This week in our enjoyment of the Lord in the morning revival we come to the matter of, Hebrews as an Exposition of Leviticus, and in particular we want to see the wonderful, detailed, and fine types of Christ in Leviticus as expounded in Hebrews.
This is not just so that we would know the doctrines in Leviticus and how they are expounded in Hebrews, but so that, as we open to the Lord’s supply of life and light, we would see and enjoy Christ in a more fine and detailed way for Him to gain what He’s after in us.
God gives us this wonderful book called the Bible, the Holy Scriptures, and this book has two sections – the Old Testament and the New Testament.
If we read the Old Testament we see a lot of history, psalms, promises, and prophecies. In the New Testament, on the other hand, we see many things concerning Christ and the church. We could say that the Old Testament is a figurative portrait and the New Testament is the practical fulfillment.
The Old Testament contains many types, figures, shadows, promises, and prophecies. The New Testament refers to the coming of Christ to be the fulfillment and reality of all the types, figures, and shadows mentioned in the Old Testament.
Agustin once said that the New Testament is contained in the Old Testament, and the Old Testament is explained by the New Testament.
These two testaments are not separate but one is like a portrait and the other is the fulfillment. The Old Testament is like a picture with many figures, types, and shadows, but the New Testament is the fulfillment of all these figures and types.
In the book of Leviticus we see that there are many rules, there are the offerings, there’s the priesthood, there are the ordinances concerning the living of God’s people, and there are the feasts.
However, just by reading these alone we are not able to understand and dive into all the riches and intrinsic significance of these types. What we need is the New Testament, in particular the book of Hebrews, to dive into the intrinsic significance of the types seen in Leviticus.
We need to pray that the Lord would grant us not only a strong spirit to contact Him and remain in oneness with Him, but also a sober mind so that we may understand how Paul in Hebrews expounded the book of Leviticus, and we may enjoy the wonderful all-inclusive Christ as typified in Leviticus and expounded in Hebrews.
May we see the fine, detailed Christ in type in Leviticus and in fulfillment in Hebrews, and may we enter into the enjoyment of this wonderful Christ and experience Him in and for the church life, for the Lord to obtain a corporate expression on earth.
The most Fine and Detailed Types of Christ are in the book of Leviticus, a Book of Types
The book of Leviticus is a book of types, a book of typology; the most fine and detailed types of Christ are in Leviticus.
However, we all have to admit that, if we read the book of Leviticus alone by ourselves, we would never arrive to this conclusion, and we would not enter into the realisation that we have such an all-inclusive Christ.
C. I. Scofield, who authored the Scofield study Bible, said that on every page of Leviticus we can find Christ.
But if we try to do this by ourselves, we would never come to this conclusion. Without the help of the New Testament, especially the book of Hebrews, we would not see Christ everywhere in Leviticus.
We may see sacrifices, offerings, ordinances, the priesthood, and many feasts, but we may not have any idea what do they refer to, especially as related to us in our Christian life.
The book of Leviticus is a book of types, typifying Christ in the finest way, in the most thorough and detailed way for our experience and enjoyment.
Our Christ is wonderful and all-inclusive; however, plain words are not adequate to reveal Him, so there are types, figures, and pictures in Leviticus showing us this fine and detailed portrait of Christ.
For us to describe a cup or a table is not that difficult, but when something or someone is profound and mysterious, we need more than words to explain it – we need some pictures, some diagrams, some types.
Leviticus is a book of pictures and figures to describe to us what a wonderful Christ we have, what an all-inclusive One He is. Because Leviticus is a book of types, there’s the need for it to be expounded; the apostle Paul expounded Leviticus in his epistle to the Hebrews (see Heb. 1:1-3).
Paul wrote the book of Hebrews to the Hebrew believers who were wavering between Judaism and the New Testament faith. He wrote this book to them not to condemn or judge them but to present to them how in the New Testament we have a wonderful Person, Jesus Christ the Son of God, who is superior, excellent, and marvelous.
This wonderful Christ needs the Old Testament types in the book of Leviticus to express Him and the expounding in Hebrews for us to enjoy Him and experience Him.
When Paul wrote the book of Hebrews he surely had in view the book of Leviticus, for in this book Paul wrote a lot concerning the offerings and the high priest. In the old God spoke in many portions and in many persons, but in the New Testament He speaks in the Son, Jesus Christ.
God spoke using types, prophecies, and figures; He spoke in many ways and in many portions. But now He speaks to us in the Son, His unique way, and this One is the all-inclusive Christ as the fulfillment of all the types in Leviticus. Praise the Lord!
Lord, open our eyes and our understanding to see the all-inclusive Christ as typified in the book of Leviticus and expounded in the book of Hebrews. May we see the fine and detailed types of Christ in Leviticus and may we enter into the reality of all that Christ is to us and for us! Hallelujah, our Christ is so wonderful, so detailed, and so all-inclusive that He needs book after book to show us types, figures, and pictures, and He also needs books for interpreting the types and for bringing us into His enjoyment and experience! Lord, amen, may we experience You in all Your details and wonderful aspects!
Seeing that Hebrews is an Exposition of Leviticus and that Christ fulfills all the Offerings
Once we know the preciousness of a certain item, we will appreciate it and treasure it much more.
Once we see all the wonderful details of Christ in His salvation and His purpose as typified in Leviticus and expounded in Hebrews, we will love Him and cooperate with Him in prayer to enjoy Him and experience Him as such an all-inclusive One.
The book of Hebrews is an exposition of Leviticus (see Heb. 9:14, 25-26; 10:5-12; 13:11-13), and for us to have a proper understanding of Leviticus, we need to see the connection between Leviticus and Hebrews.
It is not easy to see what Leviticus speaks of – especially as it is related to us, the New Testament believers, but if we read the book of Hebrews, we will see how the types in Leviticus portray Christ for our experience and enjoyment.
We praise the Lord for raising up the Brethren to expound both on Leviticus and on Hebrews; through their writings we received much help to realize the types of Christ in Leviticus and their fulfillment in Hebrews.
In the Epistle to the Hebrews we have the reality of the types of the offerings in Lev. 1-7 (see Heb. 10:5-10). The reality of all the offerings refers to Christ; He is the reality of sin offering, the trespass offering, the burnt offering, the peace offering, and the meal offering.
The fulfillment and reality of all the types of the offerings in Leviticus is Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
By reading Leviticus alone we may never see this; however, as we read the book of Hebrews, we see more concerning this through Paul’s exposition.
For example, the sin offering signifies Christ as the offering for the sin of God’s people; our sin has been dealt with by Christ as our sin offering (see Lev. 4; Heb. 9:26).
In Lev. 4 we see the sin offering, which had to be offered again and again for the sin of the people; in Heb. 9:26 we see how Christ offered Himself once for all as an offering for sin. Hallelujah!
Christ was manifested to be offered once for all, and He put away sin through the sacrifice of Himself once for all. In the Bible sin refers to the indwelling sin in our nature, whereas sins refers to our sinful deeds – the fruit of the indwelling sin.
Praise the Lord, our sin was dealt with by Christ as our sin offering (Lev. 4; Rom. 8:3; 2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 9:26), and our sins, our trespasses, were borne by Christ as our trespass offering (Lev. 5; Isa. 53:5-6, 11; 1 Cor. 15:3; 1 Pet. 2:24; Heb. 9:28).
Christ came as the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world in its totality – both the inward sin and the outward sins (see Isa. 53:10; John 1:29).
Thank You Lord for coming to be the fulfillment of all the offerings for our enjoyment and experience. Hallelujah, in the body of Christ on the cross we see the fulfillment of all the offerings as recorded in Leviticus and expounded in Hebrews. Lord, bring us into the full appreciation and enjoyment of Yourself as the reality of all the offerings. You are the Lamb of God who died to take away the sin of the world – both the sin in our nature and the sins in our conduct. Lord, we take You as our sin offering for the sin in our nature and trespass offering for the sins in our conduct!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by James Lee for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Leviticus, msg. 35 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Leviticus (2), week 3, Hebrews as an Exposition of Leviticus.
- Hymns on this topic:
# Lord, Thou art all the offerings / Prepared by God for us; / They are so rich in meaning, / So sweet and glorious. / They have fulfilled God’s purpose / And met His heart’s desire; / They too have satisfied us, / And faced what we require. (Hymns #195)
# Come forward now to God through Him, / Ne’er shrink back to destruction; / Come forward now to get the life, / Which brings the proper function. (Hymns #1130)
# Behold, the Lamb of God, / Who takes away the sin; / The sins of all the world / Were fully placed on Him, / Fulfilling all God’s righteousness, / Redeeming all mankind; / All praise to Jesus, Lamb of God! (Song on, Our Trespass Offering)
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