WE HAVE AN ALTAR!

The people of God are blessed with a degree of participation never known before the glorification of Christ Jesus. In salvation, we become capable of imbibing the Divine Nature--a requisite to eternal life.

"Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein. We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle. For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp. Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come." (Heb 13:9-14).

Devotion 6 of 12

EATING THE SACRIFICE

Those who serve the tabernacle have no "right to eat" (NIV). However, this is not the case with those who are in Christ Jesus! It is proper for them to "eat" the sacrifice of the altar, because it has been provided for them. Mind you, we are speaking about eating the sacrifice made for sin, something not possible under the Law (Lev 6:28-30).

The allusion to eating what was offered on the altar takes us back to the Law. The concept of eating the sacrifice was introduced in the Levitical Law. The priests could not eat of the sin offering, but they did eat of other sacrifices. It will be time well spent to familiarize ourselves with this facet of the Law.

A Holy Gift for the Priests

"Now behold, I Myself have given you charge of My offerings, even all the holy gifts of the sons of Israel, I have given them to you as a portion, and to your sons as a perpetual allotment. This shall be yours from the most holy gifts, reserved from the fire; every offering of theirs, even every grain offering and every sin offering and every guilt offering, which they shall render to Me, shall be most holy for you and for your sons. As the most holy gifts you shall eat it; every male shall eat it. It shall be holy to you" (Num 18:8-10, NASB).

Notice the marvelous provision! God Himself provided the priests with their portion. Their allotment came from the "holy gifts"--a blessed shadow of the spiritual substance to be realized in Christ Jesus.

The Law of Eating

The Law was particular on this point. "And thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, upon the altar of the LORD thy God: and the blood of thy sacrifices shall be poured out upon the altar of the LORD thy God, and thou shalt eat the flesh" (Deut 12:27). "Now this is the law of the grain offering . . . what is left of it Aaron and his sons are to eat. It shall be eaten as unleavened cakes in a holy place; they are to eat it in the court of the tent of meeting" (Lev 6:14-16, NASB). "Then the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the LORD. It is holy for the priest, together with the breast offered by waving and the thigh offered by lifting up" (Num 6:20a, NASB).

Both grain and meat offered to God was for the priest. With the exception of the sin offering, this was the portion of those who served the altar. It was God's gift to them, because they had no other inheritance. The Lord Himself was the "portion" of the priests. They had no part of the promised land allotted to them as other Israelites enjoyed. Thus, the offerings were given to them. "Then the LORD said to Aaron, You shall have no inheritance in their land, nor own any portion among them; I am your portion and your inheritance among the sons of Israel" (Num 18:20).

Let us behold the principle depicted by the law! Those who have no inheritance in this world are allowed to eat what is sacrificed upon the altar!

Eating in the Holy Place

The place of eating was also important. The sacrifice offered upon the altar was not to be eaten in isolation from the place of Divine communication. Here is the stipulation of the Law. "And the priest shall offer them up in smoke on the altar as an offering by fire to the LORD; it is a guilt offering. Every male among the priests may eat of it. It shall be eaten in a holy place; it is most holy" (Lev 7:5-6, NASB). The environment in which the sacrifice was eaten was to be conducive to the work of the priest. Distraction must not be allowed. Divine associations were imperative.

Here is another principle to be grasped. Those who eat the accepted sacrifice must do so in a framework of holiness.

Washing before eating the sacrifice

Not only were the sacrifices (excluding sin offerings) given to the priest to be eaten in the holy place, the condition of the priest was vital. If he had been ceremonially contaminated in any way, he had to bathe himself before eating the sacrifice. "The one who touches any such thing will be unclean till evening. He must not eat any of the sacred offerings unless he has bathed himself with water. When the sun goes down, he will be clean, and after that he may eat the sacred offerings, for they are his food" (Lev 22:6-7).

Here, then, is another principle. Those who eat the sacrifice cannot do so while they are defiled. They must be clean.

PRAYER POINT: Father, in Jesus' name I thank You for providing an altar from which we can eat and be sustained.

-- Tomorrow: THE TYPOLOGY OF THE PASSOVER --