This week – the last week on the crystallization-study of Leviticus, part 1 – we are prayerfully considering the matter of, Enjoying Christ as the Reality of the Peace Offering at the Lord’s Table to Present the Total Picture of God’s Economy.
Today in particular we want to see how the peace offering signifies Christ as our peace with God that we may enjoy Christ with God and with man in fellowship and joy.
The highest realisation of the Lord’s Table is that it is a complete picture of the divine economy; the Lord’s Table is not just a meeting we attend, and it is not a meeting in a common sense – it is a table, a supper.
In the book of Leviticus we see how God is training us, His people, to worship Him. Our worship of God must be uplifted, upgraded, and improved, and we also need to partake of Christ, receive and enjoy Christ with God and with man, for we have been called into the fellowship of Christ to enjoy Him.
The result is that we live a holy, clean, and rejoicing life, which is our kingdom life and church life today. We have seen the five main offerings through which we worship God and partake of Christ in fellowship with God.
- The burnt offering which is wholly for God’s satisfaction, typifies Christ as God’s pleasure and satisfaction; Christ is the One whose living on earth was absolutely for God.
- The meal offering typifies Christ in His perfect humanity as food for God and for those who have fellowship with God and serve Him as priests.
- The peace offering typifies Christ as the peacemaker, the One who became the peace between us and God by dying for us and thus enabling us to enjoy Christ with God and with man for our mutual satisfaction and enjoyment.
- The sin offering typifies Christ as the One who was made sin for us, the One who died on the cross to deal with the sinful nature in our fallen being.
- The trespass offering typifies Christ who bore our sins in His body, who was judged by God on the cross on our behalf to deal with our sinful deeds so that we may be forgiven of our sinful conduct.
There are some supplementary offerings, which are found in the peace offering: the wave offering (Christ as the resurrected One in love), the heave offering (the powerful Christ in ascension and exaltation), and the drink offering (Christ as the One poured out as wine before God for His satisfaction and enjoyment).
It’s all about worship up to the standard that God seeks worship. God seeks to have worshipers who worship Him in spirit and truthfulness (John 4:24).
We worship God in a particular place and with a certain content. The place we worship God is our human spirit, which is indwelt by the divine Spirit; we worship God in our mingled spirit, which is not an individual spirit but a corporate Spirit, for here we have the dwelling place of God, the church.
So when we come together we need to leave all other places like our flesh, our self, our mind, our feelings, and our desires, and come into our mingled spirit.
Then, in the mingled spirit we need to worship God in reality, which is Christ Himself as the fulfillment and reality of all the offerings being experienced by us and offered by us to God for His satisfaction in our fellowship with Him.
At the Lord’s Table we Enjoy Christ as our Peace Offering and we Worship the Father
The peace offering signifies Christ as our peace with God; He made peace for us, and He Himself is our peace that we may enjoy Christ with God and man in fellowship and joy (see Lev. 3:1-17; Num. 10:10; Deut. 27:7).
When the people of Israel offered the peace offering, they had to be full of joy and rejoicing, even blow the trumpet at the burnt offering sacrifices and the peace offerings.
When we come together at the Lord’s Table meeting, we should not have a long face but be absolutely rejoicing, and joy should emanate from our spirit and heart. It is an offense before God if we don’t rejoice, if we are being sad, at His table.
The peace offering is fulfilled primarily in our enjoying Christ at the Lord’s Table in the breaking of bread for the remembrance of Him and in the offering of Christ to the Father for our worship of the Father (Matt. 26:26-30).
At the Lord’s table we don’t focus on our problems or situation but on Christ; here we enjoy Christ with God and man, and we offer the Christ we have enjoyed and experienced to God the Father for our worship of Him.
The peace offering is the Old Testament type of the Lord’s table. In Exodus we see the Passover as a type of the Lord’s table, but the fuller type is the peace offering. Now that the tabernacle has been erected, the law has been given, the ordinances were passed on, the priesthood was set up, and people are not in haste, they can enjoy the peace offering with God.
At the Lord’s table we as believers in Christ need to enjoy Christ as our peace offering for our fellowship with God and with one another. At the Lord’s table, we enjoy Christ before God the Father and with all the saints.
On one hand we enjoy Christ, and on the other, we worship the Father after we enjoy Christ, presenting the peace offering to God for His satisfaction (Lev. 7:14-21, 28-34).
At the Lord’s table we enjoy Christ as our peace offering and we share this with one another, and then there’s another part, a great part, the worship of the Father, without which the presentation of Christ to God is not completely fulfilled.
Therefore, we should carry out the Lord’s table meeting in two sections: first we need to praise Christ and bless Him, and then we should praise the Father and worship Him.
During the first section of the Lord’s table meeting all our praises should be addressed to Christ; we should bless Christ with well-speaking concerning His person and work (Heb. 13:15; Psa. 8:2; 48:1; 50:23; 116:17; Rev. 5:13).
We need to bring Him a sacrifice of praise; our lips should not be sealed and our tongue should not be silent at the Lord’s table, but we should bring sacrifices of praise to Christ. Our mouth was made by God to praise Him, not just to eat and drink; our mouth should be opened wide, our lips should be exercised, and we should not be silent or wait in the Lord’s table meeting.
We should simply praise the Lord for all He is and for all He has done! Our not praising the Lord brings Him shame and limits Him. We should not give Him a sermon in our prayer, but just praise the Lord as we are in the enjoyment of the dynamic salvation of the Lord!
Then, during the second section of the meeting, we should address our praises to God the Father; it is best to leave one-third or two-fifths of the time for the worship of the Father (see Matt. 26:26-30; Heb. 2:12).
Actually, Christ Himself in us wants to praise the Father in our praising. We should not relegate this time or do it if we still have some time, but worship God the Father according to His economy and His dispensing.
The Father seeks worship, and we should offer Christ as the reality of all the offerings to Him, and also worship the Father in spirit and truthfulness.
Lord Jesus, uplift our appreciation and enjoyment of the Lord’s table so that we may render God the true worship that He desires. May we offer You the sacrifice of praise and enjoy Christ as the peace offering, praising the Lord and opening our mouth to speak well of Him. May we give the Father the worship that He desires, exercising our spirit to worship Him in spirit and with Christ as our truthfulness and genuineness. Amen, Lord, You are our peace offering that we may enjoy You with God and with man in fellowship and joy!
Enjoying Christ as the Peace Offering at the Lord’s Table with Thanksgiving to the Father and for a Vow to him
![Lev. 7:16-18 But if the sacrifice of his [peace] offering is a vow or a freewill offering, it shall be eaten on the day that he presents his sacrifice, and on the next day what remains of it shall be eaten; but what remains of the flesh of the sacrifice on the third day shall be burned with fire. And if any of the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings is eaten at all on the third day, it will not be accepted...](https://i0.wp.com/agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Lev.-7-16-18-But-if-the-sacrifice-of-his-peace-offering-is-a-vow-or-a-freewill-offering1-683x1024.jpg?resize=450%2C675&ssl=1 "Lev. 7:16-18 But if the sacrifice of his [peace] offering is a vow or a freewill offering, it shall be eaten on the day that he presents his sacrifice, and on the next day what remains of it shall be eaten; but what remains of the flesh of the sacrifice on the third day shall be burned with fire. And if any of the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings is eaten at all on the third day, it will not be accepted...")
There were different kinds of peace offering, based on the heart of the offerer; some peace offerings are for thanksgiving to Jehovah, and these could be eaten only on the day of the offering, while others were for a vow to Him, and they could be eaten for two days (see Lev. 7:12-18).
Christ as the reality of the peace offering that we enjoy at the Lord’s table is for our thanksgiving to the Father (Lev. 7:12-15) and also for a vow to Him (vv. 16-18).
Our worship to the Father may be accompanied by certain thanksgiving to Him for the previous week’s experience of Christ, or by a vow to Him; the Father wants to hear thanksgiving from His children, and He loves their vows, their freewill offering.
On the one hand, we may consecrate ourselves to the Lord with thanksgiving by telling Him, Lord Jesus, I love You, and I consecrate myself to You! – this is good, but it may be too general and out of our emotions.
It is good to have emotions for the Lord at His table – we should not be mechanical or follow a routine, neither should we be formalistic or with no feeling.
But our feelings are not enough; we need to make a vow to the Lord, even offer ourselves to God with a voluntary vow by praying, Lord, I come here to make a vow to You: I give myself to You, I marry myself to You, and I want to be solely for You always, regardless of what happens or how I feel!
When we have such a vow to the Lord, this results in a greater enjoyment of Christ as the peace offering at the Lord’s table and in our daily life.
We all need to be married to Christ for His recovery, thus having a stronger and deeper appreciation and experience of Christ as the peace offering.
A vow goes beyond our feeling; a vow like the marriage tie is based on our will and not just on our emotions.
When we enjoy Christ to the uttermost and experience Him as the peace offering, we will not only be touched by Him in our emotions to consecrate to Him, but we may even make a vow to the Lord to give ourselves to Him for His purpose, no matter what happens to us.
A vow involves no change, no variation, and no alteration; the offering for thanksgiving may be emotional and somewhat superficial (though necessary), but the offering for a vow is determined and deeper.
Every day in our Christian life we need to experience Christ as the reality of the burnt offering, the sin offering, the trespass offering, the meal offering, and the peace offering, and we will live in peace with God and with man, and we will enjoy Christ with God and man at the Lord’s table meeting.
The peace offering embodies all the other offerings, and our enjoyment of Christ as the burnt offering, the meal offering, the sin offering, and the trespass offering result in the enjoyment of Christ as our peace offering for us to have fellowship with God and with our fellow believers.
Lord Jesus, we love You, so we consecrate ourselves to You! We take You as our peace offering for our peace with God and with man. Lord, we come to You to make a vow to You: we give ourselves to You and we want to be solely for You always, regardless of what happens and of how we feel. We want to have a deeper and stronger enjoyment and experience of Christ as the peace offering daily, and bring our enjoyment of Christ to the Lord’s table to praise the Lord and worship the Father.
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Minoru Chen for this week, and portions from, Basic Lessons on Service, lsns. 5, 7-10 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Leviticus (1), week 12, Enjoying Christ as the Reality of the Peace Offering at the Lord’s Table to Present the Total Picture of God’s Economy.
- Hymns on this topic:
# We gather together to eat the Lord’s supper: / By eating and drinking, our oneness we show. / His presence possessing, our oneness confessing, / ’Tis thus we eat and drink, and His blessing we know. (Hymns #1106)
# Father, Thy Son beloved leads our praise / After the banquet feast is had and done; / How dear, how sweet to Thee the praise He leads, / And in His praises joining we are one. (Hymns #50)
# With all the cleansed ones feasting, / How rich the Christ we eat! / Oh, this is true communion, / The only way to meet. / We bring our full thanksgiving / And e’en would make a vow— / We’re for the Lord’s recovery / As He is for us now. (Hymns #1104)
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Amen! Let us not neglect the Lord’s table meeting. We need to give the highest appreciation on this meeting.
May every brother and sister enjoy Christ to the fullest extent.
Praising wins the battle, while praying fights the battle. However, both are necessary.
The burn offering, meal offering, sin offering and the trespass offering are all for us to enjoy Christ as our peace with God in every way.
Amen, Lord we would even make a vow to be for You and for Your recovery. Lord Jesus we love You. Go on in us in a deeper and stronger way that we would experience You as our peace offering for Your Body to consummate the New Jerusalem! Strengthen our will to be for You no matter what happens or how we feel, train us to worship God with You as the offerings especially at the Lord’s table and in our worship to the Father, gain true worshippers in Your recovery! Hallelujah
The only way to have peace is to enjoy Christ .
Amen. There is a special enjoyment of the Lord when we exercise our spirit at His table.
Amen brother! A genuine, deeper, stronger enjoyment and experience of You, my Lord!
Amin Aleluia !!!
Amen brother!
Lord we thank and praise You for dealing with all our problems as the reality of burnt offering, the meal offering, the sin offering and the trespass offering! Thank You Lord that the issue is peace with God, with ourselves and with one another. Thank You Lord for such Grace and Peace!
I enjoyed the two types of the peace offering in Leviticus 7:15-16 – the peace offering for thanksgiving and the peace offering for a vow or freewill offering. We need to see the difference between them. The offering for thanksgiving is general, is based upon our feeling, is emotional and superficial; whereas the offering for a vow is something voluntary; it is like a marriage tie that binds us to the Lord regardless of feeling or circumstance. It makes us a real Nazarite according to Numbers 6. It keeps us to follow the Lord for His recovery. The Lord treasures our vow to Him. O Lord remember all our vows You making us the real Nazarites You desire for Your recovery!
主に感謝します! アーメン
[Thank you Lord! Amen.]
The flesh of the peace offering for thanksgiving was good for eating [by the offerer] on the offering day (Lev. 7:15), whereas the flesh of the peace offering for a vow or a freewill offering was good for eating for two days (vv. 16-18). This shows that the offering for a vow was stronger than the offering for thanksgiving. Thus, the offering for thanksgiving was good to eat for only one day.
We need to see the difference between the peace offering for thanksgiving and the peace offering for a vow….Today we may consecrate ourselves to God with thanksgiving. We may pray, “Lord, I love You, so I consecrate myself to You.” This is for thanksgiving, but this is too general. On the other hand, we may offer ourselves to God with a vow. We may pray, “Lord, I come here to make a vow to You. I give myself to You and marry myself to You. I want to be solely for You always, regardless of what happens or of how I feel.” A vow is something voluntary.
A number of saints may consecrate themselves to Christ and the church, but five years later they may leave the church. This means that they did not have a vow. A vow is like a marriage tie. The offering for thanksgiving, though, is based upon our feeling….A vow goes beyond our feeling. It is a tie that binds us regardless of feeling or circumstance. All of us need to be ones who are married to Christ for His recovery. Then regardless of what happens or of how we feel, we will always remain with the Lord for His recovery….To make such a vow is to be a real Nazarite according to what is revealed in Numbers 6.
The offering for thanksgiving is emotional and superficial, but the offering for a vow is determined and deeper….A vow is related to the will….In order to follow the Lord, we need a vow. Marriage involves a vow with no change, no variation, no alteration. The Lord treasures our vow to Him. (Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1979, vol. 2, “Basic Lessons on Service,” pp. 62-63)