Although we cannot cover all the offerings, let us illustrate what the showbread means to us. The showbread is one of the foods for the priests, and we have seen that it signifies Christ as our life and life supply. To handle Christ as the showbread and to minister Him to others, we must first enjoy and feed on Him as the showbread. This means that we must experience Christ as the inner life and the life supply by feeding on Him.
Not many Christians know how to feed on Christ. We all must learn to feed on Him, to take Him in, and to enjoy Him as our spiritual food. When we minister Christ to others, we also feed ourselves with Him. While we are feeding others, we are fed. Every time I minister, the first one to be fed is myself. After the ministry, I am satisfied. I am satisfied by my ministering of Christ to others.
Another example is the trespass offering. The whole trespass offering was to be eaten by the priests. This means that when we minister Christ as the Savior to a lost person, not only will the person be saved, but we will also be fed with Christ while we are ministering Him in this way. By doing this we enjoy Christ within. While we are ministering Christ to others, regardless in what aspect, we are fed and we enjoy Him.
Some brothers have told me, “Brother Lee, we cannot stop preaching the gospel. If we do not minister Christ to the sinners, we are hungry.” Their spiritual food was the very Christ whom they ministered to others as the trespass offering!
If we are lazy and do not go out to reach others, we are hungry within. But when we go out to minister Christ to others as the trespass offering, we are satisfied. After we return home, we have the sense that we are really full. This is the way to eat Christ. We handle Christ as the trespass offering for others. When Christ as the trespass offering becomes the Savior to others, He becomes the food to us.
What is our food? It must be Christ, not a Christ in doctrine or teaching, but Christ in our ministry. Christ ministered to others as the trespass offering will be their Savior and our food. This is also true with the sin offering, the peace offering, and the meal offering. I cannot elaborate on all the items, but the principle is clear. The more we handle Christ and minister Him to others, the more we feed upon Him. We cannot minister an objective Christ, but One who is so subjective to us. He as our merchandise is also our food, for we must eat what we sell.
The more I speak about Christ, the more I am satisfied. If this is not true, then I am a false minister. The more I talk with you about Christ and present Christ to you, the more I feed on Christ. While I am ministering Him, I am feeding on Him. He is so subjective to me. I am not selling Christ by my thinking mind, but by my enjoying spirit. He is my food. Nothing is so subjective to us as food. The food we eat becomes our very being after a short period of time. We all must experience Christ in such a subjective way.
“And take thou unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister unto me in the priest’s office, even Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons. And thou shall make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, for glory and for beauty. And thou shalt speak unto all that are wise-hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron’s garments to consecrate him, that he may minister unto me in the priest’s office. And these are the garments which they shall make; a breastplate, and an ephod, and a robe, and a broidered coat, a mitre, and a girdle: and they shall make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, and his sons, that he may minister unto me in the priest’s office.
“And they shall take gold, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen. And they shall make the ephod of gold, of blue, and of purple, of scarlet, and fine twined linen, with cunning work. It shall have the two shoulderpieces thereof joined at the two edges thereof; and so it shall be joined together. And the curious girdle of the ephod, which is upon it, shall be of the same, according to the work thereof; even of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen. And thou shalt take two onyx stones, and grave on them the names of the children of Israel: Six of their names on one stone, and the other six names of the rest on the other stone, according to their birth. With the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a signet, shalt thou engrave the two stones with the names of the children of Israel: thou shalt make them to be set in ouches of gold.
“And thou shalt make ouches (settings) of gold; and two chains of pure gold at the ends; of wreathed work shalt thou make them, and fasten the wreathed chains to the ouches. And thou shalt make the breastplate of judgment with cunning work; after the work of the ephod thou shalt make it; of gold, of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine twined linen, shalt thou make it. Foursquare it shall be being doubled; a span shall be the length thereof, and a span shall be the breadth thereof. And thou shalt set in it settings of stones, even four rows of stones: the first row shall be a sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle: this shall be the first row. And the second row shall be an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond. And the third row a ligure, an agate, and an amethyst. And the fourth row a beryl, and an onyx, and a jasper: they shall be set in gold in their inclosings. And the stones shall be with the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names, like the engravings of a signet; every one with his name shall they be according to the twelve tribes.
“And thou shalt put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim; and they shall be upon Aaron’s heart, when he goeth in before the LORD: and Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel upon his heart before the LORD continually” (Exo. 28:1-11, 13-21, 30).
Christ as our food is the very content of our being. He is not only our satisfaction, but also our content. Furthermore, Christ is also the garments of the priests. These are their manifestation or outward expression. We must experience Christ in an inner way and express Him in an outer way. We are not merely to eat of Christ, but also to wear Christ, putting Him on as our garment. We are not only to enjoy Christ, but also to express and magnify Him. Christ must be manifested through us and magnified upon us! He is our inner satisfaction and our outer expression.
Four or five things are very important concerning the garments of the priests. First, they have a robe made of white linen to cover the whole body. Then they have the ephod, which is something like a vest upon the robe. Next, they have a mitre, which is a head piece, something like a crown. Finally, upon their shoulders are two precious stones, and upon their breast is the breastplate, with twelve precious stones and the Urim and the Thummim.