This is the second excerpt from Milt Rodriguez’s book The Community Life of God. You can find the links to the other excerpts here.
The main activity of the tabernacle is the bringing of offerings to God. The offering is a “present” or gift to God. The Bible tells us that the offerings are food for God (Numbers 28:2). Have we ever thought of it in this way? We come to God to get fed. We know that He is our life supply and the Bread of Life (John 6). But have we ever had the thought that God is hungry as well? Of course, I am speaking spiritually here. But God does want to eat! This is the deeper meaning behind the offerings. The offerings are to provide food for God. But what does God like to eat? Actually there is only one thing. His tastes are very specific.
There is a principle that is well known among Bible teachers and theologians. It’s called the principle of “first mention.” What it means is that the first time something is mentioned in the Bible, that incident will give you the purest meaning behind the whole subject throughout the rest of the scriptures. If we want to understand offerings, we need to look at the first offering.
The first offering was with Cain and Abel. Cain had a garden and he brought an offering to the Lord from his produce. Abel tended sheep and brought one of the young lambs to the Lord. Why did God accept Abel’s offering and not Cain’s? It’s because Cain brought the “fruit” of his own labors. Abel brought a pure, innocent lamb. Cain brought his own works; Abel brought a picture of Christ. Do you see what kind of offering satisfies God? There is only one kind of food He likes …….Christ!
The Church has two main purposes: to express Christ visibly to the world, and to bring food to God. The tent of meeting is the gathering of believers. When we come together what kind of offering do we bring to God? The only food He is satisfied with is His only Son. Is that the food that we are bringing? Most of you may say that you never really bring anything to the meetings. If that is the case, then you are missing the purpose of the gatherings. However, just bringing anything to the meeting is not enough. God wants to be fed Christ.
If we are experiencing Christ on a daily basis, if we are fellowshipping with Him in our spirits and touching Him in the other realm, if we are seeking Him in the scriptures and expecting Him to give us revelation, then we will have a sweet smelling offering (present) to give to Him. We will bring an acceptable offering, the only acceptable offering which is Christ.
Milt Rodriguez, The Community Life of God