The altar of burnt offering is a wonderful and mysterious type of Christ in His redemption, the redemptive work of Christ on the cross. This altar is not simple, nor is it shallow; it is full of deep significance with many details, and it is seen in reality in what the Lord accomplished on the cross.
Unlike the golden altar for incense, this altar was made of acacia wood overlaid with bronze, and it signifies Christ as the perfect Man who was judged by God on the cross for our sins; Christ as a man died on the cross to bear God’s judgement for us – the One who did not know sin God made sin on our behalf so that we may become the righteousness of God in Him (1 Pet. 3:18).
The four walls of the altar were made of acacia wood overlaid with bronze, and in the middle of the altar there was a grating protruding out through the walls with four rings; this grating was of bronze, and the four rings were on the outside of the altar for the poles to go through and be moved when needed.
This grating is the most important part of the altar, and it points to Christ the redeemer in His redemptive work. God became a man – Jesus Christ – and lived a perfect human life; this Jesus was put on the cross and was under God’s judgement for our sins.
The judgement of God upon Christ on the cross was experienced more inwardly than it was outwardly – inwardly He experienced separation (economically, not essentially) from the Father, and He was burned with the fire of God’s judgement, bearing this judgement with His heart and not only with His body.
Oh, what suffering and death the Lord went through for us! We cannot have any part in such a suffering and death: the redemptive death can be experienced only by Christ, the perfect God-man, and He alone can bear our sins and redeem us back to God.
However, we can enjoy Christ’s redemption today because He didn’t just die on the cross two thousand years ago but He offered Himself to God through the eternal Spirit, and thus His redemption is eternally effective and His blood can be applied to all who repent and believe into Him! Hallelujah!
Christ Offered Himself through the Eternal Spirit: His Redemption is Eternally Effective
The grating in the middle of the altar of burnt offering has four rings which go through the wall of the altar, two rings on two opposite sides, and through these rings the poles are put for moving the altar.
What is the significance of these bronze rings? They signify the eternal Spirit, and in Heb. 9:14 we see that Christ offered Himself to God as a sacrifice without blemish through the eternal Spirit.
The offering of Christ as the perfect sacrifice for our redemption depends very much on the eternal Spirit, just like the grating being held in place in the middle of the altar depends on the four rings. Without the rings, the grating cannot be held in place, and the altar cannot move; these rings signify the Spirit, the eternal Spirit through whom Christ offered Himself to God. The entire redemption of Christ depends on and rests on the eternal Spirit.
The all-inclusive Christ died an all-inclusive death through the eternal Spirit, and therefore the efficacy of Christ’s redemption depends upon the eternal Spirit. The redemption of Christ is the content of the altar, but the Spirit (the reality of the rings) completes that content; without the Spirit, the redemption of Christ is not complete, just as the grating in the altar is not complete without the rings.
The rings provide the efficacy, power, strength, and move for the altar; the eternal Spirit provides the efficacy, the power, the strength, the holding power, and the moving strength of the cross, of Christ’s redemption. Without the Spirit, the redemption of Christ is not eternally efficacious; without the Spirit, the redemption of Christ cannot be preached in a powerful way to reach the whole earth.
Because Christ offered Himself through the eternal Spirit, now His redemption is eternally effective! We may talk about the cross, about Christ’s death on the cross, but without exercising our spirit to minister the Spirit to others, all this talk is in vain. Apart from the eternal Spirit, the death of Christ is not effective.
I am very thankful for the picture in Exodus 27. Through this picture we can see that the eternal Spirit is linked to the full redemption of Christ. What is the grating? The grating is the inner content of Christ’s redemption. What are the four rings? The four rings are the type of the eternal Spirit, who makes Christ’s redemption effective and who is the power for the move of the cross of Christ. The word of the cross is powerful because it is joined to the eternal Spirit. When we preach the cross with the redemption of Christ, this preaching must be connected to the eternal Spirit. Then in our experience we shall have a grating with four rings, the redemption of Christ connected to the eternal Spirit. (Witness Lee, Life-Study of Exodus, msg. 107)
Hallelujah! Today the blood of Christ is effective and we can apply His blood to be cleansed and washed from our sins because Christ offered Himself to God through the eternal Spirit! Whenever we sin, we can confess our sins to God and apply the precious blood of Christ, and God washes and cleanses us from every sin (1 John 1:7).
After He died and resurrected, Christ entered into His ascension in the Holy of Holies with His precious blood, and this blood became eternally effective, powerful, and applicable to all the human beings.
Whenever a sinner repents and calls on the name of the Lord, the powerful and all-inclusive redemption of Christ is being applied to him because and through the eternal Spirit.
It is crucial for us to see that Christ offered Himself as the sacrifice, but the efficacy and power of Christ’s redemption depend on the eternal Spirit, just as the grating in the altar of burnt offering depended on the four rings. Hallelujah!
Lord Jesus, thank You for offering Yourself through the eternal Spirit without blemish to God! Hallelujah, Your redemption and Your blood are now eternally effective because of the eternal Spirit! You entered with Your blood into the Holy of Holies and obtained an eternal redemption for us. Now we can confess our sins and Your blood is effectively applied to us to cleanse us, wash us, and restore us in our fellowship with God. Hallelujah for the powerful redemption of Jesus who offered Himself to God through the eternal Spirit!
The Redeeming Christ issues in the Spirit: now Christ is the Spirit!
The fact that the rings form one piece with the grating indicates that the redeeming Christ issues in the Spirit. The rings and the grating were made of one piece of bronze which was beaten into the grating and the rings; they were not “attached” together but were beaten and formed together as one piece. This shows us that the cross of Christ (the reality of the grating) issues in the Spirit (the reality of the rings).
First, Christ offered himself through the eternal Spirit: He did everything under the leading of the Spirit and by the power of the Spirit, and He gave Himself as an offering for sins through the eternal Spirit, thus accomplishing and obtaining a powerful and eternally effective redemption for us.
Then, the rings forming one piece with the grating indicates that the redeeming Christ issues in the Spirit: in His resurrection Christ became a life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45); now the Lord is the Spirit who gives life and flows into us to apply all that Christ is, has, and has accomplished to our being in our experience (2 Cor. 3:17; John 7:39).
In Galatians 3 we have at least two portions in which we see how the crucified Christ issues in the Spirit. Verses 1-2 say,
O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was openly portrayed crucified? This only I wish to learn from you, Did you receive the Spirit out of the works of law or out of the hearing of faith?
Christ was openly portrayed crucified by the apostles before the Galatians, and they received the Spirit; the crucified Christ issues in the Spirit, and when we see Christ crucified, we receive the Spirit. Gal. 3:13-14 says,
Christ has redeemed us out of the curse of the law, having become a curse on our behalf; because it is written, “Cursed is every one hanging on a tree”; In order that the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
Here we see that Christ was crucified for us – He became curse for us on the cross, accomplishing redemption; now we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith! The cross of Christ results in the Spirit, the cross issues in the Spirit, and the cross brings us the Spirit!
When we preach the gospel and portray Christ as the crucified One before others, they receive the Spirit as the blessing of the gospel. Hallelujah!
Lord, thank You for becoming a curse for us on the cross, dying an all-inclusive death on our behalf, so that we today may receive the Spirit. Praise the Lord, the redeeming Christ issues in the Spirit, and the cross of Christ brings us the Spirit! Hallelujah, the Lord now is the Spirit who gives life, the Spirit who flows out to bring all the blessing of the gospel to man! Hallelujah, Christ is now the all-inclusive Spirit! Praise the Lord, the cross results in the Spirit, and the preaching of the crucified Christ issues in the Spirit flowing into those who listen!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, brother Minoru Chen’s sharing in the message for this week, and Life-study of Exodus, msg. 107 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Exodus (3), week 6 (week 30), The Altar of Burnt Offering.
- All Bible verses are taken from, Holy Bible Recovery Version.
- Hymns on this topic to strengthen this burden:
# Through the eternal Spirit, Thou / Offeredst Thyself to God. / This sacrifice can ne’er grow old; / Timeless is Thy dear blood. (Hymns #1090)
# Thou art the better sacrifice, / Thru the eternal Spirit, / Once offered unto God for us, / That we may gain Thy merit. (Hymns #188)
# God’s Spirit is of Christ today, / The Spirit of reality, / He dwells in me with Christ as life / To make this Christ so real to me. (Hymns #243)
Now we have an answer to the question of why Christ needed to offer Himself through the eternal Spirit. We have seen that as a man He did not do anything on His own. Everything He did was under the leading of the Spirit and by the power of the eternal Spirit. This is signified by the four rings on the grating. The full weight of the grating was borne by the rings. Therefore, what is accomplished by the grating is powerful and efficacious. This means that the power, the strength, and the efficacy of the redemption accomplished by the grating depends on the four rings. The power of Christ’s redemption depends on the eternal Spirit. (W. Lee, Life-Study of Exodus)
Then, the rings forming one piece with the grating indicates that the redeeming Christ issues in the Spirit: in His resurrection Christ became a life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45); now the Lord is the Spirit who gives life and flows into us to apply all that Christ is, has, and has accomplished to our being in our experience (2 Cor. 3:17; John 7:39).
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