And with the one lamb a tenth part of wheaten flour mingled with beaten oil, a fourth part of a hin; and a drink-offering, a fourth part of a hin of wine.
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And the second lamb shalt thou offer between the two evenings; as the oblation in the morning, and as its drink-offering shalt thou offer with this, for a sweet odour, an offering by fire to Jehovah.
God is setting Aaron and his sons apart as priests, and the instructions end with a daily rhythm at the altar. Why the same lamb, grain offering and drink offering twice a day, and why does He call it food and a pleasing aroma?
A lamb opened Israel's day, and a lamb closed it. That daily repetition taught the people where they stood with God.
This leads to the ordinance as to the daily sacrifice of two lambs, one each morning and one each evening. So priests and people were to begin their day and end it with a reminder that they only stood in acceptance before God on the ground of sacrifice. Only in this way was it possible for God to dwell among them...
Which sacrifice was this? Not a sin offering. No one brought this lamb because of a sin committed that day.
Exodus 29:38 gives the instructions for the continual burnt offering. It was an unusual burnt offering. There was no laying on of hands, and no atonement offered for men. It was wholly for God in every way. It shows us the unbroken delight of Christ's sacrifice of Himself to God.
The verse calls this offering food for God. What feeds Him is Christ.
In a word, the special theme here is God's delight in Christ. Morning and evening, day by day, week after week... it is Christ in His fragrance and preciousness to God. It is true, thanks be to God and to Jesus Christ His Son: our sin is atoned for, judged, and put away for ever. Our trespasses are forgiven, our guilt cancelled. But above and beyond this, the heart of God is fed, refreshed, and delighted by Christ.
The verse names three things together. Each shows a different side of the same Person.
The grain offering is an emblem of the devotedness of Christ in life, His entire consecration to the will and glory of God. The fine flour was mixed with oil. That pictures the mysterious truth that Christ in His humanity was begotten of the Holy Spirit. It represented the perfection of His life below — His life of perfect obedience... The drink offering was composed of wine. Wine is a symbol of joy — "it cheers God and man". Here it is offered to God, so it speaks of His joy, His joy in the sacrifice presented.
The wine meets a different end from the lamb.
It always comes last, as though it suggested the securing of the delight of God as the result of the sacrifices which it followed... The sacrifice was offered up and so consumed. The drink offering was poured out and so remains.
The offering never stopped. That gave Israel a standing place before God.
The offering before us was perpetual. By it God laid a foundation on which Israel could stand, accepted in all its fragrance and savour. It becomes no small type of the position of the believer, revealing the ground of his acceptance in the Beloved. The sweet savour of the continual burnt offering always ascended to God on behalf of Israel. In the same way, Christ in all His acceptability is always before His eyes on behalf of His own.
Other parts of Scripture mark the hour of this second lamb.
It was 3 p.m. In Jerusalem, the evening lamb was being laid on the altar of Jehovah, with its grain offering and drink offering. All of it spoke to God of Christ, and His death at Calvary took place at that hour (Ex. 29:41; Matt. 27:46). It was the hour of divine blessing: compare Ezra 9:5; Dan. 9:21.
The pairing was not meant to last for ever. One day the second lamb drops out.
The morning lamb and the evening lamb provided this constant sweet fragrance before God. When the night for Israel is over, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in His wings. Then there will be no need for the evening sacrifice — only the morning sacrifice, as Ezekiel 46:13 instructs.
The altar's rhythm becomes a question about our own days.
It speaks of a steady personal communion with the Lord Jesus. It speaks of thankful adoration of Him as the ever-fresh sacrifice that delights the heart of the Father... the drink offering speaks of the joy of the offerer as he dwells on the perfections of the Lord Jesus and His sacrifice. Can we allow a morning or an evening to pass without some fresh, admiring thoughts of the Lord Jesus and His sacrifice?
- Continual — the lamb opened and closed every day. Israel never stood before God on any ground but sacrifice.
- For God — a burnt offering with no hands laid on it, and no atonement asked. Its whole point was God's delight in Christ.
- Complete — lamb, flour with oil, and wine stand together. They present His death, His obedient life, and the joy God takes in both.
- Ours — the fragrance never stopped rising. Christ Himself stands before God for the believer, and that is his acceptance.
- Fading — the evening lamb belongs to Israel's night. When their morning comes, only the morning sacrifice remains.