"His own hands shall bring the offerings of Jehovah"

Leviticus 7:30.

It was no ordinary privilege to be an Israelite, to be numbered among the chosen people of God who had been separated from the nations of the earth to be a peculiar people for the pleasure of Jehovah. Delivered from the bondage of Egypt and from the hand of Pharaoh, the people had been brought to God, and at the foot of Sinai had received through Moses the ten commandments, and the ritual of the law. Although they broke the commandments before the tables of the covenant had reached them, God, through the intercession of Moses, forgave the people, though in government dealing with their sin, and bore them as on eagles' wings through the waste howling wilderness to the land He had promised them.

The sacrificial system, which pointed forward to the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, indicated the basis on which God could continue His relations with the guilty nation. Every year there was the great day of atonement, which assured Israel that the claims of God's throne were met by the blood of the sin offerings; and every morning and evening there were the lambs of the continual burnt offering that prefigured the offering and sacrifice of Christ as "a sweet-smelling savour" to God.

Among the many privileges that belonged to an Israelite was that of bringing offerings to Jehovah. There were offerings that were obligatory, such as the sin and trespass offerings, when there were sins of inadvertance. There were also freewill offerings, of which the burnt offering and the peace offering were prominent. Meat offerings and drink offerings were normally offered with burnt and peace offerings (Numbers 15:1-12).

The burnt offering was wholly for Jehovah; only the skin was retained by the offering priest (Lev. 7:8), whose shoes and clothing, and household effects would come from the beauty of the offering that was "a sweet savour" unto Jehovah. And are we not to be marked in all our steps, in all our habits, and in all pertaining to our homes with the features of Him whose sacrifice was so pleasing to God? It is both a privilege and an obligation that God's priests should bear, in all their ways, the character of Christ, the traits that marked Him even unto death.

The peace, or communion, offering foretold the communion that would be enjoyed by the people of God through the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. In this offering, God had His portion, "the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the flanks, and the caul above the liver." All the inward excellence of the victim, all that energised the feelings and movements, was God's portion from this offering.

For the offering priest there was the "right shoulder," and for Aaron and his sons the "wave breast." the strength and affections of Christ for those in God's priestly family, and engaged in this blessed priestly service for Him. The remainder of the offering was for the offerer and his friends. How wonderful indeed that we can have, in various ways, in communion with each other, our pleasures in Christ, while feeding upon Him who died for us; having our joy and strength in Him in whom God finds His full delight.

What a privilege it was for an Israelite to bring with his own hands that which was for God, that which was to be waved before Him and fed upon by the favoured priestly family. And this is the surpassing blessedness that is ours today! We can come directly before God with our offerings, with "the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His Name" (Hebrews 13:15).

Nor is it to the door of the tabernacle that we come, but into the immediate presence of God, for we have "boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus" (Hebrews 10:19). Our praise and worship is in the light of the full revelation of God in His own Son, and because of the work that has removed all guilt from our conscience, all defilement from our spirits, and all fear from our hearts. We draw near to God, presenting Christ to Him, and feeding upon Him who glorified God in the work of atonement.

Christ, by His death, has removed all the distance that had separated us from God, and in association with Him we are brought into the nearest possible place before the Father, even as the Apostle Paul wrote to the saints at Ephesus, "For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father" (Eph. 2:18). As the Mediator, Jesus has come out from God to show us what God is: as our Great High Priest He leads us into the very presence of God to know the deep joys of His love, and to offer our spiritual sacrifices to Him. There is no priestly caste between God and His people; all His people are priests, and all may bring themselves their tribute of praise and worship for His glory and pleasure.