"And he shall kill the bullock before the Lord; and the priests, Aaron's sons, shall bring the blood, and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation." It is most needful, in studying the doctrine of the burnt-offering, to bear in mind that the grand point set forth therein is not the meeting of the sinner's need, but the presentation to God of that which was infinitely acceptable to Him. Christ as foreshadowed by the burnt-offering is not for the sinner's conscience, but for the heart of God. Further, the cross in the burnt-offering is not the exhibition of the exceeding hatefulness of sin, but of Christ's unshaken and unshakable devotedness to the Father; neither is it the scene of God's outpoured wrath on Christ the sin-bearer, but of the Father's unmingled complacency in Christ the voluntary and most fragrant Sacrifice. Finally, "atonement" as seen in the burnt-offering is not merely commensurate with the claims of man's conscience, but with the intense desire of the heart of Christ to carry out the will and establish the counsels of God--a desire which stopped not short of surrendering up His spotless, precious life, as "a voluntary offering" of "sweet savor" to God.
From the carrying out of this desire, no power of earth or hell, men or devils, could shake Him. When Peter ignorantly sought to dissuade Him, by words of false tenderness, from encountering the shame and degradation of the cross--"Pity Thyself, Lord: this shall not be unto Thee"--what was the reply? "Get thee behind Me, Satan: Thou art an offense unto Me; for thou savorest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men." (Matt. xvi. 22, 23.) So, also, on another occasion, He says to His disciples, "Hereafter I will not talk much with you; for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in Me. But that the world may know that _I love the Father_, and as the Father gave Me commandment, even so I do." (John xiv. 30.) These and numerous other kindred scriptures bring out the burnt-offering phase of Christ's work, in which, it is evident, the primary thought is His "offering Himself without spot to God."
In full keeping with all that has been stated in reference to the special point in the burnt-offering, is the place which Aaron's sons get, and the functions assigned them therein. They "sprinkle the blood;" they "put the fire upon the altar;" they "lay the wood in order upon the fire;" they "lay the parts, the head and the fat, in order upon the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar." These are very prominent actions, and they form a marked feature of the burnt-offering, as contrasted with the sin-offering, in which Aaron's sons are not mentioned at all. "The sons of Aaron" represent the Church, not as "one body," but as a priestly house. This is easily apprehended. If Aaron was a type of Christ, then Aaron's house was a type of Christ's house, as we read, in Heb. iii, "But Christ as a Son over His own house; whose house are we." And again, "Behold I and the children whom God hath given Me." Now, it is the privilege of the Church, as led and taught by the Holy Ghost, to gaze upon and delight in that aspect of Christ which is presented in this opening type of Leviticus. "Our fellowship is with the Father," who graciously calls us to participate with Him in His thoughts about Christ. True, we can never rise to the height of those thoughts, but we can have fellowship therein, by the Holy Ghost, who dwells in us. It is not here a question of having the conscience tranquilized by the blood of Christ as the sin-bearer, but of communion with God in the matter of Christ's perfect surrender of Himself on the cross.