Wave And Heave Offerings

Exodus 29:26-27 NKJV

“26 Then you shall take the breast of the ram of Aaron’s consecration and wave it as a wave offering before the Lord ; and it shall be your portion.
27 And from the ram of the consecration you shall consecrate the breast of the wave offering which is WAVED, and the thigh of the HEAVE offering which is raised, of that which is for Aaron and of that which is for his sons."

Some of these Old Testament passages kinda leave you scratchin' your head don't they?  In particular this one about wave and heave offerings. What was all that waving and heaving about?  

The Holy Spirit, of course, is at it again, painting beautiful pictures of Jesus! 

When the people brought to the priests a peace offering, the priests got to eat the choicest parts, particularly the breast and the right thigh, of the offering presented.  It was their portion as given to them by the LORD.  They only had to wave or heave it before Him, then prepare it to be consumed by the priests.  

The Levites, of course, were the priestly tribe.  They were treated like royalty by God.  You see, eating meat was a luxury in those days.  The average Israelite ate barley, humus, rice, things like that.  The breast and the right thigh were their portion because they are choicest cuts.

Levites also lived in the best places, many of theie cities being on mountain tops.  5 of the 6 cities of refuge were located on mountains and were populated by the priestly tribe.  Anyone who committed manslaughter and was admitted into the city of refuge got royal treatment.  (For more on the cities of Refuge, follow this link:  http://emmausrevelations.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-cities-of-refuge.html)

The one who took refuge from with the Levites also ate what the Levites ate and got to wear what they wore:  Linen garments called "kettoneth."  What's a "kettoneth?"  Follow this link if you'd like to know more:  http://emmausrevelations.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-coat-of-many-colors.html.

Beside being the choicest meat, why the breast and thigh?  Breast speaks of love while the thigh typifies strength.  These portions of the sacrifice belonged to both Aaron AND his sons.

Who is Aaron?  He was the high priest of ancient Israel and representative of our GREAT High priest, Jesus!  

Aaron, as you know, was called "high" priest.  Nowhere in the Old Testament do you find anyone being called "Great High Priest."  Only Jesus is ascribed that honor.  

Aaron’s sons were priests under him and typify all of us as priests--SONS--under Jesus.  They were of the Levitical order but, like Jesus, you and I are priests according to the order of Melchizedek. Ours is an eternal priesthood!

So, the breast {love} and thigh {strength} meat were the priestly portions.  They show us that feeding on Jesus' love FOR us and on His strength gives us strength.

Now picture this:  What motion do you make when you wave?  Side to side, right?

What motion do you make when you "heave"  something, as if to toss it up in the air?  It's an up and down motion.  Put both of those motions together and what are you drawing?  A CROSS!

Our priestly portion, Church, from which we derive strength is feeding on Jesus and focusing on His sacrifice on the cross!  He is our Wave and Heave offering!