Leviticus 6:22, commentary and pictures

Leviticus 6:22 belongs to the laws of Leviticus 1 to 7 on the sacrifices and the duties of the priests, setting forth the five offerings and the manner of their offering in the yearly round of service in the sanctuary built by Moses for the worship of the true God. It directs that the anointed son who succeeds to the priesthood shall offer the priest's offering wholly burnt, as part of the ongoing daily ministry in the holy place by the Levitical order. Its call of the ordinance a statute for ever does not mean unending duration like God's own existence, for the same word is used for temporary ceremonial shadows that were abolished at Christ's death, whose length depends on the nature of what they describe. Like the other sacrifices, its details find their fuller meaning in Jesus Christ, for the earthly sanctuary and its yearly service were a pattern and object-lesson of the temple in heaven and of His more excellent ministry as High Priest in the true tabernacle, begun when He ascended on high and reaching to the antitypical day of atonement.

Setting and Ordinance

Leviticus 6:22 stands within Leviticus 1 to 7, and especially chapters 5 to 7, among the laws concerning sacrifices and the duties of the priests. Those chapters set forth the five kinds of offerings — burnt, meal, peace, sin, trespass — with their purpose and manner of offering. They describe the especial work for individuals as they presented their particular offerings during the year. They give the special instructions and directions regulating the priesthood and offerings of the tribe of Levi in the complete yearly round of service in the sanctuary built by Moses in the wilderness and later replaced by the temple, appointed through Moses for the worship of the true God.

The manner prescribed here is that the priest of his sons that is anointed in his stead shall offer it, wholly burnt, as a statute for ever unto the LORD. It belongs to the instructions for the priests' offerings and shows that the priests' work included offering sacrifices as part of the ongoing ministry of the earthly sanctuary. That work belongs to the first grand division of the ministration of the earthly sanctuary, the daily service in the holy place, performed by the Levitical order of priesthood.

It belongs to the ceremonial law, which was instituted in consequence of sin. It is part of the instructions prescribing offerings for individual sins, in which a sinner brought an unblemished animal, confessed over it and treated it as a substitute. Its death acknowledged the sinner's guilt, and the priest's handling of its blood or flesh represented the transfer of sin to the sanctuary. When such an individual offering described in the first seven chapters of Leviticus was offered in faith by the sinner together with the daily offering, it transferred in figure through the blood of the sacrifice or the person of the priest the sins of the penitent to the sanctuary. There the priest sprinkled the blood upon the altar before the ark and left in figure the forgiven sins of the people through the year until they were cleansed on the tenth day of the seventh month in the yearly judgment completing the round of service.

The ordinance is called a statute for ever, but forever does not mean that it must last as long as God exists. The same Hebrew word is used for God's endless existence and for temporary ceremonial ordinances that were shadows abolished at Christ's death, and its duration depends on the nature and circumstances of what it describes.

Type of Christ's Ministry

Leviticus 6:22 falls within the laws concerning sacrifices and the duties of the priests in Leviticus 1 to 7, with its special instructions regulating the priesthood and offerings of the tribe of Levi, and its details, like those of the other sacrifices, have their fuller meaning in the sacrifice, life, and work of Jesus Christ. It shows God's hatred of sin and how sin demanded its penalty, and as one of these offerings and types it is a shadow of the great substance which is in Jesus Christ, with a symbolic connection to His work. The earthly sanctuary and its service appointed through Moses for the worship of the true God were a pattern, shadow, and type, an impressive object-lesson to teach the temple of God in heaven and Christ's priestly service therein as High Priest and Minister of the sanctuary. That work for individuals as they presented their particular offerings during the year belongs to the first grand division of the ministration of the earthly sanctuary, the daily service in the holy place performed by the Levitical order of priesthood, which was the example and shadow of Christ's more excellent ministry in the true tabernacle. That sanctuary in its building, appointments, priesthood, and complete round of service performed every year in the sanctuary of the Levitical dispensation built by Moses in the wilderness and later replaced by the temple was typical of Christ and His priesthood in the heavenly sanctuary, which Jesus began when He ascended on high.

The yearly service described in Leviticus 1 to 16 typified in each year the service of Christ, which was once for all. The verse shows one of the individual offerings described in the first seven chapters of Leviticus that, when offered in faith by the sinner together with the daily offering, transferred in figure through the blood of the sacrifice or the person of the priest the sins of the penitent to the sanctuary, where the priest sprinkled the blood upon the altar before the ark and left in figure the forgiven sins of the people of God through the year. Those sins were left until they were cleansed on the tenth day of the seventh month in the yearly judgment completing the round of service typical of Christ's entire priesthood. The sanctuary service is a pattern of the greater work of Christ, placing the verse within the yearly cycle of offerings that looked forward to the antitypical day of atonement and Christ's priestly ministry.

That Scripture is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness, and was written for learning that through patience and comfort of the Scriptures men might have hope. Study of the earthly service gives clearer views of the Saviour and His work in behalf of men and reveals God's way, power, and glory.