I was reading in Exodus 8 this morning and came to verses 38-46 which discuss the daily offerings to the Lord. As I was reading it I began to draw a parallel between the daily offerings of the old covenant and those of the new covenant. Many people think that ‘offerings’ went away when Christ fulfilled the old covenant and ushered in the new, but that is not correct. Required sacrifices, for atonement, went away, because Christ became that atoning sacrifice, once for all time, but offerings still stand to this day. Offerings under the new covenant just look different. What are offerings under the new covenant, what do they look like? One offering is time given to the Lord daily. Time spent in the Word of God, in reading, meditation and prayer. I will show you how these activities parallel the offerings of the old covenant and how they serve the same purposes. I want to look now at the similarities in the offerings. First, old covenant (OC) daily offerings were made at the tabernacle of meeting (Ex 29:42) that later became the Temple of the Lord. Under the new covenant (NC) there is no longer a need for the Temple as it stood traditionally, because we are now the temples of the Lord (1 Cor 3:16; 6:19) so the offerings are made in our bodies, through our devotion to God in the actions mentioned above. Second, in response to the daily offerings in the temple God says, “There I will meet with the children of Israel” (Ex 29:43). This same purpose holds true in the daily NC offerings, it is here that the Lord meets with us, in our reading of the Word, meditation and prayer. This is where we can come face to face with God. Third, through this presence of God, in response to the daily OC offerings God said that he would sanctify the temple by His glory (Ex 29:43). In the same way, under the offerings of the NC we (the new temples) are brought into the presence of God and sanctified by his glory. If we do not offer this to God we will not be sanctified. Fourth, in response to these offerings God said that he would dwell among his people and they would know that he was their God (Ex 29:45-46). Under the NC, the only way to consistently hear from God and open up your life, open up the doors to your ‘temple’, your heart, for God to dwell among you, is through the daily offering of reading God’s Word, meditating on it and praying to him. Finally, the OC offerings were done twice a day, in the morning and in the evening (Ex 29:39). This was done as a reminder, first thing in the morning and last thing in the evening, that God was first, and that they served the one true God. This principle is extremely important under the new covenant. Since we no longer have a physical ‘temple’ to go to we are very easily distracted in our worship and dedication. Without daily reminders of what is important and who we serve we are led astray and fall quickly into temptation. Israel proves this over and over again in the Old Testament by their consistent apostasy and they had a temple to worship in. This daily offering, twice a day, serves to keep our eyes on God and preserve us in the long run, not to mention it gives God the glory and priority in our lives. So to summarize, OC offerings were made in the temple, in response to these offerings God said that he would meet with his people, sanctify the temple, dwell among his people and make Himself known to them. This was done twice a day as a reminder of the God that they served. What does this mean for us? If we want God to meet with us, sanctify us and dwell with us, in our hearts, the temple, and make himself known to us, we must make daily offerings to him as Israel did. Ours will be in our bodies, the new temple, and will be in the form of reading God’s Word, meditation and prayer. These offerings should be daily, twice a day, to keep us focused on God and in remembrance of him in all of our life. Morning and evening may God receive the glory.
Father I thank you for insight into your word. I thank you for understanding of the principles of offering and for the revelation of yourself through your Word. Help me to be consistent in my daily offering to you and in my devotion to your glory. Come to me, meet with me here, dwell with me, make yourself known to me and sanctify me. These are my hearts desires, that I could be a temple of God, a place where you remain. Amen.
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