The tabernacle is for God to dwell in; the offerings are for God to enjoy through our appreciation and presentation. This is wonderful, marvelous, and mysterious.
The tabernacle is not only for us to enter into but also for God to dwell in. The tabernacle is God coming to us in Christ and through Christ. This tabernacle is God’s dwelling place for God to dwell in Christ. This means that God’s embodiment is God’s dwelling. God dwells in Christ as His embodiment.
Christ as the offerings is not only for our enjoyment but also for God’s enjoyment. The burnt offering is altogether for God’s food, for God’s enjoyment. The offerings are not only for us to enjoy God and to be mingled with God; they are also for God’s enjoyment. Therefore, God not only dwells in Christ-He also enjoys Christ.
The tabernacle is for God’s dwelling, and the offerings are for God’s enjoyment. Does this mean that God dwells in Himself and enjoys Himself? The answer to such a question involves the mystery of the Trinity. The Lord Jesus says, “I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me” (John 14:10). The book of Hebrews reveals that Christ has presented Himself to God for God’s satisfaction. Here we see the mystery of God becoming a man to die on the cross and then rising up in resurrection for God and for us.
The offerings are for God to enjoy through our appreciation and presentation. Without our appreciation and presentation of Christ as the offerings, God cannot have any enjoyment of the offerings. God has come to us in Christ, becoming the tabernacle, the dwelling place, for Himself. He has also become all the offerings for us and for Himself. If we do not appreciate these offerings and present them to God, God will not have any enjoyment of the offerings.
Just as the Israelites were to labor on the good land to have the produce to offer to God, so we need to labor on Christ that we may be able to present Him to God. To labor on Christ is to endeavor to enjoy Him and to experience Him. The more we enjoy and experience Christ, the more we shall appreciate Him. Then we should present Christ to God for His enjoyment.
The offerings are not sacrifices but presents to God by the appreciators of Christ. Leviticus 1:2 says, “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, When anyone of you brings an offering to Jehovah, you shall bring your offering from the cattle, of the herd or of the flock.” The verb “brings” may also be translated “presents” or “offers.” The Hebrew word translated “offering” is corban and means a present, a gift. The Hebrew words for “presents” and “present” here are both from the same root. The offerings, therefore, are presents to God. The children of Israel were to labor on the good land and then offer to God as presents the produce of the good land which they enjoyed and appreciated.
The five main offerings are for us to fellowship with God. Chapters one through seven of Leviticus speak about the fellowship God’s children have with God. For this fellowship there is the need of presents.
When we come to the church meetings, we should come not with sacrifices but with presents to offer to God. Sacrifices are for redemption, for propitiation, whereas presents are gifts for intimate fellowship between us and God. The presents we bring for this fellowship should be the very Christ we have experienced. With much appreciation of this Christ, we should offer Him as a present to God. Even the sin offering and the trespass offering may be presents that we bring to God.
To bring a sacrifice for sin is a matter of seriousness. To bring a present to an intimate friend is a matter not of seriousness but of sweetness. Every time we come to a meeting we should sense the sweetness of coming to present dear and precious presents to God for us to enjoy with Him. We should offer Christ to God not merely as the sacrifices for our problems but also as presents to God for His enjoyment and for our enjoyment with Him.
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