Robert McLaughlin Bible Ministries
The Blood of The Lamb. Part 4.
Thursday, October 16, 2003
The burnt offering could come from one of three sources…a bull, the flock (sheep), fowls.
The cattle or the bull from the herd pictured TLJC as a servant.
The sheep or the goat of the flock in LEV 1:10 presented TLJC as the qualified sin-bearer.
LEV 1:14 – the fowls or the birds of the air depict TLJC as the resurrected God-man.
The shedding of animal blood illustrated the future salvation work of the coming Savior on the cross.
In the Old Testament, the blood was literal and the judgment was symbolic, but, on the cross, the blood was symbolic while the judgment was literal.
The sheep pictured the perfect sinless humanity of TLJC whereas the goat emphasized the sins to be borne by TLJC on the cross.
As with the young bull these animals were identified with the offerer’s sins and slain to point to the spiritual death of Christ.
JOH 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.”
ACT 4:12 “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved.”
The Jews were also familiar with the substitutionary use of the goat, judged in the sinners place.
The Jews observed 7 feasts, Lev 16.
Of these feasts, the day of atonement was the most solemn.
The scapegoat symbolically bore the sins of the Israelites and was dispatched into the wilderness never to return, LEV 16:7-10,15,20-22.
LEV 16:21-22 – this demonstrated the grace of God, PSA 103:10-14.
PSA 103:12 As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
The shedding of animal blood, both in the detail of the ceremony and in the shock of the execution was designed to permanently imprint Bible doctrine on the souls of the offerers and the souls of the observers.
Slay – Qal perfect – shachat = to slaughter.
“Northward before the Lord” = the side of judgment, ISA 14:13,31, JER 51:48.
Before divine love can provide eternal life for mankind, divine holiness must be satisfied.
Before one can pass the point of propitiation, he must receive God’s anointed as Savior.
TIT 2:11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men,
The head referred to the mental purity of TLJC.
The fat represented the overt purity and overt righteousness.
All of this was accomplished at the altar.
It pointed to the fact that everything that was necessary for our salvation was accomplished at the cross.
The wood pointed to humanity and the fire to God’s judgment.
ISA 64:6 For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a bloody filthy garment;
REV 3:16 So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.
Cleansing the inward parts is depicted as the washing away of filth or “cleaning of the guts.”
In the ancient world, a soothing aroma was idiomatic for “acceptance.”
LUK 7:44 And turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears, and wiped them with her hair.”
Upon entering the hall, the guest was sprinkled with some aroma from the essence of flowers, perfume or incense.
It is equally unavoidable for the believer to walk through life without the defilement of sin.
As the sheep or goat offering was consumed in the flames, smoke ascended which was a perfect picture of TLJC –
EPH 5:2 gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.
The phrase the “blood of Christ” sets up a representative analogy between something physical and something spiritual.
It is not an exact analogy because that would require a physical thing with a physical thing.
TLJC must be tied to the cross, a knife must slit his throat, then He must be skinned alive. His heart, lungs, kidneys and livers must be cut out and then the cross must be set on fire and He must be totally cremated.
The literal blood of the animal sacrifice and the spiritual death of Christ on the cross.
The blood of the animal was the shadow of things to come while the spiritual death of Christ is the reality that fulfills the shadows.
Spiritual death, not physical death is the penalty for sin.
Adam was created spiritually alive and by his own negative volition he became spiritually dead.
Adam was physically alive at the same time that he was spiritually dead and likewise, Christ on the cross was very much alive while He was enduring spiritual death.
Most of His blood was still inside His corpse or His body when the soldier threw the spear into His chest cavity, bringing forth blood clots and serum.
The teaching of Bible doctrine must always be available to all believers regardless of background and economic status, another reason why a pastor-teacher should never, repeat never charge for his teachings.
MIC 3:11 Her leaders pronounce judgment for a bribe, Her priests instruct for a price, And her prophets divine for money.
The turtledove represents the deity of the Messiah but since it was brought in as a sacrifice, more than His deity was in view. This was a reminder that Christ would be the unique person of the universe – the God-man Savior.
The poorest of the poor brought that which represented the greatest aspect of the Savior which is His hypostatic union.
The gentle disposition and cleanliness of the dove made it a type of Christ in the Scriptures, but its use in both the burnt offering and the sin offering anticipated Christ’s resurrection.
The turtledove or the young pigeons abounded in the Holy Land so that the poorest could get them easily, illustrating salvation is made available to all.
2CO 8:9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.
The “crop” of the fowl contains the food and was considered to be unclean and an emblem of man’s appetite or lusts of the flesh.
As there was nothing of man’s sinful appetites in TLJC, the “crop” was to be removed from the dove.
The “feathers” also are removed because they are a covering to the dove, and it must be left quite unsheltered when the fire of judgment hits it.
These were to be cast to “the place of ashes” out of sight and thus the dove is offered in a state of purity and an unprotected state on the altar.
The first act showed Christ’s singleness of purpose and devotion to the Father’s will.
Secondly, this ritual demonstrated that even in His death, His hypostatic union remained intact.
Lev 2 – the meat offering.
Lev 3 – the peace offering.
Lev 4 – the sin offering.