall be Aarons and his sons: it is a thing most holy of the offerings of the LORD made by fire. 4 And if thou bring an oblation of a meat offering baken in the oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil. 5 And if thy oblation be a meat offering baken in a pan, it shall be of fine flour unleavened, mingled with oil. 6 Thou shalt part it in pieces, and pour oil thereon: it is a meat offering. 7 And if thy oblation be a meat offering baken in the frying pan, it shall be made of fine flour with oil. 8 And thou shalt bring the meat offering that is made of these things unto the LORD: and when it is presented unto the priest, he shall bring it unto the altar. 9 And the priest shall take from the meat offering a memorial thereof, and shall burn it upon the altar: it is an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD. 10 And that which is left of the meat offering shall be Aarons and his sons: it is a thing most holy of the offerings of the LORD made by fire. 11 No meat offering, which ye shall bring unto the LORD, shall be made with leaven: for ye shall burn no leaven, nor any honey, in any offering of the LORD made by fire. ~ Here are the specifically excluded items we talked about. God mentions them just in case there’s any question in your mind about whether or not these were to go on the alter. This makes it all real simple, see? All Scriptural reference to leaven is always as a principle of evil. Jesus warned His apostles about the leaven of the Pharisees. Jesus explained He was talking about the doctrinal teaching of the Pharisees. Leaven will come up again and again in our expedition and we’ll deal with it each time it does. Leaven is to be kept out of the Gospel because there is no evil in Christ. Jesus Himself asks, ‘’which of you convinces Me to sin?’’ Honey is also specifically excluded and it represents natural sweetness. Honey will go sour, too. So many so called Christians have a whole lot of honey on their life and they assume a pious pose in public where they’re as sweet as can be. They wear a super Sunday smile and a five thousand dollar suit to match it. They call everyone brother and they have a miracle halo cleaning polish because it shines for miles away. The reality is these people can and do engage in vicious slander and malicious gossip. They are honestly more dangerous than a killer with a gun on the loose. They don’t sport a halo like they think because they have been deceived and those are really the horns of Satan. I can name half a dozen people that have tried to end this ministry. They have criticized it, insulted it and physically impeded it’s progress and they say to my face, ‘’we love you, brother!’’ You know the old saying – who needs enemies with these fine saints? Actually, I don’t think that’s how the saying goes, but I digress. Is your life all honey and buttering people up? If it is, I doubt you are reading any of this. The Lord Jesus tells it like it is, friends; and what more could we want because it’s what we need today? ~ 12 As for the oblation of the firstfruits, ye shall offer them unto the LORD: but they shall not be burnt on the altar for a sweet savour. 13 And every oblation of thy meat offering shalt thou season with salt; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat offering: with all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt. 14 And if thou offer a meat offering of thy firstfruits unto the LORD, thou shalt offer for the meat offering of thy firstfruits green ears of corn dried by the fire, even corn beaten out of full ears. 15 And thou shalt put oil upon it, and lay frankincense thereon: it is a meat offering. 16 And the priest shall burn the memorial of it, part of the beaten corn thereof, and part of the oil thereof, with all the frankincense thereof: it is an offering made by fire unto the LORD. ~ The ‘’salt’’ in verse thirteen is the salt of the covenant and they still do things that way to this day. That salt speaks of faithfulness! The Lord Jesus Christ is faithful! His Name even becomes Faithful and True in Revelation after His earthly life is finished and He moves back into Heaven. How faithful to Him are you? Have you been found faithful in the law? Do you bring your firstfruits to God every morning? Well, I hope you can travel along our Spiritual Safari tomorrow as we gather several more pointed and convicting questions ~
Posted on: Mon, 27 Jan 2014 02:58:15 +0000
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