Hidden Treasure – A Deeper Understanding

By way of introduction to this article “The Burnt Offering”, we remember the words of Jesus.

Matthew 24:15 ESV “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place ( let the reader understand),

Here is an admonition for us  to understand. That this theme is closely linked to the “daily” – another name for “the burnt offering”- is clearly seen from the following verses that Jesus was referring to.

Daniel 8:13 KJV Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?

Daniel 8:13-14 ESV Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to the one who spoke, “For how long is the vision concerning the regular burnt offering, the transgression that makes desolate, and the giving over of the sanctuary and host to be trampled underfoot?” [14] And he said to me, “For 2,300 evenings and mornings. Then the sanctuary shall be restored to its rightful state.”

Seventh-day Adventists would recognize this verse (Dan. 8:14) as being very pivotal to their understanding of last day events

Daniel 8:26 ESV The vision of the evenings and the mornings that has been told is true, but seal up the vision, for it refers to many days from now.”

Daniel 11:31 ESV Forces from him shall appear and profane the temple and fortress, and shall take away the regular burnt offering. And they shall set up the abomination that makes desolate.

What is the most important thing for God? Is it not His personal relationship with His people. Instead of some grandiose prophetic fulfillment of these verses, we need to be looking at something far more quiet, far more personal.

As Paul says:  “Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.”  1 Cor.13:8 ESV

With the words of Jesus, “let the reader understand”, these things are not without great meaning.

The Burnt Offering

(The preparation of a people for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit)

“It is the burnt offering, because of the burning upon the altar all night unto the morning and the fire of the altar shall be burning in it…it shall never go out” Lev.6:9,13

Many would be familiar with the layout of the ancient Hebrew sanctuary. In brief, as you walked into the courtyard you would first be confronted with the altar of burnt offering. Then as you walked past that into the actual building you would find yourself in the ‘holy place’. In here you would see a table containing ‘shewbread’, a seven branched candlestick with burning candles and an altar of incense. Then, walking through that area and past the curtain you would find yourself in the ‘most holy place’ with the ‘ark’ containing the ten commandments. All of these items were overlaid with pure gold, the wall hangings and the glow of the candles gave the whole area an atmosphere of exquisite beauty. It was a place of absolute reverence and holiness. There was a progression here: first the altar of burnt offering, then the holy place, then the most holy place.

This has sometimes been represented as some sort of ‘time line’ of our Christian experience – the altar of burnt offering equating with our justification, the holy place equating with our sanctification, eventually leading to the most holy place equating with the very presence of God and glorification. I can find no evidence in Scripture of such a supposed ‘time line’. Such a neat and selective theory may have done more to cement the doctrine of performance and works oriented Christian living than any other teaching. There is no victory, no rest, no peace, in such a belief system.

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If the sanctuary (the holy and the most holy place) is an earthly representation of Heaven itself, then the courtyard, where the sacrificial animals were slain, would represent this world. The altar of burnt offering was in the courtyard. This is where the sacrificial lamb was slain – representing Jesus who gave His life in this world. This basic principle has been well recognized.

“No sacrifice was ever slain within the sanctuary; but the offerings were slain in the court… Christ, the great antitypical Sacrifice, was slain in the antitypical court, this earth….”S.N.Haskell ‘The Cross and Its Shadow’

“The court has been regarded as representing this earth in contrast with the temple of God in heaven.” SDA Bible Comm. Vol.7 p.801

“The holy places of the sanctuary in heaven are represented by the two apartments in the sanctuary on earth.” Great Controversy p.176

The book of Leviticus specifies a number of offerings that were given on this altar – burnt offering, grain offering, sin offering, guilt offering, fellowship offering. Some of these were animal offerings which involved taking the life of the animal. These clearly pointed forward to Jesus, the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” Jn.1:26 All of these offerings were deeply significant in the outworking of God’s plan of salvation. Let us think about just two of these offerings – the sin and burnt offering. The sin offering was unique in that it was a shadow or type of Jesus sacrifice for us. “……we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all…..for all time one sacrifice for sins…Because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” Heb.10:10,12,14 Note also that in verse 8 of this passage – “burnt offerings and sin offerings” – a distinction is made between burnt offerings and sin offerings.

The sin offering was unique of course, to Jesus. Only the blood of a sin offering was taken into the sanctuary. (Lev.6:30)

It is in heaven now, in the presence of God the Father that Jesus pleads His blood on behalf of His faithful children.

The burnt offering was different in that everything that happened with it happened in the courtyard. Its blood was not taken into the sanctuary. The whole offering was consumed on the altar of burnt offering – in the courtyard. (Lev.6:8-13)Unlike the sin offering it is referred to repeatedly as, “an aroma pleasing to the Lord.” (Lev.1:9,13,17) There is nothing pleasing to God about sin and its consequences as typified in the sin offering, but there was something pleasing to God about the burnt offering.

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The act of justification takes place for us individually in Heaven. The pure righteousness of Christ is appropriated to each and every believer on this earth:- and their names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. This is where our justification takes place – in the purity of Heaven, in the presence of the Father.

This can only be done because the law which hung over us and condemned us has been nailed to the cross. Its condemnation has been totally destroyed – The Father sees only the righteousness and the purity of Christ in His people.

Meanwhile back on this earth (the courtyard) these saints are struggling and living the life that Jesus lived when He was on this earth. This is their sanctification or preparation taking place. These saints are well aware of their imperfections. But they are not alone. The Holy Spirit is with them every moment. Little by little their humanity is being consumed leaving only a pile of ashes as it were. And Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, takes up those ashes and carries them forth without the camp unto a ‘clean place’. (Lev.6:11) Like David of old they have learnt the happiness of finding their strength in God. They have been taken to their ‘clean place’ and appointed ‘beauty for their ashes and the oil of joy for their mourning’. (Isa.61:3) Their Friend Jesus is no longer their judge: He is their Friend. To them He has laid aside His priestly garments and walks with them now as a Friend. (Lev.6:11; John 15:15)

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At this point we need to stop and re-assess what we are saying. We are not talking about a ‘works’ or ‘try hard’ mentality here. Although that is how our minds may interpret it. That is how Satan wants us to interpret it. ‘If I can just be busy doing good things and trying hard to be a good person’ – perhaps the greatest trap to the Christian.

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This offering was figurative of Jesus’ life and dedication. His life was one of total surrender to His Fathers’ will. “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him..” Heb.5:7-9 NIV In His life of surrender and commitment He was also showing us how to live. “..because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.” I Pet.2:21

The “daily” burnt offering primarily was typical of Jesus life and His experiences on this earth. But as we shall see it has a secondary and wider application in the life of each one of us. This principle has certainly been recognized by different Christian writers. In the book Counsels on Stewardship, E.G.White makes this statement.

“At the altar of self-sacrifice – the appointed place of meeting between God and the soul – we receive from the hand of God the celestial torch which searches the heart, revealing the need of an abiding Christ.”p. 30

Note the sanctuary symbolism in that statement – ‘altar of self-sacrifice’. And this is referred to as “the appointed place of meeting between God and the soul”. This must be the point that the soul draws near to God. Where do we meet God? At the point of self-surrender or self-sacrifice. Sounds simple? That’s because it is. This is the most straight forward and yet the hardest thing to do in the Christian life.

The greatest hurdles in our life are our pride and our selfishness – two natural human traits. These are the two original character traits of Lucifer the god of this world. (Isa.14:13,14) It is hard and painful to surrender our pride and our self-centredness but it is the way of personal revival. These are what have to be laid on the altar. Like the burnt offering of old these things must be laid on the altar and the fire must be kept burning all through the night until all is consumed. “This is the law for the burnt offering: the burnt offering itself shall remain on the hearth on the altar all night until the morning, and the fire on the altar is to be kept burning on it….it is not to go out.” Lev.6:9,13 The fire of the Holy Spirit will do His work in our lives while we allow Him. This is what is taught by the symbolism of the burnt offering. Could this be the key to our personal and mutual revival?

Another remarkable comment on the burnt offering is the marginal reference in the Amplified Bible on Lev.1:4.

“To render the self-sacrifice perfect, it was necessary that the offerer should spiritually die, and that through the mediator of his salvation he should put his soul into a living fellowship with the Lord by sinking it as it were into the death of the sacrifice that had died for him, and should also bring his bodily members within the operations of the gracious Spirit of God, that thus he might be renewed and sanctified (separated for holy use) both body and soul and enter into union with God”

Launching ourselves into a life of faith can seem like we are putting at risk everything we have held dear and that gives us security. Paul talks about ‘the risky faith embrace of God’s action” Rom.4:12 Message. Perhaps we need to think less of future rewards and more of surrendering to God’s will here and now. There were times in Jesus life when He could not see beyond the darkness around Him but could only cling to a belief in His Fathers’ love. If Jesus Himself had this experience (Heb.5:7-9; Matt.27:46) who are we to complain if God allows us to be in apparently helpless situations independent of any human support.

A word of warning here: we are not talking about a martyr mentality – another natural trait of the human mind. Jesus says:

“When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” Matt.6:16-18

And again­­­­­­: “Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? Would he not rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’” Lk.17:7-10

Could it be that the ‘daily’ sacrifice of the burnt offering holds the key to revival on both a personal and a corporate basis? Is this the fundamental truth that Satan wants to keep hidden? He will cover it up with all sorts of church rules, regulations, requirements and procedures. It is said of the counterfeit antichrist power of the last times that it would ‘take away’ the daily sacrifice (Dan.8:11; 11:31) and of course replace it with procedures, ceremonies and traditions – anything that gives us false assurances. It will usually involve group thinking and practice – the reassurance that comes from the natural ‘crowd’ mentality of our minds. How often we see that in our world today – religious fanaticism displayed daily in the media. And Christianity itself is not without fault in this area.

In real terms the burnt offering in the Christians life is about letting go of the whole self. And of course, paradoxically, it’s about ultimately becoming comfortable with ourselves. In the words of Jesus, “He who has found his life shall lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake shall find it.” Matt.10:39

The altar of burnt offering then, far from being the first step in some growth towards perfection is simply the letting go of and the laying down of self on a daily basis. It is letting God do the work that only He can do. To the Christian the presence and ongoing work of the Holy Spirit is constant and relentless. It is the common denominator amongst all Christians irrespective of age, education, social standing or ability.

The surrender of the will to God is a ‘daily’ practice for the Christian. As long as life shall last layer upon layer of our humanity will be revealed to us. It will not always be a pleasant process. But it is a necessary process. And we discover to our joy that the daily surrender of our will to God is the key to our closeness with Him.

The thief on the cross whose life was limited and a young person whose whole life is ahead of them have this in common. They both have need of total personal surrender to Jesus. The burnt offering was said to be a sweet savour to God. (Lev.1:9,13,17)The thief on the cross brought joy to the heart of God when he surrendered his fate and his will to Jesus. Every day Christians bring joy to God when they submit to His leading and His lessons in their life.

What a wonderful thought that we can have a part in bringing happiness to God. Those things in life which we look on as annoyances or hindrances are the very things that God is placing there for our spiritual growth. Paul recognized this in his experience, “To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then am I strong.” 2 Cor.12:7-10 NIV

The Christian life isn’t some striving growth towards elusive perfection – such belief will keep us in a state of serious, striving bondage. But according to the hopeful and optimistic teaching of the burnt offering the Christian life is letting go of self –i.e. the pride, the selfishness that rises up so easily and tends to control our lives. It is letting go of these things and allowing the fires of the Holy Spirit to come into our lives and consume the dross of our humanity. This is the work that God wants to do in each of our lives. “He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them…” Mal.3:3

To many, this may seem like a passive way of living the Christian life. And perhaps it is. But if it is the way spelt out in Scripture perhaps we should be looking more closely at it.

All believers desire above all things the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. This world is old and tired. As much as we try to do good to those around us, as much as churches and organizations and governments run programs to assist and alleviate the distress around them – these efforts fall far short of bringing real relief to this old world. The milk of human kindness is needed so much in this world today but all Christians know in their heart of hearts that the only real answer lies in the second coming of Jesus Christ. We know that our best laid plans fall far short of their mark.

How many of us are honest enough to admit that we struggle at a personal level? Our natural way of dealing with sin is to cover it up. Denying our natural feelings and becoming involved in doing ‘good’ things, and saying the ‘right’ things. We happily give of our time and our means to the church. We try hard to be kind. We ‘spread’ the gospel by handing out brochures, by supporting missions and outreach. We tell others of our faith….and so on and so on: when deep down we feel we are not really reaching the mark.

The symbolism of the burnt offering is God’s way of dealing with our dilemma. The burnt offering is our response to God’s incredible gift to us. He says, “My son, give me thine heart.” Prov.23:26 The laying down of our lives for God is pleasing to Him. This is Gods work from beginning to end – we cannot orchestrate it – we can only ever submit. God can allow things to happen to us that will leave us asking, Why? But listen to His word to us, “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you…..the Lord disciplines those he loves….endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons……God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasing at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” Heb.12:5-11 NIV Isn’t this the language of the burnt offering? “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship.” Rom.12:1 NIV Remember Paul’s thorn in the flesh Remember Job’s experiences simply because he was a righteous man who wanted to follow God closely.

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“Glory to God in the highest….” Said the angels. This is the true glory. The glory shining in the face of Jesus Christ is indeed the glory of self-sacrificing love. (2 Cor.4:6)

The philosophy of the world is all about self exaltation and self preservation. This can extend easily to Christians who can become very precious and protective of their lifestyle and beliefs. But the philosophy of the gospel is totally self-sacrificing and allowing self to be consumed on the altar. How many of us cling to some part of what we consider ourselves. The teaching behind the burnt offering is all about letting go of the whole self. “To render the self-sacrifice perfect, it was necessary that the offerer should spiritually die… and bring his bodily members within the operations of the gracious Spirit of God…..both body and soul…” If we’re looking for a ‘safe’ and ‘reassuring’ faith, the way of procedures, rules and regulations it’s not hard to find a church where we’ll feel comfortable. But the way of faith, spoken of so often in the New Testament is not always so easy to find. If the great apostle Paul were alive today would he be saying , maybe it’s time we grew up from the milk of the word and embraced solid food. (1Cor.3:2; Heb.5:12)

This can be the part of the Christ life that we are unwilling to accept. The willing sacrifice of ourselves. We are not talking about grandstanding or emotional extremism here. We are talking the quiet surrendering of our mind and our wills to God. “Hast thou faith, have it to thyself before God.” Rom.14:22 Jesus did it – to the point where He cried, “My God my God why hast thou forsaken me.”……… Ah! Many will say, this is extreme putting ourselves in the position of Jesus – and of course we can never do that. But we need to remember that we live in the last times. Perhaps we need a deeper level of commitment than has ever been called for in previous generations. Perhaps there are deeper lessons in the life of Jesus for us to observe and identify with. These things we cannot orchestrate – we can only accept.

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The great paradox of Christianity is that the only way we can have an identity is to let go of it. Jesus said, “…anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Matt.10:38,39 NIV We need to look at this as an ongoing daily principle. The great apostle Paul talks in a similar vein, “For when I am weak, then am I strong.” 2 Cor.12:10 NIV “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.” Phil.2:3 This is the psychology of the Bible – good medicine – good therapy. It doesn’t sound like the sort of advice a modern counsellor would give today.

Few of us realize the two extremes, the depravity of the human heart and the goodness of God. Great men of God have realized both. John Wesley said in one of his sermons in 1757. “Never did every sin appear in the conversation of the vilest wretch that ever lived. But look into thy nature, and thou mayest see all and every sin in the root thereof. There is a fullness of all unrighteousness there; atheism, idolatry, adultery, murder. Perhaps none of these appear to thee in thy heart; but there is more in that unfathomable depth of wickedness than thou knowest.” There is no room for pretentiousness before God.

Every Christian has their own unique individual cross to bear. To the privileged it may be in the area of pride. To the underprivileged it may be in the area of self-pity. To all there are given tests but the promise is their trials will not be beyond their ability to bear (1 Cor.10:13) These are the things, pride, self-pity, etc etc that have to be laid on the altar – surrendered to God – to be consumed by the fires of the Holy Spirit. “No discipline seems pleasing at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” Heb.12:11 NIV

We are all unique individuals – each with our own story to tell. There may be no human ear that can hear or understand but Jesus our Friend and Saviour understands our deepest thoughts, our hidden desires, our secret struggles. It’s for these things that He died. The perfect sacrifice for all mankind. In being open, honest, and transparent before Him we come to understand the peace of God which passes all understanding. We are told that if there were only one sinner Jesus would have died for that one person. Such a thought is too overwhelming for this writer but nonetheless it is true and we can only accept that in wonder and gratitude. Any brother or sister can know that Jesus death and resurrection is for their own unique individual self. That thought, that realization, believed and clung to will provide us with a victorious, happy and fulfilling life. Even if at times it is in the face of adversity.

There’s nothing more re-assuring in life than the awareness of the presence of our Friend Jesus. Jesus can be that to us – not because of what we have done or become in our lives but because of what He has done for us. He can be a friend to us because He has taken the law – which always condemns us – and nailed it to His cross, so that the law no longer condemns. Those weaknesses in our lives, or imagined weaknesses, no longer condemn. What is required is an openness in our lives before God – the laying of our whole life on the altar as it were. He will then address those things in our life that need addressing.

This is not a fearful thing. There is not one aspect of our lives that God isn’t totally familiar with. And Jesus died for every hidden aspect. He has ‘broken the back’ of any secret, hidden thing in our lives. This is not because we ‘feel it’ to be the case: it may not even mean that we have total victory over that thing. It simply means it is true because Jesus has paid the price. The Holy Spirit can be the controller of our lives, not our feeling or imagination.

When I came into a certain church through attending a ‘mission outreach’ I embraced a set of beliefs which I was told made us unique as a people. We were even mentioned in the book of Revelation. I saw the ten commandments represented as some sort of wall of protection around us that would effectively protect us and isolate from the ‘evils’ of the outside world. My studies since that time have shown me, that is not only a false premise but also a dangerous one – spiritually speaking. And yet how many members of the church today still labour under that false premise and false re-assurance. Hence a great need of a true understanding of doctrine and a true understanding of what is signified by the burnt offering.

God will yet have an army of people who will declare His love, His power, His grace to a sinful and rebellious world. They will be the ones whom God chooses. To the human eye they may appear non-descript, ordinary, without value or talent. But these will be the ones who have learnt to lay down their egos, their pride and self-sufficiency on the altar of self sacrifice and learnt to walk with God and Him alone. They are the ones who “follow the Lamb wherever he goes”.(Rev.14:4) This is what will open the way for the outpouring of God’s Spirit – the finishing of the work – and the second climactic coming of Jesus Christ. We are yet to see how God will use these souls in a most powerful way.

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