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Source: https://www.sermonindex.net/speakers/tom-bentley/burnt-offering/
Now we consider it a real joy and privilege to renew fellowship with the Saints of God in Blue River another time. We thank you for all your fellowship and remembrance in prayer. Since last it was our privilege to be refreshed by your love in this way.
And we trust our coming together will prove to be of the utmost value to all as we turn again to the good word of God in these nights each evening from Monday to Friday in the will of God at 8 o 'clock.
Nice of you to remember the meetings in prayer throughout the day. Most of us sit at the table at least three times and it would be a good opportunity just to remember the meetings in prayer. Now it's my exercise to share with you the Lord helping us some ministry on the offerings.
Leviticus chapter 1 to 7 primarily before us in this week of ministry. So let us turn please to Leviticus chapter 1 and we will read concerning the burnt offering. Excuse me, I have a bit of a cold, but the Lord will help.
And the Lord called on to Moses and speak on to him out of the tabernacle of the congregation saying speak on to the children of Israel and say unto them if any man of you bring an offering on to the Lord you shall bring your offering of the cattle even of the herd and of the flock.
If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd let him offer it a meal without blemish. He shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord and he shall put or lay his hand upon the head of the burnt offering and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.
And he shall kill the bullock before the Lord and the priest's son shall bring the blood and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And he shall flay the burnt offering and cut it into his pieces.
And the sons of Aaron, the priests shall put fire upon the altar and lay the wood in order upon the fire. And the priests, Aaron's sons shall lay the parts, the head and the fat in order upon the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar.
But his inwards and his legs shall he wash in water and the priest shall burn all on the altar to be a burnt sacrifice. An offering made by fire of a sweet savour unto the Lord. And if his offering be of the flocks, namely of the sheep or of the goats for the burnt sacrifice, he shall bring it a meal without blemish.
And he shall kill it on the side of the altar northward before the Lord. And the priest Aaron's son shall sprinkle his blood round about upon the altar. And he shall cut it into his pieces with its head and his fat.
And the priest shall lay them in order on the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar, but he shall wash the inwards and the legs with water and the priest shall bring it all and burn it upon the altar.
It is a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire of a sweet savour unto the Lord. And the burnt sacrifice and if the burnt sacrifice for his offering to the Lord be of fowls, then he shall bring his offering of turtle doves or of young pigeons and the priest shall bring it onto the altar and bring off his head and burn it on the altar.
The blood thereof shall be wrung out at the side of the altar. And he shall take he shall pluck or take away its crop with his feathers and cast it beside the altar on the east part. By the place of the ashes, he shall cleave it with the wings thereof, but shall not divide it asunder.
And the priest shall burn it upon the altar, upon the wood that is upon the fire. It is a burnt offering, a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire of a sweet savour unto the Lord. I may trust the Lord will be pleased to add his rich blessing to this reading of his holy word.
Now, I'm coming to this great subject. We realize that time will be very much against us because I would like to deal with the details of each chapter in relation to each offering. And that is only really an introduction, isn't it?
Because out there in the full scope of the word of God, both prophetically and then actually and then doctrinally, the death of Christ is a very, very full and absorbing subject for heart and mind. And really, the most practical way to deal with this is to have one night on the chapter and then another night throughout the word of God.
But I'll have to leave you to do that. And we trust that will be of God for you. Now, as we come to this great subject, we are in chapter one of Leviticus with the burnt offering before us that has, of course, a twofold aspect.
Hebrews chapter nine and verse 14, who through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God, indicates very clearly the God word aspect of this tremendous view of Christ's death. But let us not forget the expression and the way the apostle puts it in chapter five of Ephesians, who had given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God of a sweet smelling savor.
So there is this aspect of the burnt offering for us who gave who have given himself for us. And that's very precious indeed. I think that's the manward side of the burnt offering aspect of the death of.
Now, we're going to have to get to work very readily because one would like to introduce the the book and that would take a lot of time. But you just let us concentrate on the chapter and I'm sure the Lord will give us sufficient material.
The first point I want to emphasize is the procedure, the procedure, that is, how the offerer proceeded to present this aspect of the subject to God. But I think that this procedure is clearly defined by seven simple actions.
And we want to pay attention to each of these because I feel they bring out very precious aspects. The first thing is that he presents it, presents it. I think that is very clear in the words that he shall bring it to the door of the tabernacle.
I think that's very important. Here it is very early in the in the passage, and it is something that will be reiterated very frequently in these chapters. The presenting is due to the fact that this man, this person has accepted God's arranged plan.
This is not something of his own conception when he comes to this point and when he brings his offering. It is indicative that he has accepted unreservedly God's arranged plan. Of course, by the fact that he brings it to where God directs him indicates, too, that he has accepted unreservedly God's appointed place at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
Now, you might feel that that is an unnecessary emphasis, but really it's not. If you, and I trust you will, read this book this week and when you come to chapter 17 of Leviticus, you will discover that God has to repeat it because there were tendencies that he recognized that men would choose other places, other places.
There would be options arise. There would be the very opposites appear. And so God makes it very clear that the point of acceptance of what this man is bringing to God is the place where God has appointed.
That's a very practical point for us all tonight. I would believe that in our coming together in our worship, we come to the place that is appointed of God. And here it is, of course, the most public place in Israel.
If you take time to examine the many, many things that were conducted at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, you would find yourself with a long list of interesting items. And so this man in his presenting is accepting God's arranged plan, God's appointed place, and above all, God's atoning provision.
God's atoning provision. I want you to notice that the next thing that he does, he shall lay his hand upon the head of the offering, presenting and then laying. Now, this is the thought of personal identification, isn't it?
And the strength of the word shows that he's resting. He's pressing upon the head dependence and that indicates total acceptance. And I do trust, beloved, that every soul in this meeting tonight has come to Calvary and there's no other personal identification with the son of God in his death.
That is necessary for your acceptance with God. But after all, that is just exactly what is here. The moment this man puts his hand upon the head of this offering, all of the acceptability of that offering in the sight of God is transmitted to him.
That's what's here. That is the most important issue, really, of the burnt offering in our direction, isn't it? The acceptance that God recognizes in that sacrifice. It's accredited to the person that puts his hand upon the head of this offering.
Now, that's wonderful. That's Ephesian ministry, isn't it? Accepted in the beloved. Accepted in the beloved. And then it says it shall make atonement for him. It shall be accepted for him. And it shall make atonement for him.
Why does the word atonement occur here? Well, you and I have committed sins. But that's not the point here. We'll get that later on in the ministry. It's not what I have committed is concerned here. But it's what I haven't done, and it's what I could never do.
That's the point. That's where the aspect of the burnt offering of the death of Christ atones. Not so much for what I did. That will be, as we will see later on. In the other chapters. But in this chapter, it's not sins of commission.
But my dear brethren, it's sins of omission. In this sense, we could never, we could never do. We could never give to God what his blessed son gave. And yet when we put our hand upon that dear head of thine, all the acceptability of that person is transmitted to us.
And he makes atonement for what we could never, never. And then the next is, and he shall kill the bullock. Presenting, laying and killing. Very simple, but very important. This man acknowledges that the claims of God can only be met by death.
That's important, isn't it? The claims of God can only be met by the death of the victim. This bullock must look real good. And I'm sure it was the prize choice of the herd. And I'm sure it looked every bit what it was intended to be.
But that's not what he is. It must conform. It must conform to the demands of God, beloved. There must be no flaw. There must be no blemish. There mustn't be anything that would bring divine displeasure.
But that's not enough. And when we think of our blessed Lord tonight. And we know that he stands before God in all his divine perfection. Not the spot, not even a strain of sin. But that's not enough.
We say it regularly. Oh, we thank God, won't we, the more we enter into the spotlessness of his son and the tremendous passion he proved and manifested himself to be. And we thank God for it every moment of every day.
But that's not enough, my blessed one. Enter into this feelingly enough. Way back there in Exodus 12. Shortly before they received this divine communication at the foot of the Mount of Sinai. They had known something of this when God told them to take the lamb and keep it for three days.
And the fourth day, kill it. You see, that lamb coming in from out there into the more circumscribed quarter of the home. I would feel that they would become more intimately associated with the lamb in those few days, wouldn't they?
After all, if you had a lamb near the house as compared to way out in the field, you would get to know something more about it than if it were way out there walking through the sticks. I often illustrate it like this.
I have three girls. And if I had brought a lamb into our house. And my girls had the opportunity of being intimately associated with that little animal. I know how they would have handled it. We had a little dog with a little cat way back yonder in Malacca in those days.
And I know how they treated them very well. If I had said, now listen, I'm going to kill this animal. We brethren, we're not intimate enough. We can speak about the death of the Lord without a tear. We can sing about it without even a frown.
I want to ask you, and you're going to look at me and I'm looking at you, not a one sleeping as yet. When did you last see a tear in this hall in remembrance of Christ? We can enter into his death without even a sympathetic feeling.
It doesn't move us anymore. We've become so accustomed to it. We've become so familiar with the tears. Look at Mary until that moment. Think of the odor of the ointment. Think of the Savior ending into her exorcism.
My dear brethren, if this ministry does anything, I trust it will bring us into a more personal, intimate feeling when we come to Calvary. There he died. That Holy One. All the life that he lived. All the glory he displayed.
All the pleasure he brought to his God. I say reverently, not enough. We've got a feeling left in our hearts, beloved. This man takes the knife. He likely saw the bullock born. I don't know. And we're going to enter into it in a moment when we come to it.
What he would think of what that bullock had done. Now he's going to kill it. Takes the knife. At a moment of time, his life is gone. And then, and he shall kill the bullock before the Lord and the priests, heir and sons shall bring, shall present the blood and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
Sprinkle blood. Bloodshed is one thing, but blood sprinkled is another, isn't it? Have you got a list, young Christian, of the blood of sprinkling? Have you got a list on the things and the occasions where there was the sprinkling of the blood?
I'm going to give you homework every night. I was in a meeting not so long ago and all the little ones were doing homework. More indeed. Brought it every night in a sheet of paper. I didn't come all this distance to just tickle you, you know.
You know what I mean by that. I want to do some work with our group. Only one way of dispensing mercy was that altar sprinkled with blood. Next point. Verse 6. And he shall flay the bird offering and that's a difficulty.
That is a difficulty. I don't know what you think of this verse, but I'm absolutely satisfied the flaying is not the work of the offerer. Historically, if you go through your history, it was the priest that flayed the offering.
This is a very specific service. As you know, each priest in Israel was a veterinary surgeon. He knew how to handle and he knew what to decide and he knew how to decipher. And so I feel that he is in relation to the priest.
He shall flay the bird offering. Proving its acceptance before God. Obeying God and taking the skin from off the animal before its parts are laid in order upon the sacrifice of bird offering. Because while the skin is the very beauty of the animal, it's not going on the altar here.
It's going to be reserved, as we will see later on, for something else and someone else. So the flaying was a very specific priestly action requiring discernment and requiring all the sense that God required for this particular exercise.
And then, the cutting. The priest discerning the appreciation of God. Because, as you can see, that the pieces must be according to the mind of God. The head and the fat in order upon the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar.
But the inwards and its legs shall be washed in water shall he wash in water and the priest shall burn all on the altar. I hear of very precious things. The head and the fat that is seen in our Lord Jesus Christ in his absolute comprehension and perception of the mind and will of God that is seen in the head.
And then the fat. All the wealth all the health of the animal. All that he is and all that he was in himself presented to God upon the altar. And then of course the inwards and the legs shall be washed in water.
That's significant. I would feel beloved that what God is doing here he is making the figure comply with the fullness. He is making the type conform to the anti-type. That's difficult maybe for a young Christian to understand.
But you know that our blessed Lord Jesus never never needed to be cleansed or washed in the sins. I suppose we readily condemn the disciples in John 13 because they didn't wash his feet. But really they didn't require to be washed in that accepted sense.
Here are the motives and here are the movements put on the altar. And you know beloved they're put on the altar and they're burned. Now this word burned means to be lifted up by fire to the very very nostrils of God as a sweet savor.
And we thank God for that in relation to our Lord Jesus. Now the same procedure applies but as we move down the chapter and go back to where we were in verse 3 we discover there are several prescriptions.
Verse 3 to verse number 9 the bullock. Verse 10 right down to verse number 13 the sheep or the goat. And then from verse 14 the turtle doves and the pigeons. Now I want to think of these. They're fivefold.
God prescribes that the person under those days could bring a burnt offering from any one of these five issues or items. Let us think of them. I'm going to suggest to you that the bullock presents our Lord Jesus Christ in his strength.
The strength Then I want you to think of the sheep. I'm sure we're all agreeing. It denotes the submissiveness. Then the goat forces the word of God. There are three things, yea, four that are calmly in their going and one of them says of him that he has dove's eyes.
A dove is known for its singleness of sight. One object that her bridegroom had eyes. The pigeon. While I was a little fellow I used to go to a friend's house a shed. On a certain day he would gather them all together and put them in a big crate and they'd be taken away to the south of England or the north of France.
Pigeons raised to the sky. How it really worked out you know. He says, Thomas you'd be back on Saturday at a certain time. I would come back on Saturday and sit with him. To his delight those pigeons would be back and his delight was to hear them knocking on the bullock strength of Christ.
Thomas says that the ox were strong to labour and there he went out and he carried over twelve yoke of ox as we read this morning in Brother Cregan's house. And then he carried the seed to be sown. Then he threshed the harvest.
Then he carried the seed, the fruit, back to the garden. The moment came when that bullock that was strong to labour had to die. And could we ever and will we ever be able to enter into what that blessed one did.
Strong to labour. The toil the exertion the service he performed for God to draw forth divine pleasure constantly and for him to respond in those amazing words I do always those things that please the Father.
And thank God he was strong enough to bear the load. He was strong enough to give to God everything that God demanded. And when he gave himself without spot to God he gave him a revenue of glory that worlds upon worlds upon worlds will never exhaust.
When the ages upon the ages of the ages will rule their course Calvary's glory Calvary's work will remain touching something of this beloved. And when we bring this aspect of the death of Christ to our God are we not entering into the strength of that blessed one to accomplish the will of God.
There's so many passages there's so many verses that I would love to quote. But I want you to take it up tonight and in the nights that are following and the days that follow. And I know you'll go through your Bible.
And I know you'll work on this point. Now we'll come to the submissiveness. We're all familiar with Isaiah 53. I hope your chest is familiar with Jeremiah 11. We never hear that passage read. Beautiful passage concerning the submissiveness of the sheep.
When we think of how he could have reacted and we're just imagining our way for it never was in his mind to do so. He bowed voluntarily to the will of God knowing what Peter discloses that he had been delivered by the determinate council for knowledge of God.
Who was delivered for our offenses. And remember brethren down there that's the same word as betrayed. That's the same word as used in what Judas did. And he submitted to that unreservedly. And by doing it accomplished the will of God entirely and completely.
And then the goat. Come to this gospel brethren. See the devil bringing them to the pinnacle of the temple. You're watching it. I love to go to the Banff and around there in Canada. The Rockies, that's right.
I've been there once in my life. And I could see those precipitous points and those goats standing there as if they're on a table. They've got a grip on the very rock. If I were up there I'd get dizzy.
Those lovely feet beloved were now pierced with the nails on the cross. And as he's nailed to the tree and those lovely feet are nailed there. The devil activates the crowd to cry. Come down. He who would not cast himself down would not come down.
And you know we sing. It wasn't the nails that held him. Oh isn't it lovely to follow his steps. When this man brings the goat and he he puts his hand upon his head and he does those seven things that we have unnoted already.
He's entering in, he's giving God a picture of his son that would move through this scene in all the stateliness of his person, set in sockets. Looks the gospel of the feet, isn't it brethren? He showed them his hands and his feet.
John is the gospel of the side, he showed them his hands and his. Look at the many, it looks gospel brethren. The woman weeped. Then the dove now expressed the singleness of Christ, patient in sorrow, particular in sight, much could be said.
Well I have to hurry. Come to the pigeon. Remember I said those pigeons taken away to the north of England south of England to the north of France and they fled around and played about, no no no. No no brethren.
They suddenly realised they were away from home, and they followed a pigeon instinct to get home as quickly as possible. And my little friend could almost put his hand on the clock, the pigeon would arrive.
John 13 he says I'm from God, John 16 he says I've come from the Father. And I go back to the Father, lovely aspect isn't it. Oh they're going to enter into it. Don't think that these are grades. Don't think that you're going down.
Oh no friend, I don't interpret it like that. We're going up aren't we. What do you mean? When we come to the birds we're coming to the orbit in which they were taken from. You could divide the animal.
But God says you don't divide the bird. Last week we were speaking in Garnavilla on Genesis 15. And God says to Abram take a heifer take the ram take the goat. And it says Abram divided all the birds.
This verse wasn't then. This verse wasn't written then. But brethren the same spirit prevailed. The spirit of God preserved Abram from dividing the birds. The realm from which he has come denotes his deity.
And when you read your gospel of John beloved There's nothing broken. No breaking of bread. John 6 he doesn't break the bread. And don't quote it wrongly. And I had to be careful when I mentioned it In John 12.
Mary does not break her box. God has got the bird concept. The shepherd was with God. No undigested food offered. There's nothing of that in Christ. No plumage offered. Like the skin that's not in beer.
Again. Now you'll work at that won't you. The time. The prerequisite That brings us to what is called The law of the offering. And you'll find that In chapter 6 Verse 9. And you're told That one thing Must be maintained in this Bird offering.
The fire must never go out. Must never go out. Now that of course is in time Of it's functioning Doubtless when it was being carried In the journey there was no fire. Else the coverings would have been burned.
Wouldn't they. So while it is being in function The fire Was never to go out. It was to be maintained. And brethren I trust You know what I mean. I'm trying to bring myself into this. I must bring myself.
And if in doing so I bring you. Then we'll share it mutually. Is this a ministry. Is this a subject. Is this an atmosphere That only prevails Once a week. Or is it something beloved. We're maintaining every moment Of every day.
That's not what we need. Then when it comes to the remembrance Of the Lord It will be sweet. Never let the fire die. Never let the effectuality of the death Of Christ be five minutes From your mind's end of God.
Fervency In love First Peter. Fervency in prayer. We'll hear it in James 5. Fervency In service. Romans chapter 12. The outcome Of the constant burning. The ashes of the offering Had to be taken to a clean place.
The ashes are the evidence For a vice accepted. Let us bring that into the practical. I'm asking you In the presence of God. I'm asking you In the privacy of God's presence. What evidence Have you In your life Of the consuming passion of God In your life for him.
When people began To press the dear apostle. Kind of hard I can see him. I don't know what kind of shirt he had. What kind of clothes he had. I can see him unraveling. As he said I bear in my body the brand marks Of the Lord Jesus.
I have some ashes to show. I have some evidence to offer Of devotion. You find it difficult. You having a problem in your life. Young Christian. Get as close to this as you can. Where are the ashes. What history have you with God To show your devotion.
This offering That we have considered in chapter 1 Is going to be mentioned again In numbers 28 29. And it's going to be mentioned like this In the morning And in the evening. A daily burnt offering. That's daily, that's constant No days omitted.
And God wanted this every day Every day. I don't know whether they agreed Or whether they answered it or not. But I know that God demanded this Every day. Numbers 28. Morning burnt offering. I'm so busy I think about it all in the morning meeting.
That's about as much as I can do. Your worship is spasmodic. Spasmodic. It mustn't be spasmodic. It's to be continual. That's the word, continual. Numbers 28, 9 and 10. The Sabbath. Work on the Sabbath.
Then says God I want a double portion. I want another burnt offering Along with the daily burnt offering With conditions Conjusive. God expected a double portion On the Sabbath. What's that When we do gather.
Are we trickling out things or is it a double portion brethren. What I'm doing every day. What I'm pouring out to God every day. Then when I come here In conditions Conjusive to worship Surely beloved.
Then says God In verse 11 A new moon. A new moon, a new month. Want some homework. Will you trace the new moons in your bible. Tomorrow's a new moon. It will be empty. Experience all together Except one's life.
Many years ago I was in a house He hadn't the strength to open his bible. And he asked me to do it And read And he ministered. I was away back in Malaya as it was then. And I got the message Sitting in that wheelchair.
Had one son That lifted him And led him Bathed him Clothed him Took him to the meeting That spot that I had left him. Few months afterward The door opened And a doctor from the mine came and said George your son's dead.
Doctor said to brother George What do you do now. He says doctor the first thing we'll do is pray. So it was daily. It was weekly It was monthly. Were convocations. And in those gatherings There's going to be a Concentration Of worship.
That's what we really want. Isn't it. And I have to finish now. Look at the time. I would have loved to look at historical occasions. But you know familiarly 2nd Chronicles 23 Verse 18. And when the burnt offering Began The song of the Lord began Amen.