\ A COMMENTARY BOOK OF LEVITICUS, ^ (Expositors a\ib practical, l^K ^ = % ^ i* 2 w * * -. O ?x* WITH CRITICAL NOTES./ fcf O fi X BY THE REV. ANDEEW A. B0NAR, COLLAGE; , . ,. v - 9 ttj AUTHOR OF "MEMOIRS OF REV. ROBERT M'CHEYNE," "NARRATIVE or A MISSION OF INQUIRY TO THK JEWS," ETC. BTC. \ ^r whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we, through patience and comfort, of the Scriptures, might have hope." ROM. xv. 4. !W YORK: ROBERT CARTER & BROTHERS, No. 530 BROADWAY. 1856. nVr CONTENTS. NATURE OF THE BOOK, ....... vii I. The Burnt- Offering, 17 II. The Meat-Offering, 38 III. The Peace Offerings, .67 IV. The Sin-Offering 69 V. Sin-Offering for Sins of Inadvertency, 90 V. Continued. The Trespass-Offering, . . x r , .103 VI. Same Subject Continued, . . - .-, '. %.' . . 109 VI. Continued. Special Rules for Priests who Minister at the Altar of God, . . . . . . - . .116 VIL Same Subject Continued, . . . . . '-.. 132 VIII. The Priesthood entering on their Office, . . . .152 IX. Aaron's Entrance on his Office, 185 X. The Fencing of the Priestly Ritual, . . '.'>'. 196 XI. Remembrances of the Broken Law. The Clean and the Unclean, . . ^t- ^'. ... 212 XII. Original Sin. What has been Transmitted to us, . . 238 XIIL The Leprosy. Indwelling Sin. Its Horrid Features, . 242 XIV. The Leprosy Removed, . 267 XV. The Secret Flow of Sin from the Heart Typified in the Run- ning Issue, ......... 288 XVI. The Day of Atonement, 800 XVII. The Use of Animal Food Regulated, 821 XVIII. Private and Domestic Obligations. Purity in Every Rela- tion of Life, . " . T 329 IV CONTENTS. CHAPTER PA XIX. Duties in the Every Day Relations of Life, . . .8 XX. Warnings against the Sins of the Former Inhabitants, . 3 XXI. Personal Duties of the Priests, 8', XXII. Household Laws regarding, Holy Tilings. First, as to the Priests, 1-17 ; then, as to the People, 17-88, . . 884 XXIIL The Public Festivals, or Solemn Convocations, . . . 896 XXIV. Duty of Priests when out of Public View, . . . 426 XXV. The Sabbatic Year and Year of Jubilee. Millennial Times, 442 XXVL Israel's Temporal Blessings in Contrast to the Curse, . 170 XXVII Entire Devotion to God induced by the foregoing View of His Character 491 I ' PREFACE. SOME years ago, while perusing the Book of Leviticus in the course of his daily study of the Scriptures, the author was arrested amid the shadows of a past dispen- sation, and led to write short notes as he went along. Not long after, another perusal of this inspired book conducted in a similar way, and with much prayer for the teaching of the Spirit of truth refreshed his own soul yet more, and led him on to inquire what others had gleaned in the same field. Some friends who, ir this age of activity and bustle, find time to delight themselves in the law of the Lord, saw the notes, and urged their publication. There are few critical difficulties in the book ; its chief obscurity__arises from its enigmatical ceremonies. The author fears he may not always have succeeded in discovering the precise view of truth intended to be exhibited in these symbolic rites ; but he has made the attempt, not thinking it irreverent to examine both sides of the veil, now that it has been rent. The Holy Spirit surely wishes us to inquire into what he has VI PREFACE. written ; and the unhealthy tone of many true Christians may be accounted for by the too plain fact that they dn not meditate much on the whole counsel of God. Ex- perience, as well as the Word itself (Ps. i. 2, 3), would lead us to value* very highly the habit of deeply ponder- ing the discoveries of the mind of God given in all parts of Scripture, even the darkest. Throughout this Commentary, the truth that saves, and the truth that sanctifies, is set before the reader in a variety of aspects, according as each typical rite seemed to suggest. It may thus be useful to all classes of per- sons. And what, if even some of the house of Israel may here have their eye attracted to the Saviour, while giving heed to the signification of those ceremonies which to their fathers were signposts (m'rrist, Ps. Ixxiv. 9) in the way of life. It is a book which Romaine called, " The Gospel according to Leviticus ;" and of which Berridgt said, " It is the clearest book of Jewish Gospel." THE NATURE OF THE BOOK THERE is no book, in the whole compass of that inspired Volume which the Holy Ghost has given us, that con- tains more of the very words oi God than Leviticus. It is "(jrod that is the direct speaker in almost every page ;! his gracious words are recorded in the form wherein they were uttered. This consideration cannot fail to send us to the study of it with singular interest and attention. ^tjias been called "__Leviticus," because its typical in- stitutions, in all their variety, were committed to the care of the tribe of Levi, or to the priests, who were of that tribe. The Greek translators of the Pentateuch devised that name. The Talmud, for similar reasons, calls it n-iinsn rn-in, " the law of the priests." But Jewish writers in general are content with a simpler title ; they take the first words of the book as the name, calling itf^^p*^" Vayikra," q. d., the book that begins with the words, "And the Lord called." It carries within itself the seal of its Divine Origin. As an internal proof of its author being Divine, some have been content to allege the prophecy contained in chap, xxvi., the fulfilment of which is spread before the eyes of all the earth. But if, in addition to this, we find yiii THE NATURE OF THE BOOK. every chapter throughout presenting views of doctrine ancL practice that exactly dovetail into the un figurative statements oi' the New Testament, surely we shall then acknpwlftdcrft that it bears the impress of the Divine mind from beginning to end. The Gospel of the grace of God, with all that follows its train, may be found in Leviticus. This is the glorious attraction of the book to every reader who feels himself a sinner. The New Testament has about forty references to its various ordinances. . "" " The rites here detailed were typical ; and every type was designed and intended by God to bear resemblance to some spiritual truth. The likeness between type and antitype is never accidental. The very excellency of these rites consists in their being chosen by God for the end of shadowing forth " good things to come" (Heb. x. 1). As^ it is not a mere accidental resemblance to the Lord's bodyand blood that obtains in the bread and wine used inthe Lord's supper, buton the contraryi_a like- ness ^that^ made the symbols suitable to be selected for that end ; so is it in the case of every Levitical type. Much ot our satisfaction and edification in tracing ~fche correspondence between type and antitype will depend on the firmness with which we hold this principle. If it be asked why a typical mode of showing forth truth was adopted to such an extent in those early da^s, it may be difficult to give a precise answer. It is plain such a method of instruction may answer many purp It may not only meet the end of simplifying the truth, it may also open the mind to comprehend more, while it deepens present impressions of tilings known. The exist- ence of a type does not always argue that the thing typified is obscnrdy seen, or imperfectly known. On THE NATURE OF THE BOOK. IX the contrary, there was a type in the Garden of Eden th(Ttree of life, while life, in all it g rnp.aninfr wq fully J ' T ^ / comprehended by Adam. In all probability, there will be typical objects in the millennial age ; for there is to be a river which shall flow from Jerusalem to water the valley of Shittim (Joel iii. 18), the same of which Ezekiel (xlvii. 1) and Zechariah (xiv. 8) speak. This river is said to be for the healing of the Dead Sea, while on its banks grow ma]estic trees, whose leaves are for the healing of the nations. ^Nn doubt a spiritual signifi- cance lies hid in these visible signs ; the visible symbol seems to be a broad seal and sign of the peculiar truth manifested in these days, viz., the overflowing stream of the Holy Spirit (who shall be poured out at Jerusalem on the house of David first), winding its course over earth to convey saving health to all nations. Certain it is that types do not necessarily imply that the antitype is dimly known. The Lord may use them as he uses Gros- pel ordinances at present, to convey light to us, and leave more indelible impressions. A Grerman writer (Hahn) has said, " Tjrpes were institutions intended to deeppja., ejcpand, and ennoble the circle of thoughts and desires, and thus heighten the moral and spiritual wants, as well as the intelligence and susceptibility of the chosen peo- ple."* And notjess truly is this point touched upon by the Reformer QTimTal^in his "Prologue into the Third Book of Moses." " Though sacrifices and ceremonies I can be no ground or foundation to build upon that js, I Q^ though we can prove naught with them- yet, when we I ~ I * Southey says of Laud : ".He began his dying address in that state of calm but deepest feeling, when the mind seeks for fancies, typpp, *r"* Mm similitudes, and extracts from them consolation and strength." (Book of the Church.) 1* X THE NATURE OF THE BOOK. have once fonnd out Christ and his mysteries, then we may borrow figures, that is to say, allegories, similitudes, and examples, to open Christ, and the secrets of God hid in Christ^ even unto the quick ; and can declare them more lively and sensibly with them than with alf the words of the world. , For similitudes have more virtue and power with them than bare words, and lead a man's understanding further into the pith and marrow and spiritual understanding of the thing, than all the words that can be imagined." Again he says, "Allegories prove nothing ; but the very use of allegories is to de- clare and open a text that it may be better perceived and understood." " There is not a better, more vehement, or mightier thing to make a man understand withal than an allegory. For allegories make a man quick-witted, and print wisdom in him, and make it to abide, when bare words go but in at the one ear and out at the other." The Epistle to the Hebrews lays down the principles upcm which wo are to interpret Leviticus. The speci- mens there given of types applied, furnish a model for our guidance in other cases. And the writer's manner of address in that Epistle leads us to suppose that it WMS no new thing for an Israelite thus to understand the ritual of Moses. No doubt old Simeon (Luke ii. i2">f frequented the temple daily in order to read in its ritee future development of a suffering Saviour, as well as to pray and worship. Anna, the pipphetess, did the same ; for all these knew that they prophesied of the grace that was to come to us, and, therefore, inquired and searched diligently. (1 Pet. i. 10.) Had Aaron, or some other holy priest of his line, been " carried away in the spirit" and shown the accomplishment of all that these rites pre- figured, how iovful ever afterwards would have been his THE NATUKE OF THE BOOK. XI .vauly yervice in the sanctuary. When shown the great antitype, and that each one of these shadows pictured something in the person or work of that Redeemer, then, ever after, to handle the vessels of the sanctuary, would be rich food to his soul. It would be " feeding beside the still waters and in green pastures." For the bon- dage of these elements did not consist in sprinkling the blood, washing in the laver, waving the wave- shoulder, or the like ; but in doing all this without per- ceiving the truth thereby exhibited. Probably to a true Israelite, taught of Grod, there would be no more of bondage in handling these material elements, than there is at this day to a true believer in handling the symbolic bread and wine through which he " discerns the body and blood of the Lord." It would be an Israelite's hope every morning, as he left the "dwellings of Jacob," to see * "in the gates of Zion," more of the Lamb of (rod, while gazing on the morning sacrifice. " I will compass thine altar, Lord, that I may publish with the voice of thanks- giving, and tell of all thy wondrous works." (Ps. xxvi. 6, 7.) And, as the sun declined, he would seek to have his soul again anointed, after a busy day's vexations, bv beholding the evening Lamb. Tindal says, that while there is "a star-light of Christ" in all the ceremonies, there is in spme so truly " the 1 ight of the broad day." that he cannot but believe Jhat Grod had showed Moses^the secrets of Christ, and the very manner of his death beforehand. At all events, it was what they did see of Christ through this medium that so endeared to them the tabernacle and the temple- courts. It was the very home of their souls. " How amiable are thy tabernacles, Lord of Hosts ! My soul longeth, yea even fainteth for the courts of the Lord !" - Xii THE NATURE OF THE BOOK. (Ps. Ixxxiv. 1, 2.) And it is thus we can understand how those thousands (or rather, tens of thousands) who believed, were all " zealous of the law." (Acts xxi. 20.) The Christian elders of Jerusalem, including James and other Apostles, lent their sanction to their zeal in some degree ; and Paul himself saw nothing necessarily sinful in it. For it was all well if they used the law only as eir schoolmaster to bring tbp"i tn nhriat." (Gal. iii. 24.) It must have been thus that Paul himself employ- ed his thoughts while " purifying himself" in the tem- ple, and engaging in the other ordinances regarding vows. (Acts xxi. 26.) pis thoughts would be on the Antitype j and possibly the actual performing of these rites by a fully enlightened soul might lead to some distinct views of truth contained in them, which would have escaped the observation of a mere spectator. And, if we may throw out a conjecture on a subject where Millenarians and Anti-millenarians are alike at sea is it not possible that some such end as this may be answered by the tem- ple which Ezekiel foretells as yet to be built (chap, xl., &c.) ? ^Believing nations may frequent that temple in order to get understanding in these types and shadows. They may go up to the mountain of the Lord's house, to be tbsre^ taught his ways. (Isa. ii. 3.) In that temple they may Jearn how not one tittle of the law has faileS. As they look on the sons of Zadok ministering in that peculiar sanctuary, they may learn portions of truth with new impress! veness and fulness. Indeed, the very fact that the order of arrangement in Ezekiel entirely differs from the order observed in either tabernacle or temple, and that the edifice itself is reared on a plan varying from every former sanctuary, is sufficient to suggest the idea that it is meant to cast light on former types and THE NATURE OF THE BOOK. Xlil shadows. Many Levitical rites appear to us unmeaning ; but they would not do so if presented in a new relation. As it is said of the rigid features of a marble statue, that they may be made to move and vary their expression so as even to smile, when a skilful hand knows how to move a bright light before it ; so may it be with these apparently lifeless figures, in the light of that bright Mil- lennial Day. At^all events, it is probably then that this much-neglectecT Book of Leviticus shall be fully appre- ciated. Israel the good Olive-tree shall again yield its -faf.np.ss tn f.Vip, j-ifltinns rnnnrl (Rom. xi. .17.) Their ancient ritual may then be more fully understood, and blessed truth found beaming forth from long obscurity. When Jesus, the High Priest, comes forth from the holiest, there may be here fountains of living water to which he shall lead us himself seen to be the glorious Antitype, the Alpha and the Omega ! But let us proceed to the contents of this Book. It will be found that it contains a full system of truth, ex- hibiting sin and the sinner, grace and the Saviour ; com- prehending, also, details of duty, and openings into the ages to come, whatever, in short, bears upon a sinner's walk with a reconciled G-od, and his conversation in this present evil world. Our Heavenly Father has conde- scended to teach bis children by most expressive pictures ; and^even in this., much nf his |nvp. apppar^ The one great principle of interpretation which we keep before us, is Apostolic practice. This is the key we have used. We find the sacred writers adduce the likeness that exists between the thing that was typified and the type itself, and resting satisfied there. So we lay down this as our great rule, there must be obvious resemblance. And next, we search into these types, in . XIV THE NATURE OF THE BOOK. the belief tfra r!||pst is the centre-truth of revelation^ and surely no principle is more obviously true? The body or substance of the law is Christ (Col. ii. 17) and types are a series of shadows projected from Christ " the body." It is this Messiah that has been, from the be- ginning, the chief object to be unveiled to the view of men ; and in the fact that New Testament light has risen, lies our advantage in searching what these things signify. Mr. M'Cheyne, of Dundee, thus expressed him- self, on one occasion, regarding this point, in a letter to a friend : "^Suppose." said he, " that one to whom you were a stranger was wrapt in a thick veil, so that you could not discern his fog+i-"-^ Sfill jjMjie lineaments were pointed out to you through the folds, you could form some idea of the beauty and form of the veiled one. But suppose that one whom you know and love wnose features you have often studied face to face were to be veiled up in this way, how easily you could discern the features and form of this Beloved One ! Just so, the Jews looked upon a veiled Saviour, whom they had never seen unveiled. We^ under the New Testament, look upon an unveiled Saviour ; and, goinfl back on the Old, we can see, far better than the Jews could, the fea- tures and form of Jesus tfie Beloved, under that veil. In Isaac offered (Gen, xxii.). in the scape-goat (Lev. xvi.), in the shadow of the great rock (Isa. xxxii. 2), in the apple-tree (Song ii. 2), what exquisite pictures there are seen of Jesus ! and how much more plainly we can see the meaning than believers of old." To the same purpose Iiihn Runyan writes. He represents Mansoul, in his "/Holy Warj' as feasting at the Prince's table, and then getting riddles set before them. " These riddles were made upon the King Shaddai, and Emmanuel his THE NATURE OF THE BOOK. XV son, and upon his wars and doings with Mansoul. . . . T~~~. ". And when they read in the scheme where the riddles were writ, and looked in th-~face of the Prince, things looked so like, the one to the other, that Mansoul could not forbear but say, { This The Lamb ! This is The Sacrifice ! This is The Rock ! This is ~ * The ReCow! ThisJ* This is The Way ." " The^pace of a month was occupied in delivering the various ordinances of this BooSTto Moses7 Kris is proved from Exod. xl. 17, compared with Num. i. 1. It is the revelations of that one memorable month that are now to form the subject of our study. JVitsius (De Mysterio Tab.) has remarked, that (rod took only jgix days to creation, but spent forty days with Moses in directing him to make the tabernacle because the work of grace And so we find the law from Sinai occupying three days at most, while these rules that_exhibjtprl tlip. lovp. and grann of God are spread over many weeks. itintt-dDffmttg " BEHOLD THE LAMB OF GOD, THAT TAKETH AWAY THE SIN OF THE \VOBLD." . John i. 29. THE tabernacle was that tent whose two apartments, separated by the veil, formed the Holy place, and the Most Holy. This " tabernacle" was Grod's dwelling-place on earth; where he met with men the token of his returning to man after the fall. It was here that " the voice of the Lord God" was often heard, as in Eden, in the cool of the day. CHAPTER I. Ver. 1. "And the Lord called unto Moses, and spake unto him out of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying." THE cloud that guided Israel* had descended on the tabernacle ; and while this pillar stood over it, the glory of the Lord filled the Holy of Holies within. (Exod. xl. 34.) Rays of this glory were streaming out all around, perhaps like the light that shone from Christ's form " on the holy Mount," through his raiment, till the whole hill shone. Out of the midst of this "excellent glory" (2 Pet. i. 17) came the voice of the Lord. He called on * In Exod. xl. 34-38, we have the general history of this cloud ; not the narrative of its motions on a particular occasion. \ * 18 THE BURNT-OFFKIUXr.. Moses as at the bush ; and having fixed the undivided attention of Moses on him that spake, Jehovah utters his mind. What love is here ! The heart of our God, in the midst of all his own joy, yearning to pour itself out to man ! The date of these laws is probably a few days after the tabernacle had been set up. They are given not from Nnai, though at its foot (see chap, xxvii. 34) ; but from over the mercy-seat, from between the cherubim, where the glory had so lately found a resting-place. Perhaps this intimated that all these institutions about to be given bear on the same great subject, viz., Atonement and its effects. Sinai and its law, a few weeks before, with the dark apostasy in the matter of the golden calf, had lately taught them the necessity of reconciliation, and made their conscience thirst for that living water. And it is given here. f j|he first clause of this Book declares a reconciled God : "'The Lord called to Jlfoses," as a man to his friend. Ver. 2. " Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man of you bring an offering unto the Lord ye shall bring your offering* of the cattle, even of the herd and of the flock" When tho Lord said, " Speak to the children of Israel" instead of himselfjidiJie.s^ing them, it taught the people their need of aQteiHatoj. It was as if he had said, These things are addressed to sinners who cannot see my face or liear my voice, except through a daysman. The offerings first spoken of arc those that are to be wholly consumed, types of complete exhaustion of wrath. In these cases, everything about the animal * The Septuagint render this " irpooototrt ra ipuv." Hence, perhaps, Heb. viii. 3, gifts and sacrifices." CHAPTER I. 19 was consumed, sinews, horns, bones, hoof, the wool on the sheep's head, and the hair on the goat's beard. (Willet.) Hence they were called Whole burnt-offer- ings, " ohoxaviufiaTtt." Grod prescribes the symbols of atonement, even as he fixes on the ransom itself. It is a sovereign Grod that sinners are dealing with; and in so doing, he fixed on the herd and the flock, as the only class of cattle ^^ly, or four-footed beasts, that he would accept. If we are to inquire into a reason for this be- yond his mere sovereignty, there are two that readily present themselves as every way probable. (JFirsJ/oxenj sheep, and goats (the herd and flock), are~easily got by men, being at their Jiand. rje did not wish to make them go in pursuit of beasts for offering, for salvation is brought to our hand by our Grod. Second, the character- istics of these animals ht them toTbe convenient types of various truths relating to sacrifice. The ox taken from feeding by the river-side, or the sheep from its quiet pastures, perhaps from- among the lilies of Sharon, was an emblem of the Redeemer leaving the joy and blessedness of his Father's presence, where he had been ever " by the streams that make glad the city of Grod." Another reason has been assigned,* viz., all these were horned animals. "Whether in the East such were reckon- ed more valuable than other animals we cannot say. It is, ^t least, worthy of notice, that the horn, which is the symbol of power and honor, is found in them all. f ' ^v. Ver. 3. " If his offering be a burnt-sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male -without blemish ; he shall offer it of his own voluntary will, at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, before the Lord." "A male" representing the second^ Adam,, "without * See Guild's " Moses Unveiled." 20 THE BURNT-OFFERING. blemish." Christ, by "his one offering, makes his church spotless (Ephes. v. 27), and, therefore, he was to be so himself. Of course, therefore, the type of him must be so. In the peace-offerings it was different: for these typified rather Hie effect* of f!hrUf.'g atnnp.mp.nt on jjie receiver than himself atoning ; and the animal, in that case, might have some defect or blemish, even as the effects of his work may be imperfectly experienced by the einner, thougji_the_woT-k itself js pprfcp.t. But whatever speaks of Christ himself must speak of perfection. " Be- fore the Lord" is an expression ever recurring : it is remarkable that it should occur so often. But perhaps it was because the Lord meant thus to insert a Divine safeguard against the Socinian idea, that sacrifice chiefly had reference to the offerer, not to God. Every sacri- fice is brought before "the great Inhabitant of the sanc- ^tuary." So also this expression guards us against Popish error, as if ministers of Christ are priests in the same sense as the line of Aaron. No ; ministers of Christ op- proach men in behalf of God, who sends them as am- bassadors, but these priests approached God in behalf of guilty men. " He shall offer it of his own voluntary will." * The Gospel warrant is, " Whosoever will, let him come." There must be a willing soul ; none but a soul made willing in the day of his power pays any re- gard to atonement. The Lord allows all that are fil- ing- to come to the atoning provision. for the living God ? for yonder altar's some son of Aaron say to a fearful soul, jjfte fearful con- f Some translate this, " He shall offer it in order to be accepted." I do not think this meaning can be proved to be the true one, although the Septuagint generally renders the expression " it** lyam Kvptov? and the Oxford MS. here has " itxrty t>rv ; > i{i\aaOat Iravri Kvpiov." CHAPTER I. 21 science replies, " I cannot well tell if I be really thirsty for him." " But are you, then, willing to go to yonder altar ?" " Yes, I am." " Then yon may come ; for read LeviticusJ. 3, and see that, it is nmthp.r rinhfts, nor pov- erty, moral attainment nor deep experience, but simply a conscience willing to be bathed in atonement, that is spoken of by the (rod of Israel." Come then with the sacrifice to " the door of the tabernacle" The altar was near the door of the taber- nacle ; it faced it. It was the first object that met the eye of a worshipper coming in. The priest met him there, and led the offerer with his sacrifice on to the altar. The presenting any sacrifice there was a type of the worshipper's object being to get admission into the pres- ence of Grod by entrance at that door. (^'Access," Eph. ii. 18.) Thus the offerer walked silently and with holy awe to the door of the tabernacle, and there met his Grod. jA.s a time of Christ^ii would declare Christ's willing offering of himself;" Lo, I come;" and how he was, in the fulness of time, led silently as a lamb to the slaughter. For we are to distinguish between the pre- sentation of Christ before he went forth, and the presen- tation of himself after all was done. Ver, 4. " And he shall put his hand upon tfee head of th^ hnmf-nffpripfr ; and it snail be accepted for him to make atonement for him." This action of the offerer gives us a view of faith. The offerer puts his hand on the same head whereon the Lord's hand was laid, and thereby agrees to all that is implied in his choosing that offering. God and the be- lieving soul meet at the same point, and are satisfied by the same display of the Divine attributes. "He shall 22 THE BURNT-OFFERIXG. jnu his naml.'" 1 * It is yet more forcible in the Hebrew, "He shall .'ear* his hand" (7^01), the very word used in Psalm Ixxxviii. 7, ^Thy wrath leaneth Tiard upon me." We lean our soul on the same person on whom Jehovah leant his wrath. "When the worshipper had thus simply left his sins, * conveyed by the laying on of his hand upon the sacrifice, he stands aside. This is all his part. The treatment of thev victim is the Lord's part. The happy Israelite who saw this truth might goliome, saying, " I have put qly hand on its head ; it shaiLJ)g_accepted as an atone- ment." Faith in the Lord's testimony was the ground of an Israelite's peace of conscience, nothing of it rested on his own frame of mind, charactei, or conduct. Ver. 6. " And he shall kill the bullock befoie the Lord ; and the priest*, Aaron's sons, shall bring the blood, and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation." . It is interesting to notice here, that Outram, Witsius, and others seem to have proved that, in Patriarchal ages, every man might offer his own sacrifice. Heads of fam- ilies, and heads of a tribe or nation, often acted for those under them ; but the idea that the first-born were the only priests is without foundation. f ^ho Patriarchal age - was taiigM thRt ftvp.ry man must take Christ for.himseif personally. In the Mosaic economy, however, this is ^ * We make no reference, here or elsewhere, to Jewish traditions as to the manner in which the thing was done, mid the words used. It is strange that Ainsworth, Patrick, Outram, should waste so much time in this department. Are these tradition- 1 anything more than human fancy, often, too, of a somewhat modern date ? Augustine judged well when he said, " Quid acriptura voluerit, non quod ilii opinati fuerint, inqitirendwn." CHAPTER I. 23 altered. There is another truth to be shown forth. Any one (2 Chron. xxx. 17,) might kill the animal any com- mon Levite, or even the offerer himself for there may be many executioners of God's wrath. Earth and hell were used in executing the Father's purpose toward the Prince of Life. But there is only one appointedjway^for dispensing mercy ; and therefore only priests rtmstjen- g'age in the act that signified the bestowal of pardon. The animal is " killed" in the presence of the Lord. And now, what an awfully solemn sight ! The priest " brings forward the blood." As he bears it onward, in one of the bowls of the altar, all gaze upon the warm crimson blood ! [it is the life^ So that when the blood is thus brought forward, the life of the sacrifice is brought before God ! It is as if the living soul of the ; 3 . . ' *- . O sinner were carried, in its utter helplessness and^m. all its filthiness, and laid down before the Holy One ! The blood was then "sprinkled round about upon the altar" The life being taken away, the sinner's naked soul is exhibited ! He deserves this stroke of death death in the Lord's presence, as a satisfaction to his holiness ! As the blood that covered the door on the night of the Passover represented the inmates' life as already taken, so the blood on the altar and its sides sig- nified that the offerer's life was forfeited and taken. It was^ thus that Jesus " poured out his souj_jinto dp.alEl- for us. It was, further, " round about," as well as "upon," the altar. This held it up on all sides to view ; and the voice from the altar now. is, " Look unto me and be saved, all the ends of the earth." All within the camp might lock and live ; for this sacrifice represents Christ's dying as the only way for any, and the sufficient way for all. 24 THE BURNT-OFFERING. The altar mentioned here was the " altar of brass;" not the " golden altar," which stood in the Holy Place.* Ver. 6. "And he shall flay the burnt -offering, and cut it into his pieces." Here, again, any one might act, as well as the priest ; for any of God's creafures may be the executioners of his wrath. "Ie shall flay^ The skin torn from off the slahyanimal may intimate the complete exposure of the victim, uncovered, and laid open to the piercing eye of the "Beholder. But specially, it seems to show that IKere is no covering of inherent righteousness on the person of the sinner. While tho skin was unwounded, the inward parts were safe from the knife ; thus, so long as man had personal righteousness interposing, no knife could pierce his soul. But the taking away of the victim's skin showed that the sinner had no such protection in God's view; even as the bringing of such skins to Adam and Eve-, after tho Fall, showed that God saw them destitute of every covering, and had, in his mercy, provided clothing for them by means of sacrifice. The " culling it into pieces" would leave the sacrifice, at last, a manuhiirrnass of Hush and hones. Entire dis- location of every joint, and separation of every limb and ipfimhcr f .\vas tho process. By this the excruciating tor- ment duo to the sinner seems sinified. God's sword-*- Abraharn> knife spares not tho sacrifi^ ; hflt y_yv sharjnjyfl nnd ytrftngt^ fa pierce qnrl afmy fr> tlm utter- most. The slashing sword of wrath leaves nothing to the. guilty ; but, as " one woe is past, behold another woe cometh quickly." Yet it is " fflfo his pieces" There was an order observed a regularity and deliberate, syste- * See some remarks on the brass of this altar in a note, Chap. xiv. 5. CHAPTER I. 25 matic procedure. So will it be in the damnation of hell ; every pang will be weighed by perfect holiness, every stroke deliberated upon ere it is inflicted. And, in truth, this deliberate infliction is the most awful feature of jus- tice. It leaves the sufferer hopeless. The stroke is awfully relentless, determined, righteous ! Such, too, were the Saviour's sufferings. Every part and pore of his frame were thus mangled ; every member of his body, every feeling of his soul. There was not an action of his life, or desire in his heart, but was combined with woe. And all so just, that from the cross he lifts his eyes to his Father, and looking on him as he had ever done, cries, " But thou art holy !" (Psa. xxii. 3.) Ver. *7. " And the sons* of Aaron the priest shall put fire upon the altar, and lay the wood in order upon the fire." This verse is well illustrated by Heb. ix. 14, " "Who, through the Eternal Spirit, offered himself without spot to God." Christ was prepared, in his human nature, by the Holy Spirit. ' The Father prepared the fire of wrath, filled the vial with that wrath, and then poured it out. The Holy Spirit, as Heb. ix. 14 declares, set all things in order, in Christ's human nature, ready for the vial being poured out. At the moment, when the fire came down and consumed him, love to Grod and man was at its highest pitch in his soul obedience, holy regard for the Divine law, hatred of sin, love to man. The wood, taken by itself, is not a type of anything ; * "We sometimes see mistakes committed in representations of Taber- nacle scenes. Levites are made to act as priests, and Levites are exhibited blowing the silver trumpets. But all this was the duty of Aaron's sons alone. True, they were Levites, but they were the priestly family among the Levites. Priests are Levites, but all Levites are not priests. 2 26 THE BURNT-OFFERING. but it must be taken thus : the laying the wood in order preparatory to the fire coming. In this view it represents what we have just said. The fire was from that fire which descended from the cloudy pillar. It was, therefore, divinely intended to show ''the wrath of God revealed from heaven" against all ungodliness of men. Indeed, the fire from the bosom of that cloud was no less than a type of wrath from the bosom of God against him who lay in his bosom. See Chap. vi. 9, and ix. 24. Ver. 8. " And the priests, Aaron's sons, shall lay the parts, the head and the fat, in order upon the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar." The fat did, of course, help the flame to consume the head, notwithstanding the gushing stream of blood. But what is the type? The head was that whereon the offerer leant his hand, conveying to it his load of guilt. The fat (T?B) is a word that occurs only thrice, viz., here and ver. 12, and chap. viii. 20. Some understand it to be the midriff; others, the fat separated from the rest of the flesh ; but fhere is no way of arriving at the cer- tain import. The type, however, is obvious. The head and this fat are two pieces, one outward, the other in- ward thus representing the whole inm r and out< r man. Christ's whole manhood, body and you/, was placed on the altar, in the fire, and endured the wrath of God. There could be no type of his soul otherwise than by se- lecting some inward part to signify it; and that is done here by the "//." It is on the fat, too, that the fire specially kindles. It is at the man's heart, feelings, and desires that God expresses his indignation most fully CHAPTER I. 27 It is the heart that is desperately wicked. It is the car- nal mind that is enmity against Grod.* Ver. 9. " But his inwards and his legs shall he wash in water : and the priest shall burn all on the altar, to be a burnt-sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto the Lord." Answerable to the " head and fat" of the former verse, as parts representing the inward and outward, we have here the legs and the intestines. The legs and intes- tines may be supposed to be selected to mark outward and inward defilement man's polluted nature needing to be washed in water. But why wash these in water, if they are to be burnt? Because here is a sacrifice for others " the just for the unjust" Christ taking our place. Now, lest anything should seem to indicate per- sonal defilement in him, these portions are washed in water, and then presented. Christ's body and soul, all his person and all his acts, were holy. His walk was holy, and his inmost ajfections holy. Such was the sacrifice on which the fire came! See Isaac on the wood ! but the knife has pierced this Isaac ! in symbol, the original and immutable sentence, " Thou shall die." Here is death ; and it has come in such a manner as not to leave a vestige of the victim's former aspect. The victim is all disfigured, and has become a mass of disjointed bones and mangled flesh, because thus shall it be in the case of the lost in hell. The lost sinner's former joy, and even all his relics of comfort, are gone forever no lover or friend would ever * The North American Indians long practised sacrifice, and D. Brainerd, in his Journal, tells us of a great sacrifice where " they burnt the fat of the inwards in the fire, and sometimes raised the flame to a prodigious height." 28 THE BURNT-OFFERING. be able to recognize that lost one. Even as it was with Jesus when he took the position of the lost; his v seemed to every eye more marred than any man, and his form more than the sons of men. But, lo ! as if even all this were not expressive enough, that mangled mass is committed to the flames, and in the consuming flame, every remaining mark of its former state disappears. All is ashes. So complete is the doom of the lost as testi- fied on this Altar and fulfilled by Jesus when he took the sinner's place. That smoke attests that God's righteous- ness is fully satisfied in the suffering victim. His blood his soul is poured out! and the flame of Divine wrath burns up the suffering one. The smoke ascends "a sweet savor to the Lord." He points to it, and shows therein his holy name honored and his law mag- nified. It is sweet to Jehovah to behold this sight in a fallen world. It reminds him (so to speak) of that Sabbath-rest over the first creation (Gen. ii. 2,) only this is deeper rest, as being rest after trouble. This " swbet savor" is literally " savor of rest" (nimj n-n) ; as if the savor stayed his wrath and calmed his soul. So Eph. v. 2. And, at the view of that ascending smoke, more joyful hallelujahs are sung than will be heard over the smoke of the pit. (Rev. xix. 3.) For here love has free scope as well as righteousness. What a rest will the millen- nial and heavenly rest be, when, in addition to nthor elements, it has in it this element of perfect satisfaction ! "He shall rest in his love" (Zeph. iii. 17.) Such, then, is the " ox and bullock that has horns and hoofs" (Psa. Ixix. 31) ; and such, too, the meaning of the offering. The antitype set forth in Psa. Ixix. has magnified the name of the Lord, and set aside the type. CHAPTER I. 29 Ver. 10. " And if his offering be of the flocks, namely, of the sheep or of the goats for a burnt sacrifice, he shall bring it a male without blemish." It appears that wealthier men generally selected oxen as their offering ;* and men less able took sheep or goats ; while ver. 14 shows that those yet poorer brought doves. (rod thus left the sacrifice open alike to the rich, the middle classes, and the laboring poor. For in Jesus Christ there is neither Greek nor Jew, barbarian nor Scythian, bond nor free ; he is within reach of all alike. Our High Priest welcomes sinners under the wide name, " Him that cometh" (John vi. 37) ; the advancing foot- steps of a sinner to his altar, whether he be great or email, is a sweet sound in our Aaron's ear. Here is specially included the offering of the Lamb. Morning and evening this was done by the priest for all Israel. " He was led as a lamb to the slaughter. "f (Isa. Uii. 7.) Every day that picture was exhibited to Israel. Ver. 11. " And he shall kill it on the side of the altar northward, before the Lord; and the -priests, Aaron's sons, shall sprinkle his blood round about upon the altar." There is a peculiarity here which does not occur in the sacrifices of the herd, namely, it is to be killed on the north side of the altar. One obvious reason seems to be this, there was a necessity, for the sake of order, that tjiere should be a separate place for killing the oxen and the sheep. No quarter of the heavens was sacred ; and * That is, oxen were always part of their sacrifice. Thus Numbers yiL and 1 Chron. xxix. 21. f An old writer asks, why Christ is called so often " the Lamb of fiod," and not " ** he ram, of God/' The reply is ; because these were not one..^ iay," whereas the lamb was a daily offering, and therefore fitted to pro^aim Christ's blood as always ready for use. It being the type of innocence would be another reason. 30 THE BURNT-OFFERING. since, at other times, the sacrifice was presented on the east side, a variety like this answered the purpose of pro- claiming that Jesus is offered to any soul in any nation, east or north, i. e. from east to west, north to south ; his death is presented to the view of all, to be believed by men as soon as they see it. " Look unto me and be ye saved, all ends of the earth."* Ver. 12, 13. " And he shall cut it into his pieces, with his head and his fat ; and the priest shall lay them in order on the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar. But he shall wash the inwards and the. legs with water : and the priest shall bring it all and burn it upon the altar : it is a burnt-sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto the Lord." The sheep or goat is not commanded to be "flayed" as ver. 6 commands as to the ox or bullock ; perhaps because flaying- signified the defencelessness of the vic- tim left without a covering. Now, the sheep or goat is, by its very nature, defenceless enough. Our attention, therefore, in this type, is rather fixed on the complete stroke of the knife, that separates all into its pieces ready for the fire. "When the Lord said, " Awake, sword, against my shepherd ! " (Zech. xiii. 7,) the Saviour was smitten to the very soul, and wrath came down on him like fire. In ver. 13, the words, " and shall bring- it all," inti- mate the solemn care with which the priest advanced to the spot and lighted the wood, attending to every point, although his offering was one of the flock, and not of the * Some have tried without success to discover-a deeper meaning in the " north," and have suggested that the omission of it in Psa, Ixxv. 6 strengthens this idea. But in that passage " south" also is omitted, the He- brew being "1D1ST3, "from the desirl ;" referring to the caravans, which, amid all their rare commodities, never brought the gift spoken of. CHAPTER I. 31 herd. This clause seems intended to put equal honor on the offering of the flock as on that of the herd, for the antitype is all that gives either of them any importance. The other particulars are the same as those men- tioned vers. 79. How simple the rules laid down for ordering his favo- rite type, the lamb ! But let us not fail to notice that the use made of the lamb is what we are chiefly called to observe not the lamb itself in particular ; as if to show that it is not Christ" 1 s meek nature, but Christ, the meek and lowly one, in his connection with the altar, that we ought to be reminded of by the name of " Lamb." If it had been his character only, or chiefly, that was referred to in that name, " Lamb of God," there would have been no propriety in typifying him by the " ox," and the " goat." But, if the manner of his death and the inten- tion of his sufferings were mainly referred to, then all is appropriate. BURNT-OFFERING OF FOWLS. Ver. 14. " And if the burnt-sacrifice for his offering to the Lord be of fowls, then shall he bring his offering of turtle-doves, or of young pigeons." In John ii. 14, we find this third class of offerings re- ferred to, along with the other two oxen, sheep, and doves. From chap. v. 7, we learn that the poorer class were to bring this sort of sacrifice. " To the poor the Gospel is preached." And ministers must be as solicitous for the salvation of the poor as of the rich. The dove or pigeon was to be a male ; for the Hebrew word for " young pigeons" is (nrn Tn) " sons of the 82 THE BURNT-OFFERING. dove." Thus it was fitter to represent Christ. And, of the winged tribes, none were ever taken for sacrifice, ex- cept the dove and the turtle-dove. These abounded in the Holy Land, so that the poorest could get them easily.* They were fitted, also, to be emblems of Jesus, just as was the lamb. He is undefiled and holy, full of love and tenderness ; therefore the dove is his type. And as the dove at the Deluge brought the message of peace, and as the turtle-dove is the known emblem of peace, be- cause its voice is heard from the olive-tree (itself the type of peace), in quiet, calm security, so, on this ground more especially, they are the better types of Jesus. The previous suffering of the offered dove, or turtle, repre- sents Christ suffering ere he enters into peace, and be- comes the peace-maker. Taken from his Father's bosom, he comes to suffer. The dove, " by the rivers of water" (Song v. 12), in peace and joy, is caught, and wrung to death on the altar. The olive-groves must be searched, and the turtle-dove taken from its own happy, peaceful olive-tree. It is then violently brought to the altar, and left lifeless there ! Thus it was with Jesus. But from this suffering and death of the Peaceful One results "peace on earth." "He is our peace." (Eph. ii. 14.) He breathes out on us nothing less than his own peace "My peace I give unto you." (John xiv. 27.) And soon, too, as the grand and wide result of all, " the voice of the turtle (the herald of spring and of storms * In the course of my ordinary visits in the country, I one day eat down to converse with a poor illiterate believe^ at whose board a beautiful tame pigeon used to feed. I opened the Kible at this passage, and showed this type of a suffering Saviour. It seemed to be specially blessed she long remembered this type of Jesus : and in this simple incident, there seemed to me discernible something of the wisdom and goodness that so provided for the poor of Israel. \ ' CHAPTER I. S3 past) shall be heard in our land" (Song ii. 12) ; and, the deluge of fire being passed, this dove shall bring its olive- branch to announce to the new earth that wrath is for- ever turned away. Christ, who died to make peace, shall reign in peace, over a peaceful earth, which his own blood has made the dwelling of righteousness. He of whom these things are spoken, when on earth showed, from such Scriptures as these, that he needed to suffer unto death. " Thus it is written, and thus it be- hooved Christ to suffer" (Luke xxiv. 46), said Jesus, while showing the things written in the law of Moses concern- ing himself. Ver. 15. " And the priest shall bring it unto the altar, and wring off its head, and burn it on the altar ; and the blood thereof shall be wrung out at the side of the altar." The method of putting the dove to death must be regulated by the nature of the victim ; hence, here it is by "wringing off its head" But this arrangement is the better fitted to exhibit another feature in the death of Jesus, viz., the awful violence done to one so pure, so tender, and so lovely. We shrink back from the terrible harshness of the act, whether it be plunging the knife into the neck of the innocent lamb, or wringing off the head of the tender dove. But, on this very ac- count, the circumstances are the better figure of the death of Jesus. "He had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth ; yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him." After this, "the blood was to be wrung out" (^so, squeezed or pressed out) over the side of the altar, till it ran in a crimson stream down the altar's side, in view of all. Then it collects at the foot of the altar ; and there 2* 3-i THE BURNT-OFFERING. is a cry, like the souls under the altar in Revel, vi 9, against the cause of this bloods/tedding, viz., sin. A testimony against it sounds up into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. But his blood speaketh better things than the blood of Abel, or the cry of the martyred ones ; for the response to this cry of blood is not vengeance, but pardon to man. It was the priest who performed this apparently harsh and cruel act, for the Father bruised Jesus, and the priest acts in his name. Ver. 16. " And he shall pluck away his crop with his feathers, and cast it beside the altar, on the east part, by the place of the ashes." The crop, containing the food, seems to be considered unclean, because an emblem of man's appetites. Now, as there was nothing of man's sinful appetites in the Holy One, there must be nothing even in the type, that might lead us to suppose that he was otherwise than perfectly holy. Hence "the crop" is removed. " The feathers," also, are removed, because they are a cover- ing to the dove ; and it must be left quite unsheltered when the drops of the storm fall thick and heavy upon it. These are to be cast " to the place of ashes," out of sight of God ; and thus the dove is offered, in a state of purity and of unprotectedness, on the altar. Ver. 17. " And he shall cleave it with the wings thereof, but shall not divide it asunder : and the priest shall burn it upon the altar, upon the wood that is upon the fire : it is a burnt-sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto the Lord." " The cleaving" (?^) implies such a separation as is not complete. It is only dislocation, but not disruption of the parts, as is also explained in the clause, (i but shall not divide it asunder" In this we see another typical . CHAPTER I. 35 circustmance. It is like that in the case of the paschal- lamb "A bone of him shall not be broken." At the same time, this type gives us, in addition, a refer- ence to the Saviour's racked frame on the cross, when he said, " All my bones are out of joint." (Ps. xxii. 14.) All this seems intended to declare that Jesus, in his death, was whole, though broken, " sin for us," but " no sin in him" " With the wings thereof,' 1 '' to show nothing left what- soever that could be means of escape total weakness. Jesus said, as he suffered, U I am poured out like water." (Ps. xxii. 14.) And this sacrifice is " of a sweet savor to the Lord." It satisfies the Father well so much so, that we find his redeemed ones called by the name that refers us back to the sacrifice. For example the Church is called " the dove" Song ii. 14. So "Deliver not the soul of thy turtle-dove into the hands of the enemy." (Ps. Ixxiv. 19.) Just as both Christ and his Church are called " the lily," in Song ii. 1, 2 ; and both his voice and theirs is " like the voice of many waters" in the book of Revelation. (Comp. Revel, i. 15 ; xiv. 2 ; xix. 6.) If the Church says, " Behold, thou art fair, my be- loved (^I'l), yea, pleasant' (Song i. 16,) it is in response to Christ, who had said, " Behold, thou art fair, my love (^rrin) ; behold, thou art fair." So truly one is Christ and his people, they are in a manner identified ! " Lord, thou art my righteousness, and I am thy sin ; thou hast taken from me what was mine, and given me what Was thine." : ' '-^ *rj; fivxslas diraHofj'^, & TTJS &VE$t, X . viaorov drjutovgYtag, (!) riav &nQOodoxi\T(av evegyeatwv !" (Epist. ad Diognet. 9.) " Oh, sweet exchange ! Oh, unsearch- able device ! Oh, benefits beyond all expectation !" 36 THE BURNT-OFFERING. And now, looking back on this chapter, let us briefly notice that the rudimental sketch of these offerings and the mode of their presentation, will be found at the gate of Eden. Some have sought for their origin* in lv_ r yp- tian ceremonies, at one time imitated, at another pur- posely opposed. But this is altogether erroneous. Davison, on " The Origin and Intention of Primitive Sacrifice," refuses to admit that sacrifice in the patri- archal time was identical in meaning with sacrifice in the Mosaic dispensation admitting that, if that identity could be made out, the Divine origin of sacrifice would be proved. Now, is there one text in all the Bible to show that sacrifice (which Davison gladly admits had in it the atoning principle in the institutions of Moses) ever has more than one meaning ? As well might we ask evidence to prove that " to call on the name of tlv Lord" in the days of Enos was quite a different act from " calling on the name of the Lord?' in the days of the Psalmist ; or that "righteousness" in Abraham's day (Gen. xv. 6) was different from " righteousness" in Paul's days. (Rom. iv. 3.) Just as we believe the Hid- and Euphrates of Genesis ii. are the sarno as the II id- dekel and Euphrates of later history ; and the Cherubim of Genesis iii. the same as those in the tabernacle; and the "sweet savor" of Genesis viii. 21, the same as that in Leviticus i. 9, and Ephesians v. 2 ; so do we regard the intention of sacrifice as always the same throughout Scripture. There would therefore be need, not of proof to establish this principle, but of argument to refute it. Ours is the obvious and common-sense principle. All these ordinances were parts of the one telescope, through which men saw the Star of Bethlehem from afar. In * Vide Spencer, fyof, 3 yvfatoi, on 4p9j jrAin'.7 $i\ovi iavroiis twoir/aart n : > Oeip." (Aoyof A.) He counts those friends of his happy because he thinks "they have made themselves acceptable to God by their manner of life." The same remark applies to the writings of Thomas-a-Kempia. CHAPTER II. 41 In Isaiah Ixvi. 20, the words, " They shall bring all your brethren an offering (nnsis) to the Lord," are very appropriate when we keep in mind that this is the typi- cal meaning of the meat-offering these persons are the meat-offering. Perhaps, also, in 1 Samuel xxvi. 19, " If the Lord have stirred thee up against me, let him accept a meat-offering' 1 ' 1 (fnjE) ; there may be reference to this species of offering, representing the person and all he possessed. At the same time, the word (nm^), when not contrasted or conjoined with the sacrifice, is often used as a generic term for any offering.* But we have still to call attention to the chief applica- tion of this type. It shows forth Christ himself. And indeed this should have been noticed first of all, had it not been for the sake of first establishing the precise point of view in which this type sets forth its object. "We are to consider it as representing Christ himself in all his work of obedience, soul and body. He is the " fine wheat," pure, unspotted ; yet also " baked," &c. because subjected to every various suffering. The burnt-offering being presented and consumed, Christ's glorious obedience in his human nature, and all that belonged to him, was accepted, as well as his sacrifice. For he and all that is his was ever set apart for, and accepted by the Father. " Lord, truly I am thy servant*" (Ps. cxvi. 16.) And if it represents Christ, it includes his Church. Christ and his body, the Church, are presented to the Father, and accepted. Christ, and all his possessions in heaven * And so the Septungint sometimes renders it bv Owrta, and sometimes by Trpoapa. In Ezek. xlv. 15, \vbere it occurs, the reamny ^vould have been brought out more exactly by rendering the clause thu?:~- "One lamb out of the flock, from the pictures of Israel, for an offeri^ {* W-'cV*, as in Gen. iv. 4), evc*ifor burnf-offeri'vgp f lug flock Choicest and best; then, --;u-riliciii^ laid Tb inward' and the fat, n-it ; - ir',1, On the cleft wood." CHAPTER II. 45 The offering is declared " Most holy." And to show that the mass was so, as well as the handful, the remnant is given to Aaron's sons to feast upon. Even Aaron, who bore on his mitre " Holiness to the Lord," could safely eat of it. In this manner we are assured of the true and thorough acceptance of our dedicated things, when once we are forgiven. How complete is the assurance we have of the acceptance of Christ and all that are his ! Nay, even of their substance. There is a blessing " on their basket and on their store." So completely is its curse removed, that under the tree in the plains of Mamre, angels, and the Lord of Angels, eat of Abraham's bread and his fatted calf. But the declaration, " It is a thing most holy," teaches us how we should regard every member of our body as belonging to Grod ; and every thing we possess. "Ye are not your own." "It is most holy." How littJe do we feel it to be so. Ver. 4. " And if thou bring an oblation of a meat-offering baken in the oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour, mingled with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil." A part of the type of the fine flour, already noticed, may be that Christ was ground by sore agony, and endured unutterable anguish when bruised for us. And so, the wine of the drink-offering, afterwards noticed, would imply a reference to the wine-press, out of which he came. And in like manner, the oven here mentioned, and the other articles exposed to the fire, would contain a reference to his enduring the fierce flame of wrath.* * Willet quotes Pellicanus, who applies these varieties in the prepara- tion of the meat-offering to the manifold nature of afflictions : " Nunc Cli- banus, nunc Patilla, nunc Craticula dici possunt :" a true remark, whether contained here or not. 46 THE MEAT-OFFERING. But admitting this use of the emblems to be doubtful, we find a certain and obvious meaning in the diversities of form in which the meat-offering appears. As in chap. i. we saw that God, for the sake of the less wealthy, took a lamb or a dove, when a more costly sacrifice would have been beyond the reach of the offerer ; so it is here : for the sake of the different ranks in society, the meat-offering has a form in which any one may be able to present it. If he is rich, let him bring his fine flour from the finest of the wheat. If he is not able to do this, let him bring " a meat-offering baken in the oven." If he cannot afford this, having no oven, then let him bring somewhat " baken in the fire-plate" or pan. If even this is not in his power, he will at least possess a frying-pan, and let him bring what it prepares. God excuses none, of whatever rank, from dedicating them- selves and their substance to him. The widow has two mites to cast into the Lord's treasury. In 1 Chron. xxiii. 29, this gradation seems referred to when it is said, " For that which is baken in the pan, and for that which jp fried, and for all manner of measure and size." The oven was a utensil which was generally possessed by all the middle ranks of life. If they have this, let them prepare in it " cakes" (n-in), of a larger size, and " wafers" (trp-'pn), cakes of a smaller size, and bring these as their meat-offering. The larger cakes must have "oil mingled through them; the smaller, and thin- ner, must have oil on them. In both cases the oil that sets apart must not be wanting. Nay, where it is possi- ble, it must form part, as it were, of the substance, by being mingled with it. And there must be no leaven; for leaven indicates corruption at work. If we give grudgingly, with rest- CHAPTER II. 47 less, impatient, tumultuous, anxious feelings, we are offering with leaven. We must dedicate self and sub- stance in Christ's spirit : " Not my will, but thine be done." Ver. 5. " And if thy oblation be a meat-offering, baken in a pan, it shall be of fine flour, unleavened, mingled with oil." This is another form in which it may be presented, if the man be yet poorer than the last mentioned ; if he use the "fire-plate" in his house, and not "the oven." The only article of furniture absolutely necessary for pre- paring food seems to have been the " frying-pan" of ver. 7. Anything more than that indicated comfort and ease. The " cakes" and " wafers" of last verse evidently inti- mated a moderate degree of luxury. And this man also possessed some degree of independence in his circum- stances. Perhaps he occupied the station of a tradesman, if not somewhat above that. He, too, must dedicate all to the Lord. Ver. 6. " Thou shalt part it in pieces, and pour oil thereon ; it is a meat- offering." This division into pieces may show that every part of our substance is to be given up. "We must allow God to divide and choose and appropriate as he pleases. And then, each part must be "anointed with oil /" set apart by the priest's hand. Both the whole as a whole, and every part of it, must be given up to the Lord. Ver. 7. " And if thy oblation be a meat-offering, baken in the frying- pan, it shall be made of fine flour with oil." The shallow frying-pan (a shallow vessel of earth, used to this day by the Arabs, and called Tageri) indicated 48 THE MEAT-OFFERING. poverty, if the man had this and no other culinary utensil. It was used in boiling, and therefore was indispensable. He, too, must offer what he has. God is willing to have him and his ; he does not despise the poor. Nay, by attending to different classes of men, he finds out oppor- tunities of some new exhibition of his wisdom and grace. Here the opportunity is afforded of enforcing the lesson, that whatever is wanting, oil must not be wanting : the Spirit must set apart whatever is really dedicated. Ver. 8. " And thou shalt bring the meat-offering that is made of these things unto the Lord, and when it is presented unto the priest he shall bring it unto the altar." A poor worshipper might be apt to be discouraged when ho witnessed the more costly gifts of others : there- fore the Lord kindly condescends to assure his heart by specially inserting here these directions to the priest, viz., that he must take the humblest meat-offering and present it on the altar. The priest might be ready to neglect so poor an offering; but here he is warned, "When tho offerer presents it, the priest shall bring it." Our Master was ever more tender-hearted than his disciples. The disciples rebuked those who brought little children to him ; but Jesus said, "Suffer them to come." Jehovah, God of Israel, is Jesus, the Son of man ! Ver. 9. " And the priest shall take from tho meat-offering n memorial thereof, and shall burn it upon the altar. It is an offering made bj fire of a sweet savor unto the Lord." The memorial is what was directed to be taken, ver. 2. And this is to be done as much in this poorer offering as when it was fine flour. There is no virtue in the size or in the quality of the thing. CHAPTER II. 49 The " sweet savor" reminds us of Paul's words to the Philippians, when they had, though poor, given him what they could spare of their substance : "I have received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odor of a sweet smell/' (Philip, iv. 18.) Jesus in heav- en smells this sweet savor, and will reward it at the day of his appearing. Ver. 10. " And that which is left of the meat offering shall be Aaron's and his sons' ; it is a thing most holy of the offerings of the Lord made by fire." It is most holy (see ver. 3 again), and it is taken from the fire-offerings of the Lord, expressing complete appro- priation by the Lord of the things offered to him. He takes what we offer ; it is not a mere compliment. "We may not say, " / give myself to the Lord" and then do as we please. The Lord takes us at our word. We are no more our own, nor is our body ours, nor our mem- bers, nor our money, nor our health, nor our talents, nor our reputation, nor our affections, nor our relations, nor our very life itself. All is the Lord's in his treasury " among the offerings made by fire," that ascend up to heaven in the smoke of the altar. Then follow some general rules in regard to the general subject of meat-offerings. Ver. 11. " No meat-offering which ye shall bring unto the Lord, shall be made with leaven : for ye shall burn no leaven, nor any honey, in any offering of the Lord made by fire." Leaven indicates corruption, and is the very opposite of salt, which preserves (v. 13), and which must never be wanting. Honey includes all that is sweet, like the honey of grapes, figs, and the reed or calamus, that grew 3 50 THE MEAT-OFFERING. on the banks of the waters of Merom,* and it is forbidil'ii both because it turns to sourness, and leads to fermenta- tion, and perhaps also because it is a luxury, and the Lord desires nothing of earthly sweetness. His offerings must have neither corruption nor carnal sweetness. We must, like Christ, be the Lord's ; holy and separate from the world, not pleasing ourselves. In chapter xxiii. 17, there is a special lesson taught by the presence of leaven in the two loaves of the first-fruits ; it is altogether un- like this case. Ver. 12. "As for the oblation of the first-fruits, yc shall offer them unto the Lord : but they shall not be burnt on the altar for a sweet savor." The first ripe fruits of any sort are meant. These, when offered, were typical of presenting the person's self and substance, and hence are included in the subject of meat-offering. But they are not to be brought to the altar, because they show us Christ in a peculiar aspect. And that aspect seems to be Christ glorified^ or raised up, after suffering. Hence there is no burning of any part of them, for the Buffering is done. The Holy Spirit takes truth in portions, and seems sometimes to turn our eye away from one portion of truth on purpose to let us see better some other portion, by keeping our attention for a time fixed on that alone. Ver. 18. " And every oblation of thy meat-offering shall Ihou season with salt ; neither shall thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be Licking from thy mcat-oHuru^ : with nil thine offerings thou shall offer salt." * Jarchi says, inn pTB bp " all sweetness of fruit," sweet things ob- tained from any fruit Honey wasreckoned corrupting, because it ferments. The Chaldee uses ujinatj, in the sense of fermenting, a word derived from tJan " honey." Rosenmuller. CHAPTER II. 51 This salt indicates corruption removed and prevented ; and in the case of the meat-offering, it is as if to say, Thy body and thy substance are become healthy now ; they shall not rot. They are not like those of the ungod- ly in James v. 2, " Your riches are corrupted." There is a blessing on thy body and thy estate. And next, it intimates the friendship (of which salt was a well-known emblem) now existing between God and the man. (rod can sup with man, and man with God. (Rev. iii. 18.) There is a covenant between him and God, even in re- gard to the beasts of the field (Job v. 23), and fowls of heaven (Hos. ii. 18). The friendship of God extends to his people's property ; and to assure us of this he appoints the salt in the meat-offering, the offering that especially typified their substance. How comforting to laboring men ! how cheering to careworn merchants, if they dedicate themselves to God ; He is interested in their property as much as they themselves are ! " Who is a God like unto thee !" . But more ; " with all thine offer- ings thou shalt offer salt" declared that the sweet savor of these sacrifices was not momentary and passing, but enduring and eternal. By this declaration he sprinkles every sacrifice with the salt of his unchanging satisfac- tion. And " the covenant by sacrifice" (Ps. 1. 5) is thus confirmed on the part of God ; he declares that he on his part will be faithful. Ver. 14. " And if thou offer a meat-offering of thy first-fruits unto the Lord, thou shalt offer for the meat-offering of thy first-fruits green ears of corn dried by the fire, even corn beaten out of full ears." These are voluntary meat-offerings, and they differ from those of verse 12. The sense is, " If thou wishest to make a common meat-offering out of these first-fruits, 62 THE MEAT-OFFERING. it shall be done in the following manner." A peculiar typical circumstance attends these. These are " ears of corn" a figure of Christ (John xii. 24) ; and "ears of the best kind" for so the Hebrew (is 1 ??) intimates. They are " dried by the fire " to represent Jesus feeling the wrath of his Father, as when he said, " My strength is dried up," i. e. the whole force of my being is dried up. (Ps. xxii. 15.) " I am withered like grass." (Ps. cii. 4.) 0, how affecting a picture of the Man of sorrows ! How like the very life ! The best ears of the finest corn in the plains of Israel are plucked while yet green ; and in- stead of being left to ripen in the cool breeze, and under a genial sun, are withered up by the scorching fire. It was thus that the only pure humanity that ever walked on the plains of earth was washed away in three-and- thirty years by the heat of wrath he had never deserved. While obeying night and day with all his soul and strength, the burning wrath of God was drying up his frame. " Beaten out of full ears" represents the bruises and strokes whereby he was prepared for the altar. " Though he were a son yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered." (Heb. ii. 10.) It is after this preparation that he is a perfect meat-offering, fully devoted, body and substance, to the Lord. In all this he is " First-fruits," intimating that many more shall follow. He the first-fruits ; then all that are his in like manner. We must be conformed to Jesus in all things ; and here it is taught us that we must be con- formed to him in self-dedication self-renunciation. We must please the Father as he left us an example, saying, " I do always those things that please him." (John viii. 29), even under the blackest sky. CHAPTER II. 53 Ver. 15. "And thou shalt put oil upon it, and lay frankincense thereon: it is a meat-offering." Ver. 16. "And the priest shall bum the memorial of it, part of the beaten corn thereof, and part of the oil thereof, with all the frank- incense thereof: it is an offering made by fire unto the Lord." The smoke and the fragrance ascend to hea*ven. All is accepted Christ first, then each of his people. He passed through suffering, fire, and flame then was ac- cepted. They being reckoned one with him, are treated as if they had done so too. Whatever sufferings are left to them are not atoning, but only sanctifying. THE DRINK-OFFERING. Some one might here ask, Why is there no mention of the wine-offering or drink-offering? It is rather re- markable that the drink-offering should be omitted in the midst of so full a setting forth of tabernacle rites. It is often joined with burnt-offerings and meat-offerings, as in Ezek. xlv. 17. But properly speaking, the Drink- offering was not a part of any sacrifice ; though it was never offered by itself alone. It was a rite superadded to express the worshipper's hearty concurrence in all that he saw done at the* altar. Hence, it could be deferred till a convenient time arrived. It appears from Numbers xv. 2, 4, that it was not to be observed till they came to Canaan, and had reached the plentiful vineyards of Sorek and Engeddi. But we may notice in passing the object and meaning of this ordinance. It was " strong wine poured unto the Lord." (Numb, xxviii. 7.) Wine is the representation of joy, and hence it was an expression on the offerer's part of his cheerful and hearty acquiescence in all that was done at the altar. He saw the lamb slain, a type 64 THE DRINK-OFFERING. of atoning blood for his guilty soul ; he saw the meat- offering presented, a type of entire dedication to the Lord ; and, therefore, when he lifted up the cup of wine, and poured it forth before the Lord at the altar over the ashes of 4he sacrifice, and the memorial of the meat- offering ; his so doing was equivalent to his saying, " In all this I do heartily acquiesce. I welcome atoning blood to my guilty soul, and I give up my redeemed soul to him that has atoned for me. Amen, Amen !" It is to this drink-offering that reference is made in Judges ix. 13, where wine is said to " cheer God and man" It is not to wine used at table for convivial pur- poses that allusion is there made, but to wine used at the altar. There it did truly gladden God and man. Like the water of the well of Bethlehem poured out by David, it expressed the heart poured out. The Lord rejoiceth to see a sinner accept the offered atonement. Is not the shepherd's heart glad when he finds the lost sheep ? Does not the father weep for very joy as he sees his prodigal return, and falls upon his neck ? And likewise the Lord rejoiced to see a ransomed sinner giving himself up to his God, as he rejoiced over Abraham when he did not with- hold even Isaac. " He taketh pleasure in them that fear him." On the other hand, the sinner himself was glad as he poured out the wine; for there is "joy and peace in believing" in accepting the offered Saviour. Nor less so in giving up all to the Lord ; for he that givcth up "houses and lands," for Christ's sake, receives a hun- dred-fold more in this present life. Is it not, then, truo that " wine made glad the heart of God and man ?" Might not the vine that grew in Israel's land say, " Should I leave my wine that chcereth God and man ?" The olive, in the same manner, could say, " Should 1 CHAPTER II. 55 leave my fatness wherewith by me they honor God and man?" (Judges ix. 9,) because olive-oil supplied the tabernacle lamps, as well as lighted up the halls of princes, and some part of a hin of oil (the special symbol of consecration) must (Numb. xv. 4, 6) accompany every meat-offering. If it be here asked, Did our Lord fulfil the type of the drink-offering ? We say, Yes ; by the entire willingness he ever felt, to suffer, and to obey for us. Even on the night wherein he was betrayed, " He sang and gave God praise that he must die" And perhaps there is more meaning in the words of Luke xxii. 20, than is generally noticed. " This cup is the New Testament in my blood." This wine-cup not only exhibits the blood that seals the New Covenant, but exhibits it as the wine that may cheer our souls. The blood of the grape of the True Vine gladdens God and man. But returning to the immediate subject of the chapter before us, let us sum it up by briefly quoting Hannah's offering (1 Sam. i. 24) when Samuel was weaned. We find there three bullocks. This is the burnt-offering' a bullock for herself, and for her husband, and for her child ; and as if to express her belief that her child needed atoning blood, she offers a bullock for him as well as for herself, nay (v. 25), expressly offers it at the moment of presenting him. Next, we find the ephah of flour. This is the meat-offering. It expresses the dedication of themselves and all they had to Grod. An ephah contained ten omers or ten deals, and three of these was the usual quantity that went to each meat-offering (Numb. xv. 9, 12) on such an occasion as this. But here, no doubt, their meat-offering had more than three omers, just in order to show overflowing love. The bottle of wine, last 56 THE DRINK-OFFERING. of all, was intended as the drink-offering ; and as an ephah of flour was far more than was required by law, even for so many persons (Numb. xv. 9), so no doubt this bottle of wine was more than full measure, and was poured out before the Lord to express the entire cheer- fulness wherewith all this was done by the parties con- cerned. It was after all this (1 Sam. i. 28, and ii. 1) that they filled the tabernacle with the voice of adoration and praise, and then returned rejoicing to Ramah. That this mode of worshipping the Lord was not in- frequent in Israel rrtay appear, further, from 1 Sam. x. 3. The three worshippers whom Saul met " going up to God to Bethel." along Tabor-plain; were carrying, 1. A kid ; one for each, to be a burnt-offering ; 2. A loaf of bread, or large cake ; one for each, to be a meat-offering ; 3. A bottle of wine ; one for all, as in Samuel's case. " Happy are the people that are in such a case ; yea, happy the people whose God is the Lord !" Happy the people where again and again some thankful worshipper is saying, " What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits towards me ? I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord." (Psalm cxvi. 13.) The drink-offering of wine, poured out before the Lord over the peace-offering that some Israelite had brought in the way of thanks for benefits received (as Numb. xv. 3, directs), this is " the cup of salvation" And from time to time the courts of the Lord's house are enlivened by the happy countenance of some grateful worshipper, who smiles with delight as the priest pours out for him the sparkling wine of Lebanon or Sorek. Nor is it less true that the Lord himself rejoices ; his heart is " cheer- ed ;" he rests in his love, making his love the very canopy over all. " -WHEREFORE, BEING JUSTIFIED BY FAITH WE HAVE PEACE WITH GOD, THROUGH OCR LORD JESUS CHRIST J BY WHOM ALSO WE HAVE ACCESS BY FAITH INTO THIS GRACE WHEREIN WE STAND." Rom. V. 1, 2. CHAPTER HI. Ver. 1. "And if his oblation be a sacrifice of peace-offering; if he offer it of the herd, whether it be a male or female, he shall offer it without blemish before the Lord." THE PEACE-OFFERING* is introduced to our notice with- out any formal statement of the connection between it and the preceding offerings. That there is a connection is taken for granted, and the Prophet Amos v. 22, refers to this understood order when he says, " Though ye offer me burnt-offerings, and your meat-offerings, I will not accept them, neither will regard the peace-offerings of your fat beasts." The connection is simply this : a justi- fied soul, devoted to the Lord in all things, spontaneously engages in acts of praise and exercises of fellowship. The Lord takes for granted that such a soul, having free access to him now, will make abundant use of that * In Hebrew the word is always plural, except in Amos v. 22. It is in every other place t^pbd. perhaps equivalent to " things pertaining to peace" things that spoke of peace, viz., the divided pieces of the sacrifice, some parts burnt on the altar, some feasted upon by the priest, some by the offerer. Various sorts of blessing, included in the word peace, wera thus set forth. 58 TIIK PKACE-OFFERINGS. access. Often will this now redeemed sinner look up and sing, " Lord, truly I am thy servant, I am thy servant, arid the son of thy handmaid ; thou hast loosed my bonds ; I will offer to thce the sacrifice of thanks- giving, and will call upon the name of the Lord. (Psalm cxvi. 16.) The animal might be a female. In this offering the effects of atonement are represented more than the manner of it; and therefore there is no particular restric- tion to males.* Just as we afterwards find that part o the animal was to be feasted upon, and not all to be burned, as in the whole-burnt-offering ; because here the object principally intended is to show Christ's offering conveying blessing to the offerer. It is true, that in the peace-offering presented by the priest himself, and in that presented at the season of first-fruits, there is an injunction that it be a male that is offered; but the reason in these cases may be, that on occasions, which were more than ordinarily solemn, there was a special intention to exhibit something of the manner, as well as the effects, of Christ's sacrifice. Himself, as well as what he accomplished, was to be shown. It must be " without blemish ;" for it represents " the holy child Jesus ;" " altogether lovely ;" " Who knew no sin" the Head of a Church that is to be " without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing." Ver. 2. "And be shall lay bis Hand upon the head of his offering, and kill it at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation : and Aaron's sons, the priests, shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about" * So, a Kid might be taken as well as a Lamb for the Passover. (Exod. xiii. 5.) Attention was directed to the use made of the blood ; not to the kind of animal CHAPTER III. 59 The offerer's hand, resting on the head of the was equivalent to his pointing to Christ as the source of his blessings; q. d. " The chastisement of my peace is laid upon him; therefore I am come this day, laden with benefits, to give thajiks while I enjoy the blessing/' (See above, chap. i. 5.) And let us again notice tho words " kill it at the door of the tabernacle" We cannot cross the threshold of his Father's house, and enter his many mansions, except by his peace-speaking blood. "Being justified by faith, we have peace we have access into his grace." (Rom. v. 1, 2.) Vers 3. 4, " And he shall offer of the sacrifice of the peace-offering an offering made by fire unto the Lord ; the fat that covereth the in- wards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the flanks, and the caul the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away." From a comparison of Exod. xxix. 13, it becomes plain that all the pieces here mentioned were to be removed from the animal, and burnt by themselves. " It shall he take" is equivalent to " this all this shall he take." They were not to burn the whole animal, but only these portions. These portions were like " the memorial" (chap ii. 2) in the case of the meat-offering. And the parts chosen for this end are the richest parts, the fat the fat ivithin, and the fat that might be said to be with- out (ver. 9), in the case of the lamb. Peculiar care is to be given to take out, all the fat that was within, " the fat that covers the inwards," or intestines ; next, " the kidneys," which are composed of the richest substance, richer than even fat;* then " the * Hence Deut. xxii. 14, " tJie fat of the kidneys oif wheat," is used to ex- press the highest degree of richntst, in the wheat. Patrick quotes Aris- totle de Animal, iii. 9, "s^oim It n^pn ^aXiara TUV irirXay^vtSv Tri/iEXtji'," 60 THE PEACE-OFFERINGS. fat in which the kidneys 1 ' 1 are imbedded, and which is "on the loins" (flanks), i. e. the inner fat muscles of the loins which had the collops of fat (Job xv. 27) ; and " the caul (rnn?) above, the liver and above the kidneys." (See the margin and the original Hebrew^.) It is not easy to ascertain the meaning of " the caul" some making it one of the lobes of the liver (Gesenius, from the Septuagint); others the midriff ; and others the gall-bladder. It is every way likely that it was some fat part near the liver and kidneys. Now, observe that all these portions of the animal are the richest ; and also deeply seated, near the heart. In an offering of thanks and fellowship, nothing was more appropriate than to enjoin that the pieces presented should be those seated deep within. We approach a rec- onciled God, to hold fellowship with him as Adam did in Eden in the cool of the day ; or rather as those before the throne do in their holy worship. We come to praise, to glorify, to enjoy our God. What, then, can we bring but the most inward feelings, all of the richest kind, and all from the depth of the soul. 'Our reins (Heb. r--'--. same as " kidneys") must yield their desires in all abund- ance, to the God that trieth the " heart and reins." (Psalm vii. 9.) Our loins were before " filled with pain" (Isa. xxi. 3), because sin's " loathsome disease" spread through them (Psalm xxxviii. 7) ; therefore now we con- secrate their strength, using it all for him, " the effectual working of whose power" has set us free. Yea, whatever can be found anywhere in or about our heart and reins, we yield it all to Him who " poured out his soul unto death." This is communion with God. Such was the rich offering of his soul which Jesus made as our peace-offering, when " by the Eternal Spirit CHAPTER III. 61 he offered himself to God." Every deep affection, everj emotion, all that love could feel, all that desire could yearn over, was presented by him to the Father in that hour when he became " our peace." (Eph. ii. 14.) And all -these feelings were at the moment tried and tested by the fire which blazed around them. The just wrath of God seemed to spurn and thrust down each heartfelt emotion ; yet all remained unchanged and un- diminished, and were poured into the mould of the Father's heart by that very heat of wrath. We, as reconciled, are to pour out these same feelings in all their fulness, but under the kindly influence of love. The heat of love, not the fire of wrath, is to melt .our souls and pour forth our feelings. Ver. 5. " And Aaron's sons shall burn it on the altar upon the burnt- sacrifice, which is upon the wood that is on the fire ; it is an offering made by fire of a sweet savor unto the Lord." Here the Septuagint have " topi stod^s KVQM" the terms employed by Paul in Eph. v. 2. " Ovaia sis The parts thus prepared, the fat parts, are to be put on the altar ; but not at random, anywhere on the altar. A particular mode is fixed upon. They are to be put " on the sacrifice that is upon the wood which feeds the flame" of the altar. The daily sacrifice is referred to, which typified the atonement in all its fulness. Upon this, therefore, must the pieces of the peace-offerings be laid. Our daily acts of communion with God, our daily praise, our daily thanksgiving, must be founded afresh on the work of Jesus. " By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually" (Heb. xiii 15.) 62 THE PEACE-OFFERINGS. Ver. 6. " And if his offering for a sacrifice of pence-offering unto the Lord be of the flock, male or female, he shall offer it without bleini-h." 1 The Father's delight in his Son seems plainly exhibited in the ever-recurring direction " without blemish" Tho eye of God rested with infinite complacency en the spot- lessness of Jesus. " Behold ! my servant whom I have chosen, mine elect (q. d. my chosen Lamb), in whom my soul delightelh." It is an expression that teaches us by its frequent repetition, both the holy delight which the Father had in " the holy child Jesus," and the delight he will have in his unblemished Church. It is a holy God that speaks ; it is the author of the holy law. The lawgiver is he who prescribes the type of a fulfilled and satisfied law. We recognize the God and father of our Lord and Saviour " just, while he justifies." It is truly pleasant, unspeakably precious, to see God's thorough demand for spotlessness ; for thus we are assured, that beyond all doubt, our reconciliation is solid. It is full reconciliation to a God who is fully satisfied. Vers. 7, 8. " If he offer a lamb for his offering, then shall he offer it before the Lord. And he shall lay his hand upon the head of his offering, and kill it before the tabernacle of the congregation : and Aaron's sons shall sprinkle the blood thereof round about upon the altar." The lamb is as fully acknowledged as the offering from the herd, the bullock or heifer. For it is not the thing itself, but what it represented, that has value in it. One of the ends answered by permitting a gradation in tho value of the things sacrificed, was this ; it turned attention to the antitype, instead of the type itself to the Lamb of God, instead of the value of the mere animal, Vcr. 9, 10. "And he shall offer of the sacrifice of the peace-offering an offering made by fire unto the Lord. ; the (at thereof, and the CHAPTER III. 63 whole rump, it shall he take off hard by the back-bone ; and the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, which is by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away." The only difference here, from vers. 3, 4, is that here we have, in addition to the other pieces, already noticed, " the rump," or tail (n^bx). In Syrian sheep, this was a part of the animal which the shepherd reckoned very valuable ; it is large,* and being composed of a sub- stance between fat and marrow not inferior in taste and quality to marrow. Still the richest portions are claimed for the altar. Every rich thought, every rich emotion, every intense feeling, was devoted by Christ for us, and is to be now sent back by us to him. And it is said, " the tail he shall remove close to the back-bone," q. d., take it entire and complete leave nothing behind. Perhaps we are entitled to consider the Psalmist as referring to this offering in Psa. Ixiii. 5, " My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness" here is the reference to the pieces presented q. d., My soul shall be satisfied, as if I had received all that is intimated by the rich pieces of the peace-offering. And so, also, \iJien Isaiah says (Iv. 2), " Eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness" q. d., Come to the great peace-offering, and take the richest portions, even those selected for Grod ! Enjoy the very love wherewith the Father loveth the Son ! Ver. 11. " And the priest shall burn it upon the altar ; it is the food of the offering made by fire unto the Lord." Instead of saying, " It is a sweet savor," we have here * This is so well known that writers usually refer us to Aristotle de Animal. 8, 28, where he says, " Opas e%ei TO irAaruj nnxew." 64 THE PEACE-OFFEKINGS. another expression, equally significant. " It is the food, the sacrifice made by fire" It is called " food," or " bread," because God is now regarded as a father, feast- ing his prodigal children who have returned home, or as a friend entertaining guests. Hence Ezekiel xliv. 7, " Ye offer my bread, the fat and the blood ;" and hence the altar is called "the table of the Lord." (Mai. i. 7; also Levit. xxi. 22.) This represents God as one at table with his people; they feast together. He is no more their foe. If it was the chief aggravation of Judas' sin, " He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me ;" then it is impossible for God to be otherwise than an eternal friend, " an Everlasting Father," to those he invites home. In this view we see the keen- ness of the reproach in Mai. i. 7, 12, and in Ezek. xliv. 7. They treated the privilege of children and friends with contempt; God, in his most kindly aspect, was despised and scorned. Vere. 12, 13. " And if his offering be a goat, then he shall offer it before the Lord. And he shall lay his hand upon the head of it, and kill it before the tabernacle of the congregation : and the sons of Aaron shall sprinkle the bloud thereof upon the altar round about And he shall offer thereof his offering, even an offering made by fire unto the Lord." The goat stands here in the same relation to the peace- offering from the herd, ns did the turtle-dove and pigeon to the bullock of the whole burnt-sacrifice. The poorer sort might bring the goat ; when he could not bring the blood of bulls, ho brought the blood of goats. And thus, still, they were prevented from attaching importance to the mere type. The goat represents Jesus, as one taken out of the flock for the salvation of the rest. Let us suppose we CHAPTER III. 65 saw " a flock of goats appearing from Mount Grilead" (Song vi. 5). The lion from Bashan rushes upon this flock ; one is seized, and is soon within the jaws of the lion ! This prey is enough ; the lion is satisfied, and retires ; the flock is saved by the death of one This incidental substitution does not indeed show forth the manner of our Substitute's suffering; but it is an illus- tration of the fact, that one dying saved the whole flock. The goat is one of a class that go in flocks in Palestine, and so are fitted to represent Christ and his people. And, perhaps, the fact of an animal like the goat being select- ed to be among the types of Christ, was intended to pre- vent the error of those who would place the value of Christ's undertaking in his character alone. They say, " Behold his meekness he is the Lamb of Grod !" Well, all that is true ; it is implied in his being " without blemish." But that cannot be the true point to which our eye is intended to be directed by the types ; for what, then, becomes of the goat ? They may tell us of the meekness of the lamb, and patience of the bullock, and tenderness of the turtle-dove ; but the goat, what is to be said of it ? Surely it is not without a special providence that the goat is inserted, where, if the order of chap. i. had been followed, we would have a turtle-dove ? The reason is, to let us see that the main thing to be noticed in these types is the atonement which they represented. Observe the stroke that falls on the victim, the fire that consumes the victim, the blood that must flow from the victim, whether it be a bullock, a lamb, a turtle-dove or a goat. The Socinian view of Christ's death is thus contra- dieted by these various types; and our eye is intently fixed on the atoning character of the animal, more than on anything in its nature. 66 THE PEACE-OFFERINGS. While other types do exhibit the character and nature of the Saviour, it was fitting that one type, such as this of the goat, should thus guard us against the idea that that in itself was atonement. Vers. 14, 15, 16. " The fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards, nnd the two kidneys, and the tit that is upon them, which is by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall be taken away. And the priest shall burn them upon the altar : it is the food of the offering made by fire, for a sweet savor." This offered goat is as fully accepted as a peace-offer- ing, as was the lamb or bullock ; for the atoning aspect of the type is just as complete "in this case as in any other. " It is food an offering made by fire" as ver. 11. Ver. 17. " All the fat is the Lord's. It shall be a perpetual statute for your generations, throughout all your dwellings, that ye eat neither fat nor blood." Some think " the fat" is the fat of beasts used in sacri- fice, chap. vii. 25. But, perhaps, it was the fat of all beasts used " in their dwellings" Those parts mentioned as sacrificial must always be set aside. But the fat of other parts of the hnimal (the fat that was part of the flesh) was used, and reckoned a luxury; see Neh. viii. 10, " Eat the fat." This is the most probable explanation. There may be a reproof intended in Ezek. xxxiv. 3, " Ye eat the fat," as if they even took the forbidden portions. " Blood" because the life the sign of atonement must not be eaten. It is the solemn type of the poured-out Boul. Thus in the dwellings of Israel there was something to keep them in daily remembrance of the Great Sacrifice. Their deep and awful reverence must be felt at home as CHAPTER III. 67 well as in the sanctuary. Their homes are made a sanc- tuary thereby, as they set apart the fat and the blood at their tables! And thus they lived as redeemed men, realizing their dependence on the blood of Jesus, and de- lighting to cast the crown at his feet in every new re- membrance of his work. Few ordinances were more blessed than these Peace- offerings. Yet, like the Lord's Supper with us, often were they turned to sin. The lascivious woman in Prov. vii. 14, comqs forth saying, " I have peace-offerings with me ; this day have I paid my vows." She had actually gone up among the devoutest class of worshippers to pre- sent a thank-offering, and had stood at the altar as one at peace with Grod. Having now received from the priest those pieces of the sacrifice that were to be feasted upon, lo ! she hurries to her dwelling and prepares a banquet of lewd ness. She quiets her conscience by con- straining herself to spend some of her time and some of her substance in his sanctuary. She deceives her fellow- creatures, too, and maintains a character for religion ; and then she rushes back to sin without remorse. Is there nothing of this in our land ? What means Christmas- mirth, after pretended observance of Christ's being born ? What means the sudden worldliness of so many on the day following their approach to the Lord's Table ? What means the worldly talk and levity of a Sabbath afternoon, or evening, after worship is done? Contrast with this the true worshipper, as he appears in Psalm Ixvi. He has received mercies, and is truly thankful. He comes up to the sanctuary with his offer- ings, singing 68 THE PEACE-OFFERLN'GS. " I will go into thy house with burnt-offerings : I will pay thee my vows, which my lips have uttered, and my mouth has spoken, when I was in trouble." (Vers. 13, 14.) In the " burnt-offerings," we see his approach to the altar with the common and general sacrifice ; and next, in his "paying-vows" we see he has brought his peace- offerings with him. Again, therefore, he says at the altar " I will offer to thee burnt-sacrifices of fatlings." (Ver. 15.) This is the general offering, brought from the best of his flock and herd. Then follow the peace-offerings. " With the incense (rnbjs, fuming smoke) of rarns ; I will offer bullocks with goats. Selah." Having brought his offerings, he is in no haste to de- part, notwithstanding; for his heart is full. Ere, there- fore, he leaves the sanctuary, he utters the language of a soul at peace with God " Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will de- clare what he hath clone for my soul. I cried unto him with my mouth, and he was extolled with my tongue. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me; but verily God hath heard me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be ( J<>d. \\hich hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me !" This, truly, is one whom " the very God of peace" has sanctified, and whose whole spirit, and body, and soul, he will preserve blameless unto the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. (I Thess. v. 23.) " LITTLE CHILDREN, THESE THINGS WRITE I UNTO YOU, THAT YE SIN NOT. AND IF ANY MAN SIN, WE HAVE AN ADVOCATE WITH THE FATHER, JESUS CHRIST THE RIGHTEOUS ; AND HE IS THE PROPITIATION FOR OUR SINS : AND NOT FOR OURS ONLY, BUT ALSO FOR THE SINS OF THE WHOLE WORLD." 1 John U. 1, 2. WERE a scorpion on our brow, prepared to thrust in its deadly sting, while we were unconscious of any danger, surely the friend would deserve our thanks who saw the black scorpion there, and cried aloud to us to sweep it off. Such is a sin of ignorance; and God, who is "a Grod of knowledge," is the gracious friend. In this char- acter he appears here. CHAPTER IV. Vers. 1, 2. " And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a soul shall sin through ignorance against any of the commandments of the Lord, concerning things which ought not to be done, and shall do against any of them." THE former chapters of this Book have been in sub- stance like the first chapter of John's first Epistle. We have been shown in type that life eternal which was manifested to us in Christ, the great Atonement. Next, we were shown that the Lord had a claim on all that is ours, and therefore must we give up ourselves and all that is ours to him. This done, we walk in fellow- ship with him. 70 TUB SIN-OFFERING. These things have been written to us, in the first three chapters, to the end " that we sin not" that \v> may not live like the dark world around us, but may be drawn to him who draws us with his cords of love the Lord now speaks again to " the children of Israel'' his " little children." He points out what is to be done when they come to the knowledge of sin, of which they were not aware before. The cases are understood to be things committed, not mere omissions of duty ; and how saddening to find that we grieve the Lord in so many hidden ways. "We have a heart as prone to sin as the body is to weariness. The sin through ignorance ("3jai) is the same that David prays against in Psalm xix. 12, " Who can under- stand his errors (rvix^aizj) ? cleanse thou me from secret things!" These are not sins of omission, but acts com- mitted by a person when at the time he did not suppose that what he did was sin.* Although he did the thing deliberately, yet he did not perceive the sin of it. So deceitful is sin, we may be committing that abominable thing which cast angels into an immediate and an eternal hell, and yet at the moment be totally unaware ! Want of knowledge of the truth and too little tenderness of conscience hide it from us. Hardness of heart and a corrupt nature cause us to sin unperceived. But here again the form of the Son of man appears ! Jehovah, God of Israel, institutes sacrifice for sins of ignorance, and thereby discovers the same compassionate and con- siderate heart that appears in our High Priest, ''who can have compassion on THE IGNORANT!" (Heb. v. 2.) * Josh. xx. 3, " Who killcth any person in ignorance (njj'in) nd did not know," i. c., did not know that his action would hare had that effect Comp. Deut xix. 4. CHAPTER IV. 71 Amidst the types of this Tabernacle we recognize the presence of Jesus it is his voice that shakes the cur- tains and speaks in the ear of Moses, " If a soul should sin through ignorance /" The same yesterday, to-day, and forever ! THE PRIEST'S SIN. Vers. 3, 4. " If the priest that is anointed do sin according to the sin of the people ; then let him bring, for his sin -which he hath sinned, a young bullock without blemish unto the Lord for a sin-offering. And he shall bring the bullock unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord ; and shall lay his hand upon the bullock's head, and kill the bullock before the Lord." The anointed priest must mean the High Priest, for he only was anointed. In ver. 5, the Septuagint have so understood it, for they give "(5 leoevg 6 XQtato? 6 rersiettw. /aero;." Now, the first case is that of the anointed priest sinning. " The law maketh men high priests that have infirmity." (Heb. vii. .28.) This sin the priest may have committed in his public services, in the execution of his office. Being invested with office, his sins are pecu- liarly aggravated, and peculiarly dangerous their effect upon others may be incalculable. The words, "accord- ing to the sin of the. people" (nrri PBCN!J) are more prop- erly rendered, " so as to cause the people to sin," he sins to the sinning of the people. (Tov iov iaov dua^eir. Septuag. " Delinquere faciens populum." Vulg.) The Old Testament ministry involved awful responsibilities, as well as the New. The personal holiness of the priest is provided for by this consideration; that if he, because of deficient wisdom, or because he had not faithfully sought help from the sanctuary, were guilty of some mis- take in the service, or polluted some of the holy vessels, 72 THE SIN-OFFERING. his sin would injure thousands of souls. It might de- rtroy the comfort of thousands; it might misrepresent the way of acceptance to thousands, and thereby ruin their souls. It left the sanctuary-door open to Satan. And, on the other hand, in such circumstances, surely the people would learn to pray for the ministering priest, and to feel that, after all, he was no more than an instru- ment used by God for their sakes. There seems thus to have been, in all ages, the flow of the same sympathies through Christ's body, the Church. The Church has been ever " compacted by that which every joint sup- plieth." But let us proceed. Hitherto we have seen atonement made by sacrifice, but now we are to see imputation of sin. Atonement is effected by imputation of sin- to another. The priest's sin is to be brought to the altar. He is to bring " a bullock" This is the very same kind of offering as when the whole congregation sin. As the most bulky and most expensive form of sacrifice was the bullock, the priest must take this form of sacrifice, in order to make more obvious to the eye his concern for his sin. He spares no cost in bringing his sin to the altar ; and the people learn from him to spare no cost in bringing their sins to the atoning blood. The type, applied to our surety, may be this that when Christ, our Anointed Priest, took upon him our sin as his own, he had to offer exactly what wo should have had to do ourselves, had we been reckoned with in our own persons. If there be sin found upon the priest, then his offering must be no less than the whole congrega- tion's. Verg. 6, 6. " And the priest that ia anointed shall take of the bullock's blood, and bring it to the tabernacle of the congregation ; And the CHAPTER IV. 73 priest shall dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle of the blood seven times before the Lord, before the veil of the sanctuary." The " seven times" throughout all Scripture, intimates a perfect and complete action.* The blood is to bo thoroughly exhibited before the Lord life openly ex- hibited as taken to honor the law that had been violated. It is not, at this time, taken within the veil, for that would require the priest to enter the Holy of Holies a thing permitted only once a year. But it is taken very near the mercy-seat it is taken before the " veil," while the Lord that dwelt between the Cherubim bent down to listen to the cry that came up from the sin-atoning blood. Was the blood sprinkled on the veil ? Some say not, but only on the floor close to the veil. The floor of the Holy Place was died in blood ; a threshold of blood was formed, over which the high priest must pass on the day of atonement, when he entered into the Most Holy, drawing aside the veil. It is blood that opens our way into the presence of God ; it is the voice of atoning blood that prevails with him who dwells within. Others, how- ever, with more probability, think the blood was sprinkled on the veil,\ It might intimate that atonement was yet to rend that veil. And, as that beautiful veil represent- ed the Saviour's holy humanity (Heb. x. 20), oh, how * The " seven times" of some passages, and the " once" of others (Heb. x. 10 ; 1 Pet. iii. 18), intimate the same thing, viz., so completely done that no more is needed. It is the one action in seven parts, for the satisfaction of all who see it done. And so the " One Spirit," and the " Seven Spirits." The Pythagoreans learnt from the Hebrews to account this number very important in religious ^cts. f The Hebrew is doubtful ; n?"lQ "VlB PN is put at the close of the sen- tence. Most probably it is so put, in order to define what " before the Lord," meant. The Septuagint is " Kara *arajrran^ with prayer, praise, or any feeling of the soul, exhibited a type of the merits of the surety enveloping his \><> jilr's services. The horns of this altar (said to have been of a pyrainidical shape), represented the power and strength that lay in this inodr. of approaching Jehovah. The horn is the recognized symbol of power. Incense ascending- between the four horns was symbolical of praise, prayer, or any service presented to God, ascendin-jr with all- prevailing nii-rif. And blood, placed on these horns,* exhibited the strong appeal to God made by atonement. A strong appeal to God is made by the blood thus placed There is no incense burnt on this altar on this occasion, " in order to teach u*," gays an old writer, "not to confide in our prayrrs for pardon." CHAPTER IV. 75 on the horns ol the golden altar. It is like the voice in Rev. ix. 13. We have seen that the priest first of all sprinkled the blood on the floor, close to the veil, or on the veil, whenee it fell in drops to the ground, so that a cry was heard ascending from the holy place itself. And then he sprinkled it on the four horns of the altar of intercession, that an appeal of unbroken strength might go up into the ears of the Lord from the very place of strong crying. He knew that it spoke better things than the blood of Abel. When the anointed priest was thus engaged, was he not a type of Jesus in the act of expiating his people's guilt? Probably the priest knelt, and then prostrated himself on the ground, as he sprinkled the blood before the veil ; and it would be with many tears, and strong crying from the depths of his soul, that he touched the altar's horns a type of Jesus in the garden, when he fell on his face, and, being in an agony, prayed more earnestly, and "offered up supplication, with strong crying and tears, to him that was able to save him from death." (Heb. v. 7.) Although in this case, the priest's sense of guilt was personal, and therefore was deep and piercing, yet when Jesus took on him our sins, he, too, felt them, and felt them as if they had been his own. He cried, " Mine iniquities have taken hold upon me !" (Ps. xl. 12.) Identifying himself with us, his soul grieved immeasurably for the sin he bore, and his tears dropt on the awful burden which he took up, as sincerely as if it had been altogether his own. At length the priest comes from the holy place leav- ing it, however, filled with the cry of blood ! a cry for pardon and proceeds to the altar of burnt-offering, directly opposite the door. There he pours out the rest 76 THE SIN-OFFERING. of the blood, at the foot of the altar,* his eye looking straight toward the holy place. Within and without the holy place, the voice of atonement was now heard as- cending from the blood. What a sermon was thus preached to the people ! Atonement is the essence of it atonement needed for even one sin, and applied as soon as the sin was known. There is no trifling with God. What a ransom for the soul is given ! life .the life of the seed of the woman ! What care to present it what earnestness ! The holy plade is filled with its cry, and the courts without also; and the priest's soul is intently engaged in this one awful matter ! The people, per- ceiving the whole transaction, must have felt it singu- larly powerful, 1st, for conviction " Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, fie is gui/ty of all" (Jas. ii. 10); and 2d, for invitation " To-day , if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts" Vers. 8, 9, 10. " And he shall take off from it all the fat of the bullork for the Bin-offering ; the fat that coveruth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards, and the two kidneys, and the I'.it that is upon them which is by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, witli the kidneys, it shall he take away, as it was taken off from the bullock nf the sacrifice of peace-offerings ; and the priest shall burn them upon the altar of the burnt-offering." The same ceremonies as were used in the peace-offer- ings, are intentionally introduced here. (See iii. 10.) The object seems to be, to show the offerer that he is now accepted. It is not in vain that he has sprinkled the blood on the floor of the holy place and its altar of in- * It is said that, in Jerusalem, there was an underground canal at the altar in the Temple, by which the blood was carried off to the brook Ce- dron. (Patrick.) CHAPTER IV. 77 oense, and poured out what of the blood remained, in sight of all the people, (rod gives this sign of recon- ciliation, viz., at this stage of his offering the sacrifice is treated as a peace-offering. The voice of peace now breathes over the sacrifice, and through the courts, as much as if a voice had said, " It is a savor of rest." Vers. 11,12. " And the skin of the bullock, and all his flesh, with his head, and with his legs, and his inwards, and his dung, even the whole bullock shall he carry forth without the camp unto a clean place, where the ashes are poured out, and bum him on the wood with fire ; where the ashes are poured out shall he be burnt." But that the priest, and all present, might go home with an awful conviction of the heinousness even of forgiven sin, other things remained to be done. We are not to forget sin, because it has been atoned for ; and we are not to think lightly of sin, because it is washed away. Our God wishes his people to retain a deep and lively sense of their guilt, even when forgiven. Hence the concluding ceremonies in the case of the priest's sin. The very skin of the bullock is to be burnt thus expressing more complete destruction than even in the case of the whole burnt-offering. Here is the holy law exacting the last mite; for the skin is taken, and the whole flesh, the head and legs (i. 8), the intestines, and the very dung " even the whole bullock /" Unsparing justice, that is, unspotted justice ! And yet more. As if the altar were too near God's presence to express fully that part of the sinner's desert which consists in suf- fering torment far off from God, all this is to be done "without the camjf a distance, it is calculated, of four miles from the holy place. In all sacrifices, indeed, this separation from God is represented in some degree by the ashes being carried away out of the camp ; but, 78 THE SIN-OFFERING. to call attention still more to this special truth, we aro here shown the bullock burnt on the wood, " without the camp, where the ashes are wont to be poured out" It was over the very ashes that lay poured out there ; for, in the last clause of the verse, the particle (i?) is used. " The clean place" is defined to be this place of ashes. It is clean, because, when reduced to ashes by consuming fire, all guilt was away from the victim, as intimated in Ps. xx. 3, " Let him turn thy burnt-sacrifice to ashes" n .?'!!'? the word used here also. At this part of the ceremonies there was meant to be exhibited a type of hell. This burning afar off, away from the holy place, yet seen by the whole congregation, was a terrible glance at that truth, " They shall be tor- mented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in presence of the Lamb ; and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever." (Rev. xiv. 10.) It is plain, also, that God .took the opportunity which this offering afforded, or rather formed this part of the rites belonging to this offering, in order to show some- what more of Christ's death. In every sacrifice which was of a public nature, or for a public person, the animal was carried without the camp, as we may soe, chap. xvi. 27, on the day of atone- ment. The reason of this was that, in these cases, Christ's pwWic-sacrifice, as offered to the whole world, and every creature, and as fulfilling the law's demands to the last mite, was to be especially prefigured. It is carried " without the camp," as Jesus was crucified out- side of the gates of Jerusalem (Heb. xiii. 12), that it might be in sight of all the camp, as Christ's one offering is held up to all the world, to be used by whosoever will. CHAPTER IV. 79 Next, suffering far off from the holy place, with his Father's face hidden, and all the fire of wrath in his soul, and on his body, Jesus farther fulfilled this type in regard to the entire satisfaction demanded by the law. And, inasmuch as he suffered at Jerusalem, where the ashes of the sacrifices were poured out, he may be said to have fulfilled the type of the " clean place." For we see him, over these remnants of typical sacrifice, offer- ing up the one true and perfect offering. But it was Calvary that was specially a "place of ashes" inas- much as there the demands of justice were wont to be satisfied, and the bones of victims to human law cast out. Joseph' 's new tomb, hewn out of the very rock of Calvary, is the exact counterpart to the " clean place," at the very spot where the ashes of so many dead men were to be found all around. And 0, what a view of hell does the suffering Saviour give ! The face covering between him and his Father the criminal's veil hung over him for three hours, the three hours of darkness away from the holy place driven from the mercy-seat, and beyond the bounds of the holy city an outcast, a forsaken soul, a spectacle to all that passed by wrath to the uttermost within, and his person, even to the eye, more marred than any man, while his cry, " My God ! my God ! why hast thou for- saken me ?" ascended up as the smoke of the sacrifice, to heaven, showing the heat of the unutterable agony, and testifying the unswerving exactness of the holy law. What a contrast to his coming again without sin, and entering Jerusalem again with the voice of the Arch- angel, in all his glory, bringing with him those whom he redeemed by that death on Calvery ! In one respect his people are to imitate the view of 80 THE SIX-OFFERING. him shown in this type. As he went forth to witness for God's holy law went forth without the gate, a spectacle to all the earth ; so they, redeemed by him, are to go forth to witness of that death and redemption which he has accomplished. (Heb. xiii. 12.) We are to " go forth unto him /" we are to be constantly, as it were, viewing that spectacle of united love and justice, looking to his cross ; though in so doing we make our- selves objects of amazement and contempt to the world, who contemn those whom they see going forth to stand by the side of the Crucified One. THE CONGREGATION'S SIN. Ver. 13. "And if the whole congregation of Israel sin through ignorance, ami the thing be hid from the eyes of the assembly, and they have done somewhat against any of the commandments of the Lord, concerning things which should not be done, and are guilty." The moral law was sometimes broken by the nation at large ; as in the matter of the golden calf, and the murmuring at the report of the spies. It is thought by Rashi that a sin like this occurred when " the Sanhe- drim did not instruct the people in regard to some cere- monial observance." Admitting that such cases oc- curred, yet it is important to notice, that even if the people were led into sin by th:ir priest, they are not excused : they are guilty and suffer the consequences.* The Prophet Hosea, (iv. 6-9,) shows that people are not freed from sin or punishment in such cases. * The proper rendering of " are guilty" snscst, is, m this place, " are u/ering the penalty," As in Paalm xxxiv. 21, 2*2, "shall be desolate ;* and Isa. xxiv. 6. CHAPTER IV. 81 This, however, is but one way whereby the congrega- tion are led into sin. Often it happened that a man made little use of his knowledge, and so ate holy things, as we find, chap. xxii. 14 ; and the whole people, in 1 Sam. xiv. 33, eat of the blood. Though they had not despised the priest, nor refused the law at his lips, yet they might let the word slip from their mind ; as in Heb. ii. 1, we are told may still occur. We all know that it is possible for a child of Grod to be cherishing unawares some idol, or indulging, like Eli, a too easy temper. Or he may be rash in his words, and frowning in his looks, where Jesus would only have looked on in grief. He may be cherishing pride like Hezekiah (Isa. xxxix.), or exhibiting blind zeal as the sons of Zebedee. He may be unawares substituting labor for fellowship with Grod, working without love, and suffering without faith in exercise. Prejudice against particular doctrines may be his secret sin; or wrong motives may be influencing him to do right actions. He may contrive to retain the look of green- ness when the sap is gone. Even a whole community of believers may be pervaded by some such sin. But more specially, a whole Church may be in the state of the congregation referred to here. It may be denying some great truth in theory or in practice. Thus, it may make light of the duty which kings and magistrates owe to Christ ; as is done by some Churches. It may be suffering " that woman Jezebel to teach and to seduce." (Rev. ii. 20.) It may be admitting some civil element into the management of its spiritual affairs, as is done in many Protestant Churches. It may be shutting its eyes to some great truth, or winking at some heresy. It may teach error in doctrine ; or it may d* 82 TIIK .SIX-OFKKKING. have left its first love. It may have allowed discipline to have become lax and corrupt, as, alas ! is too generally true of all the Churches of the Reformation. These secret sins may be keeping God from blessing the whole people, though he blesses individuals. Some- where amid these sources is to be found the origin of much of our inefficiency and unprofitableness. Ai can- not be taken because of the accursed thing in the camp. The mariners cannot make out the voyage to Tarshish with Jonah on board. Israel was thus led to constant self-examination and close attention to the revealed will of God. Ver. 14. " When the sin, which they have sinned against it, is known, then the congregation shall oiler a young bullock for the sin, and bring him before the tabernacle of. the congregation." Their offering is the same as the priest's because of their mutual relation. The people's sin is not over- looked, but is judged with as much severity as the priest's. Every man must bear his own burden ; and God is jealously holy. Ver. 16. " And the elders of the congregation shall lay the'r hands upon the head of the bullock before the Lord; and the bullock shall be killed before the Lord." The elders, in the name of the people, convey the guilt of the people to the head of the victim. It was this class of men the elders that put Jesus to death, with the priests. Now here we see that their act was a national act strictly national since they were repre- sentatives of all Israel. And their cry, " His blood be on MS," joining with the multitude, was a national rejection of Jesus. Ah, had they then joined to put CHAPTER IV. 83 their hands on him as the acknowledged sacrifice, they might have remained to this day ! The guilt of the whole people was thus made to meet in one point, viz., on the bullock. It is to a scene like this that Isaiah liii. 6, refers : " The Lord made the iniquity of us all to meet on him." (in s^aan). Vers. 16, 17, 18, 19, 20. "And the priest that is anointed shall bring of the bullock's blood to the tabernacle of the congregation ; and the priest shall dip his finger in some of the blood, and sprinkle it seven times before the Lord, even before the veil. And he shall put some of the bloo d upon the horns of the altar which is before the Lord, that is in the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall pour out all the blood at the bottom of the altar of the burnt-offer- ing, which is at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And he shall take all his fat from him, and burn it upon "the altar. And he shall do with the bullock as he did with the bullock for a sin-offering, so shall he do with this : and the priest shall make an atonement for them, and it shall be forgiven them." The expression, ver. 20, is to be understood, " He shall do in this case as he has done already," in the case of a bullock .for sin-offering, viz., ver. 3. The declaration, " It shall be forgiven" seems inserted here because otherwise there is not here, as in the last case, any particular exhibition of peace as in verses 810. This declaration, therefore, is made that pardon may be assuredly known. Ver. 21. " And he shall carry forth the bullock without the camp, and burn him as he burned the first bullock : it is a sin-oflering for the congregation." It is remarkable that after the declaration of forgive- ness, these other ceremonies take place. They are in- tended, no doubt, to impress a horror of sin on the soul, even after it is forgiven. The forgiven man is most capable of seeing the horror of sin ; and therefore the 84 THE SIN-OFFEHING. people are first pardoned, and then lead out to see the last mite exacted without the camp. See the same order ob- served, and for the same reason, we suppose, at vers. 11, 12. None but a pardoned man could have uttered Paul's cry, " wretched man that I am ; who shall deliver me from the body of this death ?" (Rom. vii. 24.) The identity of Christ and his people, also, is taught by their offering being burned exactly in all respects as the priest's, whose offering more especially typified Jesus. THE RULER'S SIN. Vera. 22, 23. " When a ruler hath sinned, and done somewhat through ignorance against any of the commandments of the Lord his Qod concerning things which should not be done, and is guilty ; or if hi* ein, wherein he hath sinned, come to hi* knowledge ; he shall bring hid offering, a kid of the goats, a male without blemish." " If a ruler has sinned and is su/crhig the penally" as in ver. 13th. The ruler may sin ignorantly, and be led to know his sin by some suffering, like Abime- lech, in Gen. xx. 3-17 ; or it might be by some friend's reproof, or by new circumstances occurring. So ver. 27. The ruler is such a one as those princes (B"x : i?J) of the tribes in Numb. vii. It includes all civil magistrates. His high responsibility is here shown just as in Prov. xxix. 12, " If a ruler hearken to lies, all his servants will be wicked." It is said, " The Lord his God;" as if to call atten- tion to the duty of publicly recognizing the Lord, and of rulers having the Lord as their own God. A ruler is specially bound to be a man of God. This is taken for granted here, " The Lord his God" No casting off of Messiah's cords here. He that ruleth over men must be as the Just One, " ruling in the fear of God." CHAPTER IV. 85 " A kid of the goats" is his sin-offering. It is a dif- ferent victim from that offered by the priest or congrega- tion in order to show that God definitely marks sin. And yet still the essence of atonement is the same, the blood of a victim that dies. Priest or prince must alike be atoned for by blood. The " male without blemish" is the spotless Saviour, the Son of man. Vers. 24, 25. " And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the goat, and kill it in the place -where they kill the burnt-offering before the Lord : it is a sin-offering. And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin-offering with his finger, and put it upon the horns of the altar of burnt-offering, and shall pour out his blood at the bottom of the altar of burnt-offering." It seems intentionally twice stated here, that the Altar of Burnt-offering was to be the place where his sin- offering was to be presented ; it is to be killed where the usual sacrifices for that altar are killed, and its blood is to be sprinkled there. The reason may be this : The altar of incense in the holy place was peculiarly the scene of the priest's intercession, and of the people's prayers as a congregation. The sins in holy things pointed inward, toward the holy place. On the other hand, a ruler's sin pointed toward the camp. Hence the blood that atones for his sin is sprinkled on the horns of that altar where it would be publicly observed. The cry of the blood on the four horns, the strong cry, based on all-prevailing atonement, was to ascend with- in hearing, as it were, of all his subjects, inasmuch as his sins affected the welfare of the nation. Ver. 26. " And he shall burn all his fat upon the altar, as the fat of the sacrifice of peace-offerings : and the priest shall make an atone ment for him as concerning his sin, and it shall be forgiven him." 86 THE SIN-OFFERING. The last clause may be intended to draw attention to the fact, that in this instance the atonement is because of this particular sin, and not simply because he is a sinner in nature and by common actual transgressions. The opportunity is here embraced of impressing on us the need of atonement for particular sins, for every sin by itself; and for those little regarded sins which we apologize for by saying, " I did not know of it." Jon- athan's sin in taking a little honey (1 Sam. xiv. 39, 43), and Abimelech's sin (Gren. xx. 6), show how jealous Grod is of even what appears sin, especially in public persons. SINS OF INDIVIDUALS. Vere. 27, 28. " And if any of the common people sin through ignorance, while he doeth somewhat against any of the commandments of the Lord concerning things which ought not to be done, and be guilty ; or if hU sin, which he hath sinned, come to his knowledge ; then he shall bring his offering, a kid of the goats, a female without blemish, for hia sin which he hath sinned." " A female" is here offered. Each kind of sin is thus definitely noticed, and each sinner's case treated by itself. But why is it a. female, since Christ is typifted by these offerings ? It is not easy to say. Perhaps it was intend- ed by God that by occasionally taking female sacrifices, Israel should be kept from ever once supposing that atonement was not intended equally for the daughters of Zion. The circumstance that a female kid is here fixed upon served to take off the impression that the male in- timated only the atonement of the men of Israel. Though, however, its being male or female is of use for other lessons, it is not the chief point to be noticed ; the point to be observed is, that the blood is an atonement. The subsidiary ideas are not to be dwelt upon always; but CHAPTER IV. 87 everywhere the principle of atonement by blood is to be kept in the sinner's view. " For his sin which he hath sinned." Lest the man should think that the sin was trifling, because he was a common man, and not a ruler, this emphatic notice is taken of his sin : Vers. 29,30, 31. "And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the sin- offering, and slay the sin-offering in the place of the burnt-offering. And the priest shall take of the blood thereof with his finger, and put it upon the horns of the altar of burnt-offering, and shall pour out all the blood thereof at the bottom of the altar. And he shall take away all the fat thereof, as the fat is taken away from off the sacrifice of peace-offerings ; and the priest shall burn it upon the altar for a sweet savor unto the Lord ; and the priest shall make an atonement for him, and it shall be forgiven him." The clause, " For a sweet savor unto the Lord" occurs here, though omitted in the three preceding cases. The reason may be -to show the worshipper, that though he was a common man, and not a ruler, yei still as much attention is paid to him as to the others. The offering which he presents is- a sweet savor, as much as Noah's. The full acceptance and full favor shown to every be- liever alike is immeasurably sweet. One family ! all alike accepted ! and all alike kept as the apple of his eye ! And thus this sin, that unawares was troubling him, is away. And when even one sin, and that a sin of ignorance, is thus completely removed, who can tell how much light may flow into our own cleansed souls ? A new window is opened, a new eye, for the scale has fallen from it. Ver. 32, 33, 34. " And if he bring a lamb for a sin-offering, he shall bring it a female without blemish. And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the sin-offering, and slay it for a sin-offering, in the place where they kill the burnt-offering. And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin-offering with his finger, and put it upon the 88 TUB SIN-OFFERING. horns of the altar of burnt-offering, and shall pour out all the blood thereof at thu bottom of the altar." It might sometimes not be easy to bring a kid. If so, let a lamb be taken. Only blood must be shed. The poor man's lamb is specially noticed and fully received as the rich man's offering. " Like precious faith" is the common property of all God's family, "One Lord, one faith" Ver. 85. " And he shall take away all the fat thereof, as the fat of the lamb is taken away from the sacrifice of the peace-offerings ; and the priest shall burn them upon the altar, according to the offerings made by fire unto the Lord: and the priest shall make an atonement for his sin that he hath committed, and it shall be forgiven him." The expression, " according- to the offerings made by fire," should be " in addition to (by) the offerings," tho daily sacrifice, morning and evening, or, " upon the offerings," i. e., over the very remnants of the daily sacrifice. It is exactly like chap. iii. 5. We are there taught that particular sins must be cast upon the one great Atonement ; and the cases that occur in this chapter of special guilt are just specific applications of the great truth taught in the daily sacrifice. Israel was taught that their different offerings were all of one nature in the main with the general burnt-offer- ing ; one Saviour only was prefigured, and one atone- ment. These sin-offerings, presented " upon the daily sacrifice" resemble tributary streams pouring in their waters into one great ocean. " Chri.st once suffered lor sins, the just for the unjust, to bring us unto God." (1 Pet. iii. 18.)* Oh, how anxious is our God to purge us * In Numb. zxii. 26, another direction is given, viz., in a case where tho nation had for a time forsaken the law of Moses. This happened under everal idolatrous kings, such as Manasseh. Ignorance became the sin of CHAPTER IV. 8i) from every stain ! The priest's hyssop is introduced into every corner of the building that we may be alto- gether pure. Well may we join the seraphim in their song, " Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of Hosts." Some have regarded the offences for which satisfaction is made in this chapter as offences of a national kind offences against the Theocracy, by which an Israelite forfeited the favor of Jehovah as his Theocratic Ruler, and was for a time cut off from his protection. Even when taken in this limited view, how significant are the sacrifices. The offender comes, confessing his sin and bringing a victim to suffer in his stead. The animal is slain in his room ; the man is forgiven, and retains his standing as a protected Israelite remaining under the shadow of the Guardian Cloud. The sacrifice never failed to produce this effect ; but nothing else than the sacrifice ever did. " Without shedding of blood there is no remission." This principle of the Divine govern- ment was engraven on the hearts of Israel, viz., whoso- ever is pardoned any offence must be pardoned by means of another's death. " The great multitude" of the saved are all pardoned by one of infinite worth having died for them all. See 2 Cor. v. 14. the next generation. Perhaps, Josiah's alarm at the hearing of the law found in the Temple is the kind of case there intended. In ver, 27-29, irxlividuals are taught to seek personal pardon besides. rni-cff rring for ?hisf nf Stonburrtrnnj. BRETHREN, IP A If AN BE OVERTAKEN* IN A FAULT, YE WHICH ARE SriHITt At. RESTORE SUCH AN ONE IN THE SPIRIT OK MEEKNESS." Gal. VI. 3. CHAPTER V. Ver. 1. "And if a soul sin, and hear the voice of swearing, and is a witness, whether he liath seen or known of it ; if he do not utter it, then he shall bear his iniquity" THE meaning is, " If a person sin in this respect," viz., that he hear the oath of adjuration administered by the judge, and is able to tell, having either seen or other- wise known the matter about which he is to testify : if such a man do not tell all he knows, he shall be reck- oned guilty of a sin. " The voice of swearing" undoubtedly means here the adjuration of a judge to a prisoner. The term (i"^x) employed here is the same as that used in 1 Sam. xiv. 24, "Saul had adjured (^}) the people;" and in 1 Kings viii. 31, "If an (nljuraliun be laid upon him, adjuring him to speak out the truth ;" and Judges xvii. 2, " The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from thee, about which thou didst adjure;" and Prov. x\i\. 24, " He hearcth an adjuration, and yet telleth not." The judge, in a court of justice, was permitted to elicit * "Overtaken," is wpolnfOy, hurried into sin ere lie is well aware. (Bretacbneider.) " Fault," U raparru/io, transgression, sin. CHAPTER V. 91 information from the witness by solemnly charging him to answer and tell all he knew, under penalty of a curse from God if he did not reveal the whole truth. It was in those circumstances that our Lord was placed before the High Priest. (Matt. xxvi. 63.) He was then, surely, in the depths of humiliation ! For now he is called upon, under threatening of the curse of his own Father, to break that strange silence, and tell all he knows, " 1 adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God." And then it was that the Lamb of God no longer kept himself dumb ; but, , bowing to the solemn force of this adjuration, showed the same meekness in replying as before he had done in keep- ing silence. From the depth of his humiliation he pointed upward to the throne, and declared himself Son of (rod, and judge of quick and dead. The sins mentioned in this chapter are chiefly sins arising from negligence sins which might have been / avoided, had tKe person been more careful. The case of the witness in ver. 1, is one where the person omitted to tell particulars which he could have told, or else, through carelessness, misstating some things. Let us learn the breadth of (rod's holy law ! Not a tittle fails. Let us learn the Holy Spirit's keen observation of sin in us. Let us learn to be jealous over ourselves, and seek to be of " quick discernment, in the fear of the Lord." Much sin is committed by omissions. Duties partially done have in them the guilt of Ananias and Sapphira. Ver. 2. " Or if a soul touch any unclean thing, whether it be a carcass of an unclean beast, or a carcass of unclean cattle, or the carcass of unclean creeping things, and if it be hidden from him ; he also shall be unclean, and guilty." 92 SINS OF INADVERTENCY. These, as well as ver. 3, are cases where others could see the pollution, though the man himself might bo un- aware of it at the time. They were, therefore, cases of a public injury in some degree. Through inadvertency a man might touch a carcass* of an unclean " beast' (nn), the term used for the sort of animals most com- monly met with in e very-day work. These are noticed first, as it was most likely they would oftenest meet with them. Then " cattle" in the fields or forests. Lastly, " creeping things," such as the weazel, the mouse, or the lizard (xi. 30). Thus there is a gradation, greater, middle, and smallest ; as if to say to us, that any degree of pollution is offensive to a pure and holy God. A true Israelite ought to keep completely free from all that de- files, however trifling, in the eye of the world. "What- ever sin God's eye resteth on, that is the sin which the man of God abhors. The man after God's own heart prays, " Cleanse thou me from secret faults." (Psa. xix. 12.) And, in reference to its being " hidden" yet still chargeable upon the sinner, he exclaims, " Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of thy countenance." (Psa. xc. 8.) Here, too, we learn that " sin is the transgression of the law." (1 John iii. 4.) It is not merely *vhen we act contrary to the dictates of conscience that we sin ; we may often be sinning when conscience never upbraids us. The most part of a sinner's life is spent without any check on the part of conscience that being dead and corrupt, fallen and depraved, responding to the man's lusts, rather than to the will of God. Hence it is said * Were dead bodies reckoned unclean on the ground that they are the fruit of sin / The sting of death is, aa it were, sunk into them ; and so tin U proved to be there. CHAPTER V. 93 here, that though " it be hidden from him," he shall be unclean. He is guilty, though his conscience did not warn him of the guilt contracted. A wful truth ! We know not what we do ! When the Book is opened and read, what a record of unfelt guilt ! u Had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory ;" but yet their act was the blackest of sins. Who can tell what pages there may be in the Book of Remembrance ?* Ver. 3. "Or if he touch the uncleanness of man, whatsoever uncleanness it be that a man shall be defiled withal, and it be hid from him ; when he knoweth of it, then he shall be guilty." This last clause is equivalent to " If it be hid from him, though he afterward come to know it." " The unclean- ness of a man," is such as the leprosy, or a running- issue caused. Again the lesson is enforced, that unconscious as our depraved souls may be of the presence of sin, sin may have polluted us and separated between us and (rod. We are guarded against the deceitfulness of sin. We need to be told of sin by others. Our coming afterwards to know our sin, may often be by means of our brethren's reproofs, and their quicker discernment of evil. Hence it is written. " Exhort one another daily, while it is called to- day, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitful- ness of sin." (Heb. iii. 13.) Ver. 4. " Or if a soul swear, pronouncing with his lips to do evil, or to do good, whatsoever it be that a man shall pronounce with an oath, and it be hid from him ; when he knoweth of it, then he shall be guilty in one of these." * Francis Quarles truly, though quaintly, says of a sin of ignorance, " It is a hideous mist that wets amain, Though it appear not in the form of rain." 94: SINS OF INADVERTENCY. More literally, " If a person swear, blabbing with his /7/y.s'' rashly uttering his vow. The careless way o doing even what is right is here condemned. Inco siderateness is a heinous crime, for the man is appealin to God ; and especially so when the thing vowed is evil. The case of man inadvertently swearing to do evil, is a case like Jephthtfs. Jephtha meant good, but it turned out to bo evil of a flagrant nature. The clause, "And it be hid from him," is equivalent to " And did not rightly understand the thing about which he swore." There is a solemn lesson taught us in regard to the mode of doing even right things. Approach the Holy One with fear and reverence. But alas ! how plentiful is the flow of hidden sin committed in our dedications to (rod, or in resolutions to be his, expressed to him in prayer and praise. Even in saying or writing " God willing" (D.V.) this secret sin may be oftentimes chargeable upon our unconscious souls ! " In one of these" t. e., any of the cases mentioned ; the adjuration ; touching the dead body, or other unclean- ness ; and rash vows. Vers, 5, 6. "And it shall be, when he shall be guilty in one of these things, that he shall confess that he hath sinned in that thing. And he shall bring his trespass-ofiVrin:,' unto tin- L<>nl. fur lii- ~in \vbirh he hath sinned, a female from the flock, a lamb or a kid of the goats, for a sin-offering ; and the priest shall make an atonement for him concerning his sin." The first thing that strikes us here as very noticeable, is the injunction, " He shall confess that he hath sinned" Abarbinel, on the sixteenth chapter, says, that confession necessarily accompanied every sacrifice for sin. But we have not met this duty before in the express form of a command, because hitherto the sins brought to the altar CHAPTER V. 95 were open and admitted sins.* But here the sins are bidden /" and therefore the offerer must openly con- > them, that so God may be honored " That thou .ghtest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest." (Psalm li. 4.) This is the end of confession ; it vindicates God, preclaiming him just in the penalty he inflicts. We see this in Acharfs case, when Joshua said. "My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the Lord Grod of Israel, and make confession unto him, and tell me now what thou hast done ; hide it not from me." (Josh. vii. 19.) It is thus that, when we truly confess, we become witnesses for God we testify that we have come to see the sin and its evil which he declar- ed that his pure eye saw. The original uses a word for confess, which in another form means to praise (rrnnn and nn-in) ; and in the New Testament as well as the Old, the two acts are often reckoned the same. (See the use of ^lo^oXo/ofy/ai.) The tribute to the holiness of the Lord, paid in confession, is praise to his name. We decrease ; he increases: " He shall bring his trespass-offering." Some sup- pose that there were on this occasion, first, the trespass- offering, and then a sin-offering. But not so : it ought to be rendered, " He shall bring his offering," the word fiirx being used not as a specific term, but as a general term for any offering on account of sin. And it is thus that it is used by Isaiah (liii. 10), ""When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin" ("teas WEN * There is no doubt but that the laying on of the hand on the animal's head involved confession of sin. So common was confession, that John the Baptist's practice of insisting on confession of sin from all that came to hia baptism, excited no opposition. They -were thus naturally led to lay their eins on the " Coming One." 96 SINS OF INADVERTENCY. The offering is to be " a female from the flock" It is a less glaring sin than some other, such as chap. iv. 1- 27, and therefore a female, and a young- one, is taken. And either a. female kid, or & female lamb, may be cliosm : the object being to fix the offerer's attention upon the blood shed for his sin, and not upon any quality in the victim, as might have been the result had only the lamb been allowed. His sin and its atonement is all that must engage the offerer. Ver. *7. "And if he be not able to bring a lamb, then he shall bring, for his trespass -which he hath committed, two turtle doves, or two young pigeons, unto the Lord : one for a sin-offering, and the other for a burnt-offering." Here, again, we seethe God of Israel manifesting him- self to be that very Saviour who " preached glad tidings to the poor." The two doves are allowed for their sake. But why two ? Is this not equivalent to an intima- tion that one turtle-dove or pigeon would not represent the Saviour ? Is this not attaching importance to the mere material of the sacrifice? The answer t> these questions leads us to a very interesting view of the Lord's tender regard to the feelings of the poor of .his people. There is no importance attached to the mere numlx-r ; for in chap. i. 15, there was only one turtle-dove sacri- ficed ; and it was sufficient as a type, and equivalent to the one bullock or lamb. But here and elsewhere, where two doves are offered, there is a special reason why two are chosen. The one is always for a sin-offering, and the other for a burnt- offering. Now, in the sin-offering, when it was a lamb or the like, there were portions left for the use of the CHAPTER V. 97 priest, after the sacrifice was offered, and these portions, received and feasted on by the priest, were equivalent to a declaration of the complete removal of the sin, since the priest himself could thus fearlessly use them. But there was no room for this being done when a turtle-dove was offered. There were no portions for the priest to feast upon. Hence, in order that the poor worshipper might not lose this consoling part of the type, he is told to offer a second turtle-dove as a burnt-offering. And in this latter offering, the Lord himself directly receives all, and pronounces all to be " a sweet savor" (chap. i. 17). So that the poor saint gets even a more hearty assurance of his offering being accepted, than does another who only gets this assurance by means of the priest's receiving his portion to feast upon, and seeing the priest's house- hold feast thereon. Ver. 8. " And he shall bring them unto the priest, who shall offer that which is for the sin-offering first, and wring off his head from his neck, but shall not divide it asunder : And he shall sprinkle of the blood of the sin-offering upon the side of the altar : and the rest of the blood shall be wrung out at the bottom of the altar." There is some difference in the ceremony observed here in slaying the turtle-dove from that of chap. i. 14. The head is to be wrung off, yet so as not to separate it from the body. It would hang down upon the lifeless body, the blood also dropping upon its white clean plum- age. Was it meant to be a type of Jesus bowing his head as he gave up the ghost ? His head, bleeding with the thorns that had crowned him, dropped upon his bosom as the sting of death entered his holy frame. There may be a farther type. The Passover lamb, of which not a bone was broken, prefigured Jesus as one, " not a bone of whose body should be broken ;" and yet, 98 SINS OF INADVERTENCY. at the same time, it prefigured the complete keeping in.l safety of Christ's body the Church; as it is written in IValm xxxiv. 20, " He keepeth all his bones ; not one of them is broken." So also here ; the bowing of the Saviour's head seems prefigured not too small a circum- stance for an evangelist to record, and for the Father to remember regarding the well-beloved son but there may also be herein a type of the glorious truth, that Christ and his body the Church cannot be separated. Tho head and the body must be left undivided. In chapter i. 15, there is no mention of the " sprink- ling of any of the- blood upon the altar" But here some of it is first sprinkled on the side of the altar, then the rest wrung out at the bottom. The sprinkling on the altar's side was quite sufficient to declare life taken ; and as the second dove would have its blood wrung out over the side of the altar, there was a fitness in making this difference. At the same time, it shows us how sprinkling- a part or pouring out the whole, express equally the same truth ; just as in baptism the symbol is equally significant whether the water be sprinkled on the person or the person plunged into the water. Ver. 10. " And he shall offer the second for a burnt-offering, according to tho manner : and the priest bhall make an atonement for him, for his sin which he hath binned, and it shall be forgiven him." " Thus shall ^the priest make an atonement for him [cleansing him] from the sin which ho hath sinned."* The poor saint has full and ample testimony given to the completeness of his offering. The one great ocean " Christ ONCE suffered" " one sacrifice" (Heb. x. 12) * This seems to be the force of jpxuma here, and ver. 8. It is a eon- ttrvciio praeynans, as in ver. 16, ".-Q CHAPTER V. 99 makes the bullock appear as insignificant as the turtle- dove. The waves of the sea cover every shallow pool ! Ver. 11. " But if he be not able to bring two turtle-doves, or two young pigeons, then he that sinned shall bring for his offering the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour, for a sin-offering : he shall put no oil upon it, neither shall he put any frankincense thereon, for it is a sin-offering." The Lord descends even to the poorest of all, those who had no lamb to spare. He provides for the Laz- aruses of Israel, and the widows who have but two mites remaining, in the very spirit of love wherein Jesus spoke of them. It is Jesus that here, as Jehovah, arranges these types for the comfort of his afflicted people. The burnt-offering 1 was never allowed to be of any inanimate thing. For in that great type of the Saviour blood must flow. It must exhibit life taken, and, the sentence, " Thou shalt surely die" executed. The sacrifice which was the groundwork of all the rest must exhibit death. But this point being settled and estab- lished, any danger of misapprehension is removed. Whatever may afterwards be the varieties permitted in the forms of offering, yet at the threshold the necessity for the shedding of blood in order to remission must be declared and testified. (Heb. ix. 22.) But now there is here a permission granted a permission which cannot be misunderstood, since its application is limited to this one particular class of persons, and for special reasons a permission to bring an offering" of fine flour, when the man is too poor to bring two turtle-doves or young pigeons. This meat-offering is expressly spoken of as not the strict and proper offering, but merely a substi. 100 SINS OF INADVERTENCY. tute for that better kind.* And, as remarked by Magee, the poor man would look forward to the day of atone- ment to complete what this was a substitute for. He is then to take a handful of the fine wheat of the land of his Israel. A few ears of the wheat of that land would furnish enough ; and every Israelite had some family inheritance. An omer, or the tenth part of an epha/i, is the quantity ; just the very quantity of manna that sufficed for each day's support. Probably the poor man, who needed to bring his offering for a sin committed, was thus taught to give up just his food for that day fasting before the Lord. As in the jealousy-offering, no oil or frank incence must be put upon it; for the very intention of -it is to present to the Lord the person and substance of the offerer (see chapter ii. 1) as altogether defiled a mass of sin! No doubt this new kind of sin-offering is intentionally permitted, in order to show some things that the animal sacrifice could not have shown forth. It exhibits not the soul only (that is taken for granted when the body and substance are devoted), but all that belongs to the person his body and his property as needing to be redeemed by sacrifice, since it has become polluted. All is forfeited no frankincense of sweet savor on it, no oil of consecration. Vers. 12, 13. " Then shall he bring it to the priest, and the priest shall take his handful of it, even a memorial thereof, and burn it on the altar, according to the offerings made by fire unto the Lord : it is a sin-offering. And the priest shall make an atonement for him, as * Socinians in vain try to make a handle of this case ; for if erer there was an instance where it could be said, " Excfptio probat regulam," it is here. CHAPTER V. 101 touching his sin that he hath sinned in one of these, and it shall be forgiven him : and the remnant shall be the priest's, as a meat- offering." The memorial of this mass of sin is consumed in the fire of wrath ; but the priest takes his portion, in order to show that the sin is cleansed out from the mass. Shall it not be thus at the resurrection morning? The body now cleansed, and earth itself purged by fire? Then is man fully re'deemed ; his soul, his body, his inheritance or possessions. No sin left to bring in a secret curse ! no Gibeonite-blood lying hid in its bosom to bring on sudden and unthought-of woes. No Achan- treasure in the tent-floor, provoking the eyes of the Lord's glory. In looking back on this chapter concerning sins of inadvertency, how awful is the view it presents of the Lord's jealousy ! " His eyes are as a flame of fire ;" and he "judges not according to the hearing of the ear," but according to the truth that remains untold. How great the provocation that his own saints give to him daily, by touching the unclean, and by other almost imperceptible movements of the heart towards evil. "Woe is me! I am undone! For I am a man of un- clean lips, and I dwell among a people of unclean lips !" In such cases we need to take for ourselves the counsel that Cain rejected when the Lord said, " If thou doest well (sinnest not) shalt thou not be accepted ? and if thou doest not well (sinnest), a sin-offering lieth at thy door" (nxtsn yah). (Gen. iv. 7.) How ancient is the grace of God ! How old is that gracious saying, " These things write I unto you that ye sin not; and if 102 SINS OF INADVERTEN any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous ; and he is the propitiation for our sins." In these ancient days there was the same grace exhibited to the sinner as there is under the New Testa- ment. God held out forgiveness, full and immediate, in order to allure the sinner, without delay, back to fellow- ship with himself. And as now, so then, many abused this grace. They used it not to cleanse their conscience, but to lull it asleep. Of these Solomon is supposed to complain,* in Prov. xiii. 6, " Wickedness perverleth the sin-offering," nan rjietn. Nevertheless, the truth of G-od stood sure ; " righteousness preserved the perfect" * See Faber on Sacrifice. " WHATSOEVER THINGS ARE TRUE, WHATSOEVER THINGS ARE HONEST, V 'HAT- SOEVER THINGS ARE JUST, WHATSOEVER THINGS ARE PURE, WHATSOEVER THINGS ARE LOVELY, WHATSOEVER THINGS ARE OF GOOD REPORT . . . THINK ON THESE THINGS . . . AND THE GOD OF PEACE SHALL BE WITH YOU." Phil. iv. 8, 9. CHAPTER V. CONTINUED. Ver. 14. " And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, If a soul commit a. trespass." MANY of the best writers, such as Outram, come to no definite conclusion as to the difference between the sin- offering- and the trespass-offering-. But we are satisfied, on the whole, that the trespass-offering- (cujx) was offer- ed in cases where the sin was more private, and confined to the individual's knowledge. The sin was known only to the man himself; and hence, it was less hurtful in its effects. We have seen that -chap. v. 6, is no contradic- tion to this especial use of the word, as OCK was origin- ally as general in its sense as xan ; and in Isaiah liii. 10, either it is used in that same general way, or, if meant to be more special, the sense will be, " "When thou shalt make his soul an offering- for sins, which no one ever saw him commit ;" for he had done no violence, nor was de- ceit in his mouth. The sin-offering 1 being of a more public notice was on 104 THE TRESPASS-OFFERING. that account more fitted to be the usual type of Christ's offering. It was both public and definite. The trespass-offering was always a ram. It was thus fitted to remind Israel of Abraham's offering Isaac, when the ram was substituted. The blood of it was ahrays put " on the sides" of the altar ; not on the horns, as in the case of the sin-olfering, where the offering was more of a public nature, and needed to be held up to all. The cases here are 1. Fraud towards God in respect to things in his wor- ship. 2. Fraud towards man. The instances given are specimens of wrong done by the trespasser to the first and second tables of the law. Perhaps it was too much for a frail mortal to hear the Lord speak long. There was a short interval between the last revelation of the will of the Lord, and this that followed it. Silence reigned through the holy place; and under the beams of the bright cloud of glory, Moses would sit down, and trace on his tablets the directions just received. And now the voice of the Lord spoke again the same voice that afterwards said to John in Patmos, " Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be here- after." It then declared of each Church of Asia, " / know thy works." It is the voice of the same holy and jealous, yet gracious and tender Priest, the same true and faithful Witness. The voice said : Ver. 15. " If a soul commit a trespass, und sin through ignorance, in the holy thing* of the Lord ; then he shall bring, for his trespass unto the Lord, a nun without blemish out of the flocks, with thy estima- tion by shekels of bilver, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for a trespass-offering." CHAPTER V. 105 That we may see the sort of sins meant here, let us refer to a special case. The class of sins here is trans- gressions in regard to the holy things of the Lord. Now, in Ecclesiastes v. 6, we have such a case. " Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin ; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error (naaoj as here) : wherefore should Grod be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands ?" The wish to be spoken well of, and to become eminent for piety in the eyes of the people and priest, led this man, while attending public worship in the temple, to vow with his lips more than he could, or more than he really wished to give. By this rash vow, he came under the sin mentioned in this chap- ter v. 4. But this is not all. When the priest* comes (see 1 Sam. ii. 13) to take his share of the offering ac- cording to the law, the man was tempted to deny that he had vowed so much. And thus he fell into the sin of trespass, mentioned in v. 15 of this chapter, inasmuch as he withholds what he promised to the house of God. Grod will destroy his prosperity, unless such a man forthwith bring the trespass-offering. Similar cases might be given; thus, if a man eat the first-fruits (Exodus xxxiv. 26), or shear the first-born sheep. (Deut. xv. 19.) (Ains- worth.) He is to bring " a ram without blemish out of the flock" He is to choose one of the most valuable of his flock, a type of him who was " chosen out of the people," " one that was mighty." (Psalm Ixxxix. 19.) It was to be costly ; it must not be of an inferior sort, but (Deut. xxxii. 14) of that sort which were "rams of *. The angel or messenger seems to be the priest himself. So he is called in Malachi ii. 7. And if so, is it not -with a reference to the jealous angel in Exodus xxxii. 34 ? The priest is his representative, presiding over the temple. 6* 106 THE TRESPASS-OFFERING. the breed of Bashan." The priest is to estimate the value according to the standard of the sanctuary. Probably we are hereby taught the costliness of the Redeemer's offering. Consider the " estimation." It was not every offering that will answer the great end; it must be a costly, precious offering the precious blood of the Son of God. (2 Pet. i. 19.) Who can tell how high it was estimated in the sanctuary above, where not one spot of sin ever found a rest in the most secret heart of one ministering spirit? The question is asked, Is this one offering suf- ficient for the sinner ? The Holy One applies the test of his law, and measures it by his own holy nature, and finds it such that he declares, " I am well pleased ;" "I lay in Zion a tried stone ;" " He hath magnified the law, and made it honorable." But, 2. Was it such as reached the case of others ? Yes ; it was meant for others. He who wrought it out was a surety. His body was " prepared" for the sake of others. His eye ran down with tears for others. The words, such as never man spake, were for others. " He suffered, the just for the unjust." 3. But may I use it ? Yes ; not only you may, but you must use it or perish. Ver. 16. " And be shall make amends for the barm that he bath done in the holy thing, and shall add the fifth part thereto, and give it unto the priest : and the priest shall make an atonement for him with the ram of the trespass-offering, and it shall be forgiven him.'' The trespasser is to be no gainer by defrauding God's house. He is to suffer, even in temporal things, as a punishment for his sin. He is to bring, in addition to the thing of which he defrauded God, money to the ex- CHAPTER V. 107 tent of one fifth of the value of the thing. This was given to the priest as the head of the people in things of God, and representative of God in holy duties. It was to be a double tithe because of the attempt to defraud God.* We shall never be gainers by stinting our time and service in the worship of God. What we withdraw from him, he will withdraw from us in another way. Besides, the very fact of cherishing such an idea in our minds will cause the Lord to veil his grace and glory from our view until we have anew sought him by the blood of Jesus. And in the mean time the sorrow and darkness of our heart will teach us that it is a bitter thing to depart from the Lord. But there is something in this part of the ordinance far more significant still. It seems to exhibit the re- quirements of God in order to a true atonement. Atone- ment must consist 1. Of restitution of the principle restoring all that was lost. The injury done is to be made up by the person submitting to give back every item he took away. 2. Of the addition of more. There must be also a making up of the wrong done, by the person suffering loss, as a recompense for the evil. In these two pro- visions, do we not see set forth in symbol the great fact that God in atonement must get back all the honor that his law lost for a time by man's fraud ; and also must have the honor of his law farther vindicated by the pay- ment of an amount of suffering? The active obedience of Christ gave the one ; his passive obedience provided the other. * The tithe regularly paid was an acknowledgment that God had a right to the things tithed ; and this double tithe was an acknowledgment that in con- sequence of this attempt to defraud him, his right must be doubly admitted. 108 TIIK TRESPASS-OFFERING. These principles being thus set forth and agreed to, the ram was brought forward wherein was exhibited the person that was to be the giver of atonement. A ram "out of the flock," even as Christ was "one chosen out of the people." (Ps. Ixxxix. 19.) Ver. 17. " And if a soul sin, and commit any of these things which are forbidden to be done by the commandments of the Lord : though he wist it not, yet is he guilty, and shall bear his iniquity." This is a remarkable passage in proof of the awful sin that may be committed through ignorance, " Though he wist it not, yet is he guilty" Knowledge was within his reach in this case ; for the things spoken of are matters connected with sanctuary worship. It is even such a case as Paul's, whose ignorance was no excuse for his sin, since he might have inquired and known.* The cases referred to here are evidently those wherein holy things, or things connected with worship, were neg- lected or defectively performed. It is that class of cases wherein it may be through ignorance the Lord was defrauded of what was duo in his worship. Vers. 18, 19. " And he shall bring a ram without blemish out of the flock, with thy estimation, for a trespass-offering, unto the priest; nnd the priest shall make an atonement for him concerning his ignorance wherein he erred and wist it not, and it shall be forgiven him. It is a trespass-offering : he hath certainly trespassed against the Lord." How emphatic is the rehearsal of his sin, " atonement for him concerning his ignorance wherein he erred and * Evidently in 1 Tim. L 18, we are to read thus, " Putting me into the ministry, who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious, though I obtained mercy. For I did all this ignorantly in unbelief," q. d., for my ignorance and unbelief (both equally inexcusable) led me to these excewea. CHAPTER VI. 109 wist it not ;" and again, " he hath certainly trespassed against the Lord ;" though men would have been ready to treat it as a light matter. Israel was thus shut up to the solemn duty of in- quiring into the Lord's revealed will. By treating igno- rance as a sin of such magnitude, the Lord made provision among his people for securing a thorough and continual search into his mind and will ; and thus, no doubt, family instruction was universal in every tent in the wilderness, and the nation were an intelligent as well as a peculiar people. CHAPTER VI. Ver. 1. "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying." THERE was silence again in the holy place, until Moses had recorded the above precepts bearing on Jehovah's own special worship.' And when these trespasses against the first table of the law had been declared and marked, the voice of the Lord was again heard. We may recog- nize the same voice that spoke on the mountain of Galilee ; for here is the same principle of broad, holy exactness in applying the law as in Matt. v. The mind of the Father and of his Son is one and the same as to the extent of the law, even as it is alike in love to the transgressor. Vers. 2, 3. " If a soul sin and commit a trespass against the Lord, and lie unto his neighbor in that which was delivered him to keep, or in fellowship, or in a thing taken away by violence, or hath deceived his neighbor ; or hath found that which was lost, and lieth con- cerning it, and sweareth falsely ; in any of all these that a man doeth, sinning therein." 110 THK TRESPASS-OFFERING. Here is a specimen selected of the common forms in which defrauding others may occur.. There is first a temptation mentioned, to which friends are exposed with one another in private intercourse. A man asks his friend to keep something for him ; or in the wider accep- tation of the original term, TH^O gives a neighbor a trust to manage for him of any kind, or commits to his care for the time, any article. The Sept. have used the word "naqadtjxi^" which, in 2 Tim. i. 12, is rendered, "what I have committed to him." Anything lent to another is included ; a tool, like the Prophet's borrowed axe (2 Kings vi. 5), or a sum of money left in a neigh- bor's keeping (Exod. xxii. 7); in short, any "stuff" (Exod. xxii. 7), or articles (0^3). A lent book, or bor- rowed umbrella, would come under this law ; and how few have the sincere honesty of that son of the prophets, in 2 Kings vi. 5, vexed because the thing injured in their hands was a borrowed thing ! " Alas ! my master, for it was borrowed !" The Lord expects, in such case, com- plete disinterestedness ; the man is to do to others as he would have others do to him. Any denial of having re- ceived the thing, any appropriation of it to himself, any carelessness in the keeping of it, is a trespass in the eye of God. You have wronged God in wronging your neigh- bor. The case of "fellowship" or partnership, refers to the transactions of public life ; not, however, to openly un- lawful acts, but to acts lawful in appearance, while selfish in reality. This points specially to business-trans- actions, where there ought to be the utmost disinterest- edness, one partner giving more scrupulous attention to the interests of the other than to his own, mortifying his jealous self-love by his regard to his partner's concerns CHAPTER VI. Ill This is the generous morality of the God of Israel. The same head would include the conscientious observances of government regulations or commercial laws, as to taxes on goods. These regulations being understood principles on which trade is carried on, are really of the nature of " fellowship." So, also, bargains in trade. But, alas ! not many are so jealous as Abraham in Gen. xxiii., to avoid even the appearance of wronging others. Most are as Prov. xx. 14. " A thing- taken by violence," includes cases of oppression or hardship, where mere power deals with weakness. Such was Naboth's case, 1 Kings xxi. 2 ; such was Isaac's, Gen. xxvi. 4. " Or hath deceived his neighbor." The word P^s is rightly rendered, in the Septuagini, ^Sixrjas, It speaks of another form of oppression " hath deceitfully op- pressed." There are cases of strong, but secret terror, as when a landlord uses his pecuniary superiority to constrain a tenant's vote, or force a dependent to attend a particular place of worship. It exists, too, where a mistress thoughtlessly gives too much work to her ser- vants, or where a farmer exacts unceasing labor, from morning to night, at the hands of his ploughmen, or where a shopkeeper's business is carried on at such a rate that his apprentices have no calm rest of body or soul. In another shape, a Jew was guilty of this tres- pass if, in using the permission (Deut. xxiii. 24, 25) to pluck grapes, or ears of corn, as he passed his neighbor's grounds, he took more than he would have done had he been in his own vineyard or corn-fields. " Or hath found that which was lost, and lieth con- cerning' it" Unconcerned at the anxiety it may have given to the loser, the man refuses to part with what he 112 THE TRESPASS-OFFERING. has found. This is surely selfishness in the extreme. But it is so, also, if the finder is not willing to hear of an owner, glad only at his own advantage, and saying, " The owner may never miss it God has thrown it into my hands." The Lord teaches us not to build up our joy on the loss or sorrow of others. Such is the kind care of the (rod of Israel. Is he not still u the eagle" over them, stirring up her nest and fluttering over her young ? He teaches his family to be full of love superiors, inferiors, equals. He would infuse the holy feelings of heaven into the camp of Israel. Truly, society regulated by the Lord is blessed society, for his own love flows through it all, and is the very joints and bands. Hence it is that a sin against a neighbor, in one of tkese points, is a " trespass against the Lord." (ver. 1.) The selfish man is an unholy man, altogether unlike God. Yet earth is full of such. When men are happy themselves they take no thought of others' misery. When at ease, they disregard the pain of others. Some even relieve distress out of subtle sel- fishness, seeking thereby to be free to indulge themselves with less compunction. Not so the Lord. The Eternal Son comes forth from the bosom of the blessed, and for the sake of the vilest dives into the depths of misery. "He restored what he took not away," and "delivered him that without cause was his enemy." And in pro- portion as we feel much of this love of God to us, we shall feel much love to him, and to our brother also. (1 John iv. 20.) Vera. 4, 5. " Then it shall be, because he bath sinned, and is guilty, that he shall restore that which he took violently away, or the thing which he hath deceitfully gotten, or that which was delivered him to keep, or the lost thing which he found, or all that about which CHAPTER VI. 113 he hath sworn falsely ; he shall even restore it in the principal, and shall add the fifth part more thereto, and give it unto him to whom it appertaineth, in the day of his trespass-offering." Patrick renders ver. 4, "If he sin and acknowledge his guilt ;" for if his case were one where witnesses con- victed him, then Exod. xxii. 79, held good. The case of Zaccheus, on the day of his coming to Jesus (" the day of his trespass-offering" surely), illustrates this restitution as an attendant upon forgiveness. When the Lord forgave him, the same Lord also inclined him to restore what he had unjustly taken, and to give back far more than he had taken. The fifth part is given, in addition to the principal, just as in the case of holy things being fraudulently withheld. It is a double tithe (two tenths) and so is equivalent to a double acknowledgment of the person's right to the thing, of which he had been, for a time, unjustly deprived. See chap. v. 15, 16. No doubt this exceeding jealousy on the part of Grod in maintaining the. rights of men, and exhibiting such strict equity, was intended to display to the world what his own holy character is. The most impartial and extensive justice is here exhibited. And his demand for restitution shows that the Lord will maintain his violated rights to the uttermost. It further proves, that while he requires (as John did, Luke iii. 8, 10-14) repentance and amendment, still it is not these that in any degree satisfy the Lord ; for there is, in addition to the restoring of the principal, a new demand by the law, for the very act of attempting to defraud it one fifth part beyond the former demand ! Thus was Israel pre- pared for an awful enforcement of Divine claims in the person of Immanuel ; and thus were they shown what 114 THE TRESPASS-OFFERING. must be the infinite merit of him who should be able to restore all that had been taken away from his Grod ! Vers. 6, 7. " And he shall bring his trespass-offering unto the Lord, a ram without blemish out of the flock, with thy estimation, for a trespass-offering, unto the priest: and the priest shall make an atonement fur him before the Lord : and it shall be forgiven him for anything of all that he hath done in trespassing therein." " For any of all the things" thus proclaiming that " the blood of Jesus cleanseth from all sin." The case of presumptuous sins is not referred to here, for these involved a disregard, in the offender, to the very offer- ings that could exhibit pardon to his conscience. But this section ends with the proclamation of free forgive- ness from all manner of sin. The Lord would thus at once allure the sinner from his transgression, and lead him to the immediate joy of reconciliation. It is the surest and speediest way to lead him out of his former path of guilt. " There is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared." With Israel, as with us, there were many who saw no meaning or reason in God's appointments. "Want of true conviction of sin made them despise these types, while the godly, who felt their loins filled with a grievous disease, found therein their daily refreshment. This is the true sense of Prov. xiv. 9, when properly rendered. " Fools make a mock of the trespass-offer- ing, but with the righteous it is in esteem." The Soptuagint seems to have had a glance at this meaning, for they use " xuda^ofto^ for tatix, and they render yian, " Sextos," The godly cherished these typical delineations of atonement, while the careless, earthly-minded Israelite saw nothing in them to desire. None go to the hiding- place who fear no storm. The stream flows by un- CHAPTER VI. 115 heeded when the traveller on its banks is not thirsty The whole will not use the physician. Sense of sin renders Jesus precious to the soul. How Peter loved the risen Saviour who relieved him of the load of his denial ! A sight of wrath to come gives a new aspect to every spiritual thing. In Egypt, a sight of tho destroying-angel's sword would make Israel prize the blood. Ishmael might have mocked at the ram caught in the thicket; but not so Isaac, who had been bound with the cords of death. It is only " fools" that will " mock at the trespass-offering ;" with the righteous it is held in unspeakable esteem. Their song is, " Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift !" llnhs fnr tjje Crusts WHO MINISTER AT THE ALTAR OF GOD. " OOD . . . HATH KF.pONCII.ED US TO HIMSELF BY JESUS CHRIST, AND HATH GIVKN TO US THE MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION. FOR HE HATH MADE HIM TO BE SIN FOR US, WHO KNEW NO SIN ; THAT WE MIGHT BE MADE THE RIGHTEOUS- NESS or OOD IN HIM." 2 Cor. v. 18, 21. CHAPTER VI. CONTINUED. REGARDING THE WHOLE BURNT-OFFERING. Vera. 8, 9. " And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Command Aaron and his sons, saying, This is the law of the burnt-offering : It is the burnt-offering, because of the burning upon the altar all night unto the morning, and the fire of the altar shall be burning in it." THE ground traversed over in chapters i., ii., hi., iv., v., is now retraverscd, but for a quite different object. Sup- plemental directions to the priests, in regard to their part in the offering of the sacrifices, is the object in view. But this gives opportunity for the typifying of some most important truths. " The law of the burnt-offering" or of things to be observed in offering it, is first stated. Perhaps, in ver. 9, wo should read the parenthesis thus " As for the burnt- offering, it is to be burning* on the altar all night until * Horsley renders rnpio bs, " upon the burning fuel ;" and others to the same effect. See Ainsworth. ' CHAPTER VI. 117 the morning; and the fire of the altar must be kept burn- ing on it." However, retaining our rendering, we have the fact, that the fire must be kept burning the whole night long. The Holy One speaks again from the holy place. He now tells some of the more awful thoughts of his soul. His words reveal views of sin and righteousness that appear overwhelmingly awful to men. His eternal jus- tice, flaming forth against all iniquity, is declared to Israel in the fere of the altar. This fire is never to be ex- tinguished ; " for every one of his righteous judgments endureth forever." (Ps. cxix. 160.) It burns all night long an emblem of the sleeplessness of hell, where "they have no rest, day nor night" and of the ever- watchful eye of righteousness that looks down on this earth. Perhaps it was intended to exhibit two things : 1. " The smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever tormented with fire and brimstone in presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb." (Rev. xiv. 10, compared with ver. 18.) The whole camp saw this fire, burning in the open court all night long. " So shall you perish," might an Israelitish father say to his children, taking them to his tent door, and pointing them, in the gloom and silence of night, to the altar, " So shall you perish, and be forever in the flames, unless you repent!" 2. It exhibited, also, the way of escape. See, there is a victim on the altar, on which these flames feed ! Here is Christ in our room. His suffering, seen and accepted by the Father, was held forth continually to the faith of Israel, night and day. And upon that type, the pledge and token of the real sacrifice, did the eye of the Father 118 SPECIAL RULES FOR THE PRIESTS. delight to rest night and day. It pleased him well to see his justice and his love thus met together there. And the man of Israel, who understood the type, slept in peace, sustained by this truth which the struggling rays from the altar gleamed into his tent. Ver. 10. "And the priest shall put on his linen garment, and his linen breeches shall be put upon his flesh, and take up the ashes which the fire hath consumed with the burut-offering on the altar, and he shall put them beside the altar." The linen* garment is the type of purity, as we see in the book of Revelation xix. 8. The priest is the emblem of the Redeemer in his perfect purity coming to the work of atonement. The word for garment! means a suit of clothes. It takes in the linen breeches, as well as all the other parts of the priest's dress. His whole suit is to be the garb of purity. It is not glory ; these are not the " golden garments." It is holy humanity ; it is Jesus in humiliation, but without one stain of sin. There is a special reason for the direction as to the linen breeches. It is meant to denote the completeness of the purity that clothes him ; it clothes him to his very skin, and " covers the flesh of his nakedness." (Exod. xxviii. 42.) It was not only our unrighteousness, and our corrupt nature, that Jesus was free from ; but also from that other part of our original sin which consists in the imputed guilt of Adam. The linen breeches that " covered the naked- ness" of the priest, lead us back at once to our first parents' sin, when they were naked and ashamed in the garden, after the Fall. Here we see this sin 'also covered. * The word ia 13, not $<&. The latter is a finer sort, supposed to be Bilk. f To, the j in which, in the opinion of Ewald, is merely the sign of the Status Constr., as in I'mit- CHAPTER VI. 119 He who comes to atone for all our sins has himself free- dom from all completely pure. " He shall take up the ashes which the fire has con- sumed" i. e., the ashes of that which the fire has con- sumed, viz., the wood. By the figure which gramma- rians call ellipsis, or breviloquence, " ashes'" is used for the material out of which ashes came, as Isa. xlvii. 2, speaks of grinding 1 " MEAL." (Ainsworth.) The wood was underneath the burnt-offering.* This being done, the ashes were to be placed by themselves, for a little time, " beside the altar" All eyes would thus see them and take notice of them, before they were carried out into a clean place. Probably there were two reasons for this action. 1. The fire was thus kept clear and bright, the ashes being removed. God thereby taught them that he was not careless as to this matter, but required that the type of his justice should be kept full and unobscured. 2. The ashes were shown for the purpose of making it manifest that the flame had not spared the victim, but had turned it into ashes. It was not a mere threatening when the angels foretold that Sodom and Gromorrah were to be destroyed for their sins ; their doom (2 Pet. ii. 6) is declared to have come on them, " turning them to ashes." So here, all that was threatened is fulfilled. There the ashes lie ; any eye may see them. The vengeance has been accomplished ! The sacrifice is turned into ashes ! Justice has found its object ! The lightning has struck the lightning-rod, and is now passed ! View Ps. xx. 4, in this light " Remember all thy offerings and accept" * Another rendering is, " The ashes of the fire that has consumed the burnt-offering on the altar." (Horsley.) But this requires a transposition of the words. 120 SPECIAL RULES FOR THE PRIESTS. turn to ashes " thy burnt-sacrifice." The Lord's arrows are not pointless ; he performs all his threatenings, for he is holy. " Lord God of hosts, who is a strong Lord like unto thee? or to thy faithfulness round about thee ?" (Ps. Ixxxix. 8.) Ver. 11. "And he shall put off his garments, and put on other gar- ments, and carry forth the ashes without the camp unto a clean place." The priest, coming out of the sanctuary, lays aside these linen garments, and goes forth out of the camp in another dress. These linen garments are now reckoned polluted ; the sin he carried in with him cleaves to them. In another linen dress, therefore another priestly suit* he goes on to the spot where the ashes were to be left, as memorials of the curse having come on the victim. May this be intended to show that Christ, specially at his death, was to be " numbered with the transgressors ?" He seemed to die as one who had no holiness, no right- eousness, no innocence. " He made his grave with the wicked" But, casting off this appearance of being a transgressor, as he cries, " It is finishe'd," he is carried to a clean spot. His surety-character appeared he is buried in Joseph's tomb.t * Some think this must have been a dress of meaner materials than Hie linen, to represent sin cleaving to him. But where do we ever read of such ? f Some propose to change the rendering of Isa. liii. 9, in order to bring out explicitly the fact that Christ died among transgressors, but was Imrinl with the rich. But is there any ground for this proposed change I Whether the original admits of it, is doubtful ; for few Jews will be satis- fied with the rendering of nniiaa. " his tomb." Would it not be better, far, to keep the present much more obvious rendering " He made hi* grave with the wicked (plural), And with the rich (singular), in hit death," i. e., when he died. CHAPTER VI. 121 " Unto a clean place ;" as in chap iv. 12. In after days this clean place may have been some spot beyond the walls of Jerusalem. In Jer. xxxi. 40, " the valley of the ashes'' 1 is mentioned ; a place which was used for this purpose, and may have been at the very Calvary where the Great Sacrifice was offered and its ashes laid. Ver. 12. " And the fire upon the altar shall be burning in it (i. e., on the bosom of the altar ;) it shall not be put out : and the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt-offering in order upon it ; and he shall burn thereon the fat of the peace- offerings." At the hour of his death, behold the providence of God ! A rich man, one of the most honorable and esteemed in Jerusalem, a member of San- hedrim, and a disciple, unexpectedly appears at Calvary. This was Joseph of Arimathea, without exception the most singularly noble character introduced to us in the Gospels. This rich man had been driven into con- cealment by the plots formed against him by the Jews, on account of his defending Jesus in the Sanhedrim openly. (Luke xxiii. 51.) This is what John says, chap. xix. 38. " Being a disciple," " XE^W^EI/OS JE <5ia T&V 60ov TUV lovdaiuv" not " SECB.ETLY," for it is not " Kfupfifttvus" though even the adverb might mean, as in the Septuagint of Jer. xiii. 17, "in secret places," but " secreted" or forced to hide by reason of their plots. He was the very contrast to timid Nicodemus, bold and unreserved. Be- hold ! then, this man suddenly returns to the city ; and finding that all is over, he boldly seeks the body of Jesus, his beloved master. And next, he and Nicodemus two rich men, but the one all boldness, the other nervously timid lay the body in its silent tomb. And where is the tomb ? " In the place where he was crucified" (John xix. 41); that is, at the very spot where criminals were put to death, and where they used to be buried. Extraordinary as it may appear, this very spot was the spot where Joseph's new tomb was hewn out of a rock ! The stony sides of the tomb the new tomb " the clean place," where Jesus was laid were part of the male- factors' hill? His dead body is "with the rich man and with the wicked" in the hour of his death ! His grave is the property of a rich man ; and yet the rocks which form the partition between his tomb and that of the other Calvary malefactors, are themselves part of Golgotha. Is there not here a fulfilment of Isaiah's words to the letter, and that in a way so un- likely, that no eye could have foreseen it but his who foreordained the whole ? 6 122 SPECIAL RULES FOB THE PRIESTS. Formerly the fact was mentioned of the fire never being allowed to go out. Here there is mention made of the manner in which it was kept burning. The wood was to be supplied constantly in sufficient measure, and the sacrifice laid thereon. There is an object for the Divine justice to seize upon; and this victim must be shown every morning, exposed to that intolerable flame. Christ bears the vehement heat of Jehovah's altar the reality of wrath. There is no "putting out" of this fire.* "The^Zre t*5 not quenched" is Christ's own expression ; perhaps in reference to this type, (ilark ix. 44.) There will bo no putting out of these flames in eternity no waters to quench them no interference of God's mercy to end them. The company of their ungodly friends will not " put out" any of the torments of the damned ; nor shall any intellectual efforts "put them out" by keeping men busy in their thoughts. Christ's agony is the proof of this. If ever God would have " put out" one flame, it would have been in his case. Yet he withheld no su Ill-ring " all his waves" were against him ; he laid him in " the lowest pit." Perhaps " burn the fat of the peace-offerings" is intro- duced here to show how the flame was to be fed. The fat must feed it till it blazes bright and strong, casting its light through the darkness, in view of all the camp. It * In Song viti. 6, " vehement flame" is most generally understood to be, "the flame of Jehovah" (pp r;rb)- The love of Jesus is seen in pro- portion as we see the heat of the wrath which he bore for us. " Love is strong as death like the flame of Jehovah," t. e., on the altar. How great was the sin of Ahaz, 2 Chron. xxviii. 24, when he shut up the temple ! for in so doing he was attempting to extinguish the perpetual fire on the altar, as if thereby to hide from his view the type of God's justice and a coming bell a pin-avenging God CHAPTER VI. 123 was an awful view of Divine justice ; it figured out the tremendous fierceness of Almighty wrath. Yet inasmuch as it is " the fat of peace-offerings" a discerning, believ- ing worshipper may find the elements of peace even here. The peace-offering on which that flame has fed declared his reconciliation ; so that he can read the assurance of his acceptance even in these flames ! Justice fully satis- fied, and yet the worshipper standing in peace, is the truth taught us by the blazing flame of this altar. " Our God is a consuming fire." Ver. 13. "The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out." Throughout we are emphatically shown that this fire has no end. We are reminded of John's words, " The wrath of (rod abideth on him" (Johniii. 36), and Christ's thrice repeated declaration, " Where their worm dieth not, and their fire is not quenched." (Mark ix.) The word for " go out" is the same that elsewhere is rendered "quenched" (fiaan). The eternal justice of Jehovah shall never cease to find fuel in hell ; and never shall it cease to find satisfaction in the Altar of the Great High Priest. Hence we see that an everlasting righteousness was what we needed. (Dan. ix. 24.) " Eternal re- demption" is what has been obtained for us. (Heb. ix. 12.) REGARDING THE MEAT-OFFERING. Ver. 14. " And this is the law of the meat-offering : the sons of Aaron shall offer it before the Lord, before the altar." The duties of the priest are dwelt upon here. The officiating priest shall take the meat-offering from the worshipper, and shall present it. He shall do this 124 SPECIAL RULES FOR THE PRIESTS. solemnly, coming up "before the altar," i.e. in front of it, in sight of all the people who stand by. For thus the dedication of all that the man has body and property, as well as soul is publicly declared. All are witnesses that now he is not his own. Ver. 16. " And he shall take of it his handful, of the flour of the meat- offering, and of the oil thereof, and all the frankincense which is upon the meat-offering, and shall burn it upon the altar for a sweet savor, even the memorial of it, unto the Lord." When the memorial (see chap. ii. 2) was taken and burned, the offerer saw a sight that refreshed his soul. He saw the altar smoking, and felt the air breathing with his accepted gift, " a savor of rest." It was on such occasions as these that the priests exhibited salva- tion and its results so fully to the comfort of the worship- pers, that " the saints .shouted for joy." (Psalm cxxxii. 16.) Ver. 16. " And the remainder thereof shall Aaron and his sons eat ; with unleavened bread shall it be eaten in the holy place ; in the court of the tabernacle of the congregation they shall eat it." It ought to be rendered, " unleavened shall it be eaten ;"* that is, the remainder which Aaron and his sons received as their part, shall be eaten in the form of unleavened bread. There must not be anything in it that would intimate sin and corruption ; for since the memo rial has been offered, the remainder is reckoned pure, so pure that it may be put into the hands of the priests as food, and eaten on holy ground. It may present to us the fact, that when Jesus was once offered as a " sweet savor of rest," then what remained, viz., his body the crui, Sept, eaten aa unleavened, " comedet absquo fer- mento," Vulgate, CHAPTER VI. 125 Church, was pure, and might be freely admitted to holy ground, to heaven and to all heavenly employments. The " holy place" here is the court of the tabernacle, ver. 26, where the altar and laver stood. It is " holy" on the same principle that Peter calls the hill of transfigura- tion " the holy mount" (2 Pet. i. 18) ; and because the same Grod was present there who made the place " holy ground" to Moses at the bush. (Exod. iii._5.) There is a passage in Numbers xviii. 10, where the court seems to be called " most holy :" " In the most holy place shalt thou eat it" unless we render the words (as Horsley proposes) " Among the most holy thing's thou shalt eat it." Patrick's explanation of it, by a reference to the holy chambers in Ezekiel xlii., is altogether out of the ques- tion. It seems to be simply the Lord's presence hallow- ing the courts where such offerings were made that is meant. Leviticus xxiv. 9, and elsewhere, again, calls it " the holy place." And no wonder ; for it was " at the door of the tabernacle" (viii: 31), which seems to mean opposite the altar, which was the prominent object in the view of all in the courts, but specially of any at the entrance. To this allusion is made in Isa. Ixii. 9, when thank-offer- ings of corn^ and wine are spoken of as feasted " in the courts of my holiness." Ver. 1*7. " It shall not be baked with leaven. I have given it unto them for their japrtion of my offerings made by fire ; it is most holy, as is the sin-offering, and as the trespass-offering." They are directed not to use it as they might do bread at their own dwellings : " There must be no leaven in it, for it is a gift to them from me. Let it, then, derive its sweetness and relish to their taste from the considera- 126 SPECIAL RULES FOR THE PRIESTS. tion that it is my gift to them." This is truly like Hannah, Samuel's mother ; when rejoicing after her son's birth she sings, not of her joy in her first-born, but of her joy in Him who gave her the rich gift, " My heart rejoiceth in the Lord, mine horn is exalted in the L&rd." (1 Sam. ii. 1.) There is here, also, a cheering notice of the full communion that subsists between God and his people. " / have given it for THEIR portion, out of MY offerings." As if there was an intercommunity of goods of blessings between God and his people. He and they alike feast upon the same holiness and purity found in the Righteous One. Ministers, and indeed all God's people, are here taught not to consider the smallest service or offering as unim- portant. Lest these "cakes," and " flour," and " baken things" should be treated slightly, the Lord as solemnly declared, " It is most holy, as is the sin-offering, and as the trespass-offering." Yer. 18. "All the males among the children of Aaron shall eat of it. It shall be a statute forever in your generations concerning the offerings of the Lord made by fire : every one that toucheth them shall be holy." While all the males of Aaron's line might eat thereof, every one must remember in all generations to do so with deep reverence ; for " every one (or everything) that toucheth them shall be holy." Any person or thing touching them was to be reckoned as 9t apart to holy purposes, to be treated accordingly. Garments, vessels, or the like, must be then considered as on holy ground ; and accordingly, must be washed in clean water, as an emblem of setting apart from common use. Persons, too, that came in contact, must wash themselves, being, CHAPTER VI. 127 like Moses at the bush, suddenly drawn into God's pres- ence, where they must put off the shoe. What a circle of deep awe was thus drawn round the altar and its offerings ! " Grod is greatly to be feared in the assembly of his saints, and to be had in reverence of all that are about him." (Psalm Ixxxix. 7.) Nothing is more blissful than Grod's presence, yet nothing more solemnizing. Bethel was " the gate of heaven," and yet "how dreadful!" This is holy bliss; it is not as the world's joy. Vers. 19, 20. " And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, This is the offering of Aaron and of his sons, which they shall offer unto the Lord in the day when he is anointed ; the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a meat-offering perpetual, half of it in the morning, and half thereof at night." " A meat-offering perpetual" means that this shall be in all ages the manner of the priest's meat-offering. The common priests and Aaron offered it at their first entering on office, and that is " the day when he is anointed." They ha'd been already told what to bring, in Exod. xxix. 2, but they are told how to bring it, what ceremonies to use in the bringing of it. The priest's meat-offering was of "fine flour," in "cakes and wafers" (Exod. xxix. 2), and " baken in the pan." (ver. 21.) It thus contained a reference to the two most common sorts of meat-offering mentioned in chap. ii. 1-6. It was neither the richest nor the poorest. The omer, or tenth part of the ephah, is fixed on as the measure. It might remind them of the omer of manna which they used daily to gather ; and the omer of it kept in the golden pot. When they remembered that manna, would not their hearts naturally feel their 128 SPECIAL RULES FOR THE PRIESTS. obligations to devote all their substance to him who gave them bread from heaven, and was still command- ing the blessing on their fields and dwelling*? Ver. 21. "In a pan it shall be made with oil; and when it is baken, them shall bring it in : and the baken pieces of the meat offering shalt thou offer for a sweet savor unto the Lord." They were to bring it ready-baken, that is, prepared in the form of cakes and wafers, as Exod. xxix. 2 directed, and as chap. ii. 5 appoints in regard to things baken in the pan. The oil, and other particulars, have been noticed above. The bringing it to the altar, all ready, may have been meant to teach the need of a fully prepared offering nothing imperfect if presented to the Lord for acceptance. Yers. 22, 23. " And the priest of his sons that is anointed in his steau shall offer it : it is a statute forever unto the Lord : it shall be wholly burnt For every meat-offering for the priest shall be wholly burnt : it shall not be eaten." The ministering high-priest already in office presented this offering of the sons of Aaron on the day of their consecration. It is particularly declared that it must be " wholly burnt" " not eaten" because it was a priest's offVrini:. (See ver. 30, also.) This prefigured, no doubt, the truth that Christ gave himself, entirely and completely, as the offering. This type refers to the Saviour alone, not to his people. It is speaking only of the Head, not of the members. He who was his people's priest, in giving himself, gave himself wholly, soul and body, to the con- suming Hame. " Our God is a consuming fire ;" and that fire withered his spirit as he bore the curse. This CHAPTER VI. 129 meat-offering was wholly burnt" because it is the meat- offering of the priest, who is the type of Jesus. REGARDING THE SIN-OFFERING. Vers. 24, 25. " And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto Aaron and to his sons, saying, This is the law of the sin-offering : In the place where the burnt-offering is killed shall the sin-offering be killed before the Lord ; it is most holy." It must be brought solemnly before the Lord, like the great burnt-offering, and killed on the same spot, on the north side of the altar (i. 11). It is to one and the same atonement that all these sacrifices refer. It is " most holy." All sacrifices were to be regarded with the deepest awe. For it was as if the worshippers were standing at the cross, where the Marys stood, and saw the Saviour die. Or, like the heavenly host, when they saw the disembodied soul (" the blood was the life"} of the Redeemer come in before the Father, at the moment the last mite was paid, and he had cried, "It is finished." Was there ever such an hour in heaven ? or shall there ever be such an hour in earth or heaven ? Even in the act of accepting the atonement made, how solemnly does the soul feel that receives it ! See Isaiah, when the live coal touched his lips. What, then, must have been the hour when atonement itself was spread out complete ? The hour when a lost sheep returns is solemn ; but what is this to the hour when the shepherd himself returned ? Ver. 26. " The priest that offereth* it for sin shall eat it ; in the holy place shall it be eaten, in the court of the tabernacle of the congre- gation." * nnx ann -jriiri . May it be, " Who maketh it sin ;" i. e. ( by thus offering it, he makes it a mass of sin ? See this use of the word in chap. is. 15. 6* 130 SPECIAL RULES FOR THE PRIESTS. The Lord who " by himself purged away sin," holds communion with the once sinful man. He accepts the offerer who presents this sacrifice. In Hosea iv. 8, this rite is referred to " They eat up the sin-offering of my people" (nxan) ; and then " lift up their hearts to their iniquity." The degenerate priests one moment engaged in duty, and the next ran back to sin. Vers. 27, 28. " Whatsoever shall touch the flesh thereof shall be holy : and when there is sprinkled of the blood thereof upon any garment, tbou shalt wash that whereon it was sprinkled in the holy place. But the earthen vessel wherein it is sodden shall be broken : and if it be sodden in a brazen pot, it shall be both scoured and rinsed in water." How awful is atoning blood ! Even things without life, such as garments, are held in dreadful sacredness if this blood touch them. No wonder, then, that this earth, on which fell the blood of the Son of God, has a sacredness in the eye of God. It must be set apart for holy ends, since Ihe blood of Jesus has wet its soil. And as the earthen vessel, within which the sacrifice was offered, must be broken, and not used for any meaner end again ; so must this earth be decomposed and new-moulded, for it must be kept for the use of him whose sacrifice was offered there. And as the brazen vessel must be rinsed and scoured, so must this earth be freed from all that dims its beauty, and be set apart for holy ends. It must be purified and reserved for holy purposes ; for the blood of Jesus has dropt upon it, and made it more sacred than any spot, except where he himself dwells. " My holy mountain" (Isa. xi. 9), is the name it gets from himself, when he is telling how he means to cleanse it for his own use. Vers. 29, 80. " All the moles among the priests shall eat thereof : it CHAPTER VI. 131 is most holy. And no sin-offering, whereof any of the blood is brought into the tabernacle of the congregation to reconcile withal in the holy place, shall be eaten : it shall be burnt in the fire." Again the awful sacrednessof it is declared. It seems as if nothing was so fitted to teach us holiness as com- plete atonement. "He sitteth between the cherubim," says Ps. xcix. 1, looking down on the sprinkled blood ; therefore, " Let the earth be moved." The sin-offerings are the class of sacrifices mentioned as " those whereof any of the blood is brought into the tabernacle to reconcile withal in the holy place" Now, these will be found to be the same sin-offerings that were " burnt without the camp." (Heb. xiii. 11.) All of which specially and peculiarly prefigured the entireness of the Saviour's work. (See chap. iv. 12.) On this account they are never to be eaten, but all consumed ; as observed in a similar case, ver. 23. On some occasions the Lord is pleased to exhibit parts of the truth sepa- rately, withdrawing our view, for the sake of deeper im- pressiveness, from a.11 but one point at a time. This seems, to be done here. We are here led to notice the entireness and completeness of the offering, apart from the results of restoring fellowship between the sinner and his God, which " eating" would have intimated. The transfer of the offerer's guilt to the victim was so com- plete that the victim is altogether polluted all " made sin." Hence nothing of it whatsoever must be used ; the fire must thoroughly consume it all. Thus we behold the debt, and the gold that pays it all told down on the floor of the holy place ! What a debt ! What a pay- ment ! The last might is there ! Behold the demands of a holy God ! And these all met and satisfied ! Be- hold the sacrifice and the fire ! and then the sacrifice 132 SPECIAL RULES FOR THE PRIESTS. " wholly consumed /" How fierce the heat of the flamo ! How complete the consumption ! Thus terribly pure is the justice of the Lord in vindicating his holy law ; and thus, to the fullest measure, did the atonement meet the requirements of that eternal law that jealous God who is " Holy, holy, holy." CHAPTER VH. REGARDING THE TRESPASS-OFFERING. Vers. 1, 2. "Likewise this is the law of the trespass-offering: it is most holy. In the place where they kill the burnt-offering shall they kill the trespass-offering : and the blood thereof shall be sprinkled round about upon the altar." So much had been said of the blood of the sin-offering, in chap, iv., that there was no need to call attention to that matter in giving directions to the priests regarding it. But there had been little said about the blood of the trespass-offering ; and therefore it is specially noticed here. The blood must be " sprinkled round about upon the altar" Surely Israel must have felt that their souls were reckoned very guilty by their God, since he spoke to them so continually in the language of blood. None but a heavy-laden sinner could relish this never-varying exhibition of blood to the eye of the worshipper. The pilgrims to Zion, in after days, must often, as they jour- neyed through the vale of Baca, have wondered what was to be seen and heard in the courts of the Lord's house, of which the worshippers sang, " How amiable are thy tabernacles, Lord of hosts ! My soul longeth, yea even fainteth for the courts of the Lord ; my heart CHAPTEE VII. 133 and my flesh crieth out for the living God." " Blessed are they that dwell in thy house !" (Ps. Ixxxiv. 1, 2, 4.) And when they arrived, and saw in these courts blood on the altar, blood in. the bowels of the altar, blood on its four horns, blood on its sides, blood meeting the eye at every turn, none but a deeply convicted soul, none but a soul really alive to the guilt of a broken law, could enter into the song, and cry with the worshippers, " How amiable /" Even so with a preached Saviour at this day, and a sin-convinced soul ! Vers. 3, 4, 5, 6. " And he shall offer of it all the fat thereof ; the rump, and the fat that covereth the inwards, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them,* which is by the flanks, and the caul that is above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away : and the priest shall burn them upon the altar for an offering made by fire unto the Lord : it is a trespass-offering. Every male among the priests shall eat thereof: it shall be eaten in the holy place: it is most holy." These rites had been prescribed, in chaps, iii. and iv., in regard to other offerings, but had not been prescribed as belonging to the trespass-offering. And as the priests are specially instructed here, the specific directions come in appropriately here. The Lord does not weary of repeating these types, both because of his wondrous love to the sinner, and his still more unfathomable love to him whom he holds out to fallen man in each of these figures, his Well-beloved. Ver. 7. " As the sin-offering is, so is the trespass-offering : there is one law for them : the priest that maketh atonement therewith shall have it." * " The fat that is on them," and that, too, which is " on the flanks" a construction similar to Ps. cxxxiii. 3, " The dew of Hermon, and also the dew that descendeth on the mountains of Zion." 134 SPECIAL RULES FOR THE PRIESTS. One law, not in regard to all the ceremonies used therein, but in regard to this special circumstance of the priest having the pieces left as his portion. (See in chap, vi. 26.) The design of this may have been to fix atten- tion on one special result of atonement, viz.. that he who is the means of making atonement has a claim on all that the offerer brings ; thus showing forth Christ's claim on his people for whom he atones. " Ye are not your own ; for ye are bought with a price." (1 Cor. vi. 20.) GENERAL RULE REGARDING PORTIONS BELONGING TO THE PRIESTS. Ver. 8. " And the priest that offereth any man's burnt-offering, even the priest shall have to himself the skin of the burnt-offering which he bath offered." This general rule seems naturally to follow the special case just noticed in ver. 7. There we see " the skin" given to the priest, irresistibly reminding us of the skins that clothed Adam and Eve. If Jesus, at the gate of Eden, acting as our Priest, appointed sacrifice to be offered there, then he had a right to the skins, as priest ; and the use to which he appropriated them was clothing' Adam and Eve. He has clothing for the naked soul " fine raiment" (Rev. iii. 18) obtained from his own sacrifice. Even at the gate of Eden he began to " counsel us to buy of him fine raiment that we might be clothed." And this is his office still. (Rev. iii. 18.) Vera, 9, 10. " And all the meat-offering that is baken in the oven, and all that i-< dressed in the frying-pan, and in the pan, shall be tin; priest's that offered it. And every meat-offering, mingled with oil, and dry, shall all the sons of Aaron have, one as much as another.' "All the meat-offering" after the memorial was CHAPTER VII. 135 taken, of course ; see chap. ii. 2, 9. All the kinds of meat-offering are mentioned here those prepared in the oven, frying-pan, and pan. Then, in ver. 10, the heap of fine fiour is meant by " every meat-offering mingled with oil, and dry." It is not baked, but dry ; the oil being on it merely to consecrate it. The meaning of this part of the type has already been noticed in chap. ii. REGARDING PEACE-OFFERINGS. Ver. 11. "And this is the law of the sacrifice of peace-offerings, \vhich he shall offer unto the Lord." The Jews say that the peace-offerings for thanksgiving were brought on such occasions as Psalm cvii. mentions on occasions of deliverance from danger in travelling the desert, or voyaging the sea, or captivity, or sickness. The words used in that Psalm countenance the idea, ver. 22, " And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiv- ing, and declare his- works with rejoicing" Peace- offerings brought on occasion of a vow were probably very similar, but with this difference, that in the time of dan- ger e. g., a storm at sea, or simoon in the desert they were promised or vowed to the Lord. Such vowed peace- offerings go under the name of " sacrifices of thanks- giving" in Ps. cxvi. 17, compared with 1, 14, 18. Those called " voluntary" (nn'is), were probably brought just because the soul of the worshipper was, at the time, overflowing with gratitude ; there was not, in this case, any peculiar event to call it forth. They were nearly allied to praise, in so far as both these offerings ("freewill offerings"} and praise were dictated simply by the fulness of the worshipper's heart. Hence the 136 SPECIAL RULES FOR THE PRIESTS. phraseology of Ps. cxix. 108, " Accept, I beseech thee, the freewill offerings of my mouth." And Heb. xiii. 15, " By him, therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name." Ver. 12. " If he offer it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer with the sacrifice of thanksgiving unleavened cakes mingled with oil, and cakes mingled with oil, of fine flour, fried." The last clause means, " the cakes mingled with oil shall be made of fine flour prepared." The second sort of meat-offering is fixed upon as the kind to be brought along with peace-offerings; because, perhaps, it was understood that the offerer was a man able to bring this, if he could afford to bring a thanksgiving sacrifice. And the meat-offering naturally accompanies an expression of gratitude ; for it is a binding of the offerer to the Lord, himself and all he has, body and substance, RS well as soul. So in Ps. cxvi., where the vows are paid by a sacrifice of thanksgiving, we hear the offerer saying also, in ver. 16, " Lord, truly I am thy servant." What is the meaning of the redeemed casting even their crowns at Christ's feet? Is not this their expression of abound- ing gratitude ? They would fain have nothing of their own. Let all be his. Vers. 13, 14. "Besides the cakes, he shall offer for his offering leaven- ed bread with the sacrifice of thanksgiving of his peace otl. And of it he shall offer ono out of the whole oblation for an heave- offering unto the Lord, and it shall be the priest's that sprinkleth the blood of the peace-offerings." Here is a remarkable appointment. " Leavened bread 11 is to be offered. To understand this, we are to keep in mind that this is a peace-offering, and therefore the CHAPTER VII. 137 offerer is in a reconciled state toward Grod. His sins are all forgiven ; there is peace between him and his Grod. But this reconciliation does not declare that there is no corruption left remaining in the worshipper. Perfect pardon does not imply perfect holiness. There is a rem- nant of evil left. But here we see that remnant of evil brought out before the Lord. The " leavened cakes" in- timate the corruption of the offerer ; and, God having graciously accepted him, and delivered him from evils in the world (for this is an offering of thanksgiving for spe- cial mercies), he testifies his gratitude by bringing out what of corruption is found in his soul, that it may bo removed. " Being made free from sin, ye have your fruit unto holiness." (Rom. vi. 22.) And to express yet more fully the intention of bring- ing out this " leavened bread," the 14th verse tells that it is to be " heaved to the Lord"* One cake of this bread that is leavened is heaved up to the Lord ; the priest lifts it up before the Lord, and, in the sight of all the congregation, waves it to the four quarters of the heavens, as a sign that he is giving it over to the Lord. Thus the grateful offerer presents to the Lord all he has, and spreads out his very corruptions to be dealt with as the Lord sees good. Was he not saying, while the priest thus waved the leavened cake to the four winds, " Search me, Gfod, and know my heart : try me, and know my thoughts : and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." (Ps. cxxxix. 23, * The word is na>n)n an< l the " wave-offering" is nQ!|3f\ Both words imply the same action ; but the former is the more comprehensive. The " wave-offering" is confined to lesser things, that could easily be lifted up. Neither term implies anything as to a new kind of sacrifice, but only a new mode of presenting the sacrifice. 138 SPECIAL RULES FOR THE PRIESTS. 24.) Patrick remarks that the leavened bread was not put upon the altar. It is held up in order to be removed. Ver. 15. " And the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offering* for thanks- giving shall be eaten the same day that it is offered ; he shall not leave any of it until the morning." The priest that sprinkled the blood was to eat the pieces of this peace-offering the same day that it was offered. Some say, this rule prevented covetousness arising in the priests ; no one had it in his power to hoard up. Others say, this rule was fitted to promote brotherly love ; for he must call together his friends, in order to have it all finished. But these uses are only incidental. The true use lies much nearer the surface. Israel might hereby be taught to offer thanksgiving while the benefit was still fresh and recent. Besides this, and most specially, the offerer who saw the priest cut it in pieces and feast thereon, knew thereby that God had accepted his gift, and returned rejoicing to his dwelling, like David and his people, when their peace-offerings were ended, at the bringing up of the ark. (2 Sam. vi. 1719.) The Lord took special notice of this free, spontaneous thank- offering, inasmuch as he commanded it to be immediately eaten, thus speedily assuring the worshipper of peace and acceptance. The love of our God is too full to be restrained from us one moment longer than is needful for the manifestation of his holiness. Vers. 16, 17. " But if the sacrifice of his offering be a vow, or a volun tary TOfering, it shall be oaten the same day that he offereth his sacrifice : and on the morrow also the remainder of it shall be eaten : but the remainder of the flesh of the sacrifice on the third day shall be burnt with fire." This is the case of a peace-offering offered on occasions CHAPTER VII. 139 when the man had bound himself by a vow to present it ; and those other occasions when he brought it voluntarily, that is, of his own thought, although nothing special had occurred to him to draw it forth. There is one particular in which this offering is to be dealt with differently from the first kind. The time within which it must be eaten is never extended beyond the third day ; and if any por- tion remained so. long as the third day, that part is to be forthwith brought out and burnt. Every precaution is taken that none of the portions ever suffer the taint of corruption. The type refers to the incorruption of the Surety, after being offered as a sacrifice. When the third day came round, God completed his testimony to the acceptance of his Son's work, by forthwith raising him from the dead, ere corruption could begin. It seems to be implied here, that "what remained" was to be speedily consumed on the third day perhaps as soon as morning dawned, in order to be the more exact type of the resurrection ; " early on the first day of the week." Ver. 18. " And if any of the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace- offerings be eaten at all on the third day, it shall not be accepted, neither shall it be imputed to him that offereth it : it shall be an abomina- tion, and the soul that eateth of it shall bear his iniquity." How strictly is the type guarded, that so there may be no misrepresentation of the Antitype. Lest possibly it should corrupt by the third day, it is never to be eaten then ; for in eating it pure, holy fellowship with Grod must be set forth. They must make haste, therefore, to eat it ; they might eat it the very same day as it was offered (ver. 16). Why, then, delay ? And to ensure attention to this, the offerer's own interest is bound up with it ; for here it is declared that he loses the whole 140 SPECIAL RULES FOB THE PRIESTS. comfort of his offering if any part should be left till third day " it shall not be imputed to him," t. ., reckoned as a peace-offering at all. And if any c rashly persist in eating it, or eat it ignorantly, on thi day, he is defiled and unclean. How careful ought \ve to be to represent Christ's work to our people exactly as it is held forth in Scripture. How jealous ought we to be of any departure from the pattern shown to us, since the Father is so jealous over even the figures and emblems of the doing and suffering of his beloved Son. We need all wisdom and prudence ; our people need to implore such direction for us; and they, on their own part, need the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Christ, in order to receive without mistake what is set before them. Ver. 19. "And the flesh that toucheth any unclean thing shall not be eaten ; it shall be burnt with fire : and as for the flesh, all that be clean shall eat thereof." Here it is commanded, first, that the flesh be clean ; next, that they be clean who eat it. The priests must keep off from the peace-offering the approach of anything unclean ; and having thus guarded the flesh and kept it pure, they must take care that those who feast thereon be ceremonially clean. It is an accepted work that must form our food ; and it must be fed upon by accept/