The Transmission of Spiritual Substance in Mosaic Law
Recently at church on a Sunday evening I got into a conversation with a guy who said he felt called to be a Catholic priest. I really enjoy seeing different perspectives on the Word and of faith in Christ and I remember talking with him about his beliefs on transubstantiation. Particularly that when a priest or bishop gives an ordinal blessing on common bread and wine that because of the spiritual substance of the blessing that such food and drink becomes the literal body and blood of Christ that upon consumption is the contact point of a supernatural experience with Jesus. He testified of a couple different manifestations of God he had experienced when he partook of communion with that expectation and I remember thinking about how the Bible actually describes partaking of the Body and Blood of Christ in communion as a contact point of God's grace (see 1 Corinthians 10:16 -- the cup of blessing) -- a contact point among a list that would include the laying on of hands, the Word spoken in faith, singing to God and dancing before the Lord in worship and a few others that I'm sure I haven't discovered yet.
The concept of spiritual substance being transmitted through contact points is a very large subject in the Bible. We see it clearly in the blessing that Jacob manipulated Esau out of -- what was he making such a big stink about if there wasn't a real spiritual substance that Isaac released to him through the laying on of hands and the spoken word (see Genesis 27). We see Paul reference it a couple times, in particular with Timothy, who Paul states received his spiritual gift by having the congregation lay hands on him (1 Timothy 4:14) and we also see Jesus give reference to it numerous times, in particular once when he is touched by a woman with an issue of blood and after being touched she is healed and He feels spiritual substance leave Him.
Transferring Sin by the Laying on of Hands
The transmission of spiritual matter is a truth that extends further than the realm of blessing. One of the most interesting concepts about the sacrificial system of Mosaic Law was the ritual of the sacrifices themselves. In every sacrifice that involved a bull or a goat -- whether it be the burnt offering, the fellowship offering or the sin offering -- the individual giving the animal was to lay their hands on the animal's head before the sacrifice was to occur. This was done so that the offering would be "be accepted for him to make atonement on his behalf" (Leviticus 1:4) and I believe that the act itself transferred spiritual matter from the individual into the animal particularly so that the animal became a representative of the individual's soul.
We see this to be understood particularly in the sin offering where the animal being offered had its fat and kidneys removed and burnt on the bronze altar. Biblically speaking the kidneys and fat represent the inner man or spirit of an individual (Psalm 139:13). For a person to impart their soul into the offering and then to have the most inward part of that offering burnt before the Lord as a sacrifice indicates that sin spoils the spirit of man. The penitent Israelite understood that the specific act they had done while being wrong was only the outgrowth of a deeper issue -- their darkened heart was rebellious towards God. And that the only solution for such depravity was fire. A sobering truth, but one regularly reinforced on every individual that repented of their wrongs and obeyed the old covenant system of worship.
After having the kidneys and inner fat burned on the altar the offering would then have to be taken to a place outside the camp where the remainder of the body would be burned. A ritual that makes the sin offering unique from the others in that it indicated that because the animal now contained the spiritual substance of sin that it could not be permitted to be in God's dwelling and therefore had to be removed from the camp boundaries and then burned. Instilling and re-instilling into God's people that He refused to associate Himself with anything sinful -- not because He didn't love sinners (see the life of Jesus) but because He was establishing His identity of One who is directly opposed to rebellion and ungodliness.
Where does this reach us today? I for one am asking the Lord for a baptism of fire -- one where my spirit would encounter the flame of the bronze altar -- for an encounter with the God who is a consuming fire who will burn out all rebellion in my soul that I may walk before Him in with a surrendered will in every moment of my life -- both in the moments where He would commend self-control and for those when He would call for outward boldness.
God burn us with Your fire.
The concept of spiritual substance being transmitted through contact points is a very large subject in the Bible. We see it clearly in the blessing that Jacob manipulated Esau out of -- what was he making such a big stink about if there wasn't a real spiritual substance that Isaac released to him through the laying on of hands and the spoken word (see Genesis 27). We see Paul reference it a couple times, in particular with Timothy, who Paul states received his spiritual gift by having the congregation lay hands on him (1 Timothy 4:14) and we also see Jesus give reference to it numerous times, in particular once when he is touched by a woman with an issue of blood and after being touched she is healed and He feels spiritual substance leave Him.
Transferring Sin by the Laying on of Hands
The transmission of spiritual matter is a truth that extends further than the realm of blessing. One of the most interesting concepts about the sacrificial system of Mosaic Law was the ritual of the sacrifices themselves. In every sacrifice that involved a bull or a goat -- whether it be the burnt offering, the fellowship offering or the sin offering -- the individual giving the animal was to lay their hands on the animal's head before the sacrifice was to occur. This was done so that the offering would be "be accepted for him to make atonement on his behalf" (Leviticus 1:4) and I believe that the act itself transferred spiritual matter from the individual into the animal particularly so that the animal became a representative of the individual's soul.
We see this to be understood particularly in the sin offering where the animal being offered had its fat and kidneys removed and burnt on the bronze altar. Biblically speaking the kidneys and fat represent the inner man or spirit of an individual (Psalm 139:13). For a person to impart their soul into the offering and then to have the most inward part of that offering burnt before the Lord as a sacrifice indicates that sin spoils the spirit of man. The penitent Israelite understood that the specific act they had done while being wrong was only the outgrowth of a deeper issue -- their darkened heart was rebellious towards God. And that the only solution for such depravity was fire. A sobering truth, but one regularly reinforced on every individual that repented of their wrongs and obeyed the old covenant system of worship.
After having the kidneys and inner fat burned on the altar the offering would then have to be taken to a place outside the camp where the remainder of the body would be burned. A ritual that makes the sin offering unique from the others in that it indicated that because the animal now contained the spiritual substance of sin that it could not be permitted to be in God's dwelling and therefore had to be removed from the camp boundaries and then burned. Instilling and re-instilling into God's people that He refused to associate Himself with anything sinful -- not because He didn't love sinners (see the life of Jesus) but because He was establishing His identity of One who is directly opposed to rebellion and ungodliness.
Where does this reach us today? I for one am asking the Lord for a baptism of fire -- one where my spirit would encounter the flame of the bronze altar -- for an encounter with the God who is a consuming fire who will burn out all rebellion in my soul that I may walk before Him in with a surrendered will in every moment of my life -- both in the moments where He would commend self-control and for those when He would call for outward boldness.
God burn us with Your fire.
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