The emphasis of the burnt offering is on Christ’s being absolutely for God, even unto death. The burnt offering implies His living but emphasizes His death. The emphasis of the meal offering is on Christ’s human living and daily walk. The meal offering implies His death but emphasizes His living. In the burnt offering we see that Christ is the righteousness of God, and in the meal offering we see that Christ is righteous before God—He is fine, perfect, complete, and righteous in every way.
The meal offering (Lev. 2) is for God as food for His satisfaction, and it is also for His serving ones as food for their satisfaction. This offering shows that Christ lived a human life that was beautiful and excellent to the uttermost so that God and His serving ones could share the same satisfaction. The main element of the meal offering is fine flour, which signifies that Christ’s humanity is fine, perfect, balanced, and right in every way. This fine flour is produced out of wheat which has passed through many processes, including being sown and buried in the ground, growing up, being beaten by wind, frost, rain, and sun, and then being reaped, threshed, sifted, and ground. These processes signify the varied sufferings of Christ in His human living, which made Him “a man of sorrows” (Isa. 53:3).
The oil of the meal offering signifies the Spirit of God (Luke 4:18; Heb. 1:9). Christ is a man with an excellent humanity. He also has the divine element, which is the Spirit of God. The meal offering is mingled with oil, signifying that Christ’s humanity has been mingled with the Holy Spirit (Matt. 1:18). This mingling also signifies that Christ’s human nature has been mingled with God’s divine nature; hence, He is a God-man. He is a man mingled with God; His divinity has been mingled with His humanity as one. He is a man in humanity, yet He expressed His divine attributes as human virtues, thus expressing God in His humanity.
In the meal offering the sweet-smelling frankincense signifies the fragrance of Christ in His resurrection. Frankincense was put on the fine flour, signifying that Christ’s humanity with the aroma of His resurrection was manifested through His sufferings. During the course of His human life, Christ suffered a great deal, but the aroma of His resurrection was manifested through His sufferings.
Hence, the three elements in the meal offering—fine flour, oil, and frankincense—show the entire life of Christ. He continually lived and walked in these three things, that is, in His humanity mingled with His divinity and expressing His resurrection. No matter what the circumstances were, the Lord Jesus lived a life of suffering but expressed the fragrance of resurrection. In every place and at every time, Christ lived a life of humanity mingled with divinity, expressing His resurrection. This is the meal offering.
In the meal offering, all the frankincense with part of the fine flour and part of the oil were burned on the altar (Lev. 2:2). This signifies that a significant portion of Christ’s excellent, perfect, Spirit-filled, and resurrection-saturated living was offered to God as food for His enjoyment. The remainder of the meal offering was for Aaron and his sons (v. 3). This signifies that after God’s enjoyment, we also can enjoy Christ’s human living as our food. We must first give God’s portion to Him for His satisfaction, and then the remainder will be our portion for our satisfaction.
The peace offering as the center of the five basic offerings is based on God’s satisfaction in the burnt offering. Christ’s being the burnt offering to God for His satisfaction qualifies Him to deal with our sin, that is, the sin in our nature. This is indicated by Leviticus 3:5 and 6:12. Speaking of the peace offering, Leviticus 3:5 says, “Aaron’s sons shall burn it on the altar upon the burnt offering, which is on the wood that is on the fire; it is an offering by fire, a satisfying fragrance to Jehovah.” Here we see that the burnt offering is a basis for the peace offering to be accepted by God. With the burning of the burnt offering as a basis, God accepts the peace offering.
The peace offering is an issue of the enjoyment of God and man in the meal offering. Christ in His excellent human living as the meal offering to God is for the satisfaction of both God and man and qualifies Him to deal with our trespasses and transgressions, the sinful deeds in our conduct. Based on this, Christ becomes our peace offering so that we may have peace with God and with man and may enjoy Christ together as our peace with God and with man.
The peace offering was slaughtered at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting (vv. 2, 8, 13). This signifies that Christ was slain on the earth and before God so that we may enjoy Christ on earth today. The blood of the peace offering was sprinkled on and around the altar where the offerer was standing (vv. 2, 8, 13). This indicates that the blood is for peace in the offerer’s conscience. When we see the blood of the peace offering, we have the assurance that our sins have been washed away.
All the fat that covered and was on the inward parts, the two kidneys, the appendage on the liver, and the entire fat tail were burned on the altar (vv. 3-5, 9-11, 14-16). This signifies that God should be the first to enjoy, enjoying the first, the best, part of the offering.
The breast and the right thigh of the offering were for the priests (7:32-34). This signifies that all the believers who serve God as priests may enjoy Christ with God and may enjoy Him as their loving ability and standing strength. When we eat the breast of Christ, we have His loving ability to love others and to be concerned for them in love. When we eat the thigh of Christ, we have His strength to stand.