349. The meaning of an offering as worship can be established by the representative practices of the Jewish religion. All its sacrifices, the presentation of the first fruits of the land and of all its produce, and the giving over of the firstborn — these are called offerings and constituted that religion's worship. Since all these offerings represented heavenly things and had to do with the Lord, they symbolized true worship. Anyone can recognize this. What is a representative act without the thing it represents? What is the outer shell without inner contents but some dead, idolatrous thing? It is the inner contents, or the Lord working through the inner contents, that give the outer shell life. Clearly, then, all such offerings in a representative religion symbolize worship of the Lord. The symbolism of the individual types will, with the Lord's divine mercy, be given later. 1
[2] The general meaning of offerings as worship can be seen in many places in the prophets. In Malachi, for instance:
Who can endure the day of his coming? He will sit smelting and purging silver and will purify the children of Levi and refine them like gold and like silver; and they will be bringing an offering to Jehovah in justice. And the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be sweet to Jehovah, as in the days of old and as in the ancient years. (Malachi 3:2-3, 4)
An offering made in justice is the inner content that the children of Levi (meaning devout worshipers) will bring. The days of old are the very earliest church, and the ancient years are the ancient church. In Ezekiel:
On my holy mountain, on the mountain of Israel's high ground, all the house of Israel — that whole land — will worship me. There I will be appeased by them, and there I will seek your oblations and the first fruits of your offerings in all your consecrations. (Ezekiel 20:40)
The oblations and the first fruits of their offerings in their consecrations are again good deeds that charity from the Lord has consecrated. In Zephaniah:
From the ford of the rivers of Ethiopia, those who adore me will bring my offering. (Zephaniah 3:10)
Ethiopia stands for those who possess heavenly attributes: love, charity, and deeds inspired by charity.
Footnotes:
1. On the symbolism of specific types of offerings, see, for example, §§923, 2177, 2830, 3880:8-9, 4581, 8080:1, 8088, 9223, 9990-9994, 10042, 10053:1, 10097, 10137. [LHC]
