The Five Offerings Part 3
Last week we talked about the Burnt Offering. the second offering is the 'grain offering'. (Leviticus 2). there was no blood in this offering. No animal was slain. It was an offering of flour, roasted grain, salt and oil. One of the things the Lord said in connection with this offering was "Don't use any leaven" (verse 11). Leaven is a picture of sin through out the Scriptures. But the Lord told them to add salt. Salt is a picture of an eternal covenant. Numbers 18:19 reads "It is a covenant of salt for ever before the Lord, to thee and to thy sons." Whenever you read of salt being offered in the Bible and Jesus mentioning it in the New Testament too, remember it refers to this everlasting covenant mentioned here in Numbers. We use salt to preserve things for a long time. That is why the Lord uses it to refer to that which is everlasting. So the salt that was added to the grain offering indicated that the offerer was committing himself to the Lord forever-not just for 5 years or even 50 years! It is like a marriage-an everlasting covenant.
The third offering is the peace offering (Leviticus 3). the offerer had to bring the animal and lay his hand on its head (verse 2). Thereby, he was confessing that through the death of that animal he had come to peace with God. "Being justified therefore by faith, let us have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:1) Peace in our conscience is of vital importance in the Christian life. God does not want any of His children to live in uncertainty about Him accepting them. We must be absolutely convinced that our sins are all forgiven. (also read the articles written about forgiveness in the Creed.) There must be no feelings of guilt in our lives whatsoever. Just like this man laid his hand on the animal, we also lay our hands on the Lord at Calvary, and believe that He paid the price for all our past sins any sin that have been confessed today. He has cleared our debt completely and tore up our certificate of debt at Calvary. (Colossians 2:14). So now, like our Lord said on the cross, we to can say, "It is finished". God's promise to us is, "Your sins and iniquities I will remember no more." The New testament talks about entering into Gods rest and dwelling there at all times (Hebrews 4). Do you know that God has accepted you just as you are-not after you changed, but just as you are? And although God loves you just the way you are, He refuses to leave you there. He wants you to be just like Jesus. This is what brings rest into our lives, knowing He loves us just the way we are, and we can rest in the work He is doing within our heart. That inner working that will show forth outwardly as we yield to Him. This is what is symbolized in the peace offering.
